Hello from Sunny California!!!

    Hello from California! I hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying the start of your week! It has been awhile since I’ve posted on here! Sorry about that! As most of you know it has been a crazy busy June so far! We tried to put finishing touches on the office/craft room before I left on my extended vacation, had visitors staying at our house the second weekend of June, and I had to drop our dog off in Southern Wisconsin before I flew out to Reno, NV on Monday, June 16^th! On top of all that, I also had to finish up some thank you cards for my sister’s baby shower, a group of cards for the convention swap, and wrap up any orders that I received before I left! So yeah…..my absence on here has not been without haste!

     Ian flew into Reno on Saturday. We went into downtown Reno Saturday afternoon, and had dinner with Ian’s parents. Then yesterday we spent the day traveling around and eating at a couple places surrounding Lake Tahoe! It was a gorgeous day to be on the lake! We also went to the Ehrman Mansion to try and get in on the tour. We were late by a couple minutes, but that’s okay! We walked around the property and hung out on the pier instead! Today we are driving 8 hours down to San Simeon, CA to tour the Hearst Castle! I cannot wait to see this architectural masterpiece! We are touring part of it this afternoon, and another part of it tomorrow morning! The house itself is over 60,000 sq ft! I cannot wait to get all kinds of pictures!

     The office/craft room is so close to being done! It took us a little longer than we thought to finish the baseboard trim and hanging the shelving tracks in the closet. Our original baseboard order was calculated short by 1 board (the guy that helped us forgot the closet measurements when he put the order in), so we had to wait for that to come in. Then the closet, we found out, was not even at all. One side was 26” in width while the other side was only 25”. Plus the studs were spaced really goofy in the closet, too! A couple studs were 22-23” apart where the rest were 18-19” apart. So that made it a little difficult to space the hanging tracks just right!

     I will share a couple of our pictures of the office so far just to show you how far we did get! We still have my desk to finish setting up, the island to put together, and then just decorating and organizing! So that will be fun to do when I get back from this trip! Here’s a few sneaks at what we have been doing (sorry these pictures are not the best quality..... they are from our cell phones):

Here's what the flooring looked like when we finished it! The trim is not up in this picture, though.

My cabinets that are above my desk. The cabinets and doors are all from IKEA! The door color is a Juniper-like color that matches the closet!

Ian's side of the office! His side is pretty much set up! We only have a couple little things left to finalize (lights and computer components). Again, these cabinets, doors, desk, and drawers are all from IKEA.

This is what the closet system looks like! It's a heavy duty hanging track system from Menards. There are short shelves on each short wall and then a long shelf down the middle/back wall. These shelves are hung to support 150 lbs of weight/bracket. Woohoo! Medical books and scrapbooks now can sit comfortably!

   

    I finished putting my convention swap cards in clear bags last night with my business card and some technique tips. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out considering I did not have much time to throw them together! I have 3 designs: one is exactly like the cards I made for my sister’s thank yous except I used different stamps, the second and third designs are similar, but with two different color combinations. I made 40 cards for the swap and 35 cards for my sister! My understanding is that consultants swap their greeting cards to get ideas from other consultants on product usage, design, and workshop possibilities! I am hoping mine are well received! Here are some pictures of all the cards I worked on before heading out here:

This was the template for the "thank you" cards I made my sister! I used the same design for 10 of my swap cards, but did not stamp the stars and instead of the thanks stamp I used a Congratulations stamp from CTMH.

Happy Birthday card using Skylark paper, Washi tape, CTMH re-inkers, and water! I made 15 of this style and 15 of the same design but with the Ivy Lane color combination! For quick cards, I thought I did pretty good!

     There are only 2 days left until convention starts! I cannot wait to see all the new products, the amazing artwork, and meet some talented ladies! I will try and keep you all updated on my adventures while I’m out here! So far the sneaks and product talks that I’ve received so far are extremely exciting! I cannot share anything yet, but trust me…..you won’t be disappointed! :)

     I will be posting upcoming Preview Party dates and workshops over the next couple days under the “Event Calendars” tab! So check that out and mark your calendars so you can see sneaks of the new products releasing on August 1^st! Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and

Here’s to life, love, and creativity!