Life is GOOD...

The October 15th tax deadline is over - now we may finally finish the Bell Mac website, paint my kitchen walls, find the perfect fabric for new curtains, make a blog header and have five dresses made exactly the same for tax season so I can have a "uniform"... But for now, I plan to do a little coasting...

I started by escaping with my friend Melanie to the Simply Inspired event in Lafayette (I only got to go because Teri got sick and gave me her spot - but I promise - I have plenty of goodies for Teri!) I applaud Elizabeth Avchin for taking on such a tremendous endeavor. Simply Inspired gave some notoriety to Elizabeth's store "Simply Scrappin'" and it made some fantastic teachers aware of our area - so hopefully she was happy with the success. BTW - her store is like Pottery Barn meets Scrapbooking - you really need to check it out! Here's me and Melanie - I love that crooked smile (even if she IS wearing purple!)...



What set the event apart from every other event I have ever attended was the one on one contact with each of the teachers. The teachers took all of the classes, they cropped with us, and we really got to talk to each one of them. Now maybe Melanie and I had a little more "one on one" than most (Melanie's offer to haul all the teachers in the "bus" to experience Drive Thru Daiquiris) was an instant hit - and required a repeat performance!



oh yeah, I did have to get out of the car and take pics with everyone's camera of the our bus in the drive -thru... who looked like the big dork here? But it was worth that moment of utter humiliation to see these smiling faces...


The projects were fantastic!!! I can't post them all because Melanie and I had trouble focusing sometimes...



much to the chagrin of our classmates...

Here is the Pink Paislee Halloween album by Rebecca Cross. I can't wait to fill this with all of Shane's Halloween insanity! Did I mention that the Ironman finished the Electric Chair while I was gone - doesn't everyone have an electric chair in their front yard? Maybe it can be Shane's "murse"...


I also finished the "My Bucket" album taught by Debby Schuh...



If you saw the samples of the Debby's book, don't be surprised that I used a completely different color scheme - I mean, have you met me? and Debby didn't mind a bit. But I love the concept of the book. When we are born, our bucket is filled with certain qualities. Our life is a journey figuring out the contents of the bucket and how to use them well. - more about that fantastic scale below....

Here are some of the fabulous layouts we made with Margie...



So as I have internal flea market radar, I left for lunch on Saturday and ended up in two antique stores - and I am using the terms "antique" VERY loosely - you might say "junk". But I found some treasures which led me to taking to the girls to Denham Springs on Sunday for more junking. Here are a few of my finds...



A bank shaped like a cash register - it still dings when you pull the arm, a cute little iron finial, an awesome kitchen scale and a book titled "Other People's Lives" from 1898. And I am so inspired by Layle Koncar's mini books that I am creating a minibook for "junking jaunts". Recording the names of stores, what I bought, where I should revisit, and where I can find this button tree again...



Since the girls were with me on Sunday, there were a few bribery stops - like the pumpkin patch. Outside photos are always my favorite...





I'm pretty sure these pictures are calling for the October Girl's Loft kit...

I hope you are having a fantastic week - enjoy this beautiful weather!