Back to school... finally!

Not only are my boys back in school for another year (WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!) but classes are in full swing for me too! I just kicked off this season in Ottawa last week at MultiCrafts Retailer event. I taught 4 fun filled classes to retailers from across Canada. They came from as far away as Quebec and Vancouver Island! What an honour:) We all had a great time and the projects were FABULOUS (if I do say so myself...lol!). I made a few new friends and look forward to visiting their stores in the near future too with some classes for their customers.

Next up... Bizzy B's September 18-20 in Toronto! I will be there with the amazing Jackie Ludlage (Editor of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine!). We are going to have a super weekend jampacked with some amazing classes too! There are still a few spaces available so be sure to call the store to get your spot reserved today!

And here is another one I am SUPER excited about! Sheep River Scrapbooking Company in Okotoks, Alberta (just outside Calgary). The owner, Haley, contacted My Mind's Eye a couple of weeks ago about having me come do so me classes so of course, I jumped on it! And I am ever glad that I did!!! First, I think we are going to hit it off really well... I just get a good vibe from this gal:) Secondly, she is ON IT! Yup... seriously love how she has gone about dropping hints and building the excitement on her blog. I am touched that she would go to all that work for little old me and I seriously got a few great laughs:) You need to run on over and scroll back a few posts... it is worth the read:) So.... on Friday November 6 we are having a wee little cocktail party (mocktail of course;)with Make and Takes... YUP! Should be beyond fun! You gotta see what I have up my sleeve... it is pretty cool! Then Saturday is going to be jampacked with some of the most AMAZING My Mind's Eye classes EVA! I am really happy with these brand new projects and I am pretty certain the spaces will not last long! I am not going to give you too many details though as I want YOU to keep an eye on her blog so we can see how she does it:) You just know it is going to be fun! I look forward to seeing many of my southern Alberta peeps there! Here is the poster she did up to promote it but you really need to head on over to see what is planned! I do not think the spaces will alst for long and I would LOVE to see you all there!

So that is some of the GOOD stuff... now you wanna hear some of the not so good stuff? Guess what I have been having to deal with the past week or so? Every Scrapbookers NIGHTMARE! Uh Huh!!! My washing machine blew a hose last Saturday night (hours before I had to leave for Ottawa) and flooded the main floor of my house and of course went into my basement. Now guess what is in my basement.... MY SCRAP SPACE! Uh huh! Not so good!!!!! Seriously makes me want to cry!!!!!!! It has been HOURS which have turned into DAYS of counting the numbers of papers and embellishments that need to be tossed in the trash with the ladies from the insurance company. Yeah... thank goodness for insurance!!!!!!! Otherwise I would be in REALLY big trouble. The good thing in all of this though (yes, there is a positive)... many things were in plastic bins... just not enough things. I was in the process of putting everything in plastic but have not gotten it all covered yet. Needless to say I went to Walmart today and bought as many bins as I could carry... things will be stored safely from here on out! Girls.... do it now while you can... it sucks having to throw out some of my most precious layouts and projects and would hate for you to have to do it too!!!! I am going to show you some pics so brace yourself... grab a hankie...lol!

This first pic is of one of my Tattered Angels bins. Yes it is plastic but it is no good if there is not a lid on it! Yeah... by the time we got to this one, it had been sitting in water for more than a week... GROSS! is all I can say and you do NOT want to know how many bottles we had to throw out:(

Here is the BRAND NEW Graphic 45 paper pads. They were supposed to be prizes for my classes but unfortunately the water damage took the fun away:(

Last but certainly not least... my beloved Prima collection! Yeah... paper flowers do not grow with water! See that purple bin... the bottom drawer is FULL of bling. Gone... all of it! Booooo hooooo!

The good thing... my basement is not developed so it is an easy clean up. I have insurance so hopefully all goes smoothly!

So there you have it! A quick little post to let you all know that I am still here...lol! I am buried deep in scrap stuff but it is all good... I will dig my way out and have a good story to tell down the road, eh? It could always be worse I guess and that is what I have to keep telling myself. It just SUCKS to have to throw away as much as I did:( Guess that just means that some SERIOUS retail therapy will be in order very soon (see... there really is a positive side to this negative mess!)

In the mean time... I did get a couple of projects finished today and have a few more that will be tweaked within the next couple of days and then it is off to Toronto I go on Thursday! YAY!!!

Happy Scrapping girls:)