Scrapbooking, Part Deux

So, as planned, Alice and I went to the Scrapbook Expo at the O.C. Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa today. It was open from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., although we were pretty much done—and done in—by 2:30 or so. We could have attended workshops and crops, but all we really wanted to do was wander through the two exhibit halls and browse, and maybe shop a little.

(Just a note—we didn’t pay $40 for our tickets, as shown in the picture; just $8 to get in when you don’t go for the all-day crops or workshops. I guess I just feel the need to explain that I’m not all that obsessed!)

So, somewhere along the way, and fairly early on (like by the second booth), our plan changed from mostly browsing to mostly shopping. It seemed that almost every booth we went to had some new and exciting item that was just “so CUTE!” That’s the word you hear most at these things, as in “Oooooh, Alice, look at this—it’s so CUTE!” But it was true, darn it.

I’m constantly amazed at the sheer numbers of new and creative things that people dream up to sell to us scrapbookers. I love going to these events, at least partly, just to see what’s new. Apparently I’m not the only one, as there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of us in the exhibit halls today—it was packed!


I, for one, am a sucker for cardstock and scrapbook papers—plains, patterns, prints, florals, seasonal, baby, paisley, heritage, funky. You name it, I love it! So even though I have more paper than I could ever reasonably expect to use in my lifetime, I did buy some more. This is pretty much my haul from today. Oh yeah--I also ordered an electronic cutting machine that I've had my eye on for, literally, years: the Cricut. I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands; I was told it would ship in a few days, so hopefully will be here by next weekend. I guess this means that the new Kindle I've been coveting on Amazon.com has to wait a few more months. Oh well.



I especially love a most versatile set of stamps that I bought today. I can see hundreds of uses for it. (It helped, immensely, that many of these uses were displayed on the wall of the booth where I bought it.) I generally need to copy my ideas (proves my claim that I'm definitely not innately creative); I loved it that lots of ideas were laid out for me today. This bare tree stamp lends itself to so many different uses, and I'm anxious to try some of them out. As I said in my last post, one of the reasons I wanted to go to the expo today was to get re-invigorated and enthused about scrapbooking again, to get moving on some projects I've had in mind for a long time. I'd say it was a success--I'm ready to go!

So, we had a great time, enjoyed the opportunity to indulge our hobby/obsession, and spend some relaxing time together talking and laughing. It's always rewarding to share with a friend--thanks, Alice!

Addendum 2/16: I had to add this. Alice reminded me at work today about the funniest thing that happened at the expo. Early in the day, we went to pay for a purchase, and the young woman taking our money looked at us and smiled sweetly. Then she said, "Two cute sisters." I realized, with sort of a shock, that she was talking about US! Now, this was wrong on so many levels. Yes, there were two of us--I'll give her that. But "cute," I don't think so. And sisters, come on... Other than both of us being old, we don't look a bit alike. Where did she get that idea? Then I realized that perhaps to someone as young as she is, maybe all old people look alike. You know, the old "they all look alike to me" phenomenon. Maybe? So, the rest of the day, we kept referring to each other as "Sistah."