Cards from my Saturday 4/23 Workshop

                 This (Girl Gathering) is a stamp set I got at the
                 CKC for $3.00.  It has some really cute stamps.

          This butterfly card is one that uses the stamps and dies
          that match.  It gives it a 3D effect.

CKC April 7th and 8th in Collinsville, IL

My friend Ann and I attended the Creating Keepsakes Convention at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, Illinois on Friday, April 7th and Saturday, April 8th.  It was the first time either of us attended.  We left very early Friday morning, stopped for breakfast and then drove the rest of the way to the conference.  The vendor fair was fabulous.  We spent most of our money there the first day - yes, sad but true!   But the deals were fabulous.   I'm going to be horrible at remembering all the vendors, but there was one that stuck in my mind because nothing was over $5.00.  It was great.  I stocked up on pop dots, flowers, glue, embellishments, you name it I got it.

Then, of course, there was a nestabilities vendor.  Oh the deals.  Buy 3 at $18.99 and get one free - well who can pass that up.  Then they had sets of four that went together for a certain price.  I also had to get one of those.  We shopped for about an hour and then went to our first class which happened to be Technique Tuesday.  It was a great class, but a little ambitious for the amount of time we had.  The second class we attended was very disappointing.  Then we attended a Heartfelt Creations class.  Oh my goodness!  Fabulous!  We made four cards and they were gorgeous.  I have some finishing touches to make on the cards and then I will post them so you can see.

Little did we know when we were taking the Heartfelt Creations class - they had a booth at the vendor fair (we would learn that at dinner Friday night).  We went to dinner with some other ladies that attend classes at our local Scrapbook Store (The Keepsake Elements).  One of them asked if we had seen the booth where they had rubber stamps with nestabilities to match.  Of course, we had not, but we sent looking on Saturday.  We fell in love!  They are awesome.  They had a bundle which included 4 stamps of your choice and 4 dies of your choice.  The lady at the show helped us put together matching sets.  That was the highlight of the trip for us.  We are now going to be using them in our workshops.

Here are some cards they had at the booth (these are not my cards)

Hi Everyone

So sorry I have been absent for quite some time.  Unfortunately, I lost my dad this month after a courageous battle with cancer.  He was diagnosed in May 2010 with colon cancer.  He had surgery to remove a foot of his colon.  He was very sick and they had to put off chemo for a month.  Unfortunately, during that month it spread to his liver.  He started chemo and after 3 treatments they told him he could not have chemo because it was bad for his heart - this is a man who has had a bad heart for years and years.  So, we all resigned ourself to the fact that he wouldn't be with us long.

He was truly a miracle and the example of strong will.  He made it almost a year with no treatment.  He was one lucky man.  He didn't even have any pain until toward the end of his time.  He was on Morphine but only had to have it once at night before he went to bed.  My sister Brenda, my niece Samantha, nephew Neil, my sons Josh and Cole spent his last four days with him.  He lived a good life and had no regrets.  Earlier in the month, he said his goodbye's, got right with God and went to be with Him on Thurs. April 7, 2011.  Rest in peace dad - we miss you!