Mediocre

WOWZERZ! Im back from the most scraptastic weekend spent with the yummiest and sweetest people of all.....The Jelly Babes. T'was fanbloodytastic to get to spend 48 hours + scrapping with my UKS team buddies. We giggled, we drank, we scrapped and we deffo chattered lots.
Actually meeting people you develop online relationships with can be quite nerveracking....I mean for all I knew they could have been an army of hairy arsed truck drivers - thankfully they were not :)...they are beautiful, beautiful people who are all so very talented.
MWG made the most adorable tag book which was just so inspiring, AllieT's ickle canvas was stunning, Theresa's 9x9 "this is me at paradise" LO was so delicate...she spent hours hand cutting her papers and the effect she acheived was well worth the time she spent snipping away.
Rach's LO's were just so yummy...all of them and Miss Debs...well she is, as I have said many many times before, a walking body of pure unadulterated inspiration...in the words a famous scrapper....awesome- she rocks...only I really do mean it.

I arrived late Friday after sitting on the M5 for what felt like forever due to roadworks and a pretty bad accident....you always know its bad when the screens are used to prevent the rubber neckers from seeing more than they would like! Hubs phoned to check I was OK because the accident had been reported on the local news...apparently there were fatalities :( I sat in the car feeling very thankful that I was safe and the waiting didnt matter anymore.

Arriving at the hotel later meant I didnt get to share supper with the Jellies, I did however meet up with Linz and we spent pretty much the remainder of the evening chatting shop talk with other UKS sponsors until the very early hours of Saturday morning. I have so much respect for two of the sponsors I spent time with....they are a really genuine people - no sides - no ulteria motives - the salt of the earth...Ok business is business and we are all competeing against each other trade wise but it doesnt mean we cant be civil with each other and supportive through the bumpy times.

If Hubs hadnt phoned to check I was awake I would have slept in on Saturday morning and missed the start of the day...its not often I get to sleep in a bed on my own and despite it being the hardest mattress in the history of mankind....I wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep. I dashed down to feed my hungry tum and then moved on to scrappin the day and night away....I didnt get to sleep on that mattress again because I scrapped right through! I was the last one standing and am now paying the price! Im shattered...I could sleep for a week but cant because new stock has arrived, Ive got classes to put together and I wanna scrap so much. Im filled with so much inspiration that the old brain is working overtime...now to find the time to make a start on the class kits I bought home.
Saturday evening we all had a photo sesh and it was a hoot....I cant wait to see the images....it really was such fun despite me hating every minute...I hate being infront of the camera!!

So what did I do....ermmmm well I spent most of my time creating a canvas for my friends daughter...Emily.
Em will be 13 on Saturday and at this precise moment in time her bedroom is being Punked!
Her Mom asked me if I could put together a canvas for Ems bedroom using ribbons and 'bellies that have been used to Punk up her bedroom....I made a tag book for Hubs to say thanks for being the wonderful guy he is and for waking alongside me on this jorney I am travelling...I completed one LO! Debs classes were awesome but the others didnt really inspire me at all, so I just took the class kits and will play at home. I made a Trash book for J because he loves the tactile feel of these books and as they are only made from scraps and cardboard is doesnt matter too much if he tears any of the pages...after all arent the books you make supposed to be looked at over and over again or else whats the point??? The papers were awful in the challenge kit...really really awful but with a little splash of acrylic paint here and there and a good session with the scissors they didnt look too bad....well they did but it didnt matter this is a book for J to play with...

Ive learnt so much from the weekend...people want quality and not quantity...a selection of good classes with new techniques using up to date products...not the swankiest of hotels but somewhere were the food is good with a varied selection for both meat and non meat eaters... a nice clean room with decent bathroom facilities....plenty of room to move in the cropping room and all rooms need lots of natural light....spending a weekend with very little fresh air and not seeing daylight isnt so good for your head/eyes sanity etc etc.
Ive got lots to plan over the next week or so in preperation of announcing the dates of our weekend retreat :)

Anyways......

My Punked canvas won the challenge....wish it hadnt though because there were some stunning LO's in the same category which were so much more deserving....after all my work is mediocre and nothing special and bad enough for someone to look at it and turn her nose up/pull a funny face - wish I had had the camera at the ready - SI want the LO's of the strangest thing you have ever scrapped....a piccie of her mush would have been perfect!!
I actually love to receive constructive critsism about my work...I can only develop and get better if Im told where I am going wrong....but mediocre???...it means ordinary and average and the canvas was neither...it was wacky and OTT, bright and inyerface....it was supposed to be!!
She obviously didnt "get it" and well, Ummmm Ive seen her work and..............................................................

I cant load any images because Blogger is pants!

Will try later....in the meantime Im off to go play whilst I stew and simmer......lol!!

LATERZ...XX