Good Morning! I am training to walk in the Porland Marathon with a group of friends that are known as the "coffee ladies" or the "Java Jewels". Part of our group was on the trail at 6:00am this morning. It is a good thing that I have friends to do this with because I would never have the dicipline to do it myself! Who really wants to get up at 5:30am? One of the benifits to getting up so early is that the weather is very cool at that time. And...really the best part of the whole thing is the fun conversation that we have while we walk. Time just flys when you are solving the worlds problems!! HA!! This weekend we are going to walk 16 miles! I hope I survive!

I am typing this from my new studio. I am offically "moved" in because my computer is up and running. Thanks to my family and all of their work, we can say the stuido is finished! I am looking forward to many creative hours in this new place!

I am also very excited to have my web site up and running. My son, Tucker, has been the creative and technical mind behind the site. I have learned a lot about creating a web site and luckly... Tucker has been very patient with me while I copy files and paste them in the wrong places, save things in the wrong format, and try to learn the lingo! I like to think of a "server" and a "host" as someone that brings you food! HA! Anyway...Thank you Tucker! You have been great!

The biggest discovery that I made recently about a web site is that it is never really "finished". There are always changes to make, new stuff to upload, and constant updating of information. Well...so much for checking that off the list.... So...check back often for new projects and information about the creative industry!

I just returned from the ACCI (Association of Crafts and Creative Industries) trade show in Chicago. It was a whirlwind trip. I arrived later Thursday evening than I had planned because they had closed the Chicago airport because of bad weather. I heard it was "really" bad. Hail the size of golf balls.

I actually walked the entire show this time. My favorite place is the "New Exhibitors" area. I met some very nice people and even met someone from my own town...she lives in a neighborhood very close to my home. What a small world!

Scrapbooking is still the main focus of the "craft" world at this time. Personally...when you have seen one paper you have seen them all. If you want to be in this arena, you must find a niche! One that I noticed was a vendor selling military "stuff". They had stickers, papers, and other embellishments for all the military divisions.

I found it most interesting to look at all of the metal, acrylic, and fabric embellishments that were being shown. Those are things that can be added to any sort of design, not just a scrapbook page!

I worked in the Fiskars booth most of the time. My job was to teach people how to use the ShapeCutter. I just love that tool!! Fiskars has a new letter template...Letters-4. It is a little more whimisal than the other letter templates. It was fun to visit with the store buyers and teach them how to demonstrate the ShapeCutter in their stores.

The show ended at 4:00 and I was at the airport at 5:00. My flight was delayed out of Chicago (although we beat the storm this time) and I almost missed my connection in San Francisco. Lucky for me, the pilots were also late arriving from Seattle so the connection was running late. Anyway...I got home at 1:30am....AAHHH!!