I’m just going to go ahead and apologize now, this is gonna be long.. The Scrapbook Expo was a week and a half ago, but we have been so busy around here I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and blog the day.
If you follow me over on Instagram you have more than likely seen the photo’s from the adventure that the Bestie & I had. We spent a day at the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms Resort on May 5th. We had a great time, but let me tell ya, it’s OVERWHELMING the amount of stuff we looked at. I’m not kidding! We took an hour long class and then spent the rest of the day looking at everything, 4 hours of wandering and shopping! Luckily we didn’t break the bank, but we could’ve!
The main reason we went was because someone *cough* me *cough* wanted to meet Becky Higgins. I have been a Project Life follower for years, since it began, and I love, love the concept. I have been a Digital Scrapbooker since 2008 after the Boy was born and I have documented our lives for the past few years in digital format. This year I decided to go with physical products – I’m behind, but that’s okay – to try something different. We opted to take the physical product class, the Bestie has used the physical products before and I’m new to the whole physical card thing, so I thought it would be a great starting off point.
We arrived at 9am, an hour prior to our class, and our first stop was the Project Life Booth because you know that’s the whole reason we were there. Honestly, I don’t even know how I composed myself. I’m not your typical outgoing kinda girl, who just walks up and starts talking to someone I don’t know. There’s been many a company party with the Hubs where I have either opted out of going or I stand in a corner and feel awkward the whole time. But, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I was under the weather the night before and was surviving on 3 hours of sleep, but I was determined I was going to this expo and I was meeting Becky.
So in all my tired glory, we met Becky. I have never been SO nervous to talk to someone, this isn’t my thing, but this is someone I idolize and enjoy her products and it was the one reason I drove an hour to go to this thing. So I did it. I braved it and I talked to her. You guys, She is SO down to earth and just like she is in her instaStory’s and YouTube videos.
I felt very “fan-girl”-ish and probably sounded like an idiot, but I did it. I pulled myself together for the class we were taking with her and held an actual conversation with her. Maybe I wasn’t as awkward as I felt I was, the Bestie reassures me I wasn’t, but who knows. Becky could be thinking “wow, that’s a crazy one right there”.
So after we made fools of ourselves, we went and found the classroom, which was in a HUGE ballroom. I wish I’d taken more pictures, because it was STUNNING. I’d never been up to the top level of Gaylord Palms Before, and it was so pretty.
I am surprised that this class was not sold out. I think there were maybe 40 people, at most, in the class. Most of the people in our class knew of Project Life, so the class changed from an overview of Project Life to how to make Project Life work for you. Getting back to basics, how to use the system, incorporate the Project Life App into your album and just to keep everything simple. Instead of learning about Project Life, it was a 1 hour Q&A with Becky, which was amazing. I came out of that class so ready to break out the products that we were given in class and just get the weeks that I’m behind for this year into my album. Some of what Becky said, I needed to hear. Coming from the Digital side of things with the way I scrapbook, trying to use tangible products has been daunting or I just sit there with the stuff and get frustrated, I need to keep it simple, get the pictures and the stories into the album and then go back and embellish, should I chose too. I’m really loving the idea of incorporating the App pages into my album for those weeks when we are busy and I have 5-10 minutes in the car or waiting at practice, band event or something else. You’d think coming from a digital background I would’ve thought about that before, but I hadn’t. I LOVE the idea of combining the two to get this album done.
So we walked away with some Project Life Swag and a few signed cards. I just wanted to make sure I had options when it came time to put this into my album.
Best card choice ever. While we were talking with her, she even used it as a prop to really hone in the whole point of Project Life. It was amazing! She was amazing! Honestly, if you ever get the chance to see her in person, do it. If you want more information about Project Life, head on over to Becky’s blog for more inspiration and all of the details on the system. It’s truly amazing.
So, after we fulfilled a bucket list moment and had fan-girl moments, we hit the sales floor of the Expo. Holy scrapbook supplies and tools and whatever else you can think of Batman! We felt like we just ping-ponged around the Expo because something would catch our eye and we’d go off in one direction, and then we’d find something else. There was no method to our madness, we just wandered and “ooh & ahh’d” over everything. I have never been a big paper scrapbooker and even if I had thought about starting to be, the Expo was not the place to try and figure that out. I now know how the kids feel at Christmas when we walk into Toys R Us and ask them what they’d like. It was RIDICULOUS the amount of stuff and people that we saw.
We spent 4 hours, yes 4 HOURS looking at each booth and all of the stuff. We did shop as well, but I found I was more intrigued by the example pages/creations that were displayed. I’m sure the vendors might have thought I was crazy because I kept taking pictures of all of the different pages, but I have to admit, I’d never even thought about using some of the products that I have in the ways they had them. This was like walking around on someone’s Pinterest Board and just re-pinning everything.
See what I mean? I couldn’t help my self! The Peacock isn’t cross stitch. It’s tiny rhinestones that you glue in place! This was only a small portion of the image it was STUNNING. There were a ton of those kits being sold at the Expo, I just wish I had the patience for them.
I did purchase a few things. I probably could’ve bought more things, but then I’d have to do the walk of shame when I got home and tried to explain to the Hubs why the trunk of the car wouldn’t close. Honestly, there was an overwhelming amount of things we could’ve purchased that it was hard to even decide what you wanted to buy.
I of course purchased Project Life stuff! On the right of the picture is the products that we received during our class, on the left is the items I purchased. I picked up the Project Life Gather Core Kit, Golden Days Paper & sticker Kit by Amber LaBau, My Mind’s Eye – Christmas on Market Street Papers & Accessories Kit and some cute little Molly-look-a-like ceramic pieces that I plan to make paper clips with for my planner.
That in a nutshell was our Scrapbook Expo experience. We stopped for lunch on the way home and that wrapped up our Girl’s Day. I was EXHAUSTED when I got home. Granted I hadn’t had much sleep, but just from all of the wandering, I was pooped! Now I’m kinda excited for the Book Lover’s Expo that I’m going to in June. Let’s hope that’s not as overwhelming as the Scrapbooking one!
Since we went to the Expo, I’ve been on a mission to get my craft room cleaned up so I can work on Project Life for this year. I need to catch up, and that’s my plan for the summer – so be prepared to be bombarded with a TON of Project Life posts.
