I'M HOME!!!!

Whew...what a fabulous weekend!!

Well I'll start from the top. After a very antsy start to the day on Friday and a short fog delay before leaving I headed off on my first ever solo flight. I was very brave as long as you didn't look at my white fingertips clutching my novel on take off and landing.

So I arrived in Melbourne and made my way through the cold cutting wind and through the 'tiger cage' (aka. the arrivals area at the Tiger Airways terminal) and I was looking around, and looking around...not that I knew what Tracey looked like anyway. I walked across the road to the pick up area and I spotted two ladies and two kids who looked like they might have been waiting for someone, so after trying to flash my scrap tote I finally just walked up and asked if they were waiting for someone they'd never met before and...BINGO!!...it was Tracey. We headed back to her place to drop off her gorgeous kids and pick up her inspiring scrap supplies and headed off to check out her local scrap shop before heading to the retreat. From there it kind of became a bit of a surreal blur. I know the first person I saw was Jo and then Sonia but from then on it's sort of a bit fuzzy. We went into the area where eveyone was milling about and met everyone. I was presented with my id badge (which were gorgeous) and my sash, lol. I was sashed Miss Berserker. Rach had made these gorgeous sashes for us girls who had travelled to get to the retreat which had our distance travelled on it. After a few minutes in there we were ushered to the dining room for a welcoming dinner. The Scraptac girls had made gorgeous placecards with everyone's photo on it. The meal was delish, especially the creme brulee, yum yum. After dinner we took our stuff down to the crop room and started scrapping and chatting. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! I was sitting in between Dee and Amanda and opposite Felicity and Mel. I was hoping that some of their talent would float my way. It was great seeing everyone's work in real life.

Here are a couple of photos of inside the crop room. Man, there were alot of supplies in that room!! So lots and lots of scrapping, laughing, chatting went on mixed in with some great meals and a few hours of sleep. Amanda and Meredith were like scrapping machines!! Up until 4.30 and 5.30AM scrapping and then back at the table a couple of hours later.The Christmas in July dinner was a blast. The Scraptacular girls outfits were fabulous as Santa and Mrs Claus, Santa's Sack and Santa's Ho Ho Ho's and Sonia looked great in her outfit too.I made this fascinator and matching matching jewellery for my costume.And here's what I accomplished...

This was from Kim's class. Such a cute LO. Rach's class LO's...And Kim O's mini album class...And these are my LO's from the weekend. I want a new sewing machine now. The one they had there was just fantastic. So many different stitches. It was interesting to see the different ways people do their LO's too and different techniques they use.

Here's the group shot of all us EB girls...

Tracey, Rach, Me, Ruey, Michelle, Melanie, Angela, Kim, Susan, Jo, Felicity, Amanda, Dee, Sonia, Cat, Moya and Clair.Thanks girls for being so nice and friendly. It was fantastic to meet you all. It's so hard to know what else to write.

Thank you to Tracey for being so lovely and picking me up from the airport and dropping me off. I really appreciate it. I loved listening to you and Amanda talk about books. I used to love reading and I basically stopped when I had Jack but you've inspired me to start reading again and I'm going to buy that Cross Stitch book you were talking about. Your kids were just adorable, I loved listening to their banter in the car. Thanks again for running me around.

Rach, you are so funny. You and the girls at Scraptacular put so much effort into this weekend and it was just fantastic. Your classes were great and I really enjoyed the way you taught. You are one talented woman.

Ruey, my roomie. I can't believe how late you stayed at the table! Your work is so fabulous, I just love it. Thank you so much for my little RAK, that was very sweet of you. I hope my snoring didn't disturb your sleep too much.

Melanie, OMG, the time you put into your LO's is incredible, it's no wonder your work is so amazing. I really enjoyed chatting with you, you are sooooooo sweet.

Angela, you cracked me up. You weren't dissimilar to what I imagined but I really didn't think you would be so chatty. You are so vibrant and funny. I bet your DH is going to love those boob shots.

Kim, It was so nice to meet you and take one of your classes. I really miss seeing your work lately and it was great to see something of your in the flesh. I hope your back is feeling better.

Susan, love the piggy tails. It was great to get to meet you especially since I had scrapped your boys photos before. Loved your stories about the boys and the phone escapades just before you got that phone call, it was like mothers intuition.

Jo, you are just such a sweetie. I loved seeing all your boy pages in real life, so much inspiration for a mother of a boy. I can't wait to see that new scrap room all set up in your gorgeous new house. As I said you are so sweet and beautiful.

Felicity, another very funny chickie. Your work blew me away. While I love your normal bright style, those LO's you did were phenomenal. You were so friendly and vivacious.

Amanda, as I'm sure you already know since I scraplift you so often, I just love love love your work. It was so great to see the way you organise your LO's. You put so much love and emotion into your work and it is such a reflection of your personality. I loved meeting Meredith as well, she is a great scrapper and so friendly. I just love her personal style as well (without sounding wierd and stalkerish)

Dee, I probably felt most comfortable with you. You are so genuine. I loved hearing your story about how you and Lee met, very sweet. Thank you, thank you for chatting to me all weekend, I felt abit like I clung to you so I hope you don't mind. And your work is mind blowing. I can't believe how quickly and stunningly you scrap and with no plan?!? Anyhoo, I think you are one cool woman.

Sonia, awwwwwwwww Sonia...you are such a genuine, lovely, open, friendly person. I loved meeting you and seeing the soul you put into your work. You made me feel so comfortable and welcome and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Cat, you are so funny!!! You have a real light in your eyes, like a funny little glint of humour in the world. The banter between you and Moya was so amusing and your work is just gorgeous. You have such a great flair.

Moya, probably one of the funniest people I've met in a long time. I really loved your wicked sense of humour. Thanks for looking up that title on your iphone. My husband was really impressed when I told him you did that (he has phone envy issues).

Clair, I hope I didn't seem stanoffish to you. When I first met you I felt a little intimidated by your talent and I hope that didn't come accross in a bad way. You are a scrapping speed demon and your talent is astonishing. Love you work, love your photography and loved all your stories about your kids.

Sunday night I stayed with my cousing Julie and her hubby Steve and their little boy Lachlan, he's such a gorgeous kid. It was great to talk to Julie, we had a really great chat. Thank you to Steve and Julie for getting up soooooooo bloody early in the morning and thanks to Steve for driving me all that way to the airport.

Although I had a great weekend I really missed my gorgeous guys. I was so happy to see them again. Here's what they got up to while I was away...
Ate cream buns...Went for a walk with Grandma Joy...tickle tickleAnd put some new shelves in my kitchen cupboards. YAY!!My poor little boy however, has conjuntivitis. He is not a happy camper, poor little mite and he's a bit snotty too to top it off.Well that's it for tonight. Catch you later.

Cheers.