Tuesday, September 11, 2012

{Scrapbooking} CKC Jacksonville Review 2012

First off this is the second year for me at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Jacksonville, FL. & right off the bat you could tell that attendance wasn't as high as 2011. BUT we did have the ability to stay at the hotel this year and I got some volunteer time in which gave me a Free Shopping Band, (2) 1/2 off Tshirts and $20 in free product. Took a few classes and got just about ALL my shopping done with the early bird coupons on Friday morning and got some great coupons from the classes. I would say that we won something from just about every class and crop and even the special drawings! I felt very satisfied with the projects I completed and the time spent with friends and the vendors. At each event you feel like you're making some new friends and some are ending up to me lifelong friends, it's always nice to have people around that appreciate and get as excited as you.

ORGANIZED CHAOS!



I used "Dani's Scrap" on the Organizing Utility Tote and "Holy Scrap" on the Square Tote (discontinued) also not pictured is a Large Utility Tote in the Black Spirit Collection with "SCrAp HaPpY" on it. Contact me to get your collection personalized for your next scrapbook crop date!


MY GOODIES FROM VOLUNTEERING 

OUR TABLE DECORATIONS FOR THE BEACH PARTY!


THE SEI LOOT WE WON FOR THE TABLE DECORATIONS WE THREW TOGETHER, 
THIS WAS JUST MY PORTION!

THE VIEW FROM THE ROOM ON THE 9TH FLOOR, WAS PERFECT!





{HOTEL}
Stay at the Hyatt directly on the Jacksonville river where the Convention was being held. We had early check in and even had a room with a view of the river on the 9th floor! No fridge ($25 if we wanted to rent one) and I I don't care if they say the feather pillows are hypoallergenic or not I woke up with red puffy eyes each morning. BUT the best thing was the FREE breakfast buffet each morning that came with the room package we found which also included one night free. You have to do your research before booking you never know what you'll find.

{CONVENTION}
Some of the big vendors were not in attendance (boo!) and it seemed that some of the vendors didn't bring "enough" product to keep everyone happy for 2 full days. There were some great deals at the crops though from the vendors and lots of goodies given away too. The CK Bookstore ran out of the ONE clearance styled Tshirt on Thursday but the selection of new shirts was really nice. Wish the CK shop would have stayed open during the crop however...I would have ran over and got a few more Smash items or even another tshirt after I saw someone walking around with one I really liked.

The crops were upbeat and everybody won something just for being there which was nice. However I did win one of the BIG Cool Tools a Scoring Table which was exactly what I was needing. Thanking God for that one. The crop area is open during the day so we were set up first thing in the morning and had our space set when the official crop started, which is awesome. 

Creepiest thing about the convention was the the Clowns were back in town like last year and somehow they smell my fear...but I just kept my distance as much as I could (lol).

{CLASSES}
1) Got Your Number Album Workshop (Creating Keepsakes) - I wanted to take this class in lieu of the preview crop so that I would jump right in learning some new techniques and get an album too. LOVED the idea of the album where each page is based on a "number" idea. The album was nice and was alot of fun to decorate the outside. Techniques learned in class were new to me and I felt satisfied with the amount completed in class. Only downsize...it was a bit pricey.

2)  Cards with Charming Velvet Accents (SEI) - Loved this class, working with velvet is something very new to me and the cards came out beautiful. I now have a few more flower making ideas and the templates to make the more difficult cards came in handy when I tried it again later in the crop. SEI always gives you more than enough product for the class projects as well.

3) Scrap On a Dime the Travel Version (Keller's Creations) - I've taken Keller's Creation classes before but never the Scrap on a Dime and if you haven't taken it DO IT! We left the class with 12 full layouts completed and ready for pictures as well as some great time saving and money savings ideas on adhesives and how to get the most out of the scraps, ribbon and paper in our stashes at home. Already putting this on to use and I've only been home 2 days.

4) No Rules Scrapbooking (Creating Keepsakes) - This was the SMASHbook class which wasn't really a class. More of a lecture. I was happy with the product received but was a bit confused when the drawings in class were done and they weren't giving away supplement product for what we were doing in class. But I'm happy on the note that I won a Scrapbook magazine in class. I did get a few new ideas for adding texture and pockets to the smash pages though.

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