My experience at CSC4K...

yes, I know I said I'd do this Monday... and now it's Thursday... oh well.

So, first I want to say I was so excited to be a part of this event. As soon as I found out that it was happening, and so close to me, I knew I wanted to support it. Even if that only meant attending classes or volunteering, I wanted to help. Morgan wouldn't be here with us today without the Children's hospitals here in London and Toronto and I'm excited to give back to them by being a part of the Crop for Kids.

This picture is from the Wednesday before CSC4K started... a few of us had to go through all the class kits (that had been packed at kit parties through the summer as product came in) and make sure everything was in the bags, and add instructions. The amazing thing is that all of this product (and there's more you can't see in this picture) was donated by scrapbook companies and stores so more money could go to the hospitals. Multiply this by the 6 events across Canada, and you get a lot of product! So thanks so much to all the sponsors! It was a full day of work to check all these kits and then take them to the hotel.

There were so many fantastic teachers and classes, and I wish I could have taken more, but my schedule was jam-packed as it was... I took three classes with Vicki Boutin (Take Flight, Stepping Out and Layer it On) and a super cute mini-album class with Jen Backler. I can't wait to finish my Hambly mini-album (Marci Lambert and Anja Wade) and another mini-album about my childhood. I learned a lot in Ashley Calder's Water Colour & Hand Lettering class, and definitely want to incorporate more of those techniques in my layouts. I finished two of the three layouts in Tracy Kyle's Too Many Buttons class (I love buttons!!!) and need to make time to finish the last one. It was very interesting to take all these classes and see the different teaching styles.

I also taught three classes over the weekend. My first one was Saturday night (A Year Full of Memories) and there were a couple little glitches with the kits, but thankfully I had enough extra kits to get everyone what they needed. I cut some more chipboard Sunday morning to add to the kits that were missing it. We didn't even come close to finishing the calendars, but we got a good start and I hope the directions and sketches will help everyone finish. Sunday morning, I had my Altered Tin and Cards class, and I learned from the night before to make sure everyone had everything they needed before we started... The stamps from Technique Tuesday hadn't arrived in time, but I brought enough of my own stamps for everyone to share, and we did okay. A few people finished in class, and a couple others stayed a little bit longer to finish before they left. Right after, I had my last class, Inspiration Everywhere. There were only 3 people in that one, and it went really smoothly... everyone finished their layouts and card before the class was over. I had a lot of good feedback from my classes, and I'm hoping I have the opportunity to do it again...

A highlight of my weekend was spending time with the other croppers and teachers. I got to meet some message board friends in real life. I was lucky enough to get a room at the hotel at the last minute, and my roomates ended up being Vicki Boutin, Jen Backler and Kim Nunez! It was so much fun meeting them, and they were all super nice. Vicki Boutin is one of my scrapping heroes, so that was an extra little boost for the weekend... I tried not to be too stalkerish and scare her off... lol. I intended to take tons of pictures over the weekend... pictures of my students while I was teaching, pictures of Sarah and the other volunteers, pictures of the teachers, pictures of me teaching... I was so busy and had so much I was carrying around so this is the only picture I got:
Vicki and Jen came to my last class before they were leaving on Sunday so I could say good-bye and get a picture. Since it's the only one (and I didn't even take it--thanks Tammy!!!) I'm just glad it turned out!

Thanks so much to everyone who made this weekend so special to me... I had a great time and I hope I get to do it again!