The first leg of our trip saw us travel from Perth to Kalgoorlie, to Eucla (OMG so cold!!!), Ceduna, via the gorgeous hills of Port Augusta to Broken Hill, to Dubbo and then to Brisbane via Tamworth. Of these places, Dubbo was our favourite. In fact, we loved Dubbo so much that we stayed an extra day than we had originally planned. I couldn't help but visit the town's scrapbook shop (!!!) and we visited the beautiful Western Plains Zoo twice. It was here that I saw African elephants for the first time (my fave animal!) and where Til and I had the opportunity to hand-feed the zoo's giraffes.
We arrived in Brisbane on Thursday 4th June, two days before the convention weekend. We took the time to rest up, vist Starbucks (I had been waiting to slurp on a Grande Caramel Java Chip with cream since August of last year... I am an addict!!!), and wander around the city. I found a scrapbook shop just down the road from where we were staying so... of course... I popped in for a visit!
And then came the day of all days... the first day of the Brisbane Scrapbook Convention!!! OMG! I can even begin to describe just how awesome the convention was! If you have never been, then don't cos you will want to go every single year thereafter!!!
DAY 1
My first impression was "OMG, there is like a thousand people in front of me in this line. I am never going to get in!" Thankfully, this was not te case and I was in and surrounded by scrapbooking goodness within no time at all. I couldn't quite focus at first. I just wandered in circles trying to come to terms with the tonnes of product and inspiration that surrounded me. I have a feeling I was walking around with a crazed smile plastered across my face - I was just soooooo darn overwhelmed with that 'kid-in-a-candy-shop' feeling. I eventually managed to decide upon a few MME purchases before rushing off to my first class, Prima-licious with Jill Geraghty-Groves.
Jill has to be one of the most down-to-earth, talented, and friendly people I have ever met. Her class was fantastic. I am yet to finish the page we created (I didn't and still haven't finished ANY of the projects from ANY of the classes I did! Damn housework!!!) but it is sure to look stunning given the teacher and product we had to work with!
Crap photo, but here I am with Jill (and my enormous belly!);
After another quick shop, was my second class, Card Frenzy with Jodi Holbrook. I must admit, I wasn't too impressed with this class, not so much because the project wasn't so great but because it was meant to be done using the Slice and, well, there was no Slice action to be seen. On a more positive note, Jodi is awesome fun and quite the entertainer... plus she was the bearer of lots of Making Memories prizes! I didn't win but I did get a tonne of product in my kit. Making Memories classes are incredible valuue for money... so book in to at least one if you get the chance next year.
After my second class I had the afternoon free to shop, shop, shop... and that's exactly what I did!!! Among my insane number of purchases, my faves were a Corner Muncher, October Afternoon Cherry Hill Shapes die-cuts and Ducks in a Row Wild Cards, Maya Road Metric Ruler Singleton Stamp, and some yummy Prima ribbons.
I was tired and very sore-legged come home time at 5pm that night. DH quite possibly went to bed with an earache after hearing me crap on all evening about everything I had done and seen, plus he was sunburnt from spending the day at WhiteWater World with my daughter. She had the best time there, especially on the slides in Wiggle Bay. She also had a photo (and a dance!) with Dorothy!
Well, I am officially over typing so I'll leave you in suspense for now. I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday with the next installment of Road Trop Zero Nine!
xxx
