With a new show coming up on November 1st I recently realized that needed to carve out some serious "arting" time. So, I gathered some of my favorite people whom I know enjoy arting as much as I do and we made a weekend of it!

I reserved the party room at my apartment complex for the entire weekend. People were given meal assignments and we all brought beverages and snacks. TIP: if you plan to schedule a weekend like this with your pals, I would suggest not making a lunch assignment. See foodie schedule below:)

Meal assignments were thusly:
Friday Night: Tracy cooks! Lasagna, salads and garlic toast.
Saturday: breakfast at Perkins meet at 8:30 and dinner prepared by Sue and Cheryl (more about them later)
Sunday: brunch prepared by Chrissy and Leann (more about them later too!)
We had plenty of snacks and beverages to keep our scrapbooking/card making/arting energy up!

I invited some of my favorite people. I have to admit, this isn't the first time I've hosted an event like this so I think I have the plan down pretty pat - including matching personalities that mesh.

My Mom: mom has been very ill on and off over the last two years. Just recently she's been taking a turn for the better and was finally feeling up for being out of the house for a few days. Yay! Dad brought her down to our place and we made her sleep in our bed. She was such a trouper too! She worked on making cards. She laid on the couch when she felt like she needed to and she ate well. Honestly, she didn't have to lay down much at all! I can't tell you how great it was to have her cute little face in my circle of friends this weekend.

Cheryl: Cheryl is Sue's sister from a far away place called Atwater. She just bought a new home and really felt like she needed to be there working on painting and prepping it for the coming holidays. I'm so pleased that she found our time together much more attractive than scraping old paint off the walls. Cheryl is the master at card making. Very very professional looking stuff!

Sue: Sue is Cheryl's sister, HA! I met Sue a couple years ago and we instantly became friends. She has a great attitude and would give you the clothes off her back if you needed them. She is very "sharefull" as Chrissy says. Sue has two sons whom she adores and lives for. They are growing up quickly so she does what she can to preserve their times as "boys" as best as possible while still letting them grow.

Kelley: Kelley is a friend of mine from work and she is the friend who introduced me to blogging. I wish I were as good at it as she is. She's even won awards for her blog! I know she was probably surprised by this, but she shouldn't be. Check out her blog at Yeah Sure You Betcha. OK - Kelley, if you're reading this can you tell me how to link your bloggy here? She's so good about teaching me stuff. I find I have a lot to learn. OH, and she has this great idea for a possible new blog! More about this when she makes the final preps on it. I'm so happy to maybe be a part of this idea! Trust me, YOU will love it too!

Kathy: Kathy is a mom who lives in my apartment building. She is married with two kidos. If I ever want directions to somewhere nearby or need tips on saving money, she is my go-to gal! Kathy loves loves loves her family and was working on sorting out her pictures for future scrapping. Oh, she expected to only sort through some things and be done... little did she know she'd go home with 5 pages completed! It was most fun for her, I think, because her kids could stop down to visit seeing as she was just downstairs in the party room. Nice! And, a big shout out to her hubby Mike who watched the kidos so she could come out and hang with us gals.

LeAnne: LeAnne is Sue's sister in law. She's been dealing with some rough stuff over the last year or so - so this was the perfect time for her to get out and just let loose. If you ever meet LeAnne you will know her right away. She has this beautiful silver hair with the most engaging blue/green eyes that you can imagine. And her personality is so very alluring... simply an amazingly strong woman.

Chrissy: Chrissy is a friend of Sue's that came along to one of our first scrapbooking weekends. There is little more to say about her than, I want to be just like her when I grow up. Chrissy is over 60, she wears the cutest clothes and shoes. She is extremely witty. She knows the words to songs on the kid's radio stations and she can totally relate to me. In short, Chrissy gets it. She gets that life is short so why not make the most of it! What a delight...

Jeff: Jeff was the only boy at our weekend. Why? Well, he's my husband for one and, for another, he enjoys all of the women I described above. He would spend his time working on his own homework, watching movies with Virgil or going out to a movie. He also did his share of shuffling people around the secure building to make sure they could get in and helped schlep their stuff back and forth as necessary. I think all the girls would agree that he's just a great guy all around.

OK. Whew!

Oh, and there's ME! I worked on framing up my watercolors for the show and creating a few new collages. I'll post again with photos of those. They were and are great fun to put together. I never really know what the end result is going to be until, well, the end.