Creating Keepsakes Convention - Portland

So this post is long overdue, but I still want to make a record of my amazing time at the convention. I volunteered for the Friday evening shift and signed my husband up to volunteer, as well. (Yes, I am super lucky to have such a great guy.) We arrived, found the volunteer sign-in table and were assigned to different rooms. We parted to go to our respective assignments. I was a little nervous as I had never volunteered and wasn't sure what was expected of me. But there was nothing to be worried about. I had a blast and as it turns out, very little was expected of me. I took tickets, passed out kits, walked around with a completed sample of the project, and helped clean up when the class was over. Easy, peasy.

The first class I was in was run by Awesome Albums and the project was a cute little acrylic album. Here are some pics:













The instructor was friendly and nice, but a little disorganized and she didn't have very clear instructions (no measurements included). It also irked some of the class participants that there were no photos in the instructions. Apparently, she'd had a less-than-stellar class earlier in the day where people actually walked out. Ouch. That class lasted about an hour and then I went out to the volunteer desk to get my next assignment.

The volunteer organizer sent me back to the same room for the next class, which was run by Angela from the Button Farm. She sells amazing kits with awesome full-color instructions. She was extremely organized and did an amazing job. She even had a Power Point presentation with photos showing each step. About half-way through, I thought to myself, "This is what every class experience should look like." Everyone was having a great time. Everyone was impressed with her. Her project was another acrylic album made using Basic Grey products. It was absolutely adorable and I picked up some nifty techniques I was able to use in the Blue's Clues album posted below this post. Here are some pics:
























The other volunteer that worked with me was super sweet. She was there with her sister, and her sister ended up in the same room as my husband. We were able to direct them to a restaurant afterward.

I had an amazing time, but boy was I pooped. My feet hurt from standing for four hours, but it was well worth it and I can't wait to volunteer again.

The next day, we went to the exhibitor hall, which was not what I was expecting, but was wonderful just the same. I was expecting more vendors of scrapbook products like Prima, Graphic 45, My Mind's Eye, etc. There were a couple of manufacturers represented, like Technique Tuesday and Queen & Co, but for the most part, the exhibitors were made up of small business people selling kits, premade pages, secondary products (i.e. stamps that go with Nestibilities), and retired brand name products for $1. I was there mainly to see the layouts used to advertise each seller's products and there was a plethora of them so I was in hog heaven. It was fabulous! It was like going to a scrapbooking museum. I had been warned by some of the other convention participants that you weren't allowed to take photos and I could understand why. I wouldn't want someone stealing my layout design and making it using other products purchased elsewhere. But, boy I wished I could have preserved them somehow for future reference. They were amazing!!! Maybe next time, I'll sketch them out while Spencer waits in the food court area. I had so much fun looking at all of them, but I was a little overwhelmed by the crowds. The aisles were jam packed. Twice, Spencer was recognized from the previous day's classes and the women gushed about how wonderful he was as an assistant. "Oh, you're so lucky. He was so great!" Don't I know it. I've got a keeper. He is wonderful. But, where was the love for Marieke?

After going through the convention we went out to the Creating Keepsakes booth which was near the volunteer sign-in and spent our gift certificates, which was very fun. I have to say I was a little disappointed by the lack of selection (there were about 10 products to choose from) but was very happy with what I ended up with. I found it interesting they didn't allow you to purchase a subscription with your gift certificate. Oh, well. I got some neat things to try out. See below to view pics of what I ended up with.