Rah! Rah! CKU!

My CKU-San Jose experience

I just returned from my trip to San Jose to attend Creating Keepsakes University. For those who aren't much into scrapbooking, it's basically a huge scrapbooking convention. If you aren't into scrapbooking or other paper crafts, you probably won't be interested in this blog entry because I'm going to review what I did at CKU.


Driving up to San Jose...

I met up with my friend, Felecia, at Starbucks at about 5:30am in Moreno Valley. We both live in the same general area of the Inland Empire region of Southern California so we thought it would be a good idea to share the ride. Things got off to a late start... First off, I was supposed to meet her at Starbucks at a little before 5:00am. Well, things didn't go as planned so I didn't get there until almost 5:30. Thank goodness my friend didn't mind. Then there was the sleep issue; I got absolutely none on the night before. There was just too much to do! Not only did I have to pack clothes and scrapbooking supplies for myself, but I had to be sure that my family was all taken care of before I left! I made sure that there was food in the freezer, plenty of clean clothes for the triplets, schedules written out, directions to their playdate all typed up, etc... I kept thinking of more and more things to do, and before I knew it, it was about an hour before I had to meet Felecia! I just had time for a quick shower before heading out the door. Moises helped me get my things into the Explorer and we headed to Moreno Valley. I told him to take good care of our kids and we said our good-bye. Once he drove away, I realized that I was on my own, doing my own thing for the first time in like 16 years. I've never left my husband or my children at home for more than a day or two in the past. This was definitely going to be something different for me. It would be four full days without them all...

The drive went pretty well! Felecia was great company, and we made great time considering we hit some traffic near the Pasadena area. We listened to a bunch of CDs and talked about lots of things. We made one stop along Interstate 5 for gas and a bathroom break and headed back out on the road. We arrived in Gilroy at about noon. Again, we took a quick bathroom break, got a sandwich for me for lunch, said a quick hello to my brother, Rich, who was working at one of the outlet stores and then headed off for our first stop at at local scrapbook store in downtown Gilroy. It was here that we met up with two other friends from the Los Angeles area who were also going to CKU.

The store, Got Memories, was a pretty decent store and more than I had expected for Gilroy... (Remember, I was born and raised there...) I bought some patterned paper, adhesive and foam stamps and once we all finished our shopping, we got back into the car and made our way to next store in San Jose. The reason we were stopping at all these stores was because they all offered discounts off of their regular prices for CKU attendees.

Scrapbook Island, in south San Jose, was the next store on the list and I was impressed with the selection. Again, I picked up more patterned paper and paint for my foam stamps. They had cookies set out for the shoppers and even a massage therapist on hand for anyone who wanted a quick chair massage. I would have been temped to get one myself if it would have been just a little cheaper. So I passed and headed to the Doubletree Hotel with Felecia to check in.


The Hotel and a little more shopping...

The Doubletree in San Jose is a very nice hotel. Nothing too fancy, but very clean and polished. My roommate, Cris, wasn't in her room when I called for her because her plane hadn't arrived yet, so I had to keep my luggage in Felecia's room for awhile. She was very gracious!

We stopped at another store, Memories Live On, I think... There wasn't much to this store, or the next one... Scrapbook Mania. I did pick up a rubber stamp and some ink at one of these stores, although I can't remember which one. I'm sure they fill a need for what some scrapbookers use in their albums, but they just didn't have much of what I was looking for, personally.


Margaritas!

In between the two stores I listed above, we stopped at Chevy's at Westgate for dinner and MARGARITAS! I can't even remember what I ate for dinner, but the Mandarin Orange Margarita I drank was so yummy! It felt so good to just relax and enjoy that margarita... We shared some conversation and lots of giggles... But we had to move on!!! There was still another store to get to before we went back to the hotel!


Saved the Best for Last...

There was one more store that we had heard great things about; Picture Passion in Campbell. WHOA! I devoured this store!!! They had tons of stuff that I really dig for my albums, and a 25% discount to sweeten the deal. Not to mention the freebies and tote bag they gave to everyone!!! Of course, I laid down some serious cash in this store. It was MY store... I found albums, paper, embellishments, and more that I absolutely needed. (he he) We stayed late, stopped at Starbucks to re-fuel and stopped by Memories, another store in SJ, which was just OK for me... I'm not even sure what I bought there, although I know it was a small purchase. Probably more adhesives... never can have too much adhesive!


A New Friend...


After a full day of shopping, the four of us went back to the hotel to get some rest before our big day the next morning. I picked up my stuff from Felecia's room and headed to the room I shared with my "online" friend, Cris, and her mother, Ann. I couldn't wait to finally meet Cris!

When I got there, she was just kicking back enjoying her room service meal and watching baseball on tv. She turned out to be such a cool girl! We chatted for quite awhile and got to know each other a bit before I finally just had to crash on account of my lack of sleep the night before. Cris' mom strolled in after midnight, after a full day of shopping and after a quick introduction, I crashed again. I was out for the night!


CKU Begins...

Registration was early in the morning, and leave it to me to be a little late! Still, all was good and I got loads of make-and-take projects and freebies that day. I loved almost everything we did (Cris, Ann and I hung out for most of the time). Hmmm... I think my own favorite that day would have to be either the Making Memories painted CD tin or one of the mini-books we put together (sorry I can't remember the names of the vendors off-hand), or the layout I did at the Hero Arts table. I even sat at the Anna Griffin table, which is way outta my scope when I scrapbook, but found the layout to be better than I had expected, and probably something I really will use. One of the highlights of the day for me was meeting and talking with Karen Burniston with Creative Imaginations. She's an awesome chick, and her AlphaWear line is the bomb. (Which reminds me... I must get more!) Unfortunately, I didn't get to sit at the Bazzill table or the SEI table on account of long lines and lack of time. But Cris did score me a SEI kit, so that was kewl.

In the evening after dinner, (my dinner consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, Chee-tos and a Diet Pepsi... who has time for food when there's so much to do?) we went to the "Tailgate Party" which was the "official" start of the convention and where all the CK celebreties came out to meet and greet. I took a picture with BH & LB... I found them to be very personable...

The next three days were jam-packed with workshops, freebies galore, crops, dorm activities and celebrity sightings. My favorite classes were "Stampbooking" taught by Jennifer Ditz McGuire, "Just the Two of Us", taught by Lisa Bearnson, and "BH Style", by Becky Higgins. Although the last two instructors are major celebrities in the scrapbooking world, I didn't choose their classes as my favorites simply because of that... I truly learned new techniques and fresh layout ideas from them. Out of the three, Jen's class on stamping was my absolute fave. Awesome altered tin project and kewl techniques. I think I may be biased though, since I'm so addicted to rubber stamps!

Then of course, there was the shopping... I made one more trip to Picture Passion before the weekend was over. I just had to buy more! This store is definitely going to be one of my must-sees whenever I'm back in the area visiting my family.


In Closing...

All in all I had an excellent time for my very first CKU. I would love to attend another CKU if I could. I think it is coming back to San Jose in 2006, so that could be a plan. If only I could get over being away from my children for so long... (4 days)...

Thanks for reading!