Where did October go??????

I just looked up and tomorrow is Halloween, the last day of October, where did this month go?  I've been busy, I just don't know that anything got accomplished.

What do you get when you put 50 women together in a room scrapbooking for 3 days.... a ton of fun, that's what my first trip to Camp Scrapbook Paradise entailed. Located an hour or so north of Reno, near Portola, CA is Grizzly Creek Ranch, which was the site for the weekend. Thursday night after unpacking all of the scrapbook supplies, we started in on a weekend of crafting. I got all 40 of my Christmas Cards completed between Thursday night and Friday. I'm ahead of the game so far, usually I start creating the cards on Thanksgiving weekend.

This was the prototype for the cards. I'm glad to have them completed. Now I just need to come up with a smaller card idea for the cards for my friends at work.

Saturday I got to work on some of my Christmas gifts

First I decided to do bookmarks with holders, I laminated the bookmarks, but will need to add tassels to a couple of sets yet.

For the most part, I like the way they turned out. I love the butterflies on the second My Minds Eye set, but it made the laminate crease badly. I will need to redo those. I may make a couple of more sets for those incidental gifts we all need to have on hand.

I also did a set of notecards as a gift for my friend

I still need to put a little more detail on the cards, but they are starting to look good. 

The last thing that I got to work on was the card for my uncle's retirement party. Since he's retiring from the US Postal Service, I wanted to do something themed, he's got a great sense of humor, like my late grandpa (his FIL) so he will totally get it. 

Sunday morning was a day for finishing up all of the little things before cleaning up and heading back to Reno. Oh, an during the time we were there, we took long walks in the beautiful fall weather, and made s'mores in the fireplace. 

Scrapooking anyone?

Lisa and Tawn at camp

S'mores anyone?

Friday and Yesterday, I took a quick 24 hour mini-vacation to Sacramento and Apple Hill, sometimes you just need to get away. I made a stop at Green Tangerines, one of my favorite scrapbook stores, right behind Scrapbook Paradise in Reno, and then hit the mall for some retail therapy. While I didn't buy too much, I did have a great dinner at Buckhorn Grille. Saturday morning after breakfast I drove up to Apple Hill on my way home. Here are some of the sites.

As October ends, and November begins, it's time for me to start looking at all of the things I have to be thankful for, and put to rest all of the stress of the past few months. My next challenge for the Crop Chocolate focus group has to do with being thankful. I'll show you what I come up with in the next couple of weeks. Now it's time to make dinner (meatloaf and smashed potatoes with a salad) and finish working on my puzzle pieces for the Crop Chocolate swap. Gotta let the Glimmer Mist dry on those before finishing. 

Have a fantastic Halloween and Dream Big.