Friday, April 04, 2014

An Awesome New England Visit! Part 1 of 2

Hello fellow crafters! Many thanks to all those that followed along the #PaperTrail and #thecollinsshow, although I was a bad Face Book poster upper. Sorry...I was having too much fun, and had so much to do. The trip was fabulous though, and I met so many people, and created a lot of projects in classes, AND did some helping with Eileen and Amy's large feat of demoing Eileen's fabulous goodies! The sites, projects, and stores were fabulous, and I thought I'd show you some photos of the trip and the show in this post, and then I'll you two of stores we visited in the next post.  Grap a snack and a drink...it's lengthy!
I flew into New York City, and then grabbed a shuttle to meet Eileen and Amy in Connecticut. I finally got to see the trailer in all it's glory, and then it was off to Massachusetts.
The Collins Group are wonderful people who help brick and mortar store owners and studio business owners like me, find and buy products from companies they represent. They have these mini trade shows a few times a year, and they bring in the manufacturers and designers to teach us how to use their products. So fun!!! They were a wonderful group of people who hostessed a great event!
The trailer was loaded with tons of stuff that we toted inside the hotel where the trade show was. Then we gussied it up to have interviews and have people create little works of art.
There was a ledger to sign, and lots of goodies to create with that Amy brought along.
I was the first to be interviewed. That was hard!!! Amy and I created Artist Trading Blocks...so stinking fun!
Dina Wakley and Dyan Reaveley joined in on the fun too, and many more people as well.
 
I had soooo many classes, but along with all my cherished Ranger classes,  my favorite was the Purple Cows class where I was introduced to using those colored waxes I talked about in my 2013 CHA post...remember? Oh my gosh! I have wax on the brain now, and I cannot wait to design some encaustic classes!

My buddy Diana Hetherington joined me in several classes, and we had a great time...especially in this one!
Of course, my favorite project was in Tim's Ranger Class! I even finished it! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
After all the classes were finished, the companies had Make N Takes! Eileen and Amy were busy busy showing how to make Mini Albums!
They housed all the beautiful samples using Eileen's dies in vintage suitcases! They were darling!
 
There is Norman in the middle of the samples! He was one busy gnome! He followed all of our adventures!
After the show ended, we loaded up and headed back to Connecticut so Amy and Eileen could demo at some stores. Along the way though, I spotted an old church that was so beautiful. Eileen stopped and we took a look around. I have forgotten the name of the town...Old Lyme maybe???
In Texas, you don't find many churches like this anymore. There are some in the smaller towns that are off the main highways, but not many.
I loved the old rock walls that are built around the buildings. There is no mortar between the rocks, and all the rocks are found right on the property. They are just stacked up...so unique and beautiful!
 
Graveyards are right behind the churches. Again, this is not something we see in Texas. Cemeteries are huge and usually on the outskirts of our towns. I love the differences! Texas is a teen compared to how old things are in New England, and not even born to the ancient sites in Europe.
The church had one window that was stained glass, but it was behind the other window. I think it's been remodeled to protect it.
After our "Squirrel" visits along our drive, we stayed the night in Old Saybrook, where we ate at an awesome place called The Monkey Farm...delish and so much fun. Then the next day we were off to the near by town of Westbrook, right off of the Long Island Sound. What a gorgeous place! This is where we visited stores, but more on that in the next post.
Of course I had to step on a beach while in New England, so it was off to the Westbrook West Beach.
This gull was a ham for the camera! He kept swooping around so I could take his photo.
If I'm not mistaken, that white cottage in the center of the photo, is where Tim taught classes last year for the Beautiful Impressions Stamp Store.
 
The beach was the perfect way to end the #PaperTrail!!!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!


27 comments:

  1. Looks like a fun trip Anita. Thanks for sharing! So ecpxcited for you with all the travels and classes you are teaching.

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  2. Good gosh, you had to have had one heck of a time, obviously! How fun to be able to be with so many talents and take classes. And speaking of talents, what I could see of your ATB looked amazing and the burlap panel, GORGEOUS! Lovely photos and thank you for sharing your adventure with us! Enjoy the weekend.

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  3. Great following your journey. Fantastic pictures and lovely to see you having so much creative fun. Tracy x

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  4. Great photo's Anita! I love the projects and what a great cemetery! I love it!

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  5. I'm so happy that you have so much fun in your trip. You look amazing! Beautiful pictures thank you for sharing them. So much of stunning things on them so many wonderful works and places. Your work is gorgeous and stunning with an old photo contains so many beautiful items. This is brilliant! Greetings Asia :)

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  6. Anita- I MISS YOU! We sure did a lot in a week! Norman sends you his love and promises he is being a good gnome :-) Hugs from your fellow #papertrailer... Eileen

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  7. Looks like you had a fabulous time Anita - no wonder there was no time for FB! So much to learn, share, and see, and time spent with friends is so precious. Connecticut looks lovely and the walls remind me of the dry stone walls we have nearby in Derbyshire. Jenny x

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  8. Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip Anita and all the fab friends you made along the way.

    Annette x

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  9. Looks like such a fab time Anita!! I'm glad you got to take some wonderful classes and meet so many wonderful people. :)

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  10. What a fab post - thank you for sharing your adventures! Love the dinky little caravan, and those vintage suitcases for carrying the samples are just adorable. Looks like you were really busy as well as having a lot of fun... and wonderful photos of the church, graveyard and beach to finish up - lovely!
    Alison xx

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  11. Thanks for sharing your pictures and your tale. Looking forward to part 2.

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  12. What a great trip! I'll be in Old Saybrook visiting family in early May then stopping in The Great American Stamp Store in Westbrook for some retail therapy before heading back to IL. Can't wait to hear and see about the rest of your journey!

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  13. Soooooooo many great pics! Glad you all had fun, and so sorry we missed each other.

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  14. Wonderful adventure Anita! thanks for sharing with us your photos!!! Hugs BArbarayaya

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  15. Fabulous pics Anita...what a trip full of fun the classes sound amazing & meeting new friends is always fantastic...Looking forward to part two....Hugs May x x

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  16. Thanks for this great post Anita, a lot of work but a lot of fun too by the sound of it! Love the wonderful samples in those cool suitcases, but wow, my favourite piece has to be that Ranger make, LOVE!!!! I have a quick question re that piece, I keep seeing that word in red "special delivery" on various projects around blogland. Could you tell me what paper line it is from or what collection? Love all the photos of the trip itself too, what a stunning part of the world! Thanks for a great post!

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    1. Hey Astrid! Thanks for the question! It is Tim new Idea-logy Ephemera in Expedition! It has tons of cool images including the red special delivery piece you are talking about.

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  17. It sounds AMAZING! Your projects are fun to look at, the setting in the old trailer is fabulous, and the photographs that you took are breathtaking. Blessings, my friend!

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  18. You are up near my old neck of the woods....and I also have always loved the stacked stone fences. The farmers had to clear all of those off the land to plant their fields. Being thrifty, and practical, they stacked them into fences and they are one of New England's great treasures, in my opinion. If you ever get a chance to visit the Robert Frost farm, you'll see what I mean. Thanks for sharing this....made me a little homesick....

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  19. You captured some great moments Anita! I will never take the churches, cemeteries and stone walls for granted again! So glad you were able to join us on the #PaperTrail you made the journey so much fun and not to mention memorable! I forgive you for that beastly picture of me demoing :)

    Amy*

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  20. Such a wonderful adventure! Thanks for sharing the photos. I love the project you made & the vintage suitcases full of art look amazing.

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  21. Gosh what a great experience. Thanks for sharing

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  22. Thanks for your pictorial account of your travels in New England. I have happy memories of times on that beach with my grandchildren! I know you are having a great time between crafting in that beautiful part of the US! Your trailer is just wonderful!

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  23. Just loving all the great photos!! We were just in Victoria (on the Island) and went to the beach where we went treasure hunting and got a bag full of sea glass. So much fun! I love the stone walls as well and it looks like you had so much fun at the classes. I'm not the jealous type....so I'm very happy for you!! I just know you had a wonderful time!

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  24. Looks like a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing the photos.

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  25. Gorgeous, gorgeous fabulous WONDERFUL!!! :D

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  26. Better late than never. Finally found time to read your blog. What a lovely adventure you had. New England looks lovely, and as you said very old. Love your Tim make & take. I love that caravan too. Thanks for the photos

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