Last weekend I went to CHA Chicago for the third year in a row. It’s an interesting tale of three years of trade-showing … so I thought I’d share.

Year 1 – CHA 2005:
I made the 4-1/2 hour drive from my home in Southern Illinois to Chicago. I was in the process of writing “the happy scrapper” and thought the show would be great research for my book-in-process. But even more motivating was the chance to meet Wendy in person. In the spring of 2005, I received an email from her. She was looking for a professional organizer to help her set up an inspiring and organized scrapbook studio / home office in her new home. Wendy found my site (loved it), saw I was a scrapbooker (loved that) and emailed me to see if I had people in Utah that could help her on her organizing mission. I have no people in Utah (or any other state for that matter) but I do have a coaching program. So we started working together creating the space of her dreams. Our meeting at CHA resulted in a Wendy-guided-tour of the CHA show floor for me and an Aby guided-tour of IKEA for Wendy to look for things for her space. Stacy joined us for the IKEA adventure for a tour of the store and a Swedish Meatball dinner.

Adventure? Yes, that’s right. Our jaunt to IKEA ended after an unguided tour on the streets and interstates of suburban Chicago … an unguided tour that lasted for over two hours. (No joke!) It was then that Wendy and I knew for sure we were destined to be great friends … after all it isn’t everyday you can get seriously lost and have seriously great time in the process!
Fast forward to year two…

Year 2 – CHA 2006:
Wendy and I created many things during our time working together on her space. A great friendship. A collaborative partnership. An inspiring and organized space for Wendy. And the desire to share everything we learned working together with other scrapbookers, because we were quite certain that Wendy’s desire for an organized and inspiring scrapbook space was not a unique need. “Let’s write a book!” we thought, one that will help scrapbookers figure out what organizational and storage solutions will work for them. Let’s write a book that that will show them inspiring spaces of other scrapbookers…scrapbookers who have figured out what works for them and can share their wisdom with others. Let’s include a workbook so it will be easy for scrapbookers to take action on the material in the book. Let’s include some fun, inspiring and simple projects that scrapbookers can use to add a creative touch to their space. And so at CHA 2006 we pitched our book idea to Lin Sorenson. She loved it … and the journey to our new book began. Our trips to IKEA year 2 were focused on finding ideas for the book. No Swedish meatballs and no getting lost thanks to MapQuest reverse driving directions.
Fast forward to year three…

Year 3 – CHA 2007:
The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker is no longer a dream. No longer an idea. No longer simply the reason for lost sleep and late nights. It’s a book! And it’s here! (Well almost here.) At CHA Chicago I got to hold in my hands for the first time the culmination of two years worth of collaboration, ideas, cell phone calls, emails, painting projects, altering projects, organizing sessions, editing sessions, Swedish meatballs, and random “oh, wouldn’t it be cool if we did this?” thoughts during miscellaneous showers before bed. There it was … in one tidy, little package. Our book.

I am truly blown away at the job the team at CK Media did on this amazing book. Sure, Wendy and I get our names on the front cover, but one look inside shows that it was a team effort. And I want to say thanks out loud to the team: Ali Monson, Angie Lucas, Stacy Julian, Rachel Gainer, Elisha Snow, Carolyn Jolley, Jenny Webb, Claudia Daniels, Cathy Zielske, Marin Barney, Brian Smith, Symoni Johnson, Dana Wilson and a big thank you to Lin Sorenson. Thank you also to Stacy, Renee Pearson, Beth Proudfoot, Kelli Crowe, and Kelly Jeppson for letting us share your beautiful spaces and inspiring approach to scrapbooking on the pages of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker. I’m sure there are many others who had their hand in helping create this book … and I thank you, too.