Awards Breakfast and Day of CHA!

I have no words for what I felt today! So honored that CHA choose me for their "Service to Humanity" award. It as much bigger than I ever thought, 500 people in this banquet room that I had to walk in front of the get my award and to speak too! I was a bit of a mess, I thought it was going to be a small little breakfast of about 20 some people! Boy was I shocked when I walked in this huge room! I think I went straight to panic mode! After my wonderful husband talked me off the roof I was able to get through the entire event. Thank goodness I had no idea that the presidents, CEO's and vice presidents of Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Arichers, and Ben Franklin where there for this event! Not sure I would've made it through had I known everyone that was there!! Here are some pictures of me from the awards breakfast. 

This picture was actually taken after the breakfast back in my booth. 

Okay so I know this is a VERY blurry picture but it is the ONLY picture I have of me speaking. 

(Hubby was having camera issues.)

This was the stage, and on each side of the stage was a huge big screen that you

while you are talking the camera is projecting it up on the big screens. 

(A bit intimidating.)

After the awards breakfast for pictures...

These are all the other wonderful people that received awards for various things. 

(You can read their stories etc. Here.)

I'm so tired today so I'm going to just show one little picture of my booth! 

(But its one of my favorites!)

This was my grandma's night stand for most of her life, so I LOVED having it with me! 

Many more pictures to come, promise! 

Have a great Monday! 

Having the time of my life!!

To be honest I've never been a big fan of the LA area, some parts I love and some well, not so much. BUT I love it this time around! It is beautiful and the temperature here is fantastic!! 

Every time I've been here its has been raining so that maybe why I love it so much this time, the last couple sunny days are wonderful.

Here are the trees outside the convention center... so pretty. 

Today was day one of setting up. The first thing I do is hold my breath until I see my crates (all in one piece) then I finally let that breath out and hold it until everything is unpacked and if nothing is too damaged then another big sigh of relief.

And here they are all in one piece. 

Then the manual labor starts...

and the thinking it all through starts.

Then lunch outside under the trees on a perfect day!

And some silliness too...

(I have no clue what I'm doing and why I'm doing it!)

More pictures later!

One last little project I want to share...

 made with my "Noah" paper line!

(Created by DT Diva Stacy Rodriguez.)

Happy Friday! 

I'll be back soon! 

WE'VE LANDED IN LA!

Dan and I arrived in Anaheim at about 2 pm yesterday! We left a cold and very wet state and landed in a sunny 76 degrees state... it was a bit of a shock to my system, and adjusting to the 2 hour difference is always a bit hard for me for about the first 24 hours then I'm fine. After we checked into our hotel we went and had dinner. We were both starving with not having had a lunch, so we decided on the Cheesecake Factory and we had the entire restaurant to ourselves since it only only 4 in the afternoon. 

Dan waiting for the food (with his best friend "Mr. iPhone")

Here are our after dinner sweet treats, I had banana cheesecake and Dan had the hot apple crisp.

(He also had all my whip cream from my cheesecake, in case you are wondering what all that white stuff is on his plate, as I can not stand whip cream!) 

LA sunset, so pretty, but look at the perfect crescent moon in the upper left corner. 

Tomorrow we will start unpacking the crates and start setting up the booth, this will be a 3 day process so we don't have to put in really long hours. I'll update you with some pictures on tomorrows blog post.

I don't know about you but leaving home is always so hard to do with a kiddo and 4 dogs, but this time surprisingly Nico was the hardest to leave behind. I think it was because he saw the suitcases come out and knew in that moment what was going to take place. So he was stuck to me like GLUE! 

You can see in this picture that he is right behind my legs while I was doing the dishes yesterday.

Isn't this just the sweetest picture, but so sad! 

(Thank goodness he has no clue about how long we will be gone!) 

Don't forget to grab a badge for your blog. Next week we'll start hopping around the blog and picking winners, you will win the collection of the badge that you post on your blog. 

You will know if you are a winner because Katrina or I will comment on your newest blog post.

Happy Thursday! 

Buttons, Buttons and Nico!

My Cute as a Button, Burlap Buttons have been so popular that I thought I'd make a sweet little frame with the buttons and some stitching for my booth and Valentine's Day!

I used the buttons for this frame and added one little black button too! 

I also made some sweet little wrappers for candy bars for some friends of mine. 

I used my papers from my "Messages" collection and burlap buttons.

The buttons I used...

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Last but not least I had to share some pictures of Nico at the office!

Helping us keep an eye out for the Fed-Ex guy 

(who Nico actually likes b/c he brings him treats)!

Thought these might make you smile! 

We sure love our big boy, Nico!

He doesn't even fit in this chair! 

Have a great day!

Are you ready....

for a fun project I made with my new...

collection!

We bought our very first 5th Wheel this past summer, so we could travel with our kiddo and 4 pups. (So much easier to bring everyone along than to find a place for everyone to go!) 

Here is our 5th Wheel, that we love!

It was this trip with Henry, our kiddo, the pups that inspired "Exit Here"!

Since we plan on working from the road when we can from our 5th Wheel I decided to collect postcards from every state we drive through and every campsite we stay at so I needed something to put all my postcards in...

so I made this cute little box to hold all the post cards from our travels!

I also used my Burlap Buttons on the box too! 

They are perfect for the little camera's.

Hope you enjoyed my new little "peek" at "Exit Here"!

Until next time....

6 days and counting....

until CHA!! I can't believe it! I spent the entire weekend making projects for the booth and well being sick too! Yep, I have got the nasty winter head cold. No fun! So it looks like I don't have much to say or show, sorry about that. I promise to make up for it the rest of the week! I'll take pictures of my projects I made this weekend for my booth and will upload them to my blog! So until then scroll down and take a look at my new collections that I'm releasing in 6 DAYS! Yikes!
Have a great Monday! Will be back tomorrow with some fun stuff! - Nikki


PS: I told my husband I was in bed "resting", which is true but I have my iPad with me too! So if you are on FB don't tell him about me blogging! Hee Hee!

A winner and an award!

T.G.I.F. 

I love Friday's, even if I have to work over the weekend, I still like that its Friday! 

I get to work all weekend with my new papers on projects for my booth, so it is the really fun kind of work! 

I have a winner from Wednesday's blog post:

The random winner is...

 Erica Marshall said...

These are WONDERFUL!!! I love them all but I think my favorite is Audrey! Thanks so much Nikki and have fun at CHA!

Erica please email me your shipping address and I'll get my "Noah" paper collection out to you as soon as I get it in. (Should be mid to end of February.)

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I have brand new BADGES for your blogs made with my new CHA collections! 

Audrey

Noah

Exit Here

Messages

Grab a badge for your blog! You never know who might do some blog hopping and if one of these new badges is on your blog you could win that collection! 

Good Luck! 

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Some fun news for me...

About 4 months ago I was contacted by CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) that the 2011 CHA Industry Awards Winners had been picked and that I was one of the winners! I was in shock and once I caught my breath I asked "What did I win and why?", LOL, I was driving on my way to a girls weekend and was all confused. So the nice lady went on to tell me it was for my Joplin Drive last summer. How cool is that! 

Here is the announcement that CHA made:

CHA’s Special Recognition Award is given to an individual or group for an extraordinary contribution in an activity that showcases the craft and hobby industry in a positive way.  This year, the Award will be presented to two groups that selflessly coordinated relief efforts through crafts, including Nikki Sivils and her craft relief efforts for the tornado victims in Joplin, Mo., and a group working under the name ‘Clara’s Calling,’ which collectively recognizes U.S. Army Master Sgt. Clara Vargas, Lisa Steele of Bella Fabrics, Rob Krieger of Checker Distributors, Laurie Harsh of Fabric Shop Network and Jan and John Bradley of Lamia Afghan Foundation, for their work in providing sewing and quilting supplies to thousands of women in Afghanistan.

Nikki Sivils coordinated craft relief efforts following the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Mo., working with dozens of companies to secure, organize and distribute $50,000 worth of donated scrapbook supplies to the victims of the tornado.  On Sunday, July 10, 2011, Sivils and her team delivered 50 tubs filled with scrapbook supplies to crafters who lost everything in the tornado.  The donated supplies also went to local schools, the Spiva Art Center in Joplin and were used for the children’s ‘Healing Through Art’ program.  Her efforts following the disaster helped return some normalcy to the local area and scrapbooking community.  Sivils selfless activity directly inspired two other craft relief efforts in Joplin where products and funds were raised for St. Mary’s Elementary School, as well as an art auction benefiting the City of Joplin.

The morning of the first day of the show I'll be attending the Industry Awards breakfast and I'll get my award at the show. I'm really excited, I've NEVER won an award before!! But I do have to get up and except the award with a little speech, which I was just told about last week. So I'm a bit nerves about the speech part, but I'll make it I'm sure!

I'll have pictures etc... of the award breakfast and will share them on my blog after CHA starts. 

Have  a wonderful weekend! 

Sneak Peeks are over! Lets get down to business...

I think it is time to show everything off! All four collection, all the papers in the collection, punch-outs and stickers too of course!  There might even be a prize at the end too! 

So lets get to it...

I created "Audrey" in memory of my grandma, LaVera Audrey, who passed away this last fall. "Audrey" is everything girlie from baby to adulthood! It will be great for Mother's Day too!

1A. Audrey's Dress 

1B. Audrey's Shower Cap

2A. Audrey's Bedroom

2B. Audrey's Handbag 

 3A. Audrey's Pictures

 3B. Audrey's Planner

 4A. Audrey's Vines

4B. Audrey's Tablecloth

5A. Audrey's Closet Cut-UPs

5B. Audrey Meets Harlo

(Audrey, my g-ma, and Harlo was my g-pa and they met at a USO dance, that's why I named the sheet music paper, "Audrey Meets Harlo"!)

 The collection kit cover

Audrey's Garden

 This is the bonus paper in the collection kit (comes only in the collection kit.)

Audrey's Punch-Outs

Coordinating Alpha Stickers
 Layout using Audrey by DT Diva Sarah Eclavea

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After getting our 5^th Wheel last summer, I just HAD to do a vacation collection. This isn’t just a camping line, though. “Exit Here” is perfect for everything from stay-cations to traveling abroad! You’ll love “Exit Here”!

1A. Carry On Luggage

1B. I Heart Traveling

 2A. Traveling

 2B. My Tent

 3A. Postcards

 3B. Hiking Trails

 4A. My Traveling Dress

 4B. Packing

 5A. Don't Forget Cut-Ups

 5B. Arrival Gate

 Collection Kit Cover

 The Woods

 This is the bonus paper in the collection kit (comes only in the collection kit.)

Exit Here Punch-Outs

Coordinating Alpha Stickers

 Layout using Exit Here by DT Diva Deana Boston

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I’ve had a vintage typewriter in my craft room for years; this past fall, it helped inspire my new paper line, “Messages”. I fell in LOVE with this collection and I’m betting you will too! “Messages” is full of old phones, typewriters, clocks and lamps; it makes for a great “everything” collection!

 1A. Take A Message

 1B. Graph It

 2A. Office Flowers

 2B. Type To Me

3A. Log It

 3B. My Office

 4A. Organizing Files

 4B. My Day Planner

 5A. My Desktop Cut-Ups

5B. My Briefcase

Collection Kit Cover

Time Card

 This is the bonus paper in the collection kit (comes only in the collection kit.)

Messages Punch-Outs 
 Layout using Messages by DT Diva Katrina Hunt

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I have two brand new little nephews this year and I’m very active in their lives. I’ve been up to my ears in inspiration for a boy line! “Noah” is named after my youngest nephew and I ADORE him! I also have three grown-up brothers and I love creating with this line for my fellas of all ages! “Noah” is also perfect for Father’s Day!!

1A. Noah's Star's

 1B. Noah's Overalls

2A. Beep Beep

 2B. Noah's Blanket

 3A. Noah's Pockets

 3B. Noah's ABC's

 4A. Daddy's Ties

 4B. Noah's Chevy

5A. Noah's Closet Cut-Ups

5B. Noah's Wallpaper

 Collection Kit Cover

 Mommy's Skirt

This is the bonus paper in the collection kit (comes only in the collection kit.)

Noah's Punch-Outs

 Coordinating Alpha Stickers
 Layout using Noah by me, Nikki Sivils
(This picture is of the "real" Noah with my brother and SIL.)

 That's it...

All four of my new CHA 2012 Releases!

I love them all but I want to know what your favorite collection and favorite paper is!

Leave me a comment telling me what your favorites are and I'll pick one random winner and will announce them on Friday's blog post. You'll win the collection you pick as your favorite!

(FYI: It will be a couple of weeks before the paper will be shipped to you as we don't have the paper "in-house" yet!) I can't wait to see your favs!

Have a great Wednesday! -Nikki