When the Cat's Away....

You've heard that all saying, "when the cat's away, the mice will play" but little did you know how literal it could be!

As you know, (at least, those of you who are are our regular readers - thank you!) Michelle recently went away to CHA where she found all kinds of new product for the store. We wanted to share some pictures of the event so you can get a feel for all the lovely scrapbooking goodies Michelle gets to wade through when she goes to a show.

These great projects from FabScraps really caught her eye:

Some awesome inspiration from My Mind's Eye:

Some cute projects from Reminisce:

Of course, there's always a lot to see in the Graphic 45 booth:

The samples in the Prima booth were just outstanding:

I have to say, I can NOT get enough of Wendi Vecchi's Art Parts - the samples are just fun and super cool (PS - If you like these samples, you should check out our "No Place Like Home" class, which features Art Parts) :

Michelle was especially moved by the Tim Holtz booth - this year's projects were so homey and inviting - she hung around for quite some time taking it all in and thinking about having a good old fashioned Christmas!

If you haven't heard the FABULOUS news yet, Dyan Reaveley is coming to teach at our store!!! We are all SO excited - her booth showcased some absolutely astounding samples:

Her colors are just SO vibrant, and her little ladies so expressive... perfect for art journaling or any other time you need to express something sassy.... And don't Michelle and Dyan look cute together? Just like two little peas in a pod....

Actually, I'm sad to say, that may be part of the problem. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Those of you who have been longtime readers know about Michelle's long standing love affair with Derek. Nope, I'm not talking about her husband.

I'm talking about Derek, of Grey's Anatomy fame. And our sometimes employee, who always seems to be hanging around here and not doing much of ANYTHING, but still he gets more kudos than me. Hmmph. Anyway, Michelle's been madly in love with Derek for a long time, but lately... how do I say it... the spark seems to have fallen out of their relationship.

(For a look at Derek and Michelles' history, check out these links:
.... where Michelle welcomes Derek as a new employee (I remember no such post when I was hired..)
.... where Jacqui eats gross things (as usual) while waiting for Derek to start his first day
.... where Derek gets way to much credit for making a stupid phone call (Seriously?)
.... where Derek gets a cake for lounging around in the front window (Seriously????)
.... where Derek and Michelle go on a romantic get-a-way (ewww...)
....where Derek takes his opportunity to post on the blog to suck up to Michelle
....where Derek learns there are alligators in Florida (Well, duh.... Seriously?????)
.... where Derek gets jealous over bunny love
.... where Derek gets to hang out with Tim Holtz (SERIOUSLY????)


Well, you get the idea. Hard to believe it could ever go wrong... she was SO into him! It's so sad, I know. It all started with an ill fated episode of Grey's Anatomy when all the cast members had to sing, like they were in some kind of musical or something. Well, Michelle has a secret that not many people are aware of. They will be now, of course, because I'm going to reveal it right now. Michelle can't STAND musicals. I mean, they really set her off. Kind of weird, actually, but I guess everybody has their little quirks and for Michelle one of the mildest ones is her absolute abhorrence for musicals.

So, the episode came around and, to his credit, Derek didn't even get involved in the singing. Most of the other characters sang, enthusiastically if not exactly on-key. Well, not Sara Ramirez - she really was quite good. Some of the others, though.... ehhh. You can read Michelle whining about it here.

For those of you who didn't see it, here's a little exerpt... be warned though - some of the singing really is quite terrible. Also, if you don't regularly watch the show there is a little bit of medical gore, so if you don't like that kind of thing please don't watch this clip:

Anyway, Michelle was resolute... Derek's mere attachment to the musical disaster left a bad taste in her mouth.Pretty soon, she wasn't reserving Thursday nights for Derek anymore. Then he started sort of "getting lost" in the store. We couldn't find him anymore, and when we did he was naked and upside down in a plastic bin. I won't embarrass Derek by sharing any of those photos - after all, it's not as if the singing was his idea. I kind of think Derek got the raw end of the deal here.

But that's neither here nor there. I guess the final straw was when Michelle took home her favorite picture of she and Derek together - you could tell, she really just wasn't into him anymore. Still, Derek hung around the store, sucking up all the neglect in hopes of rekindling their prior romance. Michelle, in the meantime, started making all kinds of new scrapbooking friends, Dyan included.

Well, I guess Derek's finally given up. While Michelle was away at CHA, Derek took a mini vacation without her! She probably would never have known, in fact, as of the time I'm writing this, she still doesn't. We thought the best way to break it to her was publicly - after all, everyone knows that the absolute best way to hash out your relationship problems is on reality TV! Unfortunately, we don't have a reality TV show, so we'll have to settle with a blog reveal - and here it is:

Our long time friend and customer Jacqui caught Derek in the act! While Michelle was slaving away at CHA, Derek was enjoying some prime beach time:

Of course, it all seems rather innocent - at first. Clearly, Derek is enjoying some alone time, probably trying to deal with his feelings of abandonment and grief. But wait.... I don't think all of that laundry on the line belongs to Derek...

Yes, it's true... Derek has met someone else! It really doesn't get any worse than this, folks:

Yup - feeding soup to each other. Disgusting! And then came the goofy posed pictures:



Yes, I'm so sorry Michelle, but it appears to be all over between you and Derek. Maybe you're not too upset, since the whole musical thing kind of put you off to begin with. Love, true love, can not be dampened so easily. But, I suspect, a little part of your heart will always belong to Derek. Now, not to put salt in the wound or anything, but you probably should have treated him a little better. After all, being left naked and upside down in a plastic bin kind of puts a hurt on a body, you know?