The-Very-Long-Brisbane-Scrap-Expo post

FRIDAY
At last - a little getaway just for me, to Brisbane. Beautiful Brisbane!

I stayed at the Oaks, on the 30th floor - the view!

I walked all over the city and found somewhere to have lunch. I even found the art store Eckersleys and decided to stock on some gesso and paints - more on that in the next post!

I fell in love with Brisbane - the changing colours of the city were so inviting.

And how perfect - a purple bedroom!

SATURDAY

Day 1 of the expo. I indulged in a special breakfast of yogurt, macadamias, berries and grapes. Oh!

No pics from the expo on the first day - bizarre I know - I was too busy talking with Sharmaine. I loved hearing her tell other scrappers how we'd only met that day after making contact via our blogs! So after we split for dinner, I got out the camera, after deciding to go to a restaurant all by myself on my way home. I had a long way to go, as my hotel was back over the Victoria Bridge and in the city past the mall. I so so recommend dining alone if you've never done it before. Go on!

How beautiful is Brisbane at night? I walked home with light rain sprinkling the River, and felt perfectly safe.

The Brisbane Eye - is that what they call it? Spectacular at night.

SUNDAY

I slept in big time, being a little sore after all my walking the day before. I walked the long way via Southbank, where there was a Big Day Out for Queenslanders, as a thank you for their work in the post-flood cleanup. I came across this vintage pair: LOVE!

Me and Sharmaine. She understands my need for photos!

And my two fave scrappin girls together: Sharmaine and Lou. They are way talented (that's Lou's work in the background. Sigh!) You haven't seen their blogs? GO!

Rachel Greig's card class was pretty cool - I loved learning the technique of stamping an image in black then colouring with markers. You just have to have the right image! Her retro sweets range was super cool.

Kass Hall's Zentangle class was intriguing. I can definitely see myself using this "Zentangle" inspired doodling!

MONDAY
I woke very early and admired the morning light gently waking up the city.

I crossed the Victoria Bridge one more time to the Convention Centre.

There was beauty everywhere, in the street art and nature - right in the city!

I met the lovely Sharmine for breakfast - she was fortunate to catch her plane home to Tassie before the volcanic ash suspended further flights.

I was fortunate to hear several speakers discussing their processes: Kerryn Leworthy, Tatum Woodruffe and the very talented Michelle Winston, pictured.

My highlight of the day was discovering the fabulous Jane Davenport, a very generous and talented artist. I signed up for her online class that very day!

I want to learn how to make this:

I caught the airtrain one last time to the airport and admired the sunset.

Three hours later, my flight to Adelaide suspended due to volcanic ash, I found myself back in the city at the posh Mercure Hotel. Oh, the view!

TUESDAY

There was a beautiful view of the Brisbane River with the sun slowly rising, reflecting warm golden colours in the buildings.

I went to the airport for my late morning re-scheduled flight and altered a postcard to send to Sharmaine for fun.

The second flight out of Brisbane was cancelled and followed by another very long wait in the queue.

I was amused to find myself back in another hotel, The Portal, and allocated the "Ladies Floor" where I was greeted with French Vogue magazine, chocolate and pink fluffy pillows!

WEDNESDAY

I checked out of my third hotel in six days, planning to find somewhere to sit and work on my travel journal until it was time to get myself back to the Brisbane airport.

What actually happened was, I wandered into the Queen St Plaza and found Kikki K. where there was lots of cute stuff that gave me some ideas... I was sensible, people, and bought a few coloured markers and some divided album refills. But then...

But then I was stopped by these two charming young men who were selling some gorgeous "Spa n Go" products made in Israel. Hand scrub made with salt from the dead sea! So, a free nail buff, hand massage and some sweet talking later, I ended up buying some of their products. I definitely went over my budget, woops! But I've been wanting to find some ways to pamper myself without resorting to expensive salon visits, so this way my DH can give me lovely hand and foot massages!

My plane departed for Adelaide via Melbourne, and I arrived safely home at 7pm, collected by my little family.

Thank you Qantas for getting me home safely, and paying for the extra hotel stays, taxi fares and meals when I was stranded. And thank you my DH for taking extra days off work to be Mr Mum (I told you it wasn't easy being me!) xox.