Ranger U pictures and post (warning, very long!)

I made it there and back! Had a few delays on the way, and a few coming home, very grateful that I had been able to book direct flights so that I didn't need to worry about connections, that would have been a bummer!

We got started Friday morning with a beautifully organized and clean room, it wasn't that way by the time we were done with it! This is a picture of my work surface. We all introduced ourselves, and then had a tour of the facility, so fascinating! One of the big happy points for me is that most of Ranger's products are manufactured in the USA at the facility in New Jersey!! That is a good thing!!! Tim is the Willy Wonka of the inky world, he knows how to have fun and how to think of fun and clever toys that add new wonder. Suze and Claudine (who I didn't get a picture of except on my phone and that is on my FB page) were delightful and so very knowledgable and inspiring as well. Loved the fact that we learned about all of the product lines at once, it opened up so many possibilites for exploration and fun!
Patti is wonder woman! She knew exactly what was going on at all times, and had the answers for anything! The event was run so smoothly, and everything had been thought of, great planning! Mario was the go to guy! He always had a smile on his face, and I swear, he never held still! He made sure we were fed, had snacks, beverages and empty trash cans! So kind and patient, gotta love him!!!

My table buddy was the darling and oh so fun Debby Shuh! We traded pinks for greens, and if you know either of us, you know that is a good thing!!!

Cindy Lyles was across the room from me, but I tried to bother her and her fun tablemates every chance that I got!!! I have a little envy, not only is she immensely talented, super cute and incredibly sweet, she drives the CUTEST red convertible sports car! sigh.

Lynn Warner and Crystal Rieger were Cindy's partners in crime. (see I told you, super fun tablemates!!!) Crystal is so funny and Lynn is so sweet and generous! My new super FAB BFFs!!!

The darling Donna Salazar was a few seats away but I could catch glimpses of her wicked cool creativity now and then, she has such a playful and free spirit that reflects in her style, LOVE that!!!

Miss Jen Starr is super FANTASTIC! She was attending for a record setting 5th certification! She had it all going on, and it was such a nice experience to have her just a wink away! I could watch her work and find little nuances to the techniques that we were working on, obviously loads of product knowledge and experience! She has got it going on!!!

Sulie was my other tablemate! What a treasure as a new friend, and a fascinating and talented woman! She is from Vienna, Austria and has a shop there, the only one in town! She just might find me on her doorstop visiting! That is a part of the world that I have always wanted to see, and now having a friend there gives me the excuse I have always needed! Anyone want to go with me and make it a par-TAY?!!!

After working on our technique tags from Claudine's segment, we had a chance to just play with her products, and I already had a huge love for them before this event, but now that I have an even better understanding, I am ready to try all kinds of projects that I wouldn't have thought possible before! Everyone was given a box from Cosmo Cricket to decorate how ever they wanted and about an hour and a half to do it. I just went for it, I globbed on paper, paint, glaze and buttons! It was fun to just make something without a plan just to see what it would turn into! I need to do that more often!

In Suze's segment we made all of these great projects while we learned about the product and techniques to use it. Then Ranger provided the frame and the mattes to put it all together! I have plans to Beck-i-tize it, but thought that I would share what the original looked like! It gets me super amped to play more just looking at it! Does it do that for you?

We even got a melting pot! So excited to get it plugged in and goopy again!

The last picture is of my suitcase. I did have a few clothes in there, but not many, wore the same two pairs of jeans for the weekend with a fresh t-shirt everyday (no mocking, I wasn't there for a fashion show, LOL!)

The whole experience was designed to let us explore as artists, but leave feeling like we learned and succeeded in creating projects and samples that would help us teach and share with others! The encouragement and teaching styles of all three were so great, and I am hard to impress in that regard. They all checked to make sure that everyone understood, could complete the tasks and techniques and were patient and generous with their time. Seriously exceptional presentations, these people know their stuff (as if there was ever a doubt, LOL!)

I would do it again in a heartbeat, and if they ever develop a more intense program I would be the first in line to apply! Of course there are many other people I met and interacted with that I enjoyed getting to know, just didn't get a pic. And so many team members from Ranger that contributed so much that are faceless, but gave so much to make it a memorable and enjoyable experience that was without problems, thanks to all of them!

So I am running on no sleep, so I am out of here! Will be back soon with more good stuff!!!

B-