Close Encounters of the Ketchup Kind

Mel and Michele are at it again... Prompting us to share and write about a celebrity encounter that we've had. I have a sneaking suspicion that a few of my friends, by nature of our friendship, may write about Imagination Movers, which is fabulous! I'm choosing to zero in on an exchange that prompted a positive change in my life...

'KETCHUP WITH US' - PROMPT #16

In 57 words or less, tell us about a "celebrity encounter." (We'll let you interpret those terms however you like.) 

And, if you can, include a picture. 

Unemployed & not having a direction.

Love to scrapbook and paper piece.

At a Movers VIP party, I was approached by Scott Durbin... asking about my work.

One thing led to another; the gears turned... and The Crafty Insomniac was born!

Thank you, Scott, for the vote of confidence!!

A VERY Exciting Announcement!

This deal has been in the works for literally months, and I have Scott Durbin to thank for all of it!

It all started back in October, not too long after I started The Crafty Insomniac.  My friend Kiki and her family were going to Detroit to see the Imagination Movers in concert, to use tickets that she had won in a contest using some super-awesome earrings that she makes...  we call them "gearrings."  Well, Kiki and her Mini are my and Miss Sassypants's concert buddies.  We've been to dozens of Movers shows together, and we were super-bummed to be missing this one.  We decided to make a batch of our homemade Chex Mix to send along with them as a gift, as we know they tire of sweet treats.  Then we decorated the container...

After the goodies were delivered, Scott was quite impressed with the little paper dolls.  We had e-mailed back and forth and he gave me a lot of encouragement regarding my business.

Fast-forward to November, when we went to the opening of A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania.  The Movers were playing sets all day, and I had made each of the guys a paper-doll version of themselves for Sassy to give to them as a gift.  They were a huge hit!

The very next Monday, I got an e-mail from Jessi Sanborn, the office manager (for lack of a better title) for the Movers.  She was singing the praises of these little dolls and asked if I'd be interested in selling them on their website.  Well, is the Pope Catholic???

Since that time we've been conversing back and forth, and today she sent me a link to show that my sets were now available for sale on the Movers website!  This is so exciting!!

Check it out here:  http://imagination-movers.myshopify.com/products/movers-paper-figures

It is so strange and exciting to see my products on a website like this for sale!

I wish that I could give Jessi a huge hug to thank her for such an opportunity... She is so awesome for making this happen! I also need to thank Kiki, who has been my support throughout this process - she has talked me down from the ledge so many times and kept me as sane as I get. I will definitely be taking her up on her offer for slave labor, very soon!

Can You Tell Me How to Get...

It was so exciting to finally be on our way to our friends' house early Saturday morning! We had been waiting for this weekend for quite a while, and didn't even mind being up early on a weekend. Why? Because we were heading to Philadelphia! Why? To go to Sesame Place to see the Imagination Movers with our friends!!

We arrived at the Kikikells homestead a little after 8 a.m. and transferred all of our things into her van. Her friend Lori and her daughter L arrived, loaded up, and once we got all of the girls strapped in, we were ready to go! (Well, after the van windows were decorated, naturally...)

Thanks to the Age of Technology, the three-and-a-half-hour drive went rather smoothly. Movies, snacks and iPods did the trick!

We were running about a half hour behind what we had planned, so we opted for the first fast food joint we saw in town for lunch before hitting Sesame. It just so happened to be Chick-Fil-A, which I'd never been to before. Holy crowded, Batman!! There was not an empty seat to be found in the place! An older couple gave us their table when they left, though, so we were able to somewhat enjoy our food. I'll say, it was darn good!

We got to the park and back to the theater in time to see our friends Donna, Mel, Becky and Amy and their Minis, get our awesome new MM hoodies and find a seat before the first show started.

And what a show!

For this set of shows, Mover Smitty wasn't able to join the rest of the band. You see, he's a NOFD firefighter and wasn't able to secure the time off after the tour. We were, however, surprised to see Brian Coogan join them. Coogan is their road musician, and the last time they played Sesame he didn't join them.

The guys played three 30-minute sets that day, and we were there for all three. They combined their hits with their Christmas songs, as well as a few traditional Christmas songs and some great gags. It was a really great show, in spite of Smitty's absence.

After each show, the guys stayed out to meet fans. It's great that they do that... not many do. We made our rounds after the first show so Miss Sassypants could give each of the guys the paper Movers that we made (courtesy of The Crafty Insomniac, naturally!), and so she could give Dave his traditional bag of Goldfish. :-) He asked whether he was going to get a gift and a snack after each show. Smartass. Kiki knitted all of the guys red, blue & yellow scarves, so they were distributed then as well.

As we were about to leave the theater to get back in line to come back in for the next show, the SP staff told us that we could stay as part of Miss Donna's group, as she was on the VIP list. That was super nice of them to do!

The second show was just as awesome, maybe just a little more polished, and included an audience-induced impromptu popcorn confetti cannon... and afterwards, we all (as a group) hit the roller coaster. Ahh! The girls wanted to go in without us!! We let them, and I think they ended up going on three (??) times! By then we decided to head back to the theater, as the sun was starting to go down. Once we got in and got our seats, we pulled out the nighttime show gear: Christmas glow wands and necklaces! We has eleven Minis in our group at that show, and they were all so excited! Most of the Movers wore their scarves (which went perfectly with their suits), and they were very grateful for them once the sun set! We watched Kyle and Brian bundle up in theirs about 10 minutes into the show. The popcorn confetti made a comeback, and it was the highest-energy of the three shows that day. At one point, Kiki leaned over to me and said, "What the heck did Rich drink backstage?" Afterwards he told us that he was "high on caffeinated tea." LOL. He also thanked us for the confetti - told us that it really energized them. :-)

We all hung around after the last show chatting, and Rich suggested that we get a big group photo. Great idea, Richie!

After we left the park, the Mamas & Minis re-congregated at a local pizza shop to eat before saying our goodbyes (BOO!) and heading our separate ways, with our little group headed to our hotel for the night. It's OK, though... We drowned our sorrows in margaritas once we got there.  Incidentally, our room's window wasn't at the end of the room.  It messed me up royally.

So now we're home, and I miss my Mamas more than ever! One day just isn't enough, ladies... Christmas Break at kelbons's house!!!