Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!

We're back.............

Hey friends!

I know you've all been wondering where I've been..........I won't bore you with the details other than to say that life has been crazy! I mean crazy, crazy, crazy! So much family stuff (all of it good!) and a house remodel (all of it good too!) and I'm finally trying to get back to blogging this week and will follow up in coming days with blog giveaways and lots of fun!

On a personal note my son graduated from High School and my daughter participated in a local pageant (she won "Miss Photogenic".)  My son has already left for college.  Took me about a week to stop crying after I dropped him off! Here they are!

                    

(Note: Lauren's photo was done by Glamour Shots and I bought the copyright release for it so I can post it here.....)

But in the meantime I wanted to let you know that not only has life been crazy but I've gone crazy! Want proof?  Check out all the $1 and $5 sale items over at our website.  You won't believe the deals to be had! The only way to explain it is that I've gone OVER THE EDGE! The warehouse is full of stuff we need (desperately) to move!

Plus while you're there be sure to check out:

* New Lockhart stamps

* New Kodomo Stamps

* New My Favorite Things Stamps 

* New Memory Box (have you seen the new penguins yet? We have them on order.......should be here soon!)

* Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun (oops, keyboard got stuck!) Flock

* New Hero Arts Summer stamps ready for pre-order (should ship in next week)

I must thank my dear friend Estivalia (and my customer from the furthest south in the world............any one in Antarctica yet?) for her beautiful card! I love Estevalia's talent! Check it out!

                                                                                     

Estevalia has a gorgeous blog too.  Be sure to swing by and let know I sent ya!

Check back tomorrow for our first blog giveaway.  I'll give you a hint......something colorful from Memory Box.  Stay tuned!

Greetings!

Lots to share regarding Stampin’ Treasures and CHA!

Cindy and I just returned from CHA in Anaheim.  It’s the world’s largest craft wholesale show with literally hundreds of booths and things to see.  We were there five days and still didn’t see everything! It’s amazing!

We ordered some fun stuff for the store including goodies from:

Hero Arts New Spring line (available for pre-order right now……shipping at the end of February!  Love love love the Sparkle Clear Sets and the new DesignBlock stamps!) The Design Block stamps are big….they’ll cover a whole card but they are made out of a lighter wood and very nicely etched!)

My Sentiments Exactly New Stamps – great new stamps!

The whole line of Hanko Asian-themed Stamps!

New stamp sets from My Favorite Things

New “Memento” inks from Tsukineko – dye ink, great colors, due late spring

Acrylic Albums!

Prima Designs embellishments and goodies

Kaiser Craft (great embellishments at great prices!)

Books by Hand kits (books, boxes, etc)

Some fun embellishments from Stanislaus Imports

Some great Rubberstamping idea books!

People we loved seeing at the show:

Loved the gals at Hero Arts! Nancy, Shari, Lisa, Sally, Carol – you all were awesome! Thanks for the great make and takes and thanks for just being you! We loved visiting your booth.  Look how serious I was taking instructions from Lisa! LOL!

 

And we love the guys too…………Aaron, Todd, Lay! You guys are awesome! It was especially wonderful to see Nancy! Sooooooooo good to see you my friend!

 

We were happy to see our friends at My Sentiments Exactly too! Adrienne designed some awesome new stamps for you all and Pam, as usual, was a joy to work with!

We were thrilled to see Kathy from Hanko Stamps again and we’re excited to carry their whole line of stamps.  Check back in a couple of weeks for their gorgeous Asian-themed stamps! 

It was also great to meet Kim, the head chick at My Favorite Things stamps! Great to put a face with a great line of stamps!

Things we loved at the show:

Kid Quotes Stamps from Inkadinkado!

I’m thinking we’ll add these to the store. What do you think?

Tim Holtz – mini grungeboard – love the size! Shall we order it?

From Spellbinders – New nestabilities and the Xcalibur. The Xcalibur is an automatic, die cutting machine that will both cut and emboss at the touch of a switch.  We timed each pass through as I was sitting there and it takes 15 seconds or less to cut or emboss something.  I loved it! Not sure when it will be out as they are working out all the details but when it’s released it will be awesome!  Sorry, forgot to get a picture of this!

Clip it Up Ribbon Organizer (I so need one of these in my home workshop!)

The Rub-on Roller pen from Basic Grey (you use it to do your rub ons, very smooth, easy to use!)

Thomas Kincade samples – I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the samples from the Thomas Kincade stamps.  The stamps are incredibly etched……..I understand it can take two days or more to get the stamp etched just right so that it picks up all the details and deviations that make the Thomas Kincade paintings so beautiful.  While we won’t be carrying the stamps it was delightful to look at the samples.

Cindy loved “Zach’s Life” from the folks at Little Yellow Bicycle. It’s a really cute line of Boy’s stuff.  Great colors, great designs.  And really nice people!  She also loved the Penguin/Beach paper at Imaginese.  Here she is with the penguin!

(I might be in trouble for putting this on the blog! LOL!)

Things that weren’t so impressive:

“The Slice” by Making Memories.  This is a late-comer to the automated die cutting machine market, in my opinion.  It’s about 5” square and after programming it to print the one letter or one flower or one whatever, you have to hold it very still on the cardstock you will be cutting.  The cardstock has to be placed on a glass mat.  And you cannot move at all during the cutting time, which can be 2-3 minutes long, or the cut image will not be right.  The gal demo’ing it for us didn’t move at all (except maybe to breathe………) but yet the letter she cut was off.  I was very disappointed.  And the price tag, about $150, is way too much.  It also doesn’t come out until the summer.

K&Company’s Wackytac adhesive – used it in a class and itkept getting off track, tangled and a total mess. I don't think it's new but just had to mention how much I didn't like it! With so many adhesives out there why mess with it?

Ranger’s new white pen.  Looked and wrote the same as the Uniball Signo pens we already have in stock.  Maybe with the name Ranger on it it will work better? Did any of you see it and think it was different?  I’m interested in feed-back.

Hero Arts 2008 is here!

It has been pure craziness around here the past few days! The new Hero Arts arrived..............all 60 boxes of it! You should see the warehouse! I really need to take a picture sometime!

We spent Thursday and Friday unpacking and trying to figure out where to put everything.  We also started shipping the pre-orders (placed before December 13) for the 2008 catalogs.  Most shipped yesterday or today.  We haven't updated shipping on the orders yet so don't panic if you haven't heard from us yet.  You will.  If your catalog pre-order hasn't shipped yet it will ship on Monday!

The catalog is awesome! I know I say this every year but I really think it's Hero's best!  I love the "Take a vacation" stamps (hello, I am a travel agent, after all!) and I love all the birds! Love the birdcage!

                                                

My favorite stamp in the catalog is this one!

                                                    

                                 It's called Aww! Isn't it too cute?!

It's a pre-order stamp so it won't be ready to ship until the first part of January. I also love the pearl accents! They'll be a lot of fun to work with!

We've also got some new cool Valentine's Memory Box stamps coming really soon.

How much excitement can a girl handle anyway??? My husband asked what I wanted for Christmas! Are you kiddin'? Give me a gift certificate to my own store and I'll be good to go! I'm NOT kidding! The hard part is that I never buy anything from the store right away because I know you all want it! I'm willing to sacrifice in the name of stamping! LOL!

I'm so grateful my shoulder is doing well.  I don't know what I would do if I couldn't get your goodies out to you in a timely fashion.  My Mom is here from Indiana.  She came to "help" me while I recover from my surgery.  I actually put her on the payroll this week!  

Tomorrow night I'm singing in a Christmas choir by the Sacramento Temple.  I love singing Christmas songs and getting into the season! We end up singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah ! That never gets old! What are you all doing to get into the spirit of the Season including Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years? I'd love to hear!

Blog Candy Winner !

Hello All!  I put the 11 people who commented on my blog (one of you put your comments twice so I only entered your name once and one of you entered your comments on the 2nd post so I added you!)

Here were the names:

1.  Linda C.   2.  Eloise   3.  Lori U  4.  Michelle   5.  Nancy   6.  Lisa   7.  Kersten   8.  Liisa   9.  Vicky  10.  Estivalia     11. Debbi

So I went to a random generator website and put in the numbers 1-11 and number 10 came up! Congratulations Estivalia.  Send me your address and I'll get your stamp off to you! Happy Haiku Stamping! 

Lahr's Fudge

Found this fudge recipe when surfing the internet a couple of weeks ago.  I tried it and not only was it easy but it was absolutely delicious! I'd take a picture but there's not much left! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Lahr's fudge

4-1/2 c. sugar
12oz. can evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
1/4 lb. margarine
1 lb. Hershey bar (I've never seen a 1lb bar, so I use three and a half 5oz bars)
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. chocolate chips
16 reg. marshmallows
1 c. nuts (optional)

Combine sugar, margarine, and milk. Boil 7 minutes (count time after mixture begins to boil). Remove from heat. Add broken chocolate bar, chocolate chips and marshmallows, stirring until dissolved---do not heat while adding the chocolate. Add vanilla, nuts and pour into a large cookie sheet or jellyroll pan (with a lip on the edges) lined with buttered waxed paper. When firm, peel off waxed paper, cut into bars.

Marcia's Lost Card

Hello again everyone!  I couldn't find one of my swap buddies cards the other day when I uploaded all our cards but what's lost is now found! Yea! So without further ado............may I present Marcia's cute card! The stamp is Magenta and I'm guessing she stamped the snowflakes on acetate with Stazon.  I had to put a blue piece of cardstock behind it so you could see the snowflakes but the card itself is square and clear.  It's so cute.  The inside says " A wish from the Heart for a wonderful Christmas."  Too cute! Thanks for sharing Marcia!

Where have you been young lady?

Well hello everyone!

For all two of you who have been wondering where I've been...(and thanks for calling me young lady!) I'm here with an update!

My shoulder/arm surgery was last week and went really well! We went from a 6-12 month recovery time to 6-8 week recovery time! Woohoo! Apparently the MRI lied! I have to tell you a couple of funny things........one, when I was being prepped to go in the O.R. the nurse came over with a rubberstamp and stamped my shoulder with the big word "Yes"! See, even when I'm not at home stamping or shipping our gorgeous stamps to you I'm still stampin! Dang, I wish I had a picture of that!

The other funny thing was when the surgeon came to the recovery room and was talking to my husband and I.......he told me that he wasn't going to give me a sling for my arm because he wanted me moving it right away.  I called him a "weanie."  My husband leaned over and whispered something like, "Honey, you really shouldn't call your surgeon a weanie."  Let's just say that I was under the influence of something or another when I did that, okay?  I love my surgeon. 

The day before my surgery I had my swap cards due! I was really happy with how cute my card turned out.

I used Laughter and Merriment from Hero Arts and some Meadow Notecards from Memory Box.  The ribbon is some of that cool adhesive backed ribbon from DCWV.  And the stars......I drew them freehand and did shrinky dink! I loved doing that! 

I thought our swap cards were exceptional this time! Check them out in the side bar!

Hope you all had a swell Thanksgiving! We did.  It was  quick trip to Sebastopol where my in-laws live.  We took two cars because both of my teenagers had to work the day after Thanksgiving (Lauren at Old Navy and Erik at the Peach Pit) so we came home late Thanksgiving night.  Check the side bar for photos! Erik made green bean casserole (he's learning to cook in a teen survival class in high school) and I made my famous Lemon Cake.  Has anyone else made it? I'd love to hear your comments.

For those of you who are here for Stampin' Treasures news here ya go!

Hero Arts 2008!

Be sure to order your Hero Arts 2008 catalog now so that you'll have it before Christmas! We ordered a certain amount to arrive here December 15 and we still have some left! Be sure to get on the list! You'll love it! 

Also check out some of the stamps that will released mid-December, along with some great sample cards! The travel agent in me loves the Travel Journal ClearDesign set!

Restocked:

• Hero Arts ClearDesign Monogram Letters and Numbers. Hero Arts is starting to sell out of these so what you see on my site is all I have left! Grab 'em now before they're gone forever!   

Sale: (You're gonna love this!)

• All Savvy stamps, notecards and paper flowers are 25% off!  We're closing out our Savvy line so we have room in our warehouse for other new goodies!

• Hero Arts Super Sale - we're overstocked on a bunch of Hero Arts stamps.  Check out the deals - 25 to 75% off!

New goodies:

• Uniball pens now in gold and silver! You love your white Uniball pen! You'll love your silver and gold pens too!

• Stickles - need I say more? I love my Stickles and always have a bottle nearby!

• Memory Box 6x6 cardstock and notecards/envelope sets. Everyone loves Memory Box papers and stamps! Here's your chance to get their cardstock! Check out their delightful Christmas and holiday cardstocks!

• Watercolor paper and watercolor postcards

• New gel pens in fun metallic colors

• The Score-it Mini - I love how quickly I can score a bunch of cards with my Score-it! And it's portable! Take it with you anywhere!

As a reward for reading this very, very long email......here's my Blog Candy offering!

• I have found a very much in demand, discontinued Hero Arts stamp that I'm willing to give to one of my readers! All you have to do is this...... add a comment to my blog and tell me what your favorite stamp line is (Hero Arts, Lockhart, Memory Box, etc.) and we'll do a random drawing on December 12 for ...............are you ready?????????????

A Haiku Bunny stamp from Hero Arts! It's unused, in pristine condition and ready to ship! I'll even ship it internationally, if you're the winner! But you gotta make a comment, okay?

Oh, BTW, I haven't heard from the winner of our last Blog Candy! Edie, are you out there? Email me so I can send you your cards!

Happy Holidays!

Good morning! Congrats to Edie for winning my first Blog Candy giveaway, her choice of the Fabriano Notecards! Send me an email, along with your address and which ones you want and I'll zip those in the mail to you!

More news to come in a while! We have a lot of new stuff we're adding to the shelves in the warehouse! Happy pre-Thanksgiving!!!

Check back later for your chance at more blog candy! I love it!

Happy November

Hello everyone! Sorry for so long between posts! Lots going on here!

First off.....we have lots of Stampin' Treasures news for you!

Check this out!

Hero Arts has released their discontinued list for 2008! If you want anything please order right away! Things are going quickly. Hero Arts continued a few things that really surprised me including the ClearDesign Monogram Alphabet Letters and Numbers which are still big sellers for us! I still haven't gotten a set for me! Whaaaaa!

I'm also pleased to tell you that I have a small "sneak peek" of the new Hero Arts release on my website! As usual, I'm in love! I will receive the new stamps by December 14 and hope to have them on my site (for pre-order) a couple of weeks prior to that!

You can also pre-order the Hero Arts 2008 catalog now too!

Just received some new Winter Stamps from Memory Box.  Gotta love the penguins! I just need to find some time to play with them!

I'm excited too to announce that we will be carrying the entire Memory Box line of stamps, cards, etc.  I think they will make a nice addition to our store.  We'll let you know when they're in house and ready to go!

Have you checked out the new Bargains of the Week on Stampin' Treasures? Great deals abound!

Other new stuff in the store

Tim Holtz Crackle Paints

Paper Craft Source orders now 10% off!

New cards uploaded

I've uploaded some new Memory Box cards, Hero Arts Cards and Lockhart Cards to the photo albums.  Be sure to check them out!

I also added a new category for Swap Cards.  I participate in a swap with some of my friends locally and I thought I'd share their work with you! Check out the cupcake card I made!

I found the idea for this card when I was surfing one day.  You know how you start on one blog and go to another and another and then all the sudden you don't know where you are? (I'm lucky I can find my way home! LOL!)  Anyway, thanks for the inspiration Lezlye!

Speaking of other blogs....

I have a feeling that I have a bunch of customers with blogs! I would love to share your links here.  Just email me, okay?

Or, if you don't have a blog, and would like to share your crafty creations with the world feel free to email me a scan and I'll add your cards/crafts to share with everyone!

Family News

Lauren and I went to Apple Hill last Friday.  We both were so excited to go so I cut out of work early and we jaunted up there! It was so much fun! This is Lauren in the Pumpkin Patch! Isn't she too cute?

We walked through Pumpkin Patches, tried all sorts of apple goodies (and caramel covered marshmallows! Yum!) and just had a great time! We came home with apple pie, caramel apples, apple cake, apple cider and apple crisp! Life is good!

November 29 is D-Day for my arm/shoulder surgery.  I got word that my MRI shows a torn rotator cuff, broken cartilage (embedded in my muscle....yep, that hurts as bad as it sounds) and a variety of other items.  The doctor said I have 8 things wrong with my left arm.  So I'm getting it fixed! Wish me luck.  I could use some positive vibes leading up to the surgery!

Lastly, how 'bout some Blog Candy?

I was reading about Blog Candy the other day (so, I'm new to all of this!) and I thought, what is blog candy? Sounds tasty! Where can I get some? And then I realized that the Blogger gives the Bloggee candy! LOL! Sounds like fun! So here's the deal.......make a comment on this post and on Monday, November 12, we will have a drawing for one set of Fabriano Notecards and Envelopes.  I'll send them to whoever wins.  And I'm happy to ship anywhere in the world! How do you like 'dem apples? (I told Lauren about that saying the other day and she still doesn't get it!) Anyway, post a comment and we'll see if you're a winner! Sounds like fun to me!

Tim Holtz Crackle Paints in stock and shipping!

We're happy to say that the fun Tim Holtz Crackle Paints are in stock and shipping! You gotta check them out! These are the best crackle paints we've seen! What's cool about them is that they don't take forever to dry, they come in a bunch of cool colors and depending on how much you apply you can get fine crackles or big crackles! 

Also we added some Glitter Pens and some Quickie Glue Pens.  Fun stuff!