I'm Back

Wow it's been awhile since I have posted, which was obvious when I couldn't even get to my blog! Since life here has calmed down a bit hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things. Jacob is now the goalie for 2 hockey teams and Paige is in basketball so my time is consumed with sports.

Our next class night is scheduled for Oct. 15th and we'll be starting our Christmas cards. Yep this year we should have them in the mail on time. We'll be making our usual two different designs but as you'll see there's room for creativity.
So far we have the following people (Diane, Nancy, Audra, Kim, Eilish& Jen) booked for this class. If you don't see your name on the list or you want to bring a friend then please email me at kountrykorners@brktel.on.ca to reserve your spot. Can't make it and want finished copies of the cards email me to make arrangements.

Punch a Bunch

Time's running out!

Stampin' Up's Punch special is coming to an end. Yep in two weeks this special is gone, gone, gone. If you are a novice stamper or an expert here's something to look at. Punch A Bunch Kit Special It's sooooo cool!
The Punch Kit includes:
• the exclusive Trio Flower punch,
• a coordinating 9-piece Three for You stamp set,
• and three Stampin’ Spots® in Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, and Basic Black. And we all know how popular paper flowers are right now with scrappin' and cards. Not to mention the neato tin it comes in that you can decorate with a peek threw window on the top that makes a great storage place for hair bobbles, cards you've already made or how about a keepsake box of those precious memories that won't go into a scrapbook?!
But there’s even more to love. During August, Stampin' Up is throwing in an exclusive package of 30 - 3" x 3" textured Love Notes (a $17.95 value)
FREE— when you purchase the Three for You Punch Box! Creating little notes and other on-the-go projects is such a cinch that you’ll want to punch and stamp bunches!

The 3" x 3" folded size makes creating and giving a little note easy-they're just the right size for a quick hello. With 10 each of Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, and So Saffron Love Notes! Each package contains 30 pre-scored textured cards with 30 Very Vanilla envelopes so you're ready to create and go!

Plus if you order by this Friday I'll throw in:
2 yards of the new double stitched Wild Wasabi ribbon
20 3x3 pieces of Very Vanilla Cardstock
20 silver brads
BUT My bonus is only for orders placed by Friday the 17th!
You'll have everything you need to make the sample cards!

Let your hubby/significant other/mom/sister... know that they can order this from me and they can give it to you for Christmas (talk about beating the last minute rush!) You'll just have to wait til Christmas to open it!

Choose your Family Stampin' up Promotion

Between Grandma Louise (who drips with sweetness) and your oh-so-suave brother, Vic, you know that in life you can't choose your own family. But at Stampin' Up!, we've found a way to bend the rules so you can!

Purchase the Starter Kit between August 10 and September 30, and you'll get to pick the family of your choice-colour family, that is-of Classic Stampin' Pads® FREE. That's a $79.95 value! And we've designed our exclusive coordinating colour families so that every colour fits in. After all, it's all in the family!

WOW what a great Promotion! And if you have been thinking of joining the Stampin' Up family..then there is no better time then now! You don't have to make this into a business to become a Demo. Lots of Demo's are just Hobby Demos..meaning that they do not do workshops or sell, they make their minimums on their own.

The starter kit is only $275.00 + PST (no S&H or GST!!!) but you get over $450 worth of product.

Contact me if you would like to learn more about becoming a Demo!

Family BBQ- Sunday July 29, 2007

Dunno why it's called family BBQ, but then again most of our friends are part of our family. My Aunt Monika and her granddaughtr Celine are visiting from Germany so this was a perfect time to get everyone together. Kaisha even went to meet her great Aunt and spend some time with her cousins. Paige has done a wonderful job communicating with Celine. Jacob was there but there just doesn't seem to be any pics of him or James... hmmm. It was great seeing Will up and around, I missed signing his cast altogether. Jim was rather quiet but I'm sure he enjoyed his time with his wacky family. I think John needs glasses, mom's apron says 'Red hat' not 'Red hot!!' The little baby is actually a doll!
And Robbie.. well he says we're all crazy, go figure!

Desk Top Day

With our eldest leaving home I am blessed with a stampin' room. What a wonderful day to break it in with my stampin' gurus. We made journals, clip boards, pen holders, a decorated box and a matching pen. What a great day we had. I can't wait to see all the really cool desks the women will have to work at now with their wonderful creations.
The menfolk took the boys fishing and for what was suppose to be a 4k hike but they are male and got lost and with no one to ask for directions their hike turned into a 10k mad dash. Boy were they tired and hungry when they returned!
While we finished our work after dinner the guys roasted hotdogs, made s'mores and screaming apples.
We'ew now trying to plan a date for our next day together!

Left Overs

If your stamping business is like mine you sometimes have people that don't show up. Since I mostly do stamp-a-stacks those few people end up being cards in multiples of 5. So if I plan on 10 in attendance and only 5 show then I end up with a lot of left overs.
"What do you do with your left overs when your cardstock is already cut?"
I just make the cards at my leisure and send them out for cards of encouragement or sell them. This week my buddy Kimmy has offered to sell some of my cards for me while she's selling raffle tickets. So here's a few of the cards that are 'Left overs' that I spent my "chillin' time" making.

Thinking of You

This was my first class teaching the ladies how to do 2 step stamping. They all fell in Love with the stamp-a-ma-jig and most have purchased their own by now. We also did a little paper tearing.
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Wild Rose, All Year Cheer 3 (now retired)
Cardstock: Whisper white, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss
Extras: Stamp-a-ma-jig

The month of.... Love

Since February is the month of Love we made cards for our sweety and our friends. The "Love Matters" stamp set was perfect for this card, the ladies could easily substitue the word 'friend' instead of the word 'love'..
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Love Matters, Circle of friendship, Canvas
Cardstock: Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Stazon- black, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Assorted markers
Extras: Word window punch, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" circle punches,fibers,HodgePodge Hardware

From the Heart

There actually were not that many people that didn't show for this class. I loved this layout, colour combo and everything about this card so I purposely cut way too much so I would have some to send out to cheer up a few people I know goign through rough times right now.
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Polka dots & Paisley (a free set demonstrators got for Christmas), Holidays & Wishes (new 2007 set)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Extras: Sponges, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Light Blue Gingham, Antique Gold Brads

Sympathy Cards

Ever notice when you need a sympathy card you just can't make one? Or is that just me? Anyways we had a class making these gorgeous cards cause this spring there just seemed to be so many funerals and people in the hospital.
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Wild Rose,Elegant Inspirations
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Versamark
Extras: Gold Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy (highly recommend getting this for a crisp embossed image),Gold Brads, Navy Organdy, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Bleached Class:

It was a smelly class but I love the results!
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Doodle This
Cardstock: Basic black, Always Artichoke, Regal Rose
Ink: Stazon- black, Versamark
Extras: Winter White Embossing Powder, black brads, Rose Grosgrain-fraid, dotted ribbon, buttons, tab punch, bleach, paint brush

Tri folds

I don't think I will ever attempt this for another stamp-a-stack class. It was just too difficult to get the cards to work right. Gorgeous card but...
Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Blossoms Abound, Holiday Wishes, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Orchid Opulence, Lovely Lilac, Always Artichoke,
Ink: Orchid opulence, Lovely Lilac,Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke,
Extras: Lilac brads, prima flowers dyed with refill ink, 1 1/4" circle punch, stamp-a-ma-jig, Mellow Moss & Lovely Lilac Markers with Spritzer

Well that's enough uploading today. I just noticed all these cards are florals so I'll try to get some nonflorals uploaded on Friday since I will be in London tomorrow visiting my mom.

I joined a swap to make birthday cards for kids that you can do for a Stamp-a-stack. I signed up to make 19 cards for 5-7 year old girls. We're also to do the envelopes, mine's very simple but I wanted to make it so the card can be mailed out.

Supplies used:
Stamp sets:Pick a Petal, Petals wheel, Circle of Friendship stamp set
Ink: Stazon-Black, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink
Card stock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Petals & Paisleys Double sided paper
Extras: Pretty in Pink Grosgrain, Silver Brads, Designer Label punch, 1/2" & 1 1/4" Circle punch, Corner Rounder punch, Horizontal Slot punch, Coluzzle
This was my very first tent card and I have to admit I absolutely love making these!!I'm overall happy with the final results.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by my Scrapaholic's buddy Gerri. Check out her cool blog http://apageatatime.blogspot.com/ (sorry no pun intended on the lack of your AC!)
Here are the rules:
Post 7 random things about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 other bloggers to do the same.
Leave tagged bloggers comments on their site so they know they've been tagged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My neighbours are cows if they get out of line we're inviting them for a BBQ!
My left wrist doesn't work right, seriously
My penmanship sucks that's why I stamp!
I'm addicted to stampin' & scrappin'
I've never been to Maine but I have been to Mexico
I have three brainiac kids but you wouldn't know it
I'm hilarious (quoted from my eldest)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now to tag 7 friends...

Where have you been?

In response to the numerous email of my recent disappearnce, I've been home. Sort of. We celebrated Paige's 15th Birthday with her friends and our family. It's so cool having her birthday the same day as Canada Day cause she always gets fireworks. Every year we have everyone over for a pot luck meal, a day of activities in the park (fireman relay races, dunk tank, road hockey tournaments, snow cones...), fireworks and a bonfire followed with a whole buncha tents in the yard for overnight guests. One of our bunch of kids once again won the fireman relay race. They came in first place out of 8 teams for the second year in a row. Way to go guys!! Oh yeah we have a rule for birthday cake... no utensils kids, so this usually gets messy-but lets the kids let loose from their everyday posh-selves!! This year the camping at Da' Moores began early on Friday and ran until Tuesday evening. Monday morning some of the youth came out for brunch and some volleyball. I was certainly ready for some 'ME' time when everyone finally cleared out. So my next few posts will show you what I have been up to during my chillin' out. But until then here's some pics of the party animals...

Special thanks to Robbie for making this such a special weekend for Paige!

Desk Top Accessories Class

July 28th is officially booked for our desk top accessories class. In this class we'll be alterating a Journal book, a clipboard, a pencil holder, a beaded pen and an accessory box (I put my sharpies in mine). For the insanely low prepaid price of $30 we'll be starting at 1 p.m. and spending a day altering these items while our spouces and children spend the afternoon swimming and playing outside (volleyball, lawnbowling, badminton, soccer, tetherball...). Then we're having a pot blessing meal and finish the evening off with a bonfire. If you're interested in joining us please email me with which package of new double sided decorative papers (found on pages 170-173 in our beautiful new book)you'd like to use for your set and prepay by the 23rd to ensure your spot.

Space is limited so it will be on a first paid basis.

here's a sneak peek of some of my samples
using the 'Petals & Paisleys' set.

Dad's Lil' Tin Book

I received a few emails asking about my dad's little tin so here's some info: The tin is 2.75"x3.5" I took pictures of the many pages so you'd get a better look. I missed one page so I'll have to go snap that tomorrow. Each page had a lil' tag in it with the information about the picture (who, occassion, date). I wanted to make sure I had a picture of each grandchild which made the book a lil overstuffed but hey we have a big family! Dad loved it!!
Kaisha snapped a couple pictures of him looking through it and showing Terry.

Going, Going, GONE?!?!

Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, cords, beads, Pearl EX, embossing powders, Brass templates, 12x12 Cardstock, punches, Simply Scrappin' kits, Designer papers, ink cartridges and more... GONE?! Stampin' Up has just posted the retiring accessories list. Have they lost their minds? I doubt it!! If nothing else with all this leaving I can't wait to see what's coming!!
These items are now in limited quantities. As you read the list you will see that some items are highlighted in:
green- still lots available
yellow- clearing out quickly
red- gone, no longer available.
http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/US_CA_retiredaccessories.pdf

To keep updated with the list I will post a link as necessary. Unfortunately something could show up as being available but if it's in high demand it could be sold out before an order goes in, so the early bird gets the worm. I will be putting in an order tonight if there is anything you want please email me ASAP so I can tack it onto the order. Other than that I will order later if there is a request.

Father's Day

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate our fathers. My dad has had a special spot in my heart and in my life. Although growing up we were like vinegar and water as time passed we grew closer and continue to do. There's one thing that's really hard to handle as a daughter and that is to see the man that you hold as a strong, powerful break down in tears. I have seen this a few times in my life but although some of these memories are painful they just showed me more of my dad. The first time I saw my dad cry was the night that my ex-fiance and I called it quits. It pained my dad to see me hurting. But this was one of the best decissions I have ever made in my life. For if it wasn't for that broken engagement I would never have met the love of my life nor have the three precious children I have today. Those were a few more times of tears, but tears of joy. The last time my dad cried was when we found out about mom's Leukemia. Although it wasn't face to face I am honoured that my dad turned to me for support. Through the years my dad has been there to hold me, encourage me and help me when I needed him. Now although we don't live as close as we used to in distance we live closer in heart. And this is how I will remember my dad, as a strong & loving man.
So in honour of Father's Day I have turned back to my youth and this year it won't be a purchased item but something from my heart. Thanks to Kimmy for use of her stamps they were perfect for this!
Here's a sneak peek at the outside (it's hard to read in the photo but the tag says "OPA"). The inside I will have to post later just in case he happens to check out my blog before I get a chance to give this to him tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day!!

And The WINNERS Are:

Monday's class was our biggest turnout ever! It was great to see Sandra, Eilish and Aunt Pammicake! What a wonderful blessing!! There was a bit of confusion over the tri-fold cards but all in all the cards turned out gorgeous!! The crayon resist was just awed over! Amazing what you can do with your kid's crayons. The women were extra excited to see who would win the stamp sets and I think Paige was just as excited to draw the names. The winners were: Trudy, Audra, Sandra, Kim and my assistant Nancy was awarded a set as well for all her hard work. Audra was estatic getting her butterfly that she's always wanted. I can't wait to see the creations these ladies come up with. Everyone left with a special package of tags to use at home.
I have decided to sell my discontinued stamp sets and use the money to send Kaisha & Paige to Youth camp at Bethel Park this summer while Jacob attends hockey camp. Usually I'd use this money to buy new stuff but with all we've been through this year sending them to camp is more important. So far the sales are $180 (that will completely pay for one of them for one week!!!). Sets are still being reserved (with payment) so if there are any that you are interested in please email me to make arrangements ( kountrykorners@brktel.on.ca ).
Haute Couture- Pending
Crayon Fun (retired 06)
Favorite Friends (retired 06)
Reason to Smile (pg 17)
Tags so Much (pg 16)
Cute Converse (retired 06)
Delight in Life (SAB 07)
Love ya Bunches (pg 80)- Pending
Straight Up Alpha (retired 06)
All Year Cheer 1 (pg 178)
Stipples Stencils (pg 132)
Noteworthy (retired 06)
So Very (SAB)
Delight in Life (SAB)
Petits Textes (French)(retired 06)
Flowers of Gratitude (retired 06)
Birthday Best (pg 61)
Stippled Celebrations (retired 06)
Shapes & Shadows (retired 06)
Sketch It (pg 25)
French Script (pg 170)
Simply Circles (pg 59)
Thanks for all your support!

Sunsets

One of the big distractions out here in the country are the sun rises and sun sets. Sometimes you just have to take the time out to enjoy God's creations. From the flowers, to the animals, the birds fluttering by your head and the setting of the sun. Thursday night we all took a break away from our stressful hectic lives and watched the sun set. Paige ran into the house and grabbed the camera to snap a few breathtaking photos. Thought I would share them with yous!
A little background of the pictures: the first couple were taken from the south side of the house looking over the house towards the north, then we went to the east side of the house looking at the neighbour's farm and she snapped some pics there (including the ones of me and hubby). I think she did a beautiful job!

Accomplished:

Well I got my blog entry done. I didn't get the CS all cut yet but only have two more layers left to do and the rest is already and packaged. Got all but 4 tags done on mom's coaster scrapbook. Had a cuppa coffee and spent time on the phone with a friend that is in need of a good shoulder so that's better than reading a book. And I spent time checking out Gerry's blog (http://apageatatime.blogspot.com/), she's my buddy from Scrapaholics ( http://www.scrapaholics.info/ ) and I did a quiz while I was there.

You Are: 60% Dog, 40% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

So now it's time for bed so G'nite Y'all!

Stampin' Stuff

Did you get your Preview mini in the mail yet? I just have to have that Zoofari set, both Kaisha and Paige like it (that's a rarity!!) but seriously that snake looks like he's smokin'! And new colours, that sky is just heavenly (pun intended) and the new designer papers available in 16 different colours!!! Oh could you imagine if it's in chocolate chip?!?! And the new chipboard and the brads... oh to have it all!!
Okay last post I mentioned my Father's Day cards... well I can't show you exactly what I'm doing cause it'll ruin the surprise but I'll give you a sneak peek of the cool shirts I made with some of my scraps. We have many golfers in our church so I wanted to make shirts that sorta suited them (no pun intended). In the background you can see my rack of shirts already to be mounted (63 so far but many more to be made).



Now for class on Monday.
There are a few ladies that have been waiting patiently for this class. At the beginning of this segment I offered for every lady that attended 3 classes they will get a free tote to put their scissors, adhesives... into. Almost all have received their's or will be getting one soon. The cool thing is they can stamp them, add embelishments and personalize them all they want!!

But that's not the big news. Throw into the pot every class attended their name goes into a draw for a free set of stamps and they go nuts. We've had 5 classes so far and there are 2 ladies that have 5 ballots each and will get their sixth on Monday night. Perfect attendance ladies! The stipulation is that they have to be there to get their choice of stamp set. I know which one Audra wants if she wins, I'm wondering which one Kimmy will pick if she wins since I know she wants 3 of them... If you won which one would you pick? Leave me a comment here of which stamp set you'd pick and why that one?

By the RSVP replies we'll be having our biggest class yet with a few extra guests attending for the first time! Welcome ladies and prepare to have a fun night out with this zanny bunch!
Here's a glimpse of the cards we'll be making for the night. We'll be doing some 2 step stamping, wheeling, brayering and some crayon resist. So bring your adhesive rollers, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig if you have one and prepare to have a wheelie good time.

Happy Thursday everybody!

Well it's my usual day to see my mom but today I am staying home and she is venturing out to St. Jacob's with a few of her friends. So I figured I'd start my day early and catch up on a few neglected things.
1. My blog
2. cutting CS for Monday's class
3. Finish mom's coaster scrapbook
4. A cuppa hot tea and a good book

So here's what i've been doing since my last post.
Thursday went with my mom to the Madarin with a couple of her friends. I had a good time, a lil rushed but oh well. I bought some tickets from my cool grandma SU upline for a draw she was holding on Sunday. (I won a package of SS CS and some CE- woohoo!!! I needed some CE for buttons on my Father's Day cards for the church men so I'm very happy with my winning!!)
The whole family went to the drive-in to see POTC3 and Hog Wild on Friday night. I don't know about you ladies but I bet my hubby was dieing of envy watching Hog Wild. I could see him as one of the bikers! Wont tell you which one.
Sunday was a frenzy of activities like usual.
Monday uneventful.
Tuesday was awesome. I went with Kimmy to Scrapaholics 3rd Anniversary Open house. We had a blast! I actually got to go to something that didn't include one of my kids, weird. Oh and I so have to get me one of those chocolate fountains!! Kimmy even became a member so now I have someone from the area to crop with, woohooo!!! Paige might not have found the evening to be so much fun as she had to get a booster shot, but at least that is taken care of. Jacob and Terry attended the soccer meeting and now Jacob is on another soccer team. There's 2 teams out here and one was so sorely stacked and the other is just kids that love to play the game and is evenly matched with the other teams. Well the other teams in the league hate playing against the stacked team cause they get whopped and it's obvious to them when they play our 2 different teams that the picks were not even. We don't whop them but we can still beat them. So either we make a switch of players or they pull out of the league. My son is one of the top players from our team but he was traded for the 2 top players from the stacked team. This was the only trade made.
I worked yesterday, Wednesday, and then attended Jacob's game with his new team. I was not (to say the very least) impressed with a parent who took the opportunity to loudly express his opionion in a rude and vulgar way about his disagreement with the switching of players. I wish the ref had heard cause he wouldn't have been there the remainder of the game. When exactly did kids sports become so aggressive? C'mon folks it's recreational KIDS soccer! I will be filling a complaint about this parent's outburst. Jacob did wonderful and a few of the players actually associated with him. I was later told that a few of our players were away on a field trip and "if they were here we would have done much better", UGH. Jacob got equal playing time which I was happy to see. Mind you our convenior was there to oversee the game so we'll see how next week goes.
Oh yeah, we won 2-1.

Happy Birthday Shane!

I did remember in all that kraziness to send the parcel with Shane's cards. I snapped a quick picture of some of them. Well, Terry took it to the post office for me, he's so sweet! The kids at our church also made some cards to send along with these and painted some pictures.




I was able to track it and discovered that Shane will actually be receiving his cards on his actual birthday!! Way too cool. If you want to track it go to:

www.canadapost.ca

and use the tracking number: 0105724000123715

Krazy Krazy Week

Oh my goodness what a krazy couple of weeks! Many things occured. I worked a bunch of extra days at the greenhouse and can you believe it one day it was 67 in there!! I now have a lovely deep brown summer tan already and it's not even June!
We got a call from my brother Will's girlfriend that he had been rushed by ambulance to emerge for chest pains. No idea what hospital he was at at that time, we felt a little helpless. We got an update on my brother. It was a cyst in his left lung that they gave him a blood thinner injection and told him to return in the morning for some more tests. UGH I won't tell you how I felt about him being discharged with that bit of information!
Fast forward through Friday... I got called into work. The ultrasound showed that the cyst had diappeared and Will got a clean bill of health and went on to school (he's so cool he's gone back to school to learn a new trade!!) While at school at lunch time the guys were kicking around a soccer ball and Will stretched out his leg... a little too far! Once again left school and off to the hospital. I wonder what his teachers think?!
My weekend at this point in time had gone kaotic and plans got changed on the spur of the moment almost every day. I was so looking forward to a quiet weekend with just my son and hubby (the girls went to a youth convention in Kitchener from Friday afternoon til Sunday afternoon).
Monday we met the boy that Kaisha likes. I took the inititative and had her invite him for dinner. I'm not sure how to express my thoughts on how the evening went considering he showed up 2 hours late and with 2 friends that obviously were not planning on leaving any time soon. they did however invite Jacob to play monopoly outside with them and then they played tetherball and basketball together. Fortunately I had even ka-bobs to feed everyone. I think we shared about 4 sentences with the boys... all of them containing the phrases of dinner is ready... come get it! I personally liked my comment "The cow is dead and can not walk to you you must walk to come get it."
Tuesday my hubby and I got to experience what it was like trying to be in 4 different places (towns!!) at one time. We had to be in Sarnia for 6-10:00. Kaisha had to work in Alvinston from 4:00-9:00. Paige had to be picked up at school in Glencoe for 8:00. And Jacob had soccer from 7-8:30. If it wasn't for the help of our friends we couldn't do it. Thanks Kimmy for getting Paige for us from her overnight field trip from Stratford. And also thanks to Flora and Brian for taking Jacob for dinner and soccer! He had a blast spending time with Graham.
Wednesday was the usual 11 hours at the greenhouse and then off to the soccer game. The first game ever where it wasn't freezing or raining! YEA!
I had another great day with my mom on Thursday. While we were gazing at her new fish pond my dad brought out the mail and there was mail that actually wasn't a bill, wasn't something she ordered, it was.... Oh, I'm not gonna tell you! Dontcha just hate it when people do that?! Okay it was a card from BEATE JOHNS!!! Talk about awsome timing! This was a complete surprise to my mom. A little bit of a backtrack on how this transpired was actually through this blog. I had posted about Shane Bernier and that my mom too has leukemia. Well Beate emailed me saying that she will be keeping us in her prayers and then we got to emailing each other and I had asked if she would send my mom a card... and voila. This woman is amazing and what a wonderful heart of gold. Mom absolutely loves the card and it sits on display on her coffee table. I'll have to take my camera with me to mom's this week and snap a picture for all to see.
Our friend, Nancy came over for and hour and then it was time to take dad to work. While venturing out to 3M we toured on over to Alicia Walls place to pick up my lovely order of CD tins for July's class. Not knowing the area at all I asked her if there were any stamping/ scrapping places. We toured on over to the dollar store, I was a lil disappointed and only spent $1 on a set of small sport brass tags. I know the shock! But I made up for it when we headed on over to "The Rubber Room". Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!! The ladies there were fabulous and I learned so much that my lil brain went into overload. I didn't realize the time when we got there and we only had half an hour before closing but Cathy was such a doll she stayed open and shared a mountain of information with me. My mom bought her first stamp set ever too!! After we left there we headed back to mom's where Kaisha and Terry had been waiting outside for an hour (oopsie). I bought them a Shrek shake when we headed over to Heather's in Lambeth and then we toured on home. Got an update on Will,he tore his akile's tendon and is off his feet for 2 months. So now he can't attend school and will have to complete his course during the summer.
Since then life has been pretty much work, church, work, work. I'm off today and for some reason although I was working no one else seems to know how to run a dishwasher or washer or dryer. UGH! So this mountain of laundry is slowly decreasing in size while I catch on blogging!
Tomorrow will be another day at the greenhouse unfortunately I wont be able to go to Jacob's game cause it's too far away (in Sheddan) and will have started before I am even done work.
Thursday I'm off to my mom's, less errands to run this week while there and then Paige has a band recital back in Glencoe for 6,we really need a family jet!

A beautiful Monday

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. What began as a gloomy cloud burstin' day turn into a day of glorious sunshine. Terry was right when he decided to run my sunglasses in to me saying “it doesn’t hurt to be hopeful!” I spent the day with my study buddy/ Chicken lady, Diane, we haven't been able to do this since I up and moved to the country 4.5 years ago. It was nice just to hang out and spend time and not be so rushed!! We even got to SIT DOWN and drink our coffees! My lil puppy, Jazz, had a great time being smothered with love by her, her hubby and her three young men folk. I think Dean even enjoyed having her jumping on his lap. Don't tell them but I had fun with the boys too... even when I tripped over the chair! I don’t think I could have even planned that. Fortunately I had a safe landing... landed in the chair. Don't ask!
We tried to get a hold of our good buddy, Audra, even Jazz left a message on her machine. But alas we had to go shopping without her. I put together the cutest lil 'chinese takeout' dish for her (hey Audra- you need to stamp and decorate that baby yourself!). We knew she'd be bummed not going so I bought (I know, I know) one of those takeout containers at Michaels and stuffed it with some stamps, ribbon, glitter glue, puffy stickers and told her we missed her when we went for dinner so we brought back some lemon chicken... hope she likes it. It was so cute when she started opening it cause she actually believed me!! What a buncha goofballs we are!
Card class like most of them was a hoot! Nothing like the dynamic duo to keep me on my toes. And TRUDY! She was having such a tough time with the brads all we heard outta her was "This Brad is the pits!" which made us all laugh and think of Susie Q. I’m still holding on to hope that she’ll come and join us! It's amazing with the few ladies that were there that there's so many of us that snort when we laugh, right Diane?! We had a new lady join the bunch, Aunty Pammycake, from Petrolia, and she blended right in with the rest of the nuts.
I'm glad that even though there was bleach used on our cards no one went home spotted... waytogo ladies, I'm so proud of yas!
I can't wait til June! The idea of the bunch of you ladies out here in the country for a day decorating clipboards, journals, pens, boxes … sounds like a blast. I'm sure the kids will love the swim and playing a few games…
but I'm not sure who is going to act more like kids that day...
Maybe we can drag it out long enough to have a bonfire!

Mother's Day

I hope all of you beautiful women had a gorgeous day. My favourite part of Mother's Day is going to church... yep, we love our pastor and the message he shares with us but the special place in my heart on this particular day is that I know I will get the best Mother's day gift. I don't know who decided when kids got too old to make their mom's something in school (out here they stopped in second grade!!) but I can always count on the amazing women that teach our children the real values of life to put together something special on Mom's day. This year was even better than ever... we got a nice potted arrangement of artificial flowers but the cheesecake was to die for! MMMMMMMmmm nummy!
Pastor Ron made a lil oopsie in the service and well we wont roast him BUT I do have to check our web site to see if they were actually able to edit that lil slip!
After leaving church I think my Mother's Day of being spoiled ended. Oh did you see me mention breaky in bed (that didn't happen)? No being served lunch,they were all too hungry to help. Who am I kidding?! I did however get to go to Michaels and check out this 'Martha line' and well I'll keep my opinions to myself here on the net cause you never know when she might be slumming it and checking out blogs. After that we headed to my folks for a family BBQ with all my brothers, their wives, kids and dogs. And I forgot my mom's Mother Day card!! It started of hectic as everyone arrived, then things calmed down, we ate and the food was delicious (thanks John for BBQ'ing for us while we sat and ate!). It was nice to see all my siblings, neices, nephews, the four legged family members and my folks. Even Jonathan (who loves to tease me about the size of my dog) was very entertaining! That'll be so cool if you decide to play hockey for Chatham, but wherever you do decide to go you know I'll be there to cheer you on!! Your mom has already planned on dropping in for a glass of wine before we head out to the games bwahahahaaa.
I have no clue what transpired while I was washing the dishes, but I know there's a special member of our family out there hurting and I do hope that some mending will be done.
Oh yeah and I got so many gifts! Paige got me a rack to put my punches on & a TY baby, 'Boomer'. Jacob has agreed to get his hair cut- I can't wait! Kaisha has something up her sleeve but I'll have to tell you about that later. The love of my life actually in amongst his 'waytoomanyworkinghoursinoneday' day toured London to find a book I wanted... guess what I'll be doing today with a cuppa tea!

How was your Thursday evening?

Last night I did a crazy, stupid thing. My hubby worked all night so I was on SCS til 3am (when the cat's away...)waiting along with a few others for SU to post the new Stampin' Success... why? I have no clue. Maybe for that lil sneak peek. Anyways I'll pay for it today! By the time I went to bed it still wasn't posted... but I had a blast chuckling with a few stamping addicts.
But my poor hubby. He went into work at 9 yesterday morning and worked til 6 this morning when he had to go pick up our DD for her ride to school. He called me at 7 in the morning to say he dropped into my folks and had a shower and is on his way back to work. UGH! Then after working til 6 tonight he'll still have the hour drive home. I don't know how people think people can function on NO sleep. He's a computer programmer so it's not like he runs dangerous machinery but c'mon people!
Okay that's my vent for the morning.

Well so I thought...
For you stampin' fanatics here's SU's news for the day. You know how I told everyone that the wheels are rolling outta the building WELL...
Retired Wheels Are Back!
May 11, 2007
Thanks to the quick response from our Stampin' Around wheel vendor, we will be able to offer all the wheels listed on the original retired list until June 30 (including those which we had already sold out of)--effective immediately.

Our Solution
Our vendors have risen to the challenge of arranging for unscheduled raw materials and production time to enable us to reorder and supply all wheels on the retired list through June 30. However, as they produce wheels to demand for the next two months, we will undoubtedly encounter situations where backorders of some wheels occur. No wheel will be on backorder for long. Our vendors are working feverishly to help us solve the problem our mistake created for you. We are grateful for their cooperation, the input we received from the Advisory Board, and for your patience as you deal with the challenges this situation has created.

Oh, ummm, don't ask my opinion on this matter. Let's just embrace the joy of the news 'cause now I can get my Flitting By Jumbo wheel!!

Oh yeah and the June Stampin' Success was posted while I slept for the 4 hours. Was there any sneek peek... nope.. nada...NONE. Boy am I bumbed. The kids' bus is delayed two hours because of the fog and now I get to begin my day with my foggy brain.
I wonder how hubby is feeling?!?!

Shane Bernier

I've started a new quest in life. Many have heard about Shane Bernier and his wish with the make a wish foundation http://www.shaneswish.com/index.php . He suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. My mom suffers from Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia... well I have started making cards for this little guy. My original idea was to make 10... now I have decided to make as many cards as I can until one week prior to his birthday and ship them in time for him to oopen on his special day. The counts at 25, I think,I'll post more as they get completed. I have started taking them every where I go to have other people sign them for him. You can see them below! There seems to be one missing a very special one but I think I know who has it :) A special thanks goes out to Bonnie (aka raduse on SCS) for all the gorgeous house mouse images she sent me. What better way to use a blessing than to share it with someone else!

My message to Shane... hang in there little buddy God has plans for you!

Caught the Bug

I was introduced to stamping 14 years ago but the spark didn't last longer than a week. Two years ago I caught my first bug, it still hasn't left my system. If anything it has escalated! I have looked for some sort of recovery program/help group but the more I look the more it spreads. The major bug hit by hosting my first Stampin' Up party 2 years ago. I had heard of Stampin' Up by my bestest best friend Nancy, but didn't give it any special attention, it just wasn't 'my thing'. The demonstrator doing my party was my SIL, Patty, and this was both of our 'firsts', her's as a demo me as a stamper. I think I found 'my thing'. From there comes many cards, scrap booking pages, altered items and many, many new decorated pieces of accessories in my house. Now I can find my box o' sharpies anywhere in a room! Since I joined my Stampin' Up family with my SIL, not only has our businesses been blossoming but our friendship has also. My other SIL is slowly getting her hands inky, but her daughter has asked if she could move in and refers to my stamping room as 'Heaven'. I met a local lady that just recently caught the bug and she said the same thing as my niece almost word for word. Good thing we have a spare room! It's really cute when she comes to visit cause time doesn't stand still but seems to go fast forward. It seems she just gets here (at 11) and then all too soon the kids are getting off the bus and it's 4:00 already! Then again time seems to do the same thing everytime I step into my 'space'.
I love teaching card classes at my church, Church in the Oaks, in London, to a unique buncha gals. 'Brads' will never be looked at the same! We're a buncha bling, bling nuts. Bleach isn't just for laundry gals (this they'll be learning May 14th-wear your gubbies!!)! We usually meet the second Monday of the month (sometimes this changes due to holidays and life schedules) but it just doesn't seem to be often enough. For a small fee of $20 the ladies leave the end of the night with 10 beautiful cards with envelopes, all ready to mail out. I threw in an extra bonus this session with a small accessory tote bag given to each lady on their third class. For the next few classes the ladies will be stamping and personalizing their lil totes when they finish their cards for the evening. June 11th, I'll be having a few extra prizes for the ladies. For every class they have attended their name will be entered into a draw (attend 6 classes= 6 chances to win!) we will be having three names drawn and the ladies will get to choose one of 6 special stamp sets. Now who doesn't love free stuff?!!? If you're interested in joining us drop me a line and if there are any spaces available I'll let you know. Aside from our class in July we will be have an extra day altering many items, plain chipboard boxes, clip boards, pens, picture frames, lunch boxes... the possibilities are endless. More details to follow.

May 1st Stampin' Up released it's retiring list.... wooooo check it out!
I find the list by page numbers easiest for me so this is the list I use: http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/CA_retiredstamps_NUMB_COLOR.pdf

If you're looking for a specific stamp set to see if it's leaving you might want to check this one:
http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/CA_retiredstamps_ALPH_COLOR.pdf
After June 30th all these babies are gone!

Some wheels are already sold out!! Check out the updated (daily) list here: http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/CA_retiredWHEEL_STATUS.pdf Be sure to order yours before they roll away for good.

I'll keep you posted when the retiring accessory list comes out!

Don't forget to check out May's Palette O' Prints special (it's only available the month of May and then it's GONE!) http://www.stampinup.com/ca/documents/Palette_Prints_CAN.pdf

We also have an extra bonus if you are interested in becoming a demonstrator. If you sign up before the end of May you'll receive 2 hostess sets from the upcoming Fall-Winter Collection 2007. In the Spotlight (level 2 hostess set) All about Occasions Hostess Bundle (level 3 hostess set) includes: All about Occasions stamp set, All about Gratitude jumbo wheel*, All about Birthdays jumbo wheel* (Note: *Jumbo Stampin' Around handle & cartridges not included)

Well I think this enough for my first entry. I'm sure I''ll have more to add as the days go by.
Keep an eye out for my 'retiring stamp auction' coming soon!

Feel free to post a comment (as long as they're nice, I'm sensitive ya know!)

Who are You?

Hiya!!
My name is Katharine, spelt with a 'K' hence all the "Ks" for my blog name. My email address is just as mixed up. I have been married to my extremely supportive, loving, sometimes irritating hubby (lets be honest ppl, you can't live together and not irk each other once in awhile) Terry for 17 years. We have three children; 16, 14.75, 12, that are all smarter than we are (don't we all know it?!) We left the big city of London 4.5 years ago and now live north of Glencoe where the birds sing, the sun shines and if the neighbours get out of line we invite them to our BBQ (we haven't figured out how to teach cows how to climb the stairs yet but we're working on it!)
My parents live in London and so do my hubby's. As for our siblings, mine are all in the London area but my hubby's branch out from London to NewMarket to Chicago to Mexico. I have lost track of how many nephews and nieces we have, last count was 18 (I think). It's hard to imagine that some of them are old enough to start their own families!