Ever been hit on at a convenience store?

Well this morning was a first for me! The guy was nice. . . . . . and persistent. . . . . . very persistent. In fact, he was a little too fascinated when I told him what I did for a living (thinking it would make him back down just a little). I literally just shut my car door (with the window up) and he drove away from where he had slightly blocked me in. I certainly never thought I would make it this far and still be single without a family, but . . . . after this morning I can say I was kind of glad to be single. I even thought about taking off one of my earrings and using it as a wedding band, but I don't think that would have deterred him at all. I guess I have to find a new place to make my morning stops. . . . . or I could tell him about a blue bucket. THAT would make him run I am sure!! (Just kidding Betty, but I couldn't resist.) I am sure this guy was nice, but he was definitely not my type!

A Restful (Sort Of) Friday

Above are pictures of my front porch. My Dad and one of his friends visited my house today. One of my gripes about my house from the day I moved in was how narrow my porch was. I "used" to have railings across the front and I thought they emphasized the narrowness of the area. Now, as you can see, I no longer have railings. I think it really opened up the front porch. As you can also see, there was a slight incident and my house now has an unintended new hole! For Christmas, Dad got my columns that will eventually be on my front porch and will look much prettier than my current beat up posts! OH - and the hole will eventually go away too!!! By the way, my Dad is not the person who made the hole!!! (John doesn't read my blog, but I can't help but rub it in anyway!!)

I have had a recent small surge in Etsy sales despite the fact I have majorly slacked off from making new items and/or listing them. This little surge has me excited again and I have created the following new tags that will be showing up for sale this weekend. Some of them have the new coloring techniques I learned at my Copic class in Henderson. I don't have the technique down pat, but I am pleased with how these tags turned out!

Off to bed. I chose not to attend a crop tonight because I needed rest. . . . . and I do. I can barely hold my eyes open now! I will be at the crop tomorrow though and I am looking forward to seeing my friends then!!

Items used in tags: Twigs and Sprigs rubber stamps, A Muse Art Stamps, Red Lead Stamps, Papertrey Ink stamps, and Cornish Heritage Farm rubber stamps, glue, glitter, and an assortment of Copic markers

It is Saturday. . . .

and I continue to be amazed at how fast time is flying. Why? I just don't seem to have as much time in the day and I am not doing as much as I was before. I don't get it.

Anyway, Dad came today and fixed my oven door. The hinge broke from "old age" I am sure. It is not like I cook on a daily basis. We hung out a little and visited with my neighbors as well. He is going to redo my front porch this spring - so I will have a new look!!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Hope Barb is recovering and getting stronger each day!

I am off to finish cleaning out my closet while watching some basketball. There are two things I want to accomplish this weekend: get my closet straight and work on my scrapbook room. I have some cards I must finish and get in the mail before Monday. I also want to get some pictures uploaded from the NY trip. The victim to the 9/11 Tribute Center was amazing in so many ways!!

So, I am off to get busy!!

Time Flies

WOW!! It has been a month since my last post!! Time certainly does fly by!! I have not purposefully neglected my blog. I have been sick (again), have gone to NY for work for a week (in which both the departure and arrival flights were delayed so it was a longer trip than anticipated), had a dear relative pass away, have been home (O'boro) twice (for the funeral and then a second trip), and have been to Henderson where I visited Serendipity and took a wonderful class.

I will try to post some pics from NY, what we made in class yesterday, and my attempts at recreating what I learned as well later today. I am also trying to make some items for my even more neglected Etsy and ArtFire stores as well as do what I need to do around the house!! Wish me luck!!

Thank You & Notes on Operation Hero Mail

First of all, my parents got their power back today!! They lost power on Tuesday, 01/27. They braved it out until 02/01, at which time they broke down and purchased a generator. So, they have been getting by and they are definitely thankful a generator and some hard work clearing trees is all the significant damage they have to deal with when compared to some others. A huge thanks goes out to all those persons who have been working LIKE CRAZY to help all the people get their power back. Dad said he was up and outside around 5A this morning and spoke to a Kenergy guy who was looking at the poles with a spotlight!! I went home earlier this week for a funeral and the closer I got, the more damage I saw. It was truly amazing to see. Mom and Dad still had at least 3 inches of ice on their deck and this was a week after the storm!! Dad said the Kenergy guy told him they had to hire a security firm because people were threatening them because they did not have power. How crazy is that? Anyway, again. . . . a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thank you to those workers!!

The past two weekends I have been primarily working on making cards for Operation Hero Mail. This is another A Muse challenge using an absolutely adorable stamp set (see here: http://www.amuseartstamps.com/CartGenie/prod-2883.htm). The idea is to make cards for our troops. The coordinator, Geeta, will ensure they are sent to the company who gets them distributed. I think it is a great cause!! I did double philanthropic work this weekend as the crop I attended on Saturday was an annual event where the proceeds always go to some cancer-related cause. This year the proceeds went to a local hospice. Anyway, above are my two favorite cards that I made over the course of the past two weekends. The first card is supposed to remind you of a parade on Main Street and the second was inspired by Sherry C. (see herblog here: http://littlestampsbiglife.blogspot.com/ - the card that inspired me is from her 01/25/09 post).

Here is hoping everyone starts off to a great week tomorrow!!

I am back. . .

from Barren River from our retreat and I am TIRED!! Thanks everyone!! I had a great time!! Special thanks to Betty for organizing this and to Betty (again) and Terri for helping to make sure I didn't starve (not that it would happen over the course of a weekend. . . ) OH - and I also need to send a special thank Michelle for tolerating me! I am glad we all could make this and I am glad we take the time to share our stamping and scrapbooking hobbies!

I will try to e-mail pictures later, but it may be tomorrow. I made a detour to Wal-Mart in Glasgow before heading home. Then, once here, I had to visit with my elderly neighbors to let them know about how Mom and Dad are doing (because they would worry and will ask). I finally got my car unloaded and all the stuff is in my kitchen. I also picked up branches outside because, honestly, it was too nice to stay inside.

On the Mom and Dad front, they finally broke down Saturday and purchased a generator. They have no idea when they will get power back, but Mom said the lights flicked off and on several times last night. So, they are hopeful they may get their electric soon. As bad as it is, Mom said at least they still have their house, clothes, etc. which are usually lost or badly damaged in other types of storms. She said there was at least an inch of ice still covering things and that it is supposed to snow again on Monday. Mom also said that the power poles were snapped in half and that they had heard it would be easier the rebuild part of the power grid that was damaged instead of repairing it. It is absolutely surreal that they are going through this since I am so close and I drove home from the state park with my sun roof open. They are doing well though and I am definitely thankful for that!

Thanks again everyone for the great weekend!!

New Items Just Listed on Etsy

I just listed two styles of Valentine's Day gift bags on my Etsy site. This is one of them. The other is the same except it has a different sentiment. It says "I'll love you fur-ever" and is on a bigger label that has been adhered near the bottom of the gift bag. I just love this vintage image stamp!! I got it from Red Lead. Both sentiments are A Muse.

I am glad I have finally posted something new in one of my stores. I feel like I have neglected them so much. Well, truthfully, I have. I am hoping to get back into making more for them soon!