Where do we start? All of these arrived at the mail center within ten minutes of each other this morning.
Looks like we have some shipping to do!
And this is just for fun – I dropped off our company truck to be serviced this morning, and this old fire truck was in the lot. Immediately thought of my cousin Tom, who since birth has been fixated on everything involved with firefighting. I sent him the pic – thought some of you might enjoy it as well . . .
The notice arrived a couple of days ago – one of those messages I love to read or hear . . .
Sizzix was letting us know that the new Crazy Things die set is on its way to us – it was expected in October but it looks like we’ll actually get it (and so will most of you) in September! It should arrive by midweek and we’ll start shipping the advance orders immediately. If you haven’t ordered yours yet, you have until the shipment arrives to get the introductory pricing and free shipping.
Ranger also shipped a bunch of new items that should arrive by midweek – the September Distress Color of the Month (Wilted Violet), Distress Minis Set #14, and all four of the Designer Accessory Bags from Tim Holtz, Dyan Reaveley, Wendy Vecchi, and Dina Wakley.
We are going to be so busy next week . . .
I sent an e-mail out to our list about ten days ago, announcing 213 new dies from Memory Box and our intention to put them on sale for 20% off the MSRP through September 10. When I do that sort of thing, I usually put a note on the blog as well – most of you probably get the e-mails, but some of you are “blog only”. So I laughed sheepishly this morning when I realize that I had forgotten to mention the Memory Box dies – there is an irony to that.
Here is the verbiage from the e-mail . . .
“Have you discovered the fantastic dies from Memory Box? It has taken me days to get all 213 of the new dies from Memory Box, Open Studio, and Poppystamps on our site -- every time I thought I was done, I found more! Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some time looking through them -- if you need a good reason, they're 20% Off the MSRP through September 10!
“A moment of reality here -- with 213 new releases, some of them are going to be popular and some aren't. So we can't stock all of them, but we can get them within a week or two at most.”
So if you didn’t know about this before – you do now. And you have three days. I might even let it slide through until the weekend just to make sure you have enough time.
Speaking of weekend – this was most of mine. This limb covered a large portion of my neighbor’s backyard. The split in it – about halfway from the beginning of my chainsaw cut to the edge of the picture – concerned her. It had been there for several years, since a storm where the limb was likely struck by lightning. The split got longer but it seemed pretty sturdy to me – I figured it would eventually come down in a storm and I would have to clean it up then. But her concern finally trumped my interest in seeing how long it would stay aloft with that split. So over the course of two days, I cut it down and disposed of everything. Sometimes the best part of a holiday weekend is getting back to work so you can rest . . .
I finished the limb work just in time to clean up and enjoy this. Since Ryan and Emily had to work last Sunday when we celebrated Mom’s birthday, we set up a time where we could meet at a local emporium for ice cream. Blessed is the mother whose birthday celebration lasts for ten days . . .
I started predicting it in March, but I was wrong – in March, April and May – and then I finally gave up. This was living proof why I don’t bet on anything. I tell people that I have made thousands of dollars in the lottery over the years – because I have never played.
So today it finally happened – the September Distress Color of the Month is Wilted Violet. As usual, you can order all six pieces for 20% Off the MSRP with Free Shipping in the Continental U.S.
Don’t forget that the second set of Distress Minis (Set #14) will also release this month – if you haven’t ordered yours yet, you can include it with your order for Wilted Violet.
And this was unexpected – today Ranger announced new Accessory Bags featuring four famous designers (Tim Holtz, Dyan Reaveley, Wendy Vecchi, and Dina Wakley). I suspect these are going to be popular (sounds like a comment from “Captain Obvious” in the commercials I have seen way too much on TV lately). This leads to a logical question: We have never carried Dina’s creations before – should we?
I hope that all of you are able to enjoy the holiday weekend. I am already dressed for the evening – tonight marks the beginning of my 36th season announcing the high school football games in my hometown.
And in response to many of you who encouraged me to take the plunge after the picture and comment from my mom’s birthday celebration last weekend – I’m getting the new mower tomorrow (from Lowe’s, of course – have to support my son’s new employer).
I sat down to my computer at work this morning – going through the e-mail, one of the first items I saw wanted to know when the Tim Holtz Christmas Items that were on his blog yesterday were going to be on our site. My initial reaction was “I did that back in July” – little did I know that there were more. As I have said many times, I appreciate so much that our customers take the time to tell us what new items we need to be looking for.
If you didn’t know either (or even if you did), you can click on this link to see the Idea-ology goodies for the holidays. As usual, they’re 20% Off the MSRP with Free Shipping in the Continental U.S. for a limited time.
And while we’re at it – don’t forget that the September Tim Holtz Distress Color will be announced at noon EDT on Friday! I won’t put a link here, because it will change as soon as I add the name of the color to the item listing – but I’ll include it on the page of Idea-ology releases so you’ll be able to find it there as well.’
Friday was Mom’s birthday. Birthdays are always special in our family, but as the family grows it gets harder and harder to get everyone together at the same time to celebrate. We ran into that this weekend – Ryan and Emily both work retail and had to work, and early afternoon on Sunday was the only time we could get everyone else together. So Carla and I will take the kids and the grandparents out for ice cream in a few days and that way everyone gets a Grandma fix.
And yesterday, we had food and most of the family and homemade ice cream and brownies (and you get the idea) . . .
And afterward, we got a “Teacher and Pupil and Supervisor” moment as Blake let me take a spin on his riding lawn mower – I am considering this for the first time, after 30+ years of mowing my acre with a walk-behind. I have reached the point in life where those three hours are better spent on other tasks – and with all of the rain we’re getting, twice a week means I have to spend way too many hours on mowing to get anything else done.
No specific theme here – just random thoughts with pictures to illustrate. If one doesn’t interest you, keep going – the next one might.
Yesterday was the first day of school in my hometown. So Facebook was awash with “first day of school pics” – how in the world did we function before we had a place to share our lives instantly? I thoroughly enjoy them – but after the 20th or 25th picture, my warped brain started sparking . . .
And this was what came out – I added a comment underneath that said “Do not adjust your set – this page was left intentionally blank.” But this morning, I decided to play along . . .
I took all of those pictures in the same spot over the years and assumed I would eventually find a use for them. They became the focal point of the thank you notes Ryan sent out when he graduated. And the stone became Dobie's grave marker a few months after the last picture was taken.
Speaking of Ryan, he is now into his second week at Lowe’s and loves it – seems to be fitting in well. I did not take the mug shot – it’s hard to get him to smile – but it was nice to get to see him in his new vest.
Last week at the golf course – out of focus but terribly cute. These two fawns were feeding as we came down the fairway toward them – weren’t the least bit concerned about us as we approached. We assumed that momma was close by – and she was, just a few yards away in the brush.
The death of a local landmark – Der Duetchler (later Der Dutchman) was a local restaurant that attracted out-of-towners for years. The kitchen and entryway were destroyed in a fire two or three years ago, and the owners decided not to rebuild. So it sat vacant – from the road it looked like nothing had happened. But vandals eventually got to it and this week the demolition began. These pics are of the banquet room side of the building – a lot of memorable occasions were celebrated in that space during its lifetime. And I even went to church there for a few years.
And the monsoons continue (apologies to those of you out west – I wish we could send it to you). This was yesterday evening, as rainwater washed down the steps of the bank parking lot at the main intersection in my hometown. I’m sure this has happened before, but I had never seen it – so I went around the block and got out to snap a picture.
