Set Your DVR . . .

Tonight is the night – our friends Cheryl & Megan Darrow from Ten Seconds Studio will be competing on Craft Wars on TLC (The Learning Channel).  I have mentioned this before, but the TV bigwigs changed the time – it will be on at 8:00 EDT (which makes me happy since I will probably be able to stay awake until the results are announced).

I made this sign to put on our website and in the store – for those of you in our area (or coming in for the Cincinnati show next weekend) – Cheryl will be teaching in our store on Thursday, August 2.  So after you watch Craft Wars and see how talented she is, make plans to take her classes!  This is really a big deal – and now that she is a TV star, she is really getting bombarded by stores wanting her to come and teach for them.  But we got her first (because we knew her “when”) . . .

Power Outage . . .

If you tried to call the mail center this morning, all you heard was my pleasant voice asking you to leave a message.  Patti and Debbie are there, and they would love to be able to answer calls – and I’ll bet they would love to have air conditioning, too (as I type this, the temperature outside is 95 degrees).  But we have no electricity – workers are burying lines in back of our building that were replaced last summer, but were still above ground.

So I went home to work on things that required power and an internet connection.  One of those things was this – I promised yesterday that I would post a travelogue from my weekend in Texas.  And air conditioned comfort required that I fulfill that promise . . .

When I got to the Metroplex (for the uninitiated, that’s Dallas-Fort Worth) Thursday evening, I had two errands to run.  So I got them out of the way early . . .

Errand #1 was a new In-N-Out t-shirt for Ryan – he has a collection of those shirts that started when his Uncle Dex first sent him one from California when Ryan was in the first grade.  Errand #2 was a couple of beer koozies (if I spelled that wrong, forgive me – I am not familiar with these) for my neighbor Chad, who is a huge Dallas Cowboys’ fan.  Items such as this aren’t available in Ohio, so I sent him a picture of the three possibilities I found in the Dallas Cowboys Fan Store (he chose the one in the middle).

Friday was the usual whirlwind day of setup, this time followed by a round of golf (frustrating, but enjoyable) at the Grapevine Golf Course.  Saturday, we hit the ground running – we greeted the customers with three demos in front of our booth.

Cheryl Darrow from Ten Seconds Studio was holding court in our booth for the first time in several years (and if you’re coming to Stampaway in Cincinnati in a little over two weeks, she’ll be there, too!).  You’ll notice Jane McLaughlin observing in the corner of that photo – she was getting ready to take over for Cheryl on Sunday (Jane has learned – and demoed – just about everything that has come through our booth in Grapevine for almost as long as we have been coming here).  And thanks to Pat Larson from Heirloom Productions, I have closeups of what Cheryl was working with . . .

This may end up being the new hot item this year – VerDay is very cool, especially if you like aged and weathered looks.

Rita Barakat is a member of Faber-Castell’s design team – she also lives in Rockwall so it was an easy jaunt across town to work in our booth.  Our paths hadn’t crossed before, but after five minutes of watching her work it was obvious how talented she is!  Wish I had been closer to home, because by Sunday morning we had to take orders for the Gelato Gift Sets – Rita had already sold all we brought with us!

Suzanne Reed has worked with us in Grapevine for years, and for the last few I have looked for new demo items for her to work with (she is also a high school teacher).  I introduced her to Glitter-Fast Glitter (the stuff that doesn’t stick to you while you’re working with it) on Friday, and she went home and watched their videos and played with some samples.  This is what she came back with on Saturday morning – I had never seen it used on a diecut before.

But she wasn’t the only one in her family who came up with a demo sample.  Suzanne’s son Sean (shown at left when he first helped us set up last year) not only worked all day with us setting up the booth, but went home and created this piece.

Put them all together, and what you get is a booth full of happy customers.  We always try to come to a show with at least one thing you haven’t seen before – this time, for many we had three!

After the show on Saturday, I got to spend the evening with my childhood classmate Becki and her husband Bill.  This time, they took me to see the Fort Worth Stock Yards.  We had a nice meal together and then walked all over Cowboy Country.

Didn’t get to go inside, but at least got a look at a famous Fort Worth landmark . . .

Also walked past this . . . everything is bigger in Texas!

And much like Orlando, I went home with a new t-shirt – this one is a “Becki Begley Original” – Becki works for the City of Fort Worth, so if you see people in the area wearing these t-shirts while they collect household chemicals, you’ll know that Becki designed them.  I had a choice of colors – I couldn’t resist this one after I told her the color was “Road Crew Green” . . .

Last, but certainly not least, here’s a shot of Suzanne and Natalie helping to carry a cart that lost its wheels out to the back dock.  They make ‘em strong in Texas, too!

And my cell phone just rang – the power is back on at the mail center.  Back to work . . .

Here’s Something You Can Do While You’re Waiting for My Stories from Texas . . .

I am back from my whirlwind trip to Texas.  I took a few pictures . . . I’ll tell a few stories . . . but not today.  Today, you need to be reminded that there are items on our website that you may not have noticed yet.

At 11:00 a.m. EDT this morning, I pushed a series of buttons that revealed the remaining Spellbinders dies from this summer’s CHA release that weren’t part of their Blog Frenzy last month.  Want to see a few?

 

That’s enough – I didn’t even link those pics to their product pages on our site.  You need to go there and see all of them!  So click here and they’ll pop right up!

Same with these – here is just a taste of the new Tim Holtz summer CHA releases.  I’m still working on getting all of them on our site – I thought it would happen in Texas, but I was just too busy.  I know the folks at the show appreciated our efforts – and I’m sure you understand!  So click here to see the Tim Holtz items and keep checking back for more!

And tomorrow, I’ll tell a few stories . . .

Stamping Gala Tease, Part One of Many . . .

My apologies to those in the hinterlands – over the next few days, I’m going to drive you nuts.  Either that, or I’m going to send you in search of a travel agent.  For the locals, I assume you have already put in for vacation . . .

The annual Stamping Gala in our store here in Dayton starts on Tuesday, July 31 and continues through Wednesday, August 8.  As usual, the fun surrounds the 20th Stampaway USA convention in Cincinnati (Preview Party August 3, Convention August 4).  The store will be hopping, with nine days full of classes, demos, make and takes, and more!  I just finished a big graphic showing all of the Free Make & Takes and Demos . . . so why not share it with you?  Or so I thought – I put it here and it was blurry and unreadable.  So all you’re going to get here is a little bitty graphic, linked to a much bigger one on our site – just click on the picture and you’ll go there.  Dates and times are noted below each project picture.

Updates on Our “Patients” . . .

Our “patients” have been busy the past couple of days – thought you might like to know how they are doing . . .

I stopped by Mom & Dad’s place after church yesterday for my weekly cribbage games with Dad.  Found out that Mom spent all day Saturday sitting on the floor in the closet, organizing the mountain of e-mails, cards and such that she has received from all of you over the past nine months.  Oh how I wish I had known – I would have gone there to take pictures (and that is exactly why Mom didn’t tell me until she had finished).  She reread every one, organized them by date, marveled at the talents of those who sent handmade cards – and cried again at how thoughtful a group of people that she will never meet could be.  Mom is still doing well.  We have two family reunions around the 4th of July every year – and both were held in 100+ degree heat (which is really unusual here in Ohio).  She made it to the one on the 4th of July, but the heat really blew her away so she decided it might be better to stay home yesterday.  I noticed that her hair has lost its shaggy look – Dad trimmed it around the edges for her.  Mom was also very pleased to learn that you have shown Kathy Krivitski the same love and support that she received.

Yesterday was Kathy’s birthday (see the pic below of Kathy and the birthday cake from her sister).  She made it to the Orlando show and back but didn’t feel well the second day of the show.  She posted an update on her Facebook page and here is part of it -- “my muscles are very weak and yes I do my share of falling. I tend to embarrass everybody I'm with when I do this. It looks like I am tripping over air...so be it, this is my life now. I did get a tripped out walker though. It's a nice shiny blue with hand brakes and a seat. Also has a basket in the front. I am STYLIN' with that thing!”  (editor’s note – I find it amusing that someone who is having trouble with her balance says she now has a “tripped out walker”)

Last but not least, Tom (our tomcat) went back to the vet today.  Looks like the change in diet and increase in his thyroid medicine are helping – he has gained half a pound.  And he is still wearing out the path between our driveway and the back garden.

Our Customers Take Such Good Care of Us . . .

At shows, many of the vendors go out of their way to give something extra to our customers – could be a great demo, or prizes, or sale items, or just a warm smile in the midst of a crowded booth.  And sometimes our customers go out of their way to give something extra to us . . .

These nice ladies made a pin/badge for Ted Cutts and presented it to him today.  I was across the aisle at the time and shot a quick pic with my cell phone.  From a distance, I knew it looked like an alarm clock (how fitting for someone who handles so many Tim Holtz products) with a caption that said “(something) for Ted” – but I couldn’t figure out what that first word was and assumed it was “Time”.  After blowing up a piece of the pic I shot, I’m still not sure.  Regardless, he got a big kick out of it and posed for lots of pictures.

Later, it was my turn.  Some of you may remember this shirt and the story behind it . . .

Melinda Doster is a huge North Carolina basketball fan (and I am not) – so she buys me a t-shirt whenever they win a national championship and I wear it during setup as often as I can in an effort to destroy it.  I got my revenge a couple of years ago when the University of Dayton beat North Carolina in the NIT finals and I sent her a Dayton shirt.  I wore that Carolina shirt during setup in Clearwater back in February (and probably as I walked through the Make & Take in the evening), and Judy Patrick saw it, gagged, and said something to the effect that when her team won the national championship she would bring me a real championship shirt.  Today, she delivered . . .

I have never seen the little “OK” sign, but she says one of Kentucky’s players would do that when he came back down the court after making a basket and it caught on with the fans.  I told her that I would never live this down at home – my house is surrounded on multiple sides by rabid Kentucky fans (so much so that when my neighbor died a year ago, he was buried in his Kentucky sweatshirt and their fight song was played at his funeral).  Of course, Judy wanted evidence that I actually wore it and I promised to provide it.

Later, Pat Johnson came in with a piece of custom headgear for me . . .

It seems that she and some friends were eating lunch at a place where a balloon artist was performing, and she commissioned this tiara just for me.  After that it seemed only fitting that I combine the two, fulfill my promise to Judy, and amuse the customers who gathered for our giveaway . . .

So this is what they saw when I climbed up on a chair to do “Happy Fun Giveaway Time” – are you satisfied, Judy?

Seriously, you pay us no higher compliment than when you think enough of us to share in the fun.  And as much as it will cause me pain in my own neighborhood, I will wear the shirt with pride (I suspect it will last longer than the tiara)!

Alas, Our Booth Is In Another Room . . .

We are at the International Palms Resort on International Drive in Orlando, Florida this weekend (Saturday 10:00-5:00, Sunday 10:00-3:00 – come out and see us).  Nostalgia sets in quickly – 15 years ago this weekend, I was just down the road at the old Sheraton World Resort doing our first-ever show.  This weekend, I will renew acquaintances with a handful of people who remember that first little booth and my stunned look of glee all weekend as I realized for the first time how much fun I was having and how nice all of you are.

Apparently the folks at the International Palms think we are special (the photo credit goes to Mary Kay DelaFuente from Stamp Camp . . .

No, my ego is not inflating – all of the rooms in the convention hall here are named after islands off the Florida coast.  Ironically, though the sign says otherwise, this is not one of the rooms being used for the convention.  Still, it was my laugh for the day after a long and hot day of setup.