She-cave in Progress

Morning! No crafts to share just yet, but I thought you'd like to have a peek at what has been keeping me away from my "therapy." I'll show off the she-cave again when it's all dolled up.



I'm STILL emptying boxes...did 7 last night & no sign of carpet yet! But I'm getting there...I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's just really faint. It's like I told my girlfriend, Linners, down in Georgia ~~ it's like eating an elephant...just taking one bite at a time. *ROFL* I open one box & stay with it till it's empty - putting away, tossing out, or filing.

Well, break's over, so I'd better get back to it! Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Feelin' Good

Yup! That's me today, even though I'm still unpacking. I thought I'd share one of my favorite Nina Simone songs, performed by John Barrowman back in 2006. John is best known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who & Torchwood. The man has a fine tenor...enjoy!



Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

An essay of sorts & bit of news

I was asked recently why I didn't become a demonstrator/rep for SU!, since they're based here in Utah. First, let me say, that I have some very DEAR FRIENDS that rep for SU! AND CTMH (Close To My Heart) and I do enjoy using some of their products. These companies are fine & I have nothing against them. There are reasons WHY I chose to represent The Angel Company over SU! or even CTMH:
1) The Angel policy - The Angel Company has THE BEST Angel policy in the business. You don't have to purchase a "copyright" or "property of" stamp to use our product & there's no limit as to the amount of items you can make for use in your crafting business. It's simple - you buy it, you use it, you sell it - we just ask that you tell folks, when asked, where you got your adorable images. ;-)
2) I'm not REQUIRED to sign up a down-line or have it done in a certain amount of time. Of course, it's nice if I do have a down-line (win-win for everyone) but I'm not going to be flamed by anyone if I choose to just do this on my own or eventually make it a hobby.
3) My quarterly minimum to maintain "active status" with the company is STILL THE LOWEST out there & that's AFTER our company made some changes in policy.
4) The stamps - the type, the size, the quality...they're just amazing! I'm a very finicky stamper - I have to like ALL of the stamps in a set before I purchase it. With SU & CTMH, when I considered their product line, they both had items I really liked - embellishments, punches, ribbons, papers...but when it came to the sets, they just didn't hit the mark 100% for me. I would look at a set & either like all of them except one or two OR I'd only like one or two out of the set. I can't sell a product if I don't like EVERYTHING about the product. With The Angel Company, I didn't have that issue. Every set I currently own or have on my wish list contains stamps that I'll reach for over and over again. I love that we use quality rubber, mounted onto cling cushion - I get the look, feel, & smell of rubber stamping, but not the bulk - all of my TAC stamps are stored on these lovely coated sheets we sell & sitting in a zippered binder - not attached to wooden handles in stacks of boxes to be waded through as I need them.
5) I don't have any special restrictions or a "no compete" issue. If I want to take a bit of a break here on my blog and show off some Tildas, or Inkadinkado stamps, or Sugar Nellies, or digital stamps, or something from Hearts In Touch, that's perfectly okay. No one is going to shut me down or tell me I can't. The Angel Company KNOWS that crafters like variety & working with other products. They KNOW that they can't carry it all & most importantly, they know that a happy Angel is a productive Angel.

Those are my reasons for working with The Angel Company & I want to thank you for letting me take a moment to explain them. Now, for my bit of NEWS:

If you've ever clicked on my shopping cart (the purple one, up here on the left), you've been taken to my storefront with The Angel Company. Have you put anything in your cart & tried to make a purchase? Well, in the past, it's been, let's just say a little DIFFICULT - you had to do a search for your zip code and sometimes it would take 2-3 times before the system would actually recognize it. Did you ever go through that & EMPTY your cart out of frustration? If so, I'm so very sorry...BUT...you won't have that problem any more! The folks at our Home Office, God bless 'em, have FIXED IT FOR US! {doin' a lil dork dance} My store & any other Angel that you shop with is now set up for you to setup YOUR OWN ACCOUNT: fill your cart with items, fill in your information, set up a user name & password, then you can shop any time & the system will remember you just like every other online shop you visit. No more re-entering everything, no more zip code searches, no more FRUSTRATION! I hope this makes you as happy as it did me & I hope that shopping in my store is now a HAPPY EXPERIENCE for you. If you ever have any questions or, Heaven forbid, problems using my store, please let me know so I can get it taken care of for you. The Angel Company is working very hard for YOU to make your shopping in my store the best experience that it can be.

Now, as much as I'd like to stay here & play with you, I really must get all of this stuff unpacked (I'm so tired of tripping over and around boxes!). As soon as I'm done, I'll get back to our weekly K.I.S.S. & sharing other goodies with you, including PIX of my new place.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!!

I'm Back! {well, sort of}

I'm still trying to get everything unpacked so I can function. I have a garage sale tomorrow at the old house of things that I just could not bring with me or store ~ crafting supplies & finished crafts ~ some of it I really hate to turn loose of, but I have to be happy that these things will go to someone that will appreciate them.

For now, I want to take a second to let you know that The Angel Company has a wonderful 6 paper set in black & white available for you to download...FOR FREE! In today's economy, who doesn't like free?!? These do not have to be JUST black & white ~~ think about printing this on some pretty cardstock for a bold look. Are you seeing the possibilities yet? Click the picture to go get yours now!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!

Whew! Almost there!

This is the LAST weekend of not posting on my blog so I can be moving things...I've been doing a suburban-full every day after dropping the boys off at school for the last two weeks. I'm exhausted! Tonight will be our last load of "little stuff" ~ dresser/chest drawers, hanging clothes, a few decorations ~ we're putting it all away where it belongs, tossing it out, or setting it aside for the garage sale as we go along. Tomorrow & Sunday will be the BIG STUFF ~ dressers/chests, washer & dryer, refrigerator, entertainment center, desks, beds, & shelving units.

Monday will be the boys' last day at school in Layton, I'll give them Tuesday to "chill" & absorb living in their new space, then they begin their new schools on Wednesday. They don't seem to be upset about leaving their school...their FRIENDS on the other hand..."Mrs R, why can't you just leave them in this school?" "My mom will come get them!" (*ROFL* yeah, right!) "Take us with you!" "It's gonna SUCK when they leave!" *LOL* It's nice to know that my boys are popular ~ much more so than I was at that age ~ I was the geek no one wanted to hang around with ~ to this day, I still have the same handful of friends from school.

NEXT weekend will be a HUGE garage sale at the newly emptied house in Layton...everything that I'm tired of storing or we simply don't have room for is going - some of my finished crafts, craft supplies, unfinished picture frames, home decor, a few pieces of furniture...it's outta here!

And on that note, so am I! *LOL* Need to get off my fanny & get back to work. After the cable guy comes on Monday ("Sometime between 8am & noon) - I'll have telephone, tv, & internet - so I'll be back then. I may save a few handmade goodies to give as blog prezzies, since we're coming up on Christmas.... {I've got a box full of glass blocks waiting to be turned into lights, SOMEWHERE in this mess.} *LOL*

Thanks for hanging with me while I go through this & have a great rest of your weekend!

Blog Candy Alert!

I know, I know..."you just said 'no posts this weekend.'" Well, I couldn't help it, I HAD to share this with you!! One of my favorite tole painting artists, author of the "Paint on a Happy Face" book series, Kathy Jakopovich, has a stamp store - Peachy Keen. She makes some of the most darling clear stamps you've ever seen. You really need to check out her store HERE, then go to my right sidebar & click on her candy picture to go sign up for your chance to win. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!

No posts this weekend, folks

I'd like to apologize in advance - I'll be spending this entire weekend, re-locating my she-cave...to another HOUSE. The family is moving about 20 minutes north, to Ogden.

This economy has hit us particularly hard, so we've made the difficult decision to leave our home of 8 years and down-size into something more affordable. We've eliminated car payments, by going to older cars that the bank doesn't WANT to own, cutting up all of HIS credit cards (I haven't used one in nearly 10 years), and tightening down on the purse strings. The hardest part is leaving behind the charter school that my boys so dearly love attending.

I've got the youngest one here with me today, sick (twice this week, 4th time in 6wks) so it's gonna be difficult, but it must be done. Any prayers offered will be gladly accepted with an open heart!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend! Hopefully, I'll be back on Monday with something for ya.

It's time for K.I.S.S.

I know, I know...two posts in one day. No, I'm not trying to make it snow. *LOL* I just really wanted to share those Halloween cards with you earlier (I had so much fun putting them together!). I would have been back on here sooner, but Chris' dad is here with some of his friends from Texas and he spent the afternoon with us. Someone had to drive him back to the house where he's staying & that "someone" turned out to be ME. Not that I mind...I adore Kenneth. You couldn't meet a kinder man. The boys just LOVED seeing their "Pops" again & he was amazed at how TALL they're all getting. We'll be getting together again this week around Wednesday for dinner out - something I NEVER get to do any more thanks to the ole cranky pancreas - so I'm looking forward to it. I love visiting with his friend's wife...she's been in the U.S. for nearly 30 years but to hear her thick German accent, you'd think that she's only been here a few months!

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here's tonight's card. I used a pre-made A2 base of kraft paper, printed a strip out of my clip art collection (Theresa Kogut). As soon as the ink was dry, I cut it out, ran it through my Xyron 1.5" sticker maker, and stuck it onto the card. Done! Simple, & multi-purpose, just how I like 'em.

In fact, it took me longer to decide which graphic to print than it did to make the card! *LOL* Hope you like this week's edition of K.I.S.S. I've got a Christmas stamp set from The Angel Company that's calling my name, so maybe I'll have something else to share with you soon. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Some cards from yesterday's tags

Thought I'd share these with you before the rest of the day gets away from me. It's been perfect here for making cards: cloudy, rainy, windy....COLD. Great excuse to stay inside and craft. I should be packing for the move, but I just can't bring myself to do it just yet.

Background paper from K&Co.

I colored this one with my COPIC markers before antiquing and mounting onto the card. Background paper from My Mind's Eye. Felt ribbon from Kaiser Craft.

I love this crow from Making Memories (set was called Spellbound). Wicked tag is from Studio G. Background paper is My Mind's Eye.

Stamp on this tag is from Studio G. Background paper is the same sheet from My Mind's Eye. Maybe I'll get to craft a bit more before bedtime...
Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Cheers!

Happy World Card Making Day!! Well, I didn't get any cards made, BUT I did manage to make a few things to go ON cards over the next week or so. Can you tell what kind of mood I'm in?
Papers are My Mind's Eye & K&Co. Stamps are from Inkadinkadoo, Studio G, and Making Memories. Inks for antiquing are Tsukeniko Dew Drops. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day.