Spring has Sprung

My lilacs are blooming. They are wonderful. I could just go out and stand in the bush all day and breathe in their wonderful fragrance. I cut a bunch and put them in the shop. Every One of the customers that came in yesterday put their face in the blooms and breathe deep. And then, all, with out exception, uttered "aaahhhhhh.............."

Unfortunately our weather will be turning colder and there is a chance of frost the next couple of nights....So we are enjoying the lilacs as long as we can.

Next Wednesday, the 30th, will be Day stamp club. The sessions are 10:30 and 1:30. The girls saw the flap card that the night club did and wanted to make it too. So that is what we are doing....

Here is the lavender card. The inside says Happy Mother's Day. The punch ovals went through the cuttlebug. Oh ... more of those scalloped oval punches have been ordered. Hopefully they will not be back ordered from the supplier....

More Crazy Weather

Well I don't know if you can call an earthquake weather related. But last Friday we had a moderate earthquake in the St. Louis Region. Since then we have had 18 after shocks. The latest one was in the wee hours of this morning with a magnitude of 4.5. Life has been intersting here in the mid-west since mid-winter. I'm hoping that the weather situation settles down into more gentle patterns.

The May Newsletter has been put out on the web site. Or you can stop by the store and pick up a hard copy. I know that it is pretty early. I am trying to get the next month newsletter out sooner rather then later. But May was pressing me because we have Sally doing her Domino Tray on May 2nd and 3rd. The class is limited to 8 seats. If you are interested be sure to read the previous blog post and then sign up for the class. Hope to see you soon.

Classes

Okay now folks, I usually try not to lecture here. But unfortunately you have one coming. If you are one of my 'good' student/customers who sign up and pay in advance for classes just go on and read something else. This does not pertain to you. However! If you are one who wanders in on the day of the class 5 minutes before starting time--READ ON!
Policy at the Artfull Hand is.......... Sign up and PAY 24 hours in advance for any class that is offered at AH. This does not apply to the Free Make 'n Takes and 3 for $3s. We required this as a courtesy to the instructor. She must prepare in advance for each student. We have had a number of student/customers who come in at the last minute and then are disappointed because either there wasn't room for an extra body or were turned away because the instructor hadn't known that someone would wander in at the last minute and hadn't prepared.....On occasion we have been able to seat a person at the last minute. But this in not fair to the others who play by the rules. It is not fair to the instructors or to me. We would like to have as many student/customers as possible and hate to turn someone away unhappy.
So from now on I will be a hard ass about this. And if you have seen my ass lately you ought to be afraid, very afraid as it has gotten quite large. So you don't want a large hard ass mad at you.. Play nice from now on.

Home Again

Well I am home again and settled back in. There is so much stuff you have to do and undo when you travel. I wouldn't do it if it weren't for Baby James.

The above picture is Baby James (almost 6months old now) and my friend Judy. It would take too long to tell you the story of how we met and where she lives. Although it is interesting this is not the place for it.

I just wanted to let you know that I am back at the Artfull Hand. There are no trips planned for the foreseeable future.

Smiles

This is one of Linda's 3 for $3s this month. The colors are so bold and bright...very different for Linda..

April didn't start off very well around my house....it would take several blogs to fill you in on it all. Let's just say it involved Long Horn Cattle, flooded basement, echo cardio gram and a well pump failure...all of that was in a mere 24 hours. Most of those items have had solutions applied to them. I kept looking at the calendar and wondering if someone was playing an April Fools prank on husband and myself.

Even though I am still buried up to my arm pits in paper work trying to prepare for my tax appointment I have managed to order in several new things for the shop. We have gotten in some new scrapbooking embellishments and 12 x 12 paper. I also have some new shiny and glittery gel pens. And some new stamps from Stampendous. But the biggest thing is that I have bought a Cuttlebug embossing machine.... We have made up packets of embossed papers for sale. But you also have the option of coming into the shop and for a mere $2.50 you can 'rent' the machine for an hour. And emboss till you wear out... All the girls have had a lot of fun trying different papers. Everything is turning out just beautiful.

This is a second card from Linda's 3 for $3 this month using the shell collage embossing folder and some of the new scrapbooking paper that I mentioned above. You have to come to the shop to find out how it is done......