Flying By

Where do the days fly to? Life seems so busy. And what do we accomplish on a daily basis. If you are like me you are lucky to get a load of laundry done or the dish washer unloaded.
I've been working on the calendar for June. I do know there will be another stampscapes class offered just haven't nailed down a date. Jane and I are talking about offering drawing classes. I would love to teach them but don't have the time. Jane is very talented and a good teacher. I'll let you know what we come up with.
I also have large orders placed with two of my general merchandise suppliers. Geez - I didn't realize that I was out of soooo much 'stuff'!
At stamp club Monday night I had a nice compliment. One of my customers had been to the JoAnn's Store on Manchester Road over in St. Louis County. The Artfull Hand came up as a topic of conversation. The clerk at JoAnn's just raved about the Artfull Hand. She said that it was the BEST store in the whole area!!!!! How about that??????

May Day

I really wanted to post on May 1st but stuff just got in the way.
Happy May Day anyway!!!
May is going to be a busy month around the Artfull Hand. Check out the newsletter on the web site www.artfullhand.com.
May is also birthday month around AH. We have several regular customers who have birthdays this month. And even our own Beverly has a birthday this month.
But don't feel too sorry for her as she is abandoning us in a few days to go to Hawaii.....She better send a postcard.
And of course Mother's Day is this month.... Don't know what to get Mom??? Stop by and check out our hand made items like our felted purses and jewelry. There are several nice paintings on the wall that are available for sale too. At the very least we will help you make a Mother's Day card for dear ole mum. Come see us soon.

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......

Well finally

The weather has straighten out a bit. We have some sun. Yippee!
Linda and I have been busy with spring cleaning in the shop. Which means we have moved some things around. We had to make room for some new displays and new products. Just yesterday I got two orders in, one from Judikins and the other from Impression Obession. The Viva Las Vegas stamp order should come in any day now... Besides stamps I have some new gelpens and 12 x 12 double sided paper. There are some other new little trinkets. You will just have to stop by and check every out. Hope to see you soon.

Crazy weather continues

However it is a sign of Spring so I will gladly put up with the crazy weather. We are so tired of winter weather around her. This part of the Country has been spoiled the last few winters. We finally got back to our 'normal' winter weather and we all are crying about it like little spoiled babies that we are.... Today we are having typical Irish Weather. It is raining.

I want to wish everyone a Happy St. Pat's Day even if you aren't Irish! I am lucky enough to have some Irish blood in my veins.. I am celebrating this evening at home with my Husband of German Heritage with Corned Beef and cabbage and all the trimmings. I think I need to make a stop at the store on the way home to pick up some Beer to go along with the meal... Somehow a gin and tonic on St. Pat's Day seems to be sacrilegious.

The above card was one of Linda's 3 for $3s last week. Jane made another neat spinner card using the four heart clover you see here.

We have a lot of new stuff in the shop. Many orders have come in and I am expecting more. Be sure to check out the shop's web site to see the latest classes and 3 for $3s. www.theartfullhand.com

Crazy Weather

Here in my little corner of the midwest the weather has been exceptionally crazy the last few days. Last Sunday the husband and I enjoyed margaritas in the back yard with gentle breezes and temps in the high 70's. Monday a cold front came through and dropped the temps to the mid 30's. Today Tuesday the weatherman still is forecasting anywhere from 3 to 10 inches of snow depending on which weatherman you are listening to. At my house all we got was a few snow pellets. In town there was slightly more of a dusting. Right now there is some snow falling in town. So we will just have to wait and see what the heavens actually deliver to us. Hopefully it will not be the excessive amount predicted.
Our Used Stamp Sale is this coming Saturday at the Artfull Hand. We have received delivery of boxes and bags stuffed full of really good items. It looks like it will be another fantastic sale. The hours are 10 to 5 on Saturday. No exceptions.
The March of the Flamingos sale will be suspended that day as there will be just too much going on to be tossing balls about....

March

Ahh...it's March once again......and that means the March of the Flamingos Sale has returned. Come in and toss the ball at Freddy Flamingo to win discounts on your purchase. Bring me a Flamingo related item and earn discounts that way as well.
Teh above critters are just a few of the flamingos that hang out at the Artfull Hand....

Weirdness

I have been in a strange mood all week. Every since I returned from South Carolina I have been trying to come up with samples for my 3 for $3 which is this Friday. Every card I tried- failed and failed miserably. I searched the magazines for inspiration. I got some but when I tried to produce, those efforts failed too. I finally came up with my third card today amidst a lot of distractions. I think this is the weirdest card I have every made. When I was searching the shelves for phrase to put on it, everything I looked at could be taken as risque. That would have been okay for me but some of my customers might have taken offense...
Stop by the shop on Friday. I'll be doing the 3 for $3s at 10:30 and 1:30.
This coming Saturday is the First of the Month all ready. We'll be having our monthly ATC swap. On March 8th is our semi-annual used stamp and art supply sale....

Well I've done it again

Tuesday night was the re-scheduled time for the stampscapes class. We had some people who were able to make it even though the weather again was not the best. I promised myself that THIS time I would get the camera out and record the event.....Geeez! I even set out the camera in plain sight. Well Jerri and I got so involved with the class that I FORGOT AGAIN! I guess that is good for the students. But I want to show you what we do in the shop. Words are ok but pictures are better. We all are visual people and it helps to have pictures.
I might be more quiet then usual for the next few days as I am off to South Carolina to visit Baby James. He is 4 months old now and I have only seen him twice. With his parents being in the Military I won't get too many opportunities to see him grow.

Kid Valentines

Last Saturday I hosted a class for kids ages 8 to 15 to make 5 valentines. All were very simple in design and construction so I had no problems with the young stampers. But one little girl caught my eye. Her face was so angelic and sweet. Her skin was milky white and clear. Light brown hair framed her face. She had light blue eyes and a petite mouth. There was a light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and upper cheeks. The freckles are what caught my attention initally. When I commented on how cute her freckles were, her older sister who was in attendance quickly said those aren't cute. I cover mine up. I looked closely at her and sure enough she had a layer of make up on.. Since I had put the upper age restriction of 15 on the class I am assuming that she was 15 or younger..The younger sister shot her older sister a glance that would have knocked the older girl on her butt if she had not all ready been sitting. I told the younger girl that her freckles were very cute and that she should keep them. Grandma who had been sitting and watching the exchange beamed at the younger girl and said I told you so.....Ignoring older sister.

Superbowl Sunday

I wish I would have remembered to take pictures... Dang it!
I hosted the third annual Superbowl Sunday Stamp Out last Sunday. The shop was open from 11 to 5. Clientele could pay $8, bring in a current project, work on my spacious tables, have access to all the supplies, stamps and equipment in the classroom, PLUS play games, win prizes and graze amounst the food range from chili to pistachios.

I had a nice turnout, not too few and not too many. We had a great time working on individual projects, talking and eating. I guess that is why I forgot to get the camera out. The time just flew by.

I will do it again next year. Why don't you come and join us.....

Whats coming up

This is the coolest spinner card! It will be one of Jane's 3 for $3s on Feb February 2. The time will be only at 10:30. We may repeated the card with different stamps as we are all ready running out of the ones used!

February 3rd is Super Bowl Sunday. We again will be open that day from 11 to 5pm. For $8 you will have complete access to the classroom supplies and equipment, a spot at our table to work, games, prizes and surprises. There will be snacks too. So bring your card making stuff or scrapbooking stuff to work on.

I'll have more of what is going on in February soon. But did want to tell you that in March we will have our Spring Used Stamp Sale and of course the March of the Flamingos will be back.......

Working Hard

Sorry you haven't heard from me in a while. We have been pretty busy restocking. We now have a nice supply of Valentine stamps and Easter stamps continue to arrive. I'm very happy to announce that we now stock Shrink plastic. So many interesting things can be done with it from making jewelry to stand alone art pieces. Jane does the most wonderful things with shrink plastic. She draws little landscapes and then bakes the plastic to shrink it. She then makes pins from the pieces. The small landscapes have also been incorporated into cards.
Orders from Inkadinkado and My Sentiments Exactly have also arrived. We are waiting on a large order from Hero Arts....
Well have to get back to unpacking boxes.....

Back to Work

With Grandson Baby James back home in South Carolina work has returned to the Artfull Hand.
Just this week we have gotten in two brand new stamp companies...Nature's Blessings and Dandelion. Nature's Blessing is an eclectic company with a bountiful inventory of images. They do stock Alice in Wonderland theme stamps... So I now have them, mounted and unmounted. Dandelion stamps is a line of small image stamps. All kinds of critters, flowers and sayings. Dandelion is not their complete name. For the life of me right now I can't remember the complete name. Their images are on the cute side but not cutesy. They retail for $4.55 very reasonable in this day and age.
I'm hoping to get some samples made to show you the quality of these two lines.
We are also working hard on re-stocking with new merchandise after the year end sale and then inventory. ( I hate inventory ) But I had a pleasant experience during counting on New Year's Day. I was counting some stamps, 4 at $7.75, 3 at $6.25, 1 at $4.50 when I got a whiff of cherry tobacco. The kind my dad used to use in his pipe. I turned around expecting to see him the scent was that strong. But of course he was not there. My dad has been dead now close to 17 years. He and my mom ran a Quick Shop which turned into 7-11 shop. I helped with inventory there for a number of years. That is where I came to loathe counting stuff. I understand the necessity but still hate to do it....
After I realized that he wasn't there I just smiled and asked silently to myself if I was doing it right...and went back to counting stuff....

Artfull Hand Tees

Baby James, Sarah and Mike made these Tee-shirts for me for Christmas. The girls and I will wear them when there is a special event in the shop. James is showing off my favorite color....Flamingo Pink! The shirts come in several very nice colors. We will be so colorfull in the new year.
By the way.... that hand print does belong to James. He was a real trooper to imprint 12 shirts! (No not really-Mom and he did one and then Sarah took the design to a company and they printed up the twelve shirts.)

Stamping with James

Baby James was able to make it to the stamp store on New Year's Eve Day and do some stamping. Mom helped a little.
While he was there he took a phone call for his grandma. He blather on for some time, (he is a real talker even at 10weeks old.)
He was very good in the shop. He cooed and smiled at a number of customers,(always good for business!)
2007 closed out on a very good basis. I'm hoping that the nice daily gross will be a spring board for the new year.