and More Cards

The black and White cats on red card belongs to Linda. On the inside it says, Let Heaven and Nature sing.
The second card with the little penquin fellow belongs to Patti. She used some of LInda's stamps. On the inside it say Joy to the World.
I have a few more cards to upload and post. Everyone did a fantastic job with this challenge. And the comments we received about the challenge were very positive. If I can get the ATCs from the last swap scanned I will post those. The theme was movies and we had some really good cards.

More Christmas Challenge Cards

This is my card that I made using a large stamp of a shell. The little cross piece at the top says "Silver Shells" and on the inside it says "It's Christmas Time in the City."

Why I have been late posting

The above picture is the reason I have been late in posting to the blog. We got the little rascal one week ago today. His name is Rock and is now 7 weeks old. He is from a litter that our son's dog Bull sired in North Carolina.

August Newsletter

Well here it is August 2009. This is my fourth anniversary. So we have some special things happening this month.Read ON.

August 1 -- ATC Swap 12:30
August 6 --Barb's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2 pm
August 10 - night Stamp club. 7 pm $1 We will be doing two different techniques. Burnt Batique and beaded images....Bring solid image stamps for the Burnt Batik and Faces, heads or people stamps for the beaded images.
August 12 -- Donna's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2 pm
August 13 -- Free Make 'n Take A cool stampbord pin, 11:30 to 4.Store will be Open to 7 pm
August 15 -- Bev's Christmas Trinket Box Class. $10 11:30 & 2pm
August 16-- OPEN ON SUNDAY 12 TO 4 PM In Honor of my anniversary there is a 25% off of total sale today only. Does not apply to all ready discounted merchandise or consignment items.
August 18 - - Bev's Christmas Trinket Box Class.$10 7 PM.
August 19 -- Linda's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2 Pm
August 21 -- Dorothy's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2 pm
August 22 -- Donna's Snow Globe Shaker Card Class. $10 1:30
August 26 -- Day Stamp Club 11:30 & 2 pm $1 See night stamp club above
August 29 -- Stampscapes Class with Gerri 1:30 pm $12
There may be additional items added to August's calendar. So check regularly.
The Fall Used stamp Sale will be on September 12th. The forms are ready come and pick them up.

More Challenge cards

The Arch card belongs to Bev. She computer generated the saying for the inside.
The Snoopy card belongs to Lynn

Christmas Card Challenge

Here are a few cards from the Stamp Club Christmas Card Challenge.
The challenge was to bring a non-traditional Christmas stamp and make a Christmas Card out of it. I'd say the ladies did a wonderful job.
The little red truck belongs to Karen.
The couple under the 'mistletoads' belongs to Barb and 3 stooges card belongs to LaVonne. I will be adding a few more in a little while.

Fourth of July Tea Party

Well the day finally arrived and I was well prepared. The official count at the Tea Party was 3500! That is an amazing number. I had many of those 3500 come through the shop for a free cup of ice tea and a look around. All were supported of the small business person and thank me for being open on the holiday.
I was a bit worried if the tea party would happen at all cause Friday we had a toad strangler of a rain storm. We got 4.2 inches of rain in about 6 hours. After the first hour the rain just runs off. The basement flooded once again, although mildly.
By Saturday morning the rain had stopped but the skies were overcast. That kept the heat down so the people on the river front were comfortable. My DH parked at the shop and walked down to hear the speeches. He was impressed with what he saw and heard.
What surprised me were the young people. I was so happy to see so many young people involved. And people who brought the whole family along. I wished I could have been there to hear the speeches. The people who were in attendance said that they were very good.
I've got most of the decorations down from the Fourth of July. Now we are concentrating on Christmas in July.
In the next day or two I will get the newsletter posted here. If you need to see it sooner it is up on the web site. Go to www.theartfullhand.com.

what a week so far!

My word!
Our heat wave finally broke last Saturday night but not before I had to call 911 for a worker who was resurfacing the parking lot out in front of the store on Saturday - Day. They started the job around noon.(There were 2 workers) They had completed a large job earlier in ST. Louis the worker who was still standing had told me.
I was in the office on the computer and heard the front door open. I looked out but didn't see anyone. About that the time the co-worker came in the front door and looked at the floor immediately in front of the door and asked, "Jimmy you alright?" That is when I walked around the counter and saw a very large man laying on the rug that is in front of the door. He shook his head 'no'. And mouthed call 911. So I went for the phone and dialed. When I got off the phone I got wet cold towels and wrapped his head and neck with them. The paramedics came pretty quick and checked the guy out. By the time they arrived he was talking clearly. He refused to go to the hospital. The paramedics said NOT to go back out into the heat. As if he did, they were sure that they would be back to cart him off. I believe that they were correct in that assessment. The co-worker called the big boss in St. Louis and told him that 'Jimmy' had bitten the dust and that he needed some help. In about 45 minutes two big trucks and 4 more men came to finish our little lot. The big boss had come to take 'Jimmy' back to St. Louis. He(the big boss and I exchanged a few words.) I told him what the paramedics had said about the man. He then informed me that he had been in that business in St. Louis for 30 years and knew what he was doing. I simply said, "ya, right." And turned and walked away. Neither of the original two workers wore hats or those cooling neck ties or head bands. They had NO water on their truck. I gave 'Jimmy' a bottle of water from my frig after clearing it with the paramedics. The ambient temperature was near 100 and I am sure that it was a lot hotter on that parking lot in the full sun beating down on that black pavement with them smearing additional black goo. The four additional men that arrived to complete the job also wore no hats or visible cooling kerchiefs. A lot of the time you see those big igloo water coolers strapped to work trucks. I didn't see any. But that is not to say there wasn't something on the inside of the trucks. I am wondering if OHSA would like to know how this man sends out his workers on hot days....
Since Sunday the weather has been absolutely delightful. Mother Nature is being kind to us after the brutal heat she laid on us for about 10 days straight.
I am working on the July newsletter and it will be completed very soon. I am also preparing for Saturday the Fourth of July and the Tea Party that is going to be held here in Washington on that Day. The shop will be OPEN. I had sent out e-mails telling everyone in my address book of that. I got one nasty e-mail back from a person telling me how awful I was for talking about and support the Tea Party effort. And that I was taking advantage of my staff on that day. She requested that she be removed from my contacts list. I happily complied. I really had wanted to e-mail her back and ream her a new one but then I thought, "why bother." It wouldn't do any good. And would be a waste of my time, talent and energy. Just for your all information I am staffing the shop myself on Saturday. I have not asked any of my employees to work. A couple will be on stand by as go-fers in case I run low on ice, cups or tea. I see being open on the Fourth of July trying to take full capitalistic advantage of the situation as the best way to honor the day. At least for me at this time.
Hope to see a lot of you on that Day. Come and share a glass of tea with me.

Open on The Fourth of July

Hi ya'll,
Just wanted to give you a heads up on what is going on around here. I was listening to 97.1FM on the way to work one day this week. Dana was subbing for Jamie Alman that day and she announced that she was organizing a Tea Party to be held here in Washington on July 4th.
The Tea Party will be at the Rennick River Front Park.
I was going to be closed for the holiday but when I heard that, I thought there is no way I could pass up that opportunity. So I emailed her at the station telling her that I would be open on that day serving FREE ice tea to all who attended the tea party. I gave her particulars on the shop and my contact info.

This morning right before 9am she was talking about the plans for the tea party and said that she had gotten a email from a lady out in Washington by the name of DOROTHY KANSTEINER (and she even prounounced the name right) telling about how I was going to be open that day serving free ice tea!!!!! So I got free advertising on a major STL radio station this morning.!!! How cool is that.????

So now I have to start preparing and getting the word out.

The following link will give you details on the festivities on that Big Day.

http://stlouisteaparty.com/

By the Sea

I don't know how well you can see this display in the photo. Barb really out did herself putting this together. These are products that are all related somehow to the sea. The title of the display is By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea. She even incorporated a couple of my little watercolors in it. You really ought to come in and look at it for yourself.

Collinsville Convention

Hi all,
I just can't seem to post in a timely manner. But things have really gone awry around here. ( I won't type what I really wanted to say. But those of you who personally know me - know it wasn't language that could be used in polite society.)Be that as it may, you don't pop in here to hear my tales of woe. So I am writing my impressions of the Collinsville Rubberstamp Convention that was last week-end.
Linda, Carol and Sue F went over on Saturday. They reported that the crowd was pretty good. There was a wait time for several of the make and takes and a few of the booths were jammed to the point that made it difficult to look over their offerings.
On Sunday, Bev, Barb and I went. The place was practically deserted. Oh there were people there and some of them had been there on Saturday too. We didn't have any wait times and you could ball room dance in most of the booths if you wanted to. I brought home stamps from Bugawumps, Stamping Sensations and Rubber Cottage.They are available now in the shop. I had a long talk with Laura at the Bugawumps booth. She has succumbed to the unmounted version of her stamps. I understand why she went in that direction but am sorry to see it.
Overall there were fewer vendors then last. Several notable big names were not in attendance. I really wanted to shop at RubberStamp Tapestries. All the vendors that I spoke to said it was the slowest Sunday ever. I am wondering how many of them will be there next year.

Finally the June newsletter

Hi All!

Sorry this is late. The computer was down for some time. I finally found someone to help me resolve the problem. Thanks Steve W.!

It is not completely well yet. I have lost the software that generated the calendar so you all will have to get the times and dates of classes in this form for a while. So here goes...

June 6 - ATC swap 12:30, inchies follow immediately after.

June 8 - Night stamp club. 7 pm $1. Bring stamps in a related theme and ink pads, i.e., flowers, animals, ladies, Asian. You will be able to supplement your stamps from the classroom. We will be making a 'mother board' sometimes called a 'master board'. From it you can use pieces and parts of it to make several cards.

June 10th - Linda's 3 for $6, 11:30 & 2:00


June 13 - FREE beginners stamping class. 11:30

June 13 & 14 - Stamp convention at Collinsville, IL. Tickets are still available till Friday the 12th. The store is OPEN on Saturday.

If you wish to car pool call the shop 636-239-5995 to see who is driving and when to meet.

June 17th - Donna's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2:00. Donna is starting on Christmas cards. Ya know if you would come to our Christmas 3 for $6s starting now, by Christmas you would have 21 cards made by December! We are hoping to have multiple Christmas sessions so your supply could be more! And you would have a whole bunch of fun doing it.

June 20th - Bev's Tri-folding cards and Independence card. This is a CLASS and must be signed up for in advance and prepaid. There is a masculine and feminine tri fold card in addition to the Independence Day Card. The cost is $10. The time is 11:00 and 1:30. You have to see these cards.. They are spectacular. This will be repeated the night of June 30th.

June 24th - Day stamp club. 11:30 & 2:00 pm $1 Don't know what we are doing yet. What would you like to do? Suggestions?

June 25 - Barb's 3 for $6 11:30 & 2:00 Wait till you see her froggy card.....It is the cutest thing and really simple.

June 30th - Bev's Trifold card class. 3 really cool cards for $10. 7 PM. This is a CLASS and must be signed up for in advance and prepaid. There is a masculine and feminine tri fold card in addition to the Independence Day Card. You have to see these cards. They are spectacular.



July ATC swap will be July 11th at 12:30 instead of the first Saturday of July which is the FOURTH of July- Independence Day! The store will be closed on July 4th.

We will be celebrating Christmas in July again this year. Many new Christmas stamps are on order. On Sunday, July 19th we will be holding a Christmas Stamping party from 11 to 4-ish. For $10.00 you will make 3 Christmas Cards, play games, have snacks available and work on your own projects. Oh Did I mention that there are door prizes available too...

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SALE - SALE- SALE- SALE-SALE-SALE-SALE
Starting June 8th, Monday night, I am starting a sale. 20% off of any one regular priced item with purchase of $20 or more in products and paper. The sale does not cover gift or consignment items.
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Also heard that the company that manufactures Twinkling H20s is NOT going out of business after all. They had such a huge response that they have changed their minds.. So all of your favorite colors will still be available.

We are starting a new program at the shop. We are tracking the 3 for $6s. We'll have you sign a log sheet each time you take one of our 3 for $6s. After you have done 5 of them the Sixth one is FREE!!!! This will run to the end of the year.

And finally...

Donna has been making scrapbook page samples. Bev has added to the book too. We have all the samples in a book in the shop. Next time you are in browse through it. It might give you an idea or two or three...

See you soon...

Dorothy and all the girls...

June

Here it is June 2nd and I don't have the newsletter completed or even started....Just wanted to let you know that I am still here and am working on the calendar. The computer in the shop is again running. But i have lost the software that made the monthly calendars. And all the bugs aren't completely eradicated from it. There are still some issues that I am trying to resolve. As soon as I can I will let you know what is happening at the Artfull Hand. Linda, Bev and Barb are on the ball and have some of their cards done for the classes. Donna is working on Christmas Cards for classes. So there are things in the works I just haven't gotten anything down on paper. So stayed tuned!!!!!

Card challenge at day stamp club

Here are a few of the cards that were made at the Day Stamp club yesterday. Like the girls in the evening session everyone did a wonderful job. I will try to post a few more when I get a chance. As you can see they had different papers, colors and stamps to use.

More card challenge

Here is another card that was made at the card challenge. Sorry I don't remember whose this is....
Tomorrow Wednesday the 27th is day stamp club. We are doing the same thing for the day group. Only Linda and I have picked out different papers and stamps to work with.
The rules will be the same. You have to use the papers, stamps, inks and embellishments on the table to make a card of your own design. You don't have to use all of them. You can used the cuttlebug and any of the punches. You can not get out any more stamps, inks or papers.
I'm hoping to be posting some of the cards from the day group soon. The cards that I have posted from the night group were ramdomly selected.

and another

This one is Patti's.

another card

Here is another card. It might belong to Karen S. If I got that wrong - sorry Karen.

more card challenges

This is my card. Under the front flap it says BEE HAPPY. And then I used the bee on the inside. YOu really can't see from the photo but the two roses that look black are actually a deep mauve in color. And there is a scallop design embossed on the front bottom edge.

the card challenge

At stamp club Monday we offered a card challenge. The challenge was to make a card of your own design with using only what Cri and I had put out on the table. What we put out was white and black card stock, white and black striped paper,mauve and pink double sided paper, two types of co-ordinating ribbons and flower sequins.We had a rose stamp, a bee stamp, and two phrase stamps on the table. There was a black stamp pad, a versamark pad and black embossing powder available.We also said that you could get any of my punches out or use the cuttlebug. You could only use what was on the table. You couldn't get any additional paper, stamps or ink.
The card above is what Bev cam up with. She used one of my new cuttlebug embossing folders.
I will be posting more pictures of the cards as I get the time.

Convention Tickets

Just wanted to let you all know that we now have the tickets available for sale for the Collinsville Convention June 13 & 14. The tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. They are good for both days. We can accept cash or checks.