It's sooner than you think.

In an effort to get organized,  I'm trying to get a head start on making some Christmas cards early this year.
Last year, I decided very last minute ( re: the week before)  to make some cards to sell at our school fair to raise money for my son's Scout troop, and they were a huge hit. I probably could have sold another 100, had I started in time. And I was lucky to have had help from a kind friend, or else they wouldn't have gotten done at all.

So this year, seeing as I've been inundated & brainwashed with new Christmas stuff at work since August, and also?...given the fact that I could probably make a 1,000,000 cards with the load of product I have, I decided to get my rear in gear, stop the procrastination habit, and work on a few prototypes.
These are simple- all the same size & basic design, and fine for what I need. I used the adorable new American Crafts Christmas line by Dear Lizzy/Liz Kartchner.

Now I just have to come up with about 25 other styles using the many new Hero Arts stamps I've aquired in the past while. ;)

Speaking of Hero Arts, I'm so excited that none other than the mega talented Jennifer McGuire is coming to teach at our store in mid- November!! I immediately signed up for all 3 of her classes, and can't wait to see what she's got in store for us.  I'm hoping she can help me spice up my cardmaking style and teach this old dog some new tricks. If you're local, there are still a few spots available on the Sunday, but they won't last long. Honestly you don't want to miss out on this, it's going to be a blast!

Alright... I'm off to put away the summer clothing for good, and make some room in my kiddos drawers.
The joys of changing seasons... fall has definitely arrived here.
Have a great Monday!

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Where I've been since July 2nd. :)

I haven't had the heart or the time since my last post to give an explanation of why I've been MIA these past few months.When something bad happens to someone you love, everything else falls by the wayside and seems trivial. To make a very long story short, my Dad was hospitalized at the end of May due to a bad fall, and the last 3 months have been like a true comedy of errors. This past summer felt like I was stuck inside some kind of horrible revolving door of  hospitals,( not good for someone who is hospital-phobic) dealing with some good people along the way who genuinely wanted to help, but also many who were just plain jerks. I've seen the' not so great' side to our free health care system here, and it's really scary how people who are ill get shuffled around and nothing gets resolved. Anyway, I think he's finally almost out of the woods and on the way to recovery, thanks to a wonderful doctor I had the good fortune to come across a few weeks ago.

Coping with an ageing parent on your own, and taking on the role of parent to your own parent is very tough on one's psyche, I have to say. These past months have left me feeling depressed, angry, tired, stressed out, & frustrated.. I'm kind of ashamed to say that, but it's the truth. I wish I could change things that can't be changed, and I'm itching to make changes where I can, but have been too afraid or lazy, or maybe just too busy to think with all of this going on.

So, we shall see what Autumn brings about... it's a perfect time for some much needed soul searching that I've been putting off.

We did manage to get away very briefly this summer to Maine, and I even managed to scrap this double page of our time there... it was so lovely, but all too short. I had fantasies of buying a house and never leaving. Talk about avoidance issues... ;p

I also did the one above for an Ella Article written by my gal pal Linda, who is now blogging, (YAY!) and whose blog looks like a million bucks. I'm totally jealous of her web skills, and have begged her to redesign mine. Think a prettier looking blog might just entice me to be, uh... bloggier? :) 

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