simple dreams

Paper Gardens with Susan Tierney Cockburn

Today I had one of those days that you just get to dream about most of the time. Even though my life is spinning in circles I knew that there is no way I wanted to miss out on the opportunity of spending time with the oh so talented Susan Tierney Cockburn.

Gardening is one of Susan's passions and this love, added together with 120 inches of snow, lead to the development of a craft that is absolutely exquisite - paper flowers. These are no ordinary paper flowers though as you can see on the cover of the latest book Susan has authored - Paper Bouquet.

What an absolutely delightful and gracious lady Susan is. I had a wonderful time learning how to create a simple paper flower with Susan today!

This is Susan showing me the beginnings of a Tiger Lily I hope to complete on my own. We colored with Copis, airbrushed, glitterfied (just slightly)... oh what fun to see the workings behind these beauties. Gardening was once my passion as well and many of the flowers in Susan's book grow in my garden here in the Pacific NW. Can you tell that I would like to create more of these? Ü

This is one of the beautiful creations that Susan shared with me today, showcasing how she is using the Inchie Squares to create an interesting background. Susan also designs the stamped backgrounds for some of her flowers and I will give her a ring tomorrow and put a link into this post to share the site where you can purchase the supplies and information regarding this wonderful craft should you be interested. I also need to follow up and learn where it is that Susan will be teaching classes in the future so that you can have the privilege of learning firsthand the delicate workings of these gorgeous flowers. So please check back tomorrow for these links and additional information.

This is my very first paper peony. (So please don't  look with too critical an eye - LOL!)

As Susan and I talked, I shared with her how I thought I would use it on an oval nestibilty - she finished my sentence for me - "almost like a cameo pin." Perhaps it should have been placed just a hair higher, but I just couldn't bear to possibly destroy it by tearing it if I lifted the glued flower from the paper.

Susan, if you are reading this, I thank you for sharing a bit of yourself and your love of flowers with me today. You are an absolutely wonderful teacher and I enjoyed having you here so very much.

I will close by sharing the beautiful peony card that Susan gifted me with and wish you all many gorgeous blooms and smiles brought to your lives today.

Blog Candy Winner!

A huge thanks to all those who left a quote or story about friendship! You brought a smile and a few giggles to me as I read through them. Yes, I do read through them. Sometimes I don't have time to respond to all the questions in the comments, but if you have a need for an answer I promise you that if you email us here at customerservice@ellenhutson.com we will do our very best to get the answers back to you.

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Timestamp: 2008-06-09 21:12:28 UTC

that means after counting through the posts I have arrived at...

This project is so over-the-TOP Ellen! I can't wait for life to settle down for you. I truely miss your amazing creations!
My friend story: Bevie Pearl calls and leaves me a message on my cell almost every day. She comes up with the most hilarious fantasy trips that we are going to take. When I listen to them at the end of the work day I literally laugh my whole way home! She's a keeper that BP!
So are YOU!!!

Posted by: hb | June 07, 2008 at 09:02 AM

OH MY GOODNESS! HB is my friend!!! Congratulations my sweet friend - we will get this off to you promptly - I can hardly wait to see what you make! You can all watch for results on HB's wonderful blog "Happiness Blooms" - she has so many beautiful projects for you to oogle!

Stamp of the Month, May

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for the well wishes, healing thoughts and prayers! I truly apologize for the HUGE gap in time with my communication. I feel that the surgery went well, but it will be some time before I really know the outcome. I am feeling very optimistic being I am getting around extremely well considering everything they did, but it takes the bone 9-12 months to heal and so I will not know for at least another 3 months whether or not they were successful in the reshaping of my femoral head (the bone that fits into the hip socket). Sitting (and walking any length) are still a little difficult (OK, so a lot difficult some days Ü) my behind feels like it is on fire if I sit for too long - LOL and so I have been trying to treat my body "gently" in order to maximize the healing in these first weeks.

It has also been a bit of a challenge for me to have my creative "stuff" separate from my office. I am at the mercy of my DH's schedule right now in getting my "studio" put together at my office. I will then have all my creative supplies moved down there as well and thus will be able to be a lot more efficient. When this is completed I will take photographs and share them with you. I have put quite a bit of thought into the organization of this space and so I hope that everything will have a spot so that I don't waste time looking for stuff - LOL! You know how that goes - we accumulate things to try and then they don't get a home, so we then can't find it when we want to use it :D Well hopefully the storage solutions I am trying will rectify that. J.J. will be working like a trooper this week to get all that IKEA furniture put together and then move my "stuff", so hopefully I will be up and running (well, not literally LOL) by next week.

Now on with the creative end of this post :D

When creating this month's stamp of the month packet I wanted it to be versatile enough to be used for the upcoming month's events. With Father's Day and Fourth of July right around the corner, and it starting to feel a lot more like summertime, grilling and outdoor cookouts are much more on my mind. I also wanted to showcase a fun layout that would incorporate Inchies in to it, thus I picked the IB Hot Dog and IB Hamburger as my focal point.

I stamped these images directly on the White Inchie Squares using Memento Ink. One of the things I had noticed when I stamped on these dense Inchie Squares with any of the other inks I have been using with Copic markers I have always needed to heat set it. So I wanted to try the newest Tsukineko ink with the Copic markers. I must say that I am truly taken with these! I did not have to heat set! I will be carrying these new inks in my store when I get around to being able to place an order, because I was so impressed.

I apologize for not being able to recal all the Copic colors that I used on my Hot Dog and Hamburger. If you are in need of the colors please post below and I will pull them back out and do my best to figure out which colors I used. Everything happened in such a hurry the end of last month and with surgery on May 2nd my life just started spinning out of control - uggh!

The black square was then cut to the size of 1 5/8" wide by 3 1/4" high. I mounted the white Inchie squares, leaving a gap in the center. I then place my two red brads to add some punch in that center.

There were a number of phrases I thought about using, but being I wanted to use this as a Father's Day card I thought the phrase "What's cookin' good lookin'?" would be fun. I printed it out in Word on a sheet of paper. I then cut out my Double Ended Tag. I affixed it using a temporary adhesive directly over the printed words on my sheet of paper and sent it back through the printer again. When I can't find the stamp I would like to use, this is a wonderful way to be able to say whatever I would like.) I then placed my tag back into the die and embossed it.

Next I mounted my tag by running the ribbon through it, putting adhesive on the back and mounting it on my card front. I then mounted the Inchie squares panel and ended by adding a little piercing to give the card front some additional texture.

Thank you all so much for your patience with me during this time. I am most definitely looking forwards to being back on a more consistent basis with more creative stimulation soon!!!

Updates and Inchies

As many of you know there is a LOT going on in my life right now. The good news is that we are continuing to make it through each and every day and prepare for the next - LOL!

It's official we have a move date (or perhaps better said approximate move "dates"). We (hope to) begin the move on Wednesday, May 7th and (hope to) be completely finished and packing and shipping orders again by Friday, May 9th. This is all dependent on other's getting their jobs done in a timely manner and being this is out of our control we just have our fingers crossed. Our goal is to have it all happen smoothly next week being we have been working hard at preparing for this, but please know that we will be "down and out" for a couple of days. We will not be able to ship your orders on the same or next day to when we receive them for a couple of days. I do want you to know that we will have as many of the girls working on orders as possible as soon as we have our supplies unpacked in the new space so that we don't run too far behind. As soon as our new phones are connected I will post those telephone numbers here on my blog as well as on the home page of our storefront. Until then we will continue to answer the phones as best as possible at our current number, as well as try and keep up with the emails.

In addition to the above, my hip surgery is happening this Friday - so any extra positive thoughts or prayers will be greatly appreciated! Being I do NOT ever want to have to do this again I will be following doctor's orders to the letter, so the above move is going to seriously make me insane - LOL! Not being able to just get the job done by pitching in myself, causes me major heart palpitations, but...

On to some brighter news Ü

Sometimes there are times when I just get giddy over the littlest of discoveries. You know how I am a stickler for color - I am thrilled to share the latest bellies I have found. They coordinate BEAUTIFULLY with the Memory Box papers and when all piled together look absolutely scrumptious. I'm not certain why paper, flowers and buttons could ever be scrumptious - but they are! LOL!

Look at these and these!

Then there is the spring or pastel version of the buttons and flowers!

And last, but certainly not least we have a neutral version (buttons and flowers)!

Simply scrumptious I tell you Ü Well the card I was planning on making is going to have to wait being I am off to Katrina's music concert. I do have the new stamp of the month card that I will show you tomorrow - I am so excited about it. I hope that you like it as much as I do - LOL! Be sure to check out the Inchie INKlings blog for some new material as well. Thanks for stopping by and I plan on some eye candy here tomorrow Ü

Buried

I truly apologize for not being here or on Inchie INKlings for the last week plus. Life is currently zooming down the highway full speed ahead. This week is Spring Break, so my kiddos are hanging here with me. We are also in the main throws of planning a business move to a different location. With that move comes a LOT of planning in order for everything to run smoothly. You know me - all i's must be dotted and t's crossed - LOL! This move will take place the beginning of May. I will be certain to keep you updated in case we have any glitches with our phones or computers. That is my primary worry - but fortunately we can still operate from here if things do not get up and running quickly in the new location, so please do not worry about it - we will still be giving you top-notch customer service. Your needs come first and I am confident that we will be able to continue to take good care of you.

When it rains it pours - life is perhaps a little insane being my hip surgery is scheduled for May 2nd. Fortunately it is not a replacement and so I plan on walking out of the hospital the same day. It's all good - I truly am looking forwards to moving ahead with a more painfree life soon Ü

So one challenge at a time! I am so grateful for my business associates Debbie Olson, Michelle Wooderson, Trudee Sauer, Cindy Lyles and Sharon Harnist. The incredible inspiration and education they provide to each of you on my behalf is so appreciated! Please continue to check in on their blogs to see what amazing projects they have created to inspire you and share new ways for you to use the products which you have purchased from us. I hope to be back soon with my own inspiration. Each day I have told myself that today is the day that I get to create, and alas the day has passed wtihout any creations.

Please do not forget the Inchie INKlings challenge. Remember there is a prize package awaiting some lucky participant. The submissions are trickling in - so chances are pretty good that if you particpate you just might win Ü We will be posting those submissions soon, so if you have sent us an Inchie or an Inchie file we will be putting the gallery up in the near future.

We are also in the process of creating our second newsletter - sign-up at the bottom of our homepage. Be certain to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to where it says "Join our mailing list", to receive special tutorials, news and store offers delivered to your email box.

Thank you again for your continued patience and support!

Reflections and Goals

2008... WOW - how can it really be? It was only yesterday that we brought in the year 2007. As I sit here and reflect on this past year of creating there are many things that run through my mind. Never did I realize how little discoveries would bring such change to some areas of this crafting industry. In setting goals for this new year I had to ask myself what I was proud of accomplishing this past year in hopes that it would lead me to what I would like to pursue business-wise this next year.

I am thrilled with how much you all love the Nestabilities. Being an integral part in the design of these little tools is something I am tremendously proud of. For those of you who didn't realize it, this was in a big way part of my brainchild, so if you don't like them please don't tell me - LOL! OK, so I'm just kidding. It is important for me to hear the negatives as well as the positives so that I can continue towards creating things that really "work". To know that you all appreciate the value, versatility and creative options these offer makes me grin from ear to ear. Knowing how much you appreciate these makes me want to strive to achieve other products that will utilize these three qualities.

My next "baby" this year was the COPIC markers. To see the response that has evolved just blows my mind. Research and education are such an important part of who it is that I am. So it once again thrills me to know that I have had a part in bringing a fabulous tool to the papercrafting community. Sometimes there are things out there just waiting to be discovered - they are there, they have been around for many years, but no one really knows about it, being that it's from another "arena". This quality product is a joy to work with and I believe that we are just beginning to discover the beauty we can create with these special tools. I look forward to the year ahead and hope for more time to create, share and educate.

So this brings me to a couple of my goals for this coming year - I hope to continue to keep on designing and innovating things that will be useful in your arsenal of crafting tools, I hope to keep educating you as to how to use the products we are involved with, as well as share more of my design education with you all and we hope to continue to provide you with the best customer service humanly possible.

So with that I would like to bring in the new year by celebrating - I would like to celebrate each of you. My life is made so much more special each and every day by YOU. The messages you send to me, to all of us here at Ellen Hutson LLC brighten our days - they make us want to work even harder for you and give you the best that we have. They bring smiles to our faces - YOU are special and I would like to celebrate you to begin the start of the year 2008!

Just a brief note about this card so that it makes a little more sense. Try turning your Inchies in to an Inchie clip - what a fun way to hold a group of papers together, or put a magnet on the back and attach those notes to your fridge in a much more appealing manner. Be certain to tell the recipient of your card that they need to use their Inchie - LOL!

"Cheers to you - thank you all for being here with me!"

Christmas Blessings

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish each of you the warmest wishes and blessings this Christmas season. My thoughts are with my Mom tonight and I just wanted to share these pictures, especially with her. Thank you Mom for learning to use the computer! I LOVE YOU!

One of the biggest enjoyments for me is observing my children. The wonderment that is in their eyes, the joy that just comes - it is different when they are small. It seems as though some of that disappears as they get older. The first picture was taken on our annual trek to see Santa. I truly enjoy this for two reasons - first is the facial expressions and wonderment that is in the little faces of those who visit Santa. I love capturing those expressions on film so that I can hold them in my heart for the rest of my life, because I know that these expressions will eventually disappear.

The second is to watch the amazing changes that occur in my children with each passing year. These are the photos that really seem to capture this to the fullest being that we have been consistent in taking them. To lay all the photos out and look at the changes that occur each year fills me with a sense of wonder. Wonder at how time can pass so fast - it just seems like yesterday that my girls were babies.

This last is one of those moments that captured Katrina at her truest. Each year I get the girls Christmas jammies.

Sheer delight in the little things! Do you think she likes them? :D

I was hoping to get a card made today with one of the angels to wish you all a most happy holiday. I love the new sentiment "light fades, stars appear, evening angels gather here". I hope that you can feel the comfort and peace of the angels surrounding you this Christmas eve.

(1) Who are we? Part 2

As I set forth with this little dream of mine to share creativity with others I did not anticipate the number of hours of "work", as in not crafty, creative, fun stuff "work", that it would take to just keep going once the store became a reality. With that reality came the realization that I could not do it all by myself. I don't just want to sell stuff to people. That's not who it is that I am. If someone purchases something from me I want to provide them with as much knowledge, information and inspiration as possible. I felt that I was failing in that regard because I just didn't have enough time. I felt that I wasn't able to share enough projects with our customers; I just wasn't doing it all justice any longer. That is when we, Karen and I, made a decision that we needed help.

 

Life just happens to happen. I have always admired Debbie Olson. The incredible precision with which she completes a project - her artistry and creativeness, these have always shone forth in my mind. Debbie and I became friends - she is a wonderful woman and I feel so lucky to now call her my friend. I believe we were brought together. Debbie became the first to assist us by sharing her beautiful creations, using the Lockhart stamps, with the stamping world. Debbie, thank you for being such a pleasure to work with. Thank you for being my friend and colleague. You are sweetness personified. Your wit and charm are priceless! I loved spending time with you this summer.

Debbie, with her husband Rick and son Benjamin, live in Norway, Michigan. After attending her first rubber stamping event in November 2000, Debbie was thoroughly hooked. Stamping provided the perfect creative outlet.

 

Favorite things to stamp include nature, especially flowers, and vintage images, but Debbie also has a great appreciation for clean and graphic images as well. She adores embellishments--the more the merrier!

 

Debbie was privileged to be in the very first Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Team and has since served on several design teams, including Technique Junkies Turbo Team. Currently Debbie does freelance concept design and home schools her son. She enjoys blogging about stamping at www.debbiedesigns.typepad.com.

 

Michelle Wooderson, or perhaps better known as Mish is also a dear friend that I have known for a number of years. We met at a Stampin' Up! convention several years back after having gotten to know each other on Splitcoaststampers back in the very beginning of SCS. I have always enjoyed Mish's wonderful attitude towards life. When I learned that she was looking to expand her business I knew that she was someone I could always count on, laugh with and look to the positive in life. She makes me want to come and sit on her front porch amidst the beauty and sip lemonade with her! After that we could go down into her craft space and giggle for hours as we busy ourselves stamping. I know she would come up with some funky wonderful fold, or pocket, or... Someday Mish I am going to show up on your doorstep you know! Be prepared – Mish has completed her first kit and it is a KNOCKOUT. I hope to get everything completed and get it up on our site ASAP. Watch for an announcement soon!

 

 

Michelle resides in Kansas with her husband and two daughters.  Her favorite hobbies include attending and coaching her kids’ sporting events, cooking, gardening, canning fruits, vegetables and jams, decorating, photography, sewing, and paper crafts.  She loves the vintage style and get lots of inspiration from old quilts, fabrics, dishes, furniture and found objects she finds at yard sales and flea markets.  Michelle’s background includes a degree in Interior Design with lots of emphasis on art, and she has been published in Paper Crafts magazine as well as serving as a design team member for A Muse Art Stamps and on the Dirty Dozen team at Splitcoast Stampers.  Her favorite part about paper crafting is sharing ideas, tips and giving someone the gift of something homemade.  You can check out her blog here: www.michellewooderson.blogspot.com

 

Trudee Sauer - I love Trudee's giggle! If you have heard it you know exactly what I mean. If not then you must envision the most contagious laugh imaginable. During this last year I have had the opportunity to get to know Trudee and listen to what her dreams for her future might be. Trudee thank you for now helping fulfill my dream - the dream of bringing creativity to others. She does such an incredible job of putting "her touch" on each piece she creates. Always look for that glamorous bling – you’ll know Trudee was there Ü

 

To Trudee, home is the mountains of Western North Carolina. She is Mom to 3 beautiful dogs and a little old man cat (age 17). Trudee has been a crafter for most of her life, but found stamping and papercrafting in 2003. The moment she made that first card, she knew she had finally found her bliss. While she currently works full time for a major US bank, she is actively pursuing a career in the paper crafting industry. Visit Trudee’s blog at www.trudee.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com

Now I arrive at the next adventure in our tale. We are so thrilled that both Cindy Lyles and Sharon Harnist said “Yes” when we invited them to work together with us to share their talents and ideas with others using the Lockhart Stamp Company images!!! Who are these new girls?

 

Cindy Lyles - altered artist extraordinarie. Cindy has been a fan of the Lockhart images for some time. I know this because she has quite the collection already. The things she has made have always enchanted me. She works with jewelry, Ranger products, 7 Gypsies and... I am SO excited to see what it is that Cindy is going to create with the Lockhart stamps. I have known Cindy for some time as well and have been so lucky as to spend time with her on two occasions - first at a Stampin' Up! convention and then at a wonderful retreat with some dear friends. She is a FABULOUS teacher. I must tell you that she does EVERYTHING fast! Man, does this girl move - she accomplishes so much in such a small time frame!!!

 

 

Cindy is the owner of a fabulous on-line E-bay store called Starlitstudio. I would like to invite you to visit her store. The customer service she provides is five-star! She carries a wonderful assortment of altered art embellishments and a host of other wonderful goodies! I have learned SO much from Cindy - her willingness to share information with me when I first started  - I can not thank her enough.

I’ve been playing with paper all my life, and creativity was expected and encouraged in the home I grew up in.  In continuing the tradition, creativity is encouraged in my home with my children as well. 

From a creative childhood, to working for international collectible companies in the product development arena, creativity has always been a major force in my life.

 

In 1999, the local need for unique invitations, thank you notes and so forth, designed and delivered became the cornerstone of my business, called “StarLitStudio”.  I create mostly at night, when the house is quiet and the stars sparkle brilliantly in the night sky. 

 

This business developed into not only custom invitations and design work, but an online store, providing embellishments and ephemera for the do-it-yourself crafter, specializing in the 7gypsies product line. 

I am ever so thankful that what I do for a living is what I so enjoy. 

Cindy Lyles, StarLitStudio

 

Visit Cindy's Blog at: www.starlitstudio.blogspot.com and her store at StarLitStudio.

 

And finally we have sweet Sharon Harnist. That southern accent will just get you every time. The lilt in her voice just makes me grin. I “met” Sharon when we worked together on the Thomas Kinkade team. Again she is someone whose work I have always admired. The books, altered items, scrapbook pages and cards she has made are all exquisite. We were actually on the phone today because I just was jumping up and down in my chair when she shared a project she was working on. She is yet another wonderfully talented individual that blows my socks off!

 

Sharon is a native of Texas and has been involved in many different types of crafts all her life. She started scrapbooking in 1996 and was first introduced to rubber stamping in February 2004. Shortly after, she became a demonstrator and instructor of rubber stamping, cardmaking & scrapbooking in May of 2004.

 

Sharon's favorite papercrafting projects are coloring stamped images, altering 3D items, cardmaking and scrapbooking her two young daughters' photos.  She has been married for almost 14 years and is currently a stay-at-home Mom, developing a career in the papercrafting industry. You can visit her blog at: www.paperfections.typepad.com.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank these women for sharing their creative talents with the crafting world on behalf of Karen and myself. We look forward to the year ahead and to sharing many fun new ideas with you all.

 

To close I would like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to all of YOU! I could not have this business without you! I would not be able to work together with those I value without you! Thank you for being here, thank you for supporting us with your hard earned dollars. Please know that we will always do our best to continue to provide you with as much creative inspiration as possible. You make this possible for us - we thank you!

Well this crazy old computer - LOL! It has really messed up my post. Or perhaps it's the fact that I'm REALLY, REALLY tired and it is a human error - Ü. I think I will leave it as is for tonight and will attempt fixing it in the morning :D Sorry for the weird spacing and misplaced pictures!

(1) Who are we? Part 1

The women who work with me are so incredibly special. I hope that they know how much they mean to me and how much I value them. Their friendship, support, encouragement and incredible talent never cease to amaze me.

This post has been far to long in the making. I kid you not that I have taken numerous photos in my attempt at getting here. Finally I have arrived. It has been a year since this adventure began - it all started as I worked with Karen.

The first person I would like to thank tonight is Karen - her encouragement and support have meant the world to me. Karen moved from California when her hubby Scott started a job here in the Northwest. I feel so lucky to have her within 20 minutes of my home.

Who is Karen? She doesn't like to say much about herself so I have to come up with a bio for her - LOL! Karen, did you know how dangerous that might be?!? Her experiences in life have included working in the gift industry and also working as a personal chef. Her culinary skills must be excellent, but I can't tell you being that she has never cooked a meal for me - LOL! See Karen - I told you this could be dangerous - I just invited myself to your home for dinner sometime :D

We talk on the phone almost daily. Each conversation is filled with laughter. When we get together to share ideas and create I can almost feel the electricity in the air - it is so incredibly stimulating to work together as a team.

Then there is Nicholas! What a darling little boy - he is definitely the apple of grammy's eye. Guess who gets to go on the Polar Express with Big Daddy and Grammy this weekend? I love hearing Nicholas stories - they make me laugh!

There is so much more that I could tell you about Karen, but being I have numerous other bio's to include I will stop for now. We didn't get a chance to take a "headshot" of Karen to include in this post and so I will just have you visualize a beautiful, smiley face. Karen I appreciate you! and you are NOT off the hook for writing a little something about yourself SOON!

Left to Right: Beth, Malin and Malena

These three women are my lifeline - I kid you not! Beth began helping me once the kids were in school this fall. She is my CFO Ü She works daily helping with the bookkeeping and customer service. Her quick wit and fun sense of humor make me happy to have her here! Malin, my dear friend who watches out for my kids, my dog and my well-being - Malin, who made me get tears in my eyes when I read the bio she wrote today. Malin and Malena help receive inventory, organize, organize and then organize again. They pack boxes, ship boxes, help me in whatever capacity I need. Malena came to my rescue this summer when Malin headed back to Sweden for the summer. She has continued to stand by my side since that time. They all nod when I ask them if it looks OK - LOL! When I ask for suggestions they are there to help me make decisions. All three are an absolute delight to have around and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for rescuing me on a continual basis from my overcommitments.

I guess I should include our littlest of helpers here as well - I'm thinking you might get a grin out of this picture.

Left to right: Buddy, Nino and Jasper - they are sitting atop a chair in our family room, looking out the window waiting for the kids to come home. Somehow they have this sense of time and they just know when to start watching for their opportunity to distribute lots of kisses and tail wags.

Yep, they are all Havanese. We joke with Beth that it is a requirement to work here - ha! ha! So perhaps sometime we will have four in this picture :D These three adorable little boys get in trouble constantly. They provide us with plenty of kisses (licks) and quite a diversion when we are supposed to be working, with their adorable antics. Buddy is the youngest and belongs to Malena, Nino is the oldest (it's his fault - I fell in love with him you know) and he belongs to Malin. Then there is my little Jasper - who looks enormous and scruffy right now being that he is in desparate need of a haircut. That is to happen this Saturday. He brings so much sunshine to our lives each day. I had no idea that my heart could be stolen by a puppy as it has been.

Following are the girls bio's in order of who started with me first:

Malin joined me in May of 2007.

Hi, I'm Malin. I moved to Seattle from Dublin, Ireland 7 years ago with my family. We bought this gorgeous house (your first house is always fabulous) in this great community and the first people we met were Ellen and her family. It was a perfect match. She has two girls and so do I, plus we have our little Prince Charming. We have the same interests in Food, Photo, Skiing, Hiking and last but not least STAMPING. Our husbands with the same initials, J.J., enjoy the odd Pickle Ball and Poker game together. It's at least 5 years since Ellen and I were introduced to the magical world of Stamping. We took the same class and it was a lot of embossing powder at that time... anyway, we both loved it and got hooked a.k.a. had to buy it all. Ellen is a great Artist and when she became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator she took it to a whole other level than any other I have seen.

As time goes by the kids grow up, the girls are now in High School and Middle School, and Katrina and Max who used to be the cutest little couple together, are now on opposite sides of the fence. One is a mature well-spoken girl and the other one is an energetic, sporty and very afraid of girl-germs boy... oh well, I guess we just have to wait a few more years until Prince Charming is back in town.

Ellen started her business a year ago when she had more time for personal development as Katrina was in school fulltime. The Business took off like a rocket and she asked me if I was interested in helping her out a few hours, until it had settled down. Well girls I can only tell you this... it's not slowing down and I love every minute of the day working for Ellen and with Malena and Beth. It is a great privilege to be able to enjoy your work, have your friends as your colleagues, walk home for lunch, bring your dog to work, and have the kids play or do homework at your job while you finish up and see to it that every last order that can, is shipped out.

I don't know what else to tell you. I'm Swedish too. We left Stockholm 11 years ago for a two year adventure in Dublin and see, here we are in the most Beautiful City... in at least the States... Seattle. We love the Mountains and the Ocean and everything in between. Where else would you ever want to live when you can go to Sweden for a summer vacation to see family and friends and then come home to sweet Seattle and your great job with Ellen.

Insert teary Ellen eyes here - I THANK YOU Malin!!

Malena arrived in June 2007

My name is Malena. I am 45 years old and have been married to Anders for 18 years. We have two kids. A boy, Daniel, who is 17 years old, and a girl, Ida, who is 15 years old. We moved here from Stockholm, Sweden a little more than 6 years ago. We all love it here, but of course we miss all our family.

I started to work for/with Ellen in mid-June 2007 because my friend, Malin was going to Sweden for the whole summer. She already worked for Ellen and needed a substitute. I told her I will work for her... and Ellen thought it was a good idea... *smile*. So here I am... still working and having a really good time doing it.

I really like crafts of all sorts even though I don't do very much right now. I also really like to bake cakes and cookies. I read books and love to watch a good movie. And of course, spend time with my family and friends. In Sweden I worked as a receptionist and switchboard operator. I studied marketing economics, but didn't get a chance to work with it since we moved here just after I graduated.

When I am not busy with work, I am busy with our kids' activities; competitive cheerleading, acting/modeling and soccer. It takes up a lot of our time, but our kids really enjoy it, and we love to do things with our kids.

Then we have the latest addition to our family... Buddy, our little Havanese puppy. Since Malin has one and Ellen just got one, we just had to cave in to our kids plea and buy one too.

Well, this was a little bit about me. Now you know who to blame if there is something wrong with your order *giggle*. To end this... I really enjoy working here and to pack/ship your orders!!!

My Dear Malena - you are a treasure - thank you for being here and being a part of this adventure!

Beth, our latest "victim" (chortle) began in September 2007.

I'm Beth. I relocated to Issaquah, Washington 8 years ago where I began my life as a stay at home suburban mom, complete with mini van and everything. I have 2 children, nine-year old Michael and six-year old Connor. We have gone from being dog people to cat people. After my black lab Sadie and my golden retriever Dusty died, we have an adopted cat named Lexi who has feline HIV. I get my dog fill from licky Jasper, pom pom Buddy and lap-lover Nino. That being said, I am an animal lover and all my pets have been from rescues.

I grew up in the seacoast area of New Hampshire. I went to college at the University of New Hampshire. My family is still there so I get to visit yearly. While I am loving the Pacific Northwest, I am a bit homesick for the beaches of my home. I also lived in Denver, Colorado, Wash park area, for 12 years. I love Colorado. I miss the sunshine, city living, and of course the skiing. I am a skier, and may work weekends as a ski instructor at our local ski area, Snoqualmie this winter.

As all moms are, I am striving for balance so I can pursue my passions, which are the environment (I am a green wip), teaching children (this will never end), and heal and fitness (another wip). My favorite TV shows are Dancing with the Stars and Greys Anatomy. My favorite drink is my first cup of coffee in the morning. My exercise of choice is rollerblading and swimming.

That's all I can think of for now.

Beth, I value so much how you treat each of our customers with kindness and how you can help bring a laugh to our days!

OK - so this is a LOT longer than I thought it would be so I am going to break it up in to two parts :D I hope have enjoyed meeting the girls I work with every day - leave them a note if you are so inclined. It is fun to get feedback and I know that it wasn't an easy task for them to talk about themselves :D Thanks girls for all you do to help me each and every day!!!

Much to be Thankful For!

I wanted to wish you all a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! Sorry it's a little late, but I was the chief cook again this year, thankfully my hubby was the bottle washer and the potato peeler and the go to guy for all the heavy lifting, my little one was the vegie washer and my older one was the floor washer and table setter Ü. There is so much for me to be grateful for this year! Even with all the little mishaps life threw our way we still have been so fortunate to not have lost any loved ones this year, to not have any major health scares and most of all to have the love and support of family, friends and all of you!!!

This card was made some time ago, but I wanted to share it here again today - it is sort of representative of who I am - LOL! A little nutty (the acorn - ha, ha), sort of colorful, fluttering about in life like a leaf - tie it all together somewhat neatly in a fun way and hopefully it will bring a smile to other's faces. That's me - all I want to do is bring happiness to others and I hope that in a way this little blog and business that I run does that for others. Lastly top the card off with a thank you to each and every one of you who have hung in here with me over the past year!

I know that I have not been posting nearly as frequently over the last two months and I apologize. I have been looking for ways to "repair" my body - thus I have been having to spend far too much time meeting with numerous specialists trying to figure out how we are going to proceed with my hip and foot. After numerous tests (and possibly a  few more to come) it appears more and more like I may be in for yet another hip surgery. If you have any extra room for prayers and positive thoughts left in you I would appreciate you putting me in them in hopes that the doctors will make the right decisions.

Finally what you have all been waiting for - I'm just going to commit to November 30, December 1 and December 2 for our One Year Anniversary Sale! Watch for more news over the next couple of weeks - I think that you will be excited about what we have in store.

Now I'm off to just rest :D Hugs to all of you!!!

ETA just a few card details:

I stamped the image on Arturo using Palette Noir. I then used Adirondack reinkers and my waterbrush to color in the image and create the soft washed background. Finally I used my Copic Multiliner to doodle the "frame" and add the word "thanks".