CTMH Open House Rescheduled

Now that we've all pretty much thawed out, the Close to My Heart Open House has been rescheduled for this Friday, February 6th. Carol will be in the store with a free make-n-take and offering free shipping on any orders placed that night. Also, you have a choice of which class you would like to take. It's completely up to you if you want to make up last weeks "Dream" pages or make Valentine Cards. (You can even come early or stay late and do both!) I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. I know it was only a week, but it has seemed like forever.

Hope to see you this weekend. By the way, the Valentine card class will be repeated on Saturday if anyone is interested.

Class cancelled

I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to cancel class for tonight. Carol is checking to see if she can extend the offer for the beautiful stamps, and I will be in the store tomorrow from 10a.m. until 5p.m. if anyone wants to come in and place their order, and/or take this weeks class. I know the weather looks good and all, but I am still worried about people driving home in the dark, and Green Forest has asked that everyone stay at home once it is dark. (And I wouldn't want to be the cause of any temptation..lol). Also, Carol is still without power, as many of you are, and therefore can't even read this..gee, I'm bright! I do hope that you are all safe. I hope to see you tomorrow. Be careful!

Warm at Last!

Phew! What a crazy experience. This desert girl has never had to deal with the likes of freezing like this! Not even while I lived in Utah. (There, it was just snow and crazy people who like to tailgate while driving in it!) All in all, we handled it pretty well. Thank goodness for propane grills, flashlights, and candles. (I'd like to be thankful for the fireplace, but it wasn't much help..."Note to self, buy a rick of dry wood and don't try to burn the green wood your dad cut off of the tree in the back yard." Did you know that green wood doesn't give off much heat when you burn it? Nope...not much at all. I must say that it was pretty helpful in reheating some yummy ham and potatoes from Monday night. Gotta love those cast iron pans.

Of course, like many of you, we've got branches down all over the property, and my favorite Maple tree beside the house is probably history, but we are all safe and warm and our power is back on. There is indeed, much to be grateful for. I am worrying a bit about my hubby driving that big truck over the icy dirt roads. (I know that ours is no fun to drive up....I mean slide down! LOL) He is a good driver though and I know he will be very careful.

I took several pictures yesterday and today. I will try and post tomorrow night. The ice on the trees was gorgeous. Especially when the sun came out and made them sparkle like they had been formed from crystal. It's just too bad that something that beautiful can cause so many problems. Billy drove me over to the store today to check on things. All is well, but the roads around the square are a little slippery and the trees have many broken branches. The City was busy cleaning them up, so hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I AM planning on being at the store tomorrow for anyone who would like to come and take the "Dream" class. The pages are quite pretty and the technique is cool too. I think that Carol is planning to come for the open house tomorrow night, so if you're still interested in ordering some CTMH stamps and doing a free make-n-take, come on in between 5:30p.m. and 8:30p.m. (Call first, just to make sure everything is still on!) The store number is (870)-423-1027.

Next week's classes are Valentine Cards. Tuesday, 10a.m. , Friday, 10a.m. or 6p.m. and again on Saturday at 10a.m. Also, if you would like to make up this weeks "Dream" class, give me a call and we can work out a day, or you could come to class early or stay late. You know I always love to have people in the store working, and I'll even make sure to clean up a table for you!

I'll be posting the rest of February's classes here tomorrow and I've got some plans for March that I'd like to share with you all. (Or is that "both" of you?...I'm never sure if anyone is really reading this!!) Be sure and stop by the store to pick up a schedule. If you can't, call me and I'll gladly drop one in the mail for you!

SALE!!! Yep, that's right. Come in and take advantage of 30-40% off of American Crafts and Imaginisce Christmas collections. It's time to make room for some new goodies! Also, keep an eye out for some new Valentine papers. I'm hoping my other favorite guy (the one in the brown uniform) will be dropping by the store with the goodies I ordered from Bo-bunny and Kaiser Kraft.

Well, it's late and I've got to get some sleep. I'm feeling rather lazy after having 5 days off and I'm pretty sure it will be difficult to get up and going in the morning. I hope all of you are doing well and that you are all safe and warm. Don't forget to take some pictures of all of this beautiful ice. Oh, and don't forget to include some pics of what everyone is doing to keep themselves busy without the tv and video games! It's times like these that we remember how much we really like to "connect" with our families. (At least I hope you do!)

Much love and gratitude for all of you!

Christmas Open House

I know...you all want to know how I manage to do everything and keep up with this blog....LOL!! Anyway....

The annual Christmas Open House held by the Downtown Merchants will be Sunday, November 30th.....We will not be participating this year because we have chosen to do the things that we are supposed to do on the Sabbath. (And I don't mean that in a preachy way.) I wish the downtown Merchants all the luck in the world, and I hope that they will have a great turnout. We will still be having an Open House, but it will be on Saturday, November 29th, from 10a.m. until 3p.m. During the Open House, we will be having a FREE CROP, Make-n-takes, refreshments, and a really great sale. This will also be a great time to special order any gift items that you need so that I can get them in before Christmas.

We've got some really fun classes on the schedule for the holidays. This week we will be doing Christmas cards and using some cool techniques including using Brass Stencils, JAC Paper, glitter, and flocking. 6 cards for $12.00 Not bad at all!

As for the week before Thanksgiving, I will be open Tuesday, and closed the rest of the week until Saturday (for the Open House).

*December 2nd and 5th we will be making a great winter Snowman decoration.

*9th and 12th will be our Tags and Bags class.

*16th and 19th is our Annual Christmas Mini-Album this year it will be featuring the Snowy Jo collection from Imaginisce. We will also be having a pot luck during this class because it takes about 4 hours, so we might as well party a little! Please bring your recipe to share with us.

Tuesday, December 23rd, I'll be open from 10a.m. to around 2p.m. for those last minute shoppers, then I will be closed until the following Tuesday.

*December 30th and Jan. 2nd we will be making a Christmas Layout

I do hope that you will come in and join us for the holidays. I know how tight things are for all of us this year, so consider saving some of your money and spending some of your time making a special gift of memories. I guarantee there won't be a dry eye around the Christmas tree.

One final note....my daughter Rachel is selling SEE's Candy bars to help with the cost of costumes for dance this year. They are $1.50 each and come in Dark Chocolate, Dark with almonds, Milk chocolate, Milk with almonds, and Milk with Toffee bits. They make really great stocking stuffers, and we've even go cute ideas for making them a great gift for the folks at work. Rachel is also selling tickets for a Baked Potato Dinner to be held on Friday, December 12th (I think). This money is to help her earn her way to a dance competition this winter. Dinner includes Baked Potato, yummy toppings of choice, dessert, and a drink. There will also be a silent auction.

In the spirit of the season, I just want you all to know how much I appreciate you, and how much fun I've had getting to know all of you. What a blessing it has been for me to have a place to meet such wonderful, talented, sweet women such as yourselves. In case I don't post before Thanksgiving....Happy Thanksgiving! (And don't forget to take pictures of all of those great Thanksgiving meals so that you can scrap them!)

Joy...

It's no mystery...I haven't quite been myself lately. A lot of things have been going on that I will not begin to boar you with, but suffice it to say, I've been having a little trouble finding the joy in my life. In an interesting coincidence, a book showed up on my doorstep for me to preview for a book club that has gone belly up. (In a side note...I must now pay for the book...it doesn't seem right to keep it now. I wasn't even going to open it, but curiosity...well, you know.) Anyway, the book is called "Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy...A Woman's Guide to a Better Life" by Merrilee Boyack and being in the state of mind that I am, I just had to start reading it. So far, so good, but I really wanted to share this thought that Merrilee shared in her book.

Happiness is:

Courageously doing what you want to do, even if you are scared.
Experiencing your life as an exciting journey.
Stimulating your maind and caring for your body.
Realizing that you already have everything you need to make yourself happy.
Knowing that you are the only one who can decide what is right or wrong for you.
Accepting that you are okay even when you blunder and learn from your mistakes.
Knowing that what people say or do is a reflection of them not you.
Listening to your inner wisdom.
Giving and receiving love unconditionally.
-Anonymous

she then goes on to say...
"We can choose to be happy and to have a joyful life right now, but too many of us have let the joy in our lives be snuffed out because we are concentrating too much on the perfection list."

Isn't that the truth? Sometimes we try so hard to attain our impossible idea of perfection that we forget to look at how blessed we are and how wonderful it is that we have the ability to choose joy. The late President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley said, "In all living have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." To that I say..AMEN!

Go find some joy this week!

SCRAP PINK

Okay, here it is, after midnight again. I've got a billion things I want to share, but I'm just too tired to make them make sense...so I'll share the most important thing...

Our annual Scrap Pink crop will be October 4th from 10a.m. until whenever we've had enough. The cost will be $15.00 of which a $10.00 non-refundable deposit will be required. (This is the $10.00 that goes to the Susan G. Komen foundation.) Also, Tuesday, September 30th and Friday, October 3rd will be a special class titled "Celebrate Life". This class will cost $15.00 and $5.00 of that goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I do hope that you will come and participate, but if you are unable to make it, you can always drop a donation off between now and October 4th.

Did I mention that the first 10 people to sign up will be receiving some pretty cool goody bags thanks to Josh at American Crafts? (Maybe more...I need to count better in the morning.) At any rate, be sure to sign up ASAP! We will also have the pleasure of cropping with Carol Atkins. She's a Close to My Heart rep and a breast cancer survivor. Not only will she be sharing a fun project with us, but she will be sharing her story.

The new schedules are out. I will do my best to get them here, but I'd love for you to drop by the store and pick them up. We just got some cool American Crafts Paper and embellishments from the Mode Bella line. Also, if you haven't been in for awhile, we've got some really cute Halloween paper, stamps, and embellishments in from Imaginisce.

Some of you may already know this, but I've accepted a calling at my church as the Young Women's President. This means that I am over the Young Women, ages 12 - 18 at my church. It's a pretty big job...teaching them on Sunday and having activities for them every Wednesday evening. It also includes some trips to Springfield and the surrounding areas on some Saturdays. Because I don't think it's fair to expect my mother to work her job and mine, I may occasionally close the store on Saturday, so please call before heading into town. I hope you won't mind the inconvenience. Remember that I'm usually opened late on Friday's because of classes. I'll try to remember to post here with any changes... On that note, we will be closed this Saturday, September 13th and also on Saturday, September 20th. (The 20th we'll be celebrating my daughter's 12th birthday since it's one of the few Saturdays that Celebration City is open to the public this month.)

I've got to brag....My daughter Rachel took Grand Champion in the Junior Division at the County Fair for the purse she made!! I am so proud of her! Sara and Rachel also earned blue and red ribbons for their photography and Nathan got a blue ribbon for his cute little sheep made from his handprints...as did all of the kids in his pre-school class.

Well, I'm off to bed now. I hope to see or hear from you soon! Don't forget Scrap Pink...Saturday, October 4th!

Photography Classes

David Bell will be teaching photography classes at the store every Monday evening, starting September 8th. This will be a 15 week program ending on December 15th. Each classes will last 2 1/2 hours (at least) and the cost is $200.00. (due by September 2nd)

You will need to bring a notebook and pen to class and your 35mm or digital cameras. DO NOT BUY A CAMERA for this class. (What you learn may influence the choice you make.) There will be a book offered, but not required for an additional $44.00

There are a couple of spots left, so be sure to call the store (870)-423-1027 or drop by to reserve your place. David's class at NorthArk is in high demand, and we are very lucky to be getting this opportunity at such a great price.