Oz-somestamps

Cleaning your Acrylic mounts and blocks - and Blog Candy Winner!

First - be sure to check out all the new specials for August!  Double Hostess benefits!?!?!  You have to have a party right now if you are thinking about it - even just get a few orders from as few of your stampin and scrappin buds and split the benefits!  The $50 Sign Up special is pretty out of this world too!

I have tried TONS of ways to clean my acrylic blocks and mounts and have always come up with so so results.  I heard some where to try Purell.  So I went on a hunt for Purell!  I found it at Wal-mart - they even have a trial size bottle I am going to go back and get for my tote I take every where when I am stamping.

Check out my video - see it in action!

The mounts after being cleaned are nice and squeaky clean - perfect for sticking stamps too!  Anyone know if you can clean your Creative Cling with it?  I might have to test it out on some scrap (or an old GWP or something) to see if it does any damage to the cling.

I walked in the Relay for Life last night - and was supposed to go back early this AM at 5AM for an early shift.  We got bad storms last night so they closed up shop and went home.  So I only walked 4 miles - I wanted to walk this morning too!  I will have to go on my own I guess but it is just not as much fun.

I am debating tackling my studio mess today and tomorrow.  UGH!  I am dreading even starting because I know what I really need to do is empty the whole thing and start by putting back the things I want to stay.  I don't think my DH will enjoy having my studio unloaded into the living room though.  Hummm.... should I go for it?  I really wanted to go to the zoo today or something fun with Laney and Logan - it is SO nice outside!  There is gardening to tackle too.  What to do what to do???

Oh ya - I have a box of Blog Candy here waiti9ng to be sent to one lucky winner!   Patti from Cherish each Precious Day  will be gettin some goodies as soon as I get her address!

Have a beautiful weekend!

card for the sketch

Here is yesterdays -  card be sure to add your linky and link back to HERE so we can all share our ideas!

my card

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Script Background, Fancy Curls Stamp Sets and Level A Hostess Set Enjoy Nature from The Angel Company
Ink:Burnt Umber, Cognac, landscape, and Raw Sienna Palette Ink
Papers: Kraft Cardstock, Ivory Cardstock and Matchmaker Brites cardstock
Accessories: Neutral Mix Bitty Blossoms, Lime Green Scrappers Floss, 3/4 inch Circle Punch

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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Ok, so ya I really wanted to post this yesterday - but I kind of couldn't even find my studio table!  I had to take the afternoon to clean up and put away about 15 past projects worth of stuff that had accumulated on my desk just so I could stamp let alone find space to take a picture!  So all is put away - on my table atleast!  My desk - not so much.  Floor, not so much!  I will get to it though
before it all dissappears right???

So on this card I used a TAC-nique that I am teaching tonight at my thursday night TAC-nique class.  I call it Layered Color Stamped Collage.  It is pretty simple - but packs a nice punch!  I also did a little trick with three Bitty Blooms - there are three of them folded in half on there - I stapled them in a triangle on a 1/2 circle of cardstock - to make a bigger fluffier flower.  It looks like this after it is stapled:
  
Then I just layered a 1/2 in circle over top in the middle to cover the staples.  It is kind of tricky to get it stapled - so watch your fingers!

Don't forget about these great specials!

     

The TACbag special ENDS JULY 20th!  SO be sure to get yours SOON before they are all gone!

Oh and if you are thinking about getting your own set of WINGS and becoming an Angel - check out this special!

Butterfly bliss

Here is the card I made for this weeks sketch.  I was inspired by the color combo - and did not quite get the effect I was looking for so I will probably be stuck on this one till I get it right!

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Want to Fly and Running Stitches stamp sets from The Angel Company
Ink: Burnt Umber Palette Ink
Papers: Ivory and Brown Cardstock and Chartruese Matchmaker Cardstock, Vellum
Accessories: Mini Kai Scissors, Crystal Stickles, Edge Distresser, Miss Moxie and Reece Ribbon

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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Be sure to add your linky if you give the sketch a try!

I love doing butterflies like that - I just stamp onto vellum and let it dry. Then I cut it out with my Mini Kai Scissors - essential especially for the teeny tiny details ones. Then I put a line of glue just along the body of the butterfly on the back. Stick it down to your card with that line of glue - then add Stickles to the rest of the wings and body as desired. The moisture of the Stickles with make your wings curl and give such dimension it looks like they will fly right off the card.

So - whats up for today?  I am working on TACnique night which is tomorrow night.  I am also working on a blogging idea I had last week - and hopefully will have the first installment ready to post tomorrow.  I had to clean up my studio table this morning in order to be able to stamp - so I have one little spot - oh crap I guess I messed it up again making that card huh!?!  UGH - it really is never ending - why do I fight it?  Ok I have not been fighting so hard lately have I - it is obviously apparent in the utter disaster area I am calling my studio lately.  

Ah... Woe is me right?  Off to workout and get some spring cleaning done.  I told Laney last night we should do some of that in our bedrooms and she said "Uh, I think we should do that in the SUMMER - not spring."  Procrastinator in the making eh?  We are BORN with this - why fight it???   How funny!!!

Another Tag Punch Trick

Before I forget - be sure to check out the TACbag special!!!  And don't forget about these too!

I love a good punch trick don't you?  This time I am using the Giga Merchandise Tag Punch from Marvy.  You can of course use any tag punch that is similar in shape.  I am making this cool label shape from this card.

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Forever Friends and Trendy Greetings stamp sets from The Angel Company
Ink: Noir Palette Ink
Papers: Stardust Cardstock, Robins Egg 3 Matchmaker Cardstock and Catelynn Pattern Papers
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Polo Shimmer Brads, Giga Merchandise Tag Punch

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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I used the new Spring Into April stamp set Forever Friends.  Check out the coloring on this card - I love how it turned out!

I used my trusty Prisma Color pencils.  No blender or anything - just my bare naked pencils on good quality paper.  You can really get nice blends with JUST the pencils - but it is imperative that you are working on GOOD paper like our UltraSmooth White Cardstock or Stardust Cardstock!!  For the pot - I colored so much that i felt like I could not see the black lines anymore because the pink was all over the top.  I tried to remedy it by going over them with my Black Gelly Roll Glaze pen - which does the trick IF you can do them nice and steady.  I however did not do such a great job.  So now what?  Stickles makes eveything better right?  (Hi Julie!)  I just stickled over top of the glaze pen and it took away all the Boo Boos. 

So - on to the tag trick!

First start with a strip of cardstock that is 1 3/4 inches wide - this is for the Giga Merchandise Tag punch.  If you are using a different size tag be sure your width is almost as wide as the regular tag when punched out.  We are going to insert this strip into the punch from the bottom of the punch so that only ONE end of it will be punched.  You do not stick it in like normal.  It should look like this:

Then you punch and end up with this:

Next take that strip and flip it - right over left - so now your punched end is on your right.  Slip it back into the punch the same way you did the first time like this:

Now punch and you end up like this:

Now you just cut off both sides of the tag.  I made it even easier to see where to cut by using my Scor-pal to make a cutting guide.  I lined up my tag with any score line on the Scor-pal so that both the same bumps of the tag were in line with the same line.  Like this:

Then score along that line and repeat for the other side of the tag.  So you have 2 scored lines to cut along like this:

Then Snip snip and you have this:

Add brads to the ends or punch holes or layer another piece on top and voila - a very nice Label shape using your Merchandise Tag Punch.

Mimi Message Center - free calendar download

I LOVE how this came out!  Here is my Mimi Message Center that I made for the gift Exchange - even though I really wanted to hang it in my studio!  It is a variation on a Cookie Sheet Calendar that I have been wanting to make for months.
 

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Bookoo Blessings stamp set from The Angel Company
Ink: Burnt Umber Palette Ink
Papers: Mimi SWIC Pattern Papers
Accessories: Ava Jumbo Shimmer Brads , Bazzill Bitty Blooms , Brites Board Clips, Colluzzle Wordsworth Blimp Alphabet template

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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I printed out the calendar from Publisher onto Birch cardstock.  I converted it to a pdf so you could download it too!  It prints the words in a really dark brown - so if you want it black and white be sure to check the box that tells your printer to print it in Black and White.  It also prints out 4 of each month per sheet - and it is 16 months.  So you will have enough to make 4 calendars.  You could also use them for other projects if you want!

Download 09 mar-10 june

Download 2010 calendar

I started with a $1 cookie sheet from Dollar Tree and I spray painted it with brown FLAT spray paint.  I decoupaged the papers on after corner rounding and edging with Burnt Umber Palette ink.  I use Royal Coat Decoupage glue - applying a nice even coat then lay paper down on top - then add a coat on top of paper.  It is KEY that you work fast and get as even as possible.  This will cut down on the amount of bubbles you get in your paper.  Use a BIG wash brush for the best results. 

I cut the letters with the Colluzzle Letter template and edged them with Burnt Umber ink and adhered them on with different thickness' of Pop Dots and foam tape.

Here are a few more detail shots:

Under the flowers holding the notepad and calendar on are the Board clips on a magnet - that way you can move them around and replace them easily when they run out.

For the clip Magnets I used 2 Bazzill Bitty Blooms and the new AVA Jumbo Sparkle Brads - they look FAB with the Mimi Papers.  I attached the flowers to a bullnose clip with the brads - putting the 2 flowers back to back.  I then used E6000 to glue and attached a round button magnet to each Bullnose clip - and this is how the calendar and notepad are attached.  (I did it this way so that when the year is over or the paper is gone you can replace it VERY easily.)

I used the Crop-a-dile to punch the 2 holes thru the pan - you gotta LOVE that tool!  I strung some wide satin ribbon thru the holes and tied in a knot to creat the hanger for the piece.  (this is recycled ribbon from Winter Retreat - it was tied around our SS!)

The cork area is just a piece of a 12x12 cork tile - I cut with an exacto knife - I use the retractable Kraft knife from the TAC catalog of course!  I inked the edges of the cork first with my Burnt Umber Ink pad - then with a sponge.  This gives the nice gradient of color.  The Tacks are brass Uppolstrey tacks.  I thought about doing the pebble push pins - but decided I liked these just fine.

So what do you think?  I would love to offer it as a class here and on the road at some upcoming crops!  So be on the lookout for an upcoming class if you are interested.  Oh and if you are attending our upcomign Winter ANgel Round Up - I am making another on for my prop swap there!  And one for me too!!!  WHich paper collections should I use?  Mimi again or my love Willoughby?

My hero worked on my e-mail and computer for a bit this morning - and convinced me to archive - I am so hoping that I am not going to regret that decision.  He also went to staples last night and bought me my very own adding machine with paper print out!  That is his subtle hint to get my butt in gear and get my tax numbers crunched!  Ya I still have not done that! 

Any one know of a good place to buy some time?  I am looking for about 4 hour increments of uninterupted studio time - to organize and purge - and it cannot involve me checking myself into the looney bin!

Fun Background TAC-nique

I had my monthly Triple TAC-nique class - they are always so much fun!   I was thinking about what TAC-niques I wanted to do for class and looking thru my NEW serendipity stamps and I REALLY wanted to use the Fishy Friends stamp set.  They are simple solid images - and just plain CUTE!  So I thought about what TACnique I could use....hmmmmm.... I know!!!  I call it Scalloped Sea Backgrounds.  What do you think?

I started with a piece of scrap cardstock.  I cut an edge with my cloud scallop scissors - these are a wide scallop.  I placed my strip on my piece where I wanted the TOP of my water to be.  Then I ink up my sponge with Reflection Blue Palette ink and TAP the sponge onto the strip and DRAG it onto the piece of cardstock.  Repeat and then move the strip down and over a hair.  I went back and added more and tilted them just a hair until I had the effect I wanted.  It is VERY much like the Retiform or grid technique - only with a scallop strip of cardstock and going down an piece instead of making a grid. 

At my TAC-nique classes we make 3 different TAC-nique cards and each one has a sample of the sample on the front of the card (they are index card sized cards so 6x5 folded in half to make a 3x5 card) and on the inside there is a write up of the technique - supplies and step by step.  There is lots of room for everyone to make notes too.  Then we store them all together as a TAC-nique file.  I am on the hunt for a really cool index card box - like an old library drawer or something cool.  Right now I have them in a Sterlite box - BORING!!!  I had them in one of our Recipe Boxes - but they do not fit anymore and I want to keep them in one - hey I just had a thought - what if I attached those to each other - I wonder if I could make the lids work...

Kids are off school today - it is COLD out - buit no snow!  They have been praying for snow - but i think the sleds they got for Christmas JINXED it!  Poor kiddos - we have not had a drop of snow - or atleast even close enough to sled on.  We may have to blow them up this summper and use them in the pool instead!

Lots to do this weekend - including one of my BEST friends Helen's retiring party!  SHe is leaving the US post office - and we are all SUPER happy!!  She is opening a shop in JC KAnsas to sell crafts and materials and hold classes.  It is a neat old building - right next door to the Post Office!  SO she will still see all her friends from work.  Like she was worried about that???  I don't think so.  She teaches Basket Weaving - in fact she was who taught me to do that Potato Masher Basket!

Anyway - I better get out of these Jammies and get to WORK!  I don't wanna!

Hearts for Shamrocks?

With Heart day past - it is on to Shamrocks right?  I do not have ANY St. Patricks Day stamps!  Isn't that sad?  Well I was flipping thru a scrapbooking magazine - Scrapbooks etc - and they had a picture of a Topiary tree they made with felt hearts.  That is where the inspiration for this card came from.  I wanted to use our new Hostess set - Hinges - which you can get FREE when you have a FUNshop, Book party, or place a $100 order! 

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Everyday Occassions, Build a Flower, Hinges from The Angel Company
Ink: Giverny Green Palette Ink, VersaMark Ink
Papers: White Ultrasmooth Cardstock
Accessories: XStatic pad, Black Embossing Powder, Grey Tombow Marker, Spring Bright Brads, Paper Piercer, Pop Dot, Scor-pal

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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I stamped and cut out the hearts - than attached them all together with a green brad.  I stamped and Embossed the hinges - LOVE the look of crispness of black embossing on white paper.  I outlined them with a little Grey Tombow marker to really make them pop and look 3 dimensional.  After I had the card all done - THEN I scored the lines to resemble planks of a gate.  I did it last so that I could skip over the hinges and flower and stem. 

Last night I thought I was going to have the flu today - but surprise!  I woke up this morning feeling pretty normal!  Hallelujah!  Eric said "We are all gonna be sick this weekend!"  - and I tried to convince him otherwise.  I hope I can subliminally keep everyone well!

Today I WILL get my taxes sorted and calculated!  So I better get to work!

Twist on a gatefold - gift card giver

So for the Birthday Card Bonanza I always like to throw in a Giftcard holder/giver.  This time around I took a gatefold card and made it functional! 

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website - and don't forget you can get ANYTHING in the catalog or supplement for half price as a hostess with $100 in orders from you and your friends!

Stamps: Sweet Goodies and For All Seasons stamp set from The Angel Company
Ink: Noir Palette Ink and Claret Palette Ink
Papers: Ivory Cardstock and Raspberry1, Blue 2 Matchmaker Cardstock, and Purple Cha Cha Cardstock
Accessories: Scallop Scissors, Gelly Glaze pens, Scallop Circle punch, Circle punch, Scor-pal, Paper Piercer

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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Using the Scor-pal makes this type of card SOOOOO easy.  The Scor-pal has two dots along the top measuring line that mark exactly where you need to score on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of cardstock.  (The triangles up there are to make a trifold card out of a full sheet of card stock) 

So I scored the card at both dots and then I punched out a half circle from the right side.  Then made a pocket with the right flap - I adhered the right side down with adhesive just along the top and bottom of the flap to allow for room for the gift card to be inserted to the pocket. 

To make the left flap a little longer to overlap I added a strip of white along the edge and scallop cut the edge with decorative scissors.  I also added a line of pierced holes along the edge for a little texture.

I added the center circle with a pop dot on top on a regular circle and then a scallop circle - I closed the card and placed the circle so it would cover up the gift card spot.  KWIM?

Pretty simple - and you can do it without the Scor-pal  bu just folding your card to the center instead of the side.

SO on my agenda for today - the ever at the top of my list item - Clean up my studio!!!  Why is it that I cannot keep just one of my surfaces picked up?  I have all my stuff to unpack from retreat, card camp, and FUNshops. 

I will be having some special surprises coming up on Feb 1st to celebrate the release of the NEW Spring Serendipity - so be sure to check back.  You never know what I might have up my sleeve...  I am feeling some blog candy brewing!

 

Not all faux is good...

But this one is hilarious! But first - here is the card for the weeks sketch.

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website

Stamps: Barnyard Birthday stamp set from The Angel Company
Ink: Noir Palette Ink
Papers: Ivory and Black Cardstock and Golden Yellow 2 and Harvest Orange 2 Matchmaker Cardstock
Accessories: Black Embossing powder - or flocking!, Tombow Multi Glue, Edge Distresser

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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Be sure to leave a linky is you tried out the sketch and check out the ones who did!

Ok so for the hilarious part of my faux misshap...
It was late - about 12:30AM to be precise - that I designed this card for the Birthday Card Bonanza yesterday.  After being inspired by my friend Seleise to use flocking - I wanted to use it on a card for the class.  Heck she even let me borrow her stamp set!  So I tried out the lamb and white - and decided I wanted to use black and the cow instead.  I reach in the drawer for the black flocking.  There it is - hum I didn't realize the black was different texture than the other colors?  Oh well I am tired, lets get this puppy done so I can get some SLEEP! Done!  Can you sense where this is going?  Did you read the supplies above for the card and notice anything funny?  Well you guessed it - I actually grabbed super fine black embossing powder and thought I had flocking!  Seleise showed up for class and i said look how cool the texture of the black flocking is - it is almost like suede!  At this point I had not figured out my error - but I had suspicions.  That Seleise is one smart lil cookie - she was like "It looks like embossing powder to me!"  laughing hysterically the whole time of course - we all had fun with it the whole day.  Faux flocking! 

Seriously though - the Tombow Multi glue is the BEST for flocking applications.  It works great!  The other flocking tip I have is to always color under your flocking areas with the same color of the flocking.  In this case we colored under with a black marker.  This will make your flocking more solid and not let the paper color show through.

Only one WEEK left of half price stamps - so be sure to get me your list before Monday.  I leave for sunny SA tomorrow morning - and will be getting e-mails and online a bit from the hotel.  I HOPE to have some cool things to share while I am gone too - I just took all the pics, now for the time to be available for me to write up a little ditty to go with them! 

Packing and getting my hair done today - that is my agenda.  Possibly a wrestling match tonight.  I feel horrible - I had to make DJ skip practice yesterday so he could watch Logan for me (i took Laney with me) and he found out afterwards that since he was not at practice he will not get to wrestle at the HOME matches tonight!  UGH!  Why can they not let kids have a day off anymore?  I mean I had no idea he would have to go to practice so I assumed he would be home to watch the kiddos for me.  Eric wrote this long message to the coach blaming me totally for DJ not being at practice - to the point that DJ was even mad at me for it!  He wants DJ to wrestle tonight I guess.

A Scrapling?

A what?  I was blog hopping around to my fav inspirational blogs and I ran across this little peach!  Apparently the ladies over at Hero Arts came up with this while trying to use up their scraps!  I KNOW!  My personal FAV way to design!  Check out the origin of these little ditties here. (it is all the way at the bottom of that page)  SO I wanted to play with this idea - and I did not have any scrapling sized scraps so I decided to make a "set" by starting with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card and cutting it off to be a 4 1/4 square card - which leaves you with the scrapling size and a card.  I liked the idea of using the mailing labels so I tried that too.  I ended up with a pretty masculine design. 

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Like what you see? Click these links to shop my secure TAC website

Stamps: Aged Ornaments and Linear Sentiments Stamp Sets from The Angel Company
Ink: Burnt Umber Palette Ink
Papers: Ivory Cardstock and Brown Cardstock
Accessories: Neutral Twill, Mailing Labels and Copper Hardware

Be sure that if your order totals $30 or more you E-mail me the order so I can include a FREE stamp as a gift with your purchase!

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SO now what to do with this little creation?  Well I have seen it used as a gift tag on a present - cute!  I thought why not hang it on a gift bag - great way to spruce up a plain cheapo bag right?  Well I tied a ribbon around it and it looked not so great because it was such a masculine design.  How can I use it on a bag with out adding ribbon or floss or something to tie it on???  Well check it out:

I simply cut a slit from the fold to the circle punch and it slips right onto the handle of the bag. 

LOVE IT!  Perfectly perfect for a masculine effect with no frilly ribbon to fluff it up.

This is one of my make and takes for the month of January - so if you get to come to one of my FUNshops you will get to make one of your very own.

SO today I caught up on some sleep this morning after running DJ to the school at O dark thirty - he is trying out for State Band today.  I came home and went back to sleep since I was out cropping til Midnight last night in Wamego!  The kids wanted me to watch Bolt with them this morning - what a cute movie!  Eric was right though it did make me cry.  I am such a sap.  Made me think of my Patches and how much i miss my kitty. 

So now I am in the studio waiting for the call to go and pick DJ up.  I have a team meeting tomorrow for all my local Oz-some Inkin' Angels on my team with The Angel Company.  We have lots of Make and Takes, Business discussions, Tool Time, Card swap, show and tell, lots of snacks - and well just a plain ole good time!  I wish ALL my angels on my team could come!  If you are looking for a creative way to use your hobby as a source of income you should check out TAC!  You can e-mail me anytime with questions of course - but right now there is a $50 bonus for signing up!  Think about it!

I am also preparing for that trip to San Antonio which is sneaking up in less than 2 weeks!  YIKES!  I started my swaps, have my Club MED trades done - and still have a few surprises up my sleeve!  If you are an Angel going to retreat and you have not heard about the Shoe Box swap PLEASE contact me!  We have some open crop time and I am organizinga shoebox swap - where you bring a project for everyone and then you get to make everyones projects.  We are shooting for 20 participants at this time so join in the fun if you can!