Christmas Corner at Maude Cobb

The Christmas Corner Arts and Crafts Extravaganza is happening early this year! Do some holiday shopping (Halloween and Christmas) now and relax later!

Where: Maude Cobb Convention Center

When:
Friday 9-5
Saturday 9-5
Sunday 11-4

Price: Tickets are $5.

My friend, Josie, and I are sharing a booth again this year. We figure scrapbooking and pictures go together well. I'll try to remember to take a picture of our booth this year... I totally forgot last year!

We're also going to be neighbors to Alison, Janette and Amy. Check out Amy's creations in her etsy shop: Amy's Little Bowtique. Notice her bottlecap bows? Hmmm, for some reason, those amazing bottlecaps look very familiar... I love how Amy put them in her bows!

So, come out to shop, chat and sample yummy food (no food in our booth, unfortunately), and, make sure you stop by and say hi, too!

Happy Black Friday!

Well, I'm not usually a Black Friday shopper. I don't like crowds, I don't like fighting and I don't like crabby people. And, that's pretty much what Black Friday is all about. Did you know that Michael's had their Black Friday on Thanksgiving evening?! Crazy!

I do, however, like good deals. And, sometimes you can find a deal too good to pass up, even if you have to get out on Black Friday.

I mentioned a while back that I was saving up my money I make from my craft shows to buy a refrigerator. Well, with my craft show money and the money I make for working in the nursery at church (I put that in a spot in our budget each month and it just sits there and builds little by little), I had enough for this set from Lowe's:


It's the stainless steel look-alike. Not real stainless steel, so we won't have to worry about fingerprints and such. I had actually wanted a black refrigerator, but this was too good of a deal to pass up!

Not only will I get a refrigerator, but a dishwasher, a stove and an over-the-stove microwave. I didn't "need" any of them, really even including the fridge. But, none of our appliances match and I just planned to slowly replace them as we had the extra money. Then this deal came along and Slade and I agreed that it was worth the extra for the other appliances. Plus, I had exactly the amount needed in my scrapbooking fund!

So, this morning, we headed to Lowe's and ordered them. They will be delivered to us on Wednesday! I'll be listing our other appliances either on Cheapcycle or Craig's List, I haven't decided which, so it's like getting a bit of a rebate there, too.

I'm very excited! In December, when Slade doesn't have any classes to worry about, we're going to do some remodeling in the kitchen. I'll be painting the cabinets white and replacing hardware (I already bought the handles and knobs when the style I liked was being discontinued and they were super discounted) and then we'll get new countertops and have the floor tiled. It's going to look like a new kitchen! We had talked about putting the house on the market again in a few months, but since we just really didn't find what we wanted when we looked before, we've decided to stay here, enjoy our crazy low house payment and just continue to put as much into seminary savings as we can. I think this will be the wisest course of action. And, having the kitchen all spiffy looking will make the time here all the more fun!

So, it'll be in increments over the next month. I'll try to remember to take pictures so I can post before, during and after.

For once, I'm thankful for Black Friday!

Time is tickin' away...

Today, it was tickin' slowly...

Slade got home last night from Sabine Pass after a few days on a rig down there. I didn't blog that he was gone because you never know what weirdos might read your blog. (I mean the weirdos that might mean me harm, not all you nice weirdos out there... *grin*)

We didn't know Slade would be home, so I made plans for the boys to spend the night at Christy's because I had to be up and going early for a craft show in Mineola this morning. After I found out he would be home, we still let the boys have their sleepover with the cousins to avoid broken-hearted kids.

So, I had a hubby to snuggle with, no kids... and I still had to rise and shine at 6am. Well, I don't know about the shining, but I did rise.

I drove to Mineola for a craft show that I'd never done before... And, I don't think I'll do again. It was the slowest craft show I've ever been in. It was three hours before I sold anything! That's where the title of this post comes in. Remember that DC Talk song?

Luckily, I had begun to have doubts about how busy it would be (being the day after Halloween and a small town) and I thought to bring some things to work on, so for some of my down time, I worked on projects. I got lots of compliments on my items, but few buyers. I did much better than a vendor neighbor, though, that said she only made $6. "After taking out your booth fee?" I asked. "No, before." she replied. I was glad I had done better than that.

But, it was a long afternoon, and I was ready to be back home with Slade and the boys. By 2, it had slowed down considerably (not that it was every really busy), so when I saw others vendors closing up shop (around 4, before the 5pm ending time), I happily followed suit. I got the van loaded and got home an hour before I expected. I walked in to freshly bathed boys. After the excitement of Farm Fair at church last night, a late bedtime and a butt-crack of dawn wake up, they were both very tired, so they went to bed around 7.

One good thing about today: I ran into some old friends of Slade's while there and we got to chat and catch up a little. Slade was jealous that I got to see them, so I filled him in on everything we talked about. They were also very sweet to help me take down my canopy, which I can do by myself, but it takes about three times as long. We discovered great minds think alike when they pulled their van around to load it up and realized that we drive the exact same van--same make and color.

So, now I'm home, the kids are in bed and Slade's working on Greek homework while I blog. Once he's finished, we have the rest of the evening together, not that there will be much evening left since we're both so tired. Life is back to normal.

Time is tickin' away, tick, tick, tickin' away!

A good day

Today was a good day. I like it when I can say that at the end of the day. Or at 8:42ish.

Last night the boys were up late because we celebrated a Spooky Family Night (pictures coming later) with my sister and her family. The rest of our clan wasn't able to make it, so we'll have a family night with everyone another time.

Russell told us he planned to sleep in this morning since he was going to bed late... Yeah, that didn't really happen. Unless you call 6:45 sleeping in... and I don't. *grin*

We enjoyed an easy morning of lounging around and Tom & Jerry cartoons. Then I left for an open house craft show that was from 10-2.

The open house went great! I loved that it was only 4 hours. There was a lot of traffic and very few slow times since everyone knew that if they wanted to come, they had to come during those 4 hours.

It was a very successful show and I'm pretty much officially out of refrigerator scrapbooks! I sold almost all of my stash at the Christmas Corner a few weekends ago and then worked like a crazy woman to replenish my stock for today's show. I even used up all my metal tins! I still took custom orders but warned everyone that I am waiting on my order of tins and it could be about 2 weeks or so. Thankfully, no one seemed to mind. I began the craft show with 31 tins and finished with 8 left. Whoo hoo!

I also sold quite a few paper bag scrapbooks and magnet sets. It was just a good show all the way around!

Then I packed up and headed home. Slade and the boys were at Best Buy getting something or another for the computer so I didn't feel rushed or like I was missing anything as I unpacked from the show.

This evening was Small Group and we enjoyed a lively discussion on predestination and election. Bible scholars and theologians have been debating this for years. We only gave it about 35-40 minutes. *grin* We had a good group and a good time of discussion and then enjoyed cookies afterward to break the tension. *grin*

Now Slade is working on his Greek homework (yes, it's Greek to me, too!) and I'm not in the mood to scrapbook so I'm going to edit some pictures and maybe even post some before I call it a night and head to bed.

All in all, it's been a good day! I like it when I can say that.

Slowing Down

Last night, while the boys were at AWANA, I got to cleaning! I was in the mood to get this place back in shape. I know, a strange use of free time, but I was ready!

So, I got the bathrooms cleaned, dusted the house, and even sat and chatted with Slade. Then once we got the boys in bed, we watched a movie. I did a tiny bit of scrapbooking, but then just sat up with Slade on the couch. Slade got everything from our old computer loaded onto our new one and it's such a relief to have that all back!

Today, I've vacumed the picked up rooms and hallway, started laundry, started the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen and organized the computer desk. Whew! All I have left is to finish laundry, vacume the livingroom and sweep the kitchen (mopping can wait).

I also should update the budget since I haven't done that in over a week!

I've also unpacked the van from the craft show (check out my scrapbooking blog to see how it went) and have gotten it all organized and put away. I have a few custom orders to work on and that's it for a few days (until I get my order of magnets in). So, I look forward to enjoying some down time!

That might sound like a lot, but it really goes quickly. Randall has been "making cards" for everyone he can think of and asking how to spell everything. He's having a blast cutting, coloring and planning. Now he's cutting strips of paper into "money". When I asked what he was going to buy with all that money, he reminded me, "It's only pretend, I can't really buy anything with it."

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and sympathy. I really appreciate it!

I'm gonna make it.

When it rains, it pours!

Long time, no post.

It has been the week from stinkville around here. Well, the last few weeks, actually. To avoid this becoming a ridiculously long post that only my mother would read (and maybe not even her, since she's heard all of it already), I'll just go with bullets. Ever seen anyone post in bullets? Well, you're about to...

Okay, I don't know how to make bullets, so they'll be asterisks...

* Last Tuesday, I headed to Russell's school to volunteer and the van wouldn't shift. A week and a half later, two attempts at replacing the faulty part and it's now at the dealer (instead of the mechanic where we dropped it off last week) to let them try to fix it. Having one car has been very, very difficult. I told Slade that if I ever suggest we get rid of one car to try to save money, he's to shoot me.

* I've been crazy busy lately (like so busy, the toilets are getting so bad that Slade actually cleaned the really bad one today... without me asking him to) and I am feeling extremely overwhelmed with life, decisions and such. We got our second offer on the house (they must not have come to view the house when the toilets were dirty...) and, once again, it was really, really low. We decided that we just aren't finding what we want in our price range and we're not getting what we want for our house, so we took the house off the market. We felt terrible but really appreciated how our realtors were very sweet and understanding. We just don't want to let our price range creep up so high that we can't enjoy living in a newer house because every spare penny goes to our house payment.

* Our computer crashed. As in, KA-BOOM. Everything is gone. Well, not anymore, because we'll be able to pay the nice geeks at Best Buy to get everything off. But, it's expensive and we also have to buy a new computer. We were also planning on buying Slade a laptop for schoolwork. It gets expensive.

* We got a new computer (all my favorites are gone...) and we had 130+ e-mails from the last few days. I went to bloglines to see what was going on in everyone's lives and I had over 400 unread posts! Now, those weren't all from people I know, but about 25 of them were! So, I read the posts of the people I know and just ignored the rest!

* I had the Gladewater Arts and Crafts Show two weekends ago and then have been working at a crazy level to replenish all I sold to get ready for Maude Cobb's Christmas Corner this weekend here in Longview. So, every spare minute is put into scrapping to get a good supply since this is one of my best shows of the year. Thus the dirty toilets...

* I feel like I haven't really spent much time with the kids because so much time is spent on scrapbooking, taking/picking Slade up from work or running around like a mad woman. I'm in bed late and up early and I feel like I'm going to crash.

In the midst of all that (just typing it all brings me to tears again), God is good. God is in control and God is faithful. My kids aren't suffering, even though their Mom has been M.I.A. lately. We had the money to cover the loss of our computer, as well as the money to cover the pending van expenses. Slade and I both feel very good about our choice to take the house off the market. I've done really, really well at the Christmas Corner and I've had my friend, Josie, there with me the whole time, sharing my booth and keeping me company. I also got a super great booth location this year! I'm the second from the door! I've also seen more friends and acquaintances there than I can count! I love that!

And, I'm not the only one feeling overwhelmed with the busy-ness of life. Not that I feel good knowing everyone else is just as stressed as me, but I am reminded that I'm not the only one and everyone is dealing with their own levels of stress. This, too, shall pass, right? Right?!

However, I'm glad that today is the end of the week because it's getting a little expensive around here... Once I get our pictures back (knock on wood), I'll post pictures from Randall's first field trip, from our photo session with Josie and from my wonderful and amazing MOPS convention (was that really just last weekend?). But, now I must go clean the bathrooms... Maybe...

Gladewater Arts & Crafts Festival

I leave soon for my first of 5 craft shows over the next 3 months. I sold at Gladewater's craft show last year with Allison, when she was closing out her beading business and needed some filler stuff to make her tables look fuller. It was a very successful show and Gladewater really comes out to support the area vendors.

Today, Mommy Lion is coming with me. She came last year to ChickFest in Pittsburg and was so sweet to offer to come again. But, it turned out that ChickFest and the Gladewater one were on the same weekend, so she's joining me in Gladewater instead. I'm so glad I'll have someone to help with setting up the 10x10 canopy! It's tricky!

Then tomorrow, my mom will be joining me after she gets out of church. I'm so excited! We've talked about her wanting to come sometime and I'm so glad she'll be able to hang out with me this time.

It's nice to have a girlfriend there, not only to help with set up or take down, but to chat with. It's awkward when you're sitting alone and someone is looking at your stuff because you don't want to just stare at them while they browse. :-) Plus, if I need to go get lunch or use the bathroom, it's easier to have someone at the booth that knows my stuff instead of a next-door booth person who is really too busy with their own booth.

I'm very excited! I love craft shows, really whether I'm in them or not, but I think I love them more when I get to sell in them. It just makes my day when someone likes something I've made enough to pay money for it. :-)

And, of course, I plan on walking around and doing some shopping myself, too! I love handmade stuff.

Happy (day after) Mother's Day!

It hasn't been super crazy or busy around here, but I just haven't really made the time for blogging that I intended to. I'll sit down to blog and then get busy checking e-mail and forget or something.

Last week, Slade spent 3 days and 2 nights in Houston at a business fair-type thingy. The kids were great the whole time he was gone! Sometimes when he's out of town it's like the kids get cranky (or maybe it's me?) and we all have a not-so-good time. But, this time, for whatever reason, it was a good few days.

One of the evenings while he was gone, we went out to eat with 3 other friends (one is also a sister) whose husbands were also out of town. It was crazy that they were all gone at the same time and all for different companies/reasons. We went to McAllister's for dinner and I ordered a bowl of baked potato soup and a chicken salad sandwich. Yum! Then Allison ordered this delicious pie with ice cream and three of us pigged out on it. The kids all got chocolate chip cookies and they were good to go.

Slade got home Thursday night and then Saturday morning, I left Longview around 6 am to drive to Paris. Not *the* Paris, of course, but Paris, Texas. I had my first craft show of the year there. I had done the same show last year and it went great, but this year was only so-so. I meant to see if anyone wanted to come along, but procrastinated, so I went alone, and that's not nearly as fun as having company. If I needed to use the bathroom, get lunch, etc, my "neighbor" and I would watch each other's booths. But, I didn't want to leave her with my booth for very long in case it got busy or something, so I never did walk around the show and shop. It was painful to be at a craft show and not get to shop! But, I made it home safe and sound and very sore from carrying all my heavy stuff to and from the van. My arms are still sore! I think I'm a wuss.

Sunday was Mother's Day (in case y'all didn't know that...) and it was a good day. I had to go to church earlier than the rest of the family for nursery duty, but they came for E&E (Sunday School--Encouraging & Equipping) and second service, so I got to sit with Slade during service. It was a crazy day in the nursery! At one point, the baby nursery had 7 babies and 7 of them were crying. Yeah, crazy! There were 3 of us in there and we would pick one up and get them to stop crying, then put them down to pick up the next one, and the first would start crying again. It was really kinda humorous and we just laughed over the noise. A few cheerios, a pacifier and a bottle or two later, and everyone was happy again. So, when the moms and dads came back, all was peaceful. Whew.

Sunday, after church, Russ was walking backward to the van and ran into a brick wall (yeah, not sure exactly how it happened, but it did) and got a good-sized cut and has had a headache on and off since then. I was afraid he might need stitches, but the bleeding stopped pretty quickly and it scabbed over after an hour or so. I didn't even realize it had happened because we were walking to the parking lot with friends, chatting, and he didn't cry out or anything. When we got to the car, he looked sad and I asked what happened and Randall said, "He's sad because he hit his head on the brick wall." He cried quietly on and off on the way home. Poor guy.

We decided to go to Little Caesar's to pick up pizza and come home and watch a movie. But, Little Caesar's is closed on Sundays, so Slade ran to Papa John's and I took the kids home.

After lunch and a movie, I joined 3 friends (one was also my sister again) in search of some place to get a pedicure. Rebecca had called ahead to the first place and they said they were open, but when we got there, they were closed. Their sign said, "Sorry we close". So, we drove around Longview to nail salon after nail salon until we finally found one that was open! Boy, Longview has a lot of nail salons! But, a lot of good it does us when they're closed. :-)

I had painted my toenails a week or so ago, so I almost didn't go, but I decided painting my toes and getting a *pedicure* are totally different! So, I went and I'm so glad I did. We had fun and my feet feel great. Sorry, no pictures. :-)

Last night, after the boys were in bed, Slade and I watched Stardust. Ever seen it? It was very interesting. "A fairy tale for adults" the writer of the novel the movie was based on said. Definitely not for kids. Just lots of weirdness. But, it had lots of unexpected and fun twists and turns and a unique story line. No bad language and no nudity. It was PG-13 and I think it got that because it was pretty dark throughout, there were ghosts, and scenes where the witches use the innards of dead animals to tell the future and stuff like that. Yeah, that was a little gross. I just turned away. All in all, I think I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

So, that brings us to today. I was going to divide this long post into a few shorter posts, but this way I can tell who is really my friend by who made it to the end of this! Today is cleaning and doing MOPS stuff I need to do to get ready for our "get to know you" meeting on Saturday. I also need to finish (as in start...) my BSF lesson. I guess it has been a busy week after all, if I can't even do my BSF. Grrr. But it's been a good week, too.

Holiday Shopping Extravaganza

For anyone in the area that might be interested:

Holiday Shopping Extravaganza
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
10 a.m. - 1 p.m. & 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Home of Kim Wallis
4041 Castle Ridge Dr.
Longview, TX 75605
903-291-1446

Directions:
Turn north on Heritage Blvd. off of Hawkins Pkwy.,
turn right into Castle Ridge,
go through both gates, around lake,
2nd house on left, only red brick home.

Featuring:
Candles, Crosses, Food Products, Home Decor,
Jewelry, Memory Making Items, Skin Care Products,
Stationary, Cups, & More...

Remember to bring your Christmas list and a friend!

That is where I'll be for a lot of tomorrow. Come say hi!

Thanksgiving Ramblings

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! <--just had to throw that in

We had a fun, relaxing day yesterday at my parents'. Lots of good food and lots of fun. Christy's husband made the turkey and it was delicious! Christy made stuffing and a sweet potato/apple baked dish. I made rolls (one batch I burned--grrr!) and real mashed potatoes. Kylene brought corn and broccoli fresh from her garden (also known as the grocery store) :-) and my mom made pumpkin pies (with her famous homemade crust--MMMmmm!). Everything was very yummy and the kids ate on a sheet in the livingroom while the adults enjoyed chatting at the table.

For most of the day, the kids enjoyed playing together and we all enjoyed sitting around and doing nothing of any importance (aside from eating, which is quite important).

My mom told me about 66Stage where you can download and watch TV shows and movies for free and I had a blast watching Whose Line Is It, Anyway? with her and Christy. Kylene's husband was home sick, so she and Ally left early.

I had never seen (or even heard of) Whose Line Is It, Anyway? and I laughed and laughed. I love that kind of spontaneous humor. My favorite of the comedians is Ryan. He's the one in the green shirt in this clip.



Ryan reminds me of my friend, Byron, and maybe that makes me enjoy his humor even more. My mom and I both agreed that Ryan looked like Byron and even had similar mannerisms and such. Byron, if you're reading this, you have a twin! Byron is an artist and does fun caricatures. I was once a skunk. But, I digress...

So, anyway, when we weren't laughing and crying in the computer room, we enjoyed sitting around talking and telling the kids to stop _______ (fill in blank with any of the following: arguing, pushing, whining, asking for a cookie, throwing toys, etc). :-) A good time was had by all! :-)

I left my pimiento cheese at my parents' and I've been craving it all day. I might have to drop by their house and pick the leftovers up so I can have it for dinner...

The kids have been cranky this morning so both got naps. I asked them if they wanted to take naps (it was a threat because I was frustrated with the arguing and bad attitudes) and Randall said, "Yes, I do. But you don't have to put me down for my nap, I'll put myself down." Silly guy. Russ just had to have quiet time on his bed, but he fell asleep, too. Slade and I enjoyed the quiet and both boys slept for almost 3 hours! They are in much better moods now!

Well, I'm off to scrap some more. I have completed all but 3 of my orders, but one of them is the order for 8 tins and another is for 4. After I finish my Christmas Corner orders, I have a huge etsy order to do. A lady who has bought from me two different times wants 14 paper bag albums! Whew! I'm very excited! And, a little overwhelmed. She has been so encouraging and sweet about the paper bag albums and I'm looking forward to making them for her. I'm staying busy, that's for sure! But I'm really enjoying it.

Alive and kicking...

Well, I survived the Christmas Corner. And, I reached my goal! I even passed it a little. It was a great weekend! Everyone was very excited and positive about my items and I got a lot of comments that my stuff was the most unique and fun at the show. I also had people come to my booth saying, "We've been hearing all over the show about your refrigerator albums and we want to see them!" How cool is that?! I made sure to give my mom the credit for the refrigerator scrapbooks all weekend and she got to say "I told you so". (When she suggested turning the accordion albums into refrigerator albums, I was skeptical. I didn't know if people would like them or not. But, she was r...ri...right. There, I got it out. *grin*)

All in all, it was a great weekend and now that it's over, I think I'll do it again next year. When I was in the middle of the weekend and I was tired and homesick :-) I didn't know if I would want to do it next year, but now that I've survived, I'm thinking I will.

I've been working on custom orders the last few days and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I had 9 orders, some just to add a name/phrase to a tin and some for specific colors or color schemes on tins. I had one lady who wanted 8 tins, one who wanted 6, one who wanted 4 and one who wanted 2. Nice even numbers. :-) I have completed the order of 6 because she wanted it before Thanksgiving. The other big orders I will be starting today.

I thought that after the Christmas Corner show, I was done with craft shows for a few months, and I was a little bummed, but a friend of mine invited me to join a group of crafters who do a craft show at the house of one of the ladies. She said that this is their 5th year and it's always well-attended. It's on a Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving), which means I have BSF, and it's from 10-1 and then from 4-7. She said someone could run my table for me if I wasn't able to do it in the morning, but I feel funny about having someone I don't know do my work. I've thought of a few friends who might do it, but everyone has kiddos and that would make it stressful for them. So, I think I'll just do it in the afternoon. I'll have time to pick Russ up from school and take him to my mom's. Then Slade can pick the boys up after work.

Then, while at the Christmas Corner, I (and probably all the other vendors, too) got invited to the Junior League Christmas Shopping Bizarre. I think I'll just take my paper bag albums for both shows and not stress about making more tins. As I make my custom order tins, I am making extras, but I don't want to have to make a certain amount in order to have a big stash. So, I think I'll go with the paper bag albums I already have made. That show is the first Tuesday in December.

So, I'm not retiring yet. After these shows, I don't think I have anything until March or April, if even then, I can't remember. It'll be nice to have a bit of a break.

In other news...

Russ is off school for the rest of the week and is very excited. Tonight he and his cousin, Josh, are having a sleepover at Grammy's. Talk about some excited boys. Randall said he wanted to have a sleepover, but I know him and he's not ready. We'll give it a little time still...

Today, I'll be making rolls to take to my parents' for Thanksgiving. I also want to make some snack-y foods. I'm making my favorite pimiento cheese dip, peanut butter fudge and I think a small tray with carrots and celery sticks. I think my favorite part of family get-togethers is the snacking. Well, okay, that's not my very favorite part, but it is high on the list. *grin*

My family is very non-traditional and Thanksgiving meals are rarely the traditional fare. We've had Mexican-themed Thanksgivings, Italian-themed and such. This year my mom suggested something simple like sub sandwiches and Christy's husband, Kyle, vetoed that. I love the traditional meal, but I don't ever want to try to do the turkey, so I don't mind going along with non-traditional. But, Kyle offered to cook the turkey, so everyone else is bringing sides. I have a feeling I'll end up as stuffed as the turkey by the end of the day...

The boys are behind me on the floor coloring, cutting and having a blast. Russ is excited to be in his jammies still. He asked if he could stay in them all day. :-) We're going to have a quiet morning at home and then Russ has piano lessons this afternoon before he goes to Grammy's. Today's our last day of beautiful weather before a cold front comes through this evening. I wish we could have a few more nice days because Friday, we'll be doing some yard work. I guess it'll really feel like fall.

We have a beautiful, big oak tree in the front yard that is absolutely gorgeous for about a week every fall. After that week, all the beautiful leaves blanket our front yard, our neighbors' yards and the street and they lose some of their beauty. Then we have to rake them up and they lose their beauty completely as we fill about 90 huge trash bags. That's from raking the front and the back. Last year, and maybe even the year before, we hired someone to do the raking for us. If we didn't have kiddos, Slade and I could do it all, but the kids get bored after a few hours outside and then one of us is inside and the other is left raking bag after bag. So, we might try to find someone again this year, too.

Okay, I'd better go get ready for the day. Blog ya later!

All Scrapped Out...

Whew! And, again, I say, Whew!

This is Day 3 of my four day Christmas Corner arts/crafts fair and I am all scrapped out. I have repeated my sales pitch a billion and one times and I have smiled until my cheeks hurt. My legs are tired and my eyes are bloodshot. (I think the bloodshot eyes have nothing to do with the craft show and more to do with a cold I've been fighting for over a week...)

I am tired.

Thursday night was the Preview Gala (and I use the word "Gala" loosely). It was very poorly attended and many of the vendors sold nothing. I was pleased to make $100 that night, but it was still a little boring.

Yesterday (Friday) was all day from 10-6. I took quite a few special orders and thought about starting them last night, but decided not to. I was feeling a little burned out.

Today the show was from 9-5 and as soon as I got home, we headed to small group (where we enjoyed homemade chili and smores over an outdoor fire). I could've fallen asleep during our study, I was so tired.

Now, it's about 9:30 and I should be sleeping! We'll be heading to early service tomorrow and as soon as I finish in the nursery, it's off to the arts/crafts show again. Sunday is from 10-4, but I can't be there until around 11:30. My booth partner said she could watch my table, but I know she might end up too busy. I hope no one takes anything and that if they're really interested, they'll take a card and call. But, at this point, I just don't care. :-)

It's been a very successful weekend and I am $200 short of making my weekend goal. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll hit my goal. It's been a fun experience and I think I'll probably do it again next year. But, I'm thankful right now that it only comes once a year...

Good night.

M.I.A.

Well, I've been M.I.A. (or should I say M.issing I.n B.logger-sphere A.ction) this week. I've been scrapping my heart out to get ready for the Christmas Corner at Maude Cobb this weekend. This is a huge craft-type show (not everything is handmade, but a lot of it is) and it should be a big affair.

This time last year, I was scrapping my heart out to have 9 paper bag albums ready to join my neighbor, Allison, at her booth at Christmas Corner. She was the one that encouraged me to make extras so we could try to sell them. That was the start of something beautiful...

I will be setting up at Maude Cobb tomorrow and then Thursday night the show opens to invitated guests of the Symphony, I believe. Then all day Friday, all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday. Whew! It will be a long weekend, but, hopefully, a very fruitful one! I plan to do some shopping myself, so that will be fun, too! :-)

Hamsters, hamster everywhere!

An update on our hamsters. They are getting so big! They're about half the size of Mama Hamster and about 1/3 the size of Daddy Hamster, who has done nothing but sit around and eat since being moved to his own cage and has gotten quite chubby. :-)

Mama is trying to wean them, but one big, fat Baby follows her everywhere and won't leave her alone. It's humorous. :-) If you are still interested in one or two, let me know! We are planning to keep Mama Hamster and one girl Baby. So, there are 4 other babies and the Daddy Hamster. The hamsters don't come with any of their stuff (cage, food, etc), so you'll want to get that first and bring it here to pick up the hamster. If you're interested, let me know!

The other day, Russ, Randall and I were playing with their wooden train track and we had the great idea to put blocks inside the track to create a "cage" for the babies and Pepper to run around in. The babies loved it! They scurried and scampered all over, leaving tiny little pellets all over the carpet. :-) We got some fun pictures. Pepper, however, was crazy-fast and would climb over the blocks and scurry under the bed or behind something before we could catch her. That happened twice. The first time, I tried to move stuff and get her, but then we decided to just close the bedroom door and let her come out. She did eventually and we put her back in her cage!

We've had lots of fun with them and it has been a neat experience, but we just can't take care of all of them. They each need individual attention and handling and we just don't have the time to love on them all. None of them have names and I'm not even sure which are girls and which are boys, but I'll take them to the pet store and find that out... soon... :-)

Well, the house needs some TLC and the corner of my livingroom where I am scrapbooking is calling out to me, so I guess I'll sign off. Ask me which of those two things I will be giving my attention to... :-)

Blog ya later!

Whew!

And double whew!

What a weekend!

I had another craft show this weekend, this time in Gladewater. Gladewater is a relatively small town, so I didn't know what to expect, but I went with my neighbor, Ally, and she said it's a great show to sell at. She was right. This was her last craft show since she is getting out of her beading business. I actually got to just share her booth because she didn't have enough to fill the whole area.

We left yesterday morning around 7:15 so we could set up and be ready early. The show actually started at 10, but Allison said that it would be good to be early. I wasn't sure I liked her thinking, but she was right. We were set up by about 8:30 and there was a small crowd by 9. So, I'm glad we went early.

We stayed until about 5:30 Saturday evening. We were supposed to stay until 6, but a lot of the other vendors were closing for the evening, so it's pointless to stay open.

When I got home, I had to take a shower first thing! I was dusty! Since we were outdoors and were set up on a grassy/sandy field, I was covered in dust. It could have been worse (Allison said it was last year), but it was pretty dirty.

Then, this morning, we went to early service and Slade and the boys stayed for Sunday School. I came home to get ready to head out again. We got to Gladewater around 11 and it was raining, so we decided to stop for lunch. When we finished eating, it was no longer raining, and we set up again. We had left everything there overnight, tucked inside the canopy. I wasn't sure about leaving everything, but everyone else seemed okay, so I went ahead and left my stuff, too.

There was a pretty small crowd today, but it was still worth it to be there. We were supposed to be set up from noon until 5, but by 4, other vendors were closing up and there were storm clouds coming in. We decided to pack up around 4:20 and by 4:35 or so, we were getting rained on! Luckily, by then, we had all of our stuff already packed into plastic boxes, so the only things that got wet were the tables, the canopy and, of course, us! We were wet and dirty and hot and sweaty! Whew!

When I got home, I jumped into the shower again and had a little time before we went to pick Russ up from AWANA to pick up and such. We took separate cars again to the church (like we did this morning) so that Slade could say "hi" to Russ and good-night to both before he headed to my parents' to watch the Cowboys play.

Now the boys are both in bed and I am exhausted. I think I could fall asleep if I slowed down long enough. But, I don't want to go to bed this early! And, I'm in a scrapbooking mood! Between this show and last weekend's show, I sold a lot of my "stock", so I need to get scrapping again! I'm glad it went so well. I have one more craft show for the year and then I'll probably be taking a break for a few months, maybe even doing nothing until the Fall again. I don't know, that might just be my tired body talking. I do enjoy it while I'm there.

I also enjoy shopping at the craft fairs! I bought some fun fall decorations yesterday and today. I found a big wooden pumpkin to hang on the door (or somewhere, Slade doesn't like things hanging on the door because they bang around). It's about 12 inches tall and it's super cute! I also got two pretty stained glass leaves that I can hang on a window. One has two acorns on it and it is so pretty! Maybe I'll post pictures someday...

Well, now I'm off to... do something... either scrapbook or read... or sleep. Sleep is sounding kinda nice right now...

Good night!

Pittsburg Craft Show

Well, a day or two before the craft show, I sent out an S.O.S. e-mail to see if anyone would be interested in coming and helping me at the craft show. I started thinking about setting up the canopy and my tables and such by myself and got a little panicked. My friend, Christy, called and said she'd like to come and help out. I was so relieved (and excited because I would have fun company all day, too). And, she said she'd like to come even though she would have to be at my house at 6:15 in the morning on a Saturday! Actually, after I e-mailed the same people to say that Christy was coming, a few people e-mailed back that they would have been interested, too. What sweet friends God has blessed me with!

So, at 6:15, the van was loaded and Christy and I headed to good ole Pittsburg, Texas, to the ChickFest. Now, ChickFest doesn't mean that a lot of talented and crafty chicks got together to sell their goods; it means Chick, like Chicken. Pittsburg, Texas is where Bo Pilgrim hangs his hat and his giant head statue. We even got to wave at Mr. Pilgrim during the parade that came right down the street where the vendors were set up. Kinda neat to not have to miss the parade.

The hardest part of set up was the canopy. A lady from the booth next to us (she was helping out a friend who sold knock-off purses) came over to lend a hand and to chat. She was friendly. The other lady, the actual seller, was quite interesting. She had a chip on her shoulder a mile wide and was quite predjudiced, too. Like I said, she was interesting. At one point, she was convinced she was having a heart attack and gave orders right and left to everyone within earshot. Within 10 minutes, she was up and lifting heavy things and griping again, so I guess it wasn't too scary.

Well, we started setting up a little after 7 and by about 7:45, we were finished. The weather was beautiful (although a little chilly for the first few hours).

People didn't really start milling around until around 9 or 9:30, so we had a lot of time to sit and chat.

The show was a little slower than I anticipated, but in the end, it was still worth my time. And, the weather was perfect, so I can't complain on that end. I did have one lady come by and ooh and aah and go looking for her daughter to come back with her. Then she and her daughter both oohed and aahed and said they'd be back with another daughter. I think they even found grandma to bring back, too. They came about 4 times throughout the day and that's always fun. We laughed each time she came back and she just grinned and found more things she liked. A group of college-age girls came by a few times, too, and we had fun chatting with them.

I was pleased with pretty much all the responses to the things I had for sale. I only had one person gripe about prices and it was that she didn't want to pay $4 for a pocket mirror for her friend. All in all, not too bad.

One lady really liked my Sisters Word Book and asked how quickly I could make about 8 for her and a bunch of girlfriends from her church. I almost laughed out loud and admitted that I'm pretty slow still and not the best of friends with my machine, at the moment. She laughed, too, and said she'd call me in the next few weeks. So, I ought to rescue my machine from time out in the guest room and start cutting again.

All in all, it was a fun day and a success in my book.

Dana came by and said hi with her beautiful and sweet family. She also had a camera... Here I am straightening up the tables. I'm glad people like to browse and when they leave, their browsing gives me something to do.


She also took pictures of my tables for me because I need to have some on hand (and, of course, I didn't bring my camera) for the craft fairs that like pictures when you apply for a booth. Unfortunately, when she came by, we had just had a rush of people and the tables are a little messy. Plus, we re-arranged just after the pictures were taken and moved one table to the other side of our booth. But, here's kinda what my booths look like:



I have another fair this weekend in Gladewater. It's a Saturday and Sunday affair. I didn't realize that when I signed up, but I don't skip church very often, I promise. I will be going with Allison, who actually paid for the booth, back before she decided to sell her beading business. Then when she called to cancel her booth, she had missed the deadline for cancellations by one day so she asked if I'd like to join her. She has a few premade jewelry items she can try to sell and said I can have the rest of her booth. Yay! So, we'll both be there and I know it'll be fun, even if it is a little long...

I'll be sure to bring my camera this time!

ChickFest

Anyone free this Saturday and want to come to Pittsburg for ChickFest? I'll be gone all day and would love to have company! I leave pretty early in the morning and have to set up my booth all by myself because Slade will be taking his mom to the airport in Dallas that day.

It looks like it should be fun with lots of things going on and this year the music will be Christian. That should be enjoyable.

So, if anyone has either the whole day or a few hours you can spare and you'd like to come sit under a canopy in the hot sun with me, let me know! I'll even buy you lunch (and breakfast and dinner, if you stay that long). I'm not above bribing... :-)

Craft Fairs

I signed up for a craft fair in November at Maude Cobb. It's the Christmas show and it was the first craft fair I did last year when I first decided to make a business of my scrapbooking stuff (thanks to my friend Allison's encouragement).

Since Allison invited me to share her handmade jewelry booth last year, I didn't have to pay for a booth. Since I didn't have to pay for a booth, I didn't know how expensive they were. This year, Allison isn't selling her handmade jewelry and so I'm on my own and a booth is *gasp* $250. Eeks! But, I asked if there was anyone who might be interested in sharing a booth and they said they did have someone who would like to share to split the price. So, I'll have half a booth, which means only one table (bummer) and half the price, which means I won't fall over dead when I write my check (whoo hoo).

I wouldn't usually do such an expensive show, but everyone I've talked to that has been a vendor there has said it is so worth the price. So, we'll see. If it isn't "so worth the price", then I just won't do it next year.

I also have two craft fairs in September. One is in Pittsburg and is just all day on a Saturday and the other is in Gladewater the next weekend and I believe it's Saturday and Sunday. Both are supposed to be great shows and I'll be paying $50 for each. If I have to pay a little more in a really good show, it's worth it to me verses paying a little tiny fee and then having little tiny business.

So, we'll see how these go. I haven't done a craft show since the one in Paris (Texas, that is) back near the beginning of the year. Even with my hotel stay and booth fee, it was still definitely worth my time. I hope these are, too.

So, I'll be busy scrapbooking and adding to my crafty stock. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it...