Talk about negligent!

I can't believe it has been as long as it has since I last posted - and so much water under the bridge! Because of Stampin' Up's new policy regarding giving credit to other companies for using their stamps, I have quit Stampin' Up, altho I love, love, love their products. I understand why the decision was made, but I think it was the wrong one. If the shoe was on the other foot, i.e., other companies not wanting Stampin' Up to receive credit when one of their stamps was used, I think they would realize that it was the wrong decision. That being said, on to better things!

I have been very busy with OPALS embossing enamels and not only have I made quite a few pieces - and sold several - but I have had both a workshop and a make-n-take at a local craft show. Both were unqualified successes. At the craft show, things were very slow until a couple of children asked their mom to let them do it. Before long, they were standing two and three deep to do a make-n-take! For a small community, doing 27 of them in about 5 hours was quite remarkable in my estimation! There were some slow times, but for the most part, my helper and I were quite busy. I have another workshop scheduled for my home on the 6th, then will be doing a make-n-take as part of a Haiti relief effort, so I'm hoping we have a really great response and make quite a bit of money!

Although I haven't gotten to play in my rubber room much, I did get my Christmas cards out - thanks in part to taking part of them with us to work on while we were in Florida the first full week of December. In fact, we left the day after the craft show, so it got a little hairy, trying to get everything done that had to be done. I've also participated in a couple of one-on-one swaps for Technique Junkies, plus a sympathy card or two.

One of the biggest changes in our lives has been this little guy - Jean Pierre Puddles I. I introduced him the end of October by e-mail, but have to include him here. For such a tiny guy - about 6" long and 6-7" high, he was sure an intrepid little soul. Someone had thrown him into a ditch beside one of the busier streets in town and I still think it was God's will that we drove down that street, rather than taking the highway. He had managed to get out of the ditch and was sitting on the yellow line. He was so cold and wet it took me 45 minutes to get him dried out and warmed up enough to quit crying and shivering. How anyone could try to drown this little guy is beyond me.

He and our Pomeranian, Half-Pint, have wrestled and tusseled from the very beginning. Now that he is just about the same size as Half-Pint - minus the hair - it really gets wild. Roy calls them the "teenagers"! He really is a goofy little guy and altho we have gotten his face trimmed some since this picture it very much shows his goofy personality! The red thing behind him is a collapsible kennel and not only is it his bed, it is a toy as he just wools it half to death. It has a permanent list to the right because he's collapsed the one side so often!


Our trip to Florida was great - we met my daughter-in-law, her son and the daughter of a friend of hers and spent a week with them. We, of course, "did" Disney, Epcot Center, Sea World, and attended both the Medieval Times and Arabian Nights dinner shows. They were quite something - particularly the josting and horseback games at the Medieval Times show.