Holiday Sale!

Stampin' Up! never ceases to amaze me ... you'll find great deals on Big Shot dies and select Big Shot supplies from December 11-22nd! You can click on the "shop now" button in the upper right corner of my website to find great deals today. You can also click on my email addy at the top of this blog to send me your order.
Happy Holidays!!

Get off the computer!

OK ... so, I just got caught up on all my blog reading, and I've decided to pass on the emails for now. I think that's what keeps me on this stupid computer so long every day ... reading all the posts from all my Yahoo groups. I've got to start stickin' to the important stuff! So, I'm getting off the computer, and going to create. I'll be posting pictures tomorrow morning! You heard it here. lol

New Class in Mrs. Rodgers' Neighborhood

I decided to add a new class to my repetoire of classes each month.

I've been trying to organize all my supplies while we're getting the basement waterproofed and set up for the new classroom. A huge part of my stash, are boxes & boxes of treasures I've been purchasing over the years containing items I thought would be fun to make projects with.

Well, it's time to do something with all this stuff. I'm going to have a monthly class called "Project Order", and the first one is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 8th. We're going to use these treasures to create projects (anything but a card or scrapbook page) and the price for this class will be $20. The number of projects depends on the cost of the items and how involved the project is ... it could be 3 smaller projects, or 2 bigger ones, or maybe 1 grand project. In any event, the projects will be a surprise.

Now, here's the 'order' part ... this class will be FREE if you place a $30 order that night! So, for only $10 more, you'll be making a great project(s), AND getting $30 worth of supplies!

Please post a comment below and let me know your thoughts about a class like this. I love making projects, and I don't know why, but I've kind of strayed from this for a while. I think my Tim Holtz cruises are re-inspiring me.

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas

As many of you know, I'm a BIG Ranger fan ... and I don't mean the hockey team! If I could work for Ranger Ink, I'd have serious conflicts about which company to represent because I love them both so much!

Not only do I love the products, but the designers are my favorites, and the man, well, you know my 2nd love to my dear Rick is ... Mr. Tim Holtz! Anyway, this is his 3rd year making his 12 Tags of Christmas on his blog, and I wanted to share them with you. Every year I drool over them, and this year I'm actually going for the challenge!

Today is Day 6, and I'm waaaay behind, but I'm going to get started, and hopefully, get at least the first 3 days of tags done. My camera is lost, and I've been feeling helpless without it, but my wonderful hubby bought me a new, bigger & badder one last night as an early Christmas gift! Whoo Hoo Rick! He spoils me soooo much!

So, I'm going to start posting my tags here, both Tim's and mine, and I'm also posting the link to Tim's Blog, so you can see what an awesome instructor he is, and a huge inspiration to me.

I'm off to get inky!

Getting ready for the New Year

I've been thinking today about the New Year and how I could make my small business a little bit bigger next year.

As most of you know, we're in the beginning stages of creating my classroom. I've emptied out the basement of all my supplies, and next week they're coming to start the waterproofing work. The next phase would be Rick doing all the electrical work: adding lighting, outlets, etc. After that, a carpenter will come in and put up drywall, a new floor & ceiling. Then, it's my turn ... I get to design how I want my classroom laid out with cabinets, shelving & tables ... and then, I finally move in down there! Ooooh! I just got goosebumps! My supplies haven't really been organized in over 6 years!

In the meantime, all my supplies for my SU business have been semi-organized all around my family room so I can access everything I need. I also have all my Ranger supplies close at hand cause I really love getting grungy too. And, my tools ... love my tools ... die cutting machines & dies, punches, paper cutters, brad makers, eyelet setters, box makers, book makers, and more! Oops, just had to wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth. lol

Anyway, my sunporch is also packed to the brim with stuff ... loads & loads of STUFF ... boxes & boxes of past projects & samples, old stamp sets, scrapbook supplies, boxes & boxes of books (love my craft books!), and tons of items I've been collecting over the years for possible class projects. Which brings me back to the beginning of this post ... what can I do to make my business grow? I need to get more orders, so I need to get more workshops booked, or get more customers, or ...

A new monthly class! It's called "PROJECT ORDER" class, and we're going to make dimensional projects (anything that's NOT a card or scrapbook page)! It could be 3 little projects, or maybe 2 projects, or even one intense project, who knows! It could be using Stampin' Up!, or Distress Inks, polymer clay, or even Suze Weinberg's melting pot. I'll be cleaning out all the items I've been collecting and creating projects for the monthly class. I'm going to charge $20, and each month your supply list might change a little ... you might need Sticky Strip instead of SNAIL Adhesive, or you might need to bring some photos ... we'll just have to wait & see.

But, here's the best part (and where the 'order' comes in) ... the class will be FREE each month if you place a $30 order! So, for just $10 more, you'll still make great projects, but you'll also be receiving $30 worth of goodies! Why didn't I think of this sooner?!

So, I've set a tentative date of Friday, January 8th at 7:30pm for the first Project Order class (I just have to check the date with my very special friend & customer, Miss Denise). I hope everyone's as excited as I am about all the possibilities this class will bring!

Now, I gotta get back to work on the projects I've been making to sell at my Vendor Fair on Friday night, Dec. 18th at Westwood High School. I've misplaced my camera (I'm DYING without it!), so I can't post photos of my finished items so far. You'll just have to come see me at the fair!