Oh My Gosh!!!

I cannot believe it has been such a long time since I posted.  Goodness, where does the time go.

Well, I have to say, 2012 has certainly a massive improvement over last year and now everyone is back on track and healthy and my husband and I are very thankful for those blessings for our family.  I'm home, in the USA and loving it.

In July I went to convention and loved it.  I so want to go next year as it is the 25th Anniversary of Stampin' Up and I'm sure it will be bursting at the seams with demonstrator's helping to celebrate!

By the way, don't you just love the new sizzlets?  So many choices, so little time.  

At the moment I'm waiting on a delivery from my favorite UPS guy.  (Fingers tapping, looking out the window, pacing).  It should arrive today-please-please-please.  I have actually cleaned off my working space in preparation for new activity--Halloween.  I have in my mind a Halloween treat for my "Grands" so I need to get started on that and in the mail obviously so they receive it before trick or treating is past.  lol

Next on my list is of course Thanksgiving cards and then my favorite of all holidays:  Christmas!  Those cards also must be finished before I head back to China.  Oh yes, didn't I mention;  just one more trip to spend time with my hubby who says he will be retiring next year.  Of course, none of the family believes him about retiring.  The guy wouldn't know what to do if he stopped working.  Did I suggest my hubby is a work-a-holic?  Imagine that!  At any rate it should be the last Christmas there and let me tell you, the Chinese have discovered Christmas SALES.  They sell everything for the holidays as many expats living there celebrate Christmas.  Our apartment complexes have about seven apartments that put Christmas decorations on display and as the Chinese holidays start fairly quickly in January or February depending on the Chinese calendar cycle, we combine the two.  It makes for a very festive look throughout the complexes for a period of a couple months.

This year in China is the year of the Dragon and in 2013 it will be the year of the Snake.  Our son was born in the year of the Dragon and those born in the year of the Dragon have lots of luck since the Dragon is said to be a deliverer of good fortune.  Not sure if he thinks he's lucky though.  He is once again serving in Afghanistan.  Keep him in your prayers please.  :)

Starting a New Year 2012

Hello and greetings to one and all,

WELL, lets hope that 2012 improves over 2011.  Geez!  I am so grateful that 2011 ended positive, I was beginning to wonder.  This past year I lived out of a suitcase and I can tell you, I don't want to do this in 2012 although I have learned to pack far less as time moved on in 2011.

Unfortunately, my creative endeavors have been put on hold till this Spring when I think, I will actually have time to do some card creating.  At least I'm thinking of ideas for Convention in Salt Lake.  While here in China, I miss my creative buddies as we always have so much fun together coming up with new designs and ideas.  Always trying to improve can be a daunting task at times but with challenging one another, it keeps the three of us hustling to do the best we can.  Then, we fall back and go to lunch.  :)

I have to say, once again I am so pleased with Stampin Up products.  Really, it is very difficult to not buy everything and use some self-restraint.  LOL   Me?  Using self-restraint?  Ha!  That new Spring book has so many great products.  I love the folded ribbon but could use some more colors.  Not every card I make do I want to look like it is a summer card.  And why can't we carry over the stamps and punches for the bitty Christmas stocking.  It is so new and now it is so not being moved into the IB&C  catalog.  Bummer!

Well, I am in China after only being in the States from November to January and all but two weeks of that time was spent with relatives in the ICU unit of the hospital.  Boy, worrying can sure turn hair more grey in a hurry for sure.  Things are more positive now so I should begin working on design ideas for SU. 

Obviously I accomplished nothing the last quarter of 2011 and have lots of product from the holiday catalog that will gather cobwebs but I definitely need to get going on ideas and product for Spring and July.

Wonder what this years theme is going to be at Convention?

Today, I baked for my husband cookies he didn't get for the holidays and now I just have to stop eating them before they are all gone before he gets any. 

Love the new metal templates for the Sizzix and have seen some interesting uses on the Stampin Connection site.  Looks like a winning product for SU as there are so many uses for those designs in my opinion.

So, that is it for now from me, as I need to now figure out what I'm going to design in my mind as (did I tell you) the new products I brought with me to China aren't here!  Bummer again.  No, they didn't disappear from my suitcase, dummy here forgot to put them in as planned with all the things my husband and I are dealing with. 

Well, this isn't a good start for 2012 is it?  Hopefully your year is starting off better.  My next blog should be all positive.  :)