The Chatter Box 4/07-6/07

I'm getting ready to leave for the Springfield, IL show.  I wanted to show you this cool workshop that Alex of Stempelgarten in Switzerland is doing at her store.  It's a card with a little slot on the front which includes a bookmark.  A great card to give to a friend with a little gift included!

I just got some sample cards in the mail from Susan and I just had to show you this one.  The background paper has a tie dyed look to it and the Butterfly Block is simply embossed with white embossing powder...beautiful!

It's over 100 degrees here and all the cats are knocked out.  This has got to be the strangest position I've ever seen any of them sleep in.  Trevor has his back legs propped up against the wall.  Oh to be a kitty!

The new images are up!

I have a feeling that quite a few people are checking in to see when the new images will go up.  I had planned on Monday but I'm still trying to play catch up from being away at the stamp show in MA.  So now I'm looking at the end of the week.  Don't  worry, you'll get an email as soon as they're up as long as you're a Beeswax member!

I'm home from the MA show.  Three hours of sleep though but today is our wedding anniversary and I haven't been home for that is years!  Our anniversary always falls when I'm away so now that I'm home I guess we have to actually celebrate it!  But take a look at what Wally is doing...he's over at the neighbor's.  They asked him to cut the tall grass down but instead he's playing in the "blackberry caves".  That particular "cave" is now leveled.  

I'm pretty much all packed up for my trip to MA for the rubber stamp show in West Springfield.  I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Here's a new picture of my studio.  Wally's done a lot lately.  The electrical is in, the insulation is up and now he's putting in the sheetrock.  

These two really love each other.  There's nothing like having litter mates.  If you get a kitten this year make sure to also get one of the brothers or sisters.

The other day a turkey was visiting our yard.  Sissy and Charlie were just fascinated with it and kept stalking the poor thing.  Don't worry, Wally was right there guarding the turkey from the cats.  

Today we had the biggest king snake I've ever seen in our yard.  He had to be at least 4 feet long, maybe even longer.  I couldn't even get all of him in one picture.  We were following him around to get his picture and he wasn't very happy about it.  He kept shaking his tail like a rattle snake...too funny! 

I saved this little guy yesterday from one of the cats.  It's a skink lizard.  I just love the blue tail...which part of it is missing, thanks to Charlie.  Plus he's a little chewed up on his body but I'm hoping he'll be ok. 

I finished the new images and emailed the plates to the engraver so I should have them back sometime next week.  This is my absolute favorite of the new images.  I hope you like her too!

We were out watching the bats the other night.  I just think they are really cool.  I love watching them flying around at dusk catching bugs.  It reminded me that a customer at the Virginia Beach show asked me to make bat wings...here ya go!  This will be one of our new images.

Wally has finished digging the trench for my studio's electrical.  Remember my studio?  Yeah, I think Wally forgot about it too...hehehe.  Now I'll get in trouble for that comment.  Anyway, it looks like I'm stuck in the garage for another summer but I can handle it...maybe.  

We stopped at one of the local towns and saw their annual duck race.  You can buy a plastic duck for $5 and they have heats all day long in the creek.  The first 500 ducks through the finish line in each heat get entered in the final race.  Grand prize is $10,000.

I'm home and catching up with mail orders which will take a couple of days.  I wanted to post this picture that I took the night before I left for Allentown.  This is the Preston Castle in Ione.  It was a boys juvenile rehabilitation center from 1894 to 1960.  After it closed it just remained vacant and fell into disrepair.  Now they are trying to restore the castle but there sure is a lot of work to do on it.  We just went to a dinner in the visitor's center so I only got to see the outside.  They do give tours of the interior so we will be going sometime this spring.  Old buildings fascinate me.  It's just sad when they get so far gone like this.  

I leave Thursday morning for the Allentown, PA show and I'm pretty much ready.  I've had a little time to work on some new images.  I really shouldn't tease you since they won't be released until at least June....but I had to show you this girl.  Isn't she the coolest?

Wally wanted me to take a picture of him changing the hummingbird feeder.  I guess he usually gets 9 or 10 of them trying to land on it while he's doing it.  Instead he had one and I had about 8 dive bombing me while I was trying to take a picture. 

Well I can't keep my mouth shut any longer.  I have created a rubber stamp forum for all stampers to come together and learn new techniques, share ideas and make new friends.  It isn't officially open yet so I haven't made a big announcement to anyone.  I just emailed a small Yahoo group and asked them to go test it out and see if they could break it.  I think that they are a little intimidated by it so I'll probably just open it up in a few days.  If you're reading this you can go on over and register,  post and upload artwork!

Rubberstampchat.net

Any company owners reading this, please email me as I need to set you up myself after you register.