We made it!

We arrived, safely, in NY at about 5:30 PM last night. It was a long 12 1/2 hour drive. I am still trying to recover. I dropped all my stamping stuff at my friend's house last night. I do all my stamping at here house when I am there. She and I will leave in the morning for the CK convention in Buffalo. We decided to stay in a hotel for two nights so that we didn't have to drive back and forth for each day. I'll tell you all about it when I get back on Sunday.

3 More Days until Vacation!

My to do list is slowing getting done. Yesterday , I went to the post office to stop mail, the vets for Flea and Tick meds for Chessie, the bank for money, and then out to lunch with my Red Hat Friends. Today I finished the Art Schedule and Supply list for summer sunday school, and a mock up of a passport for the "Journey With Jesus", that the kids will take this summer in Sunday School. It came out quite cute. I used The big fish from S"U Fishy Friends, between the words Passpot and Journey With Jesus. It will be easy to duplicate by K-3rd grade children. I had to get it done before I leave for vacation.
Still more to be done, but I am chipping away at the list.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

I am trying to plan for 5 weeks away from home. I have to pack stamping stuff... a girl's gotta stamp, right? I have take stamps for teaching a class while I'm away and for a bunch of all occasion stamps. I just can't take them all. For some reason DH needs to take his stuff too. I just think I need to have more room... I want to work on some of my Christmas gifts. I am making card holders and sets of all occasion cards for my family. I thought if I started now I could get them all done before summer is over. I went through all the card fronts I had from swaps, and most of them are made from retired sets. I can use them too, so I should have lots of cards done by the time I am back in NC. I am going to share the card fronts with my dear friend Patty, so we can both have a bunch of ready made cards.

I hate living out of a suitcase for a month, but that is what I am in store for beginning next week. We always go back to Rochester, NY to visit family this time of year. I usually get bored after a couple of weeks. This year I planned some special things for me to do. I am going to the Creative Keepsakes convention June 1st and 2nd with Patty, I am teaching a class in Booneville on June 9th. I am going to a card club group with some friends I use to stamp with when I lived in NY. We have a wedding to go to at the end of June. I am going to try and see Tracy Harp while I am there. You can find her blog on my side bar. She is a very talented stamper. Then there are all the family and friends that we want to see. I should be pretty busy this trip. Whew! I 'm already tired and I haven't even left yet.
Time to get back to packing ...

FYI not only has postage gone up this week, but there are new regulations about envelope size. You have to keep the thickness of your envelope, 1/4 inch or less, otherwise it will cost you an addtional $. 80. WOW!
I just read a tip on SCS. If you have a Fiskars paper cutter, the guide that holds the blade is 1/4 inch, if yor envelope fits through that slot, you will be OK for the $ .41. I thought that was good to know and wanted to share it with all of you.

Need some ideas for your scrapbooking?

Here is a site with some great ideas. Chris is also offering a chance for blog candy if you leave a comment. Please mention my name if you do; as I will get a chance too. Thanks!
http://sketchmeifyoucan.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

May Technique

My May Newsletter : "Scrapping and Stamping with Gail" has gone out and as promised I am posting the May technique on here my blogsite.
Stamping on Candles
Stamping on candles is a wonderful way to add something special to your decorations for that special event: whether it is a birthday, a shower, graduation or a wedding.
1. Stamp your image on white tissue paper. ( you may color the image if you wish)
2. Cut out the stamped image fairly close to the edge.
3. Place the image you cut out onto the candle. You can wet the edge slightly to keep it in place.
4. Pre-heat your embossing gun for 30 seconds and wave it over the stamped image. You will see that the image melts into the wax. Add a ribbon and you are all done!

SU's retirement list........

I just printed off the retirement list. I am sitting down with a cup of coffee and my red pen to mark my IB&C. It is such a ling list I am expecting to lose a lot of stamps. It makes being a hobby demo very hard. I'll check back later with the number. If you are reading this, how about posting a comment here about the number you have lost.
ETA 36 set and 7 wheels..wow