Refer a Friend

Do you love our store? We hope you do! Now you can share your excitement with a friend and get a gift. Beginning January 1, pick up your "Referral Cards" at the store the next time you are in. Write your name on the back of each one and start passing them out to people who haven't had a chance to visit us. When they bring the card in to the store and make a purchase, they'll get a free gift an you'll get $5 of Craft Currency! There's no limit to how much you can earn, the only condition is that the friend must be a first time visitor (based on our computer records). So pick up your cards and start spreading the word!

I HATE being without a car!

It is amazing how dependent I am upon having a car at my disposal.
My car decided to go on vacation Saturday night when I got home from work. My son asked to borrow the car so when I came home I shut the car off, pulled the key out of the ignition, walked in the house and handed him the key. He went out and came back in a few minutes later and said he couldn't get the key in the ignition. I laughed at him and told him he just needed to turn the steering wheel - you know that anti-theft thing. No, that wasn't the problem. The key wouldn't go into the ignition. It went about 3/4 of the way in then stopped dead, like something was stuck in there.
Of course the dealer was closed on Sunday so I had to have it towed in on Monday (Christmas eve). Apparently something broke off in the ignition switch and it needs to be replaced. Here's where things get really bad...
I drive a VW Jetta. I love it. Or rather I did, until I found out that this particular part has to be ordered from Germany. Oh, and VW of Germany is CLOSED for the holidays until January 2nd! So my dealer can't get the part until 10 business days after that (check the calendar- that's Jan 16th at the earliest)!! Normally I would be able to use my husband's truck while my car is in the shop- I hate it. It's way too big and costs me a fortune to put gas in it, but it's a vehicle. But not this time. He and the boys had planned a snowmobile trip to New Hampshire this weekend and they need the truck to tow the sleds.
My neighbor is going sledding with them so he told me I could use his car over the weekend but I need to go grocery shopping and the truck is already hooked to the trailer and my neighbor is at work so I have no vehicle. ARGH!!!!

Update: Yay! The dealer called and they have a loner car for me. Thank Goodness. I was afraid I'd be stuck home forever.

Is he not the best?

Tim Holtz, I mean. I'm trying really hard not to look like a total "Tim Groupie", but man... this guy has talent! And he so generously posted all these great tags and instructions on how to make them on his blog (http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/). And in case you are wondering, YES, we do sell all of the stuff he used on these projects; although some are in short supply following this adventure... Just tell us what you are looking for and if it's not in stock we'll get it for you.

Only 1 week until Christmas!

I can't believe it... Christmas is only a week away. This year has gone by so fast it makes my head spin. Does anyone know how to slow it down?

I think working in retail makes matters worse. While everyone else is focused on Christmas, we are already looking at Valentine's Day and Easter (which is early in 2008, btw). I think the whole retail cycle forces us to move through the holidays faster than we ought to. Since Easter is in March next year, I had reps in this week selling me Easter products - Easter products a week before Christmas!!! This is just insane.

Mother Nature apparently has it in for us this year. This winter storm has been pelting us with snow, sleet and freezing rain along with high winds all day. We decided not to open the store today - sorry if you had plans to come in - but you really shouldn't be on the road! Stay home and curl up with a good book and a cup of tea or cocoa and relax. We'll open up again tomorrow.

New Hero Arts for 2008

Woo Hoo! The 2008 Hero Arts catalogs and many of the new stamps have arrived at The Inspiration Station! Unfortunately it looks like our big Catalog Preview Party may be derailed by another winter storm on Sunday. I still plan on being there from 11:30 - 3:30 but I guess I have to wait to see what Mother Nature has in store.

We had to close the store at noon today because of the snow and as I write this at 6pm we have about 11" of snow and it is still coming down at about an inch an hour. For those of you in our Travel club, the Christmas Party scheduled for Saturday night has been postponed until Dec 22. Please contact Adine to let her know if you will make it.

Product updates

New Christmas line from Anna Griffin, Inc. has arrived, just in time too since so much of our Christmas papers have sold out already. We did get some re-orders in but lots of stuff was backordered. We also got in some of the My Mind's Eye Christmas and Winter papers which are absolutely gorgeous.

Oh, if you haven't done it yet, check out http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Tim Holtz is doing 12 tags of Christmas with new techniques every day. They are awesome and the best part is if you comment on his blog you are in a drawing to win a great prize pack every day. Tim is such an awesome teacher, he makes everything so easyto learn- and he's kinda cute too!

I just got my new Sony Alpha DSLR and I am loving it. This is a photo I am particularly happy with of my kitty, Boo. She is a 12 week old stray we found along side of our barn; we think the mama was dropped off (as they often are out here...very sad). Mama disappeared as soon as we brought Boo into the house. The vet says she is perfectly healthy and she seems quite happy chasing the dogs' tails - although I think they would rather we left her outside. They don't bother with her but it is obvious from their expressions that she annoys them!