Operation Successful!

I just wanted to let you know that I was able to trap both feral kittens on Thursday and took them to the vet on Friday. They both did well, although the female took a while to come completely out of the anesthesia, and I released them this morning. I was pleased that they did not run off although they did hide out for a bit. After a few hours I went out looking for them and they came out when I called them and followed me back to their "home" under the porch where they could be fed.

I want the thank Our Companions for helping me with these kitties and for the great services they provide. For more information about the Sterile Feral Program or any of the other services they offer please visit their website. http://www.ourcompanions.org/

I hope to have more photos up soon.

Some new cards for your "Inspiration"

I Love this Cuttlebug Snowflake Dots folder and check out the cool snowflake border punch along the bottom!

More coming when I finish playing...

We survived

The Tag Sale was amazing. We were swamped for the first couple of hours- lots of people walked away with tremendous deals. The people who brought their stuff in to sell earned a ton of store credit that they can use for brand new goodies.
This was our last Tag Sale for this year. Watch our newsletter for a date in the spring. One the weather warms up enough for us to set up the tents again we will plan another.

Good Golly that's a lot of stuff!

Ok for the past 2 day people have been dropping off their stuff for the Tag Sale tomorrow (Sunday 9/21). I cannot believe how much BRAND NEW stuff people are bringing in that they have never opened!!! C'mon people you have got to use the stuff you buy - otherwise you are not scrapbooking or stamping - you are collecting!

The sheer volume of paper is mind-boggling. Many package appear to be from conventions and places like QVC where you get 1 or 2 sheets of every paper in the line. I wanted to cry when I saw so many Basic Grey collections for only $5. I would buy them all myself except I already have them! And yes, I HAVE opened them and used some. Life is too short to save all the paper- use it - enjoy it. (Then you can buy more!)

It must be Thursday

'cause we got slammed with boxes of product today!

The new Fall $1 clear stamps from Studio G arrived (series 20); some stinkin' cute designs in there.

A huge box of new Fiskars products including Holiday Squeeze Punches.

Some new stickers and things from EK Success.

A restock order of the things we completely sold out of last weekend when we were demoing for the Autumn Passport- The Stamp Press, Non-stick Craft Mat, Perfect Pearls, and Versamark. We alos have been getting small batches of Cuttlebug folders in almost daily.

Our Companions Sterile Feral Program

For those of you who have been following my “Kitty” capers, I’d like to update you on Sasha and Tut. Unfortunately, I think I found them a little too late to be able to tame them. They come running each time I go out to feed them but they are still so jumpy. Every little noise or movement sends them scurrying. They love to pose for the camera though and after their bellies are full they like to relax and play close by. They are growing quite fast now that they are getting regular meals.

I called my vet to see about what programs they have for feral cats and they put me in touch with an organization called Our Companions. One of the many services they have to offer is called the Sterile Feral Program where they teach people how to trap feral cats and then provide a vet check up, vaccinations, treat for parasites and spay or neuter them. Then the cats are released back where they came from. All of this is coordinated by volunteers and the vet services are at a reduced fee. They have been very helpful and I will be meeting with someone from the organization very soon and hopefully Tut and Sasha will be able to get to the vet in the next week or two.

I know that many of you are animal lovers and so I wanted to tell you a little about this organization that has a plan to build an animal sanctuary in Ashford for companion animals. They have a 43 acre site that they are working on and plan to build a unique facility to rescue and rehabilitate. I have provided a link here for you to learn more about it.

September card club

I just wanted to share a couple of the cards that Donna is doing in this months card club classes:

Congratulations

I just realized that I never posted the name of the winner of our $75 prize from the Passport to Summer. Our winner was Pamela Archangeli! Congratulations, Pam.

By popular demand-
I have added another date for the "Crafting with Cricut" Class. The new date is Wednesday, October 29th at 6pm. Class fee is $20. We already have some spots filled so if you want to get in to this one please call ASAP.

more updates

It never fails.
As soon as I hit send on the email, I have more information to share.
I hate that!

Anyway, a couple of more updates:

Sunday's Cricut class is completely SOLD OUT. If you are interested in taking this class on a Sunday, please email me and I will see if I can schedule a date.

The Cricut class for the 24th had only 1 spot left this morning. Again, if you areinterested in taking this class on a weeknight, please email me and I will see if I can schedule a date.

The September Store Page Kits are ready and in the store. They are first come, first served so get yours soon.

Autumn Passport Program (formerly the Shop Hop)

AUTUMN PASSPORT EVENT
Interested in the Shop Hop, but just can't make it on the 13th?
Well, read on ...
When you sign up for the Autumn Passport event,
you'll have one month to visit all five stores.

Here are the highlights:

Receive 20% off at each store. Visit all five stores and you'll be entered into a drawing to win a Cricut Expressions (retail value $499). Plus, each store will be raffling a prize package filled with $75 in scrapbooking supplies.


Your $25 registration gets you coupons, your passport and tag album. Register anytime!

Take your passport, coupons and album to the participating stores anytime between Saturday, September 13th and Monday, October 13th.

Each store will stamp your passport and at the last store you visit leave your completed passport for entry into the drawing for a Cricut Expression.

A Time for Memories - North Grafton, MA
Inspiration Station - Stafford Springs, CT
Life's Memories & More - Palmer, MA
Sturbridge Scrapping Corner - Sturbridge, MA
Times To Treasure - West Boylston, MA



At each store, receive 20% off your purchase with your coupon.

Receive a raffle ticket for every $10 purchased. Each store will be raffling a prize package filled with $75 in scrapbooking supplies.

Learn two techniques at each location! Each store will have make-and-takes throughout the month.


If you have previously registered for the Shop Hop, you are welcome to visit all five stores on Saturday, September 13th or spread your shopping out over the next four weeks.

Stop in the store and pick up your passport, coupons and tag book anytime.

Is it too early to decorate

for Halloween?

Donna says it's never too early for Halloween and we just got the greatest cling vinyl black silhouettes from Martha Stewart for the windows.... I really want to put them up! They are so cool I had to buy extra because I knew people would want them for their homes. Oh, and her Halloween punches are great too; there has been a lot of buzz on the internet about the "Drippy Goo" border punch. Get in early to get it beacuse it won't last!

Being productive

I finally got a chance to play with some paper and I feel like I was very productive. I made 2 page samples and 2 card samples. That's a lot for me in one day; I never have time to just be creative anymore. I will be at the store from 10am-2pm so if you need anything feel free to stop in for some retail therapy.

Update on the kitties

Now I know. The big one is male, the little one is female. We have named them Tut and Sasha. They are very cute, but still too cautious to let us catch them.

Labor Day

This Monday is Labor Day and although my girls will have the day off, I will be going in to open the store from 10am-2pm. I've got my little brain working overtime to come up with some "unadvertised" specials to offer that day to anyone who comes to visit.

This is the last chance to sign up for a spot at our Customer Tag Sale. Participants can pick up their labels any time Friday, Sept. 5th. Tag sale goods must be dropped off on Friday, Sept. 19th and unsold items must be picked up by Tuesday, Sept. 23rd. Anything not picked up by that date will be donated.

Dawn & Donna have added some awesome new classes to the schedule, you should check them out. Dawn will be doing a monthly class that focuses on using up your scraps! Donna, of course, will be doing fun stuff for Halloween with a Halloween Treats class and a separate Halloween Card Class. Both of my Cricut classes are just about full so I will look to see about adding another one in the future. If you are interested, let me know whether you prefer weekend or weeknight.

New Friends

I've mentioned before that I live on a farm; not that we actually raise anything- but still it's a farm with an enormous barn. Next door is another farm with another enormous barn and lots of horses. Horses come with flies (lots of them!); and barns come with stray cats (unfortunately lots of them too).

Last fall I was able to rescue a little bitty kitty I named Boo from our barn. We don't have animals in the barn therefore there is no feed to attract mice so no cats (except in the winter when they are desparate for shelter). Most of the cats around here are extremely skittish and impossible to get a hold of. I would like to be able to get them so we can have them spayed and nuetered but unfortunately we can't. It doesn't help that there are plenty living in the barn next door. Anyway, Boo's mom was an exception. She wouldn't come to us- but she wouldn't run and hide either. She hid under our deck and got into our garbage and after she had Boo she let me take the kitten without any fight. Unfortunately I was not able to catch her to get her spayed she disappeared for the winter and this spring she was back in our garbage and pregnant again.

This week, these two little guys showed up outside my bedroom door to the porch. Mom is long gone and they were very hungry. I'm guessing they are about 12-14 weeks old. They have made their home under our deck and although they run every time we approach, they do come close when I bring them food and they are getting more comfortable with me and my daughter. They hang around and play after they've eaten. They still will not let us pet them or hold them. I haven't been able to figure out whether they are male or female or a combination. One is quite a bit bigger than the other and judging from the way he/she pushes the little one out of the way when I bring food I'm guessing that's the dominate one. My hope is that I can get them to trust me enough to pet and hold them so I can get them to the vet. We'll see. It will take some time I'm sure.