...work for idle hands

There was a time, eons ago, when I was able to sit around doing nothing. That was back in the 80's... Since I've been all growed up - and more specifically, since my dad passed, I've had this inability to sit still doing nothing. I just can't. I can't watch TV either. I absolutely have to be doing something productive. I feel like I'm wasting time if I'm not doing something. I don't recommend this as a life plan though... my dad used to say I should try to stop and 'smell the roses'.

Normally I'm working and that's grand, I don't think about it. I'm busy all the time between WMS and the children and the house. I don't have hobbies or free time because my work has evolved from my hobby and while I love stamping, running a stamp company is way more involved than I ever imagined and there just are not enough hours in the day to allow for hobbies, or even casual stamping. There's not a chance I can wind down to a break, I find I just have to pull the plug and go cold turkey on it.

If I'm at home, I cannot resist the temptation to pop on the web for a mo' and see what's happening. So away we went - nearly two full weeks in County Kerry - and yep, if you are interested, I will get to the travel shots over the next couple of days.

I just wanted to show you what I do when I can't do anything else - when there's no computer, no wifi for the phone, no web at all... anywhere, and when the kids have gone to bed - I crochet.

I throw a few balls of yarn in a ziplock baggie and make stuff - I'm drawn to pretty household accessories. Last year's vacation was all baby booties as we were expecting a new family member, my niece, but this year I took a liking to a pretty doily pattern and set about making up a bunch of those. (The pattern is from the 'Crochet Living' Book by Nicki Trench)

Nope, I have no idea what I'm going to use them for, nope they do not even slightly match my home decor (such as it is, but that's another story) and no,  we're not really the sort of folks who use doilies as doilies, but I just really, really needed to make something pretty that didn't involve a deadline.... I'm nearly there... :)

Store News

I'm all caught up with orders and I am tackling the email mountain - I've only another 3000 odd emails to look through, so please bear with me if you are expecting a reply to any emails you've sent me. The next thing on my list after that is to start the new look PJ party and then get the nextrelease items whipped into shape - and ohhh - you should see some of the guest designer samples that I looked at this morning...ah but you will...all in good time... chat soon.

... taking a break

Folks I am taking a break, the wee folks are off for summer, Mr B is off and I'm going to indulge in a little family time. I'm going to unplug from the web for two weeks and so the store will be on 'partial vacation' for two weeks.

I say partial, because our USA shipper will be shipping away as usual (sorry Lynn!).

Orders to UK, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada and South America placed before midday tomorrow (10th) will ship - orders placed after that time will ship in the week beginning 27th July.

I will catch up with emails during the week of the 27th also, I should have all my email correspondence up to date by tomorrow, but just in case I have missed you, do please email again to info@waltzingmousestamps.com - put 'PRIORITY' in your subject line and I will come to you first when I return.

... recapturing my...

I was going to say...youth, because planners take me right back to that happy period in my life, my teen years, when I had very little to organise and all day to organise it. Now that I've got a billion things to manage, Ms Organisation and I have become mere aquaintances - we nod at each other when we pass in the hall, but I don't see her socially any more...

Hopefully that's all about to change as I have been bitten but the planner bug. I swore off this for ages, not because I didn't want to do it, but because, frankly I didn't know where to start.

It seemed like late last year there was some kind of explosion in a planner factory and these things started landing all around me, I dodged them to begin with - so many brands, Filofax, Erin Condren, Happy, Kikki.K, Kate Spade, I had no idea where to look first and then a pal suggested Paperchase, I bought one from there and I love it, but I don't have it all gussied up yet.... I'm even writing it in pencil 'til I find a cute pen or two... you will see it at a later date.

I love planners, I always have, I still have my first filofax, it was a small compact size and I loved it, I used it through my A level exams and I did ok ;) Maybe this will work for me again.. we will see.

Anyhow, excitedly, I was handed this today - I know all you planner peeps will know what it is and I am a little excited to see how it will compare to the traditional UK Filofax/Paperchase kind of layout. I have admired these from afar, and I don't think they are too common this side of the pond, so I'm keen to try this system out also. What can I say, one for work and one for home? Will that wash with you or am I just being greedy? :)

... Land of the Free

Happy 4th July to all my USA buddies. I have a very restrained 4th July card for you, which is probably not at all in keeping with the overall festivities, but since this card started out as an experiment, and since I am feeling a bit below par, I'm just glad to get it finished.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th - whether you are celebrating or not.

I used the Brogue dies to make this, I like how the front panel turned out - I also embossed a little with my scorpal, abut I think I should have used a darker blue ink for the USA1776 sentiment. 

Ah well...

... Comment winner from PJ Party suggestions

We asked you for suggestions and you guys didn't let us down - we are working our way through the ideas and will reveal our new improved challenge plan in a day or two. In the meantime, I have a winner - our random comment winner is:

Christine, who said:

I love the challenges and look forward to them every month but rarely actually get to play. I often have trouble linking within the 24 hour period, even when I've got the cards made in advance, which makes it all the more frustrating for me. So a longer linking period would be appreciated. 

I sometimes find the 3rd challenge confusing. Is it just any older stamp set? Does it need to match the theme?

Congratulations Christine! Pop me an email on claire@waltzingmousestamps.com and I will get your £20GBP store voucher organised for you!

...sweet wishes

A couple of little gift tags this evening - I love the sugar bowl from Coffee set stamp set - used the stitched tags dies. These were SU inks - like these - I should develop this little colour scheme further. Gotta run, masses to do!

...we want your suggestions!

ED - Folks thank you! Your input is invaluable - I got the message loud and clear - we need to give you guys more time to link up! I'm all over it - I'm scrutinising all the comments to try to include the most popular ideas! Thank you! I will post the new plans in a day or so, I'm huddled up in bed with what is hopefully the last virus of the season, seriously folks, next year I will have three school germ pools to deal with...that's gonna be fun.

Tonight though, I have a winner - our random comment winner is:

Christine, who said:

I love the challenges and look forward to them every month but rarely actually get to play. I often have trouble linking within the 24 hour period, even when I've got the cards made in advance, which makes it all the more frustrating for me. So a longer linking period would be appreciated. 
I sometimes find the 3rd challenge confusing. Is it just any older stamp set? Does it need to match the theme?

Congratulations Christine! Pop me an email on claire@waltzingmousestamps.com and I will get your £20GBP store voucher organised for you!

If you've just arrived at this post and  care to add your comments I will still read and reply to them, but please note the draw is now ended.

Evening! I should be posting the invite to the next PJ party this evening, but before I start the next PJ event - I want to chat to you about it.

Currently, we announce the 4 challenges and then two weeks later we put up the party post and invite link ups - we have a 24 hour window for linking up.

There are a couple of folks who play along, and we are delighted to have them, but it's no secret that we are a small group. I want to know if we could make it any easier for you to play. I'm looking for format suggestions, or comments on the current set-up.

Should we change it completely? Should we have one challenge per week with a week long link up? Should we have one a month? Are 4 challenges too much? I'd really appreciate your feedback - hopefully it will help me to organise something that is easy and fun for folks to take part in. We have carte blanche people - I am open to all suggestions, but I will most likely take up the more popular ideas!

Please leave your comments on this post and I will pick a random comment to win a £20GBP gift code for the store. I will pick a winner on Friday evening - about 10pm my time. Thanks in advance for your comments.