WELCOME TO BLOGABELLA

my sistahs will be SOOO annoyed with me..LOL but had to post some of these..

Things are still crazy bizzy.. trying to keep afloat but having a great time with this project!  Hope you had a great weekend too 🙂

Am still trying to post stuff in between posting stuff..LOL

Will post more tomorrow!

mwah to da sistahs who are taking pictures

Em

I feel like I have been spinning in circles.. kinda like on a hamster’s wheel without an end.. today Nicky and Dena and Hannah and Helen were all working in the SCRAMPING room.. which has now become the “let’s-prepare-cut-stuff-squeeze-package-for-the-cruise-room”.. It has really taken over our lives.. our hands.. our sleep.. those of you coming on the cruise BETTER love the goodies…LOL.. just kidding (not really).. So ANYWAY.. I am about to “clean” up my “what’s new” section and have added some new goodies there… the most PHENOM variegated ribbon.. actually it is HEAVENLY.. soft, silky and because it is variegated (where the ribbon has different shades in the same family), it will pick up any one colors in one color family group.. absolutely an amazing FIND.. you will LOVEY IT!!! 

Second, I have been reading ALI EDWARDS’ blog for a while now and have really begun thinking differently, creating differently, and doing a little self reflection… it’s quite an amazing thing!  I have also become a little obssessed with photography.. yet another obssession.. oh and canvases… oh and painting… oh and and and.. it’s endless and I just don’t have the time..LOL.  So anyway, regarding Ali.. she is hosting the most wonderful project.. the project is to document and photograph a week’s worth of your life.. from the most mundane things to the most interesting things… a kind of self reflection.. a way to notice things that you always took for granted.. like Tyler lying on the couch watching TV before he goes to school or Jayden sipping her MUKKAH (chocolate milk) from her sippy cup before school… or my toaster (very important part of my life).. or my coffee maker (even more important).. lol.. or when Dena picks me up my favorite coffee from starbucks

Ok.. so this is a sampling of what I am trying to achieve.. to capture the moment.. to seize the day.. to hopefully have my kids understand what life is all about; the little things.. the mundane things, the interesting things that make up our daily rituals… I know, all of a sudden I am DEEP…. hopefully it is a passing phase :).  So I haven’t been as religious as I should be taking the pictures etc.. but I will TRY my best to keep this up and possibly do longer than a week’s worth.. a kind of “sampler plate”.. of course I have to mention food.  So thank you Ali for your wisdom and such a wonderful project!  I am hoping that you, my sistahs, will play along with us and share your photos?  The cutest thing last night was that we walked out of the office and all of a sudden I hear Dena SQUEAL.. we both look up and see the BRIGHTEST rainbow.. Dena mentioned she had ALWAYS wanted a picture of a rainbow and took it.. of course I forgot my camera.. This is what I am talking about sistahs.. rainbows don’t happen everyday!!

Oh, and this is another picture I took at the apple orchard last week with my fam.. this is my favorite picture I evah took to date so enjoy with me :)oh the peeling picket fence, the lighting, the flalas, the rusty pot.. JUST LOVE this picture

sistahs!!!! I MISSS YOU and promise to be more a part of your lives..LOL.. it’s been crazy around here.  We are all preparing for the cruise (production lines..LOL) having customers sit and help at the store :).. I am also very busy having new stamps and new lines created.. so much fun!!
I wanted to wish my fellow Jewish Sistahs a very happy and healthy and prosperous new year!

So as I mentioned, we are here working away and I KNOW that I have promised these new stamps and with the holidays and my internet being down, I have been a veryyyy lost puppy.. or sistah.

So here goes and I will post as MUCH as I can over the next few weeks!

I love to get to know my artists even though they are far away and it is important that you know a little bit about them as well.  So I forced Shelagh to do a little self reflecting and write about herself.  Here is a little bit about “ALICE IN PARIS”

The internet has changed my life. It has enabled me to work from home. I sell my paintings all over the world. I have terrific new friends thanks to the computer. It has brought me new buisness opportunities.It also entertains and inspires me.
 
I have a big tabby cat named Monty, before that we had a lovely Rhodesian Ridgeback dog named Sequoia. We grew up with Ridgebacks in our family.

I like to paint happy, whimsical and colourful pictures. I want people to get tiny burst of pleasure when they see my work, whether from the bright splash of colour or the subject. Something to brighten up a day.

I love the colour green, lilacs and lily of the valley, red poppies and peonies. I like homemade lemon meringue pie, turkey dinner with all the fixins and mince & tatties. I love Scotland, Greece, and want to visit India. I love the briney smell of the sea, coffee beans, bookstores and green forests. I llove campfires, old black and white movies and staring up at the night sky.

Ok so what I have decided to do with Shelagh’s stamps is do “INSIDE OUTS”.. so the focal point is the large stamp and then a little mini one to decorate the inside of the card and the envie!  LOOOVE it.. it finishes off the card 🙂  See the new stamps launched here

the butterfly kisses for some reason touches my heart 🙂  I actually bought a few prints from Shelagh to put in my house and office 🙂

MWAH.. and I mean BIG FAT JUICY SMOOCHY MWAHS to da sistahs who missed me 🙂

Edited to add: WInner of Beatrice Bellbottoms from blogpost below is #2 (Nicky picked it!)  so MANDI, please contact me ASAP!

to post the new stamps 🙁

PROMIIIISE ON MONDAYYYYY k?

If you wanna have fun this weekend, just take a looky at shannan’s blog and link to all DA SISTAHS who joined the blog hop skip and a jump! ( Amy R. , Lauren Meader, Taylor Van Bruggen, Debbie Olsen, Michelle Boyer, Carole Burrage, Jen Del Muro, and our very own NICKABELLA,) how LUCKY am I to have these sistahs contribute to the fun!!

I have also posted on the STAMP AND CRUISE 2008 BLOG and so has Gina K and Nichole from Papertrey.. have a gander (never used that word in my life by the way)!

mwah!

Em

Good morning sistahs!  It’s been a long week.  I received a phone call from my best friend in Montreal (my home town) that her father was not doing well.  He has bravely battled cancer for the past 2 years.  I received the fateful phone call on Monday morning that he passed away. 

Ryan and I almost immediately boarded a plane and went to offer our respect and true condolences to our “father figure”, Danny.  It was very emotional for me and I am still grieving , “seeing” him wherever I go. I firmly believe he is at peace and now I must worry about the close knit family who surrounded him.  My love and my heart and my sympathy goes out to them.

Now this is really a “prepost” to my post to come.. I just wanted my sistahs to know that I AM here and working away.  The cruise preparation has overtaken “bellaland” and that is our focus, cutting and preparing and wanting to make this the most exciting trip EVAH!

this is our ORGANIZED office right now

But of course in my “travels” I have found a PHENOMENAL new artist to add to our list of talents.. she compliments our line SO WELL, you will see what I mean once I release a little later on.  I have also found some amazing embellishments in my travels which I will post a little later on.

I am hoping you saw some new images I posted in the whats new section including “swirly hills”.. which is one of my favorites.. it could make you a simple and beautiful card in minutes!

Enjoy and stay tuned sistahs

Em

wannnnna playyy?  You probably don’t really wanna hang out with me based on my last post (you may end having a minor ‘accident’ hanging out with me..LOL).. well you will be HAPPY to know that this does not involve ANY MOVEMENT at all 🙂 you just have to have “SPIRIT” and I KNOW that all my sistahs have that 🙂

Ryan and I decided that we wanted to reward our sistahs.. we were thinking that since our surprise free shipping orders go so well, why not continue those spontaneous treats AND give BACK to da sistahs throughout the year without them having to wait for the BIG reward.. so we thought and thought and thought and thought and thought (lots of thinking here) and decided to introduce THE BELLA BEAD BONANZA.. k NOW you ready?  K.  So this is how it is gonna work.. (why do I WRITE how I SPEAK? hmph)

This is what we are gonna do for da sistahs.. it is basically an ‘earning rewards’ system.  We have bought some letter beads.  For this ‘game’ the word to spell is S-T-A-M-P.  Yes I know I am quITE original.  Each letter is valued at $25.  For every $25 you spend, you will ‘earn’ a letter bead.. it’s pretty cute and tiny so make sure you FIND it in your ordah!  

so here are the values of the orders needed to earn the bead (this is for the SUBTOTAL only, does not include the value of shipping)

so,

$0-$24.99- NO BEADS

$25.00-$49.99- you earn 1 bead.. an “S”

$50.00-$74.99- you earn 2 beads.. an “S” and a “T”

$75.00-$99.99- you earn 3 beads.. an “S” and a “T” and an “A”

$100.00-$124.99- you earn 4 beads.. an “S” and a “T” and an “A” and an “M”

$125.00- $149.99- you earn the WORD!! “STAMP”! 

Once you spell “STAMP” you will receive a $15 voucher back in your account from us and can spend on anything your sistah hearts desire! free shipping, supplies, etc! that is OUR gift to you for shopping with us throughout the year.

Now please understand that if:

on order one you spend $27 and your next order you spend $23… you ONLY earn 1 BEAD for the $27.. it is NOT cumulative.  It does not carry over from one order to the next.  This works on a PER ORDER BASIS.. capiche?  CLEAR AS MUD? (i love that saying).  🙂  so does this sound like FUN OR WHAT?  I just read this post out loud to Ryan and he added that after a year.. so by next OCT 1st, whomever COLLECTS the most beads or SPELLS the MOST words (this will be ongoing) will receive a BIG BELLA BONUS!! (now if he would only give me MY bonus.. grrrrr-saw a watch i like.. hmph).. now each word after our initial “STAMP” word will be valued differently based on number of letters in the word..we will always explain how that works.. on a personal level.. so once you have reached the next word, we will email you and let you know what the next word will be.

I AM IN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE with this ideaR.. and not even because it was MYYYYYYYYYY ideaR.. LOL

So… WANNA PLAY? 

DO I HEAR AN “S”???????

Mwah to da sistahs who love da BONANZA (NOT the old western show :P)

Em