Happy Creating, 2014!

News Highlights

Sharon takes a flyer..
Gets wing clipped!

CHA coming soon....
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The Great Yosemite 
Stamp Escape
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Special class in February

Hi and Happy New Year!

At The Cat's Meow we are looking forward and wishing you a great year ahead! As some of you know, my 2013 went out with a BANG! Literally, on the Friday before Christmas I made about a 7 point face down landing in the classroom. I tripped over a box with my hands full. Never saw the box and went down so fast, I didn't know what happened. I was alone except for Peahy and Mittens who weren't real concerned. I laid there assessing my injures and finally rolled around and sat up but found I was woozy and had pain in my shoulder as well as knees, nose, and the list goes on. The shoulder was what caused the dilema of "How do I get up and get to a phone?"  Luckily we are never alone for long in the store and shortly a customer came and got the phone (and my coffee cup) for me. We decided staying on the floor and waiting for professionals was best. Thanks, Julie!

After Melissa got to the store, we called 911 and the ambulance guys got me up onto a chair and then we decided an ambulance trip to Fresno would be easier than a trip in the car with a long wait in the ER waiting room. My husband pulled in at the hospital right behind the ambulance and I was taken in and seen immediately. I think that little cut over my right eye with the drop of blood might have been just the ticket. They seemed more worried about my head than my shoulder. They did send me to xray though, and found that the upper arm bone is cracked where it goes into the shoulder. They immobilized the arm, gave me some so-so drugs and sent me home with a follow-up visit to the Ortho Doc on Christmas Eve. He confirmed after talking with the surgeon that they would not operate but I would have to keep the arm immobile...elbow 2 weeks, shoulder 4 weeks. I go Monday the 6th for a follow-up xray to see how things are progressing. I have been home every day but one (so Melissa could visit her Mom), but decided since Melissa was available and I really needed to be good (for a change), I should stay home and she would hold down the fort. Thanks, Melissa for always beeing there for me!

I am writing this at home on Dec 31st.....you will probably find twice as many typos with this one-handed typing .....Melissa and her hubby are taking a couple of days away for New Year's and I am feeling somewhat better and am learning to cope with a clipped wing! Now I know why a bird flys in circles if you clip one wing :) I'll be back at work Jan 2, and we are planning to move on with our CHA plans. 

We have been receiving quite a few sneak peeks from our favorite vendors. Just  got one this morning from Graphic 45. They never cease to amaze! If you follow Elizabeth Craft Designs or Karen Burniston on facebook, you might have seen their first of many new dies since they have partnered, This really is exciting for us with Karen teaching at Stamp Escape. We have a very good relationship with Els and we know this will make it easy for us to provide plenty of product related to Karen's class.

I will be emailing a link to the Memory Box release on Thursday. They do not attend CHA, so they give us a little head start on ordering. Pam Sparks will be representing Memory Box at Stamp Escape, so we are excited to see what is available for Pam to use. ....We love NEW! Of course, we will also be seeing Stampendous and Impression Obsession new releases at CHA. They are the other two companies our remaining teahers, Linda Bradbury and Jennifer Dove, will represent.  It is exciting to have such a well rounded selection of styles and talented teaachers for 2014. REMINDER..if you have not signed up yet, now is the time! We know that the selection of chalets is getting limited and we want to be able to make everyone comfortable. I know some people have chalets reserved but we do not have registration forms and deposits (you know who you are ) We go to the mailbox every day anxiously awaiting your envelope......

So...we will leave at noon on Saturday the 11th following Stamp of the Month class. We head for Anaheim and need to get on the road. Looks like Melissa will be both navigator and pilot this year......driving left handed that distance would not be a good idea for me! This means the store will be closed from noon Saturday until we re-open on Wednesday, the 15th at 9am. As you know from previous years, we return with about 100 pounds of catalogs, and lots of inspiration. We have a many 'must-have' categories on our list. Melissa and Robin will be on the hunt for in-booth mini classes. They are already signed up for a couple of classes with Clearsnap (the Colorbox company). We find that the mini classes are more beneficial than the hour long classes that take time away from visiting vendors on the show floor.

In February, I am planning a special class (the project is what I had in my hands when I fell). It is still somewhat a work in progress but I will be sending a photo as soon as I feel it is adequately complete to show what you might do in class. The project revolves around  a 16"x20" shadow frame. My sample features part of my Mom's thimble collection and some other goodies that remind me of her. I used the Graphic 45 Coture collection for background papers. I have lots of ideas that might not involve personal mementos. An example would be using small pieces from a  Dia de los Muertos collection. They would be perfect with the same paper I used which is colorful and bright. Or maybe a pastel collection with some baby or toddler collectables. How about a sisters collection? Or if you just like butterflies, some stamped or die-cut images along with pretty floral paper would be fun. Watch for my photo and start looking through your goodies to see if there is a theme you might like to feature in your shadow frame.

We wish you a happy, healthy, prosperous year.

                                                   What's New?

Of course there will be LOTS of new in our next newsletter, but we haven't forgotten our next hoiday, Valentine's Day! We have the cutest collection of Valentine papers and embellishments from Doodlebug. I think we are really smitten with Doodlebug because they have great colors that always coordinate, and great embellishments. Can't wait to see what's new at CHA.

In mid-January we will receive a sparkly display board frm Northwoods rubber stamps. You know how pretty their samples are with all of that loose glitter that makes their watercolor technique stand out. This selection of stamps is really cute and will make the perfect cards for all your Valentine's.

From there we are working on St.Patty's Day and Easter with more to come. Watch your inbox, and be sure to like us on facebook. We might be posting from CHA!