And then...she turned 40

How can it be? I certainly don't feel 40. I know I'm a mom of a teenager, but I still remember all the fun I had as a teenager and it doesn't seem that long ago. I wasn't really worried about this birthday. I was pretty open about it. I mentioned the "milestone" to many people. After all, it's just a number. Why are people so freaked out by numbers? You are the age you are, whether or not you tell anyone, right?

So why does it hurt so bad to say "I'm 40?" I actually had a few teary moments yesterday when I thought, "I am no longer in my 30's." Wow! My mom didn't turn 40 until I was 20 years old, but I'm 40 and my son is still in high school. And let's not even start on the fact that I'm having trouble with accepting that he'll be a senior next year.

I allowed myself one full day of wallowing. I'm really not very good at wallowing. It really consisted of a minute here or there all day long. I might've spent a good 30 minutes wallowing and that was probably more to do with the fact that hubby was sitting in a truck stop in Oregon all weekend long, instead of home with me.

But today, today I'm over it. I am 40 and I am proud. I have a feeling this is going to be a good decade.

My 30's were hard. I dealt with some really difficult issues. I think I finally let go of my childhood. I stopped looking for love and approval where I wasn't going to get it. I stood up for myself. I learned that I do not have to be friends with everyone. And I learned that when you are yourself, the tides will eventually turn.

Of course, mixed in with the difficult was a ton of wonderful memories. I have been blessed with a wonderful son and husband that give me great joy and I have an amazing group of friends. I think the difference is that I used to feel sorry for myself for what I didn't have. Somewhere along the way, I finally realized that that space has been filled by many wonderful people.

As I look forward to my 40's, I'm excited. We won't be celebrating Josh's first steps, but we will be celebrating him becoming an adult. There will be graduation(s?), and farewells, maybe a marriage and dare I say a birth. There's no rush on any of that, but the reality is that he was 7 when I turned 30. He's definately not 7 now. He's almost a man; and a good one at that.

So here's to turning 40. I think I will borrow an idea from one of the bloggers on the simple scrapbooks blog (sorry - looked, but couldn't figure out who to give credit to) and I'm going to write down something on my calendar each and every day this year. That's a huge commitment from me, but I think it will be fun.

It's a little early....

It's a little early, but it's already starting to look like a great birthday weekend.

I know that we always celebrate birthdays here at the office and yet I completely forgot that meant that we'd be celebrating mine. I was actually surprised when I walked in this morning and saw all the decorations.

It has been fun to have so many people stop by my desk to wish me a happy birthday. I've been here almost 6 months now and I still can't believe how sweet everyone is.

Office Product Junkie

You may have to click the picture to see the index tabs

I am an office product junkie. I love pens and pencils and folders and labelers and paper and.... You get the idea. I consider myself to be knowledgeable on office products, and yet, I never even knew these existed. How did I function without them? I just had to a do a project where I put together 15 folders with 8 tabs each and I'm still loving these little things!!!

Everywhere I look I see things that need these little indexes. You can use a sponge to activate the glue, but they don't even taste bad if you have to lick them!

Pictured above, I used them to index my new catalog. I marked all the key categories that I have to turn to all the time... Paper kits, blocks, alphabet stamps, accessories etc.

Why did I put them on the bottom?

Ahh... I put a lot of thought into my placement. I didn't want to put them on the side because the catalog is already wider than a piece of paper. So that left the top or the bottom. They were easier to read and grab when they were on the bottom...so the bottom it is....

Can you just imagine the scrapping possibilities?

Let's Get Together

I am so excited!! Several years ago, when I first set up my stamp room, I went with a red theme. At the time our logo was a red hand print and red seemed to go with the name "Close To My Heart." Since then I've watched my friend Bren work on her shabby chic stamp room. She's been having fun with pink, white and black and it looks absolutely adorable. The cuter her room got, the more I knew I needed to do an update on my room.

I started to purchase items for the makeover. My colors? Buttercup and Garden Green. I just couldn't decide what to do with all of my red stuff. Should I re-paint it. What color? Buttercup or Garden Green? The whole time I kept wishing that Close To My Heart would come up with a paper pack to inspire me, like the More to Adore inspired Bren.

I have been playing with the Let's Get Together paper pack since regionals in February. I have been lovin it! Every time I have a project to do, I find myself grabbing that paper pack. It wasn't until I put together this rolodex this weekend that I realized the answer had been before my eyes for almost two months!!!! What colors are in that pack? Cranberry, Buttercup and Garden Green!!! Now I am a woman obsessed. I have been dreaming about all the things I want to do. I've already ordered a couple more paper packs and now all I need is some time.... to actually play and decorate.

Stay tuned for updates on my adorable room!! And how perfect is the title "Let's Get Together." My room is my favorite place to get together with my stamping friends and customers....

Now if only I didn't have to work for a living. I could be at home....decorating.

Spring Flowers

I think the roses are a bit of a miracle. You see, I am the world's worst gardener. I don't pull weeds. I rarely water. I forget to trim back the rose bushes... and yet, we have this rose bush that just loves to bloom! I wish I had remembered to take a picture of it a few days ago. The roses are a bit past their prime now, but look how many there are!

Yesterday I had a bit of an epiphany. I always have my camera with me and I'm always ready to take pictures of things that happen, yet I rarely take the fun photos that I love to see on everyone else's blog. My new goal is to try and take at least one picture a day and post it here.

So far I made it through day one.....

Cutie Pie Tea

Our tea party was so fun! Amy made some absolutely delicious scones!! I thought scones were dry, crumbly things. I had no idea they could be so good. And then there was the devonshire cream to put on top... yummy!! We also had chocolate covered strawberries, lemonade, finger sandwiches and of course....tea...

Everyone's purse project came out adorable!

Here's one of my cutie pie cards. This month I used a level two pack of paper and the matching My Stickease to make all the samples. It was fun to see what I could do with the My Stickease. Amy used a bunch of them for the little tea bag favors and I still have quite a few left!
Products used: X7078B Cutie Pie Paper Packet, X7078C Cutie Pie Level 2 My Stickease, X302 Paper Sampler.

New Display

I know you can't tell by the lack of posts, but I've actually been stamping like crazy! I guess I just have a hard time updating my website, updating the blog, working, creating... I think I need a secretary.

I've actually been having a ton of fun and trying to move my business through some minor growing pains. My crops have been full and fun! Everyone has really embraced the fun new themes and it's made it more entertaining. The only drawback is that I've had to turn people away. I just hate to turn people away! So I've been looking for new locations, lenthening the time and contemplating adding another day. For now I've got permission to hold a crop at church for my church friends, so that should help. This month is our first month, so we'll see if that fixes things for now.

My other fun exciting project is....a new display!! I don't really carry "inventory," but I always have a few things on hand.... I just don't have a way to display them so that people know what's for sale. I also plan to do some fundraising crops and want to be ready to be a vendor at a crop or craft fair....so I started doing some research.

Thankfully I wasn't swayed by "someone" telling me that their display cost $5000. It was cool, but there is no way it cost $5,000. Instead of making me drop it, I had to research it. Low and behold, I found that I could do what I wanted for less than $100.

I purchased two pieces of 5 foot by 2 foot gridwall, pegs and a basket. Currently it's set up in my living room and I've been having fun organizing all the items I have for sale and adding them to the "wall." I can hardly wait to "unveil" it at the next crop. I feel so dang organized.

Here's a picture of a similar display. This one is a bit taller and contains a lot more panels.


Well, I'm outta time...gotta run!