Mail out those cards!

So, please tell me that you have stamps, postage stamps.  Good.

When I would make thank you cards in my class and club with my upline I would laugh and comment that I didn't have any friends so I  never needed thank you notes. It got a laugh and then we all agreed that I had lots of friends.

And I do have many, many friends, for which I am so thankful.  And I feel sure that you do, too.

Fortunately, Stampin'Up! has provided me with  wonderful friends ~ another perk of being involved with such a terrific company and creative business.

I consider my stampers my friends, my church circle ladies, my former work volunteers, my neighbors, my cool family members.  And they are in addition to those fabulous gals and guys that I  share all of my life with ~ you know who you are!

Perhaps you are not in the habit of sending out notes to your friends unless there is a specific reason. You may be in the habit of making a special trip out to find special event greeting cards.

I  admit that when it comes to special occasions, I  like to create a card just for that occasion and that person.  But it is so nice to have some lovely notes on hand for whenever needed.

If you have notes on hand, if you have a pile of finished stamped cards  ~ use them! Mail them!

If by chance you mail out to every  friend you can name and still have cards ~ think of the so many folks out there who would love to receive happy mail: deployed military, senior living residents,  inmates, hospitalized children and patients, veterans...

At a recent Stampin' Up! BINGO we took time out between games and make & takes to address cards to cancer patients - our hostess had created a list of patients and a few details. The cards were samples and swaps that otherwise would have piled up and collected dust. This is a great idea for any gathering.

Who wouldn't want to receive a card in their mailbox , especially one created by you?

I Spy

Although summer is not quite over,  September is here and already soooo busy. We are already talking and stampin' fall and Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Have you seen the new holiday catalog?
I have been busy preparing for classes and workshops and my holiday open house on September 25 (2 PM my house ~ pick up catalogs,  see new products, make & takes, sweets and BINGO!)!
So, check out this picture from my work today:

Do you know which stamp set I was using - actually I was using more than one set. But if you can name at least one set, I  will have something extra for you at the open house! Comment here! First correct answer wins an extra card for the jackpot Bingo!
Go!

BINGO!

I can't believe it! I did not take one single picture at BINGO yesterday!

I was so excited to offer my first Stampin' Up! BINGO! I chose a busy weekend, unknowingly; but I had a full table of six anxious-for-prizes guests as I called out the first number.  Oh, but wait, I am far, far ahead of myself.

After I begging and bribing and refusing to think that I may have to cancel the event, I left much of the preparation till the last minute. In my mind, I was well prepared. I had seen a video by Ronda Wade covering the ins and outs of hosting BINGO parties. I had chatted several times with my upline and colleagues about their BINGO parties (thanks Susan Elise, Monica and Kathy!) and sat in on a party just a couple of days before mine (thanks Kathy!). And at the same time, SU had a huge facebook event centered on planning for parties ~ lots of valuable info.

I designed the day to include four games plus a jackpot game and stamping time to create three make and take cards. As you know, staying up all night is what I do, so I did stay up well, well into the AM cutting paper and preparing for the stamping. I took inspiration from Julie Davison and Tami White as I found their super cards on Pinterest.

I left just a bit to have to finish up Sunday before the gaming stampers arrived.

As I was beginning to feel the heat while bustling around my husband looked at the thermostat and said, 'the temperature is going up instead of down,' and looked at me with a face of dread that I just cannot even describe. I was feeling the heat all right!

Oh, I just did not want to cancel ~ my guests had made their plans, I had prizes from the new catalog and chocolate!

I recognized the caller ID name on the phone. 'Is the Midtown Tunnel closed?' she asked. I swear I read the highway advisory sign to say the tunnel was closed 8 PM - 5 AM Fri - Sun.  I interpreted that to mean it was closed each night, not all weekend! So I gave her alternate directions.

The next name on caller ID was also familiar. She was detouring because of the tunnel.

My cell phone dinged with an IM: accident on interstate - but on the way.

When the next caller ID name appeared I knew what route she was taking so I knew she would be a bit behind, too.

And the temperature slowly rose.

With a couple pitchers of mint iced tea we made the most of it. They came for the prizes! And actually, for the good company they knew they would find.  They just didn't know they would find a house with no air, which did make for some good 'remember when' stories.

Except for the heat, we had a lovely afternoon full of stories and laughter and sweat and stamping and melted chocolate. We played with the new In Color markers and papers and the Painter's Palette stamp set and washi tape. There really is something extra special about stampers ...

As the afternoon was headed into an evening threatened with storms, and the stampers were spent from their excitement, they elected not to create the third card I had planned. So this afternoon I made their cards and will mail them to those stamping guests, who really were and are 'the nicest.' Julie Davison included directions on her site that I will pass along to the stampers so they can re-create this themselves, too.

AND I crafted them in a once again cool house, thanks to my Oh, What A Guy husband! He was at the supply store when they opened this morning and had the AC running in no time!