The new shop...and National Scrapbooking Day

Well I'm overdue for an update so here it is...

Firstly, the most exciting thing that as happened to me is realising my dream of opening my own scrapbook shop. It is finally a reality and all up and running. It took Amy (my new assistant) and I a couple of weeks to get it all set up - I had far more stock than I realised! - and now most of my stock is on display and looking good. The response from people who walk in, which is all good, has made it all worth while and is very encouraging. Its great to see so many people excited about this wonderful craft. I have loads of girls who want to start scrapbooking and loads who just appreciate now having a shop in close proximity. I must say Hyden is a fantastic place to have a shop - I'm loving it here. So here are some pics to show it off although you have to see it for yourself. I'm really pleased with how it looks.

Then there's National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday the 2nd of May. To celebrate I am having an opening day and all day crop in the new shop to christen it and to toast to many happy scrapping times ahead. I cant wait to have a room full of excited scrappers busily scrapping away and enjoying each others company.

Lastly, for today, my brother Dean has made it through a very severe dose of chemo and a series of infections. He is now out of hospital and has a month to build strength, put on weight and recover. Miraculously he is in remission which originally they though he wasn't so in the short term things are looking up - for which we have our God to thank. In the long term things are still not looking good but as always we remain hopeful for miracles. It has been difficult to say the least but we are so grateful that he is well at the moment. My sister-in-law needs a medal by the way for her devotion and love to Dean. Cant be thankful enough.

That's all for today. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more things to report on. I have been working on a layout (speaking of miracles!) and I have some new stock to show once I have photos. Bye for now.

Time to check in...and my BIG news...

Checking in from a very long break from the blog. The last few weeks have been difficult to say the least but I'm back with an update.

The retreat was a huge success. I thought I would have to leave at one stage because my brother was so unwell but I ended up being there for it all. The tutors blew us away again with great classes. It is so frustrating that photos of layouts do not do them justice but the results of the classes were amazing with some awesome versions of the samples and most girls frantically doing more than one layout from each class. I am so glad it all went well and that all the girls - new and old comers - enjoyed it. We did miss a few regulars, however Bernadette - one of our regular entertainers who was away - featured in a story from Sally - the other regular entertainer - that had us nearly wetting our pants. Ann and Donna were checking in by text and phone to see how things were going. We missed you all girls, and Margaret who is far far away in NZ (lucky thang!). Kim started a trend a few years ago when she brang her leather office chair and although she was not there (miss you) her trend was carried through by others who were there with their office chairs - this is serious stuff after all and a girls gotta be comfortable! (Sorry to mention names but some of you have become notorious!)

So my news is (and lots of you already know)...is that I am opening a shop in Hyden! I have dreamed of this for so long and it has now become a reality - a scrapbook shop of my own. I have enjoyed the lifestyle of being a mobile scrapbook shop for the last 4 and a half years but now it is time to put in all on display. I have an amazing shop that has heaps of character and most importantly - space! I have been unpacking new furniture and shop fittings over the last few days and I'm so excited I dream about it in my sleep. It has been a welcome distraction to a difficult time. I'm still pinching myself at my fortune though to be living in such a great town with so many lovely people and now a SCRAPBBOOK SHOP. In my haste to assemble furniture today I forgot to take some 'before' photos of the shop but I did capture this photo the other day of my new cash register when it arrived. Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted a cash register of my own (this may sound strange, I know) and now I have one that prints out my business name etc. and it is so satisfying. Small pleasures. I will keep you updated on progress of the shop as I go. I open on Tuesday the 14th of April and will have an official opening after the school holidays with a bottle of bubbly. Yeehah!

On a personal note....Dean is doing better this week, finally, but it is a long road ahead and although the outlook is not good we remain hopeful. I spent 3 amazing days with him last week and some very special moments in that time with our older brother Paul - too personal to speak of - but very special indeed.

So I'll leave you with this message, that life is short and too short to not say what needs to be said or done, even if it's hard to do or say. Love to you all.