Hi Everybody,

What a heck of a couple of weeks around here!  I’ve been so overwhelmed by all the happenings that I’ve missed a few newsletters, sorry!  But I’m back and have a LOT to tell you.

First, I have to send out an extremely Grateful Thank You to Sandy and Vicki from Crafty Secrets.  They put on quite a show for our Open House making it a bigger success than I could ever have hoped for!  Vicki had more tips and techniques that my brain could handle, Sandy had a whole whack of Samples, Stamps and Idea’s to really get our juices flowing and all of you had a boatload of patience while we tried to quickly work through make-and-takes.  Sandy and Vicki had a very tight schedule for their time together here in Canada, and the fact that they agreed to donate some of that time to all of us meant more to me than I can ever put into words.  Our First Open House with Guest Presenters couldn’t have been more special, and I will be forever grateful.  As Vicki left that night, she said to me that she has never felt “More Welcomed, more Loved” than she did here tonight, so I must also Thank all of YOU for helping me make Vicki’s visit extra special too!  Both Vicki and Sandy have posted pictures our their blogs, and I will get some on ours as soon as I get a chance.  (Here they are, and I know they are the same ones, but I was so busy I didn’t take any of my own!)  http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/ (Scroll to the bottom, Vicki is MUCH better at updating her site than I am, yikes!)  Or Sandy’s blog (She has a free download that’s pretty cool too!) http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com/  Have fun being inspired by these blogs, I know I am!!

 Congratulations Katie & Steve!!!!
I know it’s been a couple of weeks now and the giddiness may have worn off, but I’m late in my newsletter, so you’ll just have to bear with me!

After 5 LONG years of dating (and a heck of a lot of ribbing from me, sorry Steve) my Sister-in Law Katie is finally engaged!  I know there was a lot of plotting between us recently, but that’s only because we knew what a perfect match Steve and Katie are, so congratulations to you both!

 And guess who the “Maid of Honor” is…?  No silly, not me, Katie asked her brother to stand up with her, and Andrew is so proud and honored to be chosen for such a special position.  I promise you all that I will post pictures on the website of Andrew in a dress, tee hee.  (you know I’m just kidding right?  Katie would never force him to wear a dress even though he does have pretty great legs!)

 Cherished Chum Jingle Mingle Christmas Party ~ Saturday December 4^th from 5-9
It’s that time of year again where Cherish the Thought gets to thank all our Cherished Chums for supporting us this year.  We’ve had a heck of a go at it, but we know without a doubt that without your support we wouldn’t still be here, and to show you how special you are to us, we are hosting the 3^rd annual Jingle Mingle chock full of Food, Wine and Store Specials. 

If you are not currently a Cherished Chum, you can sign up for the membership that night too, the more people at the party the better!  For $25 a year, you will receive 15% off all your Scrapbooking purchases (Classes, Services and Artisan pieces excluded) as well as a few extra specials throughout the year.

 Bring Your Cherish Bag with you, I’ll make it worth your while!

New in Stock
~ Local King Rubber stamps
~ American Crafts Christmas Patterned Paper
~ Imaginise Fall patterned Paper & Embellishments
~ Basic Grey Christmas Card Kits

 Holiday Hours
Friday Dec 24^th Closed
Saturday Dec 25^th Closed
Sunday Dec 26^th Closed
Monday December 27^th Closed

Tuesday December 28^th 10am – 4pm
Wednesday December 29^th 10am – 4pm
Thursday December 30^th 10am -4pm
Friday December 31^st 10am -4pm
Saturday January 1^st Closed
Sunday January 2^nd 12pm – 5pm

Hi Everybody,

I heard on the radio this morning that they were asking the question to their listeners “Is it too early to get into the Christmas Spirit?”  And 67% of those who had called in had said “Yes it is”.  Sigh, how sad is that.  It’s not that it’s too early for the “Spirit” of Christmas, but that stores pushing the “buy this, buy that” right now seems a little early.

I think I’m safe to say that most of us crafters have been in the “Christmas” mode for awhile, making our cards, figuring out what we’re making, planning Hostess gifts etc…What?  You haven’t started yet?  Then do I have some classes for you!  Let’s get into the true “spirit” of the season, and enjoy the process of creating our cards and gifts in a stress free environment.  We have a whole pile of idea’s so let me tell you about some of them…

 New in Stock
~ Tim Holtz Bigz Dies ~ another “On the Edge” and more
~ Basic Grey Sizzlits and Embossing folders ~ I picked them up today, so no teasing this time!  They haven’t all arrived yet, but I have 5 styles of folders an at least 8 dies, whoo hoo!

CSI Card Daily Drop-in Class $12
(Christmas Stamping Inspiration, not Crime Scene Investigation)
Entire Month of November
Need to get some Stamping Inspiration?  Need to just get the Christmas cards done?  Well, then this is the “See and Do” for you.  We will have a Christmas Card kit put together for you to “Stamp a Stack”.  The kit is $12 and contains everything you need to complete 6 Christmas cards (all the same style) excluding adhesive.  Every Weekday will be a different card, and I’m hoping to have samples pre-done in plenty of time for you to pick and choose your favorites.  You can drop in at your convenience, but you will need to bring your cutter, scissors, adhesives and brown ink pad if you like to ink your edges, we will provide everything else.  This is the class to get it all done ahead of time, and with a new card each weekday that 20 different designs, and 120 cards!  Whew! 

We’ve Expanded!  A Second Cherish the Thought is now open!
I know, right about now you’re asking yourself “What, is she crazy?”  That’s a given!  You should know me by now, tee hee.  But seriously, we’ve opened a new booth at the Mosaic Market in Davis Bay on the Sunshine Coast.  They used to have a Scrapbooking store in there, but she’s moved on and we had so many requests to get ourselves in there, that how could we refuse?  If you know anyone out on the coast, let them know that we’ve moved in!  We’re adding product weekly, and our Online store will also allow for pick-up at the Mosaic Market to save on shipping costs!  Whoo Hoo, Cherish the Thought is now International!  We’re Overseas!  (Get it?  You have to take the ferry Over the Sea to get to us, tee hee)

Ella’s Antics
So we went out trick or treating on Sunday night with Ella’s medium sized Ghost Pail.  This is the same pail we used last year and the size was perfect as we don’t really have a lot of houses in our complex that give out candy.

However, because we don’t have a lot of houses, we also don’t get a lot of kids, so many of our neighbours give out full size chocolate bars, bags of chips, and we even got a Book at one place, and a glow in the dark bracelet at another (Thanks Fay, that was REALLY cool, Ella went to sleep with it on her wrist!)

So we’ve finished one and a half of the next complex, and I’m now carrying all the bags of chips ‘cause her pail is full, when Andrew asks Ella if she wants to continue.

“Let’s go home” she says.  Okay with us, we’re kind of done anyway.  Then Ella adds

“So I can dump out my ghost pail and we can come out again”

Man she is too quick for us!
I guess next year we need a pillow case!

And with that
Stamp yourself Silly,
Adhere with Abandon,
And hope to see you at our CSI drop-ins getting into the REAL Christmas Spirit 

Ella’s Antics
Ella is going trick or treating as Wonder Woman for Halloween this year, and I’ve almost finished her costume.

I went to Value Village and got a Blue dress, a Red turtle neck, and a quilted gold “Heat” mat for your table.  I cut the eagle out of the gold mat and hand stitched it onto the turtle neck.  Then I painted a scattering of stars to the blue dress.

When Ella saw the dress she said “Mama, it’s so Fretty” (She still has some issues with the letter “P”) and hugged it to her chest.  I explained that I still had to paint the back and she replied “When you paint the back, I want Hearts”

Uh, I’m not sure how William Moulton Marston would feel about his character losing her patriotic stars for some “fretty” hearts!

And with that
Stamp yourself Silly,
Adhere with Abandon,
And Have a REALLY awesome Halloween!

Oh I’m SOOO excited to tell you about our very special visitor!!! We managed to convince Vicki Chrisman (the design team leader for Crafty Secrets) that Cherish the Thought is the place to be, and she is coming for a visit / demo night! Her blog is chock full of beautiful projects which you can find here http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/ and if you think she’s just Vintage, don’t be fooled. She’s also on the design teams for Tattered Angels, Fancy pants and Scrapbook Adhesives so you don’t want to miss out on all the techniques she’ll want to share with you!

We’ll have a full selection of all Crafty Secrets products, as well as some refreshments, because after all, what’s an Open House with snacks right?!

Ella’s Antics
I was going to keep this antic special just for Chriss, but there’s more to the story now…

So Chriss, who used to work here, came by for a visit today, and Ella was spending the day with me at the shop.

When Chriss left, Ella ran to the door and yelled after her, “I Love you, Chriss”. Then she came to me and sadly asked why Chriss hadn’t said “I love you” back.

I explained that Chriss was already in her car and hadn’t heard Ella, so Ella ran back to the door and Yelled at the top of her lungs “I LOVE YOU!”.

Now Chriss, it’s not that I don’t want you to feel special but for the rest of the day, almost every customer that came in was accosted by Ella proclaiming her “Love” for them.

I’ve always said that some stores have cats roaming around, and we have a “baby” which is better, but there is surely no other store in town where you will feel so loved!

And with that
Stamp yourself Silly,
Adhere with Abandon,
And Ella and I REALLY love you, tee hee.

Hi Everybody,

Well, I’ve finally gotten to spend some time in the “New” store this week, and am getting to know where I put things over a month ago!  We may have unpacked the stock quickly enough, but our samples have been slow in coming out!  Anyway, I’ve really appreciated all your wonderful comments about how the store is coming along, and I can’t wait for you to see all that we are going to be doing in it in the future!  Keep posted for more details…

Welcome to a New Cherished Chick (let?)
I am VERY excited to welcome Alicia to our little Cherished Family.  Some of you already know her, as she’s TA’ed for me at the BC Crop for Kids for the past 2 years, and she is Awesome!  She started with us last Saturday and her enthusiasm for this craft is overwhelming.  She is only 14 but has been scrapbooking since she was 5 Years Old!  Alicia will be helping us out on Saturday’s and Sunday’s and I can’t wait for you all to meet this lovely young woman, she’s just itching to help you find just what you’re looking for.  Welcome to the Family, Alicia.

New in Stock
~ Halloween Patterned Paper
~ Christmas Patterned Paper
~ Crafty Secrets Christmas stamps and Vintage Scraps
~ New BigZ dies ~ Basic Gray has teamed up with Sizzix to make some dies that match their paper and they are Kee-ute!  I am picking them up tomorrow a.m. so if you want first shot at all the new stuff I’ll see you in the afternoon!
~ More New Sizzix embossing Folders and again these folders match the basic Gray paper line.  Team these with our Core-Dinations paper and Wowsa!

Ella’s Antics
Ella and I were in Surrey today, visiting with Crafty Secrets and as we were driving home, in the rain I might add, Ella said

“Mommy, we NEED Ice Cream”.

Now she’s been on an Ice Cream thing since we passed the Gelato place by my parent’s in Law’s house somewhere around Clarke drive, you know the one, in the Big Pink Building?  So I said to Ella,

“Honey, it’s really not the time for Ice Cream”

And she replied

“But Ice Cream is SO Yummylicious!”

She then went on a twenty minute rant about how we needed to get off the highway and FIND Ice Cream immediately.  Sigh, that kid can REALLY go on and on about something, it’s tough to get her to change the subject, she MUST get that trait from Andrew, tee hee!

And with that
Stamp yourself Silly,
Adhere with Abandon,
And I can’t wait to play with the new Basic Gray Dies, I hope you’ll join me this weekend!