Wednesday Stamper: Clowns

This week's Wednesday Stamper challenge was clowns. I know it's Tuesday already and the challenge is nearly over, but it took me a few days to even think of an idea... and then a few more to get around to posting. Maybe tomorrow's challenge will be easier.

About the Author

How cool is this? My dad's new book, 12 Steps to Congregational Transformation: A Practical Guide for Leaders , (to be released Nov 30th) is listed on Amazon.

Book Description

Based on years of providing guidance to churches seeking transformation, David Laubach has identified primary principles and top priorities for churches that are searching not only for the right answers, but for the right questions. Tofacilitate the process, Laubach condenses his recommendations into twelve direct

About the Author

David Laubach is Associate Executive Director for Program Ministries, National Ministries, American Baptist Churches, USA. He has devoted much of his life’s work focusing on evangelism, renewal, and transformation. He serves as chair of the Church Renewal Workgroup of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), and also is a member of the BWA Evangelism and Education executive committee. A former pastor in Pennsylvania and New Jersey churches, he holds a D. Min. degree from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, an M. Th. degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an M. Div. degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Vote for Olga

Last night, Cat and I attended Olga's Campaign Kick-Off Party for campaign supporters & volunteers. Good food, good music and good discussion on the future of Escondido.

We're so excited that she is running for City Council and breathing new life and a fresh perspective into our community. If you're interested in donating time or money to support the campaign, or if you're interested in learning more, here's the contact information.

email: info@olgadiaz.com
web: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=m5tikybab.0.pmuogybab.me84fybab.29&ts=S0208&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.olgadiaz.com

Last Week's Wednesday Stamper

Congratulations to Godelieve and Jacqueline (from the justjohanna design team) for having their artwork selected to display on the Wednesday Stamper site. Click here to see the rest of the fantastic bird-themed stamp art.

First Day of School

Yesterday, Jake (who recently turned 2) went to his very first day of daycare at an actual daycare facility. As Scott worked on and off over the past year, Jake has been with various babysitters who are family friends. A largely unstructured day of playtime and a little socialization with 1 or 2 other kids. But Scott is starting a new contract (through the end of the year) and we decided that Jake is finally ready for a regular structured daycare environment.

Jake & Scott did a test visit for a couple of hours last week and Jake loved it. He made a little art project and that's about all he could talk about when I got home: "I make this. I glue glue with paintbrush. I paint glue. I that one. I this one. I paint glue, yeah, glue, paint. Jakob's paper. Jakob's glue." Very proud of it.

Scott's report on the visit was that as soon as Jake started having fun with all the new stuff there to discover, he said, "bye-bye, Daddy."

Yesterday, when Scott dropped Jake off and then got ready to leave, it was a different scene: "I all done, Daddy! I Daddy's truck! I all done. I bye-bye. All done!" Of course, accompanied by large crocodile tears. But last night, Jake seemed okay and this morning when he woke up, he said he wanted to put his tractor shoes on and go to school.

Design Team Testimonial

Well, since we're (loosely) talking about religion this morning (St. Joseph statues), how about a justjohanna design team testimonial?

If you haven't been over to Michelle's blog in a while, today's a good day to go check it out. She has photos of some stamps that she designed as well as a couple little samples of what you might do with them.

So, have YOU ever buried a St. Joseph statue?

Scott emailed me a link to this article this morning, wondering if we should do it too, as we prepare to sell our home. I'm not Catholic, so the whole statue thing is a bit of a novelty to me. But I'm hearing more and more stories of home-sellers burying (BURYING!) a St. Joseph statue upside-down (UPSIDE-DOWN!) in their yards to invoke a higher power in the hopes of a quicker sale. In fact, when you buy a St. Joseph statue, it comes with instructions:

Bury him upside down or upright, in the front yard, backyard or near the "For Sale" sign, facing the home, the heavens or the street, and saying a prayer or making a simple request for a buyer.

The Scrapping Cottage

Lucky us, we have The Scrapping Cottage right here in Escondido. Not even 2 miles from my house. And they were having a huge sale today, free make-n-takes, plus they have the new Halloween shapes and are offering a special deal if you buy them all. Who could resist?

I finally got a Fastenator and one of those cute little Heidi Swapp craft irons. I also picked up a few Quickutz shapes, including the Halloween shapes. Too too too cute.

















Lucky for me, Chris and Lora were there, too. Lora was doing make-n-takes and Chris was shopping. They entertained Jake, kept him from running into the street, and fed him lots of brownies - so I could shop. But it was close to nap-time and Jake did more running-through-the-store-bumping-into-people-and-screeching than I generally prefer. Then Cat showed up and between her and Betty, they managed to ring up my purchase and send me on my way. Chris even took care of my errand to Cat's (to pick up the latest justjohanna Design Team entries and assignments) and brought it to my house. How's that for thoughtful and helpful? Thank you!

So, while she was here, I showed Chris the new stamps. Yep, that's what I said. New stamps. I finished them last night. Debbie kindly pointed out that I'd mispelled "Christmas" as "Chirstmas." Okay, maybe not kindly, but in Debbie's good natured way:

Would you like me to make some Christmas cards, or as you say, "Chirstmas"? And she further emphasized with a sketch including the mispelled sentiment with a big arrow pointing at it and the label "wrong."

So I really couldn't live with that. And decided that I should fix the problem by making a new plate, and since I was making a new plate, I should include some more of the images that I couldn't fit on the recently released plates. And so I did.

Go Mall, Ride Rides

That's about the extent of Jake's current ability with regard to sentence structure. But he does manage to get his point across.

After I got home from work last night, we went to the mall. Had dinner at the food court. Then Jake & Scott entertained themselves at the play area while I investigated the Fall offerings at Lane Bryant.

I'm getting much faster at scouring the racks for what's new, finding my size, and getting it to the cash register before Jake's tolerance for the play area is exhausted. Luckily his tolerance for the play area is growing at the same time I'm working on increasing my shopping efficiency.

I managed to find 2 bags of things that were interesting. When I got home and tried everything on, I netted 1 bag of things I actually like that fit well and I think will be nice additions to my wardrobe. I'm starting to become a bit more selective again as wearing a normal clothing size becomes more and more attainable, I find my interest in trying different fashion styles and colors re-emerging. Fall always brings out the East Coast conservative in me. Even though it's still quite hot here in Southern California, I found myself drawn to crisp white shirts, and various shades of brown and black.

Wednesday Stamper: Birds!

This week's Wednesday Stamper challenge is BIRDS! Who could resist? Thanks for suggesting this very apt topic, Kristy!

I think I'll just have a rest

This morning I had a fitting for my new crown (for the root canal I had last week for the broken tooth I had a few weeks ago). Then I stopped at my favorite coffee shop, Blue Mug.

As I was driving along Center City Parkway towards the freeway, I saw a little cat walk out in the road. I could tell, even from a distance, that it was scared - its tail was puffed up. All the cars stopped to wait for the kitty to finish crossing the street or to run back. But it sat down, and then laid down. Right in the middle of the road. In my lane. So I turned on my hazard lights, got out of my car, walked over to the kitty (who was wearing a collar) and picked it up and put it back on the sidewalk. Then got back in my car and went on my way. So happy that no one ran into me or over the kitty, because it was really foggy this morning.

Hi, Daddy!

Yesterday, Scott called me when he got back from running errands. He put Jake in the house, along with the keys and some other things. And then Jake exercised his new skill of being able to manipulate the deadbolt on the front door. Locking Scott out of the house. And Jake thought it was pretty funny to have Daddy outside and be able to run amok inside the house without the baby gate. After about 10 minutes, Scott was able to convince Jake to unlock the door, and Jake opened the door, and said, nonchalantly, "Hi, Daddy."

Spies at the Expo

Here's the reconnaissance that my spies (thanks!) sent from the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Chicago, IL, today. This was the last day of the Expo. Here's their report:

We went to the show and saw the large display of JustJohanna stamps at the Stamp On In booth...it was really marvelous and they seemed to be selling. Beautiful stamp boards all around the stamps....got a picture on the phone...will send it soon.
VERY COOL!!!!!

Looking forward to hearing a full report of how it went.

Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO

One of Scott's photographs has been selected for the current show at the prestigious Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado. We weren't able to go to the reception. But Scott's parents will be in Colorado later this week (house-hunting) and promised to investigate for us.

We were able to look through the show online last night and the work is AMAZING! You can see it here.

Terry's Birthday

Happy birthday, Terry!

Poodle Pillow - Ooh La La!

Here's one of the projects Mom & I worked on while we were at the cabin. I found this poodle applique at Walmart and I knew right away it would be perfect. Stamping the ooh-la-la along the side of each Eiffel Tower was Mom's idea - I LOVE how it turned out.

It's made from a vintage pillow case and some buttons I found at the Antique Barn just up the road a couple miles from my parents' cabin, along with some ribbon I had in my stash from my Self-Addressed kits.

So, here's the layout of what it will look like when completed. Before assembling the pillow, I'm going to over-dye it pink. I hope the dye doesn't remove the fabric ink. If it does, I can re-stamp on the other side.

Happy Birthday, Sue!

Happy Birthday Auntie Stu! (Yeah, I know it was yesterday, but I didn't know until today).

3rd Annual Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Chicago, IL

Our favorite Chicago stamp store, Stamp On In, will be taking part in the 3rd Annual Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo!

September 9 & 10

at Tinley Park Convention Center

at the Holiday Inn

Featured products will include

A Muse - Hero Arts - Rubber Soul - Putting On The Ritz

and a brand new company Just Johanna

Click here to see pictures from last year's show. Click here for information on directions, transportation, and how to get a $1 off coupon.

Design Team Call Posted on PubCalls Blog

Our call for new design team members has been posted on the Pubcalls Blog & calendar. Check it out right here.

New justjohanna Design Team Call

I can hardly believe it, but we’re ready to begin the search for new talent to add to the justjohanna design team. The official call has been posted. The deadline is September 30. You can read more about it right here.

New justjohanna Images!

There are over 300 new justjohanna rubber stamp images available now. Lots of Fall & Winter images, some really fun cupcake & birthday stamps, and even some pirate stamps. And of course some new birdie friends!

You can see the new supplement here (working' on fixing the typos, but please let me know if you find more): http://www.justjohanna.com/winter-2006-supplement.pdf

There are samples featuring some of the new stamps here: http://www.justjohanna.com/gallery.htm

Cat's Craft Cupboard is taking special orders through September 8. Read about it here.