Running With Scissors...

New Home

So… I’ve packed up a few things and moved over to my new home on the web.  I’ve still got some finishing touches to add, but I’ve spent enough time on it and, after all, this is supposed to be about simplifying, so I’m done fussing for the time being.

As I mentioned before, the primary focus is Wally, LuLu, and the garden.  My reason for this is that I have been feeling pressured to stamp and create simply because I have a stamping blog.  I’ve found myself inclined to create what I think might be well received on the blog without enough regard to my own whims.  I feel I should use new products I can link to, and give detailed instructions with photographs of the markers, etc.  That’s what you should expect of a stamping blog, I guess.

However, Life brings changes in priorities and gradual realizations of its flawed parts.  If I’m to continue stamping and blogging, I’ll have to do it differently.  By shifting the focus of my blog I won’t worry that I’ve got too much puppies and not enough stamping.

That said, the first new post on my new blog is a stamping post.  If I haven’t scared you all off yet, I hope you’ll come visit me at:

Goldens and Garden

You’ll see there where you can follow me by email or subscribe in a reader.  I know I may lose a lot of you, but many of you may enjoy the new approach – less talk and technicalities, more photos.  Friends of Wally and LuLu will be happy to know they’re no longer confined to Saturdays, though I will still try to save a Saturday post for the folks who like to check in on that day.  If you’re more interested in seeing stamping projects, there’s always the option of clicking on the stamping category to filter out the rest.

I hope to see you there!

Can We Talk?

It’s high time I wrote this message.

I’m in the process of moving Wally and LuLu to their own blog.

It will be called Goldens and Garden, with the theme being, of course, Wally, LuLu and the garden.  I’ll sprinkle it with cards, but no lengthy commentaries on the cards – perhaps just a few words and the recipe.

I’ve been working at it for a while, isolating the posts I wish to include, then copying and pasting them one at a time.  They date back to early 2007, and I’m just now beginning 2011.

Once the move has been completed, I’ll no longer be posting to this blog.  Essentially I’ll be dropping out of the stamping blog circuit.  This decision has been a long time in the making.

I have to go with my heart, and my heart tells me I need to make myself more available for the things that are most important to me.  You’re looking at two of them in the photo I’ve included.  I’ll still be stamping – more, I imagine, since I won’t be spending as much time on the blog posts – and I will be sharing my favorite cards, most of which will fit the theme of the new blog.

For now, I’ll continue with the Wally and LuLu Saturday posts on this blog, and I’ll let you know when the other blog is ready.  Thank you for putting up with me.  Love you all.

Have You Ever Been the Victim of a Home Invasion?

It’s a pretty creepy feeling.  Yesterday our house was broken into, ransacked, and burglarized.  As I write this, I’m at the end of a long day of picking up the pieces.  I’m exhausted and I have a lot left to do.

Our thief must have watched as Rich, Wally, and I had lunch on the deck.  When I went back to work and Rich and Wally left shortly thereafter, he must have expected to have the house to himself for a while, because that’s when he made his move.  However, Rich returned in an hour and surprised him in the act.  Our thief escaped out the back door and through the woods before Rich entered the house.

How much can a guy do in an hour?  Well, he can tear your whole house apart.  He can scatter your family photographs and keepsakes and underwear from here to Kingdom Come.  He can open every drawer and cupboard and sweep the contents onto the floor.  He can trample your clothes with dirty footprints.  He can take your very own suitcases, backpacks, and grocery tote bags from the closets and fill them with your belongings.  He can invade your sanctuary, thoroughly violate your personal space, and rip away your sense of peace and security.

He can make a mess of your stamp room.  I don’t know what he thought he might find of value in there, but every inch of it was turned upside down and inside out. 

I haven’t begun to clean it yet.  There’s so much to do in every room.

In his haste to depart he left evidence -- his jacket laying on my stamp room floor, and a bloody t-shirt in the guest room.  Outside we found another t-shirt, more blood, and some footprints by a broken window.  Today I noticed a sock (not one of ours) caught on the chain link fence out back.

Our loss was minimal, thank goodness.  The police say he’s not likely to return, but I can’t shake the feeling of being watched.

I probably won’t be stamping for a while, but I do have a few things already finished which I’ll share later.  Just thought I’d check in with the latest happenings around the Miller residence.  Back to the clean up, now.  Take care!

Catching My Breath

Whew!  This is me after release week:

Just wring me out and hang me up to dry!  Maybe I’ll have a little time now to catch my breath and see what the rest of you have been up to.  I’ll be stopping by as soon as possible.  Have yourself a beautiful weekend!

Just a Note About Commenting, Etc.

I love to visit your blogs and no matter how long it takes me to get around to it, I’ll always pay a return visit to everyone who drops in and leaves a comment with a URL.  This has lead me to some absolutely delightful discoveries!  Just so you know… lately I’ve been having trouble with some of the Blogger blogs that require you to sign in with a Google account in order to leave a comment.  Not all, but some.  I think it might have something to do with my recent Internet Explorer “upgrade”.  I had similar problems the last time I “upgraded”.  Tsk, tsk!  Hopefully it will resolve itself and commenting can resume normally.  Meanwhile, when the name/URL option is offered in your comment window, those of us who are unable to comment otherwise will be happily commenting away!

Now, how about those folks who are so kind to leave comments but have no URL to leave in return?  Please know I read and appreciate every single comment, no matter what post you leave it on.  I receive them in my email, so there’s no chance of missing them.  I wish I could send a thank you every time, but that’s not a feasible option, so here’s one big THANK YOU to all!  Some of your names are as familiar to me as my own backyard, bless your hearts.

Well, now, that’s a lot of activity in my email inbox, but let’s not forget those of you who email me in response to a blog post which you receive via email subscription.  Thank you, too!  I try to respond to those, as well, though there are times they get pushed down, down, down, until I lose sight of them, and when they are rediscovered, I’m a little embarrassed at how much time has passed.  I’ll usually write back, anyway, but by then you’re probably saying “Huh?  What’s this about?”  So sorry!

And there are those of you, like me, who are trying to make the most of your daily lives and cannot possibly linger long at every stop.  So many blogs, so little time, right?  I may never know you were here, but that’s okay.  I’m glad to be one of your stops, and I hope every now and then you find something you enjoy.

I’ve been wanting to say all that, and there’s no time like the present because you never know what tomorrow may bring.  Take good care.  I hope all your tomorrows bring happiness.

A Busier than Usual Day on the Blog

I have two posts today, so please scroll down for Flourishes' new set preview, and continue on for the Stamper's Dream JustRite Christmas blog hop.  Thank you!