TIme for some {new} stamps

I love them. FACT. I really don't feel like I want or really need to say any more about our newest release. Maybe that they are amazing???!!!  Mark has done a fabulous job, and this is not all, there are more to come apparently. These can all be found in the HotPicks section of our website.

Suffice to say,they are available to order unmounted, or trimmed onto EZ mount foam. They all come with a nice storage sheet, and they are ready waiting for you in the shop now...so get your thinking hats on and work out all the fabulousness you could make with a few of them in your stash!

So back here at PAHQ, we have had quite some excitement last weekend as Mark and I ventured off into the world of Music festival weekends. Even though Chelmsford is only 10 minutes up the road, we hired a camper van and trundled off for 3 days of LOUD music and tasty English beer. We took Courtney (17yrs) and her BF Sam too. They were both unwell with heavy colds, so they drank about 6 cans between the 2 of them all weekend, and realised they were acting like the oldies more than Mark and I. We saw so many bands I've lost count (we are quite partial to new Indie music), and enjoyed a weekend off in what was pretty much fabulous weather for the whole event. We had a hilarious Fri afternoon in the on-site pub, and met lots of people, many of who have become new twitter friends too. If you are ever going to do a festival, then the whole caravan thing is deffo the way to go. Full English breakfasts, bathroom and loo on board, comfy, warm beds - perfect!

So its almost back to school time. Courtney passed her AS exams and starts Year 13 continuing her art and media studies, and Ella also sat 1 maths GCSE as a year 9 student, and got a B which was pretty good, and better than she, we and her maths teacher expected. It will be Miss Ella's 15th birthday next week, so we have to muster some enthusiasm for that....we have just had 3 birthdays in recent weeks, so by the time it gets to Ella we are kind of done with the whole celebration thing. (poor Ella). Hugo is also off to big school, so in the evenings I am diligently sewing name tags onto stuff I am pretty sure will be lost in the first month anyway.

And just as school goes back we have our final batch of kiwis coming to visit. We are very much looking forward to seeing Dad and Sue, and I am sure they too are glad to have a break from Christchurch and  the constant tremors that still rock the city. My sister Emma is starting a phD in Law at Cambridge this year, so she will be heading this way too in the coming months.

Lin and I get together again this week to finish off our AC samples which are an absolute labour of love this time. We are both so loving our AC projects....yet again we are doing things that are quite different to anything we have done before. They are quite big projects this time, I think once we have the samples done we will put pictures up for you to see too. Lynne Perrella's classes are almost full, we have a few spots left on the Sunday. I have 2 of her 3 samples here and I wish I could do all her classes too!!

Oh and I almost forgot, new paint will be coming soon too.....lovely autumnal shades....

WOYWW???? ... I {FOUND} IT !!!!

I should probably be utterly ashamed that for the last *whispers* (cough, mumble, not telling) years I have kind of lost my desk(s) in my studio and if I show you this piccie below you can see that it was actually quite a feat just to get your butt inside the door!

So this space realistically is not JUST a studio..technically it is also a storage space...but initially it WAS my studio...and then it got lost.....lost behind all the boxes...boxes for shows, boxes of class supplies, boxes of unused class kits, boxes of stock, boxes of stamps...boxes of stuff i really needed to sort out. It was driving me utterly bonkers, and I just couldn't find a minute to get stuck in.

On her shining horse came Jo Firth-Young to the rescue..(insert trumpets)and she spent days and days ordering around PaperArtsy elves, and drawing up plans....and co-ordinating what went where....and then left me to it to sort out the nitty gritty of what went where. It was fabulous to have another person to do this with, and we had a lot of laffs along the way.

As many of you know, we embarked on this process several weeks ago, and a skip load later and many many many more hours than I ever imagined it would take, finally we are done. The relief is enormous, and I LOVE my new space. So it does need some tweaking, but at this point, everything is in a box and on a shelf or in a cupnoard. I still need to arrange lots of artwork back on the wall etc to pretty it all up, but for now it is utterly FUNCTIONAL!

So do you wanna see??? Do ya????

 

Well here is the magnificence of it all! Look at all that floor! 

 And look, not ONE but TWO desks! I found TWO desks!! A bit greedy I admit..all clean and ready to play 

And here are some of the shelves with everything all in a place..now to be honest if you ask me to find..say buttons, or grungepaper...I may have a job finding it all...but I know its there somewhere...and all of the same thing in one place for a change!

 And this is what I call the homework zone..for munchkins...and it could also be the coffee/ lunch area!! Oh what the heck, it's an internet cafe!! Clearly you can see that!*squeals*

 Hidden behind the internet cafe is this storage zone...some of our boxes...more class supplies, excess stock

 And also some more cupboard for more stock

And it's just as well we got it ready because today *drum roll* Mrs Linda Brown herself is the first to play in MY STUDIO...many of you may remember I was first to play in her Studio a few weeks back, so it's only fair that I return the compliment. However, just between you and me, she has just texted that she has a whole car load of stuff to bring...I hope she's not going to come in and trash the place! Surely she knows I have everything a crafter could possibly need already!!

Regardless, if she does go into trash mode, I shall duly report back to you with an update....just so we're clear about who has to clean up their mess later OK?? So I have set up the tables all nice and pretty ready to roll after lunch when she gets here...and this is what my desks look like today! For those of you WOYWW fanatics who have been with me on this journey of tidiness, I salute you for getting to the end of this post!

I think this calls for that pimms get together to celebrate...currently taking signs up on twitter...everyone is bringing drinkies and nibbles....must go and check the calendar for a free day in between kiwi visitors...we have had 3 sets so far this summer BTW!

And don't forget to go see Julia's blog to share whats on your desk today and have a nosey around a whole lot more!

Leandra