Blendabilities

I ordered 2 sets of the new Blendabilities alcohol markers on my pre-order and have had a little time to play with them.  Here are my first 3 attempts to color a flower with them.  Can you believe my first attempt was better than my second???  I was basically just coloring with them and couldn't get them to blend.  I watched a couple of videos but didn't get the "magic" tip that could make my blending better.  Then I was at a friend's house who has had a lot of experience with the other alcohol markers and she told me to just color 1 or 2 petals at a time.  I was going over the whole flower with the dark, then the medium, then the light shades.  By the time I started on the next shade the previous one had dried too much to blend.  Makes total sense but I never thought about it while I was coloring with them before.  And none of the videos I had watched had included that tip.  It made a huge difference in being able to blend the colors, as you can tell with the 3rd attempt.  The coloring was kind of sloppy but you can see that the blending was much better.  I still need a lot of practice but I'm more excited about the markers now that I can blend them and have the shading look better.

I used the new Blended Bloom individual stamp to stamp the flowers with Memento ink that Stampin' Up has added to it's catalog because it is the best ink to use with the Blendabilities markers.  The markers come in sets of 3, a light, medium and dark shade so that the colors will be the right shades to blend well.  I used the Coastal Cabana trio to color the flower. 

After I got the hang of it I got out a second color set of markers, the Old Olive assortment and stamped up a card front from a new hostess set that will be in the new catalog that will begin on June 1st called Bloom With Hope.  It is an 11 stamp set that has 5 sentiments and 6 flower parts.  I used the largest flower and the stem and leaves.  The Happy Birthday also is in the set.  I stamped it a little crooked, it may need some intervention unless I get used to the tilt of it.  The blue cardstock and ribbon may look a little unfamiliar to you, it is from the new 2014/15 In Color collection.  It is called Lost Lagoon. I love the new Stitched Satin Ribbon that comes in the new In Colors shades, isn't it beautiful?  I will be using the other 4 colors in projects soon.  They are Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow and Tangelo Twist. 

I'm not saying I am now an expert at blending but I am very pleased with my progress.  I will get better as I practice and get more experience.  I wasn't being all that careful in my practice pieces either so I need to watch the lines more.  Another tip I heard was to not color all the way up to the lines because the alcohol ink tends to bleed some.  I think I need to pop open the small end more often too so I can get in the smaller areas and tight corners. 

The new catalog is an amazing catalog, I'm so excited about it!  There are still many of our favorite stamp sets from the past in it but there are so many new sets that will be so much fun to add to my stamp collection.  I hope to spend more time scrapbooking now.  I have neglected my scrapbooks for making cards the past couple of years.  Scrapbooking was my original passion but cards are so quick and easy, I have been going with the more instant gratification of seeing my art finished more quickly.  It is nice to have lots of cards ready any time I need to send one to someone too.

There are 12 color sets of the new Blendabilities markers.  The set of 3 sells for $11.95 so that is only $4 per marker.  That's better than the regular price of the other brand of alcohol markers in the local craft stores.  I was pleased about that.  Of course, having them in colors that match Stampin' Up's cardstock is a wonderful bonus!  I love not having to struggle to find something to match.  There is also a skin tone assortment of 6 colors so you can color anyone  :~)  I need to get the new Color Lifter pen too, I make so many mistakes! 

New Catalog, New Stamps and Tornadoes

I know this is long so if you don't have time to read just scroll down to the bottom to see a couple of samples with a brand new stamp set.

Stampin’ Up is an innovative company and always comes up with creative ways to do things.  I’m always amazed when I go to their conventions at all the little fun things they include to make it extra special.  They tried something new last month to show the demonstrators the new 2014/2015 catalogs.  They had a catalog premier show.  The live show was filmed somewhere in California but there were dozens of movie theaters all over the US that the live show streamed to.  We were invited to get a ticket to our nearest theater and attend and watch along with the ones able to attend the live event.  Pretty cool! 

The event was on April 28^th.  I thought one would be in Nashville which is only about 50 miles away but there wasn’t one in Nashville.  The nearest ones were all right around 4 hours away, Knoxville, TN; Louisville, KY and Birmingham, AL.  I was thinking about going to Knoxville but a friend emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to the one in Birmingham with her.  I had been wanting to get to know her better so I went to the one in Birmingham.

We left about noon to give us plenty of time in case of traffic or getting lost, etc.  We found the theater with no trouble at 4PM.  We couldn’t get in till 5 and the premier didn’t start till 6 so we went across the street to a Moe’s we saw there.  Yum!  We don’t have one here so we enjoyed a nice fresh supper and went back to the theater.  We got back a few minutes after 5 so went on in.  There were 2 employees at the counter so we went to them to ask where to go for the premier.  They told us that because of the weather Stampin’ Up had cancelled it. 

I’m pretty sure my mouth dropped open.  I was having a lot of thoughts going through my head.  We had just driven for 4 hours, had a hotel room and most of all we wanted to see the new catalog!  I also had some very confused thoughts about how the tornado warnings that Birmingham were under would affect California and wondered if Knoxville was cancelled too.  Then they told us the feed would probably be interrupted at their theater so we wouldn’t be able to see it anyway and Stampin’ Up was concerned about our safety so wanted us to find a safe place during the storm.

We went back out to the car, terribly disappointed and thinking that if we just headed back home we could get here by 9:00 so we might as well cancel the hotel and go home.  There were some other demonstrators getting back in their cars and leaving so they had already gotten the news.  Then another car drove up so we decided to go talk to them.  As we were visiting and all feeling bad about the cancellation more people arrived.  Then we started calling Stampin’ Up asking about it.  The person I talked to told me that someone was on their way with the catalogs so we decided to wait for her before leaving.  At least we would get to see the new catalog and all the wonderful new stamps and other supplies it contained!

Then one of the people we had talked to in the theater came out.  She said that the feed was working so we were welcomed to come in and watch as much as the storms would let come through.  Yay!  We were hoping that we would at least get to see an hour or so of the premier show.  At this point I wasn’t even considering tornadoes.  So we all went in and got our seats.  The person with the catalogs showed up and since nobody knew how the evening would go she handed them out first.  I guess all the other demonstrators in theaters across the country without storm warnings had to wait until after the show to get their catalogs.  We also got a free stamp set.  It was a very versatile looking background set.  I liked it but didn’t have a clear vision of it’s many uses yet. 

That is the set they were using for the projects they demonstrated.  Every project they did with it made me love it even more!  It is such a versatile set, you will see lots and lots of samples made with it I’m sure.  The feed continued uninterrupted except for a flicker when lightning struck nearby.  We could also hear the thunder rumbling any time there was a few seconds of silence on the show.  We were able to see the video till the end so we were happy about that.  Once it was over we drove to the hotel and managed to get into the room just as it started to rain. 

It wasn’t long until a storm siren went off nearby.  It sounded like it was very close.  We decided we should turn on the local news and see what was going on.  A tornado had hit Tuscaloosa which is about 50 miles SW of Birmingham.  There were tornado warnings for Birmingham and all around the area.  The storm coverage on the news showed them getting closer and closer to our hotel.  And the siren kept going off every 10 minutes or so.  I live way out in the country so I don’t usually hear the sirens so this one so close and so often was a bit unnerving for me.  I don’t usually stress out over tornado warnings.  I just keep an eye on the news and listen for the “freight train” so I can head to the basement if needed.  We have a nice safe place down there.

Juanita and I put our suitcases in the bathroom along with a couple of pillows to cover our heads with if we had to hop in the bathtub.  Each bed had 3 pillows so we had plenty of extras.  We slept in our clothes and sat listening to the news and looking at our new Stampin’ Up catalogs.  Thank goodness we had that little distraction to keep us from freaking out too bad.  I didn’t feel nearly as safe in that hotel room as I do when I’m home.  I tried to call my husband but his new cell phone had some kind of problem and wasn’t working.  We often have that kind of wonderful timing . . .

One of the roving reporters was at a gas station not far from us.  He kept putting his microphone in people’s faces asking them if they were worried.  Duh!  After they had returned to him several times during the filming the whole place started shaking and pieces of the roof tiles started falling.  I had to laugh at the news reporter because he was so scared but didn’t want to show it on camera.  It wasn’t funny at all and It was headed straight at me but sometimes reporters can be a bit obnoxious so I couldn’t help laughing at him. I’m sure he was relieved when they turned off the camera and he could get in the back storage room where the customers had gone!  When they came back to him a bit later he was showing things that had blown down off the shelves and went outside and one of the gas pumps had been blown over onto a car that was parked beside it.  I guess they thought that would be a safe place to park while they sought shelter inside.

That was about 10:45. The storms were so close to us.  And that infernal siren kept going off!  Our area of Birmingham was told to get in our safe place.  The tornadoes were less than 10 miles away from us.  My daughter who lives in Colorado texted me about that time to ask if I was spending the night in the basement.  I told her I wasn’t home, I was in Birmingham. She had seen the news and knew that wasn’t a good thing.  I asked her to pray for us.  - Then we prayed for us.  About 10 minutes later they said the tornado warning had been cancelled!  Whew!  I could breathe again! We were so thankful for that news.

We took off our shoes but slept in our clothes with cell phones and flashlights beside us just in case another storm came along after we turned off the weatherman.  Once I fell asleep that was it.  I didn’t wake up at all until it was light outside the next morning.  This is a trip I won’t soon forget!  If you are still reading, thanks for sticking with my long story.  Now for what you come to my blog for, stamping!  Here are more samples with the Work of Art stamp set. 

First is a card with a simple background, inked up the swoop stamp once and stamped it 3 times so it is lighter with each stamp.  I think it makes a great background for butterflies to fly over!

Second is another card with the swoop, this time it is turned like an arch and is rainbow-like.  The sentiment and the hearts are also in the Work of Art set.  This one was a quick and easy card too.

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Last is a card I used the technique to ink up the embossing folder before embossing the paper.  I used the circle stamp from Work of Art to stamp the white on the Blushing Bride background cardstock.  The Thank You sentiment is also in the Work of Art set.  I'm glad the Natural Chevron Ribbon is in the new catalog, I love that stuff!

National Scrapbooking Day

National Scrapbooking Day is the first Saturday in May.  Since today was that day I'm glad I got to spend the day at Lake Barkley in KY at a weekend scrapbook retreat.  I did a couple of layouts and 5 cards so far.  I took a couple of nice walks today and enjoyed the woods and the lake.  Lots of boats were out today, fishing boats, pontoon boats, sail boats and speed boats. It is a beautiful day and I enjoyed being to be outside and take a nice long walk.  Here is a picture of the lake and another one of the lodge we are staying at.  It is at a Girl Scout camp and is very nice.  I wouldn't say the beds are the most comfortable in the world though!  I did sleep well last night though. 

 

Here is one of the layouts I made today.  I used my new stamp set I got at the New Catalog Premiere party in Birmingham, AL Monday night.  That turned out to be quite the adventure and way too much for a post that I'm putting up just past midnight.  Anyway, I used the new Work of Art stamp set.  It is great for backgrounds.  I had fun with this layout.

 I also made 5 cards today.  Here are 2 of them.  I used the long, narrow stamp to make a plaid background on the pink/purple card.  A few dogwood blossoms from the Flower Shop card with a small flower punched from Silver Glimmer paper finishes off the top corner of the card.  The second card uses a more random design and then I stamped the same colors on a small scrap of Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Pansy Punch.  They were both pretty quick and easy.  It's late so I reckon I ought to head to my bunk.  Good night!

Another Scrapbook Option!

Many of you know that my first love in the paper-crafting world  is scrapbooking.  I had stamped a few times and sometimes used stamping in my scrapbooks but mostly I just scrapbooked  from 1994-2004 when I joined a Stampin' Up Stamper's 10 group.  Then I learned how to do a LOT of stamping on scrapbook pages and loved it!  Soon I decided I wanted to join Stampin' Up as a demonstrator - the best job ever  :~)

There was an exciting announcement today, Stampin' Up is partnering with Becky Higgins, a very famous name in the scrapbooking world!  She started Project Hope a while back and now you can get this great scrapbooking product in Stampin' Up colors, how cool is that???

Here is a video of the announcement:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8r2VmVJ2Zk

Customers can begin ordering Project Life products on May 1st and with the introduction of the new catalog on June 2 there will be an even larger line of Project Life products available.  It is an exciting time to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator with Sale-a-Bration just ending and the new catalog about to be unveiled.  I'll get to see the new catalog in 2 weeks and will be ordering a few things right away so I can share some brand new ideas with you as soon as possible.

 

 I'm in a bit of a hurry, I forgot to take my taxes to mail when I went to my hair apt this morning so I have to drive back in to the Post Office.  Sigh.  I don't like wasting time and gas.  Here are some of the swaps I got when I went to the stamp retreat in Huntsville.  I love the cute idea of putting a seed packet in a slide out card and the "I Dig You" stamp is perfect for that project!  Since we are expecting a frost tonight (isn't April 15 the time they say you can plant in TN because freeze chances are past???) I haven't planted my flowers yet.  I have planted lettuce and spinach though.  Since they are only up about 1/2" I will cover them tonight.  They should be ok since they are hardy plants but I don't want to take chances.

Stamp Case Projects

Have you bought any of the Stampin' Up stamp cases?  They make 3 sizes, the regular clear stamp cases and 2 sizes of wood block cases.  They are on page 197 of the 2013/14 catalog.  The clear mount cases are 7-1/2"X 5-1/2" and are about 3/4" thick (119105, $5.95 for 4 cases).  They are great for storing things like Stampin' Up markers, a color family will fit in each case.  Very handy to keep them together.  Thinlits also fit great in these thin cases.  Add some  magnet sheet to hold them in place and they will be kept safe, unchipped and unwarped in these little cases. 

 

The larger wood mount cases are about 1 1/4" thick and are 7-1/2"X 5-1/2" (127551, $6.95 for 4), the half size are the same thickness but only 3-3/4"X 5-1/2" (127552, $4.95 for 4).  The larger cases are big enough to store our sheets of basic rhinestones and pearls, plenty of adhesive or about dozen card kits or partially finished cards.  The smaller ones are a great size for the little things like sponge daubers, reinkers, brads, buttons, ribbon and baker's twine.  What do you keep in your wonderful stamp cases besides stamps?

 One of the projects we made at the retreat in Huntsville, AL was made with a half size wood block case.  We inserted a piece of the beautiful Water Color Wonder Designer paper into the cover of the case and  made a band to put around it that we decorated with a punched, scrunched flower.

Inside the half-size case we made some pretty monogramed notecards AND matching envelopes using the same designer paper and  the new, wonderful, versatile Envelope Punch Board.  I love that thing!  You have probably seen the boxes, bows and variety of file folders made with the punch board. 

Our second clear case project was a mini scrapbook.  Tip here, always stamp before adhering.  I had the white piece stuck to the Summer Starfruit one before I stamped and I dropped the inked stamp on it!  Oh well, I just turned it upside down so it was at the top and will be covered (mostly) with the picture I put on the front.  I might need to do some blue inking around it to make it less noticeable  :~)  The front and back pieces were assembled and inserted in the outside cover of the case.

 This is what the inside looks like when you first open the case.  On the left the page was a single page and adhered right to the inside of the case.  The page on the right is the front of an accordion fold out album.

 The inside front pages.

 The back of the accordion pages.

I love this mini album, it was quick and easy and with the Water Color Wonder designer paper it is just beautiful!  I hope you get some of these great cases and not only store things in them but craft something too.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I have green and blue socks on but I might get pinched before someone looks at my socks!  I haven't gone anywhere today though, other than to the mail box, the compost heap and the wood pile so nobody has tried to pinch me yet.  Here are a couple of the St Patrick's day projects I made, I had a couple of the leprechauns left over after the M&M's ran out so I put them on cards.  The punch art is the same as I made last year, he is just too cute to change it up or not make him again!

I also wanted to share a couple of more projects from the retreat I went to in Alabama. 
 I love this card, isn't it beautiful?  It was a CASE from somewhere but I can't remember who to give credit to for it.  It was stamped with the Gold Metallic Encore ink pad.  The sentiment was also embossed with gold embossing powder.  We used the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch to punch the top of the tag.  It is a cool punch, you just cut your paper 2" wide and punch it to the length you want it.  I'm sure you are seeing a lot of projects done with this punch already.  I also made a card Saturday with this punch on either side of the card and then folded in and tied with a ribbon.  I'll post that one soon too.  The card is embellished with a lot of fun embellishments from the Occasions Mini catalog, Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape, Gold Sequin Trim and Gold Baker's Twine.  A half of a Tea Lace Paper Doily.  Small amounts of these items make a mighty big difference on this card, don't you think?

 This bouquet of flowers was easy to make with 2 new products.  The Spiral Flower die makes the rose quick to make, just run it through the Big Shot, rub the bone folder along the sides to quickly curve it some and adhere with a few glue dots or other favorite adhesive and you have a beautiful rose!  The other flowers were equally simple by cutting a strip of DSP, cutting the edge with the Fringe Scissors and twirling it around the dowel.  We used a circle punch to punch the leaves, punch a circle and then reinsert the circle partially in the punch to make the leaf shape.  We used the Fringe Scissors to make the "grass" at the mouth of the jar and the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch to make the ends of the belly band.  It didn't take very long to make this nice bouquet!

Retreat projects

I showed the swap I made for the retreat in Huntsville last time.  We did some great projects there too.  I'll share a couple of those tonight since I haven't created anything this week.  We got several inches of ice Sunday night/Monday morning and couldn't get out of the driveway so my husband hasn't gone to work and we have been doing fun stuff like washing windows and walls the past 2 days.  He plans to go to work tomorrow so I might find some time to play then.

 This is one of the cards we made.  The stamp set is from the set Perfect Pennants which we got with the price of the retreat.  You will be seeing the quotes from this set several times as I post the cards and projects we made.  It is a great set.  Did you notice the fringe on the bottom of the card?  We also got a pair of the new Fringe Scissors in our kit and you will notice them on a couple of the projects too.  It is a fun look and a big time saver.  it was so quick to make the fringe when the scissors have 5 blades!  Another new product used on this card is the Banner Framelits Die.  It is so easy to line up and creates a perfect  banner around any phrase that will fit within it.  It comes in a set of 6 so will make a wide range of sizes.

 Have you seen the new box cards?  At least I have seen more lately than ever so I guess it is kind of new.  We created one in Huntsville and they are pretty fun.  The card folds flat so you can mail it in a regular envelope.  What a fun surprise for someone to get in the mail!  These first 2 projects also used the Kaleidoscope DSP, one of the paper packs available in the Spring Mini Catalog which goes until June 1st. 

Here is one of the swaps, I haven't decided if this is upside right or upside down.  Without a sentiment it is hard to tell.  When I put a sentiment on it and decide which way is up I will post it again so you can see what I did.  I'm thinking it is probably upside down in this picture.  Isn't it a pretty card?   I like the embossed stripes she drew on with the Simply Scored board, it looks great with the Adorning Accents embossing folder used to accent the design stamped with the So Very Grateful stamp set.  It is a beautiful card!

I'm still here!

Hi, did you miss me?  I've been around, just super busy and barely have time to stamp at all the past few months.  I have only taught one class since Thanksgiving.  I have been doing the Winter Market every week so any stamping and crafting time have gone to making things to sell there.  It has been a very good year there.  It goes until May so I'm working on St. Patrick's Day things and have Easter projects in mind for later in March.  I wish I had kept up with the number of cards I have sold there.  I would probably be surprised if I knew.

Here is a special order I got a couple of weeks ago.  One of my regular customers wanted a very special 50th anniversary card for her parents.  I made it larger than most cards, a full sheet of cardstock folded in half.  I used lots of gold on the card, the Brushed Gold Cardstock that is discontinued  but I still have several sheets along with Champagne glimmer paper for the large die cut background and behind the hearts I punched at the bottom.  I found some large chipboard numbers and covered them with glass glitter.  My customer was very happy with the card.  I was relieved.  I thought she would like it but I always stress out when I get a special order! 

Last Saturday I went to Huntsville, AL for a Stampin' Up Retreat.  It was a fun day and we did some great projects.  Of course we swapped!  They say there is a first time for everything and last week was certainly a first for me.  I finished my swaps 2 days before I left for the retreat!  Those of you who know me know that I am usually working on my swaps on the way to the event.  It was strange to be able to relax the last couple of days instead of having to frantically work on the swap.  I used the Sweet Sorbet DSP in the Sale-A-Bration mini catalog for the accents and the cute Flower Shop stamp in the circle.  There is still time to get the FREE Sale-A-Bration items, just check out the link for my Stampin' Up website.  

Well, I gotta run.  I'm feeling the need for a Cantina Bell bowl for supper and I reckon I should try to get home with them by the time my husband gets home.  If you haven't had one you should try it.  I always get the one with chicken and it is sooooo good!  Yum!  Bye!

leaf turkeys

Mercy me!  It has been a month since I posted anything!  Where has the month gone?  I've been super busy but have still found the time to stamp and punch and create.  I remember when I was a kid we used to make turkeys out of different leaves.  I looked at the leaves on the Autumn Accents die and knew they would work for a turkey so I put the tail together and then thought on it for a few days before I figured out the rest.  I have seen lots of turkeys with a similar head using the Owl Punch so I used that idea for his head and added wings from 2 more leafs.

Here are the pieces I used except I forgot to put the owl punch in this picture.

I stacked the leaves and trimmed off the bottom for the tail, then I put 2 leaves together for each wing.  I used the smallest flower in the Boho Blossoms punch for the waddle.  I made 2 waddles from each flower.  I trimmed off a petal, skipped 2 and trimmed off another petal and cut what was left in half.  The beak is one of the little hearts on the owl punch.  I placed these on the front of the owl who had his feet and ears cut off (ouch!).  I had several sizes of wiggle eyes.  On the smaller eyes I also used the circles from the owl punch behind the eyes to make them large owl eyes. 

 I used regular tape runner to put the tail and wings together but I used red tape to adhere them to the purse.  I cut it without the flap and it makes a nice little box to hold candy. 

I filled it with some kisses, peanut butter cups and Hershey's mini candy bars.  I think it would be cool to put a little sign in each turkey with the names of your guests and use them for place holders at the Thanksgiving table!

Here is another turkey I made to put on treats.  I used the same owl punch turkey face but used the 2 3/8" Scalloped Circle and the 1 3/4" scalloped circle (2 of each) for the tail and the Bird Builder punch wings for the little turkey's wings.

I learned how to make a box with the Envelope Punch Board so I used the little scalloped circle turkeys to put on the front of these too.  They are a perfect size to hold an individually packaged  Reeses Peanut Butter cup.

 

I hope you have time to  make some fun paper turkeys for Thanksgiving.  They are easier to make than a real turkey but I don't reckon they taste as good! 

Test Drive Stampin' Up - An Amazing Stampin' Up Opportunity! And a couple of projects too.

Stampin' Up is making an unbelievable offer for the next week, until Oct 21st.  To celebrate Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary, you can try out being a demonstrator for just $25!  If you have EVER considered it, now is the perfect chance!  If you don't like it then you still have over $25 worth of Stamps and if you do like it you have a fun job that will introduce you to some amazing friends.  I love being a demonstrator and I especially enjoy my "wholesale account".  I'd love to have you join my stampin' team, we have a lot of fun! 

Click on the picture above to get more details!

Isn't this owl bag adorable?  There was one sitting on every table at the Holiday Retreat for us to put our garbage in.  Well, being the thrifty person I am, I simply couldn't throw it away with the garbage!  I dumped it out and brought him home with me.  I know Mary Robinson put lots of work into making all of the bags and hope mine wasn't the only one saved from the garbage.

Here is a nice Thanksgiving card I got in the swap at the retreat from a sweet friend, Mychael Allen.  I love the Off The Grid stamp, it is a single stamp, I need it!  There are also some splattery accents with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to add some texture to the background. She finished it off with the 2-step leaf stamps from Gently Falling and a sentiment from the Tags For You set with  the coordinating Bracket Punch.  As much as I dread Winter coming and know that Fall is bringing it on faster, I love the colors and harvest symbols of Fall.

This card was also made by the wonderful and talented Mary Robinson.  It shows the versatility of the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set.  The great background was stamped with 4 of the 5 stamps in this set to give an amazing textured card without the bulk.  She also used some fun Washi Tape across the card and placed a sentiment from the Tags For You set. Isn't it a great card!

 

Now, if you want to attend retreats, join in the swaps and get discounts on stamps and other great Stampin' Up merchandise, contact me or sign up on my website here.  I'd love to have you join the fun!