My next class at China Phoenix 2...

Hey, everybody!  Hope you're all doing well out and about in Blogland.  We finally moved into our new house almost 2-weeks ago and are still settling in as I type this.  We spent almost 3-weeks at my sister's house while we were in transition between moving out of our townhouse and closing on the new house.  Originally we were only going to be homeless for about 4 days, but that stretched into a week, and that stretched into 2-weeks, and that stretched into....well, you get the idea.  At one point, we seriously thought we were going to have to move everything back into the old house and that the whole deal was going to fall through.  Phew!  Thank goodness, that didn't happen.  The last cog finally fell into place for our buyers and that set the ball rolling in the right direction.

I have a lot of folks to thank whose assistance was instrumental during this process...first of all, we have a group of friends who graciously helped us move all of our worldly possessions into the garages of our new place, my sister and her boyfriend who not only helped us move, but hosted us (and our 2 cats) for what must have seemed like an eternity to them, my mom and dad whose support and encouragement were tremendous, my father-in-law who also cheered us on, my friend Shay who helped me unpack and organize my entire kitchen (no small feat...LOL!), and let's not forget all of the strong shoulders I leaned on when I needed a friendly ear to listen to my tale of woe... my how you must have gotten sick and tired of hearing me whine, LOL!  

What started out as a super smooth and lightening fast sale in the beginning, proved to have a rocky ending when all was said and done.  My word of advice to anyone selling a home...a pre-approval letter is no guarantee, especially if your buyers are first timers.  In today's market, that pre-approval status can change faster than a nanosecond if an "i" is not properly dotted or a "t" is not properly crossed.  Seriously, the process is wrapped up so tight in red tape, even Indiana Jones would have trouble breaking through that maze of detail.  If you are, or will be, deep in the process of selling or buying a home, I wish you smooth sailing, my friend :)

Enough home stuff, after all, this is not a real estate blog, it's a card blog, so let's talk about a card!  The one I'm featuring today is part one of two that I will be teaching in a class this Saturday at China Phoenix 2.   Independence Day is right around the corner and these cards celebrate everything great about this holiday.  I used a set of stamps (Americana Silhouettes) by the ever clever Master of Grunge himself, Tim Holtz, and let me emphasize, I LOVE this set and ended up using all of the images at least once (sometimes twice) for the 2 cards I created for class.  The cards have a bit of a retro feel and combined with the trademark TH distressing techniques, were an absolute blast to make.  They were a bit messy, but you know it's been a good crafting day when your hands are covered in ink.  Pop back in tomorrow and I'll share the other card with you.

If you're in the Albuqueruque/Santa Fe area and you want to hang out with me this Saturday to make these cards, give Nancy a call at CP2 (505-884-8217) and she'll add your name to the class list.

Until next time, stay crafty!