Final Farewell Blog Hop

I had the opportunity to take part in this Final Farewell blog hop and I just couldn't pass it up.  We were asked to share some memories of our time with The Angel Company.  How does one condense 12 years into one blog post?  It's not easy.  So, I went to my photo album and chose some photos that meant something to me for one reason or another.

First, though, I was asked to share a card to honor Mischelle Smith, the CEO of The Angel Company and our friend.
 This card is my way of saying that no matter the storms of life....God's hand will guide you.  I came across this website and thought it seemed so appropriate for this card.  http://www.intouch.org/magazine/content/topic/god_s_provision_devotional

Mischelle I loved my time with The Angel Company and will always remember my very first seminar.  It was even more memorable because my downline and I got into a car accident on the way and totaled her car.  I was in shock for most of that weekend but I still managed to have a wonderful time.  That was the last seminar that I drove to KC from Oregon.  After that I took the plane ;-) 

I remember throwing a wadded up napkin at Annette Brisse at the banquet, missing her and hitting you (never had much of an aim). Boy was I embarrassed.  But you took it in stride.

And the look on your face when I handed you one of my practical jokes....PRICELESS...thanks for putting up with my goofiness.

One night, at my last seminar I went to, you took the time to talk on the phone to one of my downline that had designed the cover of the catalog but  wasn't able to come to seminar.  She was so excited.  You had a long line of Angels waiting to visit with you but you took a few minutes to talk to her and that made a huge impression on me.

Thank you, Mischelle, for all the things you have done, over the years, for each one of us.  God WILL and IS blessing you!!!

Now, with all that said.... I have so many memories......and then scroll on down to the bottom to visit the other bloggers that are paying tribute!

Some of the TAC staff and Kevin

Bridget Siddall, Lori Beck and Stacy Hinton 

Doesn't take much to crack Rita Holmes up.  Rita, we'll always be buds..thanks for all the laughs every time we are together or talk on the phone!!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM some good desserts at seminar!!  But, my very favorite was the flourless chocolate cake!!!

Kim Sears, first seminar and TAC's 10 year anniversary

Me and Karen

Me and Rita Wakeen

Mary Moor receiving her 5 year pin

Mischelle Smith and Kimberly Smith

Rita and Karen with that cake no one could eat...LOL

Sophi and Caitlin....two cuties!!

Kevin Smith Jr

The Brocks...what a great couple

Mischelle in her stinkin cute skirt!!

Meredith Deaton, myself and Beverly Jennings (loved their southern accents)

Ruth and Jodi....two AWESOME staff members who always had a good word when you called the TAC office.  Thanks you two for all the encouragement through the years!!

Me, Mama Angel and Avis Anderson

Jody Rinderer and myself

Me and Marie McClung

Diane Short and Kimberly Onofre at Club Med

Wake up Marie, time to catch your plane (Marie sleeping in the hotel lobby before her flight)

Rene, myself and Avis Anderson who encouraged me more than anyone and still does!!  Thanks Avis!!!

Jodi and the Cha Cha mugs

Char and Ruth

Mama O'Farrell, (my TAC Grandma) myself and Kelly Eiseman (my upline)

Marie McClung, "What? you don't put butter on YOUR fries?"

Tracy Turner and Ruth

Rita Holme's group "crowning" Kevin Smith

Shawna Renville

"That's All Folks"

Here are the other gals participating in the Blog Hop:

Julie
Seleise
Rita W.
Donna
Chan
Mary
Angela
Laura
Barbara
Trudy
Shirley
Wendy
Carol
Rita K.
Kim
Paula Kay
Teresa
Maria
Deb
Diana
Christine
Chelsea
Sandy
Char
Diane
Chris
Stacy
Rita
Angie

Ginger

Betty

Hope you enjoyed your HOP.....come back now and again for other fun things that will be certain to be going on.

Hugs,
Char

Hurricane Irene

As I switch between CNN and Fox News...(I don't have the Weather Channel)....my prayers are going out to ALL who live anywhere near where Hurricane Irene will hit or has hit!

I have family and many friends on the east coast and although some of them are not on the actual coastline...they will be affected by winds and power outages.  Others live right in the path of the storm and of course, all we can do is sit and wait to hear from them after it runs it's course which could be days...especially if they lose power and ways to communicate.

PLEASE everyone.....do all you can to be SAFE!!!!    THINGS just aren't as important as LIVES!!!

HUGS
Char

Hanging up my Angel Wings

Hi everyone,

This was posted on Tuesday on the Angel Company website, but I have been in a fog for the past couple of days and just couldn't bring myself to post to my blog just yet.  Today, I decided that I needed to let you all know so I could move on.  :-)
                                                      ********

It is with great sadness that I must announce we are hanging up our wings. These past several years our industry has faced enormous challenges and as a result, we have seen many companies close their doors. We continued to hope we could see The Angel Company through this recession and back into prosperous days and we held onto this hope as long as we could.

One of the largest challenges affecting each of us is our industry not being able to support all of the direct sales companies in our field. Even in a healthy economy, we are a niche market trying to compete for a very limited number of distributors. As a small company, this has been a grueling challenge for us. Times are tough for everyone ~ in direct sales and retail environments.
I would like to thank each of you for being an customer and Angel these past 14 years. Indeed, it has been a pleasure to serve you.

The Angel Company

                                                          ********

I have been with The Angel Company since 1999 and it has been such a wonderful journey.  Thank you to our owner/friend Mischelle for all these years with an awesome company.  May the Lord richly bless you and your family and may we meet often on the 'inky' trail.

With that said, I will not be joining another company at this time. I don't know that I could/would join another company.......maybe some day off in the future....but just not now.   My memories with TAC are still too fresh.

BUT, I will be posting more on my blog in the days and weeks ahead.....so stay tuned for that!!

Hugs,
Char

Where or where does the time go?

If you know the answer to that question, feel free to let me know. :-)

I do know that time has escaped me for months and months.  Plus, I haven't felt any ambition to do any stamping.  That is just not ME. I have been extremely busy raising our granddaughter.  Plus, summer is very busy for me when both granddaughters here.  We planned on getting in some stamping time but the days just flew by.

All of us took part in Relay for Life in July and that was fulfilling but a lot of work.  I was a team Captain and so had a lot of different things going on leading up to the actual Relay.

Then, right after that, we went on a mini vacation with the girls....and had a blast!!!!

Back home again and our older Granddaughter has gone home.....and now it's time to get ready for the Western Angel Gathering that is coming up fast!!

This is an annual event, held in September every year,  for TAC (The Angel Company) Angels (demonstrators) living in and around the Pacific Northwest and any other Angels that would like to attend. 

Preparations are well underway and I have been having a BLAST figuring out challenges, typing up the agenda and selecting prizes and goodies for the gals that are attending!!    I think they will be really pleased!! 

Our WAG getaway is so much fun!!!  The girls attending each bring a shoebox project to share with the others, we have challenges, a few games.....but most of all we enjoy just getting together, having fun and catching up on what everyone has been doing over the past year.  Everyone shares ideas and that usually entails going shopping at the craft stores so that we can play later, after the shoebox projects are finished.

WAG is in Salem, OR every year.  This is our 8th year.  The first two years we had it in Kennewick, WA but I realized that the majority of gals that attended lived along the I-5 corridor.....so I switched it to Salem (after realizing that Portland charges an arm and a leg for a conference room and rooms) to better accommodate the majority.   Of course, this makes it even farther for some of our 'diehards' that come from further away but they understood the reasoning behind it.  Portland would have been a much better destination for most everyone, if it had worked out....but the staff at the Salem Shilo Inn treats us AWESOME so we keep going back there.

Once all the preparations are done for WAG, I can relax and work on my own shoebox project.  I bought the stamps for it, but haven't gotten the project figured out yet.

We also bring card fronts to trade and you get so many ideas from those.

If you are a demonstrator for the Angel Company and would like to be reminded of the next year's WAG, please contact me and I will add you to our Yahoo list where you will be kept up to date as to dates and time.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer but not suffering too much with the heat in  your area!!  We just did finally get summer here in Oregon.  The last few days have been in the high 80's and low 90's.  When it comes on fast, like that, it really feels so much hotter....to me anyway.   I would be thoroughly happy with it staying in the 70's but I am sure most Central Oregonians would not agree with that.

 Have a blessed day!!

Char

Happy Birthday Annie, Part 2

We had a great time, yesterday, celebrating Annie's birthday.   Our Granddaughter baked her a cake, I made the frosting and we had pork chops, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes for dinner.

Of course, Annie wasn't allowed to have sauerkraut...but she had a helping of pork chops and mashed potatoes.

 

Then, after dinner, we lit the 7 candles, sang happy birthday and watched as she gobbled it down.

First a taste of icing

 Then, it was SIT.....till I got a photo of her and her piece of cake.  Otherwise, it would have been a huge blur...LOL


I think Annie thinks her 'family' is completely nuts....but she plays along with us and we love her for it.

                                                           Here's to many, many more years, Annie!!                                                                                                                               

Happy Birthday Annie!!!

Just wanted to share a happy birthday tribute to our awesome dog, Annie.  It's her 7th birthday today and she continues to bring us so much joy and happiness.  I think I have taken more photos of Annie than I have of my kids.......probably not....but we've taken a TON.  Here are just a very few of the hundreds of photos over the years.

Annie as a young pup 2004
 

                                                                                              Always able to give me 'that' look and I melt!!! Annie sitting in Mom's chair.

Cuddling up on my just washed and dried clothes......but didn't have the heart to move her.

Annie playing in our field, hunting sage rats back in 2006.

                                                                Annie loving up her 'Dad'.

Annie at Christmas this year, 2010 catching snow as our Granddaughter shoveled.

Annie, has been a delight and a joy to our hearts and I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to our wonderful AWESOME AUSSIE, Annie!!!




 

 Me and Annie......                  


  

As I type, my Granddaughter is making Annie a birthday cake!!   I know she thinks her Grandma is a little nutty....but she said, "I've never had a birthday party for a dog, before".

Well, it's about time for her to take part in a doggie birthday party!!! :-)   I told her we would do it after dinner, tonight. 

I say, If you can't enjoy life.....what's the point??

Ever had a birthday party for one of your pets?  I would LOVE to hear all about it.

Have a great day, everyone!

Hugs,
Char



 

One World, One Heart Winner

Well, today is February 17th and that means that we need to draw a winner for the Cat embellishments.  So, my granddaughter just picked a winner for our prize offering and the winner is:

Ducky Doo   over at http://whazupduck.blogspot.com/.

Congratulations Ducky Doo....and we both thought it quite humorous that a CAT won our Cat embellishment prize!!!  But, then they are sneaky little creatures!!  :-)

I will be e-mailing you as well.....so get your paws ready to enjoy putting together your scrapbook!!

Hugs,
Char

Annie spreading cheer

Thursday, I went to visit a friend in the hospital.  I normally always take Annie, with me in the car, where ever I go and most of the time she stays in the car while I am doing whatever I am doing....except in the summer months, too hot.

Anyway, my friend Bob and I were visiting for about an hour and I mentioned something about Annie being in the car and he said "ANNIE is out there? I want to see her".  I said...well I would but I can't bring her in and he assured me that YES I could.  So, just about then a nurse popped her head in and I asked her and she said...sure...just stop by the desk on your way out and get a pass.

So, I headed out to the desk and they gave me a 'visitors' pass for Annie's paw.  I got her out of the car....put the 'pass' on her ankle and away we went.  I was still giggling under my breath....as I felt ridiculous taking a dog into the hospital.

She got so much attention walking down the halls because she is just so dang friendly and loves everyone. It took us longer to get back to the room as everybody had to stop and pet her....and Annie was 'eating' up all this attention.


We got to the room and the nurse said she could get on the bed with Bob.  Annie jumped right up and laid down like she knew what was expected of her.  She was in 7th heaven.....getting so much attention.

Even though  Bob has two dogs of his own...he has a special connection to Annie and vice versa.  


What a fun day and I will save her 'pass' for a scrapbook page.


Have a great day!!

One World One Heart

Hi Everyone!!!

Welcome to my blog and the 5th One World One Heart blogging event.  This is my 3rd year participating in OWOH.  It is so much fun visiting so many blogs (over 700 at the present) and 'meeting' so many people from around the entire world.  

A little about myself. My name is Char and I am married, have two grown sons and three granddaughters.  We  are 'owned' by an Australian Shepherd, Annie and three cats Little Guy, Freckles and Tinker....hence the name of my blog....PawsN2Stamp.

I love to stamp, do papercrafting, crochet, knit, read, visit with friends and travel either 'virtually' or for real.  I am always visiting the Amtrak or MapQuest site and planning trips even if I never actually get to do them. My dream is to go to Australia some day.  So, you can see how much fun visiting all these other bloggers is for me!  I get a glimpse of where they live and what they do.


And, now for my giveaway.  Since I am into paper crafting and have 3 cats....I decided to give away 5 packages of 'cat' embellishments.  Included are metal charms, bubble stickers, dimensional tags, Rub ons and a frame pack.

All you have to do is leave a comment on my blog.  The rules say that you must have a blog to participate.  Also, please leave a way for me to contact you in your comment. I will be drawing a winner on February 17th.


Click here to go to OneWorldOneHeart and see all the other blogs that are participating and most of all HAVE FUN as you meet so many wonderful people along the way.

  

One of the new stamps from TAC, in their Fall Supplement,  is Joy and Peace.  I wanted a simple Christmas card and this stamp lends itself to that quite nicely.  I basically colored the Dove with a Tombow gray marker and added some color to the branch.....put a little Stickles at the bottom and I was done.  I used a Cuttlebug folder on DCWV card stock and then sanded it to bring out the white core.

Same stamp only using some light blue cardstock I have had around for YEARS!!! (my goal is to get all this type of paper used up before I buy new)  I added some Happy Hannukkah paper at the bottom and a little bit of Stickles on the border punch.   LOVE my Stickles! Plain and simple..

I haven't stamped in months and it felt good to put ink to paper once again.

I hear so many people, lately, say that they just haven't been feeling up to stamping.  I hear ya, believe me.  I had to force myself to sit down and get all the supplies out and fiddle around and wait till an idea popped in my head.  BUT.....it CAN be done!!

Just pick one stamp set.  Stamp the images, color them.....and the rest seems to follow.  But, you have to stamp that first image.....and let it speak to you.  If at first you don't succeed....let it sit there on your stamp table....and every time you walk by it, you WILL start think about how to color it....how to design the card....what colors to use, what embellishments to us........just try it!

Hugs,
Char

One World One Heart

Can't wait!!!!  This will be the 5th "One World One Heart" event.  It will also be the last :-(

If you have never participated before.....now's the time.  You must have a blog to participate!  But, you don't need a blog just to go surfing the different blogs that are taking part.

It is just so much fun!!    I will be participating this year.   So, watch for my post on January 30th, 2011.

Click on the picture to go to One World...One Heart,  to find out more about it.....or to sign up to take part in this event.

Have a great day!!!!

Char

Wow, Wow and Wow!!!! Awesome TAC Specials

The Angel Company is having a STAMP • PA • PALOOZA SPECTACULAR.  Why is this so Spectaculor??  Well, they are TRIPLING hostess reward sets.  Click the link to find out  more!

Buy one/Get One
Palette™ & VersaMagic™ Refill BOGO
NOW - Until Supplies Last

Buy a Palette™ ink pad, and receive it’s corresponding Palette™ ink refill FREE. Buy a VersaMagic™ ink pad, and get it’s corresponding VersaMagic™ ink refill FREE. You MUST use the special codes listed in the link provided above to receive a FREE ink refill of whatever ink pad you purchase.


So Big Special
NOW - Until Supplies Last

December Stamp of the Month 
Joyful Notes
TAC-3334 • $14.95 • set of 16

When you purchase $30.00* in merchandise, Joyful Notes (Retail Value $19.95) can be yours for the special price!

• Net total before shipping and handling and applicable tax.

Great way to treat yourself for the holidays!!!

Contact me if you have any questions!

Char

Bring on Christmas

Well....since the first of November I have been cleaning, organizing, decorating and baking.  I can now say that I am done with the cleaning, organizing and decorating....and most of the baking.   Now to just relax and enjoy the season!

The only bad thing is that now that I am done, I keep thinking of more things I can DO!  I have to fight that urge....or I will be in the same boat I am usually in this time of year....exhausted and stressed out.

I thought I would share with you some of my decorations.

 The above are the two trees in our living room.

 The arrangement above is our advent wreath.

An OLD Avon tree from years ago is in the main bath.  I didn't mean to get the reflection.

A snowman candle I made several years ago and one of my favorite clocks, that plays music every hour.

Our little fiber optic tree sitting on top of my cookbook stand in the kitchen.

Sadly, no card creations just yet....but hopefully that will come.  :-)

Hope you are enjoying this time of year!!

Here are photos of Mt Jefferson and Mt Hood on my drive to see the dentist.  I NEVER get tired of taking pictures of the mountains that surround us.

Have a God blessed day!!!

Char