Happy Monday and Some News :)

After a long weekend visit with the in-laws, we are home and slowly getting back into the swing of things.  (Translate:  tackling the mountain of laundry, groceries, shaggy lawn , withered garden, tired kids and tired Mom and Dad).  All in all, we had a great Father's Day weekend.  My husband helped his Dad and brother replace the horse fence. I got lots of visiting in with family and I even got a chance to visit with Amanda.  That is always a treat.  The kids had a ball with Nanny and Grampy, Dolly (their dog) and their cousins.  The only one who is a little worse for the wear is Steele.  Ordinarily he has a spat or two with Dolly and then is fine.  This time, he was on the losing end of more scuffles in four days than the entirety of this 6 years of life.  If you've ever met Steele, you know how out of character this is.  He is a 14 pound, long haired, steel grey cat, affectionately nicknamed the Grey Panther. 

This photo was taken in 2005 when he was only a year old.

Anyway, the poor guy got into a tangle with a little spitfire of a kitten that left him shaking in a pile of his own poo.  I felt so bad.  I don't know what that little kitten did, but he sure threw Steele for a loop on our first day there.  The next evening, he got into a tangle with a skunk and thankfully didn't get sprayed though  I have NO idea how.  He spent the rest of that night up a tree.  It wasn't until the third day that he seemed to come around and take charge of his surroundings.  Last night, he was so glad to be home he had no interest in sleeping so he spent the night outside roaming and making sure everything here was in order after his absense. 

OK.  I"ll get on with today's post.  If you're still with me after all that, I thank you.  :) 

I got a couple of emails while I was away that made my weekend even sweeter.  The first was a note from Tricia Barrett of Epiphany Crafts. 

They are an up and coming tool manufacturer that creates custom button and epoxy shapes.  I have been invited to join their Design Team.  Hooray!  What's better is that I will be working with Julie again and Monique, fellow myStamp BOX team member.  You can read all about it HERE.

The second bit of news is a publication request from Scrapbook Trends.  I will have a Christmas card in the glittered section of their Christmas Cards Idea Book due out this fall.  Christmas is one of my most favourite times of the year so this is one call I find difficult to let pass even if it means making Christmas cards in June. 

On that happy note, I'll sign off for today.  Have a wonderful Monday!