The Crafting Cottage's booth has been gently 'refreshed' this past Wednesday evening during the Dealer hours. I have removed all of the Christmas items and I added some new goodies including two Graphic 45 Kits.

Life Is A Journey Wrap Folio and Trio of Tags Kit

$50

Fabulous kit is packed with all the papers, chipboard, stickers, metal keys and printed instructions for you to create what you see in the picture above. There is also a video tutorial that you can log onto for free to see exactly how every step gets done.

You can find this Kit in the Crafting Cottage's booth at The Shoppes at OBG.

The Shoppes at Oldies But Goodies will soon be making a very fun and exciting announcement which I will be a part of. Very exciting!!!

Here is the website link for The Shoppes.

The hours of operation are:

Thursdays: 10 AM till 8 PM

Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10 AM till 5 PM

Orders have been placed with Altenew as well as Graphic 45 recently. I have already shared with you that I placed orders for some new paper collections from Photoplay. There is a Harry Potter themed collection coming plus some very nice Disney World themed kits, papers and stickers coming. I also ordered some camping themed paper collections and a few other surprises. I have new stamps and dies on the way from

Picket Fence.

The  last Tuesday   of each month starting January 28th till September 29th will offer a different themed workshop to challenge one's creative mojo.

Welcome to "Try It Tuesdays".

There will be two sessions offered. A  2 PM till 4 PM  session and a  6:15 PM-8:15 PM. This will hopefully help make it convenient for everyone in terms of school, work and life schedules, etc.

Some months will be technique-driven workshops. Other months will be geared for card-makers and there will be scrapbook-driven workshops offered as well.

The first Try It Tuesday  workshop will take place on Tuesday, January 28th.  Here is what we will be working on:

Stencils & Blending & Inking & Embossing!!! (See pictures above & below)

In this workshop, you will experiment with the various ways stencils can get your paper crafting projects off to a cool new start. Whether you are a card-maker, scrapbooker or collage crafter - you will test-drive layering techniques, blending techniques and even discover how much fun incorporating embossing pastes into your projects will be! You will work with  inks from Catherine Pooler Designs  and  blending brushes from Taylored Expressions and Picket Fence Studios  and  embossing pastes from Aladine.

All supplies will be provided for this workshop and participants will take home stencils to keep as well as a mini-journal filled with the samples of all the various techniques you learned.

$25 per person.

The following crafter is registered and confirmed: Teresa L.

REGISTER by clicking on this sentence.   Registration deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 22nd

I have a couple of the crafters attending the Craft 'n Chat event weekend staying over at the Inn. I will be staying over, too!!! It's going to be great fun.

A brand new group of crafters will be arriving at the Inn for the February 14th weekend. I am excited to meet them. It also means I had better move a little faster to get some of the refresh and renovations done I have been planning. It's always good to have something unexpected 'assist' one in achieving a goal!!!

There are several dates available for groups to book in June, July and August. I will also be hosting special themed weekend retreats at the Cottage in the summer this year. The following groups are booked:

February 14th- 17th: Lisa S. Group

March 13th -15th: Diane, Susan & Sandy

March 20th-22nd: Lucy's Creative Makers

March 27th-29th: Terri G. Group

April 3rd - 6th: Barb N. Group

April 30th - May 3rd: Connie C. Group

May 8th - May 18th: Prep for & attend Syracuse Stamp & Scrapbook Show

June, July & August: Lots of dates available to book!

September 4th - 6th: Valerie H. Group

September 10th - 13th: Lucy's Creative Makers

September 18th - 20th: Andrea M. Group

October 2nd - 4th: Ginny S. Group

October 9th - 11th: Connie C. Group

October 16th - 26th: Cottage is closed - Inn Keeper celebrating 30th Wedding Anniversary with hubby!!! :))))

November 12th - 15th: Tina, Tina & Brenda group

November 19th - 22nd: Tracy T. Group

Check Out Available Dates to Reserve for Inn

This is such a fun show my friends. There are so many vendors offering products, ideas, samples, classes, Make 'n Takes and an opportunity to socialize with fellow crafters - perhaps even make a new friend or two.

Classes will be offered throughout the weekend with many on Friday. Friday night is the very popular "Make 'n Take" Party. You need to purchase your tickets for that well in advance as they do sell out quickly for this event. The $40 ticket gets you in to the Friday night three hour event PLUS entrance into the show both Saturday and Sunday.

I will be teaching a couple of classes AND we are going to have awesome projects at the Crafting Cottage's booth.

For more information and details - CLICK HERE!!!

In the last couple of months I have traveled down some very long, deep 'rabbit holes'.

I signed up for several online classes. These classes are crafting classes, business classes, marketing lectures and more. I have been learning about printing on fabric. I have been learning about book binding. Despite my attempts to avoid 'technology' at every opportunity, I have been taking lessons on embracing the Cricut and Brother Cut 'n Scan machines.

For the first time in about 17 years, I basically took nearly two entire months off from physically working at The Crafting Cottage. I stayed home and read books, magazines and took several creative online classes in areas I wanted to expand my knowledge in.

One is never too old to keep educating one's self. Did you know that one of the oldest women to graduate from Medical School was 53 years old when she graduated in 2008?

Her name:

Genevie Kocourek

And how about this news:

Nola Ochs

Nola  Ochs  (née Hill) (November 22, 1911 – December 9, 2016) was an American woman, from Jetmore, Kansas who in 2007, at age 95, graduated from college and was certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person in the world to become a college graduate, until Jack Humphries took that title in 2019.

Think about it.

Have you ever been your own worst enemy because you said your were "too old" to do "XYZ"??? Have you ever denied yourself the opportunity to learn a new technique because you believe "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"?

I say "Poppycock"!

True story to share here:

Back in 1984-85, my best friend (Brenda) and I - who had attended high school together and had been on the Girls Varsity Soccer team and the Girls Varsity Basketball teams in the 70's - had decided to join a local semi-pro women's soccer team in Connecticut. We went for the try-outs and we made the team easily - despite our both not having played in a couple of years.

The first day of practice, the coach opted to put Brenda and I at mid-field. Well, we were both a bit surprised to see that the goalie was a woman who had to be in her early sixties easily (possibly older). Brenda and I were in our early 20's and the rest of the team's average age had to be late 20's/early 30's. Most of the other team players were veterans and had been on the team for a couple of years. Clearly, Brenda and I realized we were the "newbies" of the team.

The coach had us run drills, sprints, stretch-out and then she set us up to scrimmage. Finally, I thought, Brenda and I will be able to play the game. Imagine our horror and embarrassment when after just 8 minutes of running up and down the field - Brenda and I were winded and trying to fill our lungs with air. The two full backs yelled at Brenda and me to switch with them so that they could better cover the mid-field while Brenda and I "recovered". Then - imagine our humiliation when the 60+ year old goalie was yelling insults at Brenda and me - "Come on you two pansies - RUN!", "Is that what you call clearing the ball?" "Get out there - MOVE!, My God, do I have to do it FOR YOU?"

That 60 year old goalie was amazing. She was very tall. She had long legs and used them to re-direct balls away from the goal. She didn't like to have to bend down but she knew how to move and granted, she did not have a very strong leg to kick the ball far but she would usually throw the ball to one of the full backs who would then send it down field. The goalie was also an excellent DIRECTOR - especially once she trusted you and depended on you carrying out her orders/directions. She was savvy, intelligent, calculating and one of the best secret weapons we had. Other teams would arrive and as soon as they saw we STILL had the "Old Lady", they either laughed or knew about her, respected her yet secretly hoped maybe this was the year she was 'too old' to still be any good.

Clearly, once Brenda and I got back into our top athletic shape, and could run up and down the field for an entire half of a game without feeling as though our lungs fell on the field somewhere - we earned the respect of the "Old Lady" and we had a fantastic season.

After our first game (which we won), the team headed to a nearby restaurant to celebrate. I went over to the "Old Lady", who was chatting at the bar with the bartender, and I offered to buy her a drink. She smiled and told the bartender - "The usual". He took my order and he delivered my vodka and tonic to me and what appeared to be a whiskey for the "Old Lady". We clinked glasses and she drank the amber liquid in her glass in one swoop. She then asked the bartender to bring two more of what she just had and told me, "My turn - this one's on me". The glasses arrived and she held hers up and clearly, I was to hold mine up. I could see Brenda across the room watching (and snickering). I took my glass of amber liquid and I said, "Cheers, my friend," as I secretly prayed that whatever was in the glass would not cause me to completely spit it across the room. We clinked glasses, gulped down our amber liquids and to my relief - I survived. My eyes watered a bit - but the Old Lady smiled as she patted my shoulder and said, "You've got potential, kid".

What have I learned? As I approach the 60 year old mark sometime this year, I do realize that being 60 years old is not ancient. I also realize that if I put my mind and body to it - I could play soccer again. The point is - getting 'older' does not mean we should do less in our lives. Quite the opposite - we should do MORE!!!

Read, learn, absorb, run, skip, jump, dance and be as physically active as you can. Put on your favorite music and don't just walk around your house - but dance around your house. Keep feeding and nourishing your brain and your body.

Never, never, never deny yourself an opportunity to do something you would like to do simply because you think you are "too old" to do it.

Let's all be that " Old Lady".

Remember - Stay Crafty My Friends!!!

Cheers,

Georgiana