Dearest Friends of The Crafting Cottage,

What a whirlwind couple of weeks it has been for the MacMahon clan. I have news galore to share about happenings at the Crafting Cottage plus news of the Inn plus news about new goodies that have arrived.  

I literally have been hitting the ground running. My last group at the Inn checked out on Tuesday evening, May 24th. My family and I flew to England on Wednesday, May 25th. We returned from England on Wednesday, June 8th and my next group was checking into the Inn on Friday, June 10th! I was racing to strip all the beds, collect towels and get the laundry going while deep cleaning the Inn from top to bottom. I only had to delay the Friday group's check in time by one hour (2 PM arrival instead of 1 PM) thanks to Tara helping me out on Thursday evening and Friday morning.  

Our time in England and Wales was wonderful. Of course - typical "MacMahon/Murphy Law" incidents took place - more on that in my Personal Musings for those who are interested.

It is always interesting for me to stay at other inns. I enjoy seeing how they decorate their rooms, what supplies they provide and in our new normal of COVID, I like to see how different inn keepers deal with it.  

Speaking of inns - the group staying at the inn this past weekend were all brand new to the inn and The Crafting Cottage.  And, what better way to welcome the newbies than have the power keep going off and on for them on Saturday night!  More on all that, later.

I have a lot of catching up to do this week.  I still have two Penny Black Inc. Club kits to send out and nine "Thank You" packets to my wonderful group of volunteers who took my first official "Virtual" Class.

On to the Musings...

In next week's Musings, there will be pictures and information to order the "July" options for the Summer Camp in a Box. I was hoping to have this done prior to leaving for the UK, but due to supply & shipping issues, some of the products did not arrive until last week while I was away.

The box will be filled with all the materials to create several different projects - all paper crafts. "Campers" will get to choose from three selections:

1.  Summer Camp for card makers
2.  Summer Camp for scrapbookers
3.  Summer Camp for card makers & scrapbookers

"Campers" will also get to choose how many boxes they wish to receive - one or two. The first box arrives in July and the second box arrives in August.

So, on those rainy, humid, buggy summer days when crafters are "stuck inside" all day, they can turn to their Summer Camp In-A-Box and work on as many of the awesome projects they want.

In addition to all the paper, ribbon, embellishments, adhesive and various products included in each box - there will also be some wonderful "Summer Camp" Inspired goodies in each box, too!

Campers will be encouraged to "Show & Tell" their completed projects via photos which I will then share via the Musings and on the Crafting Cottage's Facebook Page.

Pictures of the Summer Camp-In-A-Box offerings will be in next week's Musings as well as Registration for Camp information!!!

Ann, Barbara, Joan and Teresa (Terry) arrived at the Inn on Friday.  I stopped in on Saturday to meet them and to open the main retail shop for them.  Susan Ferrito joined me to welcome the new crafting guests.

There were projects involving scrapbooking and card-making.  

Pictured from top (left to right) is Terry, Barbara, (bottom) Joan and Ann.

They were good sports on Saturday when the power kept going off and on. They finally texted and called me around 8:30 pm and explained that some of the lights were going off and on but others weren't. I asked if they wanted me to come over and they said, "That would be nice."

I arrived and was happy to see that all the lights were on. When I went inside, the ladies explained that they had found all the flashlights and knew how to use the flashlights on their phones and, as it was getting late, they would all just head to bed if the power went out again.

The problem wasn't that the circuits were being overloaded - so what was going on???

I decided to go next door to my neighbor who lives in the gorgeous Victorian on the corner of the block. I asked him if he was having issues with his electricity and he replied, "Yes. It's been going on and off for the past three days." He said the weird thing was that it wasn't affecting his entire house - just portions of it. I told him the same thing was happening at the Crafting Cottage.  

We chatted for awhile trying to figure out if it was a neighborhood "thing" or a weather "thing" or perhaps the spirits in our old historic homes were having some fun....

...At any rate - I went back to the Cottage and explained what I found out. The ladies were content with the knowledge and assured me they were good to go with the flashlights if necessary. One of the gal's husbands is a meteorologist and he told her that lightning storms were forecast for Sunday afternoon into evening. I suggested that perhaps the ladies would rather check out on Sunday instead of Monday and the response was, "No WAY! We love it here!"

These ladies must love it at the Cottage as they have already booked and put their deposits down for a very long weekend in November.

Ah well - after chatting with my hubby about this, I decided to purchase some battery operated table lamps and a backup "power source" for guests to be able to charge their phones if the power should go out.

Skunks, birds in the attic, wood chucks under the porch, weird power outtages - never a dull moment at The Crafting Cottage Inn!!! Book YOUR reservation today!!! :))))))))))

Just like the Subway commercials on television declare - "Eat Fresh! Refresh!" - the Crafting Cottage is getting "refreshed" this summer.  

New gutters and a new color pallette for the entire exterior. I am looking very forward to how I am envisioning the front porch.  

There are some refreshing plans in place for the landscaping, too.

The backyard is (hopefully) going to be reclaimed as a fabulous sanctuary for crafters. I brought home several inspiring ideas from my visit to the UK.

There are some minor plans being envisioned for the interior of the Cottage as well. I figure while all the exterior work is being done in July and August - I will take the opportunity to work on getting some of the interior projects completed.

Here is the schedule of what is going on at The Crafting Cottage through December (thus far).

June 17th - 19th: Workshop Planning Weekend with Diane, Andrea & Susan

June 24th - 27th: Inn is booked - Amy C., Angela B., and Danell P. Group

June 29th & 30th: Inn is booked - Green & Harter

July 5th - Gutter Replacement Work Begins by Gutter Rescue Company

July 11th - Extensive Exterior Painting Work begins by Decker Painting Company

July 29th - July 31st - Inn is booked - Lori R., Amy C., Danell P. and Cheryl S. Group

August 25th - August 28th: Inn is booked - Valerie H., Holly M. and Susan P. Group

September 1st - September 5th - Labor Day Weekend Craft 'n Chat Event

September 8th - 11th: Inn is booked - Connie C., Lisa M. and Tina Group

September 16th - 18th: Special 3D Paper Crafting Weekend Workshops with Diane

September 19th - 22nd: Inn is Booked - Susan Y., Sharon & Robin Group

September 30th - October 3rd: Inn is Booked - Ginnie, Marcia, Stella & Debbie Group

October 6th - 9th - Inn is booked: Connie, Lisa & Tina Group

October 14th - 16th - Inn is booked: Jeanne, Vickie & Tish Group

October 21st - 24th - Inn is booked: Awilda, Zoraida, Mary & Kim Group

October 28th - 30th - Special Multi-Purpose Tool Box Workshop Weekend Event with Connie

November 4th - 7th - Inn is booked: Mary, Tricia, Christina & Barb Group

November 10th -14th - Inn is booked:  Ann, Barbara, Joan & Terry

November 17th-20th - Craft 'n Chat Weekend Event 

December 1st - 4th - Craft 'n Chat Weekend Event/Holiday Workshops & Classes

New goodies! New goodies! New goodies!

From Echo Park:  Dinosaurs! Perfect for anyone scrapbooking the new Jurassic Park Movie.  Plus lots of young (and not so young) boys and girls are fascinated by dinosaurs.  Create birthday cards with these papers for the young and old. 

Think about creating a special Dinosaur themed album using the papers, clear stamps and dies from this unique collection.  

I also received the wonderful 6 x 6 Mega Pad with the Farmhouse Summer papers, the coordinating enamel dots and more of the Collection Kits.  These are beautiful papers and the quality is so rich!!!! 

From Penny Black, Inc. - how fun are these critters?????  If the wood chucks under the porch were as cute as these guys - I might not mind them so much.

 REMEMBER

Three ways to "shop" at the Crafting Cottage

1.  Schedule a personal shopping appointment by sending me an email to:info@thecraftingcottage.com
2. Visit the Crafting Cottage's online shop
3. Visit The Shoppes at Oldies But Goodies located in Big Flats/Elmira on Route 352 and check out The Crafting Cottage's booth there.  Click here for their website!
4. Enjoy shopping at the Cottage when attending a class, workshop, special event or staying as a guest at the Crafting Cottage Inn.

Boxes and Bags.

There are several commercial grade dies from Accu-Cut in the Tool Room that will cut out many different styles, shapes and sizes of boxes with lids as well as various bags.

Do you have a party coming up?  Do you like to create adorable gift bags?  Here are just some of the projects you can create when you are at the Crafting Cottage.

Are you hosting a Baby Shower or a Wedding Shower in the future? The Tool Room has three sizes of this cake box die. You could create a one, two or three layered cake and fill with candy or special notes. You could even create a "Count Down" cake and fill each box with a surprise.

For an Anniversary Party or Wedding or Prom - think of the creative ways you could use the "Dress Box" die and/or the "Suit Box" die to create very unique and custom designed favors. Both of these dies are in the Tool Room.  The Lantern Die can create various projects for you:  a luminary, a box to hold candy or a gift -it's pretty big!

Below are just two samples of bags that you can create by using the dies in the Tool Room.

Above are pictures of just two of the "styles" of this particular box you can create.  It is shown with the snowflake topper option - perfect for winter themed parties or gifts. And there is a flower topper die choice, too.  Two other topper choices are a baby bottle and a heart.

The box below will hold A2 cards. This box would be a great project for either organizing your cards so that they are always at the ready to send or fill the box with several A2 cards and envelopes and wrap it up as a gift.

By cutting out several of these boxes and decorating them - you could have them lined up on a shelf or a desktop. Theme each box according to the kind of cards that are inside: birthday, get well, thank you.....

Remember - these are just SOME of the many, many projects YOU can create when you attend a Craft 'n Chat Event or while you are a guest at the Inn.

The months of July and August will be quiet on the "Craft 'n Chat" front as the Cottage will be getting a lot of work done in and outside of it. Besides, July and August are quiet at the Crafting Cottage in the summer months as most crafters are attending family reunions, weddings, outside sporting events, festivals, fairs, going on vacation... Especially now COVID challenges seem to be getting lifted or, at the very least, dealt with.

Here are the scheduled weekends for Craft 'n Chats at the Cottage this Fall:

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Thursday, September 1st:    10 AM - 6 PM..........................$25 per person

Friday, September 2nd:     10 AM - 10 PM...........................$35 per person

Saturday, September 3rd:    10 AM - 10 PM.........................$35 per person

Sunday, September 4th:     10 AM - 10 PM..........................$35 per person

Monday, September 5th:    10 AM - 6 PM ...........................$25 per person 

To reserve your spot for any of the Labor Day Weekend Craft 'n Chats - CLICK HERE!

There will is a special weekend package rate offered for the Labor Day Weekend for those crafters that wish to stay overnight.

Thursday, November 17th:   10 AM - 6 PM..........................$25 per person

Friday, November 18th:     10 AM - 10 PM.........................$35 per person

Saturday, November 19th:   10 AM - 10 PM.........................$35 per person

Sunday, November 20th:    10 AM - 6 PM..........................$25 per person

Special overnight packages will be available for those wishing to stay overnight and craft for hours upon hours! :)

Thursday, December 1st:    10 AM - 6 PM..........................$25 per person

Friday, December 2nd:      10 AM - 10 PM.........................$35 per person

Saturday, December 3rd:    10 AM - 10 PM.........................$35 per person

Sunday, December 4th:      10 AM - 6 PM..........................$25 per person

Special overnight packages will be available for those wishing to stay overnight.

Overnight Package Specials

Labor Day Weekend

The prices listed below include staying at the Inn for four days and three nights plus 24 hour access to the Workshop Room and all the benefits listed for the Craft 'n Chat.

Two people sharing the Harmony Suite............................$125.00 per person

Two people sharing the First Floor Guest Room Suite...........$125.00 per person

Please note:  the first floor guest room is reserved on a first come first served basis for this event.

Private Room sharing the 2nd floor hallway bathroom..........$175.00 per person

To reserve your overnight space for the Labor Day Craft 'n Chat - CLICK HERE!

This week's Musings ran a bit late due to the internet at my house was out for several hours while Spectrum "worked on maintenance updates".

I will be sharing lots of great personal musings from my family's trip to the UK to attend our cousin, Jacqui's wedding over the next few weeks. What a fantastic time!!! There is just so much to share and pictures galore but it will take a while.

First, I wish to share this picture of our beautiful Jacqui on her wedding day heading off with her hubby, Alick. (Actually, they just went down the long, long driveway and came back for the reception!!!).

From the left: Jacqui's sister, Vaneta, Tara, Brianna, me, Cousin Jacqui and Cousin Maryanne.

The picture above shows me leaving the first place we stayed in Chepsow, Wales.  We were there for a week to basically acclimate ourselves to the time zone before heading to spend the Wedding Weekend with family in another part of Wales.

Things are always very different in other countries which can make visiting fun, adventurous or sometimes dangerously confusing (such as driving on the opposite side of the road than one is used to).  Or simply trying to drive down a "two lane road" when barely one car fits:

Don't ask me how - but both cars squeezed by smooshing into the hedges on either side!  However, there was a couple of roads where the one side had a stone wall!  VERY nerve wracking driving in Wales.  I finally had to change seats with Tara and I sat in the back with Brianna because my hubby did not appreciate my repertoire of various sounds, intakes of breath and bursts of, "OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH - We're not gonna make it - Watch out, watch out...."

The other daily near-disastrous experiences Brianna and I both shared was when we took our showers.  Brianna and Tara were staying in a different building at the Chepsow hotel than my hubby and I.  The first night she called to share her story of how dangerous it was to get into the bathtub/shower.  Well - when she described having to climb into the tub as if she was getting on to a horse - I smiled thinking she was probably just exhausted from the plane ride and was exaggerating.  She then described how she kept slipping on the tub's surface....

...When I finally called it a night and told my hubby I was going to take a nice hot shower, he reminded me to be careful after what Brianna shared.  "No problem," I said and I headed to the shower. 

First - it took me a long time to figure out how the heck to get the shower to turn ON.

Hubby finally figured it out for me.

Secondly - Brianna was right - it was like climbing a hill to get up and over the rim of the bathtub and of course, with the water coming down from the shower head - it was slippery as all get out. NO rubber mat anywhere!  My feet started going in different directions - I felt like the clown performing in the Ice Capades!  I grabbed the safety handle bar with one hand and trying to open the shampoo bottle with the other hand was a joke.  I finally had to use my teeth.  So, now I have shampoo in my mouth, I'm slipping and sliding all over and desperately holding on to the handle bar while shampooing my hair with my other hand and getting shampoo in my eyes - well, why not????  I have no idea where I tossed the small little shampoo bottle - but I don't care at this point.  I decided to skip trying to use the conditioner for my hair and debated about the shower gel - yet another small plastic bottle I opened with my mouth while water poured over my head as I hung on with dear life.  And of course, at this point I am exhausted and I start laughing.  I always laugh at times like this.  My hubby can hear me laughing from the other room and he just knows a great story is coming.

Finally - after I rinsed the shower gel from my body and out of my mouth, I figured out how to turn the water off.  Now, I held onto the safety bar as I slipped here and there and then grabbed the towel rack to steady me as I climbed back over Mount Everest to step OUT of the tub. 

One slight problem:

Yes - over in the UK - they love to keep their towels heated!  But when one has remnants of shampoo and shower gel in the mouth and the irritated eyes are trying to find steady things to grab on to.....Perhaps grabbing onto a hot towel rack was not high on one's mind!

I even made my hubby climb into the bathtub so that I could show proof of what Brianna and I (being the shorter members of our family) had to deal with.

The picture on the left shows the tub rim at my hubby's upper thigh.

The picture on the right shows him standing in the tub and the rim in below his knee!!!

I almost felt like yelling "GERONIMO!!!" when I would climb out of this tub - especially while grasping a heated towel rack!

Yes, indeed.  Things are always different in other countries.

Have a fabulous week my friends.  It's so good to be home.  I look forward to sharing more personal musings with you all over the next several weeks of our time in the UK.

Be safe.  Stay strong.  Stay healthy.  And, as always...

...Stay Crafty My Friends!!!!!

Cheers,

Georgiana

email me at: info@thecraftingcottage.com