Winding Down

Between Christmas and work, and the site re-launch, it's been a crazy few days. The site is coming along better than expected, thanks to the wonderful work of Kathy Moore! But, overall, I'm just tired. All this work is winding me down and making me want to nestle in for a long winters' nap. I think that's all I need now. A warm cup of cocoa and a long hibernation. Not too much to ask, right?

I hope everyone out there has a great New Years! Be safe and careful... Happy 2008!!

The Croup on Christmas

So, it's Christmas Eve.... and all through the house, not a creature was stirring.... wait, what's that sound??? Oh, that's just Amanda~ hacking up another lung. Yes, boys and girls. It's official. Pnuemonia has hit the Dykan house and it isn't pretty. Thankfully all the boys are fine. It's just me, and I hope it stays that way. Fever, coughing, all the fun stuff. So, there'll be no Christmas dinner being whipped up in the kitchen at my house.

The whole thing actually has me pretty bummed. I know Christmas will be wonderful, as Santa has a full list of goodies on the agenda. He's been requested to deliver a Spiderman bike and a Wii, both of which I am 100% confident he will come through on. So, the guys are going to have a fantastic day, and I can't wait to see the look on their faces. But, I just hate being sick in general, so I'm being mopey about it.

Plus, Mason and Kate have officially left to move to Chicago. That leaves me really bummed, as it was really nice having my big brother and his great girlfriend around. But, I know they have to do what's best for their family. But, I'm being mopey about that too.

The only thing I just refuse to be mopey about is the fact that being under the weather has challenged to me to do the mundane work of uploading product to the new website! That part has me thrilled. The new PurplePaperFlowers site has me smiling all the way to the moon and back. I know I still have a lot of work left to do- as does Kathy (the awesome webgal), but we'll get through it with little problems, I think.

So, I'm taking my meds and hoping to be back in the land of the living before long. I'm giddy with delight at the thought of what the new year will bring. I'm excited for the release of the new book and CD's. I'm thrilled with the prospects of the promotion at CHA, and I'm actually really looking forward to the trip to Vegas in January. Time to start saving, I can tell.

To everyone out there who might be reading this.... well, Happy Christmas!!! Merry Holidays~ Season's Greetings~ Ho Ho Ho and all of that... I hope your Christmas is bright, fun, and germ-free. :-)

And, I DO have Santa's phone number! Ben gave it to me today. I have to share the conversation....

"Mommy, can you call Santa to see what time he's coming tonight?"
"Honey, I'd love to, but I don't have Santa's number."
"I DO! It's 1-800-HO-HO-HO."

All I could do was laugh and promise to call. What a smart kid I have.

To all a good night.... Amanda

Couldn't Stand It

I couldn't go to bed without posting a couple of my new kits. I'm kinda proud of these! They'll be in the new store.... hehehehehehehe.... :-)

Behind on Blogging

Winter may not actually start until this Saturday, but it has hit the Dykan family full force with cold, flu, and sickly season. We've all been yucky for the last few days. Plus, with Design Originals deadlines closing in and a new website on the make, blog time has been slim to non-existant. Sorry for that.

Good news.... T-shirts are ordered for CHA!! Yay! The design looks NOTHING like the one I posted. Yes, I'm a big tease. Been called worse. ;-p It's way cute and everyone will want one. So, if you are reading this and will be at the big show, don't forget to come see me and get one. Thank you to Angel, Barbara and Jennifer (you know who you are).

Other good news... my best friend from back home, Jennifer Chaput, is expecting multiple little ones!! She herself is a triplet... so we'll see... Congrats Jennifer! I can't wait to be an Auntie!! Please have cute sweet girls that can grow up to marry my cute sweet boys!!!

Even more good news... the Phillips family all seems to be home and well from their hospital excursions this week, and Paula turned in her oh-so-beautiful "projects" (lol... almost spilled that one!) to Design Originals today. They look so great. I can't wait for her to get them back so she can give a couple to me!!

It's almost Christmas! Send CHOCOLATE!!! Dove is the preffered brand... :-)
Promise to get Christmas cards out tomorrow. They are all addressed and ready to go... no stamps yet.

Got major happy holiday bonus from work today! Wahooo!! There WILL be a Christmas at my house after all! Yehooo!!!

And... that's all I wish to devulge for now... :-)

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!!!

Holiday Hugs~ A

Best Laid Plans Trumped by TLC

Today I had every intention of skipping out of work a little early... going to get my nails done, do a little Christmas shopping, get some groceries... you know. Have a little "me" time before picking up the boys. So much to do, and so little time to do it in ~ and all that. Well, the best laid plans were somewhat "ruined" when the school nurse called me about 10:45 to tell me that Nicholas, my oldest, had a tummy-ache and wanted to come home. No problem. "Me" time can wait; my little boy needed me. It took me a little longer than I would have liked to get things wrapped up at work, so I had Paul's Dad pick Nicholas up and bring him home.

So, about 11:45 I walked in the door and Nicholas comes running up to me and wraps his arms around me; so happy to see me. I smiled down at him and said, "You don't look sick". He gave me this little sly smile he has and I knew the jig was up. Then I remembered when I was in second grade. I would cry and cry with a tummy-ache until my Grandmother would come pick me up. My Grandmother later told me that the nurse would just look at her and say, "She just needs a little TLC". That, I realized, was exactly what was going on with Nicholas today.

Knowing that the little one in question was, for the most part, okay, we ventured out to the grocery store. Just the two of us. We talked and laughed. On the way home he put his little hand on mine and said, "Mommy. I sure enjoyed spending the day with you." I can't have imagined a better way to spend the afternoon myself. Though I know he really should have been in school taking his spelling test and going to the library.... I think everyone is entitled to a TLC day every now and again.

We bought "The Fantastic Four and the Rise of the Silver Surfer" at the store, and have since watched it twice. Unfortunately the little guy did break out with a fever earlier, but a little Motrin and he was all good again. What a great day.

So, if you get the chance to share a TLC day with your kid... just do it.

More soon~ A

A Little Drama

So, my family can attest to my gracefullness.... or lack there of. But, yesterday's events goes a little above and beyond. Let me begin by saying that I'm completely fine. However... there was a little drama yesterday afternoon.

I really would like to say I saw my life flash before my eyes. But, no. It wasn't like that at all. It was drizzling, and I was driving down Loop 820 here in Texas. I had just turned right off of Jacksburo Hwy. onto 820. Two hands on the wheel....not on the phone. The radio wasn't even on! No eating, drinking and driving, any of that. My front right tire hit a shallow puddle of water, and that was it. I was spinning out of control. The next thing I saw was me facing ongoing traffic. A couple horn blasts.... then I was on two wheels in the median- facing the wrong direction. I had to have turned completely around at least one and a half times. Thank you to the police officer who stopped to see if I was okay. Thank you to all the cars who moved out of the way when they saw me spinning. Thank you to the state of Texas for not putting a concrete baracade there for me to run into. And, though I'm not a terribly religious person, I can't ignore the fact that a larger force reached down and put a bubble around me. So, thank you, big guy.

I escaped the whole ordeal just fine. Of course, knowing me, I managed to bonk my noggin on the window. Doc says I have a cracked cheekbone and a mild concusion. lol... go figure. No bruises really to speak of, except a big on on my right hip. But, really sore... and who would've thunk that a concussion would give you the tummy jitters....

Good thing I'm not writing anything really important today. I think the redneck-speak is starting to show through.

Going to bed while the gettin's good.

And, thank you to so many of you for the nice comments and congratulations lately. It's been really sweet.

Hugs,
A

Bye Bye For Now

Just a note to let you all know....PurplePaperFlowers.com is going "bye bye for now".
As most of you know, we had some problems with it from the beginning. I have tried time and again to get it fixed, but we finally bit the bullet and elected to hire someone else to fix it. So, we are beginning from square one. The new site promises to be spectacular and so much fun- eons better than what we could have imagined with the first go-round. So, we are saying "Goodbye and Goodnight" until after the first of the year. All oustanding product orders have been shipped. Rest assured that, when we return, we will have an astounding assortment of new product and digital kits. Can't wait to see you all back then after the first of the year! Until then, you'll just have to stay tuned to my ramblings here for the latest updates.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support through all of this.

FUN New Announcements!!!

Okay... so here's one of the the big secrets I couldn't talk about until today!!! Daisy D's paper company has chosen their 2008 Design Team- and I'm on it!! I'm so excited I can't stand it. I can't wait to see all the new product and be part of the creative process. So, THANK YOU to Daisy D's... and to the 9 other gals who made the team with me! This is an exciting day! Be sure to check out their blogs! I have them linked on this page.

Also, I have to share some new pictures. Kristy and I took new photos for 2008 publicity shots, and I love the way they look! Here are a couple...





I'm back to work now! More soon.... A

Lady Cottington

I was inspired by the pressed fairies book to make this kit. So, I had to share! It'll be up in the NEW PurplePaperFlowers.com very soon!!

A New Me... kind of

Well, we are on track for the PPF site being finished- complete and new- by the end of the year. I'm so excited! I've done a new color palette, and am re-making all the graphics. I think a new start is in order. So, here's the first kit featuring the new labels....



My style has changed so much since I last added anything to the store. It's going to be fun to upload all the new goodies! By the way, I'll be doing a new Designer Call this month! If you're interested... let me know.

And- I have more exciting news to announce on the 10th!!!

Sneezy, Dopey...Doc

So, it sounds like the seven dwarves have taken up residence in my office. I am definately Sneezy today. I haven't had much chance to do a lot of blogging lately, but I've been in creative mode- so of course I have to share.


This one is just a simple little kit of Kraft papers. I'm so in love with using those in my layouts.... so I had to make a kit.

I have several more to post, but it seems Blogger is having photo posting issues... so I'll share later. I have some exciting news about new product at CHA~ but I can't tell you yet... darnit. Stay tuned...

More soon~ Amanda

CHA Preview

EVERYONE is going to want these shirts!!!! Come get yours at our CHA booth!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

What a day! My best friend, Paula, arranged for a full day today of "some of my favorite things", as she called it~ to celebrate my thirty-something-ith birthday. All day, we did nothing but my favorite things. We ate my favorite food from my favorite resteraunts, and spent time with most of my favorite people. She did all this without asking. She didn't need me to tell her the flavor of my favorite cake, or my favorite color, my favorite resteraunts, or my favorite shopping places. She just knew. Just by being my friend, and paying attention, she just knew. She and some of my closest girlfriends went in together and gave me the most perfect present I can think of. It was just perfect.

This wonderful girl came into my life about three years ago. We've only really been friends, though, since about October of last year. Now we're inseperable. I can't imagine not having her in my life. And, most of all, she didn't have to ask what my favorite things are.

If you have someone like that in your life, please, tell them how special they are to you. Paula, Cindy, Gina, Heather and Lori~ I hope you gals know how very special you are to me. Thanks for making it a great thirty-something-ish birthday.

~ A