If you have ever been in our store, you may have seen Gary's father-in-law, Walter. He spends most of his day in the back, working on packaging and assembling paper packs and such and helping with the behind the scenes stuff. He is almost always there -- 40 to 50...

I am now in Grapevine, Texas (near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport). Picked a good weekend to head south in search of "hungry" stampers and warm weather -- it's only supposed to be about 70 degrees at home today. It was 106 as I rolled through northeastern Texas on...

I wandered up to the store at lunchtime today to take pictures of the projects for this week's Wednesday and Saturday Make It/Take Its. The locals like to see them in advance -- if you're not local but would like to see them anyway, they can always be found at...

Connie Vogt was in charge of the Make It and Take It in our store on Wednesday. As I have said before, Connie is very thorough -- I got step-by-step photos and detailed instructions almost a week in advance.This is where we're headed -- seems very fitting for summer...

Linda Jones is one of the newer teachers in our store. The irony is that Linda does not live near Dayton -- she lives more than 200 miles away in Michigan. But she comes this way often -- as I understand it, she has one or more grandchildren near Columbus that need to...

It is finally time. If you like chocolate, you might as well call your local undertaker in advance, because these cookies are simply deadly. I got this recipe a couple of years ago from my then-13-year-old nephew, who loves to bake and would like to eventually become...

Random thoughts -- so if you don't like this one, the next one will be different . . .Zoe is keeping me company at the mail center today. Everyone else who is usually here is off for the holiday, so I brought her along for the ride. She doesn't say much, but she has...

I have never seen a crowd like we had at the Make It and Take It in our store last Wednesday. Leslie Rogers presented the project, and she said there were 28 people already waiting when she arrived at 8:30 -- for a project that started at 9:00!This was the view in the...

When we do shows, our truck is more than just a way to get the booth to the show location. It's also my way to get around once setup is done. That can present problems -- especially parking problems. But not at Disney World. Last night, I took advantage of a friend's...

I can be an old-fashioned grump at times (ask my family), and this morning was one of those times. My day always starts with a newspaper while I'm eating breakfast. On days when the paper is late, Greg is not a happy boy. At home, my "paperboy" was once the high...