Don't Forget To Shop Hop!

MMP Shop Hops are a type of contest where you try to find as many MMP “shopping bags” as you can. Each of our participating boutiques (see the list below) has hidden a shopping bag image on its website that says, “You Found It!” on the tag (see image to the left). Click that image to return to Make Mine Pink and get credit for finding it. The more bags you find, the better your chances of winning great prizes. See the prize list below to see what you can win!

Anyone (excluding MMP members and employees) can register to play. There is no cost and no obligation to purchase anything. However, if you do happen to find some products you might be interested in, don't forget to bookmark those pages so that you can come back later! Good luck!

Please join us for our annual Make Mine Pink October Shop Hop Monday October 5th. Pink October is always an exciting time for all of us at Make Mine Pink. It's the month that we try to give back even a little more than usual, while at the same time honoring our friends, family and customers that have had their lives touched by breast cancer. Please come and have some fun and take a chance at winning some fabulous prizes. Also check out the participating boutiques to see what they are doing in honor of Breast cancer awareness and PINK OCTOBER.There is no purchase necessary to participate in the Make Mine Pink - Pink October Shop Hop. Just find the shopping bags on the participating MMP Boutique sites, and enter into a drawing to win the associated prize. The Shop Hop begins on October 5th and ends on October 11th. All winners will be chosen the week of October 11th. Just click on the logo above to get started and be sure to visit Forget Me Not Dreams for our Shop Hop specials!

No, It's Not A Train At The End Of The Tunnel!!

Yes, our blog has been vacant for quite awhile it seems. Eileen & I both finished
our summers with wonderful trips to spend time with family. We both had a great
time, Eileen bringing home the everlasting cold and I became quite personal with
the much dreaded Piggy Flu. Yes, it's all that It's cracked up to be. Today was my
first big day off of the couch in 2 full weeks and I'm sure it will take another two to
three weeks to completely recover. I was able to get the Tamiflu anti viral from my
doctor, or I'm positive I would still be out of commission. Do what you can to stay
healthy!!

In the last few days, I have been able to work on some of my favorite photos,

making some into larger prints and in mattes for some of the gallery displays,

getting some ready for Christmas presents and making most into stationery

note cards. I believe I mentioned this project to you a while ago. It appears that

you need to be home and have hours available to actually work on making the

stationery or it doesn't get done. Brilliant!

Some photos are from my garden, some from trips that I have taken this summer

and prior summers and the fun candy shots are from working with my grandson.

All come from the heart! I promise that they will soon be listed on our website so

you can browse through many of them.

Have a wonderful, healthy week!

Karen

Celebrating Pink!

Shades of pink are popping up everywhere. Pink, once reserved for women's boudoirs and little girl's dresses is now being incorporated into the décor of homes everywhere. Sometimes in hues of summer sunsets, and sometimes bold and bright, pink makes a statement that is impossible to ignore. Mixing shades of pink makes a room feminine, but the single pink accent in a black and white room can command just as much attention. Over the past few years, pink has been proclaimed the new black. It's the color that fits in with any theme - from girly to chic, from romantic to modern. Store windows are filled with eye popping pink accessories and furnishings. Designers are using extravagant pink fabrics for whole pieces or to create just a few pink touches. What is it about pink that makes us love it so?

Make Mine Pink represents so much more than just the color pink. It symbolizes women, femininity, strength and calm. Whether you surround yourself with pink or just keep a special pink reminder nearby, pink celebrates life - everything you already are and all your hope for the future.

Join us in a celebrating Pink with a special event this Friday at Forget Me Not Dreams where you will find 10% off savings on anything "Pink" on our site. (10% re-embursed after purchase) Enjoy shopping the other boutiques at Make Mine Pink's Friday Event!

Written by: Joyce Lucas, FounderMake Mine Pink

Week of the Animal Takeover

Eileen and I are naming this the week of the wild animals. And they are wild! Remember this sweet little powder puff of a puppy? The opinions are quickly changing around here. Of course I love her like a child, (sorry Dog Whisperer), and we have a wonderful time together every day ... well almost every day.

Still sweet, Huh? We were still working on potty training at the time. She had very specific areas chosen as targets. Usually my husband's bath mat, right next to his side of the bed, in his closet.... she still got me too. At this point she hadn't discovered shoes, paper or human food.

Here is the 45 pound version of puppy, Snickers. She has now discovered the joy of chewing. Deer in the yard still scare her, but our older dog is teaching her when to bark and who to bark at. It's a difficult program. We watch her carefully because of the coyote population here which has grown out of control We have counted 10 that probably have dens on our property. Baloney on the need for 3 square miles for each coyote!!

Here is the new ruler of the house! She now weighs 55 pounds and has just turned 6 months old. She loves Dad's recliner, which she sneaks into when he leaves it. Now the good stories start. She is very much into hunting now, invigorating our 13 year old Golden. They are tag teaming the huge squirrel population here. Eileen also has a Golden and a wonderful cat, Chloe, who has been bringing in live mice and playing with them in the house at night. So Eileen & Randy have been playing night games at their house, usually finding mice in the dog food bag. Ugh!! Last week Snickers trapped a squirrel that had run into my workshop through an open door. If I had a video... Ohhh, much moolah! My baby puppy was matching that squirrel jump for jump, over and under, scattering jewelry boxes, ripping through furniture waiting to be refinished, through the shipping area. Dogs barking, squirrel screaming, me yelling for it all to stop. You can't stop a dog on a mission. I finally caught the dog, carried her outside and shut one door, leaving another open for the stupid squirrel.

This morning I went into the shop for something, it looks like a bomb went off. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see a SQUIRREL, climbing a window outside. I ran over to bang on the window and realized that the rodent with a fluffy tail was stuck in between the screen and the window. It had chewed a hole through the screen from the inside. The thought of trapping the squirrel with a gloved hand while removing the screen simultaneously was a bit daunting. Ahhh, it's an opening window. A couple cranks and the guy fell out the window and was off and running. It was screaming while I was trying to free it, so of course the great hunter ran in to help. Off we went again, dog hunting in and out, round about all of my stacked china, glass, paint, paper, you name it! Nothing broke!! But is does appear that some kind of battle was fought in that room.

We're not done! My husband and I ended up following each other home tonight after work, his on the golf course and mine with Eileen. OK, it's a tie, no one was working. We decided to go out for cheap Mexican tonight, leaving the dogs outside since they had been banished to the garage with the painters here all day. Nice dinner but no dogs when we got home. They always greet us!! Coyotes, squirrel attack, Eileen brought her Kamikaze mice over, or the deer got mad? We finally found them down by the pool, very animated. Our older dog was obviously cheering on the maniac puppy. We ran down and to our horror, the puppy had chased a squirrel into the box that holds the pool cover. OK, the squirrel is in the box, but Puppy has decided that the only way to get in there is to dig and eat through the pool cover. Which she proceeded to do. The cover is guaranteed not to rip or tear even if a large horse stood on it. They didn't mention 55 pound puppies with the urge to hunt. I'm telling my husband that someday she will be a great watch dog.... Right?!

On to a blissful Wednesday. Who's in charge here anyway??

On To New Adventures with Stars in Our Eyes

Eileen & I have decided to jump into a new adventure after talking about it for a long time. We hope to combine our talents again to start a new line of stationery and framed or matted prints to begin. We both love the floral shots and the out of ordinary themes. We also enjoy the idea of returning to the handwritten note, replacing our usual quick emails.

I have been greatly blessed with the ability to travel, so we will use photos from some of my trips. Eileen will use her incredible gifts of composition and design to work on still life themes using our vintage finds. It will truly be an eclectic collection. Something for everyone.

Our colors will range from the soft, natural pastels of garden flowers and country/farm scenes to the bright and enthusiastic colors of fruits, people and sometimes, buildings. We never know what we will find, much like our treasure hunts for vintage items.

So, we are anticipating a two or three week span of time to get things figured out with printers and cameras, then our program should be rolling. We'll let you know when the photos are being listed... but keep on checkin' our site! Who knows what will pop up!!

Is It Time To Sign Off On Summer? Looking Back...

I was just thinking tonight that school will start soon and summer will be over. Where did all of that time go? Our summer started with the arrival of our first baby, Snickers, our new Golden Retriever puppy. Doesn't she look so sweet? Well, she has grown into the proverbial puppy monster, into every project that is up on a table or stored underneath. She has eaten her fair share of paper tags, all cut , stamped, packaged and ready to go. Bad dog!! And she loves buttons of any color or size.

Our next baby arrived in Denver, a few short days before our trip to Spokane for Farm Chicks. Can you tell that my son is one happy Papa? My husband and I have been back to Denver 2 more times this summer to see how Hagen is growing. Seems like he changes so much every week. Eileen will have the stork visiting in Atlanta with a baby boy in early November. There is nothing more precious than grand babies!! And you can give them back to get that precious sleep that we old people need!

Getting everything ready for the Farm Chicks show up in Spokane was a major priority in late spring and early summer. We designed our booth set up, collected and tagged hundreds of items, prayed that Hagen wouldn't arrive at the same time and finally packed up the vehicles and headed north. We had such a great time, met so many wonderful people, vendors and customers and just enjoyed being together, the Mooners. You can count it as a long Girls' Night Out, or a short Girls' Escape. Whatever the name, it was a blast!

Lots of time is spent searching Estate and Garage Sales for the incredible vintage finds that we are able to offer you., the client/customer. Some hunts are definite duds, discouraging to waste time and gas on no treasure finds at all. Then other treasure hunts are very rewarding. Eileen & I have become the "Turn Around Queens" seems like we are always lost. Just part of the great adventure. See the sign below. That was the address for one of our sales. We were quite amused to find a street like that in urban Portland. Not improved is right!!

Summer always means time with my grand babies who live nearby. They come to stay for the day so Mom can escape for some down time.... or they come to stay overnight so Mommy and Daddy can have their own week-end together. We have a great time doing projects, Jacen loves my Cricut, swimming and playing in the woods. We're thinking of building a big fort out in the woods, a big shed actually with lots of windows. Camp outs would be very fun. Jacen wants to sleep with the animals.

My little swimmer!

Eileen & I both have end of the summer trips planned to visit family before the Fall shows start and we continue listing our summer finds on the website in earnest. It's usually beautiful here through Sept. and into Oct. That makes up for our summer not starting until after the 4th of July. I love soccer games in the crisp fall air.

Time to get started on those tags that were eaten and maybe 5 or 10 of the new ideas we have.

Stay tuned for lots of action here as soon as Summer is really over!

Mother's jewelry box is a treasure trove! Vintage rhinestone pins, clouded with age but ready to be shined and repurposed. Pearls yellowed over the years. We're unable to resist gently nibbling them to see if they're real. Mother's favorite lace gloves she wore to church each Sunday or to occasional weddings, rest under the tray, as if awaiting another special occasion to bring them out. A vintage silver bracelet, the one she let you try on when you were a little girt but was much too large for your childish wrist.

Mixed amongst the treasures, you might find a few mother of pearl buttons, saved in hopes of finding a special use, or a few stray cuff links of Dad's. Mother was always sure there would be a use for that one cuff link. A tarnished locket with his faded photograph brings back a flood of memories. Vintage buttons are scattered throughout, each one reminding you of a dress Mother wore.

Mother's jewelry box is a treasure trove for little girls and grownup daughters. No matter our age, our imaginations become colorful and childlike when we open her box of secrets.. As a child, we’re convinced that somewhere in the magnificent box lives a fairy who can tell all the secrets that lie amongst these treasures, and if we listen hard enough, we’ll hear the stories it can tell.

Written by:Joyce Lucas, Founder Make Mine Pink

Please join us for Pink Friday, a fabulous themed shopping event at Forget Me Not Dreams and Make Mine Pink.