Have you ever met anyone born on Leap Year, Feb. 29th? NO? Well come sit on the porch and I will introduce you to someone who is a Leap Year Baby.......
Please meet, Patti....yep that is right...It is me..I am a Leap year Baby and I am only 12 1/4 yrs old! I was born Feb 29 1960. Since I don't have a real birthday this year I am celebrating for 2 days..today and tomorrow. I am making Tim crazy...he HAS to be nice to me for 2 days...!
My next REAL birthday will be in 2012! I will turn "13"! You all are invited to my real Birthday party...party on the porch Feb 29 2012...!!! Can't wait..I will finally be a teenager..13! WOW... 13 sounds better than 52..yikes!
So there you go, you now know someone who is a Leap Year Baby!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Hey. It's Tim again. Where was I - oh yeah - I started telling you about our time in Texas. It's been a week and I didn't hear from anyone who has ever been to Fredericksburg.
It's been a little over 10 years since Patti and I left Texas but I still believe if you ever get to the Austin area, you would enjoy a day or two in Fredericksburg. This is where Patti and I found out about Guest Houses (NOT like a Bed and Breakfast) and enjoyed many weekends staying at one of the hundreds of Guest Houses in and around Fredericksburg. In fact we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary at one. We stayed at one that was featured in Country Living magazine several times. The Guest Houses were very rustic and usually decorated with primitive crafts. They took you back to a simpler time - they were the perfect place to relax and unwind for a couple of days.
Then there were the shops in town. There were several craft shops and we had our favorites. We started paying attention to what was drawing us to these places. We had just ventured into selling our homemade crafts at the Crafter's Mall and now we were entering the 'what if' stage. We started going to Craft Shows. What if we tried doing one of those shows?! Or what if we sold our items to an actual Craft shop instead of a Crafter's Mall?? What if we had our own craft shop??! - nah - it would never happen... We would end up going back to work on Monday and forget about it for awhile.
Another thing we discovered in Texas was some music that we enjoy to this day. A chance encounter turning the dial and I found some of the unique Celtic music you will hear when you visit Brickhouse Craft Shop.
And before I finish this part of the journey that led Patti and I to our own Craft Shop there is one more Texas experience that also influenced the experience you will have when visiting our shop. Round Top, Texas, another day trip from Austin. Back then the sign you saw when you were entering town said 'Population - 79'. That was until the weekends when half the state showed up for lunch or dinner at Royer's Round Top Cafe. A small Cafe but a big impact. You couldn't go wrong - there wasn't a bad dish on the menu - and no meal was complete until you had a slice of pie! A family run establishment - and we met most of the family during one meal or another. If fact, we met Bud Royer, who along with his wife Karen and their children, own and operate this very small but now very successful business. They wrote a book (not really a cookbook but it does have a few recipes) about their experience with buying this tired Cafe in the middle of nowhere - what were they thinking? Stop by Brickhouse Craft Shop and we'll show you our autographed copy.
I think next time I will share some experiences from our time in New York (upstate - NOT the city). Patti and I lived in New York prior to moving to Texas in 1993. We moved back to New York in 1998. Ahh.. what a house - an 1865 Eye Brow Colonial (a bit primitive...) in a sleepy little town within a short drive to many New England getaways. Anyone ever heard of Yankee Magazine?
It's been a little over 10 years since Patti and I left Texas but I still believe if you ever get to the Austin area, you would enjoy a day or two in Fredericksburg. This is where Patti and I found out about Guest Houses (NOT like a Bed and Breakfast) and enjoyed many weekends staying at one of the hundreds of Guest Houses in and around Fredericksburg. In fact we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary at one. We stayed at one that was featured in Country Living magazine several times. The Guest Houses were very rustic and usually decorated with primitive crafts. They took you back to a simpler time - they were the perfect place to relax and unwind for a couple of days.
Then there were the shops in town. There were several craft shops and we had our favorites. We started paying attention to what was drawing us to these places. We had just ventured into selling our homemade crafts at the Crafter's Mall and now we were entering the 'what if' stage. We started going to Craft Shows. What if we tried doing one of those shows?! Or what if we sold our items to an actual Craft shop instead of a Crafter's Mall?? What if we had our own craft shop??! - nah - it would never happen... We would end up going back to work on Monday and forget about it for awhile.
Another thing we discovered in Texas was some music that we enjoy to this day. A chance encounter turning the dial and I found some of the unique Celtic music you will hear when you visit Brickhouse Craft Shop.
And before I finish this part of the journey that led Patti and I to our own Craft Shop there is one more Texas experience that also influenced the experience you will have when visiting our shop. Round Top, Texas, another day trip from Austin. Back then the sign you saw when you were entering town said 'Population - 79'. That was until the weekends when half the state showed up for lunch or dinner at Royer's Round Top Cafe. A small Cafe but a big impact. You couldn't go wrong - there wasn't a bad dish on the menu - and no meal was complete until you had a slice of pie! A family run establishment - and we met most of the family during one meal or another. If fact, we met Bud Royer, who along with his wife Karen and their children, own and operate this very small but now very successful business. They wrote a book (not really a cookbook but it does have a few recipes) about their experience with buying this tired Cafe in the middle of nowhere - what were they thinking? Stop by Brickhouse Craft Shop and we'll show you our autographed copy.
I think next time I will share some experiences from our time in New York (upstate - NOT the city). Patti and I lived in New York prior to moving to Texas in 1993. We moved back to New York in 1998. Ahh.. what a house - an 1865 Eye Brow Colonial (a bit primitive...) in a sleepy little town within a short drive to many New England getaways. Anyone ever heard of Yankee Magazine?
I LOVE TREATS!
Hi, Tim & Patti are busy, so I thought I would stop by and do a dog blog!I am HOWIE, aka HUNGRY HOWIE! I just wanted to say hi and when you come to visit us at the craft shop don't forget to bring me a treat! p.s. Please don't tell Tim & Patti that I asked you to bring me treats!
Thanks, Howie
Step inside the Brickhouse craft shop
Come on it. We are so glad you stopped by The Brickhouse Craft Shop today. Look around and check out all the great crafts we have..crafts Handmade in the USA. We hope you enjoy the mini tour of our shop.
I love this bear. We have a very talented crafter, Christa, who makes awesome bears. We will be featuring Christa in the near future.
I just love all our rabbits!
This is the spot where a lot of our customers end up. They love sitting on the rocker by the fire...so warm and cozy! Sometimes they get too cozy and they don't leave...LOL! Oh we love our customers. Notice the rabbit pillow?Pillow is made by our wonderful crafter, April. She is the best!
Here is Mr Bunny! He is lonely..his buddy found a home shortly after Teresa brought them to our shop. Teresa is busy making more!
Go Ahead..have a seat. Would you like a cup of tea?
LOOK..another bunny! That bunny came all the way from Washington state! You will be meeting Becca in the near future...another great crafter here at The Brickhouse. Also, notice the pottery? We have a local potter and we are so happy to have his awesome pottery in our shop. Stay tuned to meet Bob, the potter!
This cabinet was made by Tim's dad, Allen.
Behind the brown doors is a fireplace. This building was once an old summer kitchen. We plan on using the fireplace in the future. I can see it now..roaring fire and a rocking chair..customers will never want to leave!
We hope you enjoyed the tour. We promise more pictures later. Come back again..if it is warm outside we can sit on the porch and chat. Thanks for stopping by.Thursday, February 26, 2009
First signs of SPRING!
I was taking a little stroll around our yard today and look what I found! Could it be that Spring is right around the corner?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
My Friday!
YEA! Today is my "Friday". I work Mon~Wed at a Dental Office. It was a long week! Tim always says to me on Wednesday, "hey, today is your Friday!" I am so glad that it is my Friday! I am so ready for my long weekend, I have so much to do. I have some orders for signs that I need to get finished. I have some crafters to contact to check on orders and also to place orders. AND I need to get our new camera out to the shop and get some pictures to post on this blog.
There has been a hint of Spring in the air here in Central PA. Tomorrow the temps are suppose to be in the 50's..NICE! I am SO READY for Spring. It has been a long winter.
Tim promises to be back on the Porch to visit with all of you this weekend. SO stop by our porch and get to know us a little more. We look forward to meeting you!
~~Patti~~
There has been a hint of Spring in the air here in Central PA. Tomorrow the temps are suppose to be in the 50's..NICE! I am SO READY for Spring. It has been a long winter.
Tim promises to be back on the Porch to visit with all of you this weekend. SO stop by our porch and get to know us a little more. We look forward to meeting you!
~~Patti~~
Monday, February 23, 2009
Coming Soon!
Pictures...YES we will be posting pictures of our shop. I finally figured out the new camera. We hope to have pictures on the blog by this weekend. SO please keep checking back...we would hate to lose all our followers. We don't mean to have a boring blog without pictures but we promise pictures will be coming SOON!
SAD day here at the Leitzel house..my last issue of COUNTRY HOME magazine arrived today....that's right my LAST issue. This magazine will no longer be published and I am sad. SO today my farewell issue came.
But my sadness did not last long....the Spring 2009 issues of Mercantile Gatherings magazine arrived for the Shop. Cannot wait till my customers come into the shop this weekend and see the new issue. I love this magazine!
Speaking of LOVE...We love all our crafters here at The Brickhouse Craft Shop. We promise that we are going to be showcasing all of our wonderful crafters very soon here on our blog. In the meantime, you really need to check out one of our GREAT crafters. I just checked her blog and she never ceases to surprise me with her amazing talent! Please take some time and check out our good friend, Teresa at her blog, http://teresasprimtreasures.blogspot.com/ I just love those mice! I
hope she is busy making some for our shop. Oh yea, while you are visiting Teresa's blog you can see pictures of our shop. Teresa and another of our crafters, Ree, visited our shop a couple of weeks ago. Teresa took pictures and she posted them on her blog...Thank you Teresa!
We want to thank all our followers of our new blog. We thank you for your kind words and your support. Please stop by anytime and sit on our porch.
~~Patti~~
SAD day here at the Leitzel house..my last issue of COUNTRY HOME magazine arrived today....that's right my LAST issue. This magazine will no longer be published and I am sad. SO today my farewell issue came.
But my sadness did not last long....the Spring 2009 issues of Mercantile Gatherings magazine arrived for the Shop. Cannot wait till my customers come into the shop this weekend and see the new issue. I love this magazine!
Speaking of LOVE...We love all our crafters here at The Brickhouse Craft Shop. We promise that we are going to be showcasing all of our wonderful crafters very soon here on our blog. In the meantime, you really need to check out one of our GREAT crafters. I just checked her blog and she never ceases to surprise me with her amazing talent! Please take some time and check out our good friend, Teresa at her blog, http://teresasprimtreasures.blogspot.com/ I just love those mice! I
hope she is busy making some for our shop. Oh yea, while you are visiting Teresa's blog you can see pictures of our shop. Teresa and another of our crafters, Ree, visited our shop a couple of weeks ago. Teresa took pictures and she posted them on her blog...Thank you Teresa!
We want to thank all our followers of our new blog. We thank you for your kind words and your support. Please stop by anytime and sit on our porch.
~~Patti~~
Sunday, February 22, 2009
SHOP TALK
Good Sunday Morning. It is a cold and cloudy morning here in Millersburg. We are heading out to Church and THEN we are going shopping for a new camera! So be prepared, we will be posting pictures of our shop on the blog as soon as we figure out the new camera! Between learning how to do a blog and then getting a digital camera....whew exhausting for us! I hope it isn't true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks!
Saturday at THE BRICKHOUSE CRAFT SHOP was fun. We had some new customers stop by. It is always nice to see new faces.
We got some new pottery in yesterday...Thank you Bob & Tarrah! I fell in love with a piece but so did a customer...guess who went home with it? I need Bob to make me another one and then I am going home with it!
We have a new crafter in the store, Janet, who makes the most amazing baskets. Check back to our blog because we will be posting pictures of these baskets....they are so nice and so unique!
Despite the doom and gloom about the economy, we had a great weekend at our little shop! Many thanks to our loyal customers and our new customers.
Have a happy Sunday!
~~Patti~~
Saturday at THE BRICKHOUSE CRAFT SHOP was fun. We had some new customers stop by. It is always nice to see new faces.
We got some new pottery in yesterday...Thank you Bob & Tarrah! I fell in love with a piece but so did a customer...guess who went home with it? I need Bob to make me another one and then I am going home with it!
We have a new crafter in the store, Janet, who makes the most amazing baskets. Check back to our blog because we will be posting pictures of these baskets....they are so nice and so unique!
Despite the doom and gloom about the economy, we had a great weekend at our little shop! Many thanks to our loyal customers and our new customers.
Have a happy Sunday!
~~Patti~~
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Greetings from Millersburg, PA. Please be patient while Patti and I get our act together and get things organized here. In the near future, we will be telling you more about us so you can get to know us a little better. In the meantime, here's a glimpse into our past that will help explain why we have a Craft Shop and what influenced the style and mood of our Craft Shop.
Patti and I have been involved in Crafts in one way or another for most of our 30 years of married life. We started out like many others - on the other side of the checkout counter as customers. In 1994, soon after we moved to the Austin, TX area, Patti took a painting class at a local Michaels Craft Store. That was really the turning point into what has evolved into a true passion for CRAFTING - not just Crafts. I built a small 'splinter shack' to start cutting out the patterns we would soon turn into finished products. We found a Crafters Mall where we were able to test the waters to see if folks were interested in our creations. Boy were they!
While we lived in the Austin area, we took numerous day trips and long weekends - and craft shops were always sought out and visited. We'd always enjoyed visting craft shops - we lived in upstate New York for many years and discovered a number of craft shops in the New England states that impressed us. But now we were seeing them in a different way and apparently both of us were taking mental notes. More and more Patti and I would compare notes about what we liked and what we didn't like.
We'll continue this in future posings, but for now - does anyone out there live in the Austin TX area? Has anyone ever been to Fredericksburg Texas? That little town in the Texas Hill Country played a part in our Craft Shop experience that we share with you when you visit Brickhouse Craft Shop.
Patti and I have been involved in Crafts in one way or another for most of our 30 years of married life. We started out like many others - on the other side of the checkout counter as customers. In 1994, soon after we moved to the Austin, TX area, Patti took a painting class at a local Michaels Craft Store. That was really the turning point into what has evolved into a true passion for CRAFTING - not just Crafts. I built a small 'splinter shack' to start cutting out the patterns we would soon turn into finished products. We found a Crafters Mall where we were able to test the waters to see if folks were interested in our creations. Boy were they!
While we lived in the Austin area, we took numerous day trips and long weekends - and craft shops were always sought out and visited. We'd always enjoyed visting craft shops - we lived in upstate New York for many years and discovered a number of craft shops in the New England states that impressed us. But now we were seeing them in a different way and apparently both of us were taking mental notes. More and more Patti and I would compare notes about what we liked and what we didn't like.
We'll continue this in future posings, but for now - does anyone out there live in the Austin TX area? Has anyone ever been to Fredericksburg Texas? That little town in the Texas Hill Country played a part in our Craft Shop experience that we share with you when you visit Brickhouse Craft Shop.
Shop Talk
Greetings, Tim and I have entered the world of blogging. We have no idea what we are doing! Once we figure this blogging thing out we know you will want to visit us often. Tim and I want to share our experiences as craft shop owners with all of you. We will be showcasing our crafters and their wares. Our shop sells only Handmade in the USA crafts and we are so proud of our wonderful crafters/friends! And we can not forget about our wonderful customers! Please stop by often, we are sure you will enjoy reading about The Brickhouse Craft Shop.
It is Saturday and that means it is time for us to open the shop. It is sunny today here in Central Pa so we hope our customers are out and about and they drop in to visit us. We hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by our porch.
It is Saturday and that means it is time for us to open the shop. It is sunny today here in Central Pa so we hope our customers are out and about and they drop in to visit us. We hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by our porch.
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