Sunrise at the Brickhouse

           When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breath, to
think, to enjoy, to love. ~~Marcus Aurelius~~

                                                                                  

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning at the Brickhouse. Can you believe today is the last day of August? I don't know about you but I think this Summer went by so fast, which is fine with me...I LOVE FALL!  Tim and I hope you enjoy many beautiful sunrises. Have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend.

The Light House

Maybe we should change the name of our Shop from the Brickhouse to the Lighthouse. We have been busy creating new lights for our customers and I thought today that Lighthouse may be more appropriate. Here are some of our newest Lights. 


Autumn Lights.





Our Frost on the Pine lights





Bowlful of bulbs! Our pumpkin bulbs.



See what's new

 We have been stocking the Shop with some new goodies. And in the next couple of weeks we will be displaying all the wonderful Fall Crafts. Some of our friends here at the Shop are busying crafting away on Fall and Christmas..yes I said Christmas...you know it is only 131 Days, 11 hours & 45 minutes...but who's counting? WE ARE!  

~~Snowmen are starting to arrive at the Brickhouse~~

 We Love the Fall and Christmas Season at the Brickhouse and so do our crafters, they told us that making Fall/Christmas goodies are what they love to make! SO keep checking back to see when new things arrive.

Here are just a few pictures of what is new at the Shop.

~~Such pretty pendants!~~

 

Stop by and see our lights..handdipped right here at the Brickhouse
 You are going to love our new lower prices on our lights!





~Such a sad face..but oh so CUTE~







~~New from Indian Trail Pottery!~~

Introducing......

We  are so happy to introduce you to a new member of the Brickhouse Family.....Nancy Binns and her wonderful wood carvings! Tim and I met Nancy when we did the craft show at the Armstrong Valley Winery. We fell in love with her and her carvings. And we are pleased to announce that the Brickhouse now carries some of Nancy's carvings! Stop by the Shop and see Nancy's Santas and ornaments.....we know you will fall in love with her carvings, too. And you can find Nancy on FaceBook at: Nancy binns-Folk Artist-Woodcarver. We told Nancy that we wanted to brag about her and we asked if she could tell us a little about herself....We are pleased to introduce you to Nancy Binns:

Self taught folk artist, I began carving in 1985 after seeing some carvings by a West Virginia carver, inspired to create and since then have been carving regularly. I enjoy carving Santa's and have found a whole world of collectors with an amazing variety of the big guys.


My carvings are whimsical and have a feeling of humor, probably like me, never too serious and always looking for the brighter side of life.

I have carved thousands of Santa's as well as ornaments of birds and Christmas themed hanging keepsakes. They're all over the world.....standing on shelves and gathered for children to mark occasions.

Each carving is unique and one of a kind, carved by hand over a few days, then painted and signed. With a sharp knife and an idea a character is born to go off in the world, hopefully to create a smile and last a life time.

NANCY BINNS

BORDERLAND WOOD CARVING STUDIO

Welcome Nancy, we are so happy to have you join our family here at the Brickhouse!

Fall Issue of Mercantile Gatherings

The Fall issue of Mercantile Gatherings just arrived at the Brickhouse! I quickly paged through it...looks like a great issue! Stop by the Brickhouse and pick up a copy!

Issues

We are having some issues with our Facebook page for the Brickhouse. Hopefully, FB will get the problems fixed and we will be back to posting updates on our Brickhouse page. In the meantime, for our local customers..WE ARE OPEN TODAY  10~5. Stop by the Brickhouse today and visit with us.

Lititz Craft Show 2011

Anyone going to the  LITITZ CRAFT SHOW  this Saturday August 13th? If you do, you MUST stop by our friend, Teresa's booth. You can find Teresa and her wonderful "wares" at Broad Street, near the corner of Broad and Main...right near the Bank. Her space number is E 4~5. Here is a  Map  for the Show. If you don't stop by Teresa's booth you will be sooooo dissapointed...she has the Best Prim Treasures......oh and wait till you see her wooden pieces! When you stop by her booth, tell her Patti and Tim sent you!
Now if you are not planning on going to the Lititz Craft Show you can always visit Teresa at  these upcoming Shows  here in Central PA:
 August 27th, Corn Festival in Shippensburg, PA & October 8th,  at the Hartslog Days in Alexandria, PA
If you can't make it to PA, you have to stop by Teresa's BLOG and see all her goodies. She has an Etsy shop...we are sure you will fall in love with her talent....we have and so have our customers here at the Brickhouse.

Teresa if you are reading this, we wish you much success at the Show this weekend....have fun!

So, What's a Good Day at the Brickhouse?

Hey Folks, it's Tim. I know - it's been a long time since my last posting on this blog. But now I have something worth discussing. Patti and I have been asked this question by more than a few people over the past several years - especially lately with the tough economic times we're all going through. Fellow crafters, shop owners and just curious folks ask us: 'So, what's a Good Day at the Brickhouse?' Well, we've been debating whether we really wanted to share this with everyone and we've finally decided that the time is right and you deserve to know. So here goes, we're opening our books and letting you see just what a Good Day is here at the Brickhouse.  

A Good Day at the Brickhouse is...

...When a customer visits us - again! We hope this means that they enjoyed their last experience here - but if they have a question or concern with a past visit or purchase, we're just as glad that they cared enough to come back and let us know so we can make it right.

...When a new customer visits us! There are a few ways this happens, but many times it's because another customer told them how much they liked their visit with us. So many times we hear, 'my friend told me about you', or 'my sister said I would love this place', or 'my wife said just stop there and buy anything - I like it all!' This makes us feel like we are still doing a good job, that people like us and they are telling their friends.  

(On the back of our Sales Receipts that our customers receive with their purchase is an old cliche' that I remember from working in my familys' General Store: 'If we please you, tell your friends. If we don't, tell us.' That saying has been around forever but it's simple and we like it and it reminds us how our best advertising gets done.)


...When a customer shares a  laugh - or some tears - with us. Many of our customers feel very comfortable when they visit us and they share many funny stories and good news. They have also shared sad news with us and we let them know that they are not alone during these times. In either case, we often share a handshake, a pat on the back, a hug or a kind word when it is needed.

...When customers that don't know each other start chatting and laughing like they are old friends. You'd be suprised how many times this happens!

...When customers bring 'future shoppers' to the Brickhouse. We've had customers bring their babies along for a visit. We've had customers bring their young children along for a visit. We keep a candy dish on the checkout counter for the young customers - OK - the candy is really for anybody!       

...When one of our crafters stops by and customers get to meet them! Here at the Brickhouse, we are all about connections. Connecting the crafters and their crafts with our customers - and when they actually get to meet that is even better! 
    
Looking back, Patti and I can't believe how many Good Days we've had here in the few years we've been open. So maybe some of you are disappointed but we really don't measure a 'Good Day' by the number of dollars made - instead we measure a 'Good Day' by the number of new customers and friends we make.

So, now you know what a 'Good Day' is at the Brickhouse.

Frost on the Pumpkin

My creative juices are flowing today! I started the day making snowmen and now I am ending the day making lights. Introducing our newest lights..... "FROST ON THE PUMPKIN"

Our Newest Lights: FROST ON THE PUMPKIN



These look nice even when they are not lit..the "frost" makes them sparkle

It was a challenge sprinkling the "frost" on the lights....I am thinking this will be a two person job. I may have to recruit Tim to help me :)

Busy at the Brickhouse

 We are getting ready for our busy season here at the Brickhouse. Here is just a snippet of some of the things we are working on for the Shop.