Now for Something Different

Sometimes, we can get in a rut of making all of our cards the same size and shape. For this Thursday's Free make-and-take, Marilynn created a card that is totally unique and very easy to mail - it fits in a standard business size envelope. Wouldn't you love to send a Mother's Day boquet through the mail for the price of a stamp? Now you can! These cards are sold in packs from Magenta (they are not an Accu-Cut die). Take some time to stop and smell the flowers (well, take the time, anyway - there's not much to smell) and make one for yourself!

Flowers, flowers everywhere!

For our Learn at Lunch program tomorrow, Jean is playing with dimension! These lovely flowers are stickers, so they are incredibly easy to work with. They are designed to pop up, so they are only sticky in certain places. No need to apply talc to remove the "stick" from places you don't want it. These cards look very time consuming, but couldn't be easier - and what could be better than that? Drop in from 12-2 on Tuesday, April 28 and give it a try!

Card for your Good Lookin' friends!

Thursday's FREE make-and-take features the new cooking set from Hero Arts! This versatile set is perfect for greeting cards, but also for recipe cards and books! And, the stamps are simple, so they are easy to stamp on patterned paper and cut out as well. Love it! Stop in any time tomorrow between 10 and 9 and make one for yourself!

Video Demo

Hey guys, Laura here again. I finally figured out how to post a video, so I thought I would start with a demonstration of an item I use all the time called the Bow Easy. I know a lot of you have bought the bow template at Angela's, and I am always happy to show people how to use it. However, I thought it might be nice to have a reference you could use in your own home. I hope you enjoy it!

New meaning for "liquid lunch"!

For our latest Learn at Lunch, Jean is playing with alcohol inks! Tim Holtz and Ranger released 24 new colors of alcohol inks in Lights and Brights so that there is a full mono-chromatic spectrum to play with! Ranger also announced their refillable alcohol ink pen (which we've had on order since late January and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of). I managaed to snag one in my class a couple of weeks ago with Tim, and I brought it back for Jean to share with you! So, come and play! The Learn at Lunch is a FREE event, Tuesday, April 21 from 12-2. No reservation is required!

Box-a-palooza!

We are having such a good time today! Not only do we have the joy of learning cool papercrafting techniques with one of the best in the business - Cherryl Moote - but we are also unloading boxes like lunatics! First, my review of Cherryl so far...she is simply full of knowledge! Not only are her projects cool, but it's the little tips that make her classes so fantastic. Here she is showing us how to account on our ruler for the difference in width between drawing a line or scoring (the bone folder is wider than a pencil and that needs to be accounted for when measuring)! The other fun thing about classes is getting to know the person - Cherryl is from Canada and is on a CURLING team! Do you know anyone in person who is on a curling team???? Fascinating!



Now, on to the boxes. If you've been watching the What's New page on the website, you know that we've already opened a ton of boxes recently. We've got the two new A Muse releases and the new Memory Box release, to name a few. But for every box we open, two more arrive! I actually said to Rory (our UPS hero) that he should feel free to just stop by sometime - he doesn't always have to come bearing "gifts". He laughed because he knows I don't mean it! Please feel free to come in and make your purchases as we open the boxes. If you give the new stuff a good home, that means we don't have to figure out where to put it here :-) Also, because we've received so many new things, please note that the new things are NOT just in the "new" area. The entire store has become the "new" area, so look in every nook and cranny. See you soon!

Pretty in Pink

For Thursday's Free make-and-take card, Marilynn used two stamps from Stacy Stamps. She stamped and embossed the flowers on vellum, then colored from the back with markers. This card is so vibrant and pretty you can almost smell the flowers! A perfect card for any occasion! Enjoy!

Demo that's Just Rite!

Jean had a great time preparing for Tuesday's next installment of the Learn at Lunch (our FREE demo series that runs from 12-2 PM). We have a bunch of new designs to coordinate with the Just Rite series of customizable stamps, and once Jean started playing, she just couldn't stop. She made a set or cards, then created a box with coordinating paper to put them in. What a fantastic gift! Come and play and see for yourself how addictive Just Rite stamping can be!

More New Hero Arts!

We bought so many new Hero Arts clear sets at the trade show 2 weeks ago, that we had to buy another fixture to hold them all! And, we were thrilled with how quickly they arrived here at the shop. The fixture holds more than 30 sets, and we also received a bunch of the new (wood mounted) Design Block stamps as well! Plus, all 3 of us took classes with the designers at Hero, so we have lots of card and project samples to share as well.

Stop in and take a look. Just remember that we will be closed on Sunday, April 12 for Easter. We're open our regular hours on Saturday (from 10 to 5) and again on Monday (from 10 to 3).

It's an Egg Hunt!

But we're not making you hunt very hard. In fact, I guess you could say it's hidden in plain view. Stop in any time Thursday and make this adorable Easter card featuring stamps from the Great Impressions March Stamp of the Month board. And while you're here, check out their April Stamp of the Month board - it will have you thinking May Flowers!

ArtLenz Recap

We had such a good time last week with Tom and Gail Ellison, co-creators of ArtLenz. Gail taught us so many tips and techniques, and showed us so many samples and ideas that our brains actually started to leak out of our ears - just a little. Marilynn and I were so inspired that we're anxious to do some classes of our own (Marilynn is our resident ArtLenz expert, but Gail showed me some ideas for incorporating ArtLenz into my Outlines classes - holy cow!) And, there's a chance that they may be coming back in the fall with a new stamp - a Harlequin design. That would be just awesome!

Rediscover Embossing!

Heat embossing is not new, but it might be something you haven't done in a while. Jean will be playing with these new styles of Embossing Powder from American Crafts in her next Learn at Lunch session, and it will have you pulling those heat guns back out at home! Two of their new powders (metallic and glitter Zing) are simply stunning. The metallics come in 9 colors (not just silver, gold and copper) and produce a very high sheen and look particularly amazing on dark colored cardstock. The Glitter Zing also comes in 9 colors and really holds the glitter in check - not a lot of stray glitter to deal with! Join Jean Tuesday, April 7 from 12-2 and give them a try for yourself. Learn at Lunch demos are always free and you don't need to pre-register to play!

More Memory Box Paper

We just can't get enough of it! This backbround paper almost needs no embellishment, but that wouldn't be much of a make-and-take, I guess. So, we added some additional "spring" elements and away we go! Stop in Thursday, April 2 any time between 10 and 9 and make one for yourself!