Spring Wishes

The Cat's Pajamas has long been one of our favorite stamp companies. Their cat, dog and penguin stamps are so cute! We were surprised and delighted with their brand new stamp release this spring featuring RABBITS! For Thursday's FREE card make-and-take, Marilynn used watercolor pencils and a Dove Blender pen. This is a wonderful alternative for folks who are sensitive to the smell of Gamsol. Because these images are so nice and open, it's easy to add shading and depth to the card. Stop in between 10-8 and give it a try yourself!

More Skin Tones

One of the reasons people like the Original Copic markers is that they have a fine point tip on one end that makes coloring small areas easier. If you have ever tried coloring tiny stick legs and arms on your people images, then you might want to think about using these markers. To give you more ethnicity options, we just expanded our selection of various skin tones and are expecting a few more backordered shades soon. Be sure to come in and check them out!

For your punching pleasure

I'm sort of a neat freak, so punching small items, only to get glue all over the place to adhere them, is not one of my favorite crafting activities. That is why I was completely enamoured by the new self-adhesive punch paper that just arrived. It's thin enough for most punches (including the new embossing punches by Marvy), and neat and tidy to work with. Wait until you see how it works with the new EK Success chain punches. Wow! It comes in a huge variety of colors, and it has a white core. When you use embossing punches, you can "scruff" off the color of the embossed part to make the design really pop! Come give it a punch and see what you think at our FREE Learn at Lunch demo on Tuesday from 12-2.

Shadow Stamps are Back!

It seems like right about the time I first got into stamping, shadow stamps were the hottest thing. Then, we got distracted by newer, "shinier" things. Hero Arts, who was one of the founders of shadow stamping, has reminded us with their latest release of how much fun it is to create your own layered look. If you've never tried this technique (or if you just want to be reminded of the simple elegance of it), stop in Thursday for our FREE make-and-take featuring stamps by Hero Arts and A Muse, and notecards by Memory Box!

You've Been Framed!

I'm always looking for new ways to use stamps I already have. I love my Impression Obsession stamps, but sometimes I need something quick and don't want to color all of the detail in some of their larger stamps. Here's a fun alternative! Using the Frame Up stamps and tape from Make An Impression, you can create this adorable card in a fraction of the time! Use all 3 rectangles, or use just 1. The possibilities are endless! Come see how easy this is at our FREE Learn at Lunch demo Tuesday from 12-2.

Spotlight on Impression Obsession

We love the wonderfully detailed images from Impression Obsession. Sometimes folks get intimidated by the amount of detail - do I really have to color all of that? The answer is "NO"! Why not try a technique called spotlighting? Spotlighting is when you color only a portion of the image to really highlight that specific part. In this case, we colored the entire sunflower head, but you could just color a square inch or just the butterfly. The possibilities are endless! The backing card is not decorative paper (although I've been fooled many times). It's one of the large Cover-a-card stamps from I.O. I love the flexibility of coordinating my decorative paper perfectly (and not having to spend hours looking for just the right piece of paper). Join us for the Thursday FREE make-and-take. You'll have to try it to believe how easy it is to stamp this large background stamp!

Marbling Madness

Can you believe this is done with Smooch ink? We've played with Clearsnap Smooch in the past - adding highly metallic accents, painting on metal charms, highlighting dark colored cardstock....but I had never seen them used in this way before! You can't really tell from the photo, but there's still a hint of shimmer on the marbled paper as well. Jenn was playing with this technique at home when her teenaged sons walked by. They were so enamored with the technique that they wanted to make marbled papers too! That's quite an endorsement! Join us Tuesday from 12-2 and give it a swirl!

Causing a Scene!

This week's FREE make-and-take card features the new Mi Casa set from Hero Arts and a fun technique called "Paper Piecing". Marilynn chose to stamp on solid papers, but this technique can also be done on patterned paper for an entirely different look. What a fantastic way to "recycle" your scraps of paper!

This card makes use of 5 of the 10 stamps included in this clear set. What an incredible value - 10 stamps for only $15.00!

New Metallic StazOn

Mmmm, yum! I am having a ball playing with the new metallic ink pads from StazOn. These pads were introduced this past winter at CHA, and we've been waiting breathlessly for them to arrive. The pad has all the features of StazOn Opaque, so it pops right off the paper when used on anything coated: vellum, Glossy papers and acetate. Plus, it dries beautifully on shrink plastic, wood, glass, leather...virtually anything. And, it has the added benefit of shine and shimmer. Stop in Tuesday between 12-2 and let me (Angela - the guest "demoist") show you how much fun these pads are!