Dare to Be Artsy!

This Thursday's FREE make-and-take card features one of the new Dare 2B Artsy sets that just arrived at the shop! 

Have you ever wondered why we carry both large and small inkpads?  Well, in this card, we will make use of the small Dew Drop pads to color in different parts of the stamp.  Further color and shading is added with Prismacolor pencils.  Come get a much needed breath of spring when you join us to make this card!

(If you're in the shop between now and Thursday, check the card out.  Each week's make-and-take is posted behind the register a week in advance).

Shimmer and Shine

 Join Angela this Tuesday between 12 and 2 and get your shine on!  We will be playing with Shimmer Sheetz.  Angela will discuss how to do tons of different techniques with these fabulous mylar sheets - including tips for cutting them with wafer thin dies and doing transfers.  There's so much more to them than meets the eye!  The Learn at Lunch events are always informative and FREE!  How can you resist?

Store Closed

We are closing the store today (Saturday, February 21) due to weather. See you soon!

Guess What Arrived....

The February Distress color of the month arrived.....Abandoned Coral. Pretty!

 

A sweet treat for you!

Valentine's Day may be over, but it's still the perfect season for candy (well....every season is candy season in my opinion!)

Join us this Thursday between 10 & 8 and create this card for your favorite "peep" using stamps and dies from My Favorite Things.  We'll add some coloring with Copics and sponging.  Fun - and calorie free!!!

Weather Update and Mama Elephant

The store is closed today, Tuesday Feb 17, because of the weather. Today's demo and class are rescheduled for next Tues, Feb 24. We will be open normal hours tomorrow, so we hope to see you then!

Let's talk about something that is a lot more fun than snowy weather.....Mama Elephant! They have their new release the 15th of every month, and we usually have the stamps/dies that day. However, there was no mail delivery Sunday or Monday because of the holiday, and we are closed today. The new products should be at the store tomorrow, so let us know if there is anything you want held for you.

There is a new polar bear set of stamps with coordinating dies:

How about these cute guys? There are stamps and coordinating dies:

Does the snowy weather have you craving flowers and Spring? There are new stamps/dies:

Finally, there is an awesome new border set. People often struggle with what to do with borders, so here are a couple ideas:

Embossed borders to make a background and colored with watercolors-

Bright borders to really highlight your stamped images-

New from Avery Elle and Paper Smooches

Well, I guess the groundhog was right, and winter wasn't quite over. It is cold outside, but warm at the Happy Stamper. We are open our regular Monday hours for Presidents Day (10am-3pm). They are calling for quite a bit of snow Monday night, so Monday afternoon is the perfect time to get your milk and crafting supplies!

The CHA release from Avery Elle is here:

Customers are always looking for inexpensive stamped gift ideas that can be mass-produced. The book stamps and bookmark dies are perfect when you need to make gifts for friends, family, neighbors, or teachers

Speaking of gifts, check out their new gift card die. It lets you add a gift card to your greeting card in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. Simply add string through the die cut holes to hold your card into place.

They also released one of the cutest kitty/puppy clear stamp sets I have ever seen

There are also new products from Paper Smooches. Their release amused me because it had beautiful and poignant religious stamps/dies as well as a cute pirate set. Eclectic, but wonderful!
Love the rainbow die

I'm going to pretend these next samples are for our customers to see, but really they our for our pirate-obsessed staff member Marilynn

If you need something new to read while wrapped up in a blanket trying to stay warm, the Spring issue of Take Ten is here as well as the latest issue of Bound and Lettered.

More about MISTI and What's New

Yesterday we blogged about the MISTI stamp tool. Here is another video that shows how you can use it for background stamping:



Want to see the video directly on YouTube? You can view it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZzPenYvyb8

Are you a paper person? You are going to love the new collections that have arrived.

We have Prima's two CHA releases..

Butterfly Collection

And Bedtime Story

There are paper packs as well as individual 12" x 12" sheets

We also have three new collections from Graphic 45:

We have all sizes of the Collection packs as well as individual sheets of paper, embellishments and coordinating stamps.

Guess what is restocked? The new Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink!

I will be posting new samples on Saturday with the brand new Paper Smooches and Avery Elle that arrived at the store, so be sure to check back. I just wanted to give you the heads up that both are in stock at the store.

Someone called the store Thursday night asking about the new bunny stamp set from MFT. I said we didn't have it, but it turns out we do have one set left. If you still want it, please call the store, and we will hold it for you.

Finally, this is one of the few weekends where we don't have any classes scheduled. If you would like to come in and use our classroom this holiday weekend to stamp, you are more than welcome.  Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5, Mon 10-3  It is such a sunny, happy place to be creative!

Introducing the MISTI tool

We are very excited about a new stamping tool on the market. It is called the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented). There has been a lot of buzz about it in the stamping community lately, so we wanted to be sure to carry it for our customers.

The MISTI is a stamp positioning tool that allows for perfect alignment of stamps with coordinating dies, makes layering stamps a snap, and allows you to quickly mass-produce cards. Here is an intro video to give you an idea about what the tool can do.  The video starts with how to maintain the tool and then moves into how to use it:

If you want to see the tool directly on YouTube, you can view it here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHN2xg_BvEs)

 

We have the tool on order and are expecting it in the next week or so. 

We will be selling the MISTI for $65, which is a discount off of the retail price of $69.99, and buying it in the store avoids having to pay shipping and handling. As an incentive, we will personally instruct anyone who buys the MISTI from us on how to use it. You will be supporting your local stamp store and getting personal instruction as a bonus. Win, win!

Each MISTI tool is individually handmade in the USA by a small mom and pop business, so they sometimes get backordered. If you would like one of these tools, please contact the Happy Stamper so that we can hold one for you from our current shipment. We don't know when a second shipment will arrive.

Get a little Zen

We are LOVING all the NEW product from Dina Wakley that just arrived post-CHA show!  This week's free card features one of her new stencils.  Marilynn has added some fun (and "meditative" doodles to the open circle design using the wonderful Fude Pen.  If you like the look of Zentangle, but weren't quite sure how to get started, these little doodles are a perfect intro.  And, we have TONS of Zentangle idea books in the store right now to inspire you further.

Marilynn used Doodlebug decorative paper, then matched the colors on the circle elements using Pan Pastels.  Stop in any time between 10 & 8 and relax a little!  You'll be glad you did!

New MFT Samples and a WPlus9 video!

New products from My Favorite Things that you are just going to love!
There is a super-cute new stamp set with coordinating dies as well as a conversation balloon die set:

 

On the next sample, notice the circle dot die that was used.  It really adds nice detail to your finished card!

 

Shaker card!!!

How about tulip stamps and dies for Spring? Love the houndstooth backgrounds!

How about candy and jars?

Peeps!

What about the wavy die and coordinating sentiments? Practical!

We also have new stamps and dies from WPlus9!  They always have the sweetest images, and we wanted to share their new video with the brand new elephant set and Distress Ink markers:



If you want to view the HD video directly on YouTube, you can see it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghr114G08V0&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

All About Adhesives

Are you confused by the overwhelming number of adhesives available?  Would you like to know the differences between them, and which ones are best to use when?  If so, join us Tuesday between 12 & 2 and let Angela attempt to sort it all out.  We'll make this card using 3 different adhesives, and Angela will bring samples to demonstrate the benefits of many others.  Bring your questions, and she'll do her best :-)  Be gentle with her - after all, all of these adhesives made for a "sticky situation".  {Groan}

Saturday Make and Takes

We had leftover supplies from our Impression Obsession Open House Make and Takes, so we decided to offer them again this Saturday until we run out of supplies. There is the really cute hammock center-step card:

As well as a Valentine's Day card:

We will start both make and takes in the morning and keep going till we run out of supplies.

Speaking of the Open House, thank you so much to all of you who attended. We really appreciated your continued support of our crafting community.

Congratulations also to Anne S. and Laura S. for winning the Open House door prizes. We really hope you enjoy your gift certificates!

 

Angela's Happy Stamper 208 Elden St. Suite 203 Herndon, VA 20170 (703) 657-2952

 

Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt!

Shadow stamps are wonderful! You can use them to highlight a small image (like a Rosie's Roadshow critter) or you can overlap them with various shades of ink to create a background with lots of depth.

That's what we've done with this Thursday's FREE make-and-take project. We used My Favorite Things hybrid ink pads, and the colors interacted as we overlapped them. Beautiful!

Plus, the sentiment stamp is from the brand new line of stamps from Elizabeth Crafts! Who knew they were making stamps now too - is there anything they can't do well?????

Join us Thursday between 10 & 8 and give this technique a try!

 

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