Spring Open House!

We hope you are planning to join us as we celebrate spring with a fabulous open house on Saturday, May 13 from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

This year, we are changing things up a bit and focusing on one company, Impression Obsession, because they have so many new products to entice you!!! The owner of IO, Mitra Friant, thought our event sounded like so much fun that she is going to join us!!!! This is an enormous, big deal because Mitra's schedule rarely allows her to visit local stamp stores anymore. And, she's bringing her "trade show booth" - so many products and samples!!!! Bring your camera and come celebrate her presence with us - she's a hoot and a half!!!  She will be rotating her demos all day long - and these demos will introduce you to her brand new ink pads - you don't want to miss this!!!

To show our appreciation for your support throughout the year, snag a FREE goodie bag just for stopping in (one per household, please) while supplies last.  You'll also receive a ticket for additional door prize drawings throughout the day.

And as always, we'll have a Community Outreach Project benefiting the Nokesville Church of the Brethren Blessings Box(see the details at the bottom of the page). You'll receive an extra door prize ticket for your contributions.

Once again, we are overflowing with FREE, fun things to do! Mitra, Laura and Kathy will be sharing demos, and there will also be 2 FREE make-and-takes available while supplies last. No reservations are required, but come early and plan to stay all day - you won't want to miss out.

The demos are scheduled as follows:
Demos: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Stipple Stamping & Die Masks - Mitra
Techniques with Shrink Plastic - Laura

Demos: 12:30 - 2:00 PM
Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish - Kathy
Mitra will resume her demos after a break for lunch

Demo: 2:30 - 4:00 PM
Techniques with IO backgrounds - Laura

The first make-and-take features I.O. Silhouette stamps and will be available from 10 - 12 (pictured below).  The second make-and-take features I.O. Background stamps and a geometric flowers die.  It will be available from 1 - 3.

There will also be refreshments and lots of new product to excite you! As you can see, we have quite a day planned. We hope you'll save the date and plan to join us so we can thank you in person for continuing to support small business! It's a privilege to be your local stamp store! 

Community Outreach - Nokesville Church of the Brethren Blessings Box
The Blessings Box is an unlocked container stocked with nonperishable food items, toiletries or other basic household needs (including diapers and feminine hygiene products) available with no questions asked 24/7. People are invited to take what they need and give what they can. And above all, be blessed!

The Blessings Box "stands in the gap" for people who, for whatever reason, come up short at the grocery store but who don't receive formal assistance. Additionally, diapers, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products are not provided by area food banks and are especially helpful.

Donation Items Requested
Non-perishable food items
Deodorant
Small bottles of laundry detergent
Small bottles of dishwashing soap
Feminine Products (pads)
Diapers (all sizes)
Small packs of Baby Wipes
Gallon Ziplock Bags
Dove Bar Soap
Shampoo

10th Anniversary Open House

We hope you're planning to stop in tomorrow, Saturday, September 28, to celebrate 10 amazing years as your Local Stamp Store!  We have food, goodie bags, door prizes, Free demos, new stamp companies and soooooo much more! 

Marilynn's demos are always fantastic!  This time, she has so much to show you, she's enlisted helpers!  Joins us for the Embossing Demo as well as 3 other fabulous demos (Donna's showing you how to work with the Sizzix Pop 'n Cut cards, Paula is providing all kinds of tips for Trendy Tape (who knew????) and Cami is show you all kinds of fun things with Inka Gold).  Demos are free and run from 10:30-12:30 tomorrow!

10th Anniversary Open House

We hope you are making plans to join us for our 10th Anniversary Open House - Saturday, September 28 from 10-5.  It's really hard to believe it's been 10 years already.  And even harder to believe - this is our 21st Open House!!!!  That equals nearly a hundred make-and-takes and demos, a couple thousand goodie bags, thousands of dollars of Community Outreach donations and your friendship - which is priceless!!!! 

You are welcome to stop by any time.  You'll receive our best goodie bag gift ever, just for stopping in (one per family, please).  However, if you want to join us for the make-and-take session (featuring the Halloween Hoop project pictures), you will need to make your reservations as soon as possible.  The Open House always fills up quickly, but given the "round number" of this year, we want to encourage you to register soon!

Community Outreach update

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post (about the Learn at Lunch demo, which is posted just below) to share the results of our collection efforts last week for Alpha's Glory. As you can see, the director of the pregnancy crisis center was delighted - and she's standing next to only a fraction of what you all so generously donated! Paula reported that the volunteers were literally ripping open the diaper packages as they were brought in and handing them out to their clients. Their shelves were that bare! So, a great big thank you once again for joining our little community to reach out to the bigger community. We appreciate you!

It's Ornamental

I love these Microscope frames from Ranger! They come in a variety of sizes and finishes, and they are so versatile! You can make necklaces or, as in this case, ornaments that look like they were professionally soldered with virtually no effort at all! Join us for our 7th Anniversary Open House and create this ornament for yourself! It features a stamp from the new What's in the Box collection from Memory Box. And no ornament is complete without a little "bling".

Something Shiny, Something New!

One of the fun things we try to do as part of our 7th Anniversary Open House is introduce you to new products and/or new techniques. This card features both! This card is part of the Afternoon make-and-take session and features a new product called Inspirations paint. We used this highly iridescent paint in two ways - to paint the Hero Arts Flower in the center of the card, and on a dry inkpad to create a multicolor impression when stamped on black (it's hard to see in this photo, so stop in and see how beautiful it is in person). Hope you can join us for our special day - Saturday, August 7.

A Stylish Start

During the lazy days of summer, it's hard to believe that Christmas is less than 6 months away. Why not grab a couple of spare moments to start getting organized? This stylish organizer is one of the make-and-take projects at our 7th Anniversary Open House on Saturday, August 7. Inside, you can organize your card lists, addresses, gift ideas and more. Then, when cold weather finally approaches, you can smugly sit and sip your cocoa while everyone else rushes around in a last minute frenzy. Spaces are limited for the Open House make-and-takes, so don't miss out!

Treats to Tempt You

On Saturday, August 7, we are celebrating our 7th Anniversary! In "googling" 7th Business Anniversary, I discovered that the 7th anniversary is represented by chocolate. Hey, I'm all for any excuse to eat chocolate! So, in addition to door prizes, make-and-takes, 2 brand new stamp companies and stamp swaps, there will also be chocolate (and other delicious refreshments). One of our make-and-take projects this year is a treat bag (pictured). I'm always looking for new ideas for teacher gifts, hostess treats and the like. This is a fun one to make use of your small stamps and decorative papers.

Visit our web site to reserve your spot for our make-and-takes and to read more about all of the events we have planned for the day! We sincerely hope to see you there. You've made the last 7 years....sweet!

Oh, Sweeeeeet!

My son, Luke, says "Oh sweet" a lot. Particularly if he's getting to stay up later than usual. But it's also the perfect phrase to describe our 7th Anniversary Open House, taking place Saturday, August 7. We discovered that the 7th business anniversary is symbolized by chocolate, and we are indulging our sweet tooth all day. In addition, we have goodie bags for everyone who stops by (1 per family, please), door prizes every 20 minutes, stamp swaps, a community outreach project, two new companies for your shopping pleasure and 8 fabulous make-and-take projects. Isn't the snow globe adorable? You can use it as a picture frame or as a gift card holder (it's the perfect size)! It's one of the afternoon make-and-take projects. The make-and-takes are the only portion of the day where registration is required, and spaces are limited. Hopefully you can join us for a day of fun and chocolate!

6th Anniversary Open House

Today was so much fun! We really enjoyed getting to know the fine folks from Clear & Simple stamps. The two projects they offered during our Open House make-and-takes were a huge hit! Everyone begged them to come back and teach a full class, so we are working to get our schedules to match up and have them come back! Their stamp sets are so "clean" and perfect for coloring! And their card and 6x6 page samples are truly amazing! You definitely need to stop by and bring your camera. I didn't count how many samples they provided for us, but I bet it was nearly 100! Maybe more!

Donna taught a project doing metal work to create dog tag necklaces. It was fun to see how different everyone's looked as they proudly wore them throughout the rest of the day. Donna had different metal color choices and pattern designs to choose from. Demand was high for additional classes in metal, too, so Donna is planning something for January. Stay tuned for more details!

Another very popular project was working with the Copic air brush system. I would have to say it was addictive! I'll post more pictures over on our Facebook page, so drop by and take a look. If you joined us today, please feel free to post a comment with your review. I wish I had taken a photo of all of the items we collected for Facets! As always, you were extremely generous for those in need in our community. The representative who came to pick the items up was thrilled she had a big truck!

I'll be hopping on a plane first thing in the morning to attend a Post-CHA wrap up in Boston. I'll be doing some ordering and bringing back some catalogs and projects to share during the Learn at Lunch demo time on Tuesday. I can't post pictures like I normally do on Monday, because I won't be back yet with my samples. So, stop in Tuesday from 12-2 and be surprised!

Let the Games Begin

How cute is this? It's a game, it's a card, it's a HOOT! We'll be making this card during the afternoon make-and-take sessions at our 6th Anniversary Open House! If you want to join us for the make-and-takes, you do need to make your reservations soon. Otherwise, stop in for shopping, stamp swapping, door prizes, refreshments and more! Saturday, August 1 is the date to remember. Visit our web site for all the details including a list of supplies we are collecting as part of our Community Outreach.

6th Anniversary Open House

We hope you are making plans to join us at our 6th Anniversary Open House on Saturday, August 1. We have lots going on all day, including two sessions of make and takes. The morning session runs from 10:30 - 12:30 and includes 4 projects for $18.00, including this amazing metal dog tag necklace. Learn how to create unique metal pieces with very little effort. You'll want to make tons of them for gifts, and your friends will be amazed! In this project, you can choose the color of your metal, so the pieces will reflect your style and personality. Sign up soon by visiting our web site or calling the shop. These spaces fill quickly!