Monday, November 30, 2009

And the winner is.....




I'm very late posting these pics as my Grand Opening was held last Saturday November 21st, but I wanted to share them anyway. The winner of the papercraft gift basket was Judy Fysh. I called Judy as soon as her ticket was drawn and she came right over to pick up her prize! She looks like she spent ages getting ready doesn't she? The other photos are of my friend Jennifer and her family. Jen has been the most incredible help and support during the preparation and first weeks of having opened the store. Even though she has a young family and a husband who just went back to school, she has been there every time I needed help (or just someone to listen to me babble!)I wanted her youngest daughter, Brooklyn to draw the ticket, because the store opened on her first birthday, but she wasn't interested until we gave the job to her big brother Christian...then she wanted to pull them all out LOL! Anyway...it was a family affair with big sister Madison and Dad Michael watching over the proceedings!(Madison ducked out before the photo was taken..!) I was also thrilled to have my brothers Peter and Tony with their wives Sharon and Kathleen make the four hour drive to celebrate with us. They even went out of their way to pick up my daughter Andrea so she could be with us too! It was a lovely day and when I got home all I had to do was put my feet up with a glass of wine while the girls pitched in to make dinner and clean up the kitchen. We stayed up WAY too late chatting, but it was so good to sit and relax with family. Big hugs and thanks to all my wonderfully supportive family and most of all to my amazing husband Steve. We celebrated 32 years of marriage this week and what a wonderful journey it's been! Well that's it for today...thanks for stopping in!

Marie

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Important Things


Well here I am.....four weeks after opening the doors of Papercraft Cafe and one day after my Grand Opening On November 21st.......exhausted but very thankful.
I'm thankful that it is Sunday...the day of rest (and I aim to get some!)
I'm thankful for family and friends who are supportive, helpful and understanding.
I'm thankful for all the lovely people who have visited my store, taken classes and made encouraging comments.
I'm thankful for the lovely cards and floral gifts and wine (Mmmm!) I've received during the past few weeks.
I'm thankful for the opportuntity to share my love for papercrafting with the people in my community.

It's important to take the time to reflect on the important things in our lives and sharing those reflections with friends and loved ones can be a very rewarding experience. On Wednesday December 2nd, Heather Brooks of Ninabrook Designs will be at Papercraft Cafe to help us create a wonderful keepsake mini album called "The Important Things." Everything but adhesive and a trimmer is included in the cost of this class which is just $25! Space is limited so don't miss out on the chance to create something very special for yourself or a loved one.
Call or stop in to reserve your space. If you are unable to attend the class, but would like a kit to make the album at home, call by December 1st so we can have enough kits on hand. Hope you're enjoyng a restful Sunday.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Better late than never





As promised...here are the pics of the cards we made in our embossing class last week. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos...I'm a bit out of practice and I'm not used to the lighting in the store yet.... hopefully I'll improve soon! I have a hard time getting my measurements just right when I use the wrought iron corner punch and as you can see I have a little gap on the tree card. It's such a plain design that I could probably cover it with a small embellishment but I thought I'd show it as it is...mistakes and all. The navy and white card seemed to be the favourite for most people. I love the silver snowflake. We used both dry and heat embossing during this class and everyone loved these techniques. Heat embossing is one of my favourites and it's so quick and easy to do. Thanks to Sandra for bringing the extra heat gun which speeded things up a bit. Actually we did really well for time considering there were several steps to a couple of the cards and we were sharing tools. I'm really looking forward to our bags and tags class tomorrow evening. Each person gets to choose their own papers and stamps so it will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with. Hopefully the ladies will let me take photos of their creations to share here...if not you'll have to settle for my samples!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Jolly By Golly




I've been trying to find the time to post pics of our last card class, and each time I think of it, I don't have my camera with me or I'm on the wrong computer. I was determined to upload the pics tonight and guess what? Yep... left the camera at the store AGAIN!!!! Anyway, in the meantime,here's a sneak peak of what's coming up for the week of November 23 and 25th. Jennifer will be showing you how to use the fabulous Jolly By Golly papers from Cosmo Cricket to make 6 adorable cards and you'll have enough materials left to make another dozen at home! Cost is $20 plus GST. Book your spot early so you don't miss out....... and I promise I'll have those photos up by Sunday evening!!!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

First Class





I'm very late posting this due to all the lovely new goodies that have been arriving at the Cafe this week. It takes me a while to get everything unpacked, checked off, entered in to the computer inventory and priced. This is partly due to the fact that I'm not very speedy on the key board...(that's the boring part) and partly because I keep rearranging stuff every time new products arrive...(that's the fun part!)
Anyway our first class was lots of fun. The ladies made 4 very pretty Christmas cards and even though we all got pretty frustrated with the Martha Stewart Doilie Lace punch (it's so hard to use!)the results were worth it. I got lots of exercise running around the table passing things back and forth and I learned that more than one sample card is needed!
Friday night was the first crop night and four very artisitic ladies made excellent use of the in store stamps and die cut machines. Some of my stamps have made it onto shelving on the wall of the crop room (thanks to my wonderful hard-working hubby Steve) and the others are patiently waiting their turn in baskets.
Tomorrow's (Monday) class is already full and I have only four spaces left for the Wednesday class so I'll be busy making up the samples today. Hope you are having a great weekend and thanks for stopping in.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

It's Official!



Hurray! My store sign finally went up today, just in time for the re-opening of the road. Phew! Am I ever glad that's over. I'll post a better photo of the sign later, but here it is...a work in progress. Now that people will be able to find me, I'm hoping we'll have some sign ups for upcoming classes and crops. I had to cancel the Monday night class, but we're on for Wednesday. Only 3 people so far but it will be fun. I'm still working on the final layouts of the cards (yes...I am a procrastinator!)and I LOVE the papers we're using from Basic Gray's Eskimo Kisses and the Christmas Magic Line from Fancy Pants. I'll post pics when we're done!
Starting tomorrow, anyone who makes a purchase of $10 in the store will recieve a ballot for a chance to win the lovely prize package shown in the photo. It's worth over $100 and includes an Autumn backgrounds paper pack, Basic Gray Calendar Kit, Inadinkadoo Holiday Seasons Clear Stamp set and other assorted goodies. We'll draw the winning ballot at the Grand Opening on November 21st at 4:00p.m. More about the Grand opening soon. Don't forget...every Friday is Crop Night at the Cafe. Hope to see you there!