'bye 'bye Main Street!

In just over three hours I'll put the closed sign up for the last time here at 25 Main Street West. My stamps punches and dies are all packed up and you can actually see the top of my white desk (that's a first!) The big table, however, is full of bargains waiting to be snapped up at 40% off! I'm here until 3 pm and then we start loading the truck, so bundle up, brush the snow off your vehicle and come for a last look around. If you're like me and haven't finished your Christmas cards yet, you may want to stock up on adhesive, 'cos I won't be open again until January 6th next year!
Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes. I'm looking forward to welcoming you to my "new place" and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy new year.

Marie

Last class of 2013

Well folks, here are two of the cards we'll make for next week's class, which is the last one of the year and also the last in this building. The first class of 2014 will be on Wednesday January 8th, which sounds really far away, but considering everything I have to get done between now and then, will probably arrive a bit sooner than I want it to ... lol!
I had fun making the snow globe card and will have a few suggestions for improvement on my sample card when we do the class. We'll be using chalk pastels for this class, so if you happen to have any of your own, bring them along. You'll also need a white gel pen. I think you'll love the "glowing lights" technique I used for the Christmas lights ... it's so easy and the effect is very pretty. I haven't made a third card yet as I'm still playing around with a couple of ideas. It will be class card number 73 for this year so I'm having a hard time narrowing down the ideas that are bouncing around in my poor little brain:)
Only 6 more days here on Main St. I'll miss my little store but I'm very excited to be opening up at home.
As soon as the rooms start looking something like a store and a classroom - although maybe I should call it the "playroom" - I'll post some photos. Wish me luck with all the packing and moving ... I think I'm going to need it! If you have a chance to stop in next Friday or Saturday, there should be some good bargains on the table,  ( less to pack is good right?)
Hope to see you soon!

Three more Christmas cards

Three more Christmas cards for our upcoming class. the first one has a battery tea light behind the fold which shines through the vellum-backed sentiment. the card folds flat for mailing. The second card is a quick and easy one using the "Country Landscape" Memory Box die. The "Peace" stamp is an old wood mount that someone gave me a while ago so it's not available for purchase, however you are welcome to stamp off a few while you are here for class if you like.
The last card is a new stamp from "Our Daily Bread" designs and is already out of stock. I'm placing my final order on Thursday, so if you would like one of these, please let me know ASAP.

Funky Christmas

I used a stamp set called "Funky Christmas" for the first two cards shown here for our next class. As soon as I saw this set I know it would look great heat embossed and I really like the results. My picture taking is horrible today so I apologize for that ...they do look much better in real life, honest!
The last card was made using Memory Box "Grand Merry Christmas" die. This is a good one if you need to do a bunch of cards in a hurry. The die is the exact width of a standard card. I also used the elf hat from the mini hats set and an ornament border die. You can see I was rushing to make this sample because it's a little crooked! I need to get busy making some birthday cards as November is a big month for birthdays among my family AND friends. I'll be placing the last order (before I move) for Memory Box dies on November 15th, so please let me know ASAP if there anything you need. I just unpacked an order yesterday and half the dies are gone already!!! Only five more weeks till the big move ...YIKES!

E-mail issues

I received quite a few "undelivered" e-mails after sending out the monthly newsletter this week. All of the were from Yahoo or Rogers addresses. If you didn't get yours and would like to ...let me know and I'll try again. Here's the message I got:

Your message was not delivered because the destination computer was not reachable within the allowed queue period. The amount of time a message is queued before it is returned depends on local configuration parameters.
Most likely there is a network problem that prevented delivery, but it is also possible that the computer is turned off, or does not have a mail system running right now.
Your message was not delivered within 1 days and 0 hours.
Host yahoo.ca is not responding.

An "Apeeling" class

Yes I know I spelled appealing wrong in the title! It's my poor attempt at a play on words as we used "Peel-Off" stickers on all three cards this week. There are so many ways to use these stickers and  there is a good selection available in the store right now, with more arriving next week. On the first card, the stickers were simply adhered to Shimmer Sheetz and cut out. This is so much prettier than it looks in the photo. On the second card, we used stardust gel pens to colour the open spaces in the sticker, and on the last card the sticker is adhered to a scrap of Bazzil Bling cardstock and added a couple of rhinestones. The sentiment stickers make these cards so quick and easy to put together. Each sheet of stickers sells for $2.50 and there are 17 assorted Christmas trees, plus stars and dots on this sheet. The Shimmer Sheetz, which are mylar, come three in a pack for $7.50 and there are so many fabulous techniques to use with them. If you haven't seen the video link I posted on the store Facebook page, be sure to check it out on You Tube. Just type in Shimmer Sheetz and you'll find lots of great ideas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving

Jingle all the way ...

Here we go with our first ALL Christmas card class of the year! It will be time to mail those cards before we know it, and there are only five new classes scheduled before Christmas!

I used chunky glitter, Sakura gelly roll pens and Washi Tape on the first card. The cute little "Magical Snowman" is from Stampendous and I have a couple on order, so let me know if you want to purchase the stamp. Please bring your own gel pens to class if you have them,

For the second card, I used the tree stamp from Tim Holtz "Just Believe" set and the "Frostyville Frame" and "Resting Birds" dies from Memory Box. Both these dies are in stock. On the last card, I've used an older Unity stamp but I still have one in stock also. I used Cosmo Cricket paper for the background and some gorgeous metallic cardstock for the mat and punched border. The little pointsettia was created using a Memory Box die. Hope you like the cards and that you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Don't forget the store will close at 2 pm this Saturday, as we have a lot of driving to do this weekend. I wish my family wasn't spread out so far, but I'm thankful that they are within driving distance and that we can celebrate this holiday together.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours:)

Marie

Introducing Sizzix Framelits as Flip-its for Cardmaking

I got a shipment of these dies in last week and I have only one set left! I'll be placing another order early next week so check in with me if you want to know when they arrive ...they probably won't be around for long!

World Card-Making Day

Even though it was a small turn-out for the card-making portion of the day, the ladies who participated managed to fill the entire table with "stuff" so perhaps it's just as well we didn't have more people sign up...lol! That being said it was a super busy day in the store and lots of customers took advantage of the great deals being offered. If you were considering ordering the Heartfelt Creations Christmas Paper collection pictured below, but weren't sure about it, check out a few of the samples below. I think we were too busy having fun to be really productive, but you really don't need to be feeling creative to  get a lot of cards done in a short space of time with these papers. You can go as simple or elaborate as you like, and the best thing of all is you don't need any special tools like punches, dies or even stamps to make stunning cards with this collection. I can still order more pads, so if you are interested, please pop in the store this week and pre pay for yours. The mailing deadline for Christmas cards will be here before we know it, so let's get busy!

All 3 class cards done and it's only Friday?????

Can you tell it's been a VERY quiet week here? I envy everyone who is out there enjoying this fabulous weather we are having, but at least I got my cards ready ahead of schedule for a change:) I think I'll celebrate by showing you all three here for a change. As I mentioned in the previous post, I usually save the Christmas one as a surprise for when the ladies come to class, but as I decided to use the same basic layout for all three, I thought I might as well show them all together. You may recognize this fold as the one I used earlier in the month for my hubby's beer mug birthday card. I changed each one a little bit, but you can't see all the details in the photos. I used a new patterned paper that has a beautiful sheen on the blue card ... it's so much prettier than you can see from the photo. Anyway ... here they are ... TA- DA!

2013 Christmas cards ...so far!

Most of our card classes include one Christmas card, but this year I haven't been uploading a photo on my blog or FB page as it's kinda nice to have one card be a surprise for everyone coming to class. Also it seems a bit weird posting pics of Christmas cards in spring and summer ..lol! After next week's classes we'll probably be making MOSTLY Christmas cards each week, so I thought I'd share photos of the ones we've made so far this year. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a comment ..perhaps mentioning  which card(s) is/are your favourite(s) and why. I don't get a lot of feedback on my blog posts so it would be lovely to hear from anyone who can spare the time. Have a lovely weekend and don't forget ...only 13 more Saturdays until Christmas! (Only 12 to shop here ...YIKES!)

Smiles for Soldiers

I recently heard from a customer about a gal in Nova Scotia who is collecting hand-made cards to send to Canadian soldiers deployed overseas. The cards are for them to send to their loved ones. There are a few stipulations as to what type of cards can be sent, but I think this would be a fabulous thing for us card-makers to get involved in. Here is a link to the Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/groups/SendingSmilesforSoldiers/
You can request to join the group or just check in with me for more info. If you make more cards than you know what to do with, this is definitely something to look into!

Cheers!

Today is my hubby's birthday so I'm sharing the card I made for him. I've been meaning to try one of these beer mugs for a while and this was the perfect occasion:) Now that I think of it, I might make a few more using this image and keep them on hand for those hard to make cards for guys.

Everyone really liked the class cards this week and there is still next Wednesday and Thursday class open, so if you'd like to join us just give me a call or send an e-mail. Here are two of the three:

Aren't those owls the cutest? Check in next week as I'll be posting pics of all the Christmas cards we've made so far this year. I've just been marking down the prices on all the patterned paper in stock. All the $1.49 paper is now just $1 per sheet so be sure to stop in soon and stock up on your favourites before they disappear.

Heartfelt Creations Christmas Card Collection AND World Card Making Day!

Hey did you know that World Card Making Day is fast approaching? I've been thinking of how to celebrate this special day on Saturday October 5th and when I was unpacking my order today, I was totally inspired by the newly released Christmas Card Collection Pad from Heartfelt Creations. This 12 x 12 pad of double sided paper has 24 sheets in 12 designs and they are so beautiful. Take a look:

 The flip sides of each of these are equally gorgeous, but more suited to a scrapbook layout than cards. the cost for the pad is $24 which is only $1 per sheet. Imagine how many fabulous cards you could make with 24 of them??????
I'm taking pre-paid orders for this paper pad and the first 16 customers to purchase it will be invited to a card making Bonanza on Saturday October 5th (either 10 till noon or 2 till 4pm) here at the store to celebrate World Card Making Day. This will not be a class. Each person will bring their own paper pad and other supplies for card making, but you'll be able to use any of the stamps, punches, dies embossing folders etc while you're here. Everyone can share ideas for cards and it will be a fun and productive time. We'll have some draws for prizes that day too, so be sure to mark it on your calendar and order your Christmas Card Collection Pad ASAP. This item is in big demand so I should put the order in by next Friday to be sure of getting it in time. Lots of other goodies arrived today too so be sure to stop in soon:)