Fun with Shimmer Sheetz

Shimmer Sheetz are made of mylar and can be embossed, sanded, coloured with solvent inks and/or alcohol markers and can even be die cut if you use a metal adaptor plate with the usual sandwich for your dies. Using the Shimmer Sheetz, I embossed the background of the window in the first card, embossed and sanded the background of the second card and die cut the butterflies in the third card. There are many pretty colours available and if you look up Elizabeth Craft Designs on You Tube, there are some excellent video tutorials showing some fabulous techniques for using this fun product. Hope everyone enjoys this week's card class.

My little Wednesday rant!

If you've ever wondered why so many small scrapbooking/arts and crafts shops go out of business ... here's a clue. I just paid off the balance on my US Visa card which I use for the majority of my inventory purchases. Nearly all the merchandise I carry comes from the states so there's no way to get around this. My balance was $727.41 which translated to $929.92 CDN. Freight costs are constantly increasing not to mention duty fees. By the time we add debit/credit card fees and the jacked up fees for business banking, phone and internet, it's a pretty slim profit margin... and that's without having to pay rent, which I did for four years and most small businesses have to do. So when you look at the US price on something and compare it to the same item in a Canadian store, please keep in mind the extra costs involved for small business owners here. If you value good customer service and want to continue being able to "shop local", please consider the "actual" cost of on-line and cross border shopping. You may save a few bucks up front (don't forget to add up the exchange, gas and tolls) but ask yourself is it really worth it? 

OPEN this Saturday!

ETA: all regular priced 6 x 6 paper pads and 12 x 12 patterned papers are buy one get the second (same or lower price) FREE!!!!!!  TODAY ONLY. Just a quick reminder that the shop is open from 10 am till 4 pm on Saturday February 21st. Looking forward to seeing some of my crafty friends:)

Pink and Grey

 I love this paper from Authentique so much I made three cards with the same paper ... that is quite a rare thing for me. These three are for class this week. I used a mix of older and new dies and I just realized there is NO stamping on any of the cards ... call the doctor ...lol! I did ask for suggestions regarding a sentiment for the cat and bird card and I got a great one from Linda on Facebook: A little bird told me it's your birthday .... don't worry ... I ate him! Isn't that awesome?! I'm not sure how we could fit the first part on the card front, but if we could, I would add an empty cage on the inside, with a black feather hanging from it along with the "don't worry, I ate him" part ...LOL!

Love is in the air!

 This week's cards can be used as Valentine, Anniversary or just because I love you cards. The sentiments can be changed around too. The first one uses an Impression Obsession die and the die cut inlay technique. The second and third cards use an MFT die which gives you the makings of two cards each time you use the die. I will have an extra little project as a Valentine's surprise for this week, because we all LOVE surprises right???????

Brrrr!

It's a bit on the chilly side out there today. Just finished clearing the snow from the driveway (not enough to be called shovelling really!) and putting some salt on the icy spots. Now all I need is some company ...lol!
If you can't make it today, I'll be open tomorrow (Saturday Jan 31st) from 10 - 4. Hope to see you soon:)

Price increase coming!

Just a quick heads up that there will be some price increases coming in the next month due to the crazy U.S exchange rate and the fact that I haven't raised my prices on most products in 5 years. Paper and cardstock will remain the same for the time being but just about everything else will be going up in price by mid February or earlier as new stock arrives. I hate to do it but I'm afraid it's long overdue and necessary in order to stay in business.