The Celebs are Circling the Building....

Exciting news to share - we've got many of our special guest teachers booked set for the year!!

First up - Holy Bangers and Mash!!!!  The highly anticipated return of Dyan Reaveley will be on May 11th and 12th - not soon enough for us!

These are the classes she'll be teaching:

Using Imagery in Your Journaling: 5/11/2013 10am-2pm

In my art journal I use a lot of imagery from magazines, books, old journal pages etc. Where do you start and how do you alter them to make them your own? You will be working with images that I will provide and also selecting your own from my many magazine sources. Cutting and sticking has never been so much fun!

Journaling with Silhouettes: 5/11/2013 3:30pm-7:30pm

Silhouette imagery is big in journaling at the moment, but where do you start?? You start with the Dylusions silhouette stencils and masks. We will be writing, spraying, inking, painting and stamping in them, on them and through them. You will also learn how to create your own silhouettes to give your pages that unique look.

Sorry for the inconvenience but the requested event could not be found on May 11, 2013.

Couture Journaling: 5/12/2013 10am-2pm

This workshop is everything you need to know about the Dylusions range of Couture clear stamps. Bring a touch of glamour to your pages with the fashion images. Learn how to make each stamp look totally different by adding patterns to the material. We will be stamping, masking, painting, doodling, adding other imagery and elements to create fabulous pages.

Anatomy of a Page: 5/12/13 3:30pm-7:30pm

Are you intrigued by the art journaling phenonoma but unsure where to start?

Do the pages look too complicated for you to even contemplate where to begin?

This is the class for you. We will break down the journal page into easy bite size steps. Starting with a background, stamping borders and journal lines, adding collage elements and doodling.

And then we will do it again and again, each time adding a new twist or element until you feel totally at ease and raring to go.

I've already decided which ones I want to take... All of them!  They sound SO fun, I can hardly wait till May!

Also Coming Up:

Wendi Vecchi

All of our Art Part fans will be thrilled to learn that Wendi Vecchi is returning September 7th and 8th!  Woot woot!!!  Wendy Vecchi is a full time artist/designer, Certified Ranger Educator, and a proud design team member for Maya Road. Wendy loves to demo and teach at stores and events across the country. Wendy also has her own signature line of stamps from Stampers Anonymous titled Studio 490 which capture her passion for art with a touch of whimsy. Her style is unique and eclectic with an exceptional attention to detail and a fresh approach to the creative spirit. She shares her love of techniques on her blog and reminds you that whatever you do each day just – "Make Art!"

Dina Wakely

Also confirmed (just today!!), Dina Wakely will be here October 4th and 5th!  We are currently awaiting a restock of her recently published book, Art Journal Freedom...

Dina teaches online and in-person classes all over the world. She started papercrafting in 1995, and has dabbled in scrapbooking, stamping, mixed-media art, encaustic art, and art journaling. Dina has a line of rubber stamps by Stampington, and a line of stencils by The Crafter's Workshop. You can visit Dina at her website, http://www.dinawakley.com.


And be sure not to forget our next special guest teacher this month...

Sorry for the inconvenience but the requested event could not be found on May 12, 2013.

Nathalie Metevier

Nathalie visited us last year and everyone just loved her classes, so we just had to have her back! Nathalie has been wowing stampers for years with her innovative and fun techniques - in fact, she is the stamper that first inspired Michelle to learn to stamp!

Nathalie will be here Friday March 29th and Saturday March 30th - just around the corner!  Her card samples are in the store and the techniques look awesome!  Check out all the details here. 
So much to plan for, so little time!  These events will be on us before you know it, so make sure to pen these ladies into your calendar as they are simply not to be missed!!!

Paper Aaaahhhhhhttttt Goodies...

Ha ha - no, I'm not making fun of PN's Boston accent in that title.... It's meant to convey the soothing feeling that one gets when one becomes immersed in brand new stencils, stamps, and art parts. See, don't you just want to go "Aaaahhhh" just thinking about it?

First and foremost, Wendy Vecchi came stencils! These are perfect for use on Art Parts or on any art project where you want to add a little Wendy pizazz:

Aren't they awesome??? We also got in some great new stamp sets from Wendy - I love her new stamps! She offers a great new selection of background stamps along with some very funny and artfelt little sayings... Here are just a few of the new sets we received:



Wendy's new Art Parts coordinate with her new stamps perfectly. Again, we simply got too many to show them all here, but here are just a few - come on in to see the rest!

There are so many creative possibilities with the Studio 490 art Parts, stamps, and stencils - make sure to pick your favorites up before they're gone!

Here a Stamp, there a Stamp, everywhere a Stamp Stamp...

(Alternate titles for this post include "PN Strikes Again", "Rosemary Loses her Cool", or "Tam Gives PN the Old Stink Eye" - voters choice!)

Wow - it's that time again. Wednesday. That most cursed day of the week. Rosemary and I (yes, Rosemary.... she's BACK!! Yaaaay!!!) have been searching this store from top to bottom all day! It started with the Wendy Vecchi Art Parts - Rosemary and I knew they were here somewhere, but we checked where they used to be and, of course, there's a little dresser there now. And it DOESN'T have any Art Parts on it.

Nope, some fantastic new Christmas stamps from Northwoods, but no Art Parts. We looked and looked and couldn't find them anywhere. Eventually we figured they sold out and started hanging the new ones where they used to go, on the little white grid rack that has been moved to the back of the store by the cardstock aisle.

So we start hanging them and we get dreaded question number two. Where is the mulberry paper. Well. we both walk right on over to where the mulberry paper has been for, well, at least as long as I've worked here. Rosemary bends down to grab a sheet and, nope. Not there. The rest of the aisle seemed to be in order, but the mulberry paper was suspiciously absent. What are the PN has struck again....

And, my suspicions were confirmed. The very next question some poor customer asks us is where the Creative Imaginations Alice in Wonderland paper is. The customer walked to it's previous location, and Rosemary and I both walked there too, certain that our customer just wasn't looking hard enough. Nope. We looked and looked and looked. We knew we had it, just knew it. Eventually our poor customer gave up and started looking for other things. "Where are the new Tim Holtz stamps?" she wanted to know. Well, first Rosemary checks the new wall. After all, that is sort of the logical place for new stamps. Nope, no go. We did find some adorable new stamps from Magnolia's Turning Leaves collection:

Tilda's and Edwin are having all kinds of fun this fall! Right next to the Magnolia stamps were some chic little stamps from Penny Black, just in time to get started on the holidays:

And next to that the GORGEOUS new sample board and stamps from Memory Box - I swear their releases get better every single time:

Yes, all these stamps are fun and wonderful, but they're not from Tim Holtz. Since I was sitting right next to the Tim Holtz section doing my blogging I swiveled in my seat and made sure the new stamps weren't there. Nope, they weren't. (OK, so maybe all the parts of the story where I claimed to be helping look for things, I was really watching Rosemary look for things and jotting down her path of destruction. After all, I'm the blogger. I have to record these things properly, for prosperity and all). Finally, Rosemary had had it. She was tired of looking for things.

"That's it!" cried Rosemary. "I'm tired of looking for things! I'm calling her at home!" Faithful reader, Rosemary is NOT one for idle threats. She called her at home.

"Where on Earth did you put the Creative Imaginations Alice in Wonderland paper?" There is a little silence, and then Rosemary walks over to a new little side rack. "I looked here!" she exclaimed. "It's not here!" More silence. Then she grabs some paper and looks at it. "Upside down?" she asks. "Why would you put it upside down? No wonder we couldn't find it!" Yep, it's the truth. The entire line of paper we were looking for was upside down, with it's back side showing. The backside of this paper is beautiful, but it's kind of hard to identify Alice from behind.

Anyway, Rosemary was so upset with this revelation that she hung up the phone without asking about the Tim Holtz stamps.

"_____!" says Rosemary. (Sorry, reader, you'll need to use your imagination for that one. This is a family blog, after all). "I was so upset about the paper that I forgot to ask her about the stamps!" Our poor customer was a little afraid, I think. She made some noises about not worrying about it, but then all the sudden Rosemary found the stamps.

"I found them!" exclaimed Rosemary. "I can hardly believe it!" And there they were, in the stencil section.

Oh, and look. Right in with them is all the new Wendy Vecchi Art Parts, stamps, and stencils. I know, you're probably wondering why the stamps are in the stencil section. We are wondering that ourselves. Reader, this can only add more weight to our claim that Nancy is out to make us look like morons in order to advance her own career. I mean, how is it possible that everyone that came in this morning asked for items that neither of us could find? Consistently?

It's a set up, I tell you. Rumor has it that PN's son was in the store this weekend, supposedly installing a new outlet for our class area. I'm thinking, though, that the outlet was just a red herring. I'm sure there are little cameras in store, recording our Wednesday antics. PN probably sits at home at night, watching and rewatching our pathetic attempts to impress our customers and planning her next move. What other explanation can there be?

Can I tell you, friend reader, that the stress of all this is finally getting to me? I spent so much time today watching Rosemary looking for things and blogging about it, just look what happened to me:

I'm sure if I could just slide into work, find a beautiful award waiting for me, and go on to enjoy a day filled with successfully helping my treasured customers that these things wouldn't happen to me. You could call this a stress induced reaction, or you could call it me giving PN "The Old Stink Eye"....

(PS - OK, so maybe the eye thing happened at home when I was trying to lift a case of 32 bottled waters while balancing a couple of twelve packs of soda on top.... apparently I'm not as strong as I think I am and my eyeball went on strike. Don't tell anyone though - I'm hoping the sympathy vote will finally win me my award!!!)

Don't blink or you might miss these....

Wendy Vecchi is gone, and we miss her already! She's an amazing artist and truly lovely person. If you missed her visit don't despair - you can bring her home with you! Well, OK, not her the person, but her awesome new Studio 490 Blossom Bucket embellishments. These are so beautiful and unique - the designs are ultra trendy and highly detailed - they are that extra special something that you've been wanting for your projects. Check out the variety:

Which one is your favorite? The little jars, the vintage sewing machine... perhaps the funky glasses, a perfect compliment for the new Dylusions stamps...

Take a closer look at some of the detail:

Yes, they are gorgeous! Yes, they are distinctive! I can hear the Ooohs and Awws from here... wait, what's that? You want to know if they can get any better than this? Well, actually, they can! Wait for it... here it comes... they are ALTERABLE!! I know, I can't stand it either!!! These little gems can be altered with inks, sprays, paints, and even Tim Holtz Distress Markers! Check out Wendy's tutorial HERE. You can learn how to turn the beautiful bird from this

to this

I know your imagination gears are turning - I can smell the smoke! Come on down and get these must have originals before they're gone! 



Wendy Vecchi Ranger Inks to the Max

Saturday was Ranger Inks to the Max - Studio 490 Style
a 7 hours class packed with techniques

Here they are hard at work

Some of the tags

A group shot

and funnily enough Anne's sister Beth is in a Tim Holtz class in Ma at the exact same time!
We sent a text with this picture!

Everyone has so much fun getting inky with Wendy

Wendy Vecchi is here

We are lucky to have Wendy Vecchi teaching this weekend.
Friday night she taught a Background Basics class using Rangers Specialty Stamping Paper

Everyone had so much fun and made some incredible backgrounds

Stunning word from everyone!