STAMPLICITY'S 4TH QUARTER NEWSLETTER

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE

No way can it be mid October already!!!! I started my Christmas shopping early this year so if I can get my act together regarding my cards I'll be in good shape. All is well at the Luey house. Rosemary is almost 5 months and is giggling now, holds her head up fine, never stays on her back anymore and is eating some baby food. (cereal, bananas etc) Shawna is just trying to wean her off the nursing....taking the bottle very well. Gracie loves her to pieces, she smiles at Keith all the time...he certainly has the touch. We get them once a week to give Shawna time to catch up on some sleep. Rosie is up half the night, not fussy, just not sleepy, talks in her crib for an hour before nodding off again and of course Shawna doesn't sleep just listening to her...she'll do this a couple times a night...little bum. Grace is in JK and lovin' it. Talks likes a 10 year old and is a real chatterbox. Nothing really exciting on the personal side. Might as well get into the good stuff that everyone likes to hear about.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE STORE

Things have settled down a little in my life with the Autumn Retreat over with so now it's time to deal with my friend's inventory that has invaded my home!!! As most of you know from conversations and newsflashes I had hoped to obtain the store down the street from my store to set up all Julie's products for a week or 2 until I could get rid of it. Well, that was not to be as the owner informed me last Thursday that she has rented it.  So plan "B" will be to first invite our 3 "S' members to an advance sale which will actually be held at my house from Sunday Oct 12th to Friday the 17th. What we have to insist on is cash only for any sale made and ONLY 3 S members are invited to the house. Regular customers will have the opportunity to shop at the store in the workshop when we bring it to the store for Oct 18th. On that weekend we will be open 10 to 5 on the Sat., 12 to 4 on the Sunday (19th) and will have regular store hours for the next couple weeks until all inventory is depleted. This of course will limit any classes as there will be no room in the workshop.  I am sure that the quantity of patterned paper available to purchase is at least as much as I have currently in my store. With that in mind I will be selling paper in quantities of 25's in pre-packaged bundles at amazing prices. You will be able to view what you are purchasing but the papers in the packages cannot be switched. They will be mostly packaged by company for example SEI., Daisy D, etc. This is the only way we feel it is a win win for both customers and ourselves.  To summarize what is available at this sale....some 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock in packages,oodles and oodles of 12 x12 patterned papers, stamps, ink pads, lots of packaged embellishments eg making memories etc., polymer clay, tools, rolls and rolls of stickers and other products. Anything sold of course cannot be returned or exchanged. It will certainly be worth your time to check it all out as things will be sold at amazing prices as Julie doesn't want it back and I have no room for it!!!!!!!

Unfortunately the Oshawa convention was cancelled due to a lack of vendors. Sorry to the ladies who look forward to that event. I was going to be there!!!!

The London Expo was a big hit and our make and take was working with the Stampscape line of stamps. Very popular and with that in mind I have just gotten in a wonderful selection of these stamps.  We  were finally able to get Bryan Hann to fly in to teach 4 classes at our Autumn Retreat.  Many ladies from around the Peninsula are either driving down or asking us to mail an order to them.  Check out our Inspiring Scrapping Idea Page on the website  www.stamplicity.com and you'll see what Brenda did with 2 double scrapbooking pages.You can do just about anything with these stamps.

I have a lady interested in the Zutter personal binding System.  This system punches and binds books etc and would sell for $86.25.  I would like to order one for this lady but I would have to purchase 3 from the company (that is their minimum)  I would gladly place an order if I knew I could sell the other two, therefore I would like to know if anyone is interested in purchasing one and would put a deposit down as security.  If you would like to know further about this tool you can go to their website  www.binditall.com and check out their Bind-it-all v2.0

There has been a big increase in the demand for quilling products and even more so since Brenda offered classes at our retreat.  With this in mind we now have a great selection of tools, books and quilling kits.  The great thing about quilling designs is once completed they can adorn any scrapbook page and will not flatten when the album is closed.  You can get kits on wedding, alpha., letters, boys, girls, animals, bugs, flowers, Christmas and the list goes on and on.  check out the site and come visit us for a class or just a demo as it's a very easy technique.

Christmas is coming very quickly so we have been stocking up on stamps for you to make your cards with.  We have a great variety of clear and wood mount stamps from companies like Hero Arts, Stampendous, Penny Black, Inkadinkadoo, Artful Stamper and others.

Of course, it goes without saying that it is an ongoing challenge to keep Cuttlebug products in stock, but as many of my customers will vouch to we've been doing a great job and the hooks are once again full of your favourite embossing folders and cut and emboss dies.  If we don't have it we can get it in fairly quick but do add that patience sometimes is required as even  Provo Craft has to wait for the boat from China.  Who would have thought this tool would take off and be as popular as it is.  Our prices are very good and customers are always telling me I have the latest which even the big chains don't have.  By the way, we do mail orders.

Craft Hobby Association (CHA), a retailer convention, took place in July and a week ago I finally got the last order I placed from Prima Marketing.  It was a struggle to get an order from Kaiser as well but their scrapbook papers and chip board books are so popular that it was worth the wait.  I will be placing another order soon.  My Little Yellow Bicycle's papers are great and we can't wait to get their Christmas line in.  It's still in production as far as I know but will  be arriving soon.

Another company that has been slow to arrive was Pinecone Press and we just got the rest of it last week as well.  They have great papers, calendars, book kits and different products.  They have been very popular as well.

3D popup images now come in pre cut sheets and metallic designs.   Truly, they make beautiful cards.  If you check out www.ecstasy crafts.com you can see all their products as well as Pergamano products.  Pergamano is my favourite technique and I always try to get a card made for someone's birthday or anniversary.

WHAT'S COMING IN THE FUTURE

Well,  there is alot of options out there, as we investigated many companies while in Chicago this past July.  We have about 10 catalogs that are on 'our to be ordered' list.  I few of them are Carolee Creations, Bo Bunny and Moxie.  Christmas papers will be front and center for the next couple months.  The Rubber Stamp Tapestry line is always coming out with amazing new sets.  Inkadinkadoo stamps are great and Verses have some great inside card verses that we have to have on the shelves.  The House Mouse stamp line is taking centre stage in the cutsy department which is why it is our Stamp of the Month for November.  Check it out on the site.  Hero Arts is the feature Stamp of the Month for this month so we'll be getting some more images in mid November.

The demo deal for this month is a beautiful stamping tote and next month is a Purple Cow cutter.  We are having alot of fun with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel and will be demoing it on a regular basis.  Satin embossing powders from Stampendous can create a lovely card and why not get into a lovely embossed design as part of your Christmas card.

We continue to get in our new line of Core-dination cardstock that has proven to be very unique when embossed with the Cuttlebug and lightly sanded.

Copic Alcohol Markers are in high demand right now and the girls at the store enjoy working with Prima Marketing transparencies as well as other non porous surfaces.  They will probably be ordered on a demand basis.  Anyone who orders from me knows I do my best to get requested products as quickly as I can.  Copic Markers colour the class and Peel stickers extremely well.  I love them even more than the Alcohol Inks.

We will be keeping our ears and eyes open for other new products and papers.  There are lots of choices of companies to pursue.  My girls are making sure I stay on top of things and I really trust their judgement.

It's not new but I mention every year about our Christmas wish list.  Here's how it works....Come in and make out your wish list.  We keep it on file and if someone comes in to shop for a gift for you and purchases something from your list they receive a 10% discount on that item(s).  It's a win/win/win as they get a deal, you get what you wished for and Stamplicity gets the sale.  Let your friends and family know how easy it can be to shop for you.

Christmas classes are being put together so if you are interested call the store  to book something for you and your friends.  In the near future there will be lots of samples in the store as well.

TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

I ave been talking with our customer, Rita, who is becoming an expert on the Cricut machine.  Rita is retired and spends her time between her family and her love of her Cricut.  She lets us know that the video available on the Design Studio has just a wealth of information to teach anyone how to run the machine more efficiently.  If you go to 'help' on the tool bar at the top you can watch it and enter the their world to easily design scrapbook pages with this die cut machine.  The girls and I are trying to find time to get on this ourselves and once that happens we hope to give a class on getting the most out of your machine.  If you're like us time just doesn't seem to be on our side in pursuing our hobbies.  give it a try though..you won't be disappointed!!

One tip Carol emailed me about is using the flip button on her Cricut when cutting out letters.  She put the good side of the paper down on the sticky Cricut mat.  When it was cut, all she had to do is dot her glue on the letters, lift off the letters with her tweezers to position it on her paper.  This saves a great deal of time from cutting them out the conventional way, then turning them over and applying the glue.  I have yet to try this but it certainly makes sense to me.

Here are some  tips for scrapbookers.... 

Revisit pictures from at least 3 summers.  Pick a handful of the best, and put them together on a carefree and easy summer layout.  Think about it: do you really want a trip-to-the-pool page every single year?

Sort through your patterned papers, and choose seven sheets you can't wait to use.  Pile these on your worktable, and select one or more photos to use with each sheet.  Make a page a day for a week.  You are now 7 memories closer to your goal of a celebrated life.  Try this with stamps and cardmaking as well.

Find a big glass jar that you love and gather all the buttons you have and dump them inside.  It's way more fun to "fish" for buttons than to organize them and now you have an inviting and colorful collection to display in your space.  Speaking of buttons, here are some ways to make use of them....attach buttons in a circular shape to create a flower, or maybe add a button to the center of a flower embellishment...what about using buttons to replace the letter "o'"in a title and you can try gluing buttons either randomly or in a straight row to form a stylish border on a card or page layout.  Use UTEE to change the colour of a button as well.

Here's a tip since the school year has recently begun.  Have your child write his or her name (or print)  at the beginning  of the year on a scrapbook page and then again at the end of the school year to show how the penmanship has changed.  Add a few school pictures and there's a great page of  memories.  You can also add a report card and some completed projects.

If you don't have the colour of brad you need change the colour of it with alcohol ink.

Don't forget about masking as a way to just use parts of your stamps, or to make it easier to use just a part of a stamp, use markers to colour a certain area instead of using a stamp pad.

Well, once again I think I've filled up my pages and I want to get this out so everyone has a chance to clear their schedule to be able to shop for the deals to be had in the next few weeks.  I'll be sending out newsflashes I'm sure once or twice before the Christmas holidays so we'll keep in touch with you. 

Time to think Christmas!!!!!