STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH FOR JANUARY 2010

Since I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself with a lousy cold and ear infection I thought I might as well send this out to let you all know how the Retailer show in California went. Before I get into that I would like to give everyone a piece of advice. If you have a cold and an ear infection please don't fly. I can't stress this enough as the pain you will endure with the pressure changes in the cabin is not something you want to experience! Enough said, I don't even want to think about it anymore.
Had a great time with our friends, Bryan and Sandy and enjoying sunshine and 65 degree temperatures. Spent 3 days at the show investigating over 500 booths then out at night enjoying meals with our stamping friends out there.
As there was a Consumer Supershow that took place for a couple days before the retailer show we were actually able to do some shopping at the booths. As well as seeing the new products this allowed me to buy a few to bring home and try before committing to a large order. One thing I did pick up is a new product called "Mudd Puddles". This product is like the embossing paste you apply to brass stencils to create the image instead of dry embossing. You can also add it as an embellishment to your cards to give dimension like sand. I think it has some great possibilities, and as you know with Brenda and Sue's innovative ideas it should prove popular.

Another new product is "Mica Gloss Accents". This was featured at Judikins booth and they sure sold me on this product. I purchased their 18 colours and Brenda has already googled many of the different techniques you can do with it.
Found out some tricks with Marvy Matchable reinkers, diamond glaze, Memento reinkers, Love Potion #9 as well as others that I can't wait to try.
I brought home some new kits from Sparkraft and very soon will have card samples of these kits on the site. The card samples are already displayed in the store. Had fun with all these kits.
I also was quite excited about a very new product called "Freeze Frame". This is a must have tool for scrapbookers and they will soon come out with a smaller size for cardmakers. I ordered this product at the show and can't wait to have it available to make life easier for you. Check out their site www.thefreezeframe.com and very soon you'll see my store name on their site as a dealer.
Another product I was able to purchase a few of to test the waters is, the JustRite Stamp line. Looks very promising.
A new product that really did not impress me is the StazOn Metallic inks and pad. Just couldn't see anything exciting with the product at all.
Couldn't even get near the booth where Tim Holtz's was talking and doing his demos. I had one of the girls in our group get me one of his new Sizzix die cuts and she even got his autograph on the package. Personally I can't see what all the fuss is about with this man although I do admit he has talent. Anyways I will definitely be getting his new distress inks in the store as soon as I can and will look into his line of Sizzix dies as well.
Have got a lot of catalogs to sort through. Here is just a few of the companies and products that I found quite interesting.

Slice owners will be tickled with the new cartridges coming out and the new 12 x 12 glass mat that I got to work with. I cut out fabric and didn't even need to hold onto the machine. It was so busy I didn't get to research the embossing capabilities of this machine but you can bet I'll get the scoop on it as soon as I can. I won a "Playground" Slice cartridge and picked up 3 new ones for the store. Come into the store and try out this machine to see how great it is. We love it!!
Spellbinders have all their new dies on their site as well as an interesting new tool called the Presto Punch. I saw it work and although I do think it's a pretty neat little machine I don't think it's worth the $70. US price tag they put on it. Check all their new products at http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/
I saw the adapter for the Xryon Creatopia to use the Cuttlebug dies in and the new embossing rollers for your 12 x 12 papers. Will be researching that as well for our machine we currently have in the store.
Provo Craft featured a CRICUT cake Machine. The machine cuts the fondant for specialty cakes such as wedding. Another machine, but any dies you have for your regular slice will work on the Cake Slice. You really have to be into the cake decorating scene to want this new tool. I was very impressed with the new Cuttlebug folders, dies, combo folders and now the 12 inch mats for the new embossing and 12 inch die cuts. For ladies who like to quill, picture this. They now have a diecut that cuts out very fine strips to make flowers. The tool for quillers right now is the fringer to make these special flowers...well you no longer need to spend $50.00 for a fringer. I was very excited about these new diecuts. Of course Cuttlebug continues to excite us with their products.

Other products or companies that I will be ordering from in 2010 are.... Elizabeth Craft Design ( peel offs and their amazing fine glitter)
A couple new cardstock companies where I can get matching envelopes for brides invites.
Orgami and Asian papers
New quilling kits
New Flowersoft colours and probably some of their page toppers
An amazing glue stick that really really does work on vellum
Pentel has a new gel pen that is a must to have in our inventory
sparkly fluff and foils
There were only 6 new vendors at the show which was a real surprise and nothing really in the stamping and scrapbooking line. Existing companies of course had new lines of papers and stamps so I have a list to keep me busy ordering this year.
One of my goals for 2010 is to pick a new stamp company each month for my "Sweet Deals". I have certainly found more than 12 new companies to pursue so we have exciting things ahead.

I'm sure if I didn't have this fuzzy head I could think of many other things to write about but I'll save it for the next newsflash. I have to get it all straight in my mind what road to travel down first.
The current sale in the store will continue awhile longer with 40% discount applied to many store items.
My web site technician and I have decided that it's time for me to learn to put day to day changes up on the site so Dan will be teaching me in the near future. This will allow me to have changes and new items up on the site quicker. Please bear with me as I take on this new challenge.

Keith and I have decided to try a few changes this year in regards to packing up the store and attending out of town shows. There used to be quite a few we attended but they have been discontinued. As there is only the Kitchener and Bancroft show this year we have decided to remain at home and host two events ourselves. Last year instead of our Autumn Retreat at the Days Inn in Welland we hosted an Autumn Fling in our own downtown area. This year we will repeat that event and will add a Spring Fling to our calendar. I have found another venue that is only 2 blocks away from the store that would be much better in so many ways. Now that California is in the past I can focus on the Spring event. Bryan and Sandy have confirmed that they are available to attend our event in early May, but of course I have to check with my girls as well. There is alot to iron out of course but I wanted to keep everyone informed about what our plans are for 2010. For those of you interested in our events, pencil in that May weekend and as soon as we finalize things we will put it out in a newsflash.

So that's it for now. Lots of exciting things to happen in 2010. Stay tuned.

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STAMPLICITY'S LAST NEWSFLASH FOR 2009

www.stamplicity.com

As I typed that title I thought "sure Pauline, like nothing else will come up in the next month that you'll have to tell people about." Well, we'll see, but I think with the busy month ahead I won't have time for another one of these. The store is extremely busy between customers deciding their Christmas cards, making out their wish list, and shopping for gifts. The classes are great at the store and people are taking advantage of Sue and Brenda's talent to take a class or 2 to learn some new techniques. We have at least 6 different Christmas classes with a few using the Cuttlebug. If anything the Cuttlebug is gaining popularity and Brenda's innovative techniques are creating some gorgeous yet very simple cards.

Check out our site as we have added many new "Inspiring Stamping Ideas", "Inspiring Scrapping Ideas", "Customers Projects"" New Products", "Classes" and the "Home" page always has new info on it. For example, the new Canadian Scrapbooker Magazines which there are only 4 copies left of the Basics and the Scrapbooking. If you want to see pictures of the grandkids and their latest escapades you can find it there as well.

Starting December 1st please remember if you are shopping downtown Port Colborne parking is free for the entire month. Forget about those silly parking meters out front and here's another little piece of info for you for the new year; on the old meters that aren't digital, for 2 dimes you can get an hour. It's silly but if I'm parking out front for a bit, I always get that little bit of pleasure about feeding it 20 cents instead of 25 cents and still getting my hour. (Little things make me happy)

Some new products in the store are as follows:

Scissors for fine paper cutting.
They even work differently and don't tire your hands.

New class and peel stickers in sticky shapes.
You can see some samples of the cards I made with these stickers on the site. We currently have Christmas Ornaments, Snowflakes and a Happy Birthday script in the sticky shapes. I just wanted to see how good they are. I'm very pleased with the stickiness; glitter, gold leaf flakes and pearl-ex or perfect pearls hold extremely well so you'll see more in the new year.

Class & Peel stickers.
We have the biggest selection ever of gold & silver borders and corners as well as the recently new stacked designs in Christmas images, poinsettia and ornaments etc. Since you can colour in these stickers with gel pens, we have stocked up on the glitter gel pens as well. They look beautiful once done.

Golden glass bead gel.
This is a gel that you smooth on top of your coloured image and let dry. Once it's dry it looks like teeny tiny clear beads and gives your finished image a very different look. We are still experimenting with it in different ways and having fun.

Ruler for the score it.
This attachment allows you to do so much more with your large score-it. If you need something to put on your Christmas wish list the Score-it is a must have tool and put the new ruler on the list as well as you can do diagonal lines so easy with it.

Our line of Christmas stamps
is great and our last order of Penny Black for the season should be in this week. Make a note to get in ASAP to pick your stamps for your cards or tags as the selection is quickly leaving the store.

Sweet deal for December.
Come in and have a demo on the new Creatopia by Xryon. We have the machine in the store now and it's such a great price you won't want to pass up this deal. Check my site on the "Sweet Deal" or "Home" page(depending when you are reading this) for pictures of the Creatopia and on the Xryon site for the videos on it. www.xryon.com

Sweet deal for January.
Selected Magnolia stamps will be on at a 25% discount. My question to those interested in their line is, would you be interested in seasonal stamps such as Halloween and Christmas? I ask this as I will not be putting the entire line on at a discount as when I place an order with this UK Company, I must order each design in quantities of six. You can imagine the problem this would create for me if I opened it up to the entire catalog. Please email me if seasonal stamps is an option for you to purchase right now so soon after the holidays. I know it's always nice to plan your card for next year so I will consider putting some in the selection if I get enough response. This line of stamps is unmounted and the price for Tilda and Edwin for example, would be approx $9.95 with the discount. Check out their site to see what I'm talking about if you don't know their line. www.dreamcottage.nu/english1/. They make you smile. We have a few customers who have some already and have brought in cards done with them. Check out our site under "Customers Projects" Sylvia and Pat's work in particular.

Perfect Paper Adhesive
is a medium to mix dry pigments with such as Pearl Ex or Perfect Pearls. We are having fun with this method of colouring in images and will be setting up a class with this technique in the New Year.

This is for ladies who have the privilege of not working or being free during the day to take a class. Our classes are set up due to a customer's request so there might be only 1 or 2 taking the class. With this in mind to those of you who can take a class without much notice, if you want to be put on a list to be contacted about upcoming classes please let me know. I will send out a quick email on when the class is taking place plus will send you a picture of the cards you will be completing or direct you to the site to look up the details. For example, Sue has set up a class for Tues at 5pm till 7 for a Gold & Silver Christmas class. An unusual time for Sue but as you can see we try to accommodate our customers. Brenda, who doesn't usually work on a Saturday, just did a Cuttlebug class last Sat. I put out a note to certain ladies who I thought might be interested and we got 3 more sign-ups.

IMPORTANT TIP FOR SPELLBINDER USER's
Since the BorderabilitiesR and Shapeabilities PendantsR are so detailed, it's sometimes not so easy to get the paper out of the die template (especially the Fleur De Lis). Here's a little trick: I used a piece of wax paper from the kitchen! I made my normal cutting sandwich and added a single layer of wax paper between the die template and the paper, and feed my sandwich through my WizardT or CuttlebugT as usual. Then continue with your normal embossing sandwich and run through your machine. The wax paper is so thin it won't change the way the die template cuts or embosses, but it will allow you to remove the intricate die cuts without having to pull or tear.

Well, that's all I had noted for things to mention so as its Sunday I will now spend the balance of the day making my Christmas cards while Keith watches football.

A sincere Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you, with a wish for safe travels on the roads.

Pauline, Keith, Shawna, Brenda, Sue and Janice.

STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH NOVEMBER 2009

www.stamplicity.com

Port Colborne is gearing up for the Christmas season by hosting various events for the next two months. The event that Stamplicity will be focusing on is "DOWNTOWN CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE" November 13th to 15th. Hours will be 10 to 8 on Friday, 10 to 5 on Sat. and 12 to 4 on Sunday. It will be a fun weekend at Stamplicity as we will be having draws each day for a free Spellbinders die, yummy homemade goodies and hot apple cider, other treats, free make and takes, and a NO-TAX weekend. All that we ask when you visit us to bring a pair of mittens or a scarf for our mitten tree. These little donations will help children in Port Colborne stay warm this winter.

Keep in mind that there is free parking in downtown Port during the entire month of December.

Check out the Port Colborne website to see the other events that are taking place during December in the downtown area such as ..
Winter Wonderland Christmas House Tour, Moonlight Madness Sale, A Grand Old Christmas Festival, Pudding and Sauce Week, and a "Wrap it Up" weekend.

We have a great line up of Christmas card making classes that are available when it is convenient for our customers. Check out our site. You pick the date and time.

Our store is full of card making ideas, Christmas stamps, products and lots of gift giving ideas. We have a Christmas wish list program in our store. Many ladies have already completed a list in the hopes that friends and family will visit Stamplicity to purchase a gift for them that they put on their list to Santa as well. It's a win win for everyone to shop at our store as the purchaser will receive a 10% discount for getting something from a wish list. If our customer is a 3 "S" member the purchaser will receive a 20% discount. Now what store can beat that savings with a guarantee that you are giving a gift your friend or loved one will be thrilled with.

That's the news for November. Hope to see you during all the festivities. Happy Holidays.Pauline, Keith, Brenda, Sue, Janice and Shawna.

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STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH SEPTEMBER 2009

I know that in a couple days it will be the first day of fall and most of us do not want the summer to end but for me it means things settle down a bit in the store. All conventions are over till the spring and my big event I hold every year on the second weekend in September has passed. The girls can now focus on new classes for Christmas and Halloween cards.
In regards to the Spring & Fall Fling, if the comments from attendees were anything to go by then I think I can say it was a big success. Attendees liked the fact that after their make and takes across the street from our store, they could just come over to shop. 26 ladies were sure taken with Bryan's Stampscapes class; he ended up with 5 different classes in the 2 days. Some ladies came out for supper with the staff and we all had a great evening chatting and enjoying great food.
Products from the retailer's convention are slowly becoming available from the companies that manufacture them. Tough decision to make on what will be good to bring into the store. We keep working on it.
Having said that, we have already filled the store with 240 new scrapbook patterned paper, and obtained the 113 colours of Prism solid colours to replace the discontinued Worldwin line. The Prism papers have lovely colours, with the cardstock having a texture on one side and smooth on the other. Perfect to use no matter what you want them for, cardmaking or scrapbooking.
We now have the Polar White Flower Soft in stock. This will be very popular to use as snow.
Hot off the Press has made another great template. You can make a variety of paper bows with this template. Check out my product page to see pictures of the bows that can be made. They are adorable!
The latest news I have heard regarding the newest Spellbinders, such as the Create a Flake 1 and 2, Fancy Tags, Nesting Pumpkins, Ribbon Tag Trio 2 and Nesting Pine Trees is that they should be ready to ship out to me by the end of Sept. I have been taking pre-orders for all of these so to those of you who placed your order you should have them for the special holidays coming up.
As far as the new Cuttlebug Folders from Provo Craft, that is another story. They still have their lack of communication so I'm not sure just what date to give everyone on when they will come in. One of my distributors is telling me late November which of course to me is a little late to plan your Christmas cards.
Personally the girls at the store and I are far more excited about Spellbinders. They are such a great company to deal with and their products are amazing.
We have a store full of new stamps from different companies, lots of verses, Halloween and Christmas stamps.
We are trying to keep Esctasy Crafts class and peel stickers and the 3D image sheets fully stocked but this is no easy task.
Some lovely new ribbons have come in and some beautiful organza colours. Cute Halloween as well.
Once again Stamplicity will be offering you, the customer, a chance to save some money this Christmas while ensuring that you get the things you are wishing for. Any customer can visit the store and make out their Christmas Wish List. If a friend or a customer comes in and orders or buys something from your wish list for you they will receive a 10% discount. If our customer is a 3 "S" member the purchaser will get 20% discount. It's a win, win, win situation. They shop at our store, get a discount and you, the customer get a product you have been wishing for. Please keep in mind that if we have to order the item, the purchaser will have to do their shopping early to ensure we get the item in, in time for Christmas.
I heard from Provo Craft that Michael's in Canada and the U.S. and Joann Fabrics in the states will have exclusive sales on the Gypsy at least until December, at which time other stores will be able to sell it. You can pre-order it at Michael's for $399.95 so I was told. My advice to anyone who is interested in this product is to research it very thoroughly before you buy it anywhere. There is a lot of information out there on blogs about the pros and cons of this machine. I can't seem to get accurate answers myself from Provo so I am holding off for a bit before I even order one for the store.
The Slice has got some amazing new cartridges out now. I still love this little machine for its portability and their great cartridges.
Below I thought I would display a couple of the new Spellbinders Nestabilities. There are many of these products that have so much potential. Just let your imagination take over and you'll see so many possibilities of cards and scrapbook pages just with these 2 dies.
I guess that's all the news for now. Before you know it I'll be writing up the 4th quarter newsletter.

Enjoy the fall season. The colours are so beautiful.
Pauline and the gang.
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STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH AUGUST 2009

I really didn't think I would be sending out a newsflash this soon but there's some news I must share with all of you. I'll keep it short but those of you who like to keep up with the new products will want to know about these items. In the last newsletter I mentioned the Gyspy. Here's the latest reliable information I have about this amazing product. The Gypsy is the newest crafting "toy" to be introduced by Provo. It puts the designing capabilities of Cricut Design Studio into the palm of your hands. Previously to use the Design Studio, you had to own a computer and that computer had to be hooked to your Cricut. The Gypsy allows crafters to create ANYWHERE and then cut their designs later with the Cricut. Think of the Gypsy as an "iPod for your Cricut". Or a harddrive for all your cartridges. The Gypsy allows you to combine elements from any cartridge that has been linked to that Gypsy. (The cartridges then become "linked" to that particular Gypsy and will still work in a Cricut but can't be downloaded into a second Gypsy.) The Gypsy screen will display all the images available for each cartridge. No more hunting for a cartridge manual to see what you get. If you hit SHIFT-SHADOW-L! it will show right on the display. The Gypsy allows you to manipulate each image. Shrink, enlarge, rotate, skew, flip and more are available instantly. Watch this video to learn more about the Gypsy's features. http://www.provocraft.com/gypsy/test-drive.html I received this information from a distributor I deal with. She has also told me they do not expect the Gypsy to be available until late in the year. It seems no one is sure exactly what the price will be. I will take pre-orders from my customers but I know many won't commit until they know what the price will be. I will be getting one for the store for the staff and myself to try. As soon as I have a price I'll be announcing it on the site. I have heard from a friend who receives emails from Michael's that the Gypsy will possibly be available in Michael's sometime in October and they are taking pre-orders for it. They have not quoted a price accordingly to my friend. So that's the scoop on the Gypsy that I know of at this time. I does seem like an awesome machine! Other information to share with you is that Provo Craft has released information on 7 new Christmas Cuttlebug folders. You can check my site under new products to see the 7 designs. They are very nice and I expect them to be quite popular. For those of you familiar with the folders from last year you will probably recognize that the lace tree is not new. It was introduced last year before Christmas, taken off the market early in 2009 as they said it was being discontinued. Surprise!..here it is again. Now when these will be available is anyone's guess. What I am doing is taking pre-orders from my customers to ensure you receive them as soon as possible. Please call or email me with your order....don't be disappointed by not getting the first shipment that arrives. Now the big news! I have all the new Cuttlebug folders and combo dies that were announced two months ago. Brenda has already put samples up on the black boards in the store and we are pleasantly surprised on how nice these designs are when put through the Cuttlebug. I was not very impressed when the images came out but have since changed my mind on quite a few. Come and visit the store and check them out for yourself. Another pleasant surprise is all the Spellbinders that were introduced and I took pre-orders for will be in the store next Friday. This is indeed a surprise, as they were not expected until late August or September. You can be assured Brenda will get the samples of these up on the boards as soon as they arrive. We have a huge selection of Spellbinders as well as the new Pendants. As well as receiving the Spellbinders, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Hero Arts, Stampendous and Penny Black orders will be in as well. We just received another order of Hot Off The Press new Dazzle stickers. Beautiful stackable stickers. Come in and check out our samples. We are expanding our line of Copic Markers. Still only carrying Ciao markers but will soon be carrying many more colours. Well that's it for now. Hope you can find time in your busy schedules to come and visit us and allow us to show you what's new and exciting at STAMPLICITY!!

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STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH for July 13, 2009

The biggest news we have to share with you is what Spellbinders are up to regarding their Nestabilities These products are going to blow everything else out of the water!! Recently they introduced 8 new Pendant and 8 new Borderbilities that compliment each other for card making (although just not limited to cardmaking). We got 7 of the 8 pendants in and no Borderabilities. All the ones we didn't get in are on back order for about a month I was told.

Effective July 9th they are bringing out 17 new one and if you go into and then their blog, everyday they are introducing another one of the 17. Their blog is amazing with samples of the new nesties that they are introducing daily as well as cards featuring existing nesties If you logon today (July 13th) you can see the first 6 new ones, Nesting Pine Tree, Poinsettia (love it), Floral Stone Impressabilties, Ribbon Labels 5, Labels 5 and Labels 8. Can't imagine what's coming next.

Stamplicity is taking pre-orders for all the new ones. You can email me to pre-order the ones not available yet or come in to look at our vast inventory of existing ones. We place orders once a week to try and keep up with what gets sold. Brenda's sample boards of all the Nesties and Cuttlebug dies and folders that we stock will either help you make a decision or drive you crazy trying to decide which ones to get. The boards are top notch and customers are raving about them. There is some great news regarding the Nesties we are carrying. The price for most of the larger nesties was $31.95. We have now brought that price down to $29.95. As far as I know these products cannot be purchased at Michaels or Wal-Mart right now.

Something to be aware of with the Spellbinders Impressabilities is, if you buy the new product we are carrying...FOILS...and use them in your Cuttlebug, you only need to put one shim or piece of cardstock in the sandwich when you pass it through the machine to emboss due to the thickness of the foils. We currently have the foils in red, gold, and copper. Love this product. Check it out, as well as the other new product ...Plastic...on my website under Products page to see samples of cards we have made with these 2 new items.

One other bit of information regarding a certain nestie, Flower Creations 2, has been discontinued if you can believe that. I can't get any remaining stock of this anywhere and have talked to Spellbinders and they have confirmed it is not longer available. I don't know how much my 2 cents is worth but I told them they should bring it back as it is an amazing nestie! If you find it anywhere, grab it.

In regards to the new Cuttlebug folders and dies that many of you have pre-ordered once again Provo Craft has shifted the date when these will be available. Now they are saying not till late September. This doesn't surprise us at the store as we have gone through this many times with their products. Something new again coming out from Provo Craft that they are introducing at the Retailer show on July 25th is called the "Gypsy". To date we know nothing more than that about it. Their marketing ploy is amazing and if you check their site you'll understand what I mean. Stay tuned, we will try to find out what this new product is all about.

We have new glitters coming in the near future and the Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel that we have is just amazing. Colours such as Blue Moon, Burnished Rose, Lilac Haze, Champagne Blush, Cheetah Sheen, Aztec Marble, and Apricot Parfait are lovely to put on your Cuttlebug, Sizzix and Spellbinders die cutouts, chipboard, buttons, plastic, etc. As well, you can stamp in your embossing while it is still hot and it will not harm your stamps at all. Brenda has made up a class on this product due to it's popularity. The class should be on the site shortly.

Just a reminder about the "Sweet Deals" for the next couple months. You can check July's (Ribbon Dispenser and Spooler Kit) and August's My Favourite Things Stamp set (Tote-ally Fantastic) on my site. For September we are offering the House Mouse Stamp line at 30% Discount on any number of stamps you wish. Check out their site, Retail prices for the stamps without the discount applied will be on the site shortly as well as October's Sweet Deal which is the Swing Wall Arm by CLIP IT UP" Check out their site for pictures of this great organizational product. The retail price is $31.95 and the special price for October is $19.95!

From last month's Sweet Deal we have a great selection of Magenta stamps coming in. If you missed the deal you can still get some great stamps and good prices from our shelves.

Bancroft "Stampfest" is this Sat. the 18th and we'll be there with our booth and Sandy and Bryan doing make and takes. We will be bringing a great supply of Stampscapes stamps as Bryan's make and take will be using the stamps with a very different technique. Products featured are Distress Inks and the Ink blending tool. You can check for a picture of Bryan's M & T but we just decided on Sandy doing one, so that info is not on their site. We'll make it a surprise! I'll be making a side trip while on the way to Bancroft and stopping in at Ecstasy Crafts to stock up on new 3D and anything else that catches my eye.
Don't forget to visit Port Colborne for the Canal Days long weekend event July 31st to August 3rd. Check out We will have extended hours but I will be closed on Mon. the 3rd to have a little bit of fun myself.

With the retail convention happening you can be assured we will be looking at new papers, stamp companies etc. I get overloaded with companies emails regarding the lastest and greatest in the market. Stay tuned for lots of news on that. Hope to see you at Bancroft, Canal Days or just sometime throughout the summer. Lots available for stampers and scrapbookers at STAMPLICITY.

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STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH for July 2009

We have some very exciting news to share with you. Brenda, (my parttimer) who I think most of you know by now, became Mrs Gino Piccolo on June 13th in Las Vegas. All of us are very happy to see Brenda has found love and happiness once again. Gino is a great guy and Brenda's son, Joshua, is happy to have a father figure in his life once again. I hope all of you will wish Brenda every happiness in their future together.

It's summer finally and Keith and I just spent a nice couple days in London visiting his brother and his family. Also got to see his oldest daughter and her family and as I write this we are on our way home by way of Ancaster to visit his youngest daughter and the other 3 grandchildren. So we get to see everybody in one weekend. I must tell you that I got very hooked on the WII while up there. I have a feeling that I might get one in the not to distant future. As a matter of fact my birthday is in a week so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We all had a blast and I could see me finally getting some exercise on the WII fit program. Spent a day at greenhouses so we have some lovely plants for our new flower garden at the house and spent one evening in their jacuzzi drinking coolers. What more could you ask for in a few days off. Now back to business!! Oh, one more piece of news. Rosie's walking!!!!!!!!!

I continue to keep ordering Nestabilities for the store and they continue to fly off the shelf! Brenda has done a fantastic job of completing display boards of all the Nestabilities and Cuttlebug die and folders we will continue to keep in stock. As well, I have been working hard to get 2 display boards up showing all the lovely 3D images that we have available for card making. Stamping and card making, although always popular, are making a comeback in a big way. People are realizing how much satisfaction you can get by making your own cards and also the pleasure people get in receiving something handmade.

New Nestabilities are just around the corner, hope to have them sometime in July.

We have one more event this year other than our Spring & Fall Fling. Stampfest is a yearly event for us in Bancroft and Bryan and Sandy will once again be attending with us to do make and takes. Mark your calendar for July 18th 9 to 4 at the Legion hall in downtown Bancroft and join us as well as thirteen other vendors for a fun packed day.

Attendees continue to sign up for our Spring & Fall Fling. Bryan's 2 Sat. classes are full, therefore we have opened 2 classes for the Sunday. There are still some opening for the Make and Takes for Sat. and quite a few openings for Sunday. The crop area for Saturday is now full which means Option #5, Option #7 & Option #8 are no longer available, but we do have openings for Sunday (Option #6). Anyone who has attended my events know we offer a fun day with many prizes, treats and store specials. Attendees who sign up for an entire day will receive a jam packed goody bag as well. Sign up now so you won't be disappointed.

Our Sweet Deal for the month of July will be a new product called "Ribbon Dispenser" Check out www.bestscrapbookshelf.com to see a video of this neat product. The special price is $11.50 for the"Ribbon Dispenser & Spooler Kit" and $4.95 for the "Ribbon 2 Dispenser Package".

The Sweet Deal for August is a stamp set from a new company to Stamplicity called "My Favourite Things". Check the site or visit the store to see the great deal.. ( This was suppose to be July's deal but we couldn't get the stamps in, in time.)

In the previous newsflash I mentioned that Provo Craft no longer makes Coluzzles. This is still true but for those of you that like this system and would like to continue using your templates, mat and knife I am happy to inform you that we have found refill blades and mats that will work with your templates. We have them in stock now!!

We have pretty well made a decision in regards to the new cardstocks we will be carrying in the future. Last week we heard that Worldwin no longer makes any of the Colormates that we have been carrying for the last 4 years. We still have many left on the shelves so as our stock runs low we will be replacing them with Bazzill smooth 12 X 12. We have been carrying the lovely Prism textured line and will be restocking them. I am continuing to investigate a few other options as well.

Oh my goodness, we have so many new exciting patterned papers we want to bring in and I haven't even seen new ones coming out from the Retailer Convention in mid July. Kelley Grace is a Rep. for many companies and as she is going to Orlando for the convention, she will be keeping her eyes and ears open for me.

New House Mouse stamps are on their way and more Penny Black stamps. At the end of June we will be ordering the Magenta Sweet Deal stamps that people have pre-ordered and the girls and I are going to pick some new designs from that company. I've seen some great images I would like to carry in the store.

Canal Days will be upon Port Colborne once again this year on the August 1st long weekend. Check out the following sites for more details and for a list of the popular bands that will be performing in the Market Square. www.portcolborne.com or www.canaldays.ca Of course, Stamplicity will have extended hours on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's just a few things planned. Canal Days Festival Attractions include the following:

These are just some of the wonderful things you can do and experience at Canal Days 2009.

We now have a certified Teacher of Copic Markers! Our Sue went on course a month or so ago and Brenda, Janice and I sat down and had a class with her this week. We are now all hooked on these Alcohol Markers. Sue has now set up a 3 hour Copic Marker class for $35.00. Attendees will be given a booklet that will contain all the information and samples you would need for reference to use these amazing markers. Just call the store to set up a class.

That's all the news I have for now. Hope to see you at Canal Days!!!

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STAMPLICITY NEWSFLASH FOR MAY AND JUNE 2009

I sit here on a beautiful holiday Monday composing this newsletter but just resting today is a good thing as we were out for the day yesterday with Shawna and the girls. We went to the Bird Kingdom and had an early lunch at the Rainforest Cafi in Niagara Falls. It was a gorgeous day and not to busy in the falls. It was most enjoyable with the girls, Gracie had a ball playing some of the arcade games and Rosemary was just wide-eyed at everything especially the birds in the kingdom and the animals that seemed to come to life in the Cafi. Giggled a lot! It was a fun day getting away and not thinking of the store. Check out my home page on the site to see a picture of the 2 girls. This was taken at Rosie 1st birthday party.

The store is taking on a bit of a different look. When you visit you will see new racks for the 8 x 11 cardstock and most of the older wood racks gone. We are getting ready (and looking hard) for a new line of solid, smooth cardstock in 12 X 12. The current cardstock by Worldwin is not working anymore as they are discontinuing many of the colours. I still have a lot in the store but know it's time to pursue another company. We also are looking at getting in the colour range of Prism cardstock as the texture on it is lovely. It's a project to be sure. I don't want to get Bazzill in as every store carries it and there are other companies that have great cardstock. It's all about being different.

Our store is now re-stocked after Kitchener Scrapfest. It was a great show made all the better by having our friends Bryan and Sandy with us. Bryan did the make and takes with Stampscapes and I don't think there was a chair empty the entire day. Ladies seem to love Bryan as he is so creative. I think it's also about have a man, that has a passion for paper craft, in this sea of ladies. Saw lots of customers I don't get to see too often due to the distance of the store. The unfortunate part of the show is we caught a shopifter red-handed leaving the store with a $25.00 stamp set. Once security was notified and other vendors were informed I found out there were 5 ladies on the floor shoplifting. Kind of puts a damper on the day and you begin to wonder what else was taken.

We have a good selection of Nestabilities in the store and intend to try to keep inventory full, which is a feat in itself. There's so many that it's hard to know what ones will be popular. The SWEET DEAL for May is your choice of one of the four that are at the special price of $20.95. Check out the site for the details. www.stamplicity.com Brenda is working hard to create sample boards of all the nestabilities that we will be carrying. She has 2 full boards done already and working on others. A trip to the store is a necessity to see what the Nesties look like on cardstock.

We also have a great supply of Cuttlebug folders and dies, the carrying case and refill sleeves. I just got information on new Cuttlebug products that should be available in August or September. The site shows what's coming out and I am sure at the July Retailer convention there will be more, with seasonal designs appearing soon. You know I'll keep on top of it and with my prices people will want to pre-order the designs they just have to have. Don't hesitate to pre-order yours so you won't be disappointed. An email or phone call is all you need to do. Sample boards are being done for all the Cuttlebug folders and dies that we carry.

Although we don't have many Slice Cartridges and the higher priced items in stock, they can be ordered for you usually in a quick turn around time. Many ladies are disappointed in what Michaels and Wal-Mart never have in the store so they place an order with me and as long as you didn't want it in the next week we can usually make our customers very happy. For those of you who own a Slice Machine, it is important that you register your machine in order to keep up to date with their upgrades and news releases. If you haven't it's not too late! They have just sent me a Newsflash on some very exciting changes and updates. Go to www.whyslice.com and click on Slice news to get the updates. Interesting stuff!!

I recently went to Ecstasy Crafts Open House in Shannonville and had such a good time doing 6 make and takes, looking in their showroom at all their new products and picking up an order. I decided to take a lesson from them and came back to the store to make up sample board of all the 3D sheets that I carry or will be carrying. It's such a difference seeing the things made up. You'll see a lot more inventory for cardmaking from Ecstasy, although I did an adorable 3D scrapbook page. One product that was pretty cool and I brought one back for the store is a puzzle punch. This punch is different than others out on the market. We are impressed with the results. Come in and have a look at it and shortly there will be samples on the site under New Products.

If you are familiar with the process of Pergamano you know that the first set in making a card is that trace your design on parchment paper with a pen and white ink. While at Ecstasy Craft (who sells the Pergamano supplies) I saw they have a new product out, where the design is already on the parchment paper. All you have to do is the embossing from behind and add colour if you wish. I know some people have trouble with the tracing tracing or find it just takes to long with the tracing to get a card done. I purchased a kit to try it out and got 3 cards done pretty quickly. I know it's cheating but the end results of Pergamano are gorgeous and I think there are ladies out there who would love to skip the first process to get their cards done quicker. Samples of what I did will be put on the site shortly under New Products. There are other products that will be on that page so take the time to check out the site and this page.

Speaking of New Products we have added a new page to the site called "New Products". We want to keep you informed of the new items that arrive or are coming and if you can't get in to see them the next best thing would be to check our site. It will be noted above each new product whether they are currently in the store or when they should arrive.

We now have in the Stitchable Stickers and the Dazzle Stickers from Hot Off The Press. Janice as well as myself have gotten a few samples up as well on these products. Very cool, easy and effective on cards.

Some disappointing news for Coluzzle users. It looks like Provo Craft will not be making this product anymore. I can't get the mats and the swivel knives anymore as well as most of the templates. I still have templates in the store that are now 50% discounted. Not sure what's up with that, other than they are company that makes Cricut and Cuttlebug so I would guess they are trying to push customers to these machines. The Curvy Cutter is the next best item that we would recommend if you want something to cut various size ovals, round corner squares, and circles.

For Stampscape enthusiats, Kevin has produced 6 different word sets that compliment his scenery cards. Check out his site www.stampscapes.com to see the different sets and if there is any that appeal to you, you know you can order them anytime for me. I will be placing another order from Kevin probably in the next month or 2.

Next month's Sweet Deal will be something unique once again! Magenta is a stamp company that I started out with 13 years ago. I have ordered from them on and off for all these years. They have a huge catalog with many interesting designs. Normally I would have to order 2 each of any one design from this company, but they are waiving that condition for the month of June so I decided to allow anyone to browse their catalog and order stamps of your choice. As well as picking your own stamp/stamps we are also giving you a 30% discount on the stamps you choose. With that big news I will leave you to browse their site www.magentastyle.com

The Sweet Deal for July will be a new company to us, My Favourite Things. Check out their site, www.mftstamps.com as the set "Tote-AllyFantastic" will be on special to pre-order for the month of July at $12.95 (regular price $19.95) These are quite popular stamps with some very different sets. Brenda and another customer have a special request to order the set "Twisted Sentiments". This set would not be for everyone but some of you might want to check it out on their site under "My Favorite Products" and then under "Tongue in Cheek" and pre-order one as I probably won't be carrying them in the store. They are different word stamps.

We have a very nice selection of Hero Arts and Penny Black stamps that have just come in. New ones from these companies.

If you are still looking for a different event to attend this year check out our "Spring & Fall Fling" on the site. We have changed it this year quite a bit and by the looks of things people are liking the line-up we have planned. This includes a intro stamping class on the Stampscapes line with Bryan Hann. He will also be doing make and takes for people who have had a class on the basic of Stampscapes and just want to fine tune some techniques. In the make and take you will be given a black and white scenery design and Bryan will help you to colour it in whether it be to make a night or day scene, fog or whatever you would like to master. That is why you must have the basic technique to take the make and take. Brenda, Sue and Sandy are making some decisions on their make and takes and we are trying to work with very different techniques so you won't be telling us you already know it. There is still some openings for all the Options but don't hesitate to sign up as almost all of Saturday's time slots for the make and takes are full.

Dan Gryn, my web master, is doing a terrific job on my site. When customers bring in their work to show us I take a picture and then send them to Dan. He very patiently puts them on the site for me and works his wonder so the site is much easier to navigate. Life is much easier with him now. I no longer have this periodic desire to throw the laptop out the window.

I won't be going to the Creative Hobby Retailer event this year as it is in Orlando Florida! Heat and I just don't get along too well at this time of my life. Don't worry as the companies I deal with will keep me up to date of what's new and coming out. Keep in mind when you read magazines about these new products they advertise, that chances are they likely won't be available for a bit. They always try to generate interest to see whether the products will be popular.

Our next out-of-town event is the yearly trip to Bancroft for Stampfest on July 18th I have lost count on how many times we have been invited to attend this great show. Bryan and Sandy always manage to come with us so it's a great weekend for all of us in so many ways. For an event that is in the small town of Bancroft there is always many vendors and many attendees. Check out their site for the details. www.stampfestbancroft.com On our way up to Bancroft of course we go through Shannonville and stop at Ecstasy Crafts so you can be assured I will be picking up more of the new products I saw at the open house.