2ND QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE

In my last newsflash I mentioned that my step-daughter from London has been diagnosed with cancer. After tests, surgery and everything possible the outcome is not very positive. Carleen is an amazing woman and is being very positive about the entire thing. It has shaken the entire family of course and certainly puts everything into perspective. Life is to precious to let even one day go by without living it to the fullest. That is what we all must do and is certainly Carleen's intention, we are so very proud of her!

This is the stepdaughter who remarried last year, she has 11 and 13 year old daughters.

Keith and I decided to look for a new living room set a few weeks ago and things snow balled to changing the walls as well. So it meant stripping wallpaper off and now the entire house is in a turmoil. Keith has his hands full once again now that the kitchen is almost done. I know, you're saying "poor Keith" but it is keeping him out of trouble. While he plays at home we are busy deciding......

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE STORE

To say things have changed is making an understatement. Many people are coming out of hibernation and noticing the layout of the store has changed. That actually happened a couple months ago. After Brenda and I came home from our east coast convention and listened to some seminars while there, we came to the conclusion that certain areas of the store needed to be re-vamped. It is really just the back area where we currently do our demos on the Cuttlebug etc. Things look so much better now and even the back class area has taken on a new look...for the better.

It was a packed filled 4 days at the convention, attending classes by 8am and not finishing until at least 9pm. Oh but the projects we did, the new products we worked with, the talented people we met and the amazing techniques we learned made it all worthwhile. Brenda has taken down all the projects from the last convention and put all the new ones we completed in their place. We both still have at least 3 projects we still have to complete.

We are full of ideas for programs and new classes. You'll see a change to how we handle classes as they will be based on the new programs we implement and the time frame will be shorter in teaching these classes. We intend to plan, implement them for a couple months then go on to other new classes. We will no longer be offering them for an extended length of time.

Out with the old and in with the new. Once we get the new classes up on the site and on display in the store, if you are interested get your class booked sooner than later or you might be out of luck on us teaching the class a few months down the road.

We are on Facebook: ''LIKE'' our page and keep updated on what's happening at the store. You never know what we will be doing ...like giving away free product!!

ATC Club: we are going strong as each month a few more people join. We have artists from Texas, New York, and even Australia. So that is pretty cool!

Kids ATC Club...: we are starting to develop this program that will occur on Sat. mornings once a month. Stay tuned. If you think your child or children would be interested, please contact the store.

BLOG: for those that are not following our BLOG shame on you...for those that are we are in the process of getting a feed on it that you can subscribe to and this enables all new blog entries to be forwarded to your email so you know when something new is posted as postings will be on there much more regularly! And watch for our technique videos!

WHAT'S COMING IN THE FUTURE

Effective April 1st, which is the beginning of the second quarter, we will be introducing a new exciting line of papers and embellishments. We will be offering classes on card making, scrapping, making a mini album and another type of papercraft using all the products within the new line. As well, we will be bringing new stamps in to use. Product will come and go and we will probably decide not to reorder some of it again.

This decision was made to keep up to date on everything new that companies are constantly introducing. We will always offer the introductory classes such as Copic Makers, beginners Stamping and Scrapbooking, Pergamano, Cuttlebug, Cricut etc. Our classes will still continue to be offered on the requests of our customers. We feel it's no use setting up a class schedule based on our availability since we are here for you. If you want a class on something you see in the store or on our site get in touch with us... it's that easy. We''ll plan it according to your day and time.

I have decided to remain open on Thursday nights to allow people to come in to work on their projects, whatever that might be. This will work exactly the same as Monday nights and since Monday's are pretty full on a regular basis, it seemed only right to open another night. I would greatly appreciate if you plan on coming in you would call that day so I can plan for the number of people. If no one comes in by 8pm for the Thurs. evening I will probably decide to close at that time. We'll see how it goes.

Some of the new companies we will be pursing from the recent convention are: Ten Seconds Studio -Very different products for mainly card making but also for embellishing layouts and other papercrafting project; Elizabeth Craft Designs has some interesting techniques using glitter that we will be expanding on.

Between Brenda and I, 4 Tim Holtz classes were taken using their new products, Brenda is full of new ideas. Hero Arts was another class and workshop that we got some unique ideas from.

Between all our classes we worked on such products as, diecuts, distress inks, glitters and peel off stickers, stains, glossy accents, embossing powders, metal, acrylic paints, ultra thick enamel, radiant pearls, chalk inks, many of Tim Holtz''s embellishments and newest dies, tools such as the new sewing piercer and brad setter from We Are Memory Keepers, Viva Décor products, Copic markers, ribbons, chipboard and the list goes on and on. Papers such as Quick Quotes, Bo Bunny, My Little Yellow Bicycle were just a few of the lovely papers we made our projects with.

We have ordered Luminarte products such as the radiant pearls (had these in the store a few years ago) but with the new things we learned they have generated new ideas. What's old is new again they say. Wall décor is so very popular and Brenda is really into that, so expect to see spin offs to that as well in some classes. Stay tuned on our initiatives in the above areas.

We'll be saving some of our new ideas for our fall fling which we have set a date for September 10th and 11th. We are in the process of lining up a teacher who represents companies such as Hero Arts. Ten Second Studio, Hampton Arts, Elizabeth Craft, Outlines Stamps and at least 30 other companies including the top Scrapbooking Companies. Keep that weekend open and stay tuned for all the details of our yearly event. I''ll let you in on a secret...: the companies were very generous with the giveaways we were given to do whatever we want with. And for those that follow the BLOG and Facebook you know as many were given away as prizes just for leaving a comment!

We expect to receive many of Tim Holtz dies and most of the new Spellbinders by April 12th. We are quite excited. As well, we have many new Ecstasy Crafts products, such as 3D designs and oh the new peel off small ribbon, leaves and rose borders are amazing. These are used mainly for putting down the side of your cards and add a nice finishing touch.

With the Canadian dollar being so strong we have lowered our prices on most products in the store. Many of you will be glad to see the lower prices on the popular Spellbinders.

That's all the news for now....Happy Spring...:the Stamplicity Gang