NEWSLETTER JANUARY, FEBRUARY & MARCH

Well, here we are again...another year just flew by. I'm sitting at the computer killing some time while waiting for our friends, Bryan and Sandy, to fly in from New York. Going to spend, let's see, probably our 5th New Years Eve together. We are not really party goers so it will be a nice meal at home and then probably a game and some fun with the WII. We received Super Mario Cart for Christmas so that's the latest game we are having a blast with. I should have been a race car driver!! ON THE PERSONAL SIDE

Christmas was great just being with the girls and watching them through the magic of Santa. Had our Christmas with Keith's side up in London 2 weeks ago. A little more hectic with the bigger family and 7 kids but certainly nice to all get together. Had some exciting news from my parttimer Janice a couple of weeks ago. Her daughter won a million dollars in the Cancer lottery. I know, it's hard to imagine isn't it. Just thinking about it and all the family members you could help boggles your mind, let alone the comfort you would have for yourself. The month of December was busy like everyone else's getting ready for the holidays so not much other news. Time to let you know.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE STORE.

First, I want to thank all of you who took the time to bring in mittens, scarves, socks etc for our mitten tree. Thanks to your generosity we were able to donate over 150 warm items as well as $26.95 in cash to Port Cares in Port Colborne. Not alot new in the store as far as new earth shattering products. I'll probably have alot more to report on that subject after the Retailer show at the end of January. We do have the new "Smooch" spray metallics from Clearsnap in the store. They are great for backgrounds on your paper.

We have more colours of the glitter paper that has been so popular for cardmakers.

Ladies who have purchased Copic Markers are now starting to ask whether we will carry the refills for the markers. Rather than carry the refills to sell, in the near future we will be offering the service of refilling your marker for you at a price of $1.00 for each marker. Carrying all the refills to sell would not be cost effective to us and we feel customers would be just as pleased if we fill the marker for them rather than they spend $6.00 on each refill. Our goal in 2010 is to have refills for all the colours that we sell. Stay tuned for more information on this. On the same subject we now carry the White Copic paint in our store. See below for a great tip on one way to use this paint.

We have some very pretty Valentine paper in the store for those of you who make Valentine cards and like to use patterned paper.

Whenever you are in the store don't forget to check our 50% off centre. We are always adding products onto this area when new things arrive.

This is just a piece of information about the Slice Cartridges. They have a huge variety of cartridges out on the market now. We are getting some of the new ones in for the workshop area in the near future. Although I don't carry them in the store (due to the large selection) you can certainly order them from me.

This also applies to Cricut cartridges that you can't seem to get your hands on. I know Michaels carries many of them and very often has a sale, which is why I don't stock them, but if there is one you desperately need and can't get we are here for you. This applies to most items anyone is looking for, with alittle patience I most likely can get what you want.

WHAT'S COMING IN THE FUTURE

Beginning January 11th we will be starting a store wide 25% discount sale. The only exceptions to this sale are Spellbinders, Cuttlebug, Copic markers and Copic products. These products will not have a discount except to 3 "S" members who will receive their 10% discount as per usual. We have a full store of products and with the upcoming retailer show in California we need to make room for new products that I will be ordering. This sale does not apply to any special orders that are at the present time under our counter waiting for pickup. Our 3 "S" members have the preceding week (Jan. 4th to Jan 9th) to take advantage of the sale first. Due to their membership they will enjoy a 25% discount plus an extra 10% discount on their purchases.

I have recently found a distributor who ships Neenah Classic White Cardstock. I have had quite a few inquiries from ladies who use Copic Markers and wish to purchase this type of paper. As I have never ordered from this company before I am unsure when this order will arrive. I presume as it's from the states I probably won't see it until the second week of January. For those who are interested in this paper I have ordered a large amount so no worries that I will sell out of it quickly. You can try calling after Jan. 11th to inquire if it is in the store. I know many of you will be happy to hear I am now carrying this.

For January the Sweet Deal of the month will be Magnolia stamps. These stamps are a little different and have to be ordered from the United Kingdom so the time frame to receive these stamps is not something I can predict. As well, I have to order these stamps in quantities of 6 so I decided to use the Sweet Deal as an opportunity to find out how popular these stamps will be in my store. I have had a few customers who have these stamps already, bring me in a few of their cards they have made and all the staff are quite taken with them. With all of this in mind the following designs can be ordered during the month of January and you will receive a 25% discount on the price quoted on the site. Hope you like the ones we have picked for our sweet deal.

Check out the page Sweet Deals for 2010 to see which ones qualify for the discount. You might also want to check our "Customers Projects" on the site to see how Pat McLean and Sylvia Oliphant have coloured these adorable little girls with their Copic Markers.