Yes!

The new Tim Holtz Distress Stickles have finally arrived!! The 12 new colors match up to some of Tim's favorite Distress ink colors. I think my favorite out of the box is Peeled Paint.

Also in the shipment were the fabulous new Holiday Grungeboard designs and the Nature Grungeboard, along with Tim Holtz masks. Click on the highlighted links above to see all the goodies on Tim's website.

Photo from Tim Holtz Blog.

A great time was had by all!

My mom & I had a great time at the "Fiska-Friendzy". This was not a trade event but an event for the people who are Fiskateers. It was a very diverse group of women. I was the only store owner, but there were several scrapbook teachers, certified demonstrators, and crafters in general. One girl was brand new to paper crafting and others had been doing it for years. The only requirement was that they be a registered Fiskateer (craft ambassador).

We started the day with a continental breakfast. While everyone arrived we chatted with everyone and started ogling the prizes (which were incredibly generous). Everyone received a goody bag with great stuff including a stamp press, a fingertip swivel knife, a tape runner, 2 Cloud 9 board books in a box, some clear stamps and an orange scarf that was embroidered with the fiskateers logo and a great lapel pin.

At noon we boarded the big yellow school bus, wearing our orange scarves, and drove to Yankee Candle for a fabulous buffet luncheon at Chandler's restaurant. The menu included Fresh Clam Chowder, Roasted Turkey, Baked Cod, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Squash and Cranberry jelly. For dessert we had homemade Apple Crisp. Then we had 2 hours to shop Yankee Candle (which itself is a treat).

When we got back to the hotel, our leading lady, Kelly Jo, started drawing prizes. Not just any prizes - Amazing prizes!! Like apple baskets with at least $100 worth of product (Mom won one of those!) and of a ton of clear stamps. One prize was a collection of ALL the new Scalloped punches.

Then we had the evening to crop, some ladies did demonstrations and there was a tag swap with some beautiful works of art. One of the Fiskars engineers, Doug, was there the whole evening and talked with us all as a group and individually about what products we thought they should work on. We all felt like he was genuinely interested in what we had to say.

Somewhere along the line pizza was brought in and there was more candy available than a 3rd grade class on Halloween. All of the ladies were wonderful and the event ran very smooth. We had a great time. We also saw a few of our customers there. If you ever get a chance to attend one of these events-jump on it!

New Basic Grey "Wassail" is in the house!

It just arrived this morning and Donna is unpacking it as I write. This one is so beautiful I'm already working on a re-order! This batch is NOT going to last.

Have you seen...

How much new stuff has come into the Inspiration Station in the last few weeks?
We have more Studio G $1 stamps than we know what to do with! They are on racks, in baskets, in boxes under the counter. It seems like a new series is released every week. There are fall styles (Halloween and Thanksgiving), Winter (Hannukah, Christmas, New Years and snow), and the latest batch are calendar sets - one for each of the 12 months plus misc. events. At just $1 a piece you can't go wrong!!

Cricut lovers: We have the new Deep Blade housing in stock so you can now cut chipboard and other thicker materials, even with the baby bug (original machine). Check out the cool Chipboard Word Book I made using the Baby Bug, Base Camp cartridge, and Design Studio software. I was inspired by a lady named Scraplynn's design.

A reminder that the next available Crafting with Cricut class is Wednesday, Nov. 5th and there are only 2 spots remaining. If this one fills again I will see about adding another next month.


And just in case you've ever wondered what my crafting workspace looks like- Here it is...It's not pretty, but it serves the purpose!

Free Online class from Jessica Sprague

I just registered for this Free Class - you can too! Just go to Jessica Sprague's website.

Autumn Passport Cricut winner

Congratulations to Christina St Pierre, the winner of the Cricut Expression from our Autumn Passport Program!
The winner of our store prize drawing was Ruby Bacon. Congratulations to both ladies!

Sasha wants to say "Hi!"

Yes, this is one of the kitty babies. No longer quite so "feral", she and her brother seem to be quite happy to be our outdoor cats.

Changes, Chaos and Construction

That pretty much sums up the last week for me!

We are doing a bit of construction (or is that DEstruction?) at the store so we have a bit of mess and chaos. For those who don't know, I own the building that the store is in and there is an apartment on the second floor. I used to rent it out but when the tenants moved out I decided to keep it for my own use and put my office and storage up there. It also comes in quite handy when we have big events because my mom uses the kitchen to store and prepare all the food. The only problem is that up until now the only access to the apartment was by way of the alley. Not such a great thing at night or in the winter when it becomes a skating rink. So for a long time I have wanted to re-open a long closed stairway that led from our closet in the store up to the apartment, but I have been unable to get a carpenter willing to do the job. I finally found one (waving "Hi" to Doug), and he started work last week.

As usual with old buildings-when you start ripping open walls you tend to find unexpected things. Thankfully we didn't find any bodies or anything - with this building's history, you just never know- but we did find another door behind the wall. Well, you know we couldn't just leave it there without exploring... It led down to a storage room, which is great because we were losing our closet to gain the stair access. The downside is that we now have another day or two added on to the construction since we need to insulate and reconstruct some walls. During all this time, everything that was stored in the closet is now piled up in the classroom which is not fun when we have classes going!

So I apologize for the mess in the classroom and the dust and noise in our stamp department!

Another change I made over the weekend is to my internet service provider. I have been using AOL for more years than I can remember, more than 15 definately; so that's pretty much all I know. I have rarely used internet explorer. Well, with these tough times I am looking to cut expenses where I can and don't know why I have been paying $25 a month for AOL when I pay for cable internet at home and at the store. So I cancelled AOL. I still kept my email address (inspirationsta@aol.com) but now I have to get used to a whole new way of finding my mail and my favorite places! So if you email me and I don't get right back to you, don't feel bad about calling or emailing again. It may take a while for this old dog to learn new tricks!

Lovin' this Background stamp

This is a Hero Arts stamp, isn't is beautiful? The other stamps are also Hero Arts. I'll be stocking up on these for sure!

This one uses two clear stamps from Inkadinkado.

Another Cricut Class added

The Crafting with Cricut class on October 29th is SOLD OUT. I have added another date on Wed., November 5th. Some people have requested a project based Cricut class and also a Cricut Design Studio class. I plan to work on that as soon as possible but do not expect to have them ready until after the holidays. Our class calendar is quite full all the way through Christmas so I'll be looking at dates in January.

Packing up for the CK Convention

Once again we are packing up boxes of product to take to the CK Convention. This time the show is in Hartford so we have less travel time. The only problem is that this is the first year CK has come to Hartford so no one really knows what to expect. We don't know how the room will be set up, whether we'll have electricity to run our register (or have to do everything by hand...). We have pretty much got it down when it comes to the New Hampshire show, well, except for that unfortunate incident in the parking garage :) - but his is a whole new ball game. I did speak with the Logistics Mgr at the Connecticut Convention Center and he was very helpful and very accomodating so I am hopeful that things will run smoothly.

Lots of other things are in the works as well. My mom and I are going to a Fiskars Regional event in Deerfield, MA on the 25th. If you are a Fiskateer and interested in attending the Fisk-a-friendzy, click here. Kelly Jo can get you more info- there are a few spots left and it sounds like loads of fun.

Then, in November, Terry & I are going to a Weekend Scrapbook retreat at Ridin' Hy Ranch in the Adirondacks. We booked our room yesterday. It sounds like a lot of fun and at $199 per person for 2 nights accomodations and 6 meals you cant beat the price. Check out their website if you are interested.

Oh, before I forget- The October store page kits are ready too. I can't believe it's the 1st of October already! Check out Terry's October layout class sample in the store, too- I think it's one of her best layouts yet.