Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

A new layout

I just wanted to show off the layout I did of my kitty.

Out with the old in with the new

As we wind down the final days of 2009 and look forward to a bright new year; we have been busily clearing out old product from the shelves. To be honest, some is not even THAT old, just slow moving, and others - well.... Let's just say they've worn out their welcome.

This is a great time for you to come in and take home some of these bargains.

One of the things I was extremely brutal with was the books and magazines. It was time for them to go. And with the cold weather and possibly another Nor'easter on the way, its perfect timing. Curl up in front of the fireplace while the kids are playing with their new toys from Santa and catch up on your reading!

I also started pulling many of the Christmas stamps for clearance, buy them now and save a ton of money next holiday season.


Don't forget- we have an all day crop planned for New Year's Day and there are still openings. Call us today to register.

Merry Christmas!

To all of my dear friends- May you have a joyous and peaceful holiday with your family!

2 days only- SALE

Time is running out for your holiday shopping! We know you are busy so we are giving you a great reason to shop with us for the next two days; A HUGE SALE!

For 2 Days Only- Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22

EVERYTHING in the store is 25% off!

That's right! EVERYTHING (excluding Gift Certificates, class fees and prior purchases)! It's our Pre-Christmas Clearance Sale. Come in now for best selection because it's all going to sell quickly. Stock up on your holiday stamps for next year's Christmas Cards (or maybe this year's if you are a procrastinator!).

We still have a great selection on Halloween and Fall items, if you haven't scrapped those photos yet; seasonal items will not be re-ordered so get it while you can.

What else can you get? How about those fabulous Copic Markers? Nestabilities Dies? NEW 2010 Hero Arts stamps? Cardstock? Pattern papers? Oh yeah- all of it! Don't wait; sale is on in stock merchandise only.

Facebook Fan Friday is here!

Facebook Fan Friday is here! If you are not a fan on Facebook, get over there and find out what today's awesome deal is!

Pink Paislee layout

You would think with a name like "Pink Paislee" I would not be using it for a boy's page, right? Not so. I found this layout on 2 Peas and loved it so I had to scraplift it. Mine is slightly different, but the basics are the same. Hopefully this will get you thinking of ways to take the layouts you see and change them up to make them your own.

Facebook Fan Friday

Starting this week- Watch for Facebook Fan Friday at The Inspiration Station; a special deal only available to our fans on Facebook! Spread the word to all of your friends who need a little inspiration!

Crafting with Cricut

It sounds like many people are getting a new Cricut machine for the holidays this year; I have been getting lots of calls about when the next Crafting with Cricut class will be. So the January schedule is up and the first Cricut class of 2010 will be Tuesday, January 5th at 6pm. If you've recently purchased a machine you may want to ask someone to purchase the class for you as a Christmas gift!

This class is open to all levels whether you have the original Cricut or the Cricut Expression. You will bring your machine, cutting mat and a font cartridge (preferably Plantin Schoolbook or George) and I will walk you through the basics of getting started, the special features of your machine and teach you how to get the most out of your machine. A three page handout is included so you don't forget all of the info you've learned in class!

Call to reserve your seat today- (860) 684-2641

Finally made another tag

This one is inspired by Tim's tag on Dec 7th. Yes, I know I'm missing a few days...I'll get to them eventually.

Samples are in

Donna got her sample cards in for December Card Club :



And More Holiday cards - New date added Monday Dec 14th:

For your Inspiration

Are you playing along at home with Tim? I am. Here's my tag from Day One:I did not have the same stamps as he used but I used something similar from Inkadinkado.

And here's what I did for Day 2:

Day 3- A very cool Alcohol Ink Technique:




Since I was in my craft room I decided to do something much simpler as well:



This was done with stamps from the Memory Box. We have these in stock.

Ok, back to creating...

Day one at Tim Holtz Blog

Ok, this got me-

"listen, i know how busy the holiday time is, so i'll give you an extra week to keep up with the tags. if you create all "12 Tags" from this years blog, and by that i mean 12 tags inspired by this year's tags - they don't have to be the same as mine - take a picture of them and email it to me by 12/19/09. i will choose 1 grand prize winner at random and trust me, you'll want this prize package! the winner will be posted on 12/20/09 on the blog along with your tag photo and a photo of your prize package. oh the excitement!"

Yes Tim Holtz is giving away a ton of stuff in the next 12 day- I sure hope some of my friends will be among the winners. Go here every day!

Tomorrow's the day!

Tim Holtz will unveil the 1st of his 12 Tags of Christmas tomorrow!
Be sure to check in with him each day for awesome, inspiring and fun techniques. Remember that you don't have to use them as tags. Every technique he shares can be used to make cards or scrapbook pages.
Then come in to The Inspiration Station to pick up all of the supplies you need to recreate the projects. Tim was not able to provide us with a list of supplies ahead of time so we are doing our best to keep up with the demand, but don't worry- we will be ordering as we go to be sure we have whatever you need. Call or stop in and tell us what you want and we will hold it for you as it comes in!

He's at it again

So excited that Tim Holtz will be doing his 12 Tags of Christmas again beginning December 1st.

Seats available

Seats are still available for the after Thanksgiving Crop on Friday, Nov. 27th

That’s right— Have some fun and get it done! Bring any unfinished project to work on during this “anything goes” scrapbook
crop. Make or address holiday cards, create a hand-crafted gift, or work on your albums—they’re all good!

Join us for 8 hours of Creative FUN at The Inspiration Station instead! Scrapbookers and Card Makers are welcome to come and work on whatever projects you need to get done for the holidays. Need to finish your holiday cards? Maybe some recipe books to give as gifts? or perhaps just get caught up on last years holiday photos? Whatever it is you can work on it here! We'll provide the lunch and the fun, you bring your projects and supplies. 10am - 6pm Nov. 27th. Cost is $25 per person and includes lunch. Pre-registration is required.

Greetings from Ridin Hy Ranch

Terry and I are in upstate New York at Ridin Hy Ranch for the weekend and I thought I'd share some pictures.
The view of the lake:

This is Lewis. He pretty much has free run of the place. He follows the hayrides and leads the hiking tours. The rest of the time he sleeps on the couch in the lobby, unless there are people on his couch, then he goes into the bar to sleep on a chair.

A shot of some of the croppers:


Here's a bit of what I got done today:

Another Card from Donna

This is one of the cards that Donna will be making in the class on Monday evening, Nov 23rd. Spots are still available.

What are you wishing for?

The holiday are coming up quick. Have you made your Wish List yet? We have the forms at The Inspiration Station all ready for you to fill out. Just send Santa this way and we'll make sure he buys you just what you want!

Go ahead, make it a long list- We have found that ladies who make a Wish List are often treated to EVERYTHING on their list. Apparently, Santa doesn't want to think too hard about what to get so he tells us "just pack it all up".

We are happy to take credit cards over the phone for Wish List purchases or Gift Certificates. He can call in and tell us a dollar amount and we will shop off your list for him. All he has to do is pick it up at his convenience! We will mail Gift Certificates in any amount out as well. Could we make it any easier???

Get ready to shop!

Yes, it's that time of year again. Shopping time! Black Friday will be upon us in only 9 days... Are you ready? We are working hard here at The Inspiration Station to get things ready for you. I've got some secret sales planned so be sure to watch your email for next weeks newsletter.

Nestabilities storage

In my Copic Christmas class today we were discussing ways to store the Spellbinder/Nestabilities dies. I wanted to post a link to the site where I got my Clear DVD cases. You'll need to scroll down the page to the item called "Super Jewel Box King DVD Case"

I got the idea from Becca Feeken's blog last summer and found it works really well for me. Click on the link to her blog for a great article with photos showing how to take the insert out and store your dies.

If you need magnetic sheets for your dies, I did order in a box of 5"x7" sheets that are self adhesive. They should be in by the end of the week.

Getting ready to create

Next weekend Terry and I are going up to Ridin Hy Ranch for a scrapbook weekend. At last count there were 90 ladies planning to attend! SO now, I have only a week to plan what I'm going to work on while I'm there. Packing up to go somewhere else is so foreign to me. Between my store and my VERY well stocked craft room at home, I am spoiled having everything at my fingertips.

I think a lot of people avoid going to crops for the very same reason. You can't bring it all with you and it's so hard to figure out how to pack.

The best advise I have found is to plan ahead. Let's face it - you are not going to accomplish five or six projects at one time, so be realistic. My max is 2 projects. That way if I get stuck or bored with one, I can switch gears and work on something else.

For example, my goal for next weekend is to get a good chunk done on a graduation album for my daughter who is a senior in high school. As a back up, I also have a stack of pet photos that need to be scrapped. So I am only bring the photos related to those projects.
Additionally, my supplies can be pared down. Since I won't be working on holiday stuff, there's no need to pack Christmas or Halloween theme stuff. I don't need "boy" stuff, "Disney" stuff, or any other specialty themes.

So what will I be bringing?
My basic tools: 12" trimmer, straight edge scissors, craft knife & cutting mat. Adhesive - tape runner, glue dots, glossy accents, and tacky tape can handle any situation I may run across on these projects. My crop-o-dile in case I need to punch holes or set eyelets. My Tim Holtz Design Ruler (it rocks!).

Then the important part - I need to pre-plan my pages. Since I know what photos I have, I can grab cardstock and paper that goes well with them. I'm not really a theme type of girl, I like making my pages based more on color than theme. I can always add stickers and other embellishments when I get back if I'm missing something.

So that's my plan.
Now I'm off to upload my photos for printing at my favorite site. Scrapbook Pictures

After Thanksgiving Crop

Don't want to fight the crowds on "Black Friday"? Or are you like me; I do my shopping at 5 am and then I'm back home by 8am or 9am. That still leaves the whole day open.

Join us for 8 hours of Creative FUN at The Inspiration Station instead! Scrapbookers and Card Makers are welcome to come and work on whatever projects you need to get done for the holidays. Need to finish your holiday cards? Maybe some recipe books to give as gifts? or perhaps just get caught up on last years holiday photos? Whatever it is you can work on it here! We'll provide the lunch and the fun, you bring your projects and supplies. 10am - 6pm Nov. 27th. Cost is $25 per person and includes lunch. Pre-registration is required.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

All of these boxes arrived in one day! So much new stuff we were trapped behind the counter with a wall of boxes.
So what came in?
New Christmas Cuttlebug folders:
Flower Soft in beautiful colors for the holidays,
Impression Obsession Stamps,
Holiday papers from The Paper Company,
and so much more I can't even remember...

Did I miss something?

Yes. I know that I did not send out the store newsletter this week. Sorry- I was away for two days at a training for a community wrap around initiative (not related to work).

Of course just because I wasn't in the store doesn't mean there wasn't stuff happening. Donna has been inundated with students for her Quick & Easy Christmas cards classes. Once again she had to add another date and we had to order in more supplies. The new date is Monday, November 16th at 6pm. There is a different Christmas Card class on Sunday, Nov. 29th which will be just as amazing but with different designs. One sample is show in the previous post.

I have also added another date for the Copic Christmas Class. The class on Nov. 15th is SOLD OUT so a new date has been added; Friday, Dec 4th at 6pm.


Some beautiful stuff arrived this week as well. The new Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade line is gorgeous with all of the papers glittered and glazed. There is even a kit for an amazing chipboard album that includes all of the materials.

Memory Box has sent us a new Winter collection that has some gorgeous sample cards with it. In fact, Donna will be recreating one of the cards in her Holiday Cards class.


Don't forget about the great Scrapbooking classes we have scheduled as well. Dawn has a beautiful fall layout class this Wednesday, Nov 4th as well as an adorable "Memories" mini album on Nov 11th. Go to the website to see the great photos!

Martha Stewart Punches back in stock!

For those of you who have been waiting, the Martha Stewart Branch punch and Icicle Border punch are back in stock. We use the branch punch on just about every project- it is so versatile. It can be made into a wreath, a Christmas tree, garland and more. Punched out of brown it makes great twigs for fall cards. I used it on this card as a swag.


I haven't had a chance to make anything with the Icicle Border yet, but I've seen some great cards using it not only for icicles but as frosting on a cake and dripping paint. Very cool stuff.

Donna's Class Samples

Yay!!! We got a few more samples from Donna for upcoming classes! These are filling quickly so don't wait to register.




Cards that are JustRite
Nov 12th 10am -noon or
6pm - 8pm



November Cards Club Classes

Holiday Cards
Sunday, Nov 29th

New Basic Grey

Our shelves are stocked with 2 new lines of Basic Grey:

• Eerie
• Eskimo Kisses
• Nook & Pantry

A Copic Christmas

Many of you who have signed up for the "Copic Christmas" class have requested a list of the color pens we will be using. If you have your own markers you are encouraged to bring them, but please label them clearly with your name (I used return address size labels that I print on the computer).

These are the colors that I have used on the cards (may not be complete - I'm still working on a third project!)

• Y21
• YR12
• E31
• E33
• E49
• E57
• R27
• R29
• R39
• G21
• G17
  
• G24
• G99
• YG67
• W0
• W2
  

Changes to our class schedule

This week we have been crazy-busy (Donna's card classes always do that to us!). But we did need to make a couple of schedule changes.

First off, I am very sad to say that the DeNami Pop Up class had to be cancelled. The instructor had to leave the company and there is no one available to replace her. DeNami Designs has offered to provide kits to the students who would like them. Please let us know this week if you would like one ($25 ea).

On a positive note, all of the Christmas card classes have been a huge success and we have had to add additional dates to accommodate everyone.
The Copic Christmas class on Nov 15th has only one spot left so a new date has been added, Friday, Dec 4th at 6pm.
Most of the seats in the last Quick & Easy Christmas cards class (Nov. 5th) are taken but 2 or 3 more people can still get in if you call this week.
If you are not able to get into that class, the November Card Club classes will also be Christmas theme. So that is another option. I hope to get samples for that class to show you in the next few days.

So Much New

I can't believe how much new stuff came in on Friday. I guess that's what happens when I take a day off! To be honest, I'm not sure I even had a chance to see half of it when I was in for class on Sunday.

I know some JustRite stampers came in, I saw a few of the Memory Box stamps and as I was walking out I caught a glimpse of the new Christmas line from Pink Paislee!

Thursday the new Christmas line from Little Yellow Bicycle came in. I'm not quite sure where we put it with all of the fabulous Christmas papers we already had...

Debra from DeNami Designs will be coming back to The Inspiration Station on November 7th to teach the most adorable pop up cards ever- Sign up today so you don't miss out!

Tim Holtz is at it again

Tim Holtz is at it again!

Check out his blog post for today - he did some awesome Halloween projects!

Remember we carry a full line of Tim's products - if we are out of stock on anything we carry always order it for you.

World Card Making Day- Oct. 3, 2009

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day!

Make sure you spend a bit of time making at least one handmade card for someone special. If you need help, come see me at The Inspiration Station; I can always give you ideas!

Winter treats

It's a chilly day so I made some cocoa...
This is an Impression Obsession stamp and I colored it with Copics. We have everything at the store. I'm thinking of doing this in my "Copic Christmas" class.

Celebrate Memories Crop

I just wanted to send a shout out to Lisa and Cynthia from Celebrate Memories crop. We had a great time at the crop yesterday at the Crowne Plaza in Enfield. What a nice group of ladies, and a very nice hotel. We are looking forward to joining them again at future events.

Join us at Ridin' Hy Ranch

Scrapbooking at Ridin'-Hy Ranch
Warrenburg, NY

For all scrappers, new or seasoned. Workshops, Raffle Prizes and more.

November 20-22
2 nights, 6 meals, all activities included (including Horseback Riding!)
Reserved work Spaces
$210 per person
For more info:
Kerry @ (518) 494-2742

World Card Making Day

Coming soon to The Inspiration Station:

World Card Making Day
October 3, 2009

WHAT

World Card Making Day is a holiday especially for card makers around the world to:

• Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family
• Kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season

WHEN

The first Saturday of each October, kicking off the holiday card-making season, the most popular time for creating and sharing handmade greetings.

WHO

The card-making community worldwide, including hobbyists, beginning card makers, manufacturers of card-making products, retail sellers of products, educators, and press are invited to come together to celebrate this holiday and creative passion.

Source: PaperCrafts Magazine

Awesome demo day!

Thanks to our special guest from EK Success/Inkadinkado, Corrine, we had an awesome demo day here at The Inspiration Station!

Congratulations to our prize winner, Allison Bergeron.

New today!

Fancy Pants Trick or Treat and Christmas Magic!

September card club

Here is a peek at three of the four cards Donna will be making in September's Card Club. The class fee of $30 includes the Rooco Raccoon Stamp for you to keep.

Summer Passport follow up

Thank you to Everyone who participated in the Summer Passport for 2009! We truly appreciate your support of the the Local Scrapbook & Stamp stores. We had almost 300 people sign up for the program this year!

Congratulations to the following winners of the Store Grand Prizes:

Inspiration Station - Doreen Seitz
Sturbridge Scrapping Corner - Claire Durand
Wiggles & Giggles - Liz Vellali
Memory Lane - Glenda Young
Scrapbook Clubhouse - Daiana Baptista-Jean
Stamp & Scrap Nest - Shirley Machesney
Right at Home Scrapbooking - Karen Saunders

I am still waiting for the names of the winners from the remaining 3 stores.

Just Right Stampers

We just got a shipment in from Just Right Stampers and I have started playing with the Fall Designs. I hope to get to the Halloween and Christmas ones very soon. Enjoy!

Just adding a couple of cards for inspiration

Stamps are from Inkadinkado and the border punch is Martha Stewart. Everything is available at the store.

New stamps from Memory Box

Oh Boy, the stuff is really rolling in now! Great Halloween and Christmas stamps arrived from Memory box along with a few sample cards which give you some inspiration for your own cards. Their style is clean and simple and very different from what "we" do. Come check them out.

For more samples see this Blog

Graphic 45!

The newest lines from Graphic 45, including Christmas Past, have arrived and they are GORGEOUS!

Also new: Bo Bunny St Nick, Deliah, Kitchen Spice and Boo Crew.

Another Magenta Cat

I love these Cat of the Month stamps from Magenta. This one is Molly from July.

(I made this just for you Mari!)

New Stamps

Here are some of the new stamp designs we received this week:
Magenta's Cat of the Month for August:


New Halloween designs from Inkadinkado: