Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cheryl Mezzetti - Special Guest Instructor

Join us in welcoming Cheryl Mezzetti to the Inspiration Station on Saturday, January 14th.  This is the first time Cheryl has been to visit and we plan to have a fabulous time.



Cheryl will teach two classes, How to build a Snowman from 10am-12:30pm
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And Luminarte Devotion Journal from 1pm-3:30pm
 
 
 
Each class is $35 and will have loads of techniques to inspire you.  There is a required materials list available for each class and we will have some of those items packaged as Student kits for those of you who may not already have them.  Student kits must be ordered at the time of sign up to be sure we have enough on hand.

CHERYL MEZZETTI'S BIO

Cheryl Mezzetti is an accomplished designer and artist who has been working in the paper arts industry for several years. She is the current Education Director and Design Team Coordinator for Creative Imaginations and a product designer for Accucut Craft. Cheryl is currently working on a book showcasing her artwork that is scheduled to release in 2012. She has shared her talents at many stores and venues across the United States, as well as Canada and Europe.
   
Cheryl's creations have been published in several scrapbooking and paper crafting publications, including Scrapbook Trends, Scrapbooking & Beyond, Paper Trends, Correspondence Art, Paper Creations, Paper Works, Better Homes & Gardens and Paper Art. Her designs have also been featured in idea books from Making Memories to Paperhouse Productions.
 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Tim Holtz Tags - Day 7

So I missed a few days- more like a week - but hey, I'm still working on it!

This tag is based on Tim Holtz day 7.  I love his tag and mine's not bad.  I had to make a few substitutions and I will probably go back and add a few more Holly leaves, it just doesn't look as full as his, but overall I'm happy to have gotten another done.
Here's Tim's:


Sunday, December 04, 2011

Tim Tag Day 2

When I first saw Tim's tag on day 2, I thought it would be relatively simple.  That was until I discovered that I had absolutely NONE of the items he used at home except the Picket Fence Distress stain. So what should have been a simple re-creation turned into a long night as I tried to find substitutions.  I didn't even have a small strip of burlap, which I still think it needs- so I may continue to make a few adjustments. Here's what I came up with:

I substituted Tim's "everyday" Kraft resist paper for the holiday one. I used a Lifestyle Crafts
reindeer die because I didn't have Tim's. I used white sticky back canvas stained with Antique Linen stain  in place of the natural canvas. I put holly on the deer instead of a wreath because my attempt at making a wreath with what I had was pathetic. No on the edge border die so I improvised with the Vintage lace and some chipboard. I did have twine, but no burlap or suitable charms, so I found some green twill and a piece of an earring.  What do you think?

Here is Tim's tag:

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Inspired by day 3

Yes, I know I skipped day 2...don't worry - it's coming!  But Day 3 was very similar to a card I made just the other day so I wanted to post this in the meantime.  Now I'm heading off to work on day 2.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Tim Tags Day One

I'm going to try to keep up but there are no guarantees!
Tim Holtz posted the first tag of twelve for 2011 this morning and thankfully, between me and Donna we had almost all the right supplies to re-create it. The only thing I changed was the addition of the vintage lace die cut along the bottom because I placed my "cluster" of greenery too high and it looked like too much space at the bottom.  I also used wide Score-tape to adhere the vintage glass glitter instead of the liquid adhesive...much less mess!


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Time for Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas

Yes, it's the "Most wonderful time of the year"...  Time for Tim Holtz to start of the holiday season by creating a crafting frenzy around the world with his 12 Tags of Christmas.  And of course, his assistant/business manager Mario will be tweeting his BTS (Behind the Scenes) photos once again.  I have been following along with time since he started in 2007 and I think Mario started the BTS tweets about 2 years ago.  I remember he actually crashed Twitter that first year because there was so much activity!

If you are new to crafting, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about.  Well, for many, myself included, Tim Holtz is the Crafting King - the God of Grunge - and the Titan of Tags.  Back in 2007, he started creating a tag each day in December as an inspiration to his fans.  The series was so successful that he continued it the next year.  Each year the number of people following and commenting on the posts has grown exponentially! Where he may have gotten a few hundred comments per post the first year, now he literally gets THOUSANDS of posts.  He creates each tag from scratch each day with a deadline to post on his blog by Midnight PST.  He says he does his best work under pressure and I agree!  I used to wake up each morning and make a cup of tea before logging on to see what he created, but since Mario began the whole BTS thing it is so much fun to follow along that I end up staying up way too late every night to get a glimpse of the magic.

To get an idea of the type of magic he creates watch this video:


If you would like to play along (and I HIGHLY recommend that you do!) here are some basic supplies you should plan to have on hand:
  • #8 Manila Tags (or other surface)
  • Ranger non-stick Craft Sheet
  • Ink Blending Tool & extra Foam Applicators
  • Various colors of Distress Ink (there is a new Limted Edition Holiday set I am sure he will be using)
  • Stickles - plan on Icicle or Crystal, Rock Candy, Christmas Red, Gold, & Silver to make an appearance.
  • Glossy Accents & Studio Matte Medium
  • Wonder Tape
  • Archival Ink (Black and maybe Sepia or Coffee)
I'm sure MANY other Ranger and Sizzix & Ideology products will  be used as well and I will do my best to keep them all in stock throughout the 12 Days.  You are welcome to call The Inspiration Station (860-684-2641) to have us pull any of the items you may need so you can pick them up.  Because of the demand we will only HOLD products until the following day so be sure to stock up.  You don't want to be out of anything when the MAGIC happens!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Hero Arts Catalog Debut & Holiday Extravaganza

Have you heard?  This year we are combine the Hero Arts Catalog Debut with our Luminarte demonstration and Make & Takes.  This means one big 'ole party on December 17th at The Inspiration Station!

Our friend Karyn, will be showing you some great tips for using Luminarte products (Twinkling H2Os, Radiant Rain and more) with your stamps to make some amazing projects.  Since the new Hero Arts catalog will be here along with an assortment of their new stamps, you will also get to see how these two products can work together while doing a FREE make & take tag.  As a bonus, you will be able to pre-order any stamp from the 2012 Hero Arts catalog before it is released to the public!  If you pre-order and pre-pay for your stamps that day we will take 10% off of your order.

Join us Saturday, Dec17th for a full day of fun and festivities.  We'll have cookies & hot cocoa along with holiday music to really make it a party. Oh, and prizes- we can't forget prizes!   Don't miss it.





                               

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Sale- Today only!


We all need a little retail therapy to cheer us once in a while and after the week we've had, today seems like a great day for it! Come in today and take 25% off your entire purchase!

If you are still without power, as many of our Stafford and Vernon customers are, feel free to bring your phones and laptops in for charging and as a bonus we have FREE Wi-Fihere.

Friday, November 04, 2011

Power is back!


The power is back at The Inspiration Station after 7 days of cold, darkness.  None of us have power at home yet, but downtown Stafford is back among the living.  If you need a place to warm up or charge your cell phones or laptops come on in.  We have hot cocoa too (sorry no coffee because we had to throw out all the milk).

The Christmas Card Class for Sunday has been rescheduled to Sunday Nov. 13th since Donna still does not have power and is not able to prepare for the class.

The Scrapping for Scouting Crop will still be held tomorrow (Nov 5th) at ECSU in the Betty Tipton room of the Student Center.  Door open at 8:00am.  Walk in are welcome.  Cost is $55 and includes a $10 food voucher.

There is still time to register for next weekend'swith Special Guest Instructor:
Sally Lynn MacDonald.

Sally Lynn is nationally known for her work with Copic Markers, Tattered Angels, Art-C, and more.  The list of credits to her name is never-ending. She travels and teaches all over the country and has been seen on HGTV.  We are fortunate to have her visit us on occasion to share her love of all things colorful and inky. Join us for the following classes.

NEW ARRIVALS:
The latest Magnolia Ink magazine has arrived and we just received the most adorable MINI Magnolias too!   

Tim Holtz Limited Edition Holiday Ink sets are here, if you missed the Fall set we have a few of those available too.
Black Friday is almost here. Instead of fighting the crowds at the mall, why not come in to The Inspiration Station and have a relaxing day of crafting fun?
 
Join us from 10am-6pm to work on whatever crafty projects you need to get done before the holidays; stamp out your Christmas cards, make up some gift albums or recipe books, create personalized gift tags  or just catch up of your scrapping. We'll even provide lunch so you can just relax and create.  Space is limited so register today.  $25.00
Sign Up before November 7th and only pay $22

Friday, October 14, 2011

Special Guest Instructor

Classes with Special Guest Instructor:

Sally Lynn Mac Donald

November 12, 2011 10:00am - noon

Mixed-Media “She Art” on a 9”x12” Canvas Board $35.00

In this workshop we will use Art-C mixed-media products for a lovely ‘She Art’ project. We will develop our project using the brand new ‘Let’s Face It! Stencils, layered collage elements, canvas colorables’ images with mixed-media coloring and dimensional techniques. Learn color tinting and washes with acrylic paint, Copic Markers, graphite and using modeling paste with stencils. Students will receive a handout with full instructions and tips for developing their own mixed-media creations. This workshop was taught at the Summer CHA trade show in Chicago!

Please bring: Scissors, Wet Adhesive (Beacon 3-in-1 highly recommended)


November 12, 2011 12:30pm - 2:30pm

Botanical Mixed-Media Exploration Art Journal $45.00

Finish off the day with a mixed-media exploration. You will learn how to use layers of texture, color and collage in creating an art journal. We’ll spend our time creating a technique-a-palooza of backgrounds with color washes of acrylic paint and mica sprays, drawing, painting, resist, composition and design with stencils. We’ll create texture with modeling paste and other mediums. You will leave class with backgrounds for a multi-page art journal that you will love!

Please bring: Scissors, White gel pen, White or kneaded eraser, Wet Adhesive (Beacon 3-in-1 highly recommended), a large acrylic block (at least 4” wide and tall). Optional: Tweezers.

Please note: seats are limited and classes with guest instructors are non-refundable.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

So many ideas- so little time!

There are so many great ideas for projects floating around, and even more stuck in my head. I have a ton of things I want to make, just for myself, and a few things I would love to teach classes for but I just can't seem to fit the time into my schedule.

I did finally make an ATC Tray for Christmas that I have wanted to do ever since I saw the Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas line at CHA in Chicago.

I really love the lines from Simple Stories and they have just released a new line called Year-o-logy that will be shipping very shortly. I would like to teach a class using it called "Scrapbooking Simplified" where we create an album for the new year all in one day and then you can add you photos each month as you take them. I have tentatively scheduled it for Saturday, January 21, 2012. If you are interested in it please let me know either via email or in the comments section so I can judge the interest. I need to work up the supply list to see how much the materials cost before I can tell you a price.

The next crop will be an All-Day crop on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) - Call to register now so you are sure to have a seat.

The other big idea I had was to have a Christmas Cookie Swap & Crop. The idea is to have everyone print 12 copies of your favorite Holiday cookie recipe onto white or cream cardstock so they can be cut to 3x5 size. I will create a template for that. Each participant will bring a plate of cookies using that recipe to share. At the crop we will create a cute recipe book using the Unibind system. I'm not sure whether I should offer this on an evening during the week or on a Saturday afternoon- It will be in December and that is such a hard time to work around holiday activities. Again, if you are interested, let me know which would be best for you. I will go with the majority on this one.

Send your email comments to Inspirationsta@aol.com and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Fun weekend


A great big thank you to everyone who came out on Sunday for our Unibind Event; and a very special Thank You to Ken Oliver for sharing all of his ideas for making these awesome little books. A few people brought their own paper to make some special books. Just look at the cute Football book our friend Cody made.


His Mom, Patty, came totally prepared and made this gorgeous album.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Play time!

Every now and then I get trapped in my house because one of my kids needs my car...today was one of those days. The good news is that I had a chance to play with my inks and stains and mists. For the record, I love watercolor paper. Ever since Dave Brethauer was here and showed us how to use watercolors and twinkling H2O's I have been experimenting with the paper and different mediums. I have also fallen madly in love with the Unibind for making books. So last night I decided to create an Art Journal with the Unibind and watercolor paper. I decided to title it "My Mind's Playground" since it will become the place for me to "play" with my favorite stuff.
On the title page, I printed some of my favorite fun "pins" from Pinterest. Then I layered Distress Ink, Radiant Rain, and white acrylic paint. Love the way it looks like a graffiti covered wall.


When I created the journal I had a bunch of half inch strips of watercolor paper left over because the cover is 8.5" x 11" and watercolor paper is 9x12. One of the things that I learned while playing is that watercolor paper takes the Distress Stains beautifully. The colors are bright and vibrant and well, gorgeous. I colored each half inch strip with a different color (Barn Door, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Broken China and Dusty Concord). Once they dried I used a 4.5" piece of Sookwang tape (Score Tape) to piece them all together into a rainbow stripe. I used to do quilting and the first real quilt I made was a pattern called "Trip around the world" using a strip piecing method. So I did the same thing with the paper.


Once the paper quilt was complete I covered the entire piece with Versamark Ink and embossed it with two layers of UTEE. I cannot even tell you how beautiful this is in real life. The photos do not do it justice. I put in it a cute white frame I picked up at Ikea and it will eventually hang in my craft room. That is IF our house ever gets built...

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Benefit crop for Boy Scouts

Scrapping for Scouting
Saturday, Nov 5, 2011
8am-8pm
at Eastern CT University, Willimantic, CT

  • An all-day Scrapbook event to benefit The CT Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts at Eastern CT State University.

    Raffles, Door Prizes, Vendors, Make & Takes, snacks & refreshments. Food Court available and admission includes a $10 food voucher.

    Sponsorships and vendor space available.


Visit the website to register for this all day crop.
Advertising opportunities are available as well.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Remodelling- day one

The plan was simple enough. Close the store from Sunday to Wednesday to re-arrange all of the fuxtures. We would have all the men come on Sunday to do the heavy lifting and finish everything else over the next three days.

Unfortunatley, Irene had other plans. Hurricane Irene, that is. forecasters predicted a direct hit on us for Sunday so plans had to change. Saturday night would be the time to start. We began moving things into the classroom and emptying fixtures during the afternoon hours and by the time the store closed at five O'clock the guys were taking things apart.

By the time we left later that night the major pieces were in place but every thing else was shoved to the center of the store creating a chaotic mess. We will be back first thing Monday morning- if we have power to start re-building the store. Hopefully I will get a few pictures up to show you then.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Memory Box Classes







It was a dreary, rainy day outside but inside we were enjoying the talents of Dave Brethauer from Memory Box Stamps.






Dave came all the way from Seattle (I think the rain followed him) and brought loads of fun stamps & dies and showed a very full classroom of ladies how to use colored pencils and watercolors. There was no room in the class for me, but I enjoyed listening to his soothing voice and fun stories from the road while working behind the counter. He was sweet, gracious and very well organized even after being on the road with two teenagers and two dogs for the past eight weeks! As I told him, I would not have lasted eight hours on the road with my crew!



I look forward to having him visit again, perhaps next summer.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Fall Classes

Just a quick post to show off some class samples:







Christmas cards: Aug 25thCard Club August 23rdAugust Layout Club - Aug. 17th
Christmas Configurations- October











Dog Days of Summer

It's been a hot one this year and August is traditionally known as the "Dog Days of Summer"; so we'd like to play with that idea.

DOG DAY OF SUMMER CONTEST!!!
Go to our Facebook Page and post your favorite photo of your canine companion. Make it cute, funny, charming - whatever- just get it up there. Then share the link with your family and friends and ask them to "like" it. The photo with the most "likes" will be our winner and the person who posted it will win a great prize basket from the Inspiration Station!

Details: Post your photo on OUR Facebook page by August 20th- voting will begin from the time you post and be open until August 27th. The photo with the most "Likes" at 9:00pm on August 27th will be the winner. If there is a tie- we will post the pics with the most votes and have a tie breaker round on Saturday, August 28th for 12 hours.

Only "likes" that appear on OUR page will be counted.

The winner will be announced on Sunday, August 28th at 9:00pm. Prize basket will be available for pick up when we re-open on Thursday, Sept 1st following our remodel.

Good Luck!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Rolling along

We are inching closer to our planned renovation of the store and many of my CHA purchases are starting to arrive. It really has us itching to start moving things NOW! So forgive us if we are rearranging things on any given day, we are just so impatient.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Lots going on at The Inspiration Station

Hi Everybody!


Just a quick update to let you all know about all of the great things going on here at the store.



As most of you know that Copic is increasing the MSRP of their Sketch Markers to $6.99 as of August 1. We have stocked up and are going to HOLD our price at $6.49 until September 1st to give you a chance to stock up.


If you read our CHA recap you know that I went a bit overboard in the ordering dept again. I can't help myself! There was so much good stuff I could pass things up. Many of the things I ordered have started to mak their way into the store, which was poor planning on my part since I was trying to clear things out so we could remodel...





A new company for us is Authentique. They have unbelievably beautiful papers and we just received their Halloween line, Glowing, and their Christmas line, Wonder. Gorgeous stuff and selling fast.




I have received shipping notices from Impression Obsession and Heartfelt Creations so those will be in by next week. Some very cute new Honey Pop stamps came in from Inky Antics already along with new colors of Honeycomb paper.



I am working on the September calendar and hope tho have it printed Monday or Tuesday. People are asking me to add in a Melt Art class and I need to see how I can fit it in if I also do a Zentangle class and a Coloring with Copics... Just not enough hours in a day!



Don't forget: We will be closing from Sunday, August 28- Wednesday, August 31 for renovations. I am very excited for some of the changes.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

We're back from CHA in Chicago

When we left we thought 6 days was going to be plenty of time to see everything. Wrong! We were so busy the whole time we felt like we were rushed on the last day to try and get things done.

Our adventure began on Saturday morning as we flew out of Hartford at 7 am. We did some Zentangles on the plane and the flight went by quickly. After some initial confusion at the airport looking for the shuttle, we made it to our hotel and thankfully we were able to check in early. Only one problem, I had booked a room with 2 full sized beds but all they had was rooms with a single King sized bed. Now I love Donna; but I don't want to sleep with her! They did bring up a roll away bed but still; I was not pleased. Why bother making a reservation months in advance if you are not going to get what you reserved? Well, at least we didn't have the Godzilla Festival at our hotel like someone I know did.

Saturday afternoon was spent at a training session with Spellbinders where we learned all about the company and new products, got to dance a bit and even got samples of some new dies!

Sunday we attended Craft Mania which is an exclusive presentation for Crafter's Home member stores. From 8am to 5:30pm we saw vendor after vendor... I was a very long day, but still awesome. I learned about several new companies, got catalogs from everyone, and lots of free samples of product. I even one a drawing for some Graphic 45 Christmas stuff!. We only had half an hour for dinner (had pizza delivered to our room) and then headed back for a vendor faire, where we were able to do some make & takes and talk personally with the vendors. Until about 9pm. We placed a few orders for stamps; Heartfelt Creations and Penny Black, and then walked back to our hotel and crashed for the night. Thankfully, there was an enclosed walkway from our hotel to the convention center so we never had to leave the air conditioning. Temps hovered around 100 degrees the whole time we were there.

Monday was classes all day for both of us. The Melt Art class with Tim Holtz was excellent. We made a bunch of projects and Ranger generously gave us all Melting Pots and several bottles of UTEE. My favorite part was playing with the Mold & Pour. Mold & Pour allows you to make a mold from anything you can squish into it in about five minutes. For the class we molded a Tim Holtz accoutrement button (so we can now make lots more from the mold with UTEE), but I also molded a Vintaj pendant. I am now scouting around looking to see what else I can make molds of!

I also had a Hero Arts workshop with Jennifer McGuire and Sheri Carroll. They are both such wonderfully talented ladies and a lot of fun too. We made 4 holiday cards and Hero Arts generously provided us with several clear stamps and some shadow inks.

We managed to eat enough sampled food from the Taste of Rosemont event that we didn't need to get dinner that night. Donna found cherry mojitos, lobster and crab dip while I stuck to deep-dish pizza, sloppy joes, and mini meatball subs.

Tuesday was the start of the Trade Show. We waited for the crowds to go in and then headed in and went nuts taking pictures of displays. We also had some classes on Tuesday but I actually missed one of the business classes because I was so wrapped up in a demonstration. We chose not do do many make & takes at the show since already we were concerned about how to fit all we had into our suitcases. We did get a couple of very cool Tim Holtz Aprons which he autographed for us though. I also ran into Suzanne Dean and was able to chat with her for a few minutes.

By evening we were tired and hungry so we grabbed a cab with a few friends and headed to a Mexican restaurant for dinner & drinks. I think all of the CHA vendors did the same thing because the place was packed! Lucky for us we had called ahead. Luckier for us it was $20 pitcher Margaritas! Just the thing we needed. We ate drank and laughed (oh, how we laughed).

Donna cursed me Wednesday morning since I had signed her up for a 7am class with Cheryl Mezzetti; she loved the class - hated the wake up call. My first class was at 9am then we had a quick run through the show floor before a mixed media class with Mou Saha at noon. We grabbed a late lunch at the hotel then ran back to the show. CHA sponsored a buffet dinner and music show in the evening and had a photographer there so we could dress up as Divas. What a sight we were!
Thursday was the final day of the show. I met with my sales rep to put in my orders first thing in the morning and then Donna & I packed up a bunch of boxes to ship home and jammed our luggage so full we could barely lift it. We dropped our luggage off with the bellman and went back to the show to take pictures of anything we might have missed. The show closed at 4pm so we headed to the airport to avoid the rush as everyone else checked out. The only problem was that our flight didn't leave until 10pm. We went into Chili's for dinner and the fish bowl sized Margarita just about did me in. It was a very long night. Thankfully, Donna's wonderful husband, Paul, came to pick us up at the airport at 1am.





Yes, it was fun. Yes, I bought a lot of new stuff - maybe too much. And Yes, I am exhausted. Next week we will be marking down more paper and such to make room for the incoming. Please come in and get what you want before it is all gone. We still have a few seats in the Memory Box classes on August 15th with Special Guest, Dave Brethauer; if you are interested please call the store to register. We will be closed the last week of August (from Sunday to Wednesday) to rearrange the store.

Monday, July 04, 2011

Happy Fourth of July

Wishing you all a wonderful Independence Day!

Tomorrow we will be back at work - I have extended the Backroom Blowout Sale through Tuesday since there is still so much stuff left! Come in and pick up some bargains and help us move stuff out to prepare for the new.

The Memory Box - "What's in the Box" shipment arrived and we will be putting it all out. There are some amazing stamps and dies in the collection and you know Dave B will be using them in his classes when he come on August 15th. There are still a few seats available if you would like to join him.

Coming up this week is the Zentangle Basics class on Thursday night and the Fun Friday Crop on Friday night. There are 2 seats available in each if you call tomorrow you can join me.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Back Room Blowout Sale

We are overwhelmed with how much "stuff" we have in this store! We are desperate to move some of it out so we can remodel in August. Will you help us?

Starting Friday (July 1) and for 3 days only we will have a ton of "stuff" in the classroom priced to SELL. Yes, much of it we will be taking a loss on; but we really need to free up space! You know, paper is really heavy when you try to move displays.

Don't miss this opportunity to stock up. It's a great way to get supplies for your kids summer activities too. 10am Friday through 4 pm Sunday ONLY.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Sad news

We have recently learned that two scrapbook stores in Massachusetts will be closing their doors at the end of summer. It is sad to know that the economy has taken its toll on two more independent retailers.

We are still here, fighting the poor economy with everything we have! Please tell all of your friends in MA that we are open and can provide them with all of the products they need once their local stores are gone. We are just over the MA line and worth a road trip.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Hot Summer Sale

Yes, We are OPEN on Sunday (Father's Day).

In case you missed our newsletter this week:
***Sale Alert***

As we get ready to head off to Chicago next month for the Craft & Hobby Association Summer trade show, our minds are swirling with ideas for what we will do with all of the new stuff we will be bringing back. When our minds start swirling - look out! One thing usually leads to another and soon we are off on some new project. This time I'm thinking store remodel.

Have you ever thought about rearranging your craft room and then gotten totally overwhelmed thinking about all of the stuff you have to purge and reorganize? Well, that's the point we are at. Overwhelmed.

So, as any good designer will tell you, the first step is to purge; get rid of things you don't want anymore. Enter-the Hot Summer Sale!

Are you ready to save?
We need to move out as much as possible to we can rearrange our fixtures and freshen the place up. So here we go!


HOT SUMMER SALE
Part one: June 15th - June 22

• All single sheet 12 x 12 Cardstock - 3/ $1.00
• ALL remaining Christmas & Halloween stock - 50% Off
• ALL Hero Arts Stamps (wood, cling, or clear) 35% Off
• All Fiskars products - 30% Off
• All We R Memory Keepers Scrapbook Pads - 50% Off
• Special Pricing on Cardstock multi-packs from Core'dinations and American Crafts.
Discounts are taken off the original sale price and apply to in-stock merchandise only; while supplies last. No special orders. Discounts cannot be combined.

*We also have moved an enormous amount of product to our Clearance area and will continue to do so every day so make sure you stop in and take a look. This week, we have added lots of clear stamps, pens, and of course, paper to the hall.

Sunday, June 05, 2011

I am thinking that Blogging just isn't my strong suit. I never seem to have enough time in the week to get all of the stuff done that needs to get done. I want to be able to communicate with everyone but between newsletters, Facebook, email and blogging I never seem to be off this darned laptop! I find it easiest to update the Facebook page because it is so quick, so if you are looking for more timely information please go there to follow me.

We made it through our spring Tag Sale and now Donna & I are preparing to go to CHA in Chicago next month. Just to let you know, all of the stores have agreed not to do the Summer Passport this year. Instead, we will be doing something in the fall.

We do have a number of things planned over the summer like Christmas in July classes (cards & a configuration box), Zentangle classes, a special guest instructor (Dave Brethauer from Memory Box) and more so be sure to watch for the newletter and check out our Facebook page.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

New stamps in stock


I Love, love, love these new stamps & card samples from Darcie's!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Classes with Suzanne Dean


This past weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming Suzanne Dean to the Inspiration Station for 2 jam-packed days of classes. Suzanne is a lovely lady with a great sense of humor and not only taught us a ton about Copic Markers but also had us laughing at her travel adventures. I highly recommend if you ever get a chance to take classes with her in the future that you do it. She's a very busy lady with all of the enterprises she runs so it may be a while before we can get her back here, but rest assured, if the opportunity arises, we'll have her back in a heartbeat!


Catching up with Spring!

So much has been happening that I just haven't been able to keep up with my blog. I do manage to update the Facebook page often since that is so much easier to do; so if you haven't signed up as a friend, please do. I'd hate to have you miss out on any of the fun.
Since my last post Donna & I attended a retailer training event in Framingham, MA where we took loads of classes from Tim Holtz/Ranger, Jen McGuire/Hero Arts, Mitra Friant/Impression Obsession, Melissa Frances, My Favorite Things, Sizzix, and more. Below are some of the photos from the weekend.
The following weekend we had our Spring Bus Tour! It was a sold-out event with over 200 ladies and it was a great success. Our only glitch this time around was a toilet that decided to act up just as the day got started-thankfully an emergency call got the line cleared by late morning and we were back in business. Check out some of our Grand Prize Winners:

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Cutting Club

Introducing The Inspiration Station Cutting Club!

All papercrafters can benefit from joining our new Cutting Club.

  • Members receive a FREE 2x2 QuicKutz die every month that is only available to Club members.
  • Choose a FREE QuicKutz die from our selected list when you register.
  • Enjoy a FREE workshop every month just for Cutting Club members.
  • Club Members receive a 20% discount on ALL QuicKutz & Sizzix products for as long as they are a member.

Membership is just $30 for six months.

QuicKutz dies are compatible with Sizzix Big Shot, Vagabond, & Cuttlebug.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

A chance to play

I love Wednesdays. It's my day off and sometimes I get the chance to play. After spending a good portion of the other day watching videos of Tim Holtz demonstrating the new Distress Stains; I had to get one of every color to play with!

My first attempt was not impressive. I tried to improvise by using a file folder to cut a tag and found that didn't work so well. The Ranger Tags have a much smoother surface. The file folders sucked up the stain so quick I got a very streaky look. When I tried to wet it to blend the paper just soaked up the water- no blending. So I grabbed my Ranger Tags and tried again. The results were much better.
So for those of you who want to know how I made this tag, here's the scoop:
I stamped the Hero Arts Butterfly (F5158) on to the blank tag using Matte Multi Medium - Another tip I learned from Tim; it acts as a resist. Then I used the Distress Stains in Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, and Broken China and sprayed it with water. I used a heat tool to dry it then I ran it through the Brick Wall Texture Fade. I stamped Hero Arts Friendship Definition stamp with Walnut Stain Distress ink. I used the blending tool to add Wild Honey and Walnut Stain Distress ink to the edges. The sentiment is from JustRite Stamps and is cut with a Spellbinders Die that is made for JustRite.

Now for my favorite part - The flower. It started as three layers of Color Me Crazy flowers from Petaloo. The bottom layer I colored with Spun Sugar Stain, touched the edges with Fired Brick Stain and sprayed with water. The top Layer I colored with Wild Honey Distress ink then sprayed it with water to blend it. While it was wet I lightly touched the center with the Wild Honey Stain. The leaves are actually two petals cut from a large Petaloo flower that I colored with Peeled Paint and Forest Moss stain.

Please note: The Petaloo flowers are paper and they lose their shape and texture when you wet them. I found best results by drying them using and iron and putting them between to paper towels. Make sure you use the paper towels because the stain did transfer when I ironed them. Once they were dry I just scrunched them up to shape them. I put a small pearl and some Scattered Straw Distress Stickles in the center. The ribbon is just a piece of seam binding I colored with Spun Sugar and Fired Brick Stains.

Friday, March 04, 2011

Spring is on it's way

Wow! Can it really be March already? I can't say I'm going to miss the winter when it's gone-I have definitely had enough. Now that spring is almost here, the new batch of scrapbook products that were introduced at CHA Winter show are starting to pour in. I am so excited to see all of the fun, bright colors and great new embellishments. I am looking forward to having some time to play with all of it.

Our next crop is Friday, March 11 from 5pm-10pm, be sure to join us for the fun.

In case you missed it on Facebook here is a partial list of some of the things we've received over the past few weeks:
  • Tim Holtz Ideology & Stampers Anonymous
  • Twinkling H20's & Radiant Rain
  • Justrite stamps & dies
  • Magnolia stamps
  • Glitter papers from Best Creations
  • Easter "Peeps"
  • Leblanche Stamps from Germany
  • 12 New Copic Colors and the new swatch book
  • Family & Pet themed papers
  • and lots more!
Just an update on our April 3rd Bus Tour - Our Bus is now completely SOLD OUT! We are looking forward to a fabulous day!

Don't forget we have Suzanne Dean coming in April to teach some amazing Copic Marker classes. Sign up today at her website CMCRoad.com

Don't forget about the awesome classes we offer here at The Inspiration Station. You can find our calendar here and a description of classes here.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Coloring with Copics - March 21st



Here are 2 of the 3 cards we will be doing in class on March 21st.
I will email the list of marker colors to those who sign up.

Store Calendar

Class sample slideshow