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!

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.

                               

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.

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