A little March Madness

The month of March has flown by at supersonic speed; I have not had a chance to catch my breath.  I really think I need a few more days in each week because I just can't seem to get everything done that I want to.
Things are only going to get more hectic from here on out since my husband and I signed a contract with a builder to get started on our new house!  Thankfully, I have great staff at the store who can pretty much run the show when I am not around.


It's hard to believe that the 2012 Bus Tour is only 2 weeks away! I have been so busy planning guest instructors, taking classes, planning classes, updating inventory, trying to keep up with posting new product, and on and on and on; I haven't even had time to think about the bus tour.  Fortunately, I had ordered the page kits weeks ago and they are already here so that's one thing down.  My mom is taking charge of ordering the food for lunch, Donna and Terry are working on name tags and prize baskets so that leaves me with shopping for all of the breakfast and snack foods along with paper goods and such.

This past week we have seen a lot of new merchandise arriving including....Ta Da!!!  The Distress Markers!  We also got in the amazing Dylusions spray inks, however, we have already sold out of several colors.  Reorders have already been placed.  The new 6 x 8 Documented line from Simple Stories has arrived and is also flying out the door.  New stamps from Penny Black arrived today, although I haven't seen them yet.  Two new board programs from Inky Antics and Darcie's came in on Tuesday too so there are plenty of new stamps to choose from.
Special Guests:


I spoke with Ken Oliver this morning to finalize the plans for his visit on April 14th & 15th.  I am so excited to have him back.  Last weekend I also touched based with Marah Johnson from Creative Imaginations who will be visiting us in May.  Suzanne Dean is planning to come back to teach the weekend of June 9th.  Cheryl Mezzetti is going to come back during the summer although we haven't set a firm date yet, it will be shortly after CHA Summer.  (And I am supposed to be building a house during all this??)  Oh, and I almost forgot; my youngest son will be graduating from high school!  So needless to say, folks probably won't be seeing much of me over the next few months.  But don't worry.  You're in good hands with the girls.

Special Events Reminder

Just a quick reminder of our special events this week.
Tomorrow Nathalie from Magenta Rubber Stamps will be here to teach two classes. 

Even if you are not able to come to class, you can still come by between classes to meet Nathalie and see her beautiful artwork.  She will be bringing a "Trunk Show" of stamps with her that will be available for purchase and will also have a catalog available to allow you to special order anything that she does not have on hand. Nathalie is charming woman I think you will enjoy meeting her and learning more about Magenta.

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Are you interested in learning more about the Sizzix eClips machine?  Cheri and Jill from Sizzix will be here on Tuesday, March 27th at 11:00am for a FREE demonstration of the eClips, eCal software and the Stamp And Cut Software from Tim Holtz. I've also heard they may be bringing some prizes...

Upcoming steampunk album class

Crazy busy, new products, bus tour etc.

This has been a crazy, busy week here at The Inspiration Station!
Remember all of that stuff I said I bought at the CHA Winter show?  Well, I think all of the vendors decided to send it this week!  We have been getting shipments in everyday loaded with papercraft goodness. I think just about every display in the scrapbook section of the store has been changed out this week and a whole mess of papers have been moved to clearance. *Hint* Today would be a great day to shop!

In addition, we have completely filled our bus for the bus tour and I have been working with Ken Oliver of Unibind to plan for his upcoming visit. He is coming up to demo for the bus tour but will be coming a day early to teach a class. Did you know Ken is also a member of the Spellbinders design team?  Of course, that means he will be using the dies in his class as well.