Winter CHA Recap

Donna and I arrived home safe and sound on Tuesday night. We had a great trip with the most beautiful weather, lots of walking and lots of laughs. I still have not unpacked all of the stuff I brought home with me, but I did manage to throw a load of laundry in and start going through all of the samples. I had to leave behind a lot of the catalogs that I would like to have kept, but my luggage was way overweight and I ended up checking a second bag just to get products home.


As usual, Ranger and Sizzix were very generous in what they gave out in classes so we got lots of fun stuff.  We had to miss our class with Donna Downey at Prima's warehouse because the cost to get a shuttle to take us there was unreal; $138 each way!  Had I known, I could have rented a car for the day!  Oh well, that freed up our day on Saturday so we were able to get into Sizzix classes and a Vintaj class.  We also were able to take a couple of mixed media classes that we really enjoyed.


The CHA show itself was much quieter than I expected. It was nowhere near as crazy as the shows we had attended six or seven years ago when people lined up before the doors opened and stampeded for their favorite booths.  There was none of that this year. There were a few lines at the make and takes, but all of the booths had plenty of room to get around and talk to the vendors. I did get to see a few "celebrities" and meet an online friend who owns a store in San Diego.

Me with Mario Rossi and Tammy Tutterow

Simple Stories Year-o-logy

Simple Stories- AwesoME

Glitz

October Afternoon 9-5

Prima

Sizzix Dies

Sizzix Dies & Texture Fades

The best part of the show is always seeing what the designer do with the new product.  There are some amazing artists out there.  The samples we saw ran the gamut from simple and elegant, to cute and whimsical, to fun and funky, to amazing and drop dead gorgeous.  In the Prima booth I honestly spent more time admiring the artwork than looking at any of the products. It was like walking through a museum.

I did manage to spent a great deal of money buying new lines, however. Many lines are shipping in February so we should be seeing them soon and some others are scheduled for March.  We should be fully stocked with goodness for the Bus Tour on April 15th.  By the way, registration for the bus tour begins next Saturday, Feb. 11th at 10am.




Here is a sampling of some of the new lines you will be seeing at The Inspiration Station.


New Penny Black Stamps:

Graphic 45 Little Darlings

Teresa Collins Fabrications

Bo Bunny Weekend Market

MME Miss Caroline

Shrink plastic bunnies

So I fell in love with the new Bunny die from Sizzix that Tim holtz designed and immediately thought, " how cute would that be shrunk down for a charm?" So today I took out my Shrink Plastic, Alcohol Inks and UTEE.

After cutting the bunny out of clear shrink plastic twice, I used the Ranger Alcohol Ink applicator to color them with Espresso ink and Gold Mixative.
 If you plan to use them as charms you have to punch a hole before you shrink them.  One my first one I used a standard 1/4" punch but found the hole to be too big so instead I used a 1/8" punch for these guys.





I used a wooden skewer through the punched hole to keep the piece from blowing away while I heated it with my heat gun.  That part always freaks me out because it twists and turns and folds up on itself. But when it is done it will flatten out more or less.  I used an acrylic stamp block to flatten it completely before it cooled.

Here you can see the difference before and after shrinking it.  The bow was also cut out of shrink plastic.  I used my Copic markers to color it before shrinking since it was such a small piece I didn't feel like getting out more felt for the applicator!  On my finished ones I also used a tiny Hero Arts stamp of stars to stamp with Archival Ink.




I used Glossy Accents to attach bows, but before I did, I decided I liked the shiny side of the bunny (the un-inked side) better so I decided to dip the bunnies into my melting pot with  Clear UTEE.  However, I must confess, I did a very bad thing... After I started heating the UTEE in the pot I got distracted...Can you imagine?  Me?  Distracted?
Anyway, I kinda forgot it was heating so when I got back to it it had started to turn brown.  The color was like a light amber maple syrup so I figured, why waste it.  I dipped the bunnies and they looked awesome! Once they cooled I glued the bows on and attached an Idea-ology Swivel Clasp.  Pretty cute huh?

2012- Celebrating 10 years at The Inspiration Station

Yes. Ten years. Seriously. I have been doing this for ten years.  Who would have thought?  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think that I would stick with this for ten years when I had the crazy idea to open a store post 9-11.

The store has taken on a life of it's own and is nothing like I envisioned when I started; but that's a good thing! Some of you have been with me for the entire ride and for that I THANK YOU. I am amazed, almost daily, by how things have grown and changed. I was talking to someone the other day trying to explain what the initial concept of The Inspiration Station was. Do you remember?  I was fully immersed in the world of seed beads and peyote stitch jewelry. I was selling my creations at craft fairs and wanted a more permanent place to display them. I wanted to INSPIRE people to make their own beautiful creations. So they could come to the store and purchase my stuff or buy the supplies to make their own.  It was all about inspiring creativity.

Right about now some of you who are newer patrons of the store may be saying "beads? jewelry? What on earth is she talking about?"  Yes, The Inspiration Station began as a bead store. I actually considered having the music in the store be Native American flute music to create atmosphere (can you imagine?). Scrapbooking as an industry was just beginning to take off and I brought a few things in just to have some diversity, read: pay the bills. I knew absolutely NOTHING about rubberstamps and had no plans to go in that direction.

Opening day was a complete shock.  We actually had crowds of people! Of course, I think many of them just came for the free food, but still...  I had a slight panic attack wondering what I had just gotten myself into.  This was going to be my little happy place where people would buy stuff to support my habit and I could sit in the classroom and work on my creative pursuits!  How many people think that is what it's all about? The snowball had started to roll down hill and I had to choose whether to get serious about running a business or a very expensive hobby.

I learned very quickly that I really enjoyed inspiring people and talking to them and seeing their projects. I met some of the greatest people.  My greatest feeling of satisfaction comes when someone walks through the door and their eyes light up with delight, like a kid in a candy store, and they say "Oh my goodness, look at this place!" - Like walking into Disney World.  Ok, so maybe it's not Disney World; but seriously, when someone comes in for the first time who has never been to an independent scrapbook/papercrafts store it is something magical. That is what keeps me going even when the roof leaks, the toilet backs up or I get the bill for the latest oil delivery.

So what I am trying to say in this long and rambling post is THANK YOU. Thank you for feeding my creative spirit. Thank you for supporting this crazy idea for all of these years.  Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for the inspiration I need to continue on this journey.

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.

 

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:

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:

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.