Back to School

The children will be returning to school next week.  As usual, the summer flew by, and I never made it to the beach or the pool.  

Now that school is back in session, that means all the wonderful Fall colors and events are weeks away.  Fall is my favorite season. What about you?  I love all things pumpkin?  What is your favorite fall flavor?  Apple, cinnamon, or pear, or pumpkin? 

New things are happening at the store.  

• The hours of the store are changing.  Please call before visiting to ensure the store is open.  I will try my hardest to keep the calendar on the website up to date.
• We are also making stationary items such as note cards, invitations, business cards, and party favor boxes.  Come and check out the new product.
• Enjoy 30% off regular priced merchandise while you crop or take a class.  Some exclusions apply, inquire within.
• Great classes and events are planned for September and October, check out the calendar for our weekend events.
• New Fall, Halloween, and Christmas Collections are in the store an still arriving.  Come and check out some of the beautiful collections from Carta Bella, Echo Park, and Authentique.

Looking to take a class?  I have offered several different classes over the past three months.  If there is something you are interested in learning, let me know.  I love being challenged and designing projects.  Are you interested in learning Crochet or something besides paper crafts?

Fish Netting Page directions

One of my favorite page kits from last summer featuring Bo Bunny's Key Lime Collection

Here is the information to make your own page.  

Edge with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress ink.

Base page, sprayed with Thermoweb Iridescent glitter spray.

6 1/4" x 8 1/2", corners were shaped with a Crop-A-Dile corner rounder

 

10 3/4" x 3" without cutting the border,  with border 10 3/4"x 3 1/4"

8"x 1 1/4", cut a "v" at the end of the length of the strip to make it a pennant.

9" x 7", corners were shaped with a Crop-A-Dile

 7 1/4" x 2 1/4, unless you are going to border punch one of the long edges.  Cut 7 1/4" x 2 1/2" if adding a punched border.

8 1/4" x 3 1/4" without border punched edged.  8 1/4" x 3 1/2" if punching a border one of the edges.

Add fish netting and fishes as desired.  The fishes are covered with Ranger Ink's Ultimate Thick Embossing Enamel.  Sea horse from Life's A Beach Cricut Cartridge.  Other fish are from Cricut and Silhouette.

The light should be top right corner.
Adhere the 10 3/4 x 3" scalloped patterned blue and yellow paper 5/8" from the bottom and 2 3/4"
from the right of base page. The scalloped edge should be facing the right side of page.
Adhere the yellow page, with the red scallops facing the top, so that the arches are facing the bottom
of the page.  Place it 1" from the left and 1 1/8" from the top, ensure that the small green
seahorse is just under the corner of the page, as seen in picture.
Adhere the blue patterned paper w/ the postage scallop 3 3/8" from the left and 1 5/8" from the top
of base page.  Postage border should be facing the left of base page. Adhere the green word paper, ensuring words are upright, 1/4" from the left and 3" from the top of base page.
Adhere the colorful chevron patterned paper 6" from the left and approximately 2" from the top of
base page.  The notebook border should be facing the right of base page.
Add the red strip of paper w/ the "V" towards the bottom of paper.  The top of the red will be flush
against the top of the green word paper, and 5 1/4" from the left of base page.
Add the matte 3/4" from the left and 3 1/2" from the top.   Trim the fish netting to your desired size. Add the fish to the netting.  The fish have all been coated in Ultimate Thick Embossing Enamel.  If you see  some cracks prior to adhering, you can simple re-heat with heating tool.  This will "re-melt" the enamel.   I added some pop dots behind the fish and used glue dots to add the netting. The fish may crack again, so be careful with the page.

The off white matte is 5x7 and fits a 4" x 6" picture.

FUN Classes

Working hard to get some FUN beach layouts, pages, and mini albums created for your summer pictures.

Here is a fun album for inspiration!

All the samples are on display in the store.

July Classes:

Youth Class: Thursday July 24, 2014 at 10am until 1pm.  Children will make a fun beach themed wall hanging to display some of their summer pictures.  Cost is $18.00.  Basic tool kit is required along with a 24 hour registration.

 Basic Quilling:   Join Regina for a relaxing Basic Quilling Class on Friday July 25, 2014.  Cost is $20.00.  Each person will learn some basic quilling techniques and make 4 beach themed gift/wine tags to take home.  Basic tool kit is required, quilling tools will be available.

August Classes:

Offering an AWESOME Disney inspired explosion box class on Sunday August 17, 2014, and a delicious Ice Cream Social Event scheduled for August 24, 2014.

Ice Cream Social includes ice cream and a two page layout.  Cost is $25.00 and starts at 10am. A basic tool kit is required for the class.  Register and pay 24 hours in advance.  Seats are limited.

GUEST INSTRUCTOR:  Patty, a talented guest instructor, will be teaching a class on Friday August 15, 2014 at 6pm.  The layout features Echo Park's Capture Life collection. 

The calendar is FULL of fun events including the Summer Blowout Sale.  The items on sale will be discounted up to 50% off the retail price.  Please note sale items are primarily overstock items and summer items.

Summer BLOWOUT Sale is Saturday August 16, 2014 from 9am until 5pm.  Don't miss out!

Check out the Calendar of events here.

Happy 4th of July

SUMMER is in full swing!  

Our youth classes are a great way for children to get out of the house and make  something creative they can share with friends and family.  The youth classes also allow children to share their most memorable moments.  Children are a great source of creativity, and it is fun to watch them alter their projects to match their personality.

I am offering a great youth class this Thursday at the store from 10am-1pm.  The children will have fun decorating their own wall hanging that they can proudly display at home or give as a gift.

  

What are some fun and creative summer activities you have planned for this summer?

Are you planning on seeing some fireworks?  What Fireworks display has the best show and why?

Summer Time

It is definitely SUMMER time in Riverhead, NY.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful, and the evenings are cool.

I realize most of you are relaxing in the sun by the pool or at the beach, but if you are looking to get out of the heat for a day or two stop in the store.  Don't forget we have open cropping on most days, so if there is a RAINY day, you can come in and crop.

There are some great CLASSES scheduled for July, and I am already adding classes for August.  If you are looking for something for children, we have some FUN classes for ages 5 and up scheduled on Thursdays at 10am.  If you want to make a project, but can't attend, contact me.  I will do my best to offer the class during a separate time, additional fees may apply.

*****Many of the summer classes are summer/beach themed, which is great because you can add pictures of this summer on your projects without getting behind on scrapbooking.

I am excited to have a tent at Riverhead's Park and Recreation Movie on the Beach in August this year. Stop by the tent, there will be a little project for the children to do at the movie.

The store has lots of awesome embellishments and paper packs in stock.  We have items from Little B, Hemptique, Penny Black, Queen & Company, Bo Bunny, Echo Park, Authentique, Spellbinders, and more. 

Looking for some SUMMER inspiration?  We have great projects on display at the store.  Here are a few pictures of what we currently have in stock.

What is your thought?

Earlier today I was chit chatting with some lovely ladies about big box arts and craft supply stores.  We all know they LOVE issuing out coupons to save 30%, 40%, and even 50% off one item.  I am trying to understand the mindset of savings and sales.

As a small business owner, I work hard to try and keep prices low, and realized over the past couple of months that some of the Big Box stores actually have many of their items priced higher to alleviate the continuous discount they offer with coupons.  I keep the prices at the manufactured retail price, which on average is $1.00 to $2.00 less than the twin product at the big box store. 

Lets look at some numbers:

Glossy Accents, MSRP is $5.99

Big Box store: $7.99

Andrea's Artistic Albums: $5.99

40% off coupon at Big Box Store: $4.79

30% off at Andrea's Artistic Albums: $4.19 (May's monthly special on adhesive is 30% off, plus croppers receive a 30% discount off adhesives while they are cropping)

You would need a 50% off coupon to save an additional $0.19 from my discounted price of 30%.  

Pretty interesting, right?

As I mentioned, the coupons are usually only good on one item.  Therefore, if you wanted to "stock" up on adhesive, you would have to continually use a coupon to receive the discount.  The coupon is not an issue. It can be copied, used via phone, etc.  It is the fact, that the store typically only lets you use the coupon once per visit.  Every once and a while you will get a nice cashier that will let you ring up several orders to use a coupon several times.  We send our family members and friends in to make a purchase for us. 

I would love to hear what your thoughts are about this.  Don't think I am picking on the Glossy Accents, it is not the only product that is priced higher.  

Leave a comment.  I would love to hear what you think.  

What is happening in June

Paper Crafting Yard Sale

--Date: Saturday June 7, 2014--Time: 9am-5pm--Please bring cash to pay individual vendors.--First 5 people in the store will receive a free package of 12"x 12" assorted paper.