Monday, August 31, 2009

WooHoo! New Products and Rearranging the Store--Again!









Today was the last Monday Morning Madness and Mayhem gathering for awhile. I think I may offer some again in October or November/December to get holiday projects going. It's been a blast! Thanks to all of you who were able to participate!!!

Check out the photos! NEW CAMERA! (Remember that you can click on any photo to see it larger on your screen.)

We've got lots of lovely papers in luscious colors for fall and some really spectacular Christmas and winter ones too.

There's a basket of new ribbons on the counter--fuzzy pumpkins; twill dog and cat ones (you can ink these up to coordinate with papers); Maine animals on a reddish twill (or is it a pinkish/magenta-ish color?) ; and some absolutely adorable pompoms that are the cutest things ever!

This is all we have left of the first Memory Box order for fall stamps. The second order is on its way. AND Connie phoned in the third order this afternoon! I think we deserve special notice on their website. Everyone has just been loving these stamps. The other photos shows some of the winter/Christmas ones from Memory Box and Magenta that are new to us. More on the way!

Before I left the shop today I got into one of my "have to move the furniture" moods and hauled the black bookcases to a new area in order to feature all of our Christmas words and images in one place. I hope Connie got to some of it this afternoon and I'll tweak it a bit tomorrow. I hate to be rushing the season, but I did see decorations up in one of the area stores over the weekend!

I'll be in the shop this week on Tuesday and Thursday while Lydia takes some time away with family. Pop in and say hello if you are in town--or make a special trip! I think I'll set up a make it/take it on the back table using a technique we tried today. Just spritz Memories Mist onto a Fiskars Texture Plate, smoosh paper into the ink on the plate, lift off, and you will have an intricate design that looks stenciled! Way cool!!! I'll run a special price on all Memories Mists tomorrow of 40% off!!! (Shhh...I haven't told Lydia I'm going to do this...) Then I'll think of something else to do on Thursday and I'm going to feature a sale on all the peel-and-stick sparkly gemstones that day.

The stamp of the month for September goes on sale tomorrow! I'll post a photo tomorrow night along with a sample if I get time to make one. I just hope I'm so busy tomorrow that I won't have time!

Happy stamping!

Anne

Friday, August 21, 2009

Oh me oh my! So many new items!!!

I've been away this week but kept calling Lydia at the store several times a day as I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of new stuff. The UPS man delivered not one but TWO LARGE BOXES yesterday!!!

The BO BUNNY box was full of papers: Double Dots in paprika, seafoam, harvest, burnt orange, and pink punch; beautiful double-sided papers in Kitchen Spice Cinnamon, Gypsy Lace (teal), and Gypsy Spice; and the St. Nick line for Christmas in Noel (holly), Sugarplum, Sleigh (don't know why they named it this because there is no sleigh on the paper), and St, Nick Cut-Outs (It's going to be hard to decide which side of this one to use!). Old-fashioned Beautiful Life Cut-Outs, St. Nick Christmas Wishes Rub-Ons, and Candy Jewel embellishments rounded out the order. I could hardly hear Lydia over the oohs and aahs of the women in the store!

And MEMORY BOX STAMPS AND PAPERS are here! The papers are collections of 6X6s of their new releases: Dewfrost (just right for winter), Spiceberry (perfect for Christmas), and Twilight (for fall/Halloween). And the stamps!!! You are going to LOVE these!!! Love Cat; Cat with a Lamp; Cardinals in a Tree; Owls in a Tree; Staircase (pumpkin on the landing); and Pumpkin Field will be perfect for fall and winter holidays. The other really cool stamp for fall is one that is a bare tree with an extra stamp on it of leaves so you can make your own tree!!! Several of their wood stamps are set up this way--a regular image on the large area of the stamp and a word or phrase on one of the edges. Others like this that came in are Deer Friends, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and Jumping for Joy. Bramble Wreath is a great one for fall or the holidays--you could decorate it for any season actually. There's also a sledding bear, a bear with snowballs, a poinsettia, and a silhouette of a deer. "Happy Fall" is a new sentiment. And there's one Neighborhood stamp. The second Memory Box order has gone out already, even before this one came in! Be sure to browse the catalog when you are in the store as a third order form has been started. As the only stamp store in central/southern Maine carrying these stamps, you HAVE TO come in and see them and take some home!

I bought a new camera this week (14 megapixels!) and will photograph what's left when I get to the store on Monday and post again on Monday night. (That is, unless I can figure out a way to get in there tomorrow during the day!)

Come into the store and pick up stuff while it lasts!!!

Happy stamping!

Anne

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

MAGENTA Order Arrived Today!

The order from Magenta arrived today. There are lovely double-sided PAPERS from their Shades of the Season (fall) collection which are newly released: Noteworthy Trees; Autumn Leaves (which has a really pretty back and not quite what you'd expect for leaves on the front on a lovely turquoise); Pretty Gourds; and Last Serenade--branches with adorable chubby birds on one side and a gorgeous floral design on the other. There's also So Stripey paper that has a mixed-sized random assortment of letters that's fun. NEW STAMPS from Magenta were in the box too! Elliot's Antlers is a cute dog with ornaments hanging from his fake antlers. There's a poinsettia stamp, something collage-y, Lydia said, and lots more. There are some new stickers too including one called Birdies with those adorable chubby birds, leaves and a bird cage. I can't wait to get over there and see what I pre-ordered and see if I can snatch up some of the new goodies before they are all gone.

Happy Stamping!

Anne

https://www.magentastyle.com/
Check out the papers and stamps on their website!

Monday, August 17, 2009

UPS Man Bombarded by Avid Shoppers!

Honestly, this guy turns umpteen shades of red whenever he darkens the door at Your Maine Stamper. He did say today that we are the only people who greet him so enthusiastically. I must admit that the cheering was a little over the top as one box was all he carried. New goodies from The Robin's Nest: Snowmen die-cuts with clear snowy Dew Drops all packaged up tidy; new "Spooky" Dew Drops in black-orangey combination bottles; and LOTS of new papers--several with different patterns of snowflakes, sparkle trees in black on black and silver on blue, white with silver glitter sparkles, and three new fall papers all in luscious pumpkin tones. There were new papers that came in last week that sold out so fast I never saw them! We've got Martha Stewart punches that aren't available anywhere in a pumpkin border punch. There's also a Thanks border punch and a snowflake punch. We kept finding new embellishments throughout the shop all day!--autumn leaves, Christmas stickers, brads, paper flowers...I found some Thanksgiving and Christmas stamps I hadn't seen before and some fall leaves and trees. We have a good selection of clear stamps right now and the clear blocks for stamping with them. Oh...NEW CUTTLEBUG FOLDERS! These came in on Friday, and a lot of them went out the door on Saturday. If you haven't yet used a Cuttlebug, stop by the store some day for a demo. You won't believe how much you can jazz up your cards in a quick easy unmessy way!

Thanks to everyone who came over on Saturday for the events at Your Maine Stamper. The vendors outside seemed to be doing a brisk business, the make it/take its were a big hit inside, and Lydia was excited about all the busy-ness of the day.

There are still some spaces in some of the classes offered this month. Call the store to reserve your space!

Our summer Monday mornings have been a huge success, and now I'm looking for ideas for what people would like me to do this fall. Now that I'm retired (today would have been my back-to-school day if I were still working), I'm available during the day during the week. If you have any ideas for classes you'd like--specific projects or kinds of projects or techniques or equipment demos, please respond in the comments section of this blog. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

More products are due into the shop this week...I'll try to post whenever I know what has arrived,

Happy stamping!

Anne

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Getting Ready for Saturday! Save the Date!



We're all busy getting ready for Saturday. Our annual CRAFTERS YARD SALE is Saturday morning, starting at 9:30 (until noon-ish). We've got some great vendors with all kinds of goodies for sale--some crafts as well as lots of materials and equipment for your own future crafting pleasure. And the prices are incredibly reasonable (read "cheap" at least for what I'm bringing!) We'll be set up in the parking area in front of the store, so be sure to park either in the lot above by Brennans Insurance or across the street in the Levey and Wagley lot. We're hoping for a non-rainy morning. There was a nice article in the KJ this morning about the annual Winthrop ARt Show happening on Saturday as well, with a bulleted line about our crafters yard sale too! Thanks, KJ!

We've got a FREE Make It/Take It inside the store from 11 to 2 with Wendy from REPEAT IMPRESSIONS and Lydia will be selling their line of Flip Stamps. You've got to see how easy it is using their products to create unique waterfall-style cards. Be sure to stop in for this event.

We were extremely disappointed that the UPS man never showed up yesterday. There are so many new items on the way to Your Maine Stamper that we were overly anxious all day, hoping beyond hope for boxes to unpack. We have no idea where we'll put everything! Our first-ever stamp order from MEMORY BOX--you're gonna love these! More stamps from other companies. New papers--LOTS OF NEW PAPERS! The END CUTS are in. There are some great FALL STAMPS AND PAPERS for the change of seasons next month as well as new items for Halloween and even Christmas! We've got yards and yards of RIBBON! INK INK INK! And don't forget STICKLES and DEW DROPS (more of those on the way too), embossing powders, and glitter to glam up your cards and scrapbook pages!

The photograph is one Connie took yesterday morning during our Monday Madness and Mayhem class. There were eight people working with "Alternative Tools for Texture and Painting", creating card backgrounds on watercolor paper using Distress Inks and acrylic paints with common items found around one's house--leaves and pine cones from the yard, bath scrubbers and sponges, sink liners, mesh bags, paper towel rolls and rubber bands, game pieces, potato mashers...what fun we had! And what a mess we made! I brought rubber gloves for everyone and we should have taken pictures of what our hands looked like in those gloves at the end of an hour! We inked and painted and stenciled and stamped and had a blast!

Be sure to check out upcoming classes at Your Maine Stamper and sign up for one or more. It's a great way to review and practice techniques you might already be familiar with, learn something new, use unfamiliar materials and equipment, and laugh while enjoying the company of fellow crafters. We always have a good time and we make some incredible things!

See you Saturday!

Anne

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Free REPEAT IMPRESSIONS Make & Take Sat. August 15, 11-2

Wendy Wyman from Repeat Impressions will be at Your Maine Stamper on Saturday the 15th for a FREE Make & Take Workshop on their fabulous FLIP CARDS from 11 AM to 2 PM. Come and shop at our Crafters Yard Sale and then pop into the shop and spend some fun time with Wendy. If you haven't yet seen the FLIP CARDS, they are similar to a waterfall card only better! Repeat Impressions has a first of its kind line of FLIP STAMPS and all the materials(FLIP CARD SETS: FLIP CARD SPINES) needed to create wonderfully interactive cards. The stamp sets are all progression images that transform over the four panels of the card. For example, the first panel has a cake, the second has a frosted and decorated cake, the third has candles on the cake, and the fourth has lit candles on the cake and an appropriate sentiment too. You can make a rose bloom, the sun set, build a snowman, send someone a bear hug, and more! There are at least 28 different card theme possibilities (including some great fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas ones). These cards are easy to make and especially fun to receive! Check out the stamps on their website at http://www.repeatimpressions.com. Be sure to save the date and stop into the store on the 15th! Wendy will help you learn how to add a little magic and motion to your next card project and Lydia will have lots and lots of these neat stamp sets for sale that day as well.

Monday, August 3, 2009

It Looks Like a New Shop!

Connie, Robyn, and I went a little crazy at Your Maine Stamper this afternoon and rearranged the store. Lydia will probably be beside herself tomorrow trying to figure out where everything is!

Cheers went up when the UPS man arrived with a box of goodies--glue dots in the boxes, Krylon metallic pens in three colors, glue pens, water color sets, and more. That set off a frenzy as we scurried to find places for everything. The BUY 2 GET 1 FREE stamps are in--fall-themed, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. They have their own little table near the fabulous tree, next to a spinning rack with fall-colored and themed items, under shelves of Halloween and other fall stamps, and bordered on the other side by the new paper rack with its fall papers, blues-and-greens, black-and-whites, and purples. Seems like there are lots of new papers in and more coming any day. Be sure you look closely through all the 12X12 racks. There are some great new holiday papers for those of you making your cards early (unlike me who will probably be sending out new year's cards again because the Christmas ones never get made).

We have a new-to-us display cabinet on the back table for all of the Adirondack Lights, Brights, and Earthtones inks. That table is where the new mini Scor-Its are as well as end cuts and some 12X12s. Sale papers have moved to one of the black cabinets and all of the stencils are now displayed on a flat rack with their tools and accessories (between the two black cabinets). A smaller sale table has two baskets of marked down goodies.

Tim Holtz items have their own table now. Most of the Maine stamps and the Repeat Impressions woodland (and other ) animal stamps and words are on the wall shelves above.

There are lots of new Cuttlebug folders on display on one of the spinning racks with other paper crafting tools. We tried to put as many stickers are we could on one side of the triangle rack with blank cards and related items on another side. Metallic stickers are all together on the wall pegboards, clear stamps and accessories on another, and I can't think right now what's on the one right by the door. Guess you'll just have to stop in and see for yourself!

I moved the inks table up front by the cash register area and added embossing powders, Glamour Dust, glitter, microbeads, white detail pens, and Tombow markers to Diamond Glaze, stamp pad cleaners, Stickles, and Dew Drops. Be sure to check out this area and pick up those last minute inexpensive items that glam up your projects.

I guess that's it for today. It's a busy week for classes at Your Maine Stamper. I had a group this morning making ATCs and tomorrow afternoon we're working on shrink art projects. Penny still has room on Saturday in the round book class.

Start saving up for the Crafters Yard Sale on Saturday the 15th! I'll post more about this next week but it's a great opportunity for you to buy some gently used (or never used) products at incredibly reasonable prices. There's a bunch of us renting space from Lydia in the parking area--hope for sunshine. There's still room if you want a space or two. Just call the shop at 377-4829 and let Lydia know.

I guess that's enough for now.

Happy stamping!

Anne
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