It has probably happened to all of you at one time or another. You are explaining to your ______fill in the blank-husband, wife, children, parents, neighbor, college roommate, best friend, mailman (Wow...if you are telling the mailman, maybe you should try to get out more and make a few friends.)....anyway, you are trying to tell them exactly what it is you do with all these art supplies you have....and they are looking at you like you have three heads (not that there's anything wrong with that, for those of you who really do.) It is truly each other within this art form that really understands and "gets" what it is all about for each of us.

To illustrate, I will relate a little story about what my children (all in their 20s) think we are all like. They think we sit around and tell jokes and funny stories about our art supplies, using language known only to us! We would probably say something like (according to them)..."So, you guys are NOT going to believe what happened in my art room the other day..." and on & on the story would go, until by the end of the incredibly captivating story to all my listeners, with everyone on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the next word...I arrive at the punchline of the whole thing...and blurt out.."it was...it was... (now tears of laughter are forming in my eyes, and everyone else is ready to explode)...it was the EMBOSSING POWDER!!!""....at which point everyone within earshot screams with delight, some people even falling off their chairs in hysteria...

Yes, this is how they see me. I mean, really, embossing powder??? How funny has embossing powder ever really been?. .Now, glitter...that's a whole different ballgame...

Coordinated Papers & Stuff!

In, from American Crafts, is a set of papers and matching embellishments, in spring colors and fancy textures. Some of the paper is either embossed,foiled or glittered. The felt stickers are layered,...there are matching rub-ons, stickers, alphabets. This is an easy way to coordinate your card-making or scrapbook pages.
I don't know if this will work on everyone's computer, but when I double (left) click on the photo of all the paper, it enlarges and I can scroll over and up and down to see it all...that should also work on the other photos, but you may not need it for them. If you are rolling your eyes because this is so basic, well, I just learned it, so just stop rolling those eyes.

These are photos of some of the samples from Magenta, of their newest images. These stamps, along with many other images, have just arrived in the store

More CHA News

I just noticed that Tim Holtz has posted all of his new stamp images on his blog. (www.timholtz.typepad.com) He has designed some smaller images and created some collages from other images...but there are lots of new images, and they are all available on the cling with foam, so no wood...We have ordered all, every one, of his new stamps and sets...so feel free to do a pre-order.
Also, Quickutz has a new "part" coming out for the revolution...it is a "longer than 12 inch" tray, and it will hold all the new long borders that they introduced at the show. These can be pre-ordered also.

Just in today are the 12 new small and 12 new large stencil designs from Crafters Workshop. You can use these to create doodles and lots of other designs , both on 12 x 12 pages and on cards. I am thinking these would work well with the glue pen and glitter...just a thought.

The new Outlines stamps are here...very fun.



Three new books have arrived today:the first is The Conmplete Book of Retro Crafts,
the next is Creative Collage, by Marie Browning(Stunning projects!!), and last, but certainly not least...in fact, I plan on disappearing for a few hours tonight with this one...it is Crowns & Tiaras...I KNOW!!! How fab is that??? I better order more asap as I suspect that there are a few others out there who consider themselves royalty also!!

Another cool find at Cha was this roll of ballchain, that can be cut to whatever size you want, and there are connectors with it, too...the thing is , this ball chain is huge, as you can see in the photo...so it is great for bracelets, necklaces, or as chain on altered projects or tags.

New Photos From CHA Winter 2008

I will put up lots of the photos from my trip to the winter buying show over the next few weeks (after all, there are 400...really how long can you sit at the computer right now???) Lots of new stuff has been ordered and some is already here. I will keep you up to date via the weekly E Mails about what has arrived. These photos will just be to get your mouth watering.

Well, really, any news about the stamping world would have to start with this guy, right? Below are a few of the new "hardware" items in the Tim Holtz collection from Advantus. I am told they will be shipping at the end of March.

A Muse Card Classes

Here are some photos of some upcoming classes here at the store. Jenn Shurkus will be teaching two A Muse classes on Saturday, February 23rd. Check the calendar at the left for details.

CHA

I am still in CA, flying home tomorrow, so there will be reports and photos in a near future blog. A bit of news--Quickutz has a new long tray for long borders, for the revolution...it will also cut lots of pieces together.
Also, there is a corner rounder that cuts multiple pieces of chipboard at once---cool

Great new papers from Teresa Collins, Cosmo Cricket...new accu-cut dies---think butterflies...
I will wait on telling more til photos are available...I was only able to take about 400 photos..come into the store for the slide show, beginning on friday, Feb.15th, I hope!!