Our Store Blog

Sara is off to sunny CA

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:52:43 -0500

Well, its finally here....CHA winter show in Anaheim, Orange Co., CA. I’ll be posting live updates of cool new products from our fav companies. Join me over the next 4 days and see all the new, cool stuff first hand right here on our blog and you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more immediate updates. I’ll be working hard for all our City shoppers and scouring over the hundreds of vendors to find the best to bring back for you. Wish me luck!!!! Yippeeee...have I ever said how much I love my job???!!!

2010 City Chicks Design Team CALL

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:57:33 -0500

Can you believe its already been 6 months???? Where did it go? We’ve watched these City Chicks design some amazing layouts, cards and altered projects. I know I’ve picked up some new tips from them and I hope you have too. If you’ve been in the store at all in the last 6 months, you’re sure to have seen their work. Its filled the store with literally hundreds of examples!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Debby, Beverly, Tronda, Savannah, Jeanette, Sara and Trish. We have had an absolute blast with you gals. (and thanks for being our guinea pigs for the 1st design team, lol)

Although its sad to see them go, we are extremely excited to announce our Design Team Call for 2010!!! So now it's YOUR turn! We are looking for 4 new design team members to have their pages, cards and altered items displayed in our store. This again will be a 6 month commitment and in return you will receive a 20% discount in the store, and free crops for the length of your membership as well as some other fun perks.

Interested? Here's what you need to do.
Drop off at the store at least 5 items that you think represent your style- cards, scrapbook pages, altered items - anything you can make with scrapbook supplies - along with a photo and short bio telling us about yourself by Thursday January 21st. A decision will be made on the new design team by Monday January 25th and your design team membership will begin February 1st.
Questions? Don't hesitate to call one of us and ask. We can't wait to see what you have to offer!

Gift Idea #10

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:10:49 -0500

Ok...so, I know today’s pic isn’t exactly about stamps, but our Design Team Member Debbie Hall, has outdone herself with the gift ideas. I just had to post this one!!! Isn’t it adorable??!!!! What a wonderful gift idea. She used the Prima handsewn (yes, its already done for you!) paper and added a couple strips of ribbon, the dream fabric title, buttons & brads. Super easy & super cute! I love this idea for a mom or new baby. I actually like it for my home office too! You go Debbie, I love it :o)

Today’s Gift Idea is: premade card sets.
Calling all stampers!!! Make several basic card sets for your loved ones. I love to have a handmade card stash on hand to toss in the mail at the last minute or to add to the gift as you’re running out the door. Make them a set of ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Thank You’ and ‘Thinking of You’ Cards that they can keep to use all year long.

Don’t forget out stamp sale thru Saturday this week, 25% off!!!
Also, the Hero Arts stamp Preview Party on Saturday..we’ll have their new releases before CHA 2010...woohoo!

Gift Ideas #8 & #9

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:59:17 -0500

Ok...still not doing so hot with the blog :( ...has it really been 48 hours already???!!! The time clock on our front page with the Christmas countdown is freakin’ me out...ha!

Gift Idea #8: Birthday Calendar
Do you often forget a family member or friends birthday? I know I do and I’m aways trying to scramble at the last minute for the gift!!! You can make this fun, quick & easy, not to mention adorable, birthday calendar to help you keep track all year long so you don’t forget :o)
you will need:
• 1/2 sheet of chipboard (fairly thin to fold in half)
• printed calendar from amuseartstamps.com
• patterned paper to embellish and carstock

All you need to do is print the calendar from the website onto smooth white cardstock. Cut down to size and layer onto solid colored cardstock or patterned paper. Your chipboard should be about 6x12 in size and should be thin enough to fold in half but yet sturdy enough to use as the cover. Do your pages the same size, 6x12 and stack them and make the fold together. You can bind with a strong stapler or just use ribbon/twine through the center. Just decorate as desired and you’re done. What a nice gift to give with family birthdays already listed!!

new classes posted today! check them out...

Stampapalooza Week & more Gift Ideas!

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:48:28 -0500

Ok...so, I’m gonna try to do better this week :)
I need to post 2 ideas a day I think to catch up....yikes! So, I’m thinking I’ll post a stamping idea first each day for stampapalooza and then a home decor idea from last week each day. Hope you enjoy!

This week, we’re celebrating Stampapalooza.....ya, we just made that up!! ha! We are down to our 3rd week in the Christmas Countdown and in case you haven’t seen the countdown clock on the front page...you have 10 days left!!!! Yikes!!!! So, there’s still a little time to make a few more small gifts. Hero Arts releases it's sneak peak of new stamps this weekend and to celebrate we'll be stamping all week! You can check out their sneak peaks on their blog at www.heroarts.com.
So take a break this week from the bustle and hustle to stop by the City each day this week to make a free make-n-take card. Cards will be different every day including Saturday but there will only be a limited number available.
And all this week - yes you guessed it - you save 25% off all stamps!
While you're in the store have a look at our classes for the new year - including a new stamping class.

Gift Idea #6 - Desktop Calendar
Love the look of those handmade calendars, but don’t want to ‘stamp’ all those dates? Here’s a cheater’s shortcut for you! Go to amuseartstamps.com to just print out these adorable 2010 calendars. It just costs a couple dollars and you can print as many as you like...nice, huh?! So, you will need:
• printed 2010 calendar on smooth cardstock
• solid color cardstock for backing
• a few sheets of patterned paper or use your scraps
• flip-top CD case

Its too easy to put this together. Just cut out each month and back on coordinating cardstock. Add a couple strips of patterned paper for decoration. You may want to add a sticker of something else like we did. Tie it all up in a ribbon when you’re done and voila!!

Gift Idea #7 - Christmas Home Decor Frames

One of our Design Team members, Debbie Hall, has the cutest idea for frames. She turns them into nameplates for your children’s rooms! She did a beautiful one for Thanksgiving in fall decor that said ‘thankful’ but I failed to get a picture of it before it sold! For Christmas, she did these adorable frames of trees and gingerbread men. Wouldn’t these be a great gift idea or even a teacher gift??!! I just love them Here is what you will need:
• frame of your choice (yep, we’ve got those too at the store!)
• background paper (you may have to piece it depending on the dimensions of your frame
• If you’re doing a nameplate you will need tags for each letter, the chipboard letters, ribbon
• then whatever embellishment you want to add - like buttons, chipboard, stickers, flowers, etc.

Just take apart your frame & use the glass to get your exact dimensions. Then just decorate like a scrapbook page. All the above ideas are out in the store too, thanks to Debbie. So, you can stop by and see them. The nameplates are too fun for that personalized gift!!!

Hope to see you in the store this week!