Hello
We've moved. We're open at the new location and having some signage issues. We're located at 32823 FM 2978 in the Rancheros strip, across the street from target. Now that were here, I love it even more, it feels good and I can't wait to set up my office/studio and kiln room. By having my own space to work, there will no longer be a mess in the crop room. We had to rush the construction people in order to move when we needed to so in their haste, they got their revenge by leaving me allot of touch up work. I realized that our crop room was way too big at the other space, so I eliminated the waisted space and am going to use it for more product. It is now a much more suitable size with the ability to add more tables when we need to, like at the stamp demo next month. I'm learning more about what our customers need and am taking that knowledge and feedback to restructure our classes by making them more informative, more hands on, and less time consuming to accommodate everyones busy schedule. We are also going to ask that you bring some of your own supplies to the classes. This will cut way down on the price of the classes. I would also like to form a discount club so if we ask for your info again at the register don't be offended, its for your own good. We have already started to get our new products in. We got allot of new paper, Perfect Pearls and accessories, 30 colors of open stock Stickles, 10 new colors of embossing powder, Zva Creative Rhinestone Embellishments, several new Brilliance Dew Drop Colors, and so on. I've noticed that allot of my customers are having trouble making pages for boys so we also got a new line of Tim Holtz products like 12 new distress Ink Colors, Distress one step Crackle Paint, Metal Embellishments, masks, and more. We also have a few more glimmer mist colors in the mail.
Our new location is more suitable for free demos so I'm finding new ways to make our store more interactive and hands on. I'm trying to get a hold of another die-cutting system that is more user friendly than the cricut so even the non-scrapbooker can cut the stuff they need. We are going to try to start renting out cartridges. I'm thinking $5-$7 a week give or take. But I'm not sure how soon this will happen because it is quite a large investment with a very slow turn around. I'm thinking that each cartridge would have to be rented out for at least 9-10 weeks before it even start to make it worth the time and money needed to support such a service. I think it is a great service to offer, but getting the numbers to work out is going to be very interesting. The girls scrapbook camp is full and it's going to be so much fun. I thought the planning process was never going to end because the move was allot harder than I thought it would be, it cost a fortune and I still have allot to do but Sherry quit office max and is now at the store full time which helps allot.
We are having another stamping demo in July. The American Art Stamp Company chose our store and only one other store in Texas to hold a Trunk Show (demo), which means they will send us over a thousand dollars worth of stamps for a week so you can buy them at the demo instead of waiting on shipping. We will send back the ones that don't sell. Its a great offer and is very generous of those who made it happen and The American Art Stamp Company. July calendar will be on the website in a few days, so keep checking and come by to see the new store.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Jason's Blog - We're Moving
We're moving!!! It's going to be a crazy month at all about crafts so hang in there, it's only going to get better. We finally got word that we are relocating to 32823 FM 2978, across from Target in the Rancheros shopping center. We are planning to be over there around the 15th of June. I expect it to be a smooth transition to bigger and better things. Thanks to everyone for being so patient and kind over the last 2 years. It has been a ride that I never would have expected in a million years and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our wonderful customers have hung in there with us proving their loyalty and understanding of the difficulties of staring from very little. I'm working so hard to make the new place extra special by providing a better selection of products, more technique demonstrations, an airy crop room with no clutter, new services, more classes, storage for dedicated croppers, and just a more enjoyable place to spend your time with us. There is also room to expand when we need to and with the continued support of our customers anything is possible.
It's getting late but I still need to finish planning the last part of the girls scrapbook camp. It starts on June 22nd at the new place. I put together a kit for the kids to take home with them when the camp is over. It is filled with real scrapbooking tools, no kiddy stuff. The retail value of the kit is the same cost of the class ($100.00) so it works out better for parents. I'm going to let them practice making cards and embellishments before they start pages. Making your own embellishments or improving premade embellishments adds your own artistic flair to your pages and utilizes your scraps which saves money. This will also give them the practice needed to make pages that they will be proud of. The goal is to make an album that will be high enough quality to show their kids several years down the road. I'm only putting adult tools in the kit because kids like to feel like adults. I have personal experience with the products we're using so I know they are safe for kids to use and will last a long time. We're going to make an 8x8 album so they can keep adding to it without the parents having to spend a small fortune.
I would also like to bring up the ATC Contest again. Design your very own ATC and drop it off at the store between May, 20th and June 30th. On Wednesday July 1st we will ask a non participating customer to draw 3 cards to announce the winners. The first ATC drawn will be granted first place prize, the second ATC drawn will be granted second place, and the last ATC drawn will be granted third prize. A photo of the 3 winning ATCs will be posted to the blog along with the name of the designer. You can see the prizes on earlier posts.
Rules:
ATC must Measure 2"x3.5"
Must have your info on back
Limit one entry per customer
In case you're wondering, I'll explain. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. They are like business cards but are hand made showing off a sample of your talent or just showing off a new stamp that you're in love with, it happens to all of us we'll do anything for a reason to use that new stamp. Check out earlier posts to see examples. So grab a piece of scrap paper and enjoy yourself.
Speaking of stamps, I'm trying out a new line of stamps before I decide to carry them in the store. They came in the mail today but I didn't bring home any design work tonight and can't find one stamp pad anywhere in the entire house. If I did find one, I probably wouldn't like it anyway because I'm way too particular about stamp pads, there are certain blends of ink that I like for every purpose. I'm in love with versafine black for all types of stamps because it's a pigment/dye hybrid that makes very clear impressions which is prefect for word stamps. I only use dye inks on stamps for distressing. Dye ink beads up to much on clear stamps which is good for distressing but I prefer pigment hybrids such as versafine, versa magic and brilliance for regular stamping because they stay where you put them, allow you to use several colors on one stamp without the risk of ruining the pad and they make an overall solid crisp impression. Don't get me wrong, I love my dye inks to because they dry instantly, are great for distressing, won't smear, and can be used with water to for painting if you know the right technique. Well it's not to complicated, just blot the pad on a plastic or glass surface spray it with water to achieve the right tone, dip the brush into the puddle and paint away. It looks and acts just like water color. I always do an extra wash of color because the painting drys allot lighter than usual. I should also warn you about doing this with red ink, it always drys pink no matter what I do but in this case, I use a red glimmer mist because it works like a charm and drys red but don't even get me started on glimmer mist. I'm still in love with it. I have one yellow left on the shelf and want it so bad but customers always come first which reminds me, I better get started on the glimmer mist order. It is more popular than I expected and I have to have more before the move which means I need to do it now after i finish putting the calender on the website but one more thing before I go.
I'm going to start teaching my distressing classes again. They were so popular last year and everyone is asking for more. I'm working on a few different minibooks, a clock, some picture frames, cards, altered boxes and pages. There are so many reasons to learn distressing. It's about the only thing that will never go out of style and its great for masculine pages. We're always going to have an appreciation of moments gone by and that carefree feeling of creating vintage looking art that we can mess up with no shame. It's okay to mess up while distressing because I've always thought that accidental art happens from within like when Sigmund Freud talks about the Freudian slip. So you have mine and Sigmund's approval to mess it up. The program I'm working on is called Don't Stress, Distress. I will have to double check the punctuation but I love it anyway. I'm wanting to make it a club so we can meet twice a month or so but working around everyones schedule is a bit of a challenge. I'm not sure if a weekday or weekend day is better for everyone and I also have to take into consideration the busy summer vacation schedule. I will let everyone know as soon as figure it all out. Well it's almost 1am and I haven't ate since noon so I better finish up the website, do the glimmer mist order, eat dinner and go to bed so I can get to work early to start packing before we open 10. Thanks for reading everyone hope to see you soon, I'll try to post a new technique tomorrow like how to pack a craft store lol.
Jason
It's getting late but I still need to finish planning the last part of the girls scrapbook camp. It starts on June 22nd at the new place. I put together a kit for the kids to take home with them when the camp is over. It is filled with real scrapbooking tools, no kiddy stuff. The retail value of the kit is the same cost of the class ($100.00) so it works out better for parents. I'm going to let them practice making cards and embellishments before they start pages. Making your own embellishments or improving premade embellishments adds your own artistic flair to your pages and utilizes your scraps which saves money. This will also give them the practice needed to make pages that they will be proud of. The goal is to make an album that will be high enough quality to show their kids several years down the road. I'm only putting adult tools in the kit because kids like to feel like adults. I have personal experience with the products we're using so I know they are safe for kids to use and will last a long time. We're going to make an 8x8 album so they can keep adding to it without the parents having to spend a small fortune.
I would also like to bring up the ATC Contest again. Design your very own ATC and drop it off at the store between May, 20th and June 30th. On Wednesday July 1st we will ask a non participating customer to draw 3 cards to announce the winners. The first ATC drawn will be granted first place prize, the second ATC drawn will be granted second place, and the last ATC drawn will be granted third prize. A photo of the 3 winning ATCs will be posted to the blog along with the name of the designer. You can see the prizes on earlier posts.
Rules:
ATC must Measure 2"x3.5"
Must have your info on back
Limit one entry per customer
In case you're wondering, I'll explain. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. They are like business cards but are hand made showing off a sample of your talent or just showing off a new stamp that you're in love with, it happens to all of us we'll do anything for a reason to use that new stamp. Check out earlier posts to see examples. So grab a piece of scrap paper and enjoy yourself.
Speaking of stamps, I'm trying out a new line of stamps before I decide to carry them in the store. They came in the mail today but I didn't bring home any design work tonight and can't find one stamp pad anywhere in the entire house. If I did find one, I probably wouldn't like it anyway because I'm way too particular about stamp pads, there are certain blends of ink that I like for every purpose. I'm in love with versafine black for all types of stamps because it's a pigment/dye hybrid that makes very clear impressions which is prefect for word stamps. I only use dye inks on stamps for distressing. Dye ink beads up to much on clear stamps which is good for distressing but I prefer pigment hybrids such as versafine, versa magic and brilliance for regular stamping because they stay where you put them, allow you to use several colors on one stamp without the risk of ruining the pad and they make an overall solid crisp impression. Don't get me wrong, I love my dye inks to because they dry instantly, are great for distressing, won't smear, and can be used with water to for painting if you know the right technique. Well it's not to complicated, just blot the pad on a plastic or glass surface spray it with water to achieve the right tone, dip the brush into the puddle and paint away. It looks and acts just like water color. I always do an extra wash of color because the painting drys allot lighter than usual. I should also warn you about doing this with red ink, it always drys pink no matter what I do but in this case, I use a red glimmer mist because it works like a charm and drys red but don't even get me started on glimmer mist. I'm still in love with it. I have one yellow left on the shelf and want it so bad but customers always come first which reminds me, I better get started on the glimmer mist order. It is more popular than I expected and I have to have more before the move which means I need to do it now after i finish putting the calender on the website but one more thing before I go.
I'm going to start teaching my distressing classes again. They were so popular last year and everyone is asking for more. I'm working on a few different minibooks, a clock, some picture frames, cards, altered boxes and pages. There are so many reasons to learn distressing. It's about the only thing that will never go out of style and its great for masculine pages. We're always going to have an appreciation of moments gone by and that carefree feeling of creating vintage looking art that we can mess up with no shame. It's okay to mess up while distressing because I've always thought that accidental art happens from within like when Sigmund Freud talks about the Freudian slip. So you have mine and Sigmund's approval to mess it up. The program I'm working on is called Don't Stress, Distress. I will have to double check the punctuation but I love it anyway. I'm wanting to make it a club so we can meet twice a month or so but working around everyones schedule is a bit of a challenge. I'm not sure if a weekday or weekend day is better for everyone and I also have to take into consideration the busy summer vacation schedule. I will let everyone know as soon as figure it all out. Well it's almost 1am and I haven't ate since noon so I better finish up the website, do the glimmer mist order, eat dinner and go to bed so I can get to work early to start packing before we open 10. Thanks for reading everyone hope to see you soon, I'll try to post a new technique tomorrow like how to pack a craft store lol.
Jason
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)