Testing Products

Donna loves new stuff. Rose-Marie recently brought in Tattered Angels stencils that caught Donna's eye.



She simply laid the stencils over the paper and applied ink with a sponge or a dauber.

The Fleur de Lis and the red frame above are set on a 5 1/2 x 8 piece of paper creating a very large image. We decided that maybe if they were cut into pieces they could be used to accent another stamped piece.

This crown didn't photograph well but this just says little girl card.

For the card below she got really creative. The gate looks particularly spooky on the black background, so she decided to "open" the gate to reveal a ghostly scene. Wouldn't this make a great invitation for a Halloween Party?

New Designs from Rosewood

The new designs from Rosewood stamp are being added to the Frog's Whiskers Ink website. We are currently taking pre-orders and hope to begin production next week. Victorian charm is very evident in this collection, including a charming group of carolers, a lamp post and a street that will remind you an old fashion village Charles Dickens may have written about. If Victorian isn't your style the stamp Birch & Stream (L746)

or Candles and Holly (L740) may catch your attention. I am looking forward to see what Rose-Marie has in mind for this collection.

Change of Store Hours

The children have gone back to school and the weather has been what I remember as more traditional fall weather. If the Farmer's Almanac is correct (and we all know just how accurate the Almanac can be!) the weather for the remainder of the year will be like "back in the day". Where was I going.....oh right, store hours. The change of weather has been bringing fewer stampers to the store on Sundays. Sundays are the only day that Tom and Rose-Marie take off faithfully and it just isn't making economic sense to pay staff to keep the store open. So beginning immediately the store will be closed Sundays. We will re-open Sundays briefly for the Christmas season, beginning Sunday, Dec 5 12:00 to 4:00. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We hope you will visit our website or drop by the store during the rest of the week. We would be glad to help you with your card making projects. The newest issue of Rosewood stamps are now up on the website for pre-order and we expect them to go into production within 2 weeks. I for one can't wait to see what Rose-Marie has planned for these beautiful new designs.

Pot Luck Play Day

We decided to have our play day at Darlene's home this month. She has been inviting us to her home for a few years, telling us about her stamping room since they built the house. Darlene has had some personal challenges the last few years and it was so nice of her to host our little get together. It was also an opportunity to get a photo of us diligently working away on our cards for the day. And the stamping room was everything she told us it would be. We are all so jealous of her beautiful work space overlooking the lake.

As I have said in an earlier post, I like to have a face to go with a name. So here we are, starting on the left, Barb, Jacqui, Darlene, Donna and Liz. And to be honest we didn't get much card making that day. We did have a great potluck lunch and the kind of laughs that bring tears to everyone's eyes. We really do have so much fun on our play days and we owe it all to Donna. So thank you Donna for making the suggestion of a play day and arranging for us all to meet once a month. Now to get Lauralee here for one our play days....

Updating the website

I have been given the task of updating the website. I am in the process of reorganizing the Tools section of the website, adding a new project or two. Rose-Marie has brought in the latest Big Shotz bundle. The cost has gone up slightly to $175 but this includes the items shown below. This is a great bundle of assorted folders and dies.




The updates to the website are going to take a me a few days to get done. Please bear with us. I think the changes are going to make it easier to find the products you want.

Donna created this card based on the cards I did here and on the August 30 post. (blogger is not co-operating will fix link later). She and I have been looking for this diecut for quite a while and finally took the plunge and each bought one. Yes we should share but we live about 1/2 hour apart and when the urge to create grabs us, we don't want to wait. She stamped the Penny Black image and added a bit of colour with Gellyroll Metallics. Donna had to create a shim of sorts to allow for the shape of the diecut but it turned out beautifully. I absolutely love this card layout.

Getting back to the routine

The girls have started school again and I am back working in the store. The same routines as in years past but with a twist this year, our oldest is in first year college locally. Her classes are varied through the week and I haven't figured out yet when she will be going or coming. The younger 2 are same old, same old on the bus about 8 and home about 4. Heading back to work for me is always a bit of a learning curve. Things always change at the store over the summer and it usually takes me a few days to familiarize myself again. The first week back is always tiring for all of us but next week will be better.

Back to stamping! One of Frog's Whiskers Ink retail store owners sent us this stunning card made with Rosewood Father Christmas.

This photo does absolutely no justice to how rich the colour is in this card. The image was stamped twice, once embossed in gold. I don't know precisely what she used to colour this card but I am guessing Tombow markers. The tree has been adorned with Flower Soft. She cut out the legs and centre chest from the embossed image and then popped the embossed image over the bottom coloured image. Glitter was added and then the layered image was matted onto the olive green base card. Mimi a la carte is a store in Montreal, QC. If you have a few minutes visit her website here to view more of her work. Just remember to translate as she is French Canadian.

Happy Birthday to my DH

My hubby celebrated his birthday a few days ago. Our girls have always made cards for him, usually that day but it's the thought that counts right? Anyway here are the cards Jess and Nikki made for him this year.

Jess made this card using a clear letter set I think was from Hero Arts. She used a direct to paper method on designer paper to create an interesting background. The die cut is from Tim Holtz and it is one I should really used more.



Nikki's card is a study in interesting paper. I've had that sheet of scrapbook paper for awhile and was never sure what to do with it. She too used a direct to paper technique to create the base card. She cut the sentiment out of the paper and layered it onto an on point mat. I would never have thought of settting the mat on point but it looks great.

My girls aren't little anymore, Nikki is 16 and Jess is 14 but the cards they create are always so very different from what I make. Sometimes I wonder, at what point do adults lose the creative abilities that all children seem to possess.

Time's are Changing

As I mentioned a few post ago, our summer student Cassie is leaving to go to college. Rose-Marie made her this cute card for her. The bird house is a set of stamps which include a fairly large circular stamp that has little birds on it. Although hard to see in the photo there is a little "tab" that allows the recipient to rotate the little birds to reveal different images. She stamped the base card with Rosewood Frenchscript and on the mat stamped Rosewood Thank You. On the roof of the birdhouse, Rose-Marie added a bit of dimension with with Puff Paint and a bit of glitter.

Cassie will be missed around the store. She has learned a lot in her time here and we wish her well in her post secondary studies.