This and That

I have checked with Rose-Marie and yes she will be at the Memory Keepers CreativFestival booth from 1 until 4 on Sat. April 16. The spring show is still at the International Centre near Pearson airport and will be open to the public Friday and Saturday. Rose-Marie will be creating flowering gardens that will be sure to brighten what is forecast to be a dull weekend. Unfortunately the proprietor at Old Tyme Country Crafts has had to cancel the classes she had scheduled with Rose-Marie for Sunday, April 17. We will try to reschedule for another date. Easter weekend is fast approaching and the store will be closed Good Friday. Remember to sign up for the Country Getaway. The deadline is fast approaching and you don't want to miss out.

Stamp & Scrap Country Getaway Weekend

Join us from Friday, May 13 until Sunday May 15 for a getaway weekend. Friday will be a wine & cheese meet and greet at the store for all participants. A mixture of scrap booking and card making classes will start Saturday morning when

Rose-Marie will teach Fabulous Flowers. She will teach again Sunday afternoon offering some Black Magic.

We are pleased to have internationally acclaimed teacher

Cathie Allen flying in to round out our weekend. Cathie will be teaching a 2 part class beginning Saturday afternoon when she will be Unfolding a Floral Fantasy and continuing Sunday morning with Fantastic Foils and Flowers. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cathie you are in for a treat. Cathie's enthusiasm is infectious!

Saturday evening Tom & Rose-Marie will host a catered dinner and stamp swap at their home for guests of the getaway weekend only. (Please bring a chair to use for dinner.)

Cost for the entire weekend is $150 which includes the wine & cheese get together, all 4 classes, dinner and the stamp swap Saturday evening. Contact the store if you require more information or if you wish to book your weekend. Space is limited and prepayment is required by April 30/11.

The Water's Edge Inn has a group of rooms blocked off and this link will take you to a listing of B&B's in the area to make your stay a pleasant one. There will be ample time for you to enjoy all that Campbellford has to offer.

CreativFestival

Rose-Marie has been asked to do some demo's at The Memory Keepers booth. It has been a year or 2 since we have been to the CreativFestival and we are looking forward to returning. Stop by and say hello on Saturday only. I will have to check with Rose-Marie but I think she told me she will be at their booth from 1 until 4.

The Memory Keepers will be bringing a selection of our stamps. Please contact us if there are specific stamps you would like. We would be pleased to bring them for you.

Letraset

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago the Letraset markers have arrived and they are fantastic. All of the same qualities of the Copic markers in a larger, longer lasting marker. I like the tips on the Letrasets so much better. The ProMarker series has a shorter, stiffer brush tip than the Copics as well as a chisel tip. The Tria series has 3 individual tips; the chisel tip, the smaller brush tip and a fine tip for the tiny little areas that are impossible to get with a Copic. We currently only have sets available in the store but we will be bringing in individual pens in time for the Stamp & Scrap Country Getaway Weekend (more about that in another post). Check out the Letraset website and remember when you look at the price in British pounds that we have been able to bring them in for less then price shown. Letraset has a great website with lots of information and tutorials. I have in my possession Tria markers, only 5 but I have already got my eye on a gorgeous set. Here's what I have been playing around on, remember I used only 3 colours. Sorry about the dark pics, I haven't been able to get my scanner to co-operate. Cassie did this one with 3 Letraset colours plus the blender and a green Copic (since the Letrasets I have only came with one rather non-descript green that's why I need more and that's what I tell my husband!). Letrasets are completely compatable with the Copics you may already own. It's a win-win.

ScrapFest Kitchener

We will be in booth #205 for ScrapFest Kitchener. The VIP event Friday evening is sold out but you could still visit us on Saturday. As usual we will be bringing cling mounted Rosewood stamps, select wood mounted Rosewood stamps and this year will have a collection of stamps from The Stamp Barn in both cling and wood.

If you would like specific stamps, contact us and we would be glad to bag it up and bring it with us. You will have to do so before Thursday, April 7 at noon when Tom & Rose-Marie will be leaving for Kitchener.

Busy, busy, busy

It was pointed out to me the diasters this post was, full of typos and bad grammar. I have corrected the many typos and am reposting for your pleasure. That's what I get for rushing! Timing is everything and wow the timing has been stressful on our purchase of The Stamp Barn. Not only did we have to get everything from their Ottawa Valley shop to our store, we had to try and sort the stock (over 900 images!) not only so can we find them easily but so that we would know what images Rodney and Sharon had in their collections. A catalogue is never quite the same as holding a stamp in your hand and just to make things really interesting, we have been getting ready for the shows that Tom & Rose-Marie are attending over the next few weeks. On Monday, March 28 Tom and Rose-Marie attended the Canadian Craft and Hobby Association show in Brampton. I am sure you have heard of CHA. These are the same people as CHA but geared towards Canadian stores. This is a retailers only show that has been revived by this year's organziers. The show was well attended by both vendors and retailers which was very encouraging considering the challenges the paper craft industry has faced over the last few years. If the attendance is any indication, rest assured paper crafts are alive and well in Ontario. As you can see the booth at a wholesale show looks very different from the booth that you will see when you get to ScrapFest Kitchener on April 9. Notice the Letrasets??? Yes they have arrived and let me tell you I am loving those markers. I will tell you more about them tomorrow. :D

Back to Work

The first quarter of the year was very quiet at the store, so it gave me the opportunity to take some time off and get work done in my real life. Donna & I are both back to work now and all of us at Frog's Whiskers Ink have been looking forward to sharing some very exciting news.

I am sure many of you will have heard of Stamp Barn and Sunshine Designs. Owners, Rodney & Sharon Stead decided they wanted a change of direction in their lives and approached Tom & Rose-Marie about purchasing their company. After much negotiating they reached a mutually agreeable arrangement. We are pleased to announce effective immediately

Frog's Whiskers Ink is now the proud owner of

Stamp Barn

and all its design companies.

This merger will add over 900 images to our catalogue. For those of you not familiar with their designs you are in for a treat. I had my first opportunity to see the many of the stamps today and there are so many I would like to add to my collection. It may be a while before I actually take home a pay cheque. SIGH!!!! Oh well hazard of the job I guess. We encourage you to look at the Stamp Barn website and call or email for your order. It is going to take us some time to get everything switched over to our system but we do have all of the images available for you to purchase immediately.

We do have one more announcement but there are some details I need before I can do that here. I will be posting the information here soon. Welcom back