Tuesday, May 31, 2011

You Have A Delivery!

     Well, you'll have a delivery in your inbox if you subscribe to our E-Newsletter!  If not, Click HERE for a direct link.  Canada Post may go on strike but you'll still receive your E-Newsletter from your favourite craft store!

Monday, May 30, 2011

They're Starting to Come In

The entries for the blog challenge are coming in now.  If there was a prize for the first entry it would have to go to Bev, because she was the first again to email her entry!  Here they are though in no particular order.



Bev's first entry into the blog challenge nicely picks up the colours of the cushions on the couch.  Nice job Bev




Here we see an interesting fold for Bev's second card with the verse on a pull out tag.  Very innovative Bev.  Again I see the colours of the cushions in this card.


You can see  how Diane's card picked up the colours and shapes in the centre cushion that's on the couch.  Along with the colours she picked up the three photos on the wall by having her parasol in three portions.  Nice job Diane.
 Tara nicely focused on the couch in the photo by stamping the chair as her focal point.  The strips of patterned paper pick up the various colours and designs on the cushions too.  Do you notice the pearl detail on the left side that picks up the vases in the challenge photo.  Thanks for playing along Tara, nice attention to detail.

Bev's entry here picks up the different patterns on the cushions. The letters on the card are silver, though they don't show up well on the photo, but they pick up the silver vases on the challenge photo. She made this card with scraps she had on hand.  Just goes to show what you can create doesn't it.  Thanks for playing Bev, you seem to be having lots of fun.

Remember that we're halfway through the time allotted for this challenge.  The closing date is June 13th (doubly special in our family), so don't delay...play today!  It can be a scrapbook page, jewellery, craft of some kind as long as you follow the spirit of the challenge photo here

Oh I just realised that I gave you an extra week on this challenge...freudian slip maybe to make it close on that special day of June 13th?

Here's some eye candy for you made by two special little girls from a kit they bought at their local craft store.   Not for the challenge, but I thought you'd like to see the work of more talented young people.  I wouldn't mind wearing one of these bangles, how about you?
Lilian

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Crafters Come In All Sizes

We have endless streams of children coming into the store to pick up supplies to make their school projects.  It may be the end of year scrapbook, or atoms and molecules, but for this young crafter it was simply he wanted to make some Wizard "stuff".  Here is his Wizardry (is that a word...well it is now?)

Jonah is Lizette's youngest son and he's been coming into the store with his Mom since he was a tiny tike.  He was always fascinated by a beaded spider that we had at the time and held it whenever he came into the store, so it's not surprising to us that he loves to craft.  He took this floral styrofoam and fashioned some wizard "stuff" for himself.  Way to go Jonah...great imagination.  Don't forget if you're in the store on Saturday when Lizette is working to tell her what a creative son she has.

Here's another little crafter you may want to check out too.

Now how about you...have you started creating for the current blog challenge?
Here's the link again if you need a reminder.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Such Lovely Complements.

Sometimes it seems the shoes you're wearing are the only shoes you'd want to be in.  That's been the case for Linda and myself recently as we've received such lovely complements from two of our customers.

First it was Martha when she needed a special card for a wedding she was attending.  She looked around the store for inspiration and decided upon a card like the one that she had made at one of our all day card classes.  She imitated it, but put her own twist on it by changing up the colours a little.  I want to tell you how absolutely stunning it was and that a photograph doesn't do it the justice it deserves.  Take a look and tell us what you think.


This is the one we made in class.  Heat embossed white on white with shiny gold edge mat and gold stamping. Trimmed with a green organza and satin ribbon.





Here's Martha's.  She heat embossed white on white, but used a shiny silver mat.   For her stamping she used silver ink and a sheer silver  ribbon....isn't it elegant!  The recipients and their family all commented highly on it to Martha.  Well done Martha, you awarded us the highest form of flattery by imitating our card.  Thank you Martha.



Then today WE were the lucky recipients of a gorgeous thank you card.  To the left is the card that inspired Tara which we had made in another all day card class.



Tara is a regular customer from Orillia, who often comes in and browses around and very kindly tells me that she almost always leaves with a little more than she paid for.  A couple of weeks ago, Tara spotted a card on display that she loved and asked how the embellishment was made.  I demonstrated to her how we had made it with a Martha Stewart Score Board, which unfortunately at the time she didn't have.  I not only showed her how to make the embellishment though, I showed her how to make envelopes with the board too.  Well as you can see from the beautiful thank you card and envelope she sent us, she was an excellent student, and yes she bought a Martha Stewart Score Board that day.  Oh and yes she also has a Cuttlebug that I'd sold her previously, enabling her to emboss the lovely design on the side from the folder she bought the same day as the Score Board.  Such wise purchases Tara for a very talented card maker, wouldn't you all agree?   Thank you not only for the beautiful card you took time out to make for us, but for your kind words when you're in the store too....
we appreciate you Tara!

Lilian

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Newsletter Day!

     Click HERE to link to this week's edition of our E-Newsletter.  If you would like to receive our E-Newsletter directly to your inbox you can register through our website or just drop us an email and we'll add you to the list!

You Wanna Play Again?

     Well we've had lots of requests and lots of excitement about the first blog challenge we issued, so here we go again.  Before we show it to you though, we wanted to clear up a few questions that we were asked about blogging.  (Sorry it's a bit long, but worth the read if you're in doubt.)

     Some people said...."I don't know how to blog though".
I thought I'd try and make it a little clearer for you here.  Blogging is simply a way of sharing what's going on in your particular world, in this instance what's happening beyond classes and daily "stuff" at your local scrapbook store ( short form LSS) the Craft Nook. 

     You don't have to be a "follower" of a blog, however that helps us to know you're interested.  You can "comment" at any time on a posting that interests you by simply going to the bottom of the post and clicking on comment, then type in what you have to say.  Below the white comment box there is another box with a drop down at the side that says "Comment as".  If you have a blog or webpage of your own then you would select that, but for the many of us who don't have that, click on "anonymous" and add your comment. 

     Now in the blogging world though you may post your comment as anonymous, it's polite to make sure you sign your name within your comments so that we know who you are.  "Anonymous" is simply given  as an option sometimes for all of us who don't usually blog.  We've given that option here.

     So, you don't have to understand the world of blogging to enter our challenges, you just have to be able to visualise the challenge as a craft in some form.   It could be a paper craft such as a scrapbook page, card or 3D item, a jewellery piece you create, a wreath for your door, a knit or crochet item, it simply has to be something you made within the guidelines of the challenge.  Secondly you have to be able to either photograph or scan your entry and email it to us, or if that's not within your comfort zone, bring it in and we'll do that for you. 
Easy Peasy so let's have some FUN!

Here's the challenge photo and my sample visualised as a card.  We will add more sample ideas as we complete them in the next week.  A jewellery one is in the works, also a scrapbook page.

    Closing date for this challenge is Monday June 13th
 (doubly special day in my family) at 5pm.  ~~~~   And my interpretation is below
The supplies were a card base of Prism Herbal Garden Deep cardstock.
The top brown embossed portion was Kaiser Craft Lone Ranger Sheriff patterned paper, embossed with Sizzix Textured Impressions Circles and Dots Folder and sanded.
The creamy patterned paper was Grant Studios Wildflower Champagne stamped with Hero Arts Old Letter Writing stamp and heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder.
The striped patterned paper was Kaiser Craft Lone Ranger Sheriff, reverse side of the top portion.
The ribbon embellishment was May Arts 1" wide Stitched Satin Ribbon with Colour Stories Pearl centres.
All supplies are available at the Craft Nook.
 
Lilian

Friday, May 20, 2011

Wow...What a Class on Thursday!

Was it what a class or what a blast...whatever we had a lot of fun, enough laughter to lift us for a week and still made two cards and two tag card fronts.
Here's a look at one of the cards, to see the others you need to fly on over to our flickr site here .

This is the card that I took my inspiration from.  It was given to me last year by my sister-in-law Gill.  She was a brand new cardmaker at that time, and when I received this card from her, I always knew I would make something like this for class.  The ladies last night loved what they did and no doubt will be making more of these in the future.

This is Gill's card that I                   This is the card we made in class.
 took my inspiration from.                      

Good Thing You Can't See My Face!

If you could, you'd see I have egg on it!  I'm so embarrassed! 
We have always told you how blessed we feel to have such lovely customers, one of those customers made a card for the blog challenge and brought it in for Linda to photograph last Monday.  Linda did her part in sending the photo to me to add to the challenge, but I tripped and fell down by not adding it into the entries.
When I was asked about it today, Barb was so kind.  She let me off the hook completely, but I have to tell you I'm not so easy on myself in situations like this.  If nothing else it will keep me on my toes another time for sure!  So here is Barb's lovely card with my humblest apologies that it wasn't entered into the challenge.


Lilian

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Happy Winner!

Well Tammy was pretty excited when she found out she had won the first Blog Challenge as you can see from the comment that she left at the bottom of the challenge posting.
Here are a couple of photos of the prize she won.   We didn't show the prize earlier because we wanted to tailor it to the winner's style, be it cardmaking, scrapbooking or jewellery.  Tammy's a cardmaker to the best of our knowledge.
Tammy has some stamps and embellishments to enjoy in this blog candy along with some cards she can finish to her choosing.  There is some heat foam that she can change her present stamps to give them a different look...hope you enjoy the candy Tammy.

We've already been asked twice today when the next challenge will be, so keep your eyes peeled for more excitement coming your way.
Lilian

E-Newsletter Day Again!

     The week's just keep flying by so that brings us around to yet another issue of our E-Newsletter!  Click HERE for a direct link or visit our website at www.craftnookbracebridge.com to register and have the newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning.

                                                                              Linda

Our First Blog Challenge Entries

Here they are, all together....what an amazing bunch of creativity.  They can't help but to get our Mojo working can they.

Scroll to the bottom to see who the random winner was.

1.  Bev                                                                          2.  Bev
   
3.  Shaina                                             4.  Di                                                     
 
5.  Bev                                                                           6.  Bev

7.  Christine                                                               7.  Lynda


    
                                     
9.  Tara                                                                         10.  Madison
                                
  11.  Evelyn                                                                          12. Bernice 


  









13.  Becky                                                                                     14.  Anne
                                                                            









15. Tammy                                                                                             16.  Deanne










17.  Liz                                                                                                      18.  Evelyn










 
19.  Raquel                                                                                       20.  Christine
         











21.  Pat                                                                                                     22.  Joanne









23.  Lizette                                                                
                               24.  Sandra











25. Christine                                                               26.  Sandra
  


AND THE WINNER IS:-............
     
 True Random Number Generator


 

  15          Powered by RANDOM
     True Random Number Service

  Search RANDOM.ORG            

This is Tammy

Congratulations, we'll see you at class Tammy
Sample Ideas 
                                                                           
Starting Sample                                                             Mother's Day Card

Bracelet Idea                                                
                                                                          Scrapbook Page Idea
Crystal Drop


Monday, May 16, 2011

The Last of the Blog Challenge Entries

Here are the final entries for the blog challenge.   Thank you for all the entries.  A blog challenge will only work if we have participants and we are thrilled with the response to our first challenge.

Here's another sample that Linda made the other day, I've just not had time to post it before.  Hope you enjoy the inspiration.  I think this stunning piece could be worn on the formal diner nights on a cruise!
                                                           

Make sure you check in tomorrow for the winner!  

   
Sandra has been working on her Disney Album for sometime now and this page at the water park exactly fitted the challenge theme.
The papers were from her monthly Basic Grey pack and she adapted it to work well for her page and photos.
         

We've had some innovative cardmakers using scraps to make their cards and that's what Christine did here.  Such a money saver and yet effective don't you think.
A lovely bright card where the centre brad brought the needed teal into the card for the challenge.
Great card to have on hand for a sick friend.

 

Just under the wire, Sandra was able to submit another page for the Blog Challenge.  She tells me this is one of her favourite pages and I can see why, though having looked at her album I would be hard pressed to choose a favourite.  It's amazing how often we put the challenge colours together without even realising it.


Lilian