A Magnetic Day

Today, we received a large, flat box. What goodies could be inside? Too big for new papers, too odd-sized for embellies. Inside, gi-NOUR-mous MAGNET BOARDS! These puppies are 22"x22", and are framed in wood that is perfect for decoupage or otherwise altering. So if you are starting to think about that quickly approaching gift-giving season, this might be a cool place to begin.

Also arrived

• EK Success rub-ons: sweet poems and prose perfect to rub-on to your pages when you are just not inclined to do a lot of your own journaling. It's a great way to finish a page quickly!
• Bride-to-be Gift Set: components needed to put together a great shower gift during the shower, just in time for the fall wedding season.

Did you see our recent press in the Ahwatukee Republic? OK, so it was not a story about our store (we are actively working on that one!) but it was a story about Rosati's, 2 doors down. With the steep increases in gasoline costs, Rosati's has adjusted its delivery charge. Well, along with the story, a lovely picture of our shopping center was published. Over the shoulder of the driver, you can see our storefront! Yay for free press!

Not to mention Susan's brush with fame in another recent Arizona Republic article. Ask for her opinion on cell phones for kids! http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0829kidcellphone0829.html

ScrapWorks Visit

ScrapWorks is coming to Annalis Scraptique for a Make n Take! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, Sept 14th. More information will be available soon.

Suzy

Packing List for Tuesday

FedEx brought us some lovely new stock today. The rest of the wood ProvoCraft letters are finally here, so if you have been trying to spell something, every letter is now here. We also added Girls are Weird alphabet to our die cut area, along with some other new shapes and another alphabet.

Making Memories sent the hippest vintage stuff, including 9x9 patterned papers, packaged in a set, trinket pins (they look like vintage hat pins to me) and vintage buttons, trims, and other findings. I only orderd a few of each to see what our customers thought of them, but we are thinking they are mighty sweet! If they sell out quickly, I do plan to reorder.

Suzy

Need It

Heidi Swapp's Love Your Handwriting idea book just arrived.

"Nuff said.

Suzy

Classes This Week

Sign up now for this week's classes:

The Clock Stops Here!
Only seconds left before this class registration ends...
Lindsay will show you how to make this darling clock, personalized with your photos. August 31 from 6-8pm. Sign up by Monday evening to hold your spot.

Friday Night Social
Enjoy cropping but not fond of crowds? Sign up for an Annalis Social and get your pages done in a welcoming and intimate atmosphere. Our crop room can hold 20, but we cap our crops at 10-12 people to ensure that each attendee has room to stretch and really relax. $15 holds your spot and includes Rosati's pizza. Friday Sept 2 from 6-11:30pm.

"20 in 3" Layout Mania
Got gobs of photos and just want to get them in albums? Michelle's class is the perfect solution. You will finish (yes, FINISH) 20 pages in a 3 hour marathon. This class is filling fast, so call to reserve your spot. $60 (just $3 a page, cheaper than a page kit!!) on Saturday Sept 3 from 10-1.



Meeting Mindy
Have you met Mindy? I know, she's never here when you're here. :) Mindy helps in the store a few hours here and there, balancing her busy family life with a dash of scrapbooking! Mindy and her DH relocated here from Kansas.
Things you should know about Mindy:

• Mindy's favorite color is pink.
• The last book she read is..wait, she's laughing. Apparently, "Little Bear" was the last book she read. Or read to a little one...
• Her favorite movie is Back to the Future. She digs that MJF, ya know.
• Poe is her favorite musical artist. Quoth the raven...no, wait, that was the poet, not the musician.
• If Mindy skips town, check the Bellagio in Vegas first. That's her favorite hangout sans kids.
• If she wrote her autobiography, it would be called "The Jayhawk Stalker." You'll have to ask her to explain.

Suzy

Good News and Bad News

Which do you want first?

Okay, bad news first:
Susan is out today because her son Thomas is one sick dude! I miss her :(

The Good News Is...

BASIC GREY IS HERE!!!!!!!!!! All of it!

The rub-Ons, the papers, it's all here and you're going to have a tough time prying it out of my hands (unless you ask really nicely).

Drop by to say hi to me today and, as Susan would say, "get you a hunk of this stinkin' adorable paper!"

Lindsay

UPDATE: After "Gordo", our UPS man, left, our FedEx guy walked in with the new Making Memories Vintage Hip frames, buttons and stick pins!!! That should really get you motivated to come on down!

Monday Monday

At the end of a lo -o-o-o-ong Monday, here's an update on store arrivals:

• Pages By Design is back in stock. We sold through our initial order of both the system and the idea book. If you want to design high-quality pages more quickly, this system is for you. The idea book is great on its own or as a partner to the template page design system. We'll also be offering demonstrations in coming weeks so you can experience the system in action.
• Artistic Impressions layovers by Autunm Leaves arrived today. Layovers are another way to create wonderful dimensional pages quickly.
• Just-rite Self-Inking Stampers in Emotions, Feelings, Travel, and Romance are in stock, along with reorders of other staples in stamp inks , adhesives, and tools. We now sell the Xyron "X" adhesive dispenser, perfect for ribbon, QuicKutz letters, and other small embellishments.

Basic Grey is on its way, and we hope to see it in the store by Wednesday!

Suzy

And the Sale is Extended...

I know a couple of folks were not able to make it out to Ahwatukee for our summer sale, so I am adding one more day to the event.

We are open Sunday from 12-4 and will continue the summer sale for a final day.

We have met a lot of new customers, and have seen many of our regulars as well. We hope that everyone who attended the event found something fun to add to his or her stash. (Although I did not see a lot of "hims" looking through the store, at sale items or otherwise. Except for Connie's DH, who returned a few times to gather more Bazzill and Chatterbox for Connie's project. What a swell DH!!)


Suzy

TGIF!

Friday is here and the store is rocking! Thanks to all our customers who have stopped in to check out the sale.

Just arrived today:

• Bazzill's new idea book, Places We Love, features some of our favorite local artists. I would mention them by name except there are so MANY favorites in this book, it would be quite an extensive list. You know who you are.
• We have restocked our Provocraft wood letters, although PC was out of several letters. When I called to see when the rest of the letters would be available, PC advised they were now in stock. So the missing letters (including that elusive "A") have been reordered and I expect them to arrive next week.
• K&Co Scrap Mats in all five colors are back in stock. These circle mats are very popular with our customers for projects and unique gifts.

Hope to see you today or tomorrow!

Suzy

Hall of Fame Volume 7

You know it's a great day when the UPS guy comes back for a 2nd delivery.

Well, it is and he did, bringing the brand, new, SMOKIN' hot Hall of Fame issue with him. This is gonna fly on out of here, so make haste and get yours now.






Special congrats to Kim Kesti, my once-upon-a-time ages ago roommate at CKU, and local AZ talent from the other side of the Valley.

And now back to our regular scheduled sale.

Suzy

The Pleasure Is Mine

I've been informed that I am a minority among scrapbookers...I'm kidless, you see. I still managed to get sucked into this wonderful world, and I'M LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT! For those of you that I have not had the pleasure to meet, my name is Sam. I started working here in late June after meeting Lindsay when in the store shopping with friends. Now that I'm back to full-time at ASU, I'll only be here Monday and Thursday from 3-7pm. So, come on down and see me! I love hearing what you're all working on and seeing your projects in progress.

Speaking of our shoppers...last night around 5 o'clock a flock of ladies came into the store. They were here on an adventure and stayed until closing. They were a lot of fun and made my day! I hope you all enjoy your new purchases. Hopefully we'll see you at the sale this weekend.


HERE'S WHAT'S NEW! hey, it's Lindsay...I interrupted Sam to let ya'll know what came into the store today!

• Bo-Bunny patterned papers and matching cardstock stickers just hit the floor! These are great for you scrappers who are big on style and small on time!
• Pressed Petals patterned papers also arrived today. Very cute papers in different themes such as princess, boy, love, wedding, Halloween and Christmas! You'll love the cool fonts on these sets.
• Our re-order of the Making Memories acrylic paint was just put into the system. These brand new colors are tough to keep in stock, so give a call down at the store if we can hold some back for you to pick up later!
• The Ribbonrie book is back in stock as well. I'm not kidding you when I say that this is our 3rd order in 2 weeks! One of my favorite new books, a definite must have!

WEDNESDAY ALREADY...

Time flies when you've having fun - and we are having a blast getting ready for our big Summer Blowout Sale this weekend.

Papers have been picked, prices have been slashed and tomorrow we start in on embellishments. You wont' want to miss this ladies - stock your dwindling stashes, fill up the kids scrap boxes, buy a stack of paper for your child's favorite teacher or donate it the your Girl Scout troop leader! Many uses, great prices - stop by this Friday 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. or Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

New stuff that arrived today:
- Karen Foster's newest papers (cheerleader, music notes, princess, castle)
- Karen Foster large Snap & Scrap storage boxes

AND
- "Substance of Life" by Chatterbox. This is the book that has the 25 most intriguing albums in it. It's a good read - come by and thumb thru the store copy!

Lindsay is bringing her camera into the store tomorrow...we're adding pictures soon! So stop by and say "hi", you never know when we'll ask you to pose with new product for display on the blog!

Susan

Tuesday Arrivals

Just arrived in the store today and ready to find a new home:

Urban Lily Collection 2

Just as beautiful as the name implies, this paper comes to us from Australia. Gorgeous blues, pinks, and browns in wonderful modern floral designs. If we had paper for lunch, this would be dessert.




Quickutz Totes

Heading to a crop with your Quickutz? Now you can carry it in style with this fashionable black tote. Easily hold the tool (with a sleek tool wrap included) and lots of dies, plus pages in progress and other crop tools. Retailing for $39.99, snag yours for only $27.99 at Annalis.


Heidi Swapp

Our last order of Heidi went flying out of the store, so we just restocked. Grab the iron-on letters, rub-ons, scrapbook scenery, ghost letters and shapes, and oversized photo corners before they all disappear. On deck is new Heidi product, and we will add that info to the blog as soon as the product actually arrives at the store. (We are just giddy at the thought of those darling pink irons for our iron-on letters and can't wait 'til they are here!) Oh, and please thank Lindsay for the reorder 'cuz without her, we would be without Heidi. (Trust me on that one. :)

Et Cetera

Liquid Sculpey is a pretty nifty medium that enables you to do photo transfer. Pick some of this up and see what fun a transfer medium can be on all your projects.

Making circles is a breeze with a circle punch. The ones just in are the perfect size for those Bazzill coin holder books. These will go FAST so come by to get yours soon.

Suzy

Chatterbox Classes

Have you seen the samples for the Chatterbox classes going on this month and next? If you have never taken a class, any of these are great ways to start. First of all, you get beaucoup product, courtesy Chatterbox, and you can use it on your class project or to make several other projects. Second, the price for any of the 4 classes is the ever-fabulous $15. Stop by to visit the samples and see the spread of goodies that accompany each class. Then sign yourself up for one or two classes and see how much fun it is to play with all the pieces and parts in the Chatterbox lineup. Value of product in each of the 4 classes is more than the $15 class fee. And if you really really really just want the kit and plan to skip the class, whisper sweet nothings into our ear and we'll sell you the kit for the same remarkable $15 price. Our only request is that you at least sit for a spell in the Chatter Chair, decorated for Annalis by the one and only Kim Mattina using (what else?) Chatterbox products.

Suzy

Another Manic Monday

So, it's Monday again! How about a little retail therapy to get you motivated for the week?

Here's What's New

• We just received the 3rd and final installment in the Donna Downey series of books published by Simple Scrapbooks. We have a limited number of the books and the first two in the series flew out of the store. Call to reserve your copy with a credit card over the phone or stop by the store.
• Book Plates by Creative imaginations. Each comes in a pack of 2; 1 round and 1 square.

Don't Forget

We've got our summer blowout sale coming up this Friday and Saturday! We're marking items down both new and "vintage" :)

If I don't see you...have a great Monday!

Lindsay

What Time Does Your Store Close?

So, anyhoo, I am at the store Sunday working away, and it is very very very sloooow. I think that in 2 hours, maybe 1 person is there. She is there the entire 2 hours, so I am not so lonely, and she is working very hard to find some inspiration to complete the last 8-10 pages or so for a gift album. So it's kinda' nice, I have the time to look at each of her pages and help her ramp them up, and by the time we are about done, she is re-energized and is ready and excited to complete her last few pages. So she goes home to do that.

About the time she departs, a few people come in. Then a few more. All of a sudden, I swear it is wall-to-wall people. So what happens? Well, duh, the phone rings. "What time do you close?" So, I glance at my watch. Hey, it's 15 minutes past regular closing time! "Well, about 15 minutes ago, but honestly, it's a party in here, so I would expect I'll be here until about 5 anyway." "Yay, I'll be right over!"

So just to let you know, that sometimes our store hours are just not carved in stone. I hope you understand that also means that when I am supposed to open the doors at 10am on a Saturday morning, if I decide to go through the McD's drive-thru for my Diet Coke, and I get stuck behind 16 minivans just escaped, I mean departed, from a Saturday morning kids league contest, the doors to my store could just possibly not open until 10:10am. Cuz I just gots to have me that Diet Coke to get it started.

BTW, our first ever Summer Clearance is this Friday and Saturday, all day both days, from whenever we open until whenever we close. I mean to get rid of lots of stuff that appears to be just sitting around, when it darn well needs to either a) join someone else's stash or b) get used on a layout. So join us for not a lot of hoopla but definitely lotsa bargains. Wheeeeeee HA!

Suzy

Have a Seat! Sign ups end Monday!

If you've been to our store, you know that we have some pretty awesome chairs in our workroom. Customers are always asking us if we are having a "chair class" because they want to make a chair too. Ummm, so we now offer the class and Lindsay will be teaching it.

This is not really a class, it is more of an EVENT, because it takes two (yes 2!) evenings to complete. Night one, we prep and paint the chair. Night two, we turn it into a masterpiece. You can bring your own chair if you'd like (we recommend the IVAR chair from IKEA, $20) or we can assemble one and have it ready to go for you ($40 extra) but you've GOTTA sign up by Monday. Class is Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 6-8pm and costs $55.

So call and sign up because there are limited spaces. And limited places to sit. :)

Suzy

MM Paint Color of the Day

EatYourCarrots

What is the MM Paint Color of the Day? Well, just a goofy way to see if y'all are coming on board our new blog and reading it! Come into the store anytime this weekend (8/13 or 8/14) and purchase the MM Paint Color of the Day...and receive a FREE gift! Maybe it's a foam brush to paint with, maybe we found one of those hard-to-get Target document boxes, maybe it's something we pulled from the stock we just can't get rid of (j/k) but HEY it is FREE! If we sell out of the color, mention the color and we'll wing it.

Eat Your Carrots. It would be swell if you would also actually eat your carrots, but it is not required to get your FREE gift.

Suzy

Hello, Welcome, What's New

Hello all...

We'll start by introducing ourselves (The A Team...get it?):

Suzy: Owner, Paper Purchaser Extraordinaire, Big Boss Lady, Mother of 1, and damn easily distracted

Lindsay: Manager, Darn Good Paper Straightener, Writing This Right Now, Mother to NONE!

Susan: Red-Headed Bombshell, Mother of 2, Resident of Gilbert and the best darn sales person to grace the wood floors of Annalis

Samara (Sam): Semi-New to the Valley, Mother to a new Fur-Baby, Killian, Cutest thang we've got working here at Annalis

Elle: Artiste, Soon-t0-be Grandmother of 1, World Traveler and Teacher

We're happy you're reading this and we hope to see you in the store really soon! We'll be publishing our calendar here along with tidbits of information, fun contests and coupons!!! So stay tuned!

Here's What's New:
This will be the place in every post where we'll update you on what we just recently received at Annalis. As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to give us a shout down at the store (480) 704-2327

• American Crafts All the new papers and alphabet stickers have arrived and they're just so gorgeous, you won't want to wait on these babies!
• SEI the new fruitstand line is here and it is super fun! In addition, we got in the new SEI iron-ons and they are just too cool for school.
• Chatterbox BELIEVE IT! It's finally here! Come check out their best work yet!
• WeRMemoryKeepers got a few new coordinating lines of scrapbook paper
• Krafters Purse We have this handy little bag that holds all your tools, in stock and ready for you to pick up. You can choose from pink, khaki, green or blue (sorry purple is already gone).
• Wild Asparagus GORGEOUS GORGEOUS GORGEOUS...you have to see it to believe it
• Kaleidoscope this paper is bright, fun, and brand spankin new!
• Design Originals Tim Holtz embellishment cards and 9x9 papers great for the artist in you!

That's about it for now. Definitely come check out our new goods, you won't be disappointed!