Easily Amused

Saturday, December 24, 2005

How Much Paper Do You Need? Mega-Sale

The answer, of course, is more. That is, no matter how big that stash is, more is needed. More Chatterbox. More Basic Grey. More ki. More Scrapworks. More Melissa Frances. More 7gypsies. More SEI. Just more.

To help with this paper collection syndrome, ALL patterned paper is 50% off all week, Monday-Friday, December 26-30, from 10am-7pm. Half off. All. Patterned. Paper. Includes specialty papers, embossed papers, Disney papers, double-sided papers, and clearance papers.

Bazzill is not included, though, because that is cardstock. And that's a whole 'nother thing.

See ya at the paper sale. Let the wallpapering begin.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Flower Power

Groovy new colors of mixed size Prima flowers arrived today, packaged in the adorable Got Flowers? milk bottles. Choose valentine pinks and reds, holiday greens and pinks, or spring pastels of teals, purples, and, ummm, pinks again. Must've had some kind of pink thing happening when I ordered...


Card Creations

The new PaperCrafts magazine is here! Favorite Occasions is the theme, and you will find ideas for lots of lovely projects inside. Check out Kim Kesti's blast of Valentine creativity on page 53. Love ya, Kim!

In-store Projects

Scrambling for a last-minute gift and still wanting to make it yourself? Stop in and build the perfect project: $20 and 20 minutes will get you on your way with another gift item off your list of things to do. Complimentary box of Thin Mints or Do-Si-Do's with each completed project. Yummy.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

{Season of Giving}

We have been unpacking lots of great stuff from every size of box just in time for y'all to stop by and get that perfect gift. Here are a few suggestions:
  1. Melissa Frances enamel treat holders. In three sizes, and labeled for all your little darlings. Get them for your Kids or Kitty's.
  2. Magnet boards with pink scalloped edges, complete with easel for display. We know, we've never seen anything like them either. Rubons look amazing on the soft pink enamel, the holes in the scallop edges are perfect for weaving ribbon, and, hello? they are METAL, which means MAGNETS! Awww, cute. Easiest gift ever, I think.
  3. For the PET LOVER in your life. Kitty and doggy paper from NRN. Yes, I was just charmed by the reindog paper. Candy cane bones? Holly gingerpaw prints? Jingle dogs and cats with Santa hats? Kitty mewsic?
Maybe there's more. But that should be enough to get you thinking about what to add to your stash OR we have gift certificates in any amount if you just can't decide on the perfect gift.

But OH WAIT!! I spoke too soon, here comes Gordon (UPS man) with 5 new boxes. Stop by to see what he brought or check back later for an update.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Lots o' Stuff in the House

I tell you, we are opening the boxes as fast as we can. It's just that more seem to arrive just when we have finally found a new home for the ones we just unpacked. Although it does help that we can barely get things out of boxes before y'all buy them.

Just in:
  • Scrap Mats: We know it's the Advent Calendar sample that is making these disappear. We also know there are lots of other things worth counting down, so we're determined to keep these in stock, no matter how many of them sell. Maybe this new batch will last through the weekend...
  • Magnet boards with pink scalloped edges, complete with easel for display. We know, we've never seen anything like them either. Rubons look amazing on the soft pink enamel, the holes in the scallop edges are perfect for weaving ribbon, and, hello? they are METAL, which means MAGNETS! Awww, cute. Easiest gift ever, I think.
  • Rolodex albums are raging hot, and we've brought back an oldie but goodie, the Junque It Up Flip Book. Inexpensive way to make a rolodex album, and ever so fast from scratch to finish. We are certain there will be a class in January.
  • Basic Grey Notch Tool, back in stock. The first order was out the door as we were unpacking them, so we asked for more. Yay, they're HERE.
  • Melissa Frances enamel treat holders. In three sizes, and labeled for all your little darlings. Choose one for the doggy, one for the kitty, and even one for the kid. So much fun and so inexpensive. Also from MF, hors d'oeuvres cutters and enamel platters, so you can make incredibly adorable sandwiches for your holiday brunches. Sweet. Although maybe not quite scrapbooking, give us just a moment and we know we'll create a photo project for these sweet items.
  • Kitty and doggy paper from NRN. Yes, I was just charmed by the reindog paper. Candy cane bones? Holly gingerpaw prints? Jingle dogs and cats with Santa hats? Kitty mewsic? I've never been able to resist a pun. And the people at NRN are so wise to remember how much fun it is to put hats on all our dogs in holiday photos. Hee.
  • Bazzill Polka Dot Brads and Bazzill Chip Toppers. We have done all kinds of wicked cool things with our oversize brads and our Bazzill chips (big and small.) Even so, how nifty for Bazzill to create the simplest decor ever for those chips: gorgeous chip toppers crafted on beautiful Bazzill Basics paper. Just cover the chip with a Bazzill chip cover, stick a magnet (oh, we received those also, mighty strong, mighty tiny magnets) on the back, and, hey remember those pink enamel magnet boards? I'm just saying, five minutes for the cutest gift, people. And the brads? Use them with the flowers we received from...
  • Heidi Swapp. More. Flowers. Chipboards in all colors and shapes. Ghost letters. Enormous flowers. Alphas. More. You'll have to come see. Except I did skip the s'tape. Oopsie. But the polkas in the flowers are just too too.
  • Maybe there's more. But that should be enough to get you thinking about what to add to your stash.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Those Wonderful Teen Years!!!



Most of us do NOT want to revisit those teen years in junior and senior high school, but for these great papers we should. Think of all the wonderful pages and projects you could create with your local high school paper or even the high school letters.

We just recieved a shipment from Stamping Station. In that box was 3 local high school varsity letters, page kits, and Altadena Panthers Paper(Shout out to Kelsey!!). Yes, I said page kits. But they were the best choice to properly promote high schools on this side of I-10.

So come out and support:
Desert Vista-Thunder
Mountain Pointe-Pride
Corona Del Sol -Aztecs
Altadena-Panthers

Along with the customer high school page kits were some fantastic laser cuts for Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We also could not resist selecting an Arizona themed paper(chili peppers NOT included).

SPOILED............















WOW!!! How lucky are we?? We have such a fantastic, locally owned scrapbooking store to shop at right here in the Phoenix area. We all let the little things slip, but that is what makes this store fantastic. I have been visiting my family in Nebraska for a week, where most items in this store are not easily found or found at all. We all forget how spoiled we can get with all this amazing, hand selected product right at our fingertips. Oh, and not to mention the perfect paper that lives within the walls of this store.

For example the little things:
1. Charms for every occasion(metal embellishments)
2. Items to alter for the perfect gift for that perfect person(magnet boards)
3. 7 Gypsies product right at our finger tips!!(not found in Omaha, NE)
4. Bazzill Basics...textured paper?(Only online in the Midwest)
5. Wall O' Ribbon...need I say more?!?!?!



P.S. Come check out all the new Christmas Ribbon from MayArts and the RickRack from Creative Impressions. It's just so beautiful!!

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

That Silver Lining

  • Thank you to the Phoenix police officers who took the burglary report
  • Thanks to all my amazing customers today, from the first one in the door who helped me sweep up the broken glass and gave me a hug, to the ones at the end of the day who made sure everything was OK
  • Thanks to my awesome staff, including the one who called from her vacation to make sure another friend came to check up on me, and the others who checked in with me at home
  • Thanks to that friend for coming in and then bringing me back lunch
  • Thanks to my mom for being there for me
  • Thanks to a very respected colleague who made sure that safety came first
  • Thanks to my neighbors for taking packages, being concerned, and sharing information and kind words
  • Thanks to everyone who made a kind comment, offered words of comfort, and were just understanding as we made our way through the day
  • Thanks for leaving my memory card untouched, so my DD's birthday pictures are now backed up across the multi-media empire. It would be the worst to find that all of AG Place memories were just that.

I really struggled with whether to add this story to our blog. We work so hard to create a place that is full of spirit and caring. Sometimes, the choices we make are not the best, even when they are made with the best of intentions. But through it all, we find that people recognize the humanness in it all, and are willing to work with us through good and bad patches. Today was one of the toughest moments we have experienced. Thank you for holding our hands through it. Thank you.

"Technique Tuesday" Tuesday

Calamity Jane font unmounted rubber stamps are rustic, rip-snorting and random. Since they are from Technique Tuesday, you gotta know they will last you forever. Also in: some unmounted sets of circle stamps plus the large, long, and lean Eiffel font that comes with those brackets you've been seeing all over the place. And we also received the white chipboard shapes, just ever so right for stamping circles on circles. See the new collections, while they last.

Welcome L'il Davis

L'il Davis has sent more of our summer CHA order, including more chipboard letters and words. The seaweed color is a nice match for a lot of holiday pages, too. And whether you have feelings, love, or want to party on a summer road trip (or scrapbook that page), the set of 3 words in all those styles are in the store.

We say WELCOME to L'il Davis for the shipment, and welcome to the company, relocated to Mesa from California. It's nice to have such nice folks in the area!

Saturday, December 03, 2005

You (and you and you)

Only 'cause I said I would:

Galvanized tin, tobacco tins, and pink enamel arrived on Friday. I was on the plane, getting closer to the chill of the lovely Second City. Baby, it's COLD outside!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Basic Grey Notch Tool

The wicked cool Basic Grey notch tool just came in the door! This nifty tool makes all kinds of projects, and comes with a half-diamond die, half-circle die, and straight edge. Also back in stock are the Undressed Monograms, but this time they arrived with the Undressed Tags and Undressed Hardware. More supplies of { and } along with labels, ribbon slides, and other radically decent chipboard shapes. Innovation rules at Basic Grey. Natch!

Ribbon Up to the Rafters

First May Arts sent a bucketload of new ribbon (wide, striped, and mucho red and green shades) in time for holiday wraps and projects. Then Creative Impressions followed with a bale of wide rick rack, in nearly a dozen shades. This momentarily caused some alarm, only due to finding the proper space to display such wonders of modern texture. However, with the fast-acting display and arrangements skills of the tag-team of Kay and Sam, baskets were moved, fixtures were reassembled, major stock was moved, and Ribbon Rome was in fact built in a day. Come visit! Yum.

Also in from Creative Impressions are photo anchors in a multitude of colors and designs, all in bulk. Buy one, buy hundreds, but you get to select the colors and shapes to make up your anchor bundle. Land ho.

Michael Miller Memories Fabric Party Idea Book

Looking for really creative ways to use MMM fabric paper? This book is chock full of brilliant projects, many that can also be adapted to that ho-hum (!) paper paper that some of us still use. Hee.

New Class Projects:

Come see the samples: My Time of the Month planner, "Are We There Yet" Magnetic Countdown Calendar, VIP Magnet Frame Flip Address Book, Happy Hour Paper Bag Album, and Canvas Wall Art.

Designing With 2006

We sold out of our first run and received our reorder today. It's an idea book, a calendar, and a wealth of inspiration. Use it daily in 2006, then bind it for a more permanent idea book.

Looking for 7gypsies?

We carry tons of Naked Journals, gaffer tape, flea market finds, clipboards, rub-ons, photo turns, 97% complete tags, and oodles more 7gypsies. Come in and see the wide selection of fabulous products from our friends at 7g.

On Order:

We are bringing in tobacco tins and other enamel and galvanized tin products based on popular demand. We expect to receive our first shipment in about a week or so, and we promise to update you (and you and you) right here!