We Take Classes, Too!

(left to right): Carol Condos(co-owner of Stamp Antonio), Lynn Lloyd(former owner of Stamp Salado, and current owner of Stamp Shack/Stamp Lauderdale in Florida), and Sandra Shaw(current owner of Stamp Salado).

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We take classes, too! Our own Carol Condos, attended a class Wednesday afternoon in Salado, Tx. at Stamp Salado. Their previous owner, Lynn Lloyd, (in blue) was blowing through Texas on her way to CHA in California and decided to stop and see many of her friends in Salado, TX. including Mark Jetton, owner of Deadbeat Designs Stamps. (photo courtesy of Mark Jetton)

Carol made lots of samples using some of Deadbeats New designs for 2009, and will have them on display at the store for all to see. The New "Texas" themed stamps have been ordered and will arrive soon. There are Valentines, chocolates, bluebonnets, and more. We also have lots to celebrate the Rodeo beginning next week.

So if you have friends coming in for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, be sure to bring them by Stamp Antonio Arts, so we can show them the wonderful line of TEXAS stamps that Mark makes for us at Deadbeat Designs in Salado, Tx.

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!

NEW Window Design at Stamp Antonio Arts

It was strongly suggested by my fellow team members that I blog about our new window design, so I am inviting everyone to come by the store and see our design for the months of January and February.

There are so many things happening after the first of the year, New Beginnings, New Dreams, and such, that time is tight and of the essence. This coming weekend is our AMuse Valentine weekend! We are having visitors from all over Texas with Christy's Shoebox Swap on Friday, and Geeta Suggs, AMuse Stamp demonstrator from Austin will be here Saturday for three, YES THREE, exciting classses using the ever so popular AMuse Art Stamps. You can check out the details on the class page on our web site, or stop by the store to check out the samples. AND of course, sign up for all three classes!!!!! We always have so much fun when Geeta is here!

There will also be our monthly Make-N-Take Birthday Flower of the Month going on between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm on Saturday. The flower for the month of January is the Carnation, so stop on by, and try your hand at this wonderful craft using punches and cardstock.

We are also receiving new products everyday, and lots of new magazines, with lots of new ideas.
If you are in need of something artistic to take your mind off our drooping economy, stop by Stamp Antonio, take a class, or check out our new lines of products. Soon your mind will be off of the depressing, and on to better and happier things. We hope to see you soon!

Mindy and the Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

INCHIE Swap! NEW at Stamp Antonio Arts

We have begun an "Inchie Swap" at Stamp Antonio Arts. Inkadinkado stamp company has come out with a line of "inchie" sized acrylic stamps that we received about a week or so ago. Of course, they sold out immediately, so we have had to reorder them. In the meantime, Jane and I have "primed the pump" so to speak, and started a swap among our customers that are consumed by the INCHIE craze!

INCHIES by definition, are a 1" by 1" piece of personal ART! You may use any art technique or product of choice to decorate your little 1" square of ART. The more techniques you use on one Inchie, the more collectable they become. There are many groups around the world making and trading these beauties, similar to Artist Trading Cards (ATC's). We didn't want to be that formal, so we just put out a few handfuls of them in a basket and they took off from there.

To participate in our "SWAP" you must make a few Inchies yourself. Then bring them into Stamp Antonio. If you bring in 5 inchies and place them in our basket, then you may take out 5 in trade. They are NOT for sale, remember you must make some and bring them in to trade.

If you would like more information on how to make INCHIES, or see some that have already been made to get some ideas, just come by Stamp Antonio Arts during regular business hours and we will show you how. Once you try them, you will be hooked! There are no special supplies required, and the only limitations is your own imagination.

INCHIES are just so much fun! Make a handful and come on by today!

See you soon,

Mindy and the Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!

On your way to your New Year's festivities, remember to party responsibly by designating a driver, and DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!

The team at Stamp Antonio Arts wishes all of our customers, families, and friends a Happy, Healthy, and Safe New Year! 2008 was a wonderful year, full of wonderful new things, and we hope 2009 will bring much MORE! More New merchandise, more New friends, more New ideas, and more New classes.

We have had many customers over the past few months bring us ideas for classes they would like to see at Stamp Antonio Arts. We have taken these suggestions to heart, and are working to make them come true. If you are interested in teaching a class at Stamp Antonio Arts in the New Year, or taking a class in something we don't offer as of yet, please make an appointment to come by and speak to our Class Coordinator, or leave a suggestion in our "comments" box.

The New Year brings excitement of New things to come, so again, on behalf of all of us here at Stamp Antonio Arts, Happy New Year 2009 and we hope to see you real soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL. . . . AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Well, here it is, the day after Christmas. Most of the excitement is over, and soon the relatives will be leaving. There are packages and papers, and cards of all types laying around, and the fridge is packed with left-overs. It's time to get out of the house, and take a trip to Stamp Antonio Arts for some fun and creativity!

This Saturday, December 27, 2008 we will be opening and closing at regular business hours;
10:00 am until 6:00 pm. We have two wonderful classes scheduled,(you may check the web page for more information, or call the store at 342-6217) and our monthly Flower of the Month Free Make-N-Take. December's Flower of the month is the Narcissus.

If you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, or you have some of that hard earned Christmas cash left over from the holidays, come on down, I'm sure we will be able to help you find something to spend it on. We still have lots of the New 2009 Hero Arts line of rubber stamps, both wood mounted and clear stamps that came out two weeks ago, with lots of samples of cards and projects to make with them. We also have some of the Hero Arts Catalogs available for only $10.25 each, that have the complete showcase of Hero Arts Stamps along with lots and lots of sample cards in each catalog. Some customers like to have a copy of the catalog on hand, just in case they have "artist's block" when it comes time to make that special card.

We also have a good supply of Metal Effects tools, metals, and templates if you are interested in embossing and metal working, along with a new shipment of punches and books from The Punch Bunch, if you are into the Flowers So Real flowermaking classes. If you have never tried the flowermaking classes using cardstock and paper punches, come by during our Make-N-Take this Saturday and try your hand at it. The Make-N-Take is free of charge, and you just may discover a new paper craft that expresses a hidden talent.

We want to take the opportunity to thank all of our customers for their business in 2008, and wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Creative 2009.

Mindy, and the Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

Hero Arts Weekend . . . . Coming in 2 Days!

I hope you are all enjoying the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas, that are linked to this blog. He has been using so many decorating "recipes" on the tags, that those of us who are trying to keep up with the tags, keep falling behind with all the new techniques. I hope we will have time after the first of the year to try some of the "New Recipes" and share them with all of you in our classes!

I also wanted to mention our "Big Hero Arts Weekend Open House" coming this weekend, December 13, 2008! The release of the 2009 New Hero Arts stamps, along with a card Make-N-Take using some of the new stamps, and a class of Simply Stamped Cards celebrating both Christmas and year round holidays will all occur on Saturday during regular store hours. You can check the web site: http://www.stampantonio.com/ for the times of the make-n-take and the class information, or call us at 210-342-6217. There will also be light refreshments to enjoy, so put on your shopping gear, and come on down to Stamp Antonio Arts and join us in celebrating the release of the New Hero Arts line. (p.s. A little birdie told me that the new releases are AWESOME!)

We have been receiving so many new products over the last few weeks, the newest of which are the products pictured above in this blog; the Dreamweaver Metal Stencils (top), and the New Embossing Pastes (below) to use with them. Carrie Avery did a very informative demonstration last weekend with these products, and if you missed it, be sure to see the samples she did while in the store this Saturday. If you have been procrastinating like I have, and haven't gotten your cards out yet, this might be a good technique to try this weekend! You can get a lot of cards done quickly, let them dry, and then pop them into the mail.

Hope to see you all soon, and Spread some Holiday Cheer this Year!

Mindy, and the Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Things are really "poppin" around Stamp Antonio Arts! The December Class Calendar is up on the Web Site, ready for you all to start signing up for classes. There are some really nice projects in the classes this month. We have also been getting NEW and exciting merchandise in everyday, in fact the UPS man is already making faces when he has to haul in all of the boxes! We are getting all of the new stuff out as quickly as possible, and I will try to have some photos of the new products up on the blog by Thursday.

I also wanted to bring to your attention, Tim Holtz has started his daily 12 Tags of Christmas, step-by-step demos on his blog. You can get there Q-U-I-C-K-L-Y, by clicking on the link on the right side of this page. When I set the link, it previewed "Tim Holtz's blog." But when it came up on this page, it just says "T" with a little box around it! Just click to the right of that "T", and it will take you right to his blog, and the beautiful tags he is creating this year. The first two are AWESOME! And, of course, we have all the supplies he uses here at the store!

Have fun creating something wonderful, until next time. . . . . . . . ho, ho, ho!

Mindy and the Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

While we were talking about Metal Effects, I also wanted to show you this framed mirror that one of our customers brought into the store, and had Carol help her measure for and make, for her home. She was so very proud of it, and it came out so spectacular, that we had to take a picture of it. Of course then, all we were getting was flashback from the camera or pictures of ourselves.

When I saw how wonderful the picture came out, and that we finally got one without the flash or ourselves in, it made me think of how grateful and thankful I was, to be working in a business that I love, that keeps me mentally stimulated as far as my Art goes, and lets me congregate daily with other artists at the store that come in to create or just relax from their stressful situations.

At least once a day, someone comes into the store saying that "they just had to get away from some situation" and thought they would come by Stamp Antonio Arts, because they can feel creative, just by walking through the store and seeing what others have done to relax and CREATE!

Sometimes, Carol takes them aside, and lets them take out their frustrations on a piece of metal, or shows them a new technique in card stamping, or embossing. When you see that light come on in their eyes, you can tell the stress is gone, and they have forgotten their problems, if only for a little while. It's that one-on-one caring and compassion that a little bit of ART can do, that makes me thankful for being able to work alongside the wonderful team I do, here at Stamp Antonio Arts. We are blessed to have wonderful customers and friends like you, and hope you all have had a terrific Thanksgiving, and are looking forward to a sensational Christmas and Happy New Year.

We will be closed on Friday, November 28,2008 but will reopen Saturday, November 29 at 10:00 am with two awesome classes and a Christmas idea demo at 1:00 pm. Come on by, we can't wait to see you!

Mindy, and the Stamp Antonio Arts Team

Metal Effects Class with Carol

We had a wonderful class last Saturday,

Metal Effects with Carol Condos ! (one of our owners)

Carol had five students that made these beautiful etched metal mugs for themselves or Christmas presents this year.They had a good time with all of the different colored metals, and all of the different styles of texture plates that Carol has in her stash to use. Several even did some freehand work on their metals, before they placed them in the protective tumblers.

If you think you may be interested in making something like this, be sure and come by Stamp Antonio Arts anytime on Monday's, Wednesday's or Friday's. That is usually when Carol works, and is available to speak with you and answer any questions you may have concerning working with the metal. She has many samples of the metal work on lots of different projects, and is happy to talk with anyone interested.

New Pictures for the Blog!

I wanted to mention about the awesome class this coming weekend, November 15th, with Liz Allen, using the Cuttlebug Die Cut machine and Embosser. It has been awhile since Liz has been to Stamp Antonio to teach a class, but I know there is a bunch of her "Class Groupies" out there that love to take her classes. Since she has moved to Dallas with her new job, she doesn't have as much free time to teach, but is looking forward to coming down this weekend to be with us, and help us learn how to use our Cuttlebug machines to make wonderful greeting cards and tags for the holidays. You may find out more information by checking our website; www.stampantonio.com, or calling the store at 210-342-6217 to reserve your space in Liz's class. Come join us in welcoming Liz back to Stamp Antonio Arts.

Here is the picture of the NEW Distress Stickles display that came in last week. Of course it is not as full as it was in this picture, but I have sent in a re-order on several colors that we are out of already. The new Suze Weinberg Glitz Stickles are across the top row of the rack. She came out with 6 new color combinations, and the rest of the rack is filled with the Tim Holtz colors. They are very pretty and have been selling like crazy.

Here's a picture of our Store Greeter and Watchdog, Duncan, in his Dragon costume for Halloween. Duncan has so much fun being with us several days a week, and he loves coming to Stamp Antonio where he gets lots of ear scratching and plenty of petting from our customers.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Veteran's Day on Tuesday, if you are off work, come on by the store. We will be here our regular Tuesday hours, from 10:00 am till 6:00 pm.

Until we see you again, Happy Stamping!

Mindy, and The team at Stamp Antonio Arts