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

THE NEW STICKLES ARE HERE!

THE NEW STICKLES ARE HERE! THE NEW STICKLES ARE HERE! THE NEW STICKLES ARE HERE!

OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I will mention it calmly. The New Distress Stickles from Tim Holtz and Ranger Co. and the New Glitz Stickles from Suze Weinberg and Ranger Co. are now at Stamp Antonio Arts! Tim has 12 colors, that match his colors of other Distress products such as the Distress Inks and Distress Crackle paints.

Suze's Glitz colors are a multi colored blend of glitters that comes in 6 different colors. Her's are very twinkly and glittery, where Tim's are more vintage and chunky.

Be sure to drop by the store and check out the new colors. . . . . . . you will have to have them all, like me. I couldn't decide on just a few. . . . .

Mindy, and The Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

NEW Idea-ology merchandise from Tim Holtz

(Sorry about the FLASH!)

We have finally received some of the New Idea-0logy merchandise from Tim Holtz and Ranger.

We received the new Grungeboard assortments of Nature and Seasonal, along with the Grungeboard books, both 6 X 6 and 5 X 7. We also got the Fragments Charms, Keyholes, Snaps, and Jump Rings in the embelishments.

We also received some of Tim's Mask's, that he has a demo video of on his blog. You may click on the link to the right of this column, under My Favorite Blogs, and it will take you to his blog. If you click on his October 2008 postings, about half way down the page, he has his Mask technique video, along with pictures of the new Distress Stickles.

We did not receive the Stickles in this shipment, but according to UPS (the big Brown truck guys) the new display is "on its way!" Tim's Blog gives lots of information on how his New Distress Stickles are different from our regular "favorite" ones. Be sure to check his blog for more wonderful videos and information on the new product line.

Don't forget to come by on Saturday for Carol's demo between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. She will be showing some Metal Effects techniques that you won't want to miss.
* NOTE* Several customers have come in looking for the New issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors, and we did receive it also today.

Hope to see you soon,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN from the Team at Stamp Antonio

Pumpkin Time!

It's Pumpkin Time at Stamp Antonio Arts! Zoe has picked out a pumpkin from the patch, and has brought it to the store, for a contest that is worth "it's weight in GOLD!"

All you have to do is come by the store, check out the pumpkin, and guess it's weight! On Halloween evening, we will weigh the pumpkin, and the person who has guessed it's weight to the nearest pound, without going over, will win the opportunity to take one of nationally known artist, Zana Clark's upcoming classes for FREE!

Zana will be at Stamp Antonio giving classes, Saturday and Sunday, November 8th and 9th.

For a list of her classes, check our website http://www.stampantonio.com/.

We have all of her samples on display, so when you come in to check out the pumpkin and guess it's weight, you can also decide which class you want to take for FREE when you WIN!

Hurry on down, the contest ends at closing time on Halloween!

The Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

NEW Magazines from Somerset Studios Are Here!

The NEW magazines from Somerset Studios have arrived! There are a limited number of these publications available, so come in soon to get your copy! The Premiere issue of "Where Women Create" has arrived, and looks really nice. I had a few moments yesterday to sit down and look through a copy, but personally I enjoyed the Cloth Paper Scissors version, called "Studio" more. It seemed to give a better description of their spaces from the artists' themselves, and why they chose to use the different storage elements they used. The pictures in the Somerset version are very nice, but seemed too staged and didn't look like anyone ever used the spaces. I guess if you are looking for ideas on how to decorate your studio space, then it has accomplished what it set out to do.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Geeta Suggs, representing AMuse, for the wonderful classes she conducted at Stamp Antonio this past Saturday, October 18, 2008. She is a very gifted and talented instructor who taught us all about the use of Copic Markers, (which we now carry) and helped the class students in making the cutest Halloween Cards and elegant Holiday Cards using the New AMuse rubber stamps. In the next few days, I will be showing on the blog some of these awesome cards, so you too can make your holidays sparkle and shine with lovely cards.

Until then, have a wonderful day.
Mindy, and The Team at Stamp Antonio Arts

It is already the middle of October, and 2008 is scurrying to a close. Before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here and gone. Now is the time to be preparing for the holidays. Seriously! Once they start, it's all downhill from there. No time for crafting and very little time for stamping, except for those last minute cards and gifts.

To help with your holiday preparation, we have received lots of new products and stamps, and still have classes scheduled where you can learn a new technique or two to use in your holiday decorations. Please check our class calendar and Demo schedule for our upcoming events at Stamp Antonio Arts.

This morning we received the latest issue of Cards magazine from Northlight Publishing, and their special fall issue of Digital Scrapbooking. Although I don't do much scrapbooking, as such, this looks like a very interesting issue if you are into the digital aspect of scrapbooking.

Well, that's about all for now. Have a wonderful Columbus Day, and come by the store if you can. We are open Columbus Day from 10 am- 6 pm. Hope to see you soon!

The team at Stamp Antonio.