Worth the wait! Blog Candy and New Releases!

"the possibilities are endless."

That should be the credo for our hobby, because rubber stamping is just that, endless possibilities. And just like the fort Bink built, all you need is a little imagination.

(Stamps: house -DF country collection and bink, bike and fort -DF great outdoors collection)

I have SO MUCH to tell you guys about! It's been a LOOONG week trying to get ready for our upcoming Rubber stamp shows in Novi, Michigan (Heirloom Productions is hosting the Stamp and Scrapbook paper arts festival August 16 and 17, 2008 (visit http://www.heirloompro.com/ for show information, check out the vendor line up, its a BIG show!) followed by another looong distance drive the following week to Hamburg, NY August 23 and 24, 2008(http://www.stampscraparttour.com/) which is up near Buffalo and only 38 miles from Niagara Falls, which of course we must visit while we are over there!

Anyway, so while we have been trying to get ready for that, we have also been very hard at work putting together the sentiments for the new Great Outdoors set. I'm so excited to finally be able to show you the new sets, put up the next blog candy and tell you about our new special!

First things first.. You guys have been really patient and its about to pay off...

Because here are some our newest offerings:

DoodleFactory the Great Outdoors!

and as promised coordinating sentiments:

Heidi helped dream up a good portion of these guys (props to Heidi!)
and even Irene and her Beau got in on the fun!

"when I grow up, I wanna be just like you."

"over an open fire"

These are starting production this week and should start shipping by the end of next week. They are already loaded on the website and available for order. Now the cool parts... After this set was completed I got an email from Heidi suggesting a firefly (we call them lightning bugs around here) and I was pretty bummed out that I didnt think to add one. I mean what says BOY, SUMMER and CAMPING (aside from mosquitoes!) well lightning bugs of course! But whats done is done and the plate was already off for engraving. Then I realized I was putting together the sentiments and wouldnt you know it I could find a few spots for some doodles! So I shot Irene a quick email and worked out a deal for her to doodle up some fireflies for us ASAP!

And the best part... For a limited time only...they are coming FREE with your purchase!

When you purchase the full sheet you will get these lil' fellows free!!

and you will also get this cute little bear print to go with Yoris and all those fun bear sayings:

And for the blog candy, we are giving away the first sheet (DF the Great Outdoors) and sentimnt sets (Outdoors, Together, Sign, and Tree huggers) and the freebies FREE!

All you need to do to enter our blog candy is two small things... First, promise to SPREAD THE WORD! Tell everyone you can about the blog candy and post a comment on this thread telling Irene what collections you would like to see her doodle up in the future! Dont forget to put your email addy in your comments so we know how to contact you! We will post the winner next tuesday night!
Dont forget to sign up for blog updates so you dont miss any new offers and releases. We have lots of new images coming out soon!

Sneak Peek (curtesy of Irene!)

You have probably come to know by now that I am virtually incapable of keeping a newly finished collection a secret for more than a few hours. Apparently my enthusiasm is contagious because I just got an email from Irene with a little sneak peek at the newest designs she has created for us!

Isn't she just a little bit evil? Well, I did say sneak peek. What's really fun about this reveal is that aside from Irene, myself and one other chick who fancies herself a sentiment writer (*wink*) NO ONE has set eyes on this new set! Its even a surprise to my design team. (I like to shake things up a little, just to see if they are paying attention.)

Sentiments will very closely follow on the heels of this set as both will be released together. I *might* even be cooking up a cool SPECIAL for this release, and of course there might be a blog candy in the works as well.

Check out that raccoon, aptly named Sneeq... he is a multi tasking critter who looks like he is up to something. See what Irene has to say about him...

"I think the raccoon is gonna be one of my new favorite characters. He can sit in the boat, or on a log, or even be used on his own like a creeping bandit."

This new set was originally brainstormed to be a "summer themed set" but as often happens when Irene is involved.. things evolve... Now called The Great Outdoors, its part sport, part summer, and a whole lot of GUY!

Check back soon for the complete release and new blog candy! Or better yet, sign up for updates (over there on the right) and be notified when we post new news!

Hartford CT Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo this weekend!

We thought our customers might like to know that the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo is heading to Hartford Connecticut this weekend.

The show is being held at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford.
Show hours are Saturday and Sunday July12th and 13th.

You can find show information here:
http://www.rubberstampandscrapbookexpo.com/

Its within driving distance of NY, NJ, CT, and MA residents!

We will be there along with a whole bunch of other great Rubber Stamp and Scrapbooking vendors!

Also there will be a few BEAD companies there as well, so mixed mediaand jewelry artists you should stop in too! Lots of Glass,Milifiori, and semi precious stones (turqoise, jade etc.) They havesome great prices on Glass jewelry, last show I picked up a bunch ofglass animal pendants including an adorable panda and one super coolglass "rubber" duckie for like $3 bucks or so.

We will be bringing lots of cool new products.

-Clear Acrylic scrapbooks from Clear Scraps in shapes:
cat, MEOW, dog bone, WOOF, House, School house, Arrow, Tabbed 8x8book, funky heart. These are really cool, and you can use a crop-a-dile to punch holes in the acrylic and it wont crack or splinter!

-CLip it up storage system and accessories.

-8x8 pattern paper pads from Cosmo Cricket (come early, we have asmall stock of these)

-Tons of new and old favorites from Stampendous, Fred Mullett, TheCats Pajamas, Basic Grey, Queen Kat Designs and more!

-Loads of acrylic blocks in standard and custom sizes, storage solutions for acrylic and ez mount cling mounted rubber stamps. Acrylic block storage.

-Awesome new collections of Prima flowers including the new andbeautiful artful collage printed flowers and leaves and Essentials collections.

We will have all our new releases from the DoodleFactory as well as a large selection of new Sentiment sets (even one in SWEDISH!) In a variety of themes from urban to country and holiday to anyday!(you can find our newest stamp offerings on the website)

Most of the products listed above are only available at the show! If you can make it, stop by our booth and say hello and please spread the word wherever you can, this show is brand new and if you want it to come back next year we have to get the word out!

CONGRATUATIONS!!

Congrats to Mary Dawn, winner of our big blog candy giveaway!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated and to all of you who spread the word!
I know its not the same as winning but here is a discount code for you guys to use for your next new website order. It will take 10% off your purchases from now until Monday.

Enter this code in the discount code box in the shopping cart:

BCTENOFF

Click recalculate. You should see the code applied immediately.
If not, stop and email us: strvingartistmp@aol.com
do not finalize your order unless you see the discount applied!

Check back often, we are constantly adding new images and running new candy! Better yet sign up for blog updates and get notified automatically!

Also, a quick apology... I know I said I would post the winner on Monday but we ended up having a family emergency. My sisters father in law had a heart attack yesterday and so we needed to close shop so I could watch her 3 children and she could go to the hospital. It was a moderate heart attack and he had stents put in today. Hopefully everything is going to be ok but while everyone is going back and forth to the hospital we will be running with a skimpy crew. We are still filling orders and answering emails, its just taking a little bit longer.