Crop-a-dile videos

Do you all have a Crop-a-dile? Do you know what it is? This is a tool that I highly recommend to have in your crafting supply stash. It is a wonderful hole punch and eyelet setter. We sell these at the website store in the "Cutters, Scissors, Cutting Systems" section of the store including the handy dandy case that you may not have if you bought the Crop-a-dile when it first came out. Not only does the case hold your eyelets.... more importantly it has a special little place that holds and stores the instructions that include all the eyelet dial settings. I am always misplacing those settings so I am so glad for this feature.

Here are links to some great links on the Crop-a-dile and a great one that shows you how to dry emboss little circles with the tool as well. Happy Viewing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyHffZ-e0Xc How to use the Crop-a-dile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otn2Slgepuc&feature=related Many uses for the Crop-a-dile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwWtcrQc5Ok&feature=related Dry emboss polka dots

See you Stamp Clubber's Tomorrow!

Hey guys just a quick post to say I am looking forward to stamping with all of you tomorrow... and eating! :)

For those of you who don't live near the Studio and can't attend, I will post photo's and instructions for the projects we make at the workshop in a few days. I don't want to leave anyone out!

Adirondack Ink Pads Added

I am excited to add the Adirondack dye ink pads to our line up! We added 12 luscious colors that are the same colors as the alcohol inks that we carry as well. Don't you love it when things match?! If you purchase all 12 Earthtone colors you can save over $3.00 that goes for the Re-Inker collection as well. I just love a good deal. You can find these new ink pads and re-inkers in the "Ink Pad" section of the TSS Store.
Dye Ink pads are the easiest inks to work with, and the easiest to clean as well. I like these pads as they are filled with wonderful color that make your images really stand out, and they are really fun to mist and stamp with. This type of ink is water-based, kind of like the ink that comes in a regular marker.

Suzane Milam on the April Cover on Scrap & Stamp!

Just before I started this blog Suzanne Milam made the cover of Scrap & Stamp Magazine. This is such an honor in our rubber stamping world! Here is her cover:These projects came from a Design Team challenge on altering packaging. It is a beautiful cover and we even have a two page feature inside the magazine as well highlighting not only Suzanne's projects but also Wendy Sebesta, Dina Gerner, and Dot Alcorn. It is a really nice issue and you can still find it some places on the newsstand along with the newest issue with Wendy Sebesta on the cover. So pick them up at your local store and order them online http://scottpublications.com/ssa/

Twins School Pictures

I thought I would share with you my twins school pictures. Sean is in the green sweatshirt and David is in the sling. Poor thing broke his collarbone when we were snow tubing in the mountains of New Mexico a couple months back. He is all healed now and doing cartwheels all over the place!

They are fraternal twins as you have probably guessed and although they have a family resemblance they are different in so many ways. They even have different color eyes. They are just sweet as they can be unless they are arguing with each other. Ha!

Stamp Club Saturday April 26th

I am busy getting ready for our monthly Stamp Club Workshop that is here at the Studio in Lincolnton GA this Saturday. Here are the projects that we are going to make;

This is a Greeting Card Organizer with pockets to hold cards for each month of the year. The cover features a stamped and beaded element along with embossed cardstock and hand punched flower with buttons. It is bound using the Bind-It-All binding machine from Zutter and this workshop is a great way to try this great machine out for free.

The other project is a cute little matching zipper pull that has your initial (or the recipients initial) on one side and a mini mirror on the other. These are great little gifts to add to your bible cover or zipper on your purse so that you can check your lipstick... or see if you have spinach stuck in your teeth. Does anyone else out there have a spouse that does not let you know if you have something stuck in your teeth or food on your cheek? Ha! I guess "Husbands" talents lie elsewhere. :)

This is a free workshop you just need to let me know that you are coming by phone (706) 359-6387 or email melissa@thestampingstudio.com We start at 11:00 and it usually ends about 2:00... oh! and we feed you lunch as well. What could be better?... stamping and eating. What a great combo. FYI, Lincolnton is about 40 minutes north of Augusta Ga and about 2.5 hours east of Atlanta. Our address is 1022 Choctaw Drive, Lincolnton GA 30817 in case you want to use map quest to see how far it is from you http://www.mapquest.com/

For those of you coming to Stamp Club in addition to bringing your basic stamp kit with scissors and adhesive please bring with you, if you have them (don't worry if you do not... I will share.)

• Bind-It-All
• Scor-It board
• Paper Cutter
• Rubber Stamp sets - Favorite Florals, Big & Little Botanicals, Calligraphy Alphabet
• VersaMagic ink pads - Aegean Blue, Pink Petunia, Wheat
• Brilliance ink pad - Pearlescent Beige

If you bring these items it would really help out this month as the Greeting Card Holder is an involved project that would be handy if we had more supplies to use. It is actually a very easy project, just a lot of steps.

I look forward to seeing you all!

April Challenge

Hi Stamping and Scrapping Friends, I have already presented the Design Team with their first challenge, and the same as last year, you are invited to join in on submitting cards using the same theme if you would like. The more the merrier, and you just might have a better chance of getting published if we have samples all in the same theme. And remember that if you get published you can earn free stamping bucks good towards your choice of rubber stamps.

See below for the challenge details. ************************************

I am going to start us off right away with a fresh and fun challenge to start the new DT year. My inspiration came from the April/May 2008 issue of Paper Crafts magazine in which they had a feature on ruffled and pleated embellishments on cards. You can ruffle or pleat cardstock, ribbon, fabric, and more to add to your cards.

Please create 3-5 sample projects that can be anything from tags, to cards, to scrapbook pages, to anything you can think of. The more projects you submit the more likely you will to be published.

Please have your samples in the mail "by" May 9th which gives you a little over 3 weeks to work on your samples.

We will be submitting your samples to: Submissions c/o The Stampers Sampler 22992 Mill Creek Suite B Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Submission guidelines are as follows;

* Each sample has artist name, address, email, and phone number attached

* Each sample has brief instructions with Stamp Credits - very important!

*If you would like your artwork returned, each sample to be returned should have "return requested" written in red on the submission information card and check or money order should for postage should be included.

*If you would like to be notified when your artwork arrives at Stampington & Co. please include a self-addressed postage paid postcard.

***Also please include a note in your submission box explaining that you are a friend of The Stamping Studio and these projects were made using ruffles and pleats.

Suzann Jones, one of our Design Team members has completed her challenge samples already and they are gorgeous! Here is a sampling of her challenge pieces;

You can view all of her samples with wonderful close-up images in her gallery at the website which is in the section "Studios by TSS Stampers", and scroll down to her gallery at the bottom.