While Hannah is having a heart attack here

I just thought I would let you know that the Doodlebug product will all be in the store and on the shelves by the end of the week! She just found out that there are many, many boxes awaiting her attention. There are so many parts to this order ... glitter cardstock, flocked cardstock (patterned), velvet cardstock, patterned papers, flocking, glitter, ribbon, brads ... and it all works together as each line has one of each colour. If you are interested in just giving it a try, we have assortment packs of the glitter and flocking coming as well. Want to get a sneak peek? Here you go ...

...for the glitter lovers out there

... and how about some paper ...In celebration of summer and these beautiful products, we're going to be having a special prize drawing. Watch the newsletter, due out tomorrow, for details.

***Oh, and speaking of tomorrow, we ARE open for Canada Day, and regular store hours will apply. We even have a special gift for the first 15 customers with a purchase of over $20.

We hope everyone enjoys their Canada Day Celebrations!!

Euphoric Experience

Guess what literally JUST WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR! The UPS Driver has just walked out, leaving behind 4 humongous boxes of product, INCLUDING BASICGREY EUPHORIA!!! I will be ripping it out of the box as soon as I hit submit and starting to enter it into the computer! Should be ready in about an hour! Now that seems to be perfect timing for a lunch break!!

See you soon!

Boy! What a week!!

Hopefully things will slow down now that the kids are out of school, or at least one aspect of life will. This week has been filled with all things work and school as the school year wound down. That meant that Vita Bella went up in stages (as I didn't want you to have to wait for the whole thing to be ready before you got to see any of it). It is here. It is on the website and it is PERFECT for your layouts that call for rich colours. It is running out of the store, though. Several of the pieces are out of stock already, and once it's gone, it's gone! The papers, especially, need to be seen to be appreciated. The metallic accents on the papers are beautiful, though the pictures don't do them justice.

The frame on this paper is actually a copper colour of foil. The blue chip alphabet has a lighter shade of blue foil on it for detail. Now I see that I have more work ahead of me with the BasicGrey that is heading for the store soon. It's a good thing that I have a couple of days away before I get down to that. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and a safe summer as it really gets going this weekend.

Guess What's Coming???

I'll give you a visual clue with some of my favorites....





That's right! It's BasicGrey's new line Euphoria! I have received a shipping notice so it should be here any day! Yahooo! If you notice the 3 papers above missing when you come into the store, you know who has them! hehe. Yum! We will let you know as soon as it's in the door!!

The best things in life are FREE!

That is SO true when it comes to Scrapbook & Cards Today! YUM! We LOVE this magazine, we always wait for the delivery guy to bring us the nice brown boxes full of goodness. Today is the day! The 10th issue is available today and Catherine and team have outdone themselves again! Beautiful! If you want your free copy with purchase, stop in to see us soon as these babies never last more than 2 or 3 days. Don't worry, if you order online you get one too while supplies last! Here's a little sneak peek for you...

They're Here, They're Here!!

Our renegade QuicKutz shipment has finally arrived!! All of these lovely boxes full of squeeze and revolution tools are all here anxiously awaiting their new homes! They are being adopted even faster than we expected, so if you want to take one of these lovely toys home, don't wait too long! We don't expect to have them after this weekend!

Guess what else arrived?? Little Yellow Bicycle Vita Bella! Lori is busy now getting it entered in the computer, so hopefully we will have it available later this afternoon. Teresa will be busy getting it online on Sunday or Monday for those of you who are a little farther away.

We also got our restock order from Pebbles, so we have more ScrapbooKits in stock and some hot selling paper lines! The fun never ends around here, I just hope we can get the mess cleaned up before the Pizza Crop tonight! We still have a few seats left, so if you want to come crop with us give us a call.

For those of you joining us for the online crop this weekend, watch later this evening for the games and challenges to be posted! If you don't have an account on Turtle Soup, go set one up so you can play along with us and win some prizes!!

Customers, Bring your Wallets!!

It doesn't sound quite as impressive as "Gentlemen, start your engines!" but that wouldn't work as well here. Besides, you really don't want to leave your money at home with the sale we have going on here.

Several lines of paper have been marked down to ... are you ready for this ... 35 cents per sheet We have the accessories to go with the lines marked down 40% . We have totes at an incredible 70% off! Idea books, mini albums, rub-ons and so much more has been spread out over 3 tables in the crop room. You really should come to see it. It's amazing how much more you can get for your money when things are marked down 40-70%.

Have you heard about our Crops this weekend? We have both a store crop Friday night (6-midnight) and an online crop to get you going for summer! Our Design Team has been hard at work creating challenges to get your juices flowing. Stop by Turtle Soup sometime this weekend and check it out. Maybe you will even decide to try a challenge or two.

Do you have your teacher gift ready yet? School ends in just a week! Lori comes to the rescue again. Crash your Stash on Monday night will help you with this gift. No teachers to worry about? How about making it as a birthday gift for someone, or a pamper gift for yourself? Everything you need to bring with you is listed on our Calendar and in the most recent Newsletter. Check it out and come join us for this project.

When you stop by the store for one of these events, you can take a look at the samples for Bev's classes next week. The pictures we post here and on the web site do not do them justice. What better way to start your summer than to take a "me" day to create cards and a mini book. The In a Flutter card class is being offered for a second time as the first one filled so quickly. These beautiful cards are just the start. You get the stamp set to take home with you to create more, adding your own twist to them.

Bev is a very busy girl that day. In the afternoon she would be thrilled to have you join her in creating a Be You mini book. Using Teresa Collins Bella Girl paper and black chipboard, on which you will be heat embossing in white, you will create a mini book for any special girl in your life - even for yourself. Who could be more important than that?

And just wait until you see what she has in store for the fall. She and Lori have both been hard at work creating classes.

See you at the store. You KNOW you want to come visit us.

Jump into Summer

Join us for our JUMP INTO SUMMER online crop this weekend, starting friday evening at 8pm thru Sunday at 6pm. We will have new creative challenges, contests, and ideas everyday to get your scrapping mojo flowing. Watch for things like Tsunami Scavenger Hunt, The Bare Essentials and Sand Castles.

If you can't make it for a long time, come in say "hi". Try to complete a layout or 2 then jump into summer knowing you had a great start.

Hope to see you there.

What are you doing on Saturday?

I know that I will be away, but Lori is going to be busy teaching another of her 'famous' Scenic Route card classes. This class initially filled before it was even advertised anywhere ... that's how famous it is. She has since managed to scrape together a bit more of the paper, so she was able to add a few seats to the class. There are 6 spots left but they may not last much longer. If you have a teacher gift to get ready, this might be just the ticket. You will make an amazing 15 cards in three hours (and they will be all done in that time) for a mere $30. Call now ... you know you want to. What better way to escape that housework than spending the time with Lori here at the Turtle?

You would think ...that a long 5 months after CHA everything would have arrived and everyone would be anxious for the new stuff that would be coming out of the next show - which is a month away. The scrapbooking world just doesn't seem to work that way. On Saturday Hannah took another road trip to pick up new product - and it was just that "new product". She picked up three delicious lines from Chatterbox. You should see this stuff ... oh, wait, you can ... it's on the website with a bit of a peek here. All of the papers are double sided.

First there is the Eclectique line. One of the papers took me way, way back to before my memory began (and definitely older than some of our readers and customers) to the time of Laugh In.

See what I mean? Okay ... it doesn't shrink down well but it gives you some idea. Next comes Botanico. Can you guess what that might be? Of course you can.

This one is called Green Oak. The reverse side of this line of paper is all wood grain in one of three colours. The third line which set Hannah's heart to flutter is Happy Day. Filled with birds, butterflies and trees it is a brightly coloured line.

The accessories are plentiful for these three lines and should be seen to be oohed and aahhhed over.

More 'stuff' arrived on Saturday and yesterday but I'm still working on all of that. You'll just have to wait for the information. Let's just say that some of it is sooooooo CUTE!!

Okay, I think you need to join QA

I know that not everyone is hooked on QuicKutz. Some may not even know what it is, or want to spend the money, but I have to tell you ... the things that you can do with it can be pretty amazing. Here at the Turtle we have a QuicKutz club called QuicKutz Anonymous. You don't have to be a "gotta have everything as soon as it comes out" kind of scrapper or QK user to enjoy this class. Usually the QA classes run on Saturdays, but Lori had plans today so she put the ladies through their paces last night. Their creations were amazing!! Everyone was given "homework" ... and it wasn't complicated. Bring 20 copies of a summer recipe, printed portrait, and a sample of your recipe if you can. Sounds simple, right? Well, there was concern over what colour and whether to decorate or not. Hey, she could have asked everyone to HANDWRITE it. She didn't do that.

Last night was all about celebrating summer. Using the Canadian Cookie Cutter set and Exotic Island font, everyone created an I Am Canadian layout for their Canada Day pictures. To add to Canada Day celebrations, everyone created an invitation card for a BBQ, menu pockets that will also hold the plastic fork and knife wrapped in a serviette, and Shrinky Dink accents that could be used as accents for summer pages, or to make your own glass charms .

See what you missed??? Okay, maybe you will have to come into the store to actually "see" what you missed but you get the idea.

These classes are open to QA members only and are always a surprise. You have very little idea what is coming. Lori is now planning the next two months of classes. QA membership also gives you 10% off your QuicKutz purchases (unless there is a better sale) and a free single cut die of our choice, or other item if there isn't a single cut die that month. We try to choose a versatile die from that month's release.

QA isn't the only reason to look at QuicKutz, though. This month QK is offering GREAT prices. For the month of June, the Squeeze tool is just $29.99. That's about 6 packs of stickers! And you can cut all the "a"s and "e"s and "m"s that you need. You aren't limited to one or two before you invest in another package. The tool comes in three colours, each with its own die set. The pink tool comes with the font Moxie, the black tool comes with the font Metro and the purple tool has basic shapes. The font alone is worth $72. The Revolution is on sale for $79.99 ... another great buy. The Revolution allows you to cut not only the 4" dies that were created for it, but the 2" dies as well. As you become more adventuresome, you can look at the 12" cutting deck, ideal for cutting borders or cutting out to use reverse image.

We're just waiting on our shipment of tools. We were expecting to have them later today but no such luck. Hopefully we will have them by next weekend, so you can always call and reserve one. Okay. I think I've rambled enough for today. Time to let you get back to life.

Here it is, the end of another hot, summery day

and another day spent wrapping things up at the store after the events of the weekend. Of course, putting a couple of events behind us means looking at the events to come. We have so many classes coming up ... wish I could take some of them but that work thing gets in the way (never mind the family thing). This time I'll focus on the closest event ... Lisa's Good Times book using the Birdie Bits line of paper from Dream Street. Have you seen this book sitting on the counter at the store? What a cute book!!! Here's what the cover looks like (in case you need a reminder, or haven't seen it at all)

Lisa has done a great job with this class. She mixes both the rectangle and square pages, has created an extended page, uses Ranger Stickles, Fontwerks labels and Deja Views rub ons. To add an extra personal touch she will have you sewing and stamping and finish off the project with a bit of bling and a touch of felt. The colours are great for summer photos of picnics, pool parties or just hanging out. Escape the sun and heat while creating this cute book on Saturday morning (yes, it's this week).

Hannah is sending me messages about a new newsletter ... so watch for that coming too. There are so many things planned for everyone. Never a dull moment in the Turtle Pond.

What a weekend!!

Well, it looks like summer decided to visit us this weekend. How long it will stay is anyone's guess but it was nice to look at sunshine through the windows of the store instead of trees blowing in the strong winds, or grey skies.

I know that many customers did not get to enjoy the sunshine yesterday - they were out supporting very good causes - Crop for a Cure and Crop for Alison. I hope the halls were cool enough to keep your creative juices flowing.

We had several customers who were snatching up one of our new products, so I thought I would share it with you. Both Bazzill and Pebbles Inc. have come out with albums to help you display the photos that you aren't scrapping. We all know that there are lots of pictures that COULD be added to a layout, but where do you stop? Pebbles Inc. now has the Share and Tell system, while Bazzill has released Lickety Slip. These albums come with both 12 x 12 protectors and ones that hold 4x6 photos. Pebbles has even released pads of journal cards that will fit in those pockets (or on your layout) and creative pads filled with page accents. Here is a look at the Pebbles system.

The Lickety Slip system photo refills have 3 pockets that are horizontal and 2 that are vertical, so you can choose the refills that best suit your photo taking!

We have a full line-up of classes again this month. Bev has agreed to teach a second session of her "In a Flutter" cards. Added to this is QA, Lisa's Good Times book, Friday night crop on the 20th, Crash your Stash (and you know you have one), an already sold out Scenic Route card class with Lori and a Be You mini book class with Bev using Teresa Collins' paper. Check the calendar for details.

We will also be open until 8:00 on Thursday and Friday nights beginning June 19, so come visit us.

Hannah is working on a newsletter, so I'll stop there. Have a great, sunny Sunday everyone.

DT Sneek Peeks for June

Wow did May every fly by. Hope everyone is enjoying June so far. This cool weather has worked in my favor for spending more time in the scrap room versus being outside. With that, our Design Team has been hard at work and here are the sneek peeks for June.

Kim M

Vicki

Kim S

Brenda

Janie
Jasmine
Jennifer