Today was a super-duper Red Letter Day for Dianne and Art 'n Soul. She designed 3 'zentangled' stamps for the latest Magenta stamp release and they arrived at the store. We opened the box and Dianne was beyond ecstatic to see her artistic passion and idea come to life!

Magenta Stamps designed by Dianne Johnson

Magenta Stamps designed by Dianne Johnson

Magenta Stamps designed by Dianne Johnson

Of course, I had to be the first to buy her stamps. And at check-out, I asked Dianne to sign each one!

Dianne Johnson signing the
Magenta stamp she designed!

Dianne will be demo'ing her designed stamps at the Christmas Party. Be sure to come early and buy Dianne's Magenta stamps!

This has been the first opportunity on the blog to introduce Pam Nelson, our newest member of the Art 'n Soul team. Pam retired this last spring and made a commitment then to join us; however, she wanted the summer off to enjoy it all. So Pam is on board now that it's October and she's loving it! She has been a stamp lover for a long time, and her history with the store goes back to when the store was originally known as Quackers, owned by someone else. You'll find Pam at Art 'n Soul generally on Mondays and Thursdays, and perhaps once in a great while on a different day.

Pam Nelson checking in one of our Christmas Party orders
at Art 'n Soul

Remember the piano-hinge book class last Saturday? Well, here are my book covers, as well as pics of the binding itself. I saw Wanda McWilliams at the store today; she was mentioning how much fun she had in the class and how much she enjoyed John Petersen!

by Debbie Gaetz
(please forgive the shadow of me taking the photo)

This is the piano hinge binding
using wooden skewers.

The "long" skewer is the one used as a guide
to then insert the shorter skewers behind it;
I haven't inserted the back outside skewer yet.
You can see that the front and back skewers
are the only ones that will show from the outside.

On the inside of the book, every other opening
will show the skewers or will hide the skewers. 

I really like this particular binding and look forward to making more of these type books. John warned us to make sure our pages are a full inch or to the half-inch on the height measurement.



Please take a moment to click on the link to the Art 'n Soul class schedule (column on the right at the top). I was just informed that the photos I included with the descriptions for the Dreamweaver Stencils' classes on October 20 & 21 were inadvertently incorrect. The corrections have been made . . . my thanks to Lynell Harlow at Dreamweaver Stencils for letting us know!



Included with the party order from Penny Black, we have a few stamps and dies that were part of the open catalog order. Check these out . . . there are only one or two of these remaining and may be purchased now!

Mariette has made a card using one of my very favorite stamps from Magenta . . .

by Mariette van Leeuwen, Design Team Magenta

Click on this link for her how-to:  http://www.magentastyle.com/2014/10/happy-birthday-bonne-fete_13.html

On the Gelli Arts blog, I found this posting about gelli printing on tags. Since 'tags' are going to be very popular this holiday season, I thought this might be something you'd be interested in . . . I know I am! Tags are good for identifying gifts, making cards, making little books, decorations, banners, etc. Stretch your creativity . . .

Photo from Gelli Arts blog

Click on this link for details, as well as a great video:  http://gelliarts.blogspot.com/2013/12/easy-and-fun-gelli-printing-on-tags.html

When we were checking in the order from Elizabeth Craft Designs for Art 'n Soul's Christmas Party on Sunday, I do believe these lady elves were in the peel-off sticker stash. I overlooked them . . . and now, I just have to purchase a set!

by Candy Spiegel for Elizabeth Craft Designs

Here are Candy's step-by-step instructions:  http://ecraftdesignsblog.com/2014/10/lovely-ladies/

And Judi Kauffman has shown us how to put those die cut paper scraps to good use on the Elizabeth Craft Designs' blog.

by Judi Kauffman for Elizabeth Craft Designs

Click on this link for Judi's how-to:  http://ecraftdesignsblog.com/2014/10/scrap-frames-pumpkins/

I apologize for not posting last night; heard rumors that some of you were disappointed not to see new items on the blog this morning. This antibiotic is causing not-so-good times and last night, I just had to go to bed early. Hope to see you tomorrow!


In the meantime, I hope you're planning on being at the Art 'n Soul Christmas Party this Sunday. It's always been a great event . . . and this year, it promises to be more awesome than ever with our line-up of guest artists, demo's, and new stamps, dies, stencils, papers, washi tapes and ribbons.

Art 'n Soul's Annual Christmas Party

Sunday, October 19, from 1:00 to 4:00

PLEASE JOIN US!

See you tomorrow! Thank you, Cindy Sharp, for sharing these photos of Heatherwood's English Cream Golden Retriever puppies sired by a European champion . . . needless to say, all of the puppies have homes!