Happy 2016!
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| January 2016 |
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News Highlights Doodlebug Heartfelt Creations Stampendous Elizabeth Craft Design Echo Park May Arts |
Dear friends;
This past year has been a difficult one personally for us here at The Cat's Meow. As you know, I lost my husband of 47 years in August. Melissa's mother-in-law was critically ill the first several months of the year but has fortunately recovered. It seemed like each day was a challenge just to make sure the store was open and things were running smoothly. Thanks to Linda Mosley and more recently, Kathy Swanson for helping out with the store. They have each taught a couple of classes and now they are learning the workings of the store so if for some reason Melissa and I can't be here, the doors will still be open. I cannot tell you know much we appreciate you, our faithful customers. Interestingly, although 2015 was a difficult year personally, it was a great year for the business! We celebrated our 20th year in business which it seems is a rarity in our business climate. Our customer base continues to grow, and our 2016 Stamp Escape (April 29, 30, May 1) was full prior to September 2015. Maybe we are doing something right! Thanks so much for your friendship and dedication to the store. We are at that time of year when we breath a big sigh after the push of holiday cards and classes. Now we are looking forward to Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter as well as Mother's Day and Father's Day. Gosh, that takes up half of the year. In fact in "What's New?" I will fill you in on what I have already ordered. Thanks again for all of your support in 2015! We wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!  What's New?Well, Doodlebug has done it again! We always like their whimsical paper and love the fact that they carry colors through from year to year. I think that is so smart because if you have a few pieces of a collection left from years past, it will still coordinate with a new collection. This year they came out with a wonderful Mini Dot collection. If it is red with white dots on one side, it is white with red dots on the reverse! It comes in the 24 colors Doodlebug is known for! We are in love with this cardstock! We also have some of their Valentine and St. Patrick's Day collections in stock already. We have had lots of people looking for micro-beads so we now have them in some basic colors. They are used similarly to Prills, but have a different more transparent look. Be sure to look at the new May Arts Grosgrain ribbon. It comes in lots of pretty colors and is a great basic ribbon for your projects. We have the new Coffee Collection from Heartfelt Creations on the way. I really like this collection because without the addition of some of the more feminine floral embellishments, these images can be good for men, too. Speaking of men....I have already ordered a great masculine board from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. It will arrive in May. It covers most of the bases for masculine interests.....trains, vintage cars/trucks, golf, and lots of other outdoors themes. I have also ordered from the new Elizabeth Craft Designs collections being released at CHA. There is a new Stampendous catalog that has some great new images in it. I have placed an initial order, but I know when everyone gets a chance to check out the catalog, there will be more orders to follow. They have some cute gnome images/dies. Again in the paper department, I ordered Valentine and some very cute Easter paper from Echo Park! Those of you who have purchased the Ken Oliver "Best Ever Craft Mat" and love it might want to have it in 24"x36", too! This really is the best ever mat! It doesn't slip on your table, and cleans up easily. Being able to have it cover most of your work surface will be really a plus! FYI, we have more of the Tonic 12" guillotine cutters in and have also gotten the 8.5" cutters as well. They are great for taking in your craft bag to classes or crops. The new Distress Color, Candied Apple will be here 12/29 along with the latest set of 4 cubes (#15 if you are keeping track). Those of you who are on our automatic fill list will have them set aside. Anyone who is not on the list will need to call or stop by to pick up your new pad/refill/or pen. There is a new large Memory Box/Poppy Stamps release that we will be able to preview in a few days....stay tuned! Be sure to check out the class schedule at www.catsmeowstamps.com. We have some fun and interesting classes planned for January. |
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