More About the Girls

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Bittersweet Endings & New Beginnings

Well, this week will be a bittersweet week for the three of us. I have been putting off writing here since I returned from vacation because I knew what I had to write about...

After only 3 months at The Barn in Castle Rock, we've decided to close our little shop there. Although the venue is amazing & some of the people have been really supportive, We feel that maybe it's not the right venue for us.

We were finding that even though we were had some interest from shoppers for classes & supplies, we were spending more time & money on putting things in the shop that had nothing to do with scrapbooking just as a cash flow generator. We scrambled around for three months trying to figure out what the customer wanted & in doing so, we lost sight of what we really wanted the shop to be: a place for scrappers & paper artists to come for hard to find supplies, ideas, classes & more. Plus, we really wanted to start a community of other crafters in the area, which is badly needed with all the little stores closing these days. We just weren't getting that at The Barn. True, if we could have stayed a little longer things might have turned around, but the rent was too hard to maintain & continue our vision.

So, as the week turns into the new year, we will be pulling our wares out of the space. We'll spend a week or two to re-group & load up the shop on Etsy (which is totally empty now!). We'll organize some more classes with the contacts we've made & hopefully schedule a weekend crop very soon!

Please don't give up on us! We're still here, but it will just have to be in the virtual world for a little while! Keep checking back for new event postings & PLEASE post comments or FOLLOW us so we know how to get in touch with you too! And, most of all, we need all of you to spread the word about us when we get things rolling again!

Thanks to those that have been supportive & we hope to see everyone in the very near future!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

On vacation

We all have been super busy making some holiday stuff for the shop & I am frantically trying to finish up some jewelry pieces before I go on vacation this Tuesday! I thought I'd better let you know that I probably won't be writing from the shores of Maui over the next week, but ya never know!

Just a reminder - we have a class on December 12th to make a cute 8x10 collaged picture frame. There are 6 spots open, so we hope you'll come join in on the fun! It is also Santa's visit to the Barn. So come by, take the class from 11-1, then have the family come in for a sit-down with The Man in The Red Suit until 3!

Hope to see you there!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Good Times!

Yesterday was the big Starlighting Festival in downtown Castle Rock & we were at the Barn all day for the festivities! The Barn was a hub of activity all day long! Lots of new visitors coming through to see all the treasures! There were so many people coming through that you had to wait in line to get up or down the stairs! It was a lot of fun, if not a little overwhelming!

We had a great time teaching our 2nd "Made From Scratch" recipe book, even though we had to turn away two students because they apparently signed up over the phone, but the message was never passed along to us! We were livid w/whomever checks the messages at the Barn & they were disappointed! We'll definitely be finding a remedy for class sign-ups in the very near future! Hopefully they will get in touch soon to re-schedule!

Although it wasn't a high volume sale day for us, we met lots of interesting people & a few scrapbookers interested in various classes! We all of you we met will come to class in December or get in touch with us for some brainstorming on other events! One customer expressed interest in learning how to collage onto an old window like I did here. So, we might see if we can form that into a class & work out a special discount on old windows at The Barn too!

But I think my favorite moment during the whole day was when I met a girl named Hannah, who had received a little fall book I had made as a gift from (I think) her sister. It's always cool to meet the recipients of something you worked so hard on! They were both so sweet & Hannah was super excited about coming to take the December class! We hope to see both of them there! (She has great taste too - she loves my collaged window!!) ;-)

We also had lots of people ask if we do special orders & the answer is YES! Kim has already done 3! She created a series of birthday books as well as some recipe books for a mom to give to her 3 daughters! We can also take all you boxes of picts, organize them & put them into a scrapbook for you! Or we are willing to sit down with anyone to help them organize photos & get started on their own scrapbooks! All you have to do is ask!!

Please pass on to all of your friends that we are here & we want to start a community of scrappers, collage artists or whatever-strikes-your-artistic-fancy types! If you are interested in a class or have some ideas for one, or maybe you'd like us to host a crop, please contact us, sign-up to follow us here, on Twitter or even Facebook! We want to hear from you!!!! We need all of you to help keep this crazy ride going!!

Hope to see you soon!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ups & Downs


Tomorrow is the big Starlighting Festival in Downtown Castle Rock! We'll be at the Barn from open to close! We have our 2nd Recipe Book class ( TWO SPOT LEFT!) from 11-1 & then we're going to hang out & be creative all day! There will be a lot going on downtown from about 2pm to 6pm for the lighting of the star on top of "Castle Rock" & the Barn will have hot cocoa in the evening for everyone! Stop by if you can!!



On the "downside..."
We've been a little discouraged with sales lately & picked the brains of some of the other Barnies as to what we need to do to attract more traffic. So, after a junking day & brainstorming, we re-arranged the shop so that it's more inviting & hopefully will hold a shoppers interest a little longer. Some of our finds went right into the shop, but others we are holding onto so that we might re-purpose them to hold some memories.











We're also finding that the shoppers just don't seem to get what we're all about & that can be very frustrating. On the one hand, we like to create our albums ready for photos, but on the other hand it might be better to just carry more kits & ephemera for the collage artist or scrapbooker. We are definitely in the learning process & just hope that we can make rent for a few more months! So, please spread the word for us! We need all the help we can get! We have heard from a few customers that they're glad we're here & are hoping that a scrapbook community will start up again in Castle Rock since the local scrap stores are all closed. That's a little encouraging.

"On the Upside..." What's New?
Vintage Image Post Cards
Floral Cameos
Handmade Felt Birds
Christmas Albums, Kits, Papers, Rub-ons, Tags
Handmade & Vintage Ornaments
Holiday-themed Serving Trays
& so much more!















Coming Soon...
Collage Frame Class on 12/12!!
Vintage Magazine Pages/Ads
Vintage Book Pages
More Christmas albums
More Vintage Images
& who know what we'll come up with next!!











Wednesday, November 11, 2009

We Love to Teach!!

Our first class on November 12th was a great success! We had a lot of fun with Sue & Amy & we hope that they had a great time making the little paper-bag recipe book with us!

Although both Sue & Amy are long-time scrapbookers, they learned some new techniques from us, which makes the class an even bigger success!















With lots of stamping, inking, fussy-cutting & altering, we wrapped up the class in a couple of hours. Sue & Amy were thrilled with the book & ready to take it home & fill it with all their family's favorite recipes!


We're gearing up for the next class on November 21st (see the calendar of events at right), which incidentally, is the big Starlighting Day in Castle Rock! So we are expecting a great crowd in downtown Castle Rock & at The Barn throughout the day! It should be great fun!

If you're interested in taking the class,
you can call the barn to sign up at 303-814-0066.


Otherwise, we'll be at The Barn off & on between now & the 21st.
Then, we'll be there all day for the Starlighting festivities! Come on by & say hello!
Hope to see you there!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Thanks for a Great Open House!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

It was a little touch-n-go for me as to whether I would even make it to our big open house at the barn yesterday since I got really sick a few days before! But my fever broke & I was there to celebrate our "grand opening!"















We had a great time with all who stopped by - lots of familiar faces as well as some great new ones! We have high hopes of keeping the class interest going with some of you joining us for our November & December classes! It's so exciting to meet new people & share our love of preserving memories together!









The Make-n-Take was a great success, thanks to Kim! She's such a fabulous teacher! And the winner of our raffle for the sweet little stamp set we used in the project was Mary Beth! Congrats & enjoy!

This week we'll be preparing for our first class on Saturday, 11/7 - The "Made From Scratch" recipe book - only 1 space left as of yesterday! (But there's another on the 21st!) & few projects in between! And we still have a day or two of training to get in at The Barn, so at least 2 of us will be at The Barn on Thursday all day, so stop by to say hello!
TTFN!!


Monday, October 26, 2009

Getting Closer!

It's almost here!
The big Open House is on Saturday & we've been busy!

Both the November & December class samples are in the shop now!
We've already filled the first 3 spaces of the Nov. 7th class!
Hopefully more of you will be enticed by the samples on Saturday!

(Nov. "Made From Scratch" class project)

Our first kit, Domestic Goddess, is packaged & ready to go!

We've got some fabulous stamps all wrapped up & the Make'n Take is "taking" shape for Saturday!

We've ordered some great Webster Pages paper & hope that it arrives by Friday so we can get that in the shop for Saturday too!


Mom's working on some fun kid stuff & a game table! I'm doing some various holiday pieces & Kim is doing a special order of birthday books & designing our next kit!
Things are just rolling right along!

We ARE scrambling a little bit this week, as we are expecting a big snowstorm to hit on Wednesday. Since I live in Denver, & Kim & Mom are further south, we are trying to limit our driving on those snowy days! But, it may turn out that I end up spending the night in Castle Rock if I'm down there working at Kim's for the day on Weds!
Which really wouldn't be that terrible! :)

Well, off to bed before I come up with some crazy project to start on now!
I need some sleep so my brain can function better & I can accomplish a lot tomorrow!
Nitey-nite!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Class Sneak & New Treasures!


We were busy re-arranging at the Barn today...totally switched things up & I think the shop looks fabulous!




We added a few new treasures! You MUST come in & see for yourself!!! The picts do not do them justice!









So, here's what you've all been waiting for, right? Of course you have!
A little sneak peak at the paper-bag album for our first class in November!
We hope this little snippet will entice some of you to sign-up at The Barn!
Hurry though, space is limited & it's only $15!

(Cover & one inside layout)

Class Info:

Saturday, November 7th & 21st
11-1 @ The Barn
303-814-0066 to sign-up or
Come in to see the class sample & sign-up in person!
(the sample will be in our space on Thursday, 10/22)

AND we hope to have our first kit in the store by the big Halloween Open House!!
(10/31 10-2)

Mom & I will be working on Thursday, 10/22 & would love for you to stop by
& introduce yourselves!




Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Anticipa-ya-tion...

Ooooo! We are so excited!
I finished the sample for our first ever kit today! The one with all the fantastic vintage style papers in a paper-bag mini album form...I had so much fun with the Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess papers & some retro advertising that we will include in the kits this month, that I just had to share a little sneak peak for you all!



Here's just a bit more for now...if you want to see the whole thing, you'll have to come by the Barn to hold this "hot" little sample in your hands!
You are gonna WANT this kit!!


Domestic Goddess paper-bag mini album cover.
The album is 6 pages with 3 pockets.
The supplies in the kit will include (quantity TBD):
Graphic 45 papers
Vintage Housekeeping ads in a collage sheet
Cardstock
A cling-mounted rubber stamp by Unity Stamp Company
Ribbon, buttons, brads & more!

With just a little handful of supplies, I made a fabulous little book & filled it with some classic photos & housekeeping quotes to give it my own personal touch!


(You HAVE to come see the sample in the store to see the finished product with some "classic" photos of Maggie throughout the album! It's truely priceless if I do say so myself!)
And you can do the same!
We should have the kits in our shop at the Barn by the end of next week!
So check back here for the final release date or come by the shop for a visit! You won't regret it!

(Domestic Goddess album with all the inserts pulled out a bit! It's so FAB!!!)

Here's what I did with the finished sample...My Maggie is such a trooper!!
These are just a few of the pages. If you are interested in making a book like mine, you can buy the kit in January 2010 from our Etsy & ArtFire shops. Then email me &
I'll send you some more photos of my completed book!