Happenings from A Place in Time on Dec. 31, 2011

Happy New Year! Everyone is asking "where has the year gone"? All I know is that I've got to take the Christmas decorations down and prepare for our annual inventory on monday. Fortunately, we are blessed to have several "volunteers" to help us. As you might guess, we will be closed on Monday, January 2nd to conduct the inventory.

As I look back on the past year, I thank God for the opportunity to live in beautiful Kailua and to have Priscilla at my side. We have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful and talented people from all over the world. Each day contains it's own blessings and the opportunity to help people. In a little over a month we will be celebrating our 7th anniversary. Wow! We have gone through a very difficult economic time, but with the Lord's help we are still here to assist you. I am very thankful to each and everyone of you for your business and the friendship you've extend to Priscilla and I. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Stay tuned for new classes, new ideas, and a whole lot of fun. It's the Year of the Dragon. I have to be careful...Priscilla was born in the Year of the Dragon. Me? I'm just an old rooster.

See you tomorrow....

Bill
A Place in Time
48 Maluniu Avenue
Kailua, HI 96734
808-261-2882


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Happenings at A Place in Time on December 19, 2011

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, Christmas is almost upon us. It seems to arrive faster each year. I guess that's a sign that I'm getting older. The store is decorated, the Christmas carols are providing a soft background, I'm feeling nostalgic for for a chill in the air. It almost doesn't "feel" like Christmas yet. Perhaps it's because we run a retail business and the days are just too full of taking care of business. I think I need a vacation. Ha!

First up today are a couple of photos that I want to share with you. People come into our store, some visit periodically, while others may drop in to say hi a couple times a week. I see them as friends and am always pleasantly surprised at how truly talented they really are. There are days when customers come into the store and show me a sample of what they have created. At that point I am truly "blown away" by their creativity. Recently, Maude brought in her latest project and I just had to to share it with you. It's an example of what I call simple elegance. It's also something that I believe each and everyone of you is capable of doing. Thank you Maude for sharing.

The next example I have to share with you is an experiment using the new air brush tool and the application of translucent embossing paste. I have to laugh at myself for the thoughts I had as I first gazed upon the fish just after the paste had been applied to the stencil. I thought the fish looked like it had died and was decomposing. Ha! What little I know. Priscilla said " just wait and let the paste dry - the color will show through the paste." As usual she was right. I came into the store the next morning and the image had transformed into something really beautiful. The combination of the embossing paste and the alcohol ink in the Copic Pens gives the fish a depth of dramatic colors. You will have to compare it to other images we have done. Try it yourself and you will be amazed - I promise. As easy as using the "Big Shot". Everyone trying the air brush for the first time has been pleased with the outcome.

We had an arrival last Friday from Graphic 45. At your request, Priscilla brought this line of paper into the store a couple of months ago. It was an instant favorite of both the card maker and scrapbooker. This time, Priscilla chose their Tropical Travelogue Collection. You are going to love it. The paper is two sided and the colors are fantastic. It looks like Graphic 45 took images of Hawaii and placed it on their paper. Some of the paper even has a vintage appearance of "Old Hawaii". Visitors are always asking for paper that reflects the beauty of our islands. This will more than satisfy them. In addition to the 12x12 paper there is an 8x8 pad of paper. If you are a stamper you will enjoy the images offered in the two travelogue stamp sets. Rounding out the product line are chipboard stickers, chipboard flowers, and bronzed metal flowers. Any of these accessories would provide the perfect accent to any card or scrapbook page.

Soon to arrive in the store will be a shipment from Sizzix. Your response to our current sale has been well received. We have the best packaged prices on the island for the Eclips and Big Shot and the sale will run through the end of December. Be sure and take advantage of the fantastic sale price on the eCAL software for the Eclips machine. Right now you can get it for $29.99. As of January 1st the price will go up to $79.99.

We are starting to make plans for the new year with new classes that you can look forward to taking. Jan Kruger came into the store on Thursday and will be staying in the islands for several months. Many of you took classes from he earlier this year. I'm sure Priscilla and Jan will be planning something for the near future. Also, Fran Kawakami will be starting her bi-monthly classes beginning in January. Stay tuned and I'll keep you informed.

That's all for now. If we don't see you, Priscilla and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. See you tomorrow....

Bill
A Place in Time
48 Maluniu Ave
Kailua, HI 96734
808-261-2882

Happenings at A Place in Time on December 11, 2011

Good Morning Everyone,

It's December 11th and the days are moving all too quickly. Before I get into the details of the blog, I wanted to thank you, our valued customers, who have supported us with your time and talent this past year. It's been almost 7 years since we opened our store. Your friendship and trust are the foundation that this store is built upon. Without your continued patronage we wouldn't be here to assist you. We are very blessed indeed.

Shopping during the holiday season can be a stressful time. What do I get for that special friend or family member who is a crafter? One solution we offer is A Place in Time Gift Certificates. It's a great gift and to help you save some money we have a special offer for you. Buy a Gift Certificate for $20.00 or more and receive a 10% discount on the purchase price of the Gift Certificate. You will save money and the receiver of the gift will be delighted.

You will find other Store Specials for this Holiday Season at the end of this blog.

Special Event: Get Acquainted with your Eclipse Machine: Saturday, December 17th (2-4pm). Priscilla will lead you on a tour of your Eclips Machine. This is a Free hands-on session that will familiarize you with the best electric cutting machine on the market. Tools to bring with you: Your Eclips machine, Eclips cartridges, Ec;ips tools, paper, and a basic tool kit. Priscilla has offered this before and it's always been a fun time to share your knowledge. The session is limited to 6 people. If your interested, please give me a call so I can sign you up.

As I promised in my previous blog, I've included the results of using the new tool we have in the store. It combines the use of Copic Pens, Dreamweaver Stencils, and the Airbrush Compressor System. The "Merry Christmas" and the "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (fish) we're done by Carol and Bill. It was the first time for both of us. Art says "it's easy to do". Come into the store for a quick demo and you will prove it to yourself. We have new arrivals in the store to use as potential "stocking stuffer". Fiskar's top of the line paper trimmer is back on the shelves. What makes it unique is a fine wire that guides you in making straight cuts. A variety of adhesives are now available also. New in the store is the quick dry liquid glue from "Scotch". It has a very fine tip for detail work. Also you will find an abundant supply of Glue Dots in the 1/8", 3/16", and 1/2" sizes. For you stampers, Priscilla brought back Fiskar's "Stamp Press". This will allow you to stamp multiple images at the same time.

As I've said before, I never know what each day will bring when we open the doors. Last Friday, Yoko Imai and her daughter visited our store. Yoko is visiting from Tokyo and heard about our store from friends living in Japan. We had a great time discussing techniques and demonstrating some of the items that she had not seen before. It is our store policy that customers can take pictures of any of our samples. I try to exclude myself from from any photos, but Yoko would not take no for an answer. She is excited to include us in her blog. Imagine that, our store will be blogged to crafters in Japan. I visited Yoko's blog and it's very nicely done. There's a feature that will convert Japanese into English. If you would like to visit her blog, go to cre8cropclub@blogspot.com. I think you will enjoy it. I am including a photo of Yoko and her daughter - may she have a safe trip home to Japan and we look forward to her next visit to our islands.

On Saturday I decided to create several easy to make Christmas cards. I call them my "10 minute cards", it shouldn't take you any longer than that to make them. I showed them to Grace and she said "well I don't know.......". Now if your watching TV, talking on the phone, or otherwise distracted they may take a little longer. The major ingredients in the cards are the Dazzles Peel & Stick sheets from Hot Off The Press. I chose papers from Grafix, Little Yellow Bicycle, Memory Box, Bazzil, and Basic Grey. People in the store today enjoyed their simplicity. Many of them were going to try it for themselves.

Today was our 2nd Sunday Make & Take Day. Priscilla had a full house and they all had fun making "Frosty's Diorama. I think part of it's charm was that people remember making diorama's as a project in grade school. I wish I had thought to take a picture or two. Individuals also had the opportunity to try out our newest tool - an airbrush compressor with the Copic Pens. This is not the big, noisy, tool that you might find in your garage. It's extremely quiet and doesn't take up any more room than a toaster. And the results? It's fantastic and it gives you another technique to use for your stencil collection. The fact that we have it as a special sale item makes it even more enticing.

Now for the store specials I promised you:

1. We have the Eclips Machine on sale: Purchase the Eclips and we'll give you your choice of a free cartridge. I think you will find this to be the best value on the island. (excludes the eCAL software cartridge).

2. Purchase the eCAL software before Dec. 31st for $29.99. As of Jan. 1st the price will go up to $79.99. This software offers the Eclips owner a wide variety of options that are too numerous to list in the blog. I have made copies of its enhanced features and they are available to you in the store.

3. Purchase the best selling tool in the store: The "Big Shot" from Sizzix for $69.95. As a bonus you can choose any A Place in Time custom stencils as a free gift.

4. All Ellison or Sizzix diecuts for the Big Shot are 30% off. (excludes Tim Holtz).

5. All Disney and Sesame Street embellishments are 30% off.

All sale items are limited to stock on hand and is not valid with any other offers. The Eclips machine and the eCAL software is available to you at the special pricing as pre-orders through Dec 31st.

That's all for now. See you tomorrow.

Bill

A Place in Time

48 Maluniu Ave

Kailua, HI 96734

808-261-2882

Happenings at A Place in Time on December 5, 2011

Good Evening Everyone,

I love this time of the year. Decorating the store is like revisiting old friends that you haven't seen for a whole year. I'm sitting here with Christmas carols echoing a time that is both new and old. It is easy to become nostalgic as I think to Christmas's past. It was a magical time for my brother and I. Now I am old, but the magic is still there. Memories will do that for you.

The ladies that took Priscilla's Stenciling Techniques class yesterday had so much fun that the class ended up being a 4 hour class in lieu of the scheduled 2 hours. It was a first time for several of them on some of the stencil applications. I would wander from my desk and look over their shoulders to see how they were doing. I have to say that they all did great. I know they will continue to practice and maybe they will bring a sample or two that I can use in the blog. I could kick myself for not taking a couple of pictures

Next up for Priscilla is the 2nd Sunday Make and Take on Dec. 11th (2-5pm). I've had "Frosty's Diorama on display for a week now. Hopefully, people will be able to break away from their holiday schedule to have fun with this project. For those of you that may be new to the store, the Make and Take is free and you don't have to bring anything except a smile. We do ask, if you can, donate a dollar to the basket for the Food Bank. If you have any questions please give me a call. I'll repeat the photo of Frosty's Diorama so you don't have to search for it in a previous blog.

One of the elements in Frosty's Diorama is the use of Copic Pens to provide the color for the Sister's Stamp. Here is where I get to tell you about a new tool we have in the store. It's an Airbrush Compressor that you can use with the Copic Pens. And it makes blending colors very easy. Wow! I haven't been this excited about a tool in a long time. Art Hiu, our engraving master, has volunteered on several occasions to show how it works. Ladies who have never used a compressor before are amazed at what they are doing on the very first try. Art says "it's almost impossible to make a mistake". The Copic Pens "snap" into a pen holder and all you do is push a button that sprays the ink from the pen to the stencil of your choice. The result is a dramatic blending of colors. I've included a sample of the "Rooster" for your review. Until further notice, we are offering the spray gun as a free gift to anyone purchasing the airbrush compressor. The free spray gun, along with the use of your discount card, results in a $90 plus savings. We are taking pre-orders now. The first airbrush compressor lasted almost a full day in the store before it was purchased. Can you guess who bought it? It was a guy!!!! To my knowledge he had never held a Copic Pen before and his "rooster" was elegantly regal. The question is "will he share it with Melanie"? Ha! Come into the store for your own free demo.

Another Ellison ordered arrived today and the shelves have been restocked with the Eclips machine, cartridges, and various tools. The popular Card Fronts cartridge is once again available. Don't forget to take advantage of the special pricing on the new eCAL software for the Eclips Machine. The response has been very good and please let me know if you want to be included. Right now the price is $29.99 on pre-orders. After the first of the year the price goes up to $79.99.

Priscilla has more product on the way and I'll let you know when it arrives. That's all for now - I hear the dinner bell ringing.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Bill

A Place in Time

48 Maluniu Ave.

Kailua, HI 96734

808-261-2882