Blog blog frog

We've been invaded by African Dwarf Frogs! These cute little frogs live well with our beta fish. Add a peace lily to the top of the bowl for a beautiful living arrangement to spruce up your home. These little frogs which are only 1 1/2 inches long love to lie still in a zen like position and swim to the top to take breaths every now and then. They love to hide in marine foliage or in the roots of the peace lily. In captivity they only need to be fed every couple of days which make good pets for the forgetful. Come in the floral department and visit our frogs and beta fish in our Fish Center and don't forget to bring the kids.

Under Construction

If you've been in the store in the last couple of weeks, you've been unable to ignore the big changes happening up front by the registers - what's going on? We've moved our vinyl project center! What's that? Well, it's easy, that's what it is! We also think it's exciting - you can get an exceptional result with very little technical crafting experience and in a pretty minimal amount of time.

Here's the scoop: This adhesive vinyl material is cut into words & phrases that can be applied to any smooth surface - like your walls, the side of your car, windows or some other surface like artists' canvas or a wood plaque. Although the vinyl stays on very well, even out in the weather (several employees have it on their cars) it is removable without much effort.

We are enthused about using it on our wood plaques and combining it with artists' canvas and photos for a sort of... well... scrapbook on steroids kind of a look, I mean waaaaay out of the album! Imagine your family photo wall with a sweet caption over the photos, something like "All Because Two People Fell in Love" or even your family name: "The Andersons est. 1996" And the 2 big bonuses are: it's removable and you don't have to paint it - just rub it on!

So, keep an eye out over there (not that you could miss it) as we develop this program and work to get you inspired to think about your family photos in a new way.... maybe even turn your wall into a giant scrapbook page.

International Quilt Market - Portland

It was great to go to the Spring International Quilt Market in the beautiful city of Portland this year. Although we never have time to see much of any of the cities where Market is held; it was good to see the warm sun shinning. It also was great to be able to drive and have plenty of room to bring back all of my "treasures" and not have to worry about sitting on the suitcases (even after I have unzipped the expansion). Or worry about what all this will weigh when I struggle to get the two suitcases up on the scale at the airport.
What an experience! As a long time quilter it is a joy to see all of the new fabric lines - new patterns - new trends - new machines - new gadgets - touch and feel quality cloth and droll.
What collections would I like for myself, stimulus check had arrived in time, or what do we need to buy for the store.
I found the major project for our quilters for 2009 Saturday Sampler group and it will be the hardest secret to keep until the fabric arrives and the quilt is made. Hopefully the unveiling will be in September but that means that the pedal to the metal to test all of the blocks and be ready to roll.
I am also a Grandma and I get "hooked" with "Grandma Grabber" projects for the kids in my life so look out - I am in fabric heaven.

Webkinz... webkinz... WEBKINZ

The much awaited new May release webkinz are here. The Whimsy Dragons (who are hard to keep in boxes) flew cross country and landed in Monroe today and have brought all kinds of new and old friends with them. They seem to love Monroe Ben Franklin, but I’m sure that they would love your home even better. The webkinz have seemed to pair up during their long travel. The new lilkinz chicken and new lilkinz black poodle are chatting away discussing on whose chair is better, the egg chair or the poofy poodle chair. Which do you think is better? Naturally the new Samoyed and our old favorite Husky have teamed up since they have so much in common. The Husky has no problem sharing the spot light with his new friend. The new Rhino always in competition has tousled with the new Lioness the whole time cross country and have become good friends. The new Gecko and our old friend Tiger snake have decided to have a picnic of eel enchiladas and sticky spider cider when the weather gets sunny. Our old favorite Turtle and the retired Raccoon have been slow moving cross country together but the Whimsy Dragons wouldn’t let them fall too far behind. Lastly, our old favorites Penguin and lilkinz penguin have cuddled together and waddled only in large swarms asking each other “How much farther is Monroe?” They said that it was worth the week of traveling. Hurry in today and pick out your special friends before they are gone!

cute lost out

Well, I didn't create a darling crochet animal this weekend; instead I finished my first (relatively) complex quilt top! This will be only my second quilt and I will be keeping it for myself. The dominant collection is from Timeless Treasures and although the Quilt Corner staff call it "Gatsby" it says "Daisy" along the edge - and we still have quite a bit of it. I used a "Turning Twenty" pattern by Tricia Cribbs: the pattern is cut from fat quarters and the blocks are very large, perfect to show off the fabric you've fallen in love with. 20 fat quarters make a twin bedspread - I used 25 for my full-size bed, but it won't reach the floor. I found the pattern very easy to cut and sew together; it only took me (a novice) about 7 hours to iron, cut and assemble the quilt top! My non-sewing friend is inspired and I've promised to help her make a quilt for her birthday. Next, it's on to Grandma Connie's house to do the acutal quilting... I have to admit I'm a little nervous... the first quilt (plaids, for my beau) was just tied, so actual quilting - even on a machine - will be something entirely new!

Adventures in Beading - 101 Ways to Save Money on Jewelry

One rainy evening, while paging through a catalog, a spectacular pearl necklace jumped out -- soft colors in grey and pink with seed beads. Not really my style, personally, but gorgeous nonetheless. Then the price reached out at slapped me: $99.99 on clearance? And $179.99 at the regular price? The next day I started stewing on how we could make it for less than that, and here you see the result...

The materials for this necklace cost just under $50.00 at our regular prices. Can you believe it? And you know what's even better?

Pearls are currently on sale (2 strands for $5) through Mother's Day, and so are seed beads (30% off). That makes your cost less than $20! to make a necklace that someone else is buying for $100! Don't you feel privileged?

We have dozens of other sales in the bead department here in Monroe through Mother's Day. Shell beads are 2 for $10, all store-made models are 20% off, ready-made necklace and earring sets are at rock-bottom prices, and the new wood beads have been reduced in price as well. Come check out the Warehouse and Mother's Day sales!

invasion of preciousness!

Alert! Alert! We've been invaded! At first there were just a few and now... well, just see for yourself - we've been overrun with mega-cute amigurumi creatures. Jina M. has been totally consumed with making darling little animals, so she is responsible for at least half of the population. Donna O. is similarly afflicted and has introduced us to the Ben Franklin heart-throb, the very cool Hep Cat. He is such a groovy hipster with his little goatee and trendy turtleneck - all the staff are swooning over him. (he's in the lower right of the photo) I seem to be the last holdout, due mainly to my remedial crochet skills, but Hep Cat has been whispering in my ear "just once won't hurt" and I may try my hand at creating cuteness this weekend... I will post a photo of the finished sweetie, but be prepared - it may end up a bit of a mutant due to my lack of skill...

Gigi's Springtime Print

If you haven't already met her, you need to come and meet Gigi our frameshop manager. She not only is a breath of fresh air in our store, but she is a talented local artist too! Gigi is a horse lover so it's no suprise that she features a barn in her artwork. With a purchase of $25.00 or more you can have one of Gigi's great prints FREE!