Xmas Card Demo Day

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The 3rd Great Big Craft Extravaganza - Athlone

30 September, 1&2 October

Athlone Springs Hotel

Athlone

• Entrance Free

• Loads of crop and craft space - also free!

• Fantastic demonstrators

• Hands on tutorials

• Pay only for your Classes

• Choice of over 30 Classes

• Lots of Shops

• Payper Box Stand

• Competitions

• Challenges

Yes, we are back, and I am of course more excited than ever. We are currently confirming

shops, finalising tutors and getting all the details ironed out.

Be sure to visit our blog at http://greatbigcraftextravaganza.wordpress.com and like our facebook page at Great Big Craft Extravaganza. This way you will be sure to get all the information just as it comes out - without any delay!

We have listened to your feedback and have changed things about to make it possible

for more shops, and even small suppliers to attend. We are sure this is going to make

for an exciting weekend with great classes, and of course great value shopping.

Entrance remains free, with lots of free seating for those wanting to crop and craft

between classes. And oh! what classes and class kits do we have planned .....

We have a fantastic line-up of classes planned with some exciting new ones - all classes

will range from 18 Euro to 30 Euro and many of the classes include fantastic kit such as a free stamp, punch, paper pad or more.

Classes already on the planning list include

• Hunky Dory Crafting

• Winter weddings from An Siopa Bui

• Getting your product to market and getting sales

• Altered Art

• Tiara’s and Wedding fascinators

• Beautiful Beading

• Lots of Tim Holtz

• Scrapbooking

• The latest TV crafts

• Teaching Crafts - taking your craft into a business

• Fimo

• Graphics

• .... and many more besides

If you have any more questions, please let me have them. I will

answer as best I can.

Calling all Tutors:

Are you a craft teacher and would you be interested in teaching

at the Extravaganza? We would really like to hear from you.

Please email me letting me know what type of cards/scrapbooking/jewellery/ craft you teach, and a little info about you, and we will get in touch shortly.

Kerry (kerry@ansiopabui.ie)

Christmas Launch Cocktail Party

Put the 14thth of September in your diaries - it's the annual Siopa Bui Christmas launch. It wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies, so while the shopping and demos are the main event, we will be wining and dining you too!

Venue: An Siopa Bui, Spiddal

Time: 6.00pm for 6.30pm

Dress: Glamorous!

Be the first to see all our exciting Christmas stock.

Sizzix Coffee Morning - so exciting

The parcels from Sizzix have arrived. The Big Shot pro is here, along with some amazing new smaller dies (one shown here!) that are great for cards but can also be used in jewellery making. We have lots of free gifts to give out and of course the lemon tart from the Cafe has been ordered.

Join us for our fabulous free morning starting at 10:30 this Friday 22 July

Woodware Crafty Edger back in stock

As the website is still under construction - looking good though! I thought I would just pop in here to tell you that the eagerly awaited Woodware paper edgers are back in stock. I am so so glad that I can get mine out of the cupboard and use it again!

A Sizzix Coffee Morning with loads of sponsored prizes

We are currently awaiting our first delivery of the Sizzix Big Shot Pro - along with some yummy large dies. Thank you to Sizzix who are sponsoring our coffee morning next week and are sending over lots of free goodies for attendees like aprons, pens and mugs as well as some other exciting prizes planned for the day. This is a great opportunity for you to get the best out of your Big Shot as we will be showing you some fab hints and tips for using your dies.

We meet at 10:30 for Coffee(or Tea) and Cake and then have our demo, raffle draw and more.

Diarise it now - 22 July at Siopa Buí in Spiddal - a great reason to visit the beach

Date for Coffee morning and more!

Coffee morning is on Friday 22nd July - not where you would expect it to be! Summer really has me turned upside down this year - between summer camps, extravaganzas and our regular classes I don't know which way is which. It is all a juggle, but a good juggle at least. It will be a great coffee morning with a demo of the new Sizzix Big Shot Pro - and a Sizzix theme - complete with give-aways.

OMG - a truly amazing parcel worth blogging about

Ok, so the last parcel is in for demo day on Saturday. It is from Hunky Dory and they have outdone themselves!!! I don't want to work I just want to make samples for Saturday. I promise that anyone who comes to the event is going to be amazed.

If you can't get to the event and love Hunky Dory, you can give us a call or an email and we will try and make up a parcel for you as you cannot buy online with the website being down. Just give us a day to get the pricing done and everything checked.

Amazing toppers for Her, for Him, Vintage toppers ...... just yummy!

Free demo day - Vintage Chic - reuse and recycle!

A good bit of news! First we have a great free demo day planned for Saturday - New yummy goodies from Hunky Dory as well as from other suppliers all with a vintage retro theme. Be prepared to go home and be digging in your old sewing box to make cards. For refreshments we will have a little vintage tea party!

We also have an extra class next Saturday - Classic Cardmaking - really nice cards using great techniques - it is just for the afternoon and costs only 20 Euro. We will be making 4 cards. Places are limited so please book

We have a new (short) newsletter out - if you would like to get it - email me on kerry@ansiopabui.ie and I will forward it to you - well worth getting as it has a coupon on it!

Out with the old and in with the new

In the next 24 or so hours our website will be closing down temporarily. We will be relaunching in a few weeks with a brand spanking new e-commerce website with free downloadables, and much better functionality. I will be updating the blog and facebook page with progress and will have some fun blog candy and specials to keep us going. Wish us luck - all new and all exciting

K

Hunky Dory Coffee Morning - and a visit to Carlow

Just need cake added to that heading and it would be perfect - and of course we will have some of that tomorrow morning. We have the very latest products from Hunky Dory to play and demonstrate with at tomorrow's coffee morning including the new Hunky Dory project magazine which has so much free stuff added to it that it is probably free if you work it out!

For the rest of today we will be finishing off the kits for Carlow and finalising packing. We will have our mobile shop and a full day cardmaking workshop at the New Oak Community Centre in Carlow. The centre is close to the Fairgreen Shopping Centre (Tescos) and this is probably the best place to park. Another close landmark is Howseys Post office. See you there!!!

Chocolate and more chocolate

We are ready!!! Chocolate day is Saturday starting at 11:00. We have a free demonstration day with Phil and Kerry, and everything is themed around chocolate. We have the latest goodies from Hunky Dory, lots of new Nestabilities, fab packaging ideas, lots of chocolate of course and low fat (yes!) chocolate brownies to eat with tea and coffee. Pop in any time for a fantastic crafty inspiration day. Free gift from Hunky Dory for everyone attending.

See you Saturday.

Coffee Morning and Lemon Tart

Tomorrow is Coffee morning, and although I am not at work Kim has told me that we have had some really good deliveries today so we should have some fun bits to play with during the demo.

The Builín Blásta Lemon tart is ordered so please join us from 10:30 for a fun morning with the lastest craft catalogues, books and chat.

Free gift for each attendee!

Dublin Workshop 8 May

This week we begin packing the kits for our Dublin workshop. I will try and get some sneak peaks up soon, but if you haven't booked, and are thinking about it - I promise you some really great cards.

We have a few spaces left. 7 projects - including loads of the latest techniques from Ranger and Tim Holtz, Sizzix, Hunky Dory and more.

Our mobile shop will be open to all during the day in Dublin even if you aren't attending the workshop. For more information email me or give me a quick ring at the shop.

The Slash & Burn Easter Sale

When I was getting ready for the sale, a customer remarked that I had a slash & burn attitude, and the comment has stuck. Sizzix dies less 40%, stamps for as little as 1 Euro, decoupage at less 50% and many more great deals to be had. Sale is for just over a week and ends next Sunday. We are adding to the sale stash every day, so it is always worth popping over!

All roads lead towards Easter

With the Extravaganza over, we are getting all set up for Easter in the Shop. We have our annual sale starting on Good Friday. And we have our pre-sale cocktail party (all welcome) on the Thursday evening for those we want to get ahead of the pack.

We are getting sorted with the sale stuff already, but I can tell you it is good. Very very cheap stamps (starting at 1 Euro), shop used Sizzix dies (sometimes not even that much) for less than half price and many many more great deals. Let me think - Decoupage for 20c, Peel-offs for 50c, Cardpacks (5 cards and envelopes) for 1 Euro. Better than chocolate?

Spring Extravaganza - This Weekend!!!!! 9&10 April

It is finally spring! The skies are clearing (maybe I shouldn't speak too soon), and it is time for our annual Galway Spring Craft Extravaganza.

This year we are in the Carlton Hotel in Galway City with lots of shops, lots of amazing Demos and really good classes.

We are all ready to pack the shop (and there are some nice things to pack - I promise). The latest from Sizzix including the Vagabond, Tim Holtz Configurations boxes, lots of Hunky Dory, La Pashe Decoupage, Stamps, Paper, Card, Scrapbooking, jewellery findings - actually there is something for everybody - and that is just from our shop.

It is free to attend, so pop in any time from 10am Saturday and Sunday - See you there!!

Hunkydory comes to Siopa Buí

Hi excitement in Siopa Buí once again as we unpacked our first box from Hunkydory. This was one of my purchases from the recent trade fair. I have always lusted after the lovely goodies and nice card ideas shown on TV, but didn't necessarily want to buy everything. We have got lots of really nice items with prices starting from 1.50 for die-cut toppers and decoupage, as well as some really fabby kits.

We are also stocking the Hunkydory magazine - which is great value (packed with really good card ideas) and a cover gift. If you can't wait for me to get it all uploaded feel free to phone us and we will make you up a parcel.

New Products and lots of News

I was so excited to get a fantastic parcel of goodies from Flowersoft yesterday. And it wasn't just Flowersoft. The new Wine Buffs Cd, new Charlie's Ark toppers and of course lots of new colours.

Flowersoft has also kindly sponsored a class at our upcoming Spring Extravaganza in Galway. The kits arrived and they are very generous and totally fab. Full details on Monday.

Take a look over on the website for all the latest goodies at www.ansiopabui.ie

Brand brand new Sizzix and Whiff of Joy

Ok, I know I always gush and talk in !!!! But this is really a very exciting parcel from Sizzix. Probably some of the most innovative dies I have seen since I started selling Sizzix 6 years ago. We are unpacking now, and I will do what I can to upload onto the site, but as we have coffee morning this week, and then Tipperary workshop on Sunday, I might be as well to leave it to next week.

We also have the new Whiff of Joy release in, and having just made the cutest Valentine's Card out, I can honestly say I love it!

La Pashe

We got a very very nice parcel late yesterday afternoon, and it was so nice it had to go straight onto the website. It is the latest launch from La Pashe. This is a really innovative decoupage company where the designers take things a step further. 3 amazing packs - Trinitage - which you can do as standard decoupage, or as a pop-up card (instructions included), Build-a-blossom which allows you to build realistic flowers, and Nice and Easel, decoupage designed specifically for easel cards. Worth treating yourself if you love decoupage!

Hero Arts Launch Day - and more News

Another year and lots and lots to do. Just a quick drop in today to remind everyone about our fabulous Hero Arts launch day tomorrow. We have great American food, free demos, free make 'n takes and of course lots and lots of inspiration.

I will try and upload the stamps to the site today, in between getting ready.

If you would like to receive a full newsletter of all our activities, click here otherwise if you would like any more information about all our activities coming up in the next few months, please give me a quick email and I will be happy to answer any questions.

Hope to see you soon.

Kerry