Don't forget that Pennywise Arts offers gift certificates!

We have gift certificates available in several different denominations - from $10 to $100 and many in between.

Help Santa get you exactly what you want for Christmas by sending him a link to the gift certificate page of our website!

P.S. These can be used on ANYTHING we offer - including the annual PWA retreat in the spring!! Yeee Haw!! Ü

Happy Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving day approaches, I wanted to take a moment to express my thanks and gratitude to all of the people in my life who have blessed me, supported me, believed in me and contributed to my success. 

I couldn’t have done any of this without you all!

PWA Rainbow Friday

PWA Members ALERT!!

Stop by our Yahoo Group on Friday, November 26th (and all weekend long) for some great deals, finds and fun stuff!  (Or at least stop in and say hello so I won’t be lonely!)

It won’t be long before inventory time and we don’t want to count all this stuff!

NEW Stampers Anonymous Rubber Stamps  - limited selection all $15% off retail prices

Lots of unmounteds – some used and some new – just $1 each SET!

Miscellaneous AWESOME stuff from Suzanne’s Craft Room Clutter.  (I’m reducing everything by 1/3 to make room for more friends to come play!)

Punches and die cutting systems, dies and more!

Hope you’ll stop in!

Hugs, Suzanne

Gift Cards

I have two thoughts about gift cards. One is that I do not like to give them and two is that I love to receive them.

Receiving them? That's easy! I get to choose what I'd like/need/want most without having to return something I don't. Perfect!

But in my little world of gift giving, the best part is knowing someone well enough to know that they will just L-O-V-E what I chose for them and never even dream of returning it.

When I find myself hardly able to contain my own excitement, then I have no doubt that I succeeded in finding the perfect gift. And I love THAT more than receiving, I really, really do!


I just can't seem to wrap my head around the hunt this year though. I need to do something easy to let go of the stress I am feeling and something simple to keep my holiday budget in check. And I'd also like something that says "I thought about you" when I chose this.

I'm really leaning towards a gift card with a hand made card holder. So now I'm on a new hunt. I'm looking for the world's best handmade gift card holder. Do you know what it is?? Please comment and share any links you'd like to! If you have a photo to share, you can email it to me: suzanne@pennywisearts.com

Thanks in advance, I know you'll come through for me! Ü

Hugs,
Suzanne

Uh oh. Here it comes.

I can feel it starting in my gut... HSP - "holiday season panic". Thanksgiving is nearly here, which means Christmas is looming with a capital "L" and I haven't bought a single gift, nor do I have any grand ideas of what gifts to give (that are within my budget).

I really WANT to MAKE special things for my friends yet I feel completely overwhelmed and uninspired. Sigh. What a familiar place for me. If you haven't gotten a Christmas card from me in the past, this would be the reason.

December 25th happens on the same day, every year and yet somehow it always seems to sneak up on me. How does this happen? Every year I vow to myself that the next year will be different. (Did you hear it? That was this year's vow Ü ). Just like with New Year's resolutions, my good intentions generally evaporate once the pressure is off somewhere around February.

All around me I see really amazing women who seem to have it all under control,... taking the holidays in stride while cranking out gorgeous Christmas cards that they actually mail on time. At the same time the hold down jobs and are making incredibly thoughtful and time consuming gifts for their friends and family. If you are one of them, HOW do you DO it?? Please share your secrets with the rest of us!!?? (This is where you click the "comment" button, pretty please?)

Hugs,
Suzanne

Mini’s Are Back And Better Than Ever!!

If you are a fan of our MINI MICRO BEADS then you may be aware that it’s been a challenge for us to get them back in stock.  Several months ago our supplier decided to “go green” and started using different glass products in the manufacturing process.

The result was devastating to us at Pennywise because the “salt and pepper” effect is definitely NOT what we’re going for!

Sometimes the universe pushes us to make changes we wouldn’t otherwise make, and in this case it has turned out to be a blessing because we were able to find a new supplier that offers beads that are far superior to any we have ever had before!!  Clean, sparkly and almost no black culls, these beads are TOP QUALITY! 

Of note, these mini beads are just slightly larger than the ones we previously offered.  You may also notice the new regular sized micro beads to be slightly larger than before.  As we sell out of the regular sized micro beads and the ultra fine beads they will be replaced with beads from our new supplier!  Soon, all will be the BEST QUALITY we’ve ever been able to offer!  Ü

To jazz up this informational letter, we’re featuring artwork by PWA designer Michelle McCarthy.  Michelle created this stunning shaker shadow box featuring perfectly sized inchie stamps.

Coordinating layers of cardstock back each image and a small sparkly gem adds just enough bling to finish it off.  So easy!  The inchies were then raised at varying heights with layers of foam tape.

Not shown well in the photo, Michelle has even beaded the shiny blue ribbon around the inside perimeter using O’So Sticky Tape!  Finally, on the outside of the glass she stamped snowflakes and Winter Blessings with white opaque ink.  Micro beads shake loosely around the inchies making this gorgeous box interactive and a beautiful display.

 

P.S.  We ended up with 100 pounds of the “green” manufactured minis and 100 pounds of ultra fines - so if you have a need for “salt and pepper” beads, let me know!  I’ll sell the 2 pound bags for $5 each!  (They are not currently offered on the website so you’ll need to shoot me an email:  suzanne@pennywisearts.com 

Happy Halloween

Being sick for the whole month of October really didn’t leave much room for blogging but I just HAD to get Chriss Grabb’s spooky creations up for you before the holiday past by!

Halloween is Chriss’s favorite holiday and she loves to create all things bats year round!

This fun banner has been hanging in my kitchen:

Lot’s of great paper layers with a spider web background stamp and micro beaded letters make up this great decoration.  Oh, and lets not forget the due cut bat dangly!

Chriss also created this great Halloween card: I think this photo showed the sparkly watermark background off very well, but the lavender micro beaded background not so much.  Some things you just gotta see in person!