Whim So Doodle

Ode to a spectacular friend!

There are lots of kinds of friends in the world.  There are friends who will alert you when you have lipstick on your teeth or buy you a drink on your birthday.  Then there are are good friends who will share a room with you even though you snore or buy you the pair of khaki Mary-Jane Crocs you've been wanting (in your size)!  But there are those great friends who know to leave some extra room in their suitcase when they fly to Chicago so that they can bring back a bag of your very favorite snack in the whole wide world.  They know that you can only get this fantastic snack in Chicago and just how much you love it.  They know that just by bringing it home to you that they will make your day...heck, depending on the week, maybe even make your week! 

So here's to you, Leisa, for being a spectacular friend!  I salute you with orange, cheese-popcorn stained fingers and send you a giant, carmel-flavored smooch!  YOU ROCK, MY FRIEND!!

Jen

PS-If you wanna find out about my favorite snack in the whole wide world, just click on the "Nuts on Clark" on the left of the blog!!   

Store Update!

Howdy all! 

Well as most all of you know by now, we have been closed for a few days for construction reasons.  Some of you have stopped by either just to cheer us up or because you don't read your emails!!  Either way we were happy to see you and y'all got to see just how sad our store looks right now!  The construction foreman has given us very limited access to our store, so every now and then I sneak over and snap a few photos and grab some glue or something!  We are trying to keep busy and have set up a little workspace in the now empty Dream Fund spot.  When we left yesterday John, the foreman (and who I like to blame this all on even though he is doing a great job!!) told us that we will NOT be back in our store on Monday as I had originally hoped for!  Remember I talked about "construction speak"...

Anyway I thought I would send you a couple of the sad photos so you can see just how crazy it all is!

This is a view looking to the front of the store. Can recognize our register area?  These are either the new A/C handlers, the old A/C handlers or a mixture.  There are even more behind where I stood to take the photo!  One is taller than I am!  OK...that is not saying much, but heck it was kind-of freaky!

This is a photo of my beloved kitchen!  Oh!  My poor kitchen!  It has no ceiling tiles,  there is crud everywhere all the appliances are draped in plastic!  Oh well!  You can see in this photo too that the construction guys are being really nice to our flower arrangements!  I think that is too funny.  All this major construction going on and our flowers remain untouched! 

Now, in case you are just dying to know what all is happening exactly, here you go!  The air handlers for the whole building are being removed and new ones installed.  Some gigantic ones on the roof and some inside.  The gigantic ones on the roof are being temporarily put up there because we are also getting a new roof installed.  They have gone through the store and had to redo the duct work for the A/C in the kitchen (sob!), the hallway to the bathrooms and kitchen, both of the bathrooms, the crop room and parts throughout the store!  There was also a few leaks from the old roof that they had to repair the damage from.  They have torn down part of the wall in the crop room so that they can reinstall a new one that is fire rated!  So eventually our crop room will be 3" smaller than it was!  I think I got it all!  I told you it was crazy!! 

Keep watching emails and blog posts as I will keep you informed with all that is happening and when our doors will open again!

Thanks so much for being patient with us while this happens!

Jen

Some things fun to look at!

I was just able to sneak into our store to take a peek at all the construction and stuff they are doing and of course I had my trusty camera with me!  I snapped a few photos that I thought I'd share with you to keep you up-to-date on what is happening to our pretty store!!  (Can you hear my sob in that last bit?!)  We may not have a ceiling, but we still have our QuicKutz sign and our flower arangements!  LOL

Next, I have to share with you a project that one of our dedicated QuicKutz Klub Members brought into the store yesterday.  She didn't just bring this in for use to drool over, she brought it in to LEAVE at the store.  You might just want to hold on to your socks when you see this!!

Charlene made this spectacular advent calendar using Basic Grey Christmas papers and tons and tons of QuicKutz shapes and alphabets!  They are little squares done on magnetic backs so that when you pull away the square you expose a treat hidden in the mini-muffin cup!

How cute is that?  We have this project hidden away until all the construction is done, but next time you are in the store, make sure to look at this wonderful project! 

Thanks Charlene for loaning this to The Doodle!

Jen

The Fall Festival is THE crafting fair not to miss

Our 2nd Annual Fall Festival will be a fun-filled day of games, food, music, fun and most of all fabulous projects that are perfect for holiday gift giving and home decor.  You can stroll through craft booths set up all along the walkway of The Doodle's back courtyard and browse through beautiful samples that our designers have created to inspire you!  For each craft project you buy that day, you will also get a hand-out that shows you how to create the project on your own.  Some projects will also have kits made with all the supplies you need to create yours just like ours!

There will also be booths set up for you to sit down and make a fun and free make-n-take!  You can sit, craft and take a mini project home with you!  There will be both a make-n-take from a popular favorite, QuicKutz and we will also be welcoming Technique Tuesday to the festival this year!

Whim So Doodle is very excited to have the super-cool president of QuicKutz, Eric Adams, joining our festivities the year!  Eric will be coming all the way from beautiful Utah and bringing with him exciting products from QK.  If you have not gotten to play with this home die cutting system, now is the time to take it for a test drive!  Eric will be sitting in his very own "kissing booth" and you will not want to miss out on visiting him and seeing what he has to show and offer!

Pat, our representative from Technique Tuesday will be on hand to show you lots of exciting ways to use acrylic alphabet and shape stamps.  You will learn some fun techniques and tips for adding stamped images to cards, tags, scrapbook pages and more!  You will be amazed at how fun stamping is! 

This year we will be setting up some carnival-style games for everyone to play and take a chance at winning something fun!  Our games are great for the whole family, so bring them over to The Doodle for a great family day out!

The folks from the Costco photo lab will also be on hand with some mind-blowing photography treats that you cannot miss!

If you wonder as you walk down our brick courtyard just what those yummy smells might be, don't wonder too much!  We have some fantastic treats lined up too!  We have some of our favorite downtown neighbors like Hooker Tea and Integrity Organics with samples and some nationally known yummies like Dippin' Dots as well as our own Doodle Divas in the kitchen cooking up some carnival-style foods!

Make sure to mark your calendar for Saturday, November 3rd from 9:30 am to 4 pm!

Doodle University comes to YOU!

From Wednesday, October 24th through Saturday, October 27th you can schedule a mini Doodle class to come to you!  You can arrange to have either a One Hit Wonder or a Creative Card Class taught by one of our Doodle Divas at either you place of business, church, clubhouse, civic center, restaurant, coffee house...whatever you choose!  You are responsible to get approval from the "venue" before we arrive! You organize the students, call the store and book your time slot, notify the students of a list of basic supplies and we will do the rest!  One Hit Wonder will be similar to the ones taught in the store making one side of a 12x12 layout using one 5x7 themed photo completed in 45 minutes or under.  The cost for this class will be $5 per person.  The Creative Card Class will guide you through making one greeting card in under 1/2 hour and the cost of this class is $1 per person.  Both of the projects are done in Christmas themes and you can view the samples below.

To register you must have a minimum of 8 students and be within an approximate 10 mile radius from the store (that will be determined when you call to reserve).  When you book your slot, just as with a class, you have to pay in advance.  You will be asked to pay the minimum amount at the time of the reservation and the balance at the class.  You must also call with the final number of students at least 24 hours in advance of class time.  Times range from 9am to 5pm.  If you must book an evening time, call the store to see if any Divas are available in the evening!

An offer like this has never happened before and who knows if it will happen again!  So call the store to reserve your time slot to take advantage of the offer while it lasts!!  Registration ends either on Monday at 6pm or when all the slots are booked!  Hurry and call soon!

(727) 827-4911

Jen

We are busy!!

We have been going slightly crazy getting ready for our day at CKU working in the make-n-take room.  If any of y'all are going, make sure to drop by, say "hi" and do our page. 

   

Cutting 600 of anything can be daunting, but how about 600 times 15 different QuicKutz shapes....oh my!  As much as we LOVE all things QuicKutz we would be ok if we didn't see the Revolution for a couple of days!  LOL

Besides that Kristen is still getting new stuff out on the floor all the time.  When I get a free moment, I'll go take some more photos and send them to 'ya.  But in the meantime, how about you just trust me and come on over and see for yourself!

We are also working like crazy getting ready for the Fall Festival!  We have some super-fun things planned for that day, so you really HAVE to make it to The Doodle on Saturday, November the 3rd!  I'll send out tons of information about that next week!

We have a few more seats left for our weekend crop, so if you find you need a few days of cropping and pampering, just call up the store and get yourself signed up.

Don't forget that this Saturday is the BLOOD DRIVE!  See you then!

Jen

Voting has begun!

There were lots of frightfully beautiful entries into the Crafting for a Cause contest and today, voting has officially begun!

  I know that this is Florida and we do not have the greatest reputation for voting regulations, but come on in a stuff our ballot box anyway!! 

The winner gets a basket stuffed with wonderful goodies, but the REAL winners are the kids at All Children's who will get these beautiful cans filled with art and craft supplies!

Thanks to everyone who is participating in this fun event!  Can you imagine how excited these kids are gonna be?

See you soon!

Jen