Inside the Studio, Outside the Box

They say the only constant is change.

I think some of you think that's my personal motto....you maybe right. I don't mean for things to change as often as they do, but it does simply because I am bent on making the Studio THE place for you all to enjoy. To me the Studio is like a second home that I am always having guest over to - I want it to be just right for all my guests. I think we are very close! I only see a couple of tiny changes left that have to be made.

I am excited by the way the Studio has come together. I appreciate all the patience and good wishes you've all given me as we transitioned from the original multi-craft studio to primarily a LYS. I think we have struck a good balance between classes (for both kids & adults), events, retail space, studio space and needle arts & sewing.  If you think there is something that we can improve on, please let me know. I do welcome any feedback.

The journey over the last year and a half has been wonderful and exciting and I can only hope that the years to come are going to be just as wonderful! I have the opportunity to meet new people each and every day and am lucky enough to get to share my passions with them and honored that they want to spend their time with us and share their passions too. Knitting and Sewing are such communal hobbies and as corny as it may sound; in today's world I am so very happy that there are so many of you that want to share the sense of community that both arts inspire.

All for now. See you soon,

~A

We were the place to be on Sunday

 
 


Sunday was bittersweet; we had one of our busiest Sundays ever, but we also were saying goodbye to one of our dear customers. Margaret is moving back to Oregon and many of her knitting friends and members of the Panera Knitting Group she belongs to wanted to give her a little going away party and felt it only fitting that they have it at the Studio. They felt the Studio was the perfect setting to say "so long" since we're Margaret's favorite LYS, naturally we thought so too! It was great to see so many familiar and new faces come in and wish her a happy journey.

Good luck Maggie, we'll miss you!

Amanda, Leslie, Sharon, & Breanne

It's Official

We're a KNIT SHOP!

Well, is it ever that simple with me?? Our primary focus is on yarn, knitting & crochet classes as well as the ever growing sense of community that we're developing (think Cheers). Our secondary focus is on sewing & quilting classes. We will continue to bring in more fabric to support our sewers.

Here's a peek at how Studio looks now that we've been able to clear out the papercrafting inventory.

 

 

 

 

Make sure you stop by often as we still have several shipments due from Plymouth Yarns & Interweave. We will also be bringing in some favorite brands of our customers, like Rowan, Blue Sky Alpaca & Schaffer to name a few. In addition to even more yarn, we've more than doubled our book & pattern inventory AND are in the process of ordering buttons and shawl pins and other accessories that you'll be sure to drool over!

Something else that is very near and dear to my heart is being able to pass on the tradition of these arts to young crafters. We have developed several classes for children that allow them the chance to learn many of our favorite hand-work activities. You can check out all of our classes and events coming up here.

See you soon!

~A

 

Spring is full of happy changes

Nature is busy going through beautiful changes and so are we!

We all know that change happens and it seems that the most anticipated change happens in the spring. So it seems only fitting to announce this now… Creative U Studios will be focusing on our growing Fiber Arts community along with Sewing classes as well as our popular kids’ classes.

This decision didn't come lightly and although my first love is papercrafting I believe this is the right path for the Studio. Lucky for papercrafters in this valley we have plenty of shopping destinations. We are looking forward to really being able to focus on what has very quickly become my favorite craft - Knitting. (Well, we'll be bringing in even more yarn, which can be used for all kinds of Fiber Arts.)

Keep your eye on us as we perfect our vision and your experience at the Studio. We'll be adding more classes, products, patterns & books.

Some people avoid change, for me personally I have always embraced and looked forward to it. I hope that you all see the changes in the Studio in the same light as I do – exciting and fresh!

See you soon,

Amanda

A Sale for all Papercrafters

Holy cow, we've got a fabulous Stock-It-Up kind of sale going on for anyone that uses scrapbooking paper, stamps, rub-on, etc! You have got to come in and check it out before there's not much to choose from. Look at what's on sale:

All Flat Patterned Paper $0.25 each

Card Kits 50% OFF regular price

Page layout kits 50% OFF regular price

Past Page of the Month Kits $12.50 (buy each month & get an album for FREE)

Oliver and Olivia Card Kits $11.50

Mini Album Kits $13.50

Grab Bag $8.00 (more than $28 in product!)

KaiserCraft Stamps 50% OFF

KaiserCraft Rub-Ons 50% OFF

KaiserCraft Embellishment packs 50% OFF

ALL 6x6 paper pads 50% OFF

...and much MORE!!

Why, you ask are you having such a sale?? Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere!! We are just trying to make room for all the fabulous yarn we've been getting in after my crazy ordering spree.

Yes, it's true we're making room for what our customers are asking for. And yes, there is now far more yarn and needles and notions for all things knit & crochet, than paper but this does not mean we are abandoning one of my favorite mediums - papercrafting. We are simply changing the way we stock these items in the Shoppe. We will still be teaching our wonderful technique, card-making, project and album classes in the Studio. There will always be cardstock, specialty paper (chipboard, wood paper, etc) in stock in the Shoppe, but our patterned paper orders will be catered to future classes rather than having it for the sake of selection. The reason behind this is there are plenty of places here in the SCV to purchase patterned paper and they all have a wide selection. If there is something you're looking for, we'll be more than happy to direct you to them.

Caps for Good

 

Our first foray into service projects for charity was a success! We were able to make/collect 48 hand knit and crocheted baby hats to benefit Save the Children and Warm Up America!'s Caps for Good campaign to raise awareness on the issue of newborn and child survival in addition to providing a much needed necessity to newborns in developing nations around the world!

Thank you to ALL of you that took time out of your busy lives to spend evenings knitting (or crochet) teeny tiny baby hats with us, or making them on your own and dropping them off or bringing in yarn to donate for the cause as well. YOU made this a success! It truly warms my heart to see our customers send some handmade love to someone that you will never meet.

A special thank you has to go to Pat Rollins; a very thoughtful customer of ours. If it weren't for her I would never have known about the Caps for Good campaign. She brought all of the information and paperwork in one day thinking it was something we might like to do. She was right!

YOU ROCK PAT!

One of the desires I had when I was planning out this business was being able to encourage a community of crafters to participate in community service projects & charity events. Without getting too mushy or teary-eyed, I want you to know that YOU have helped me realize the best part of my dream of owning the Studio - giving back.

Okay...dabbing the eyes...we want to plan another service project, but this time I'd like to keep it in our community. If you have any suggestions, please email me so I can look into it.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in some fashion!

~A

Having some fun this weekend

Notice: I am going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted in a really really long time. I am going to start posting again as if I never stopped.

It is so gratifying to be able to watch someone learn something new and see the pride spread over their faces as they complete a project. Here are some shots from Leslie's Soft Hearts Pillow Class.

 
 
 
 

Look what Leslie brought in on Friday!

 

Are they not just adorable?!? What are they you ask? Well, they're class samples of course. Which means that YOU can make them too! These are great gifts for the holidays that shows someone that you really care because you took the time to create something for them.

You can check out the classes here and here. The coaster class has already run once, but Leslie has agreed to run it again! Look for it in December (we don't have that calendar set yet, but we're working on it).

I've got a sick one to give some extra cuddling to right now, but I wanted to make sure you got to see Leslie's creations.

Have a great evening!

~A

Festival Highlights

The whole thing started wit Kevin Cloud's idea to have an "Open House" to show people how many different types of businesses were tucked in pocket of Santa Clarita. A few months, lots of work and many new friendships later we held our FIRST ANNUAL DIAMOND PLACE FESTIVAL.

All the work and planning was well worth it and for those of you that attended I hope you agree and enjoyed it! With the first one under our belts we will be able to refine things a little and make the next one even better.

Here's a few shots from the Festival for you to enjoy.

 
 
 Ben from CrossFitSCV was the perfect raffle assistant.

Our first raffle winner! 

 

 

Rob from RBP Insurance was the Master of the Frisbee Toss (contest).

 The slot above the diamond is where the frisbee had to go. Next to it is the car that was up for grabs.
 

Do you see the frisbee? Did it make it?....no.

 Debbie is helping a customer with her yarn for the bag she's knitting while manning the make and take table.
 
 Here's a shot of a few of the baskets for the raffle. Several of the merchants of Diamond Place generously donated items to make these fabulous baskets.

For all our new friends that visited us during the Festival, thank you and we hope to see you in the Studio soon! And for all our old friends that came by, you're fabulous! Thanks for your support!

 

Now that I am finally back on the blog scene I will post some of the pictures I have been meaning to since I got my keys to the Studio. Check back often because I've got lots of great plans for some fun things here.

Have a great night!

~Amanda

 

SUPER EXCITED!!

I can finally cross off a, b & c!

    a) I finally get my lease signed

    b) Get keys in my hot little hand

    c) Can finally announce where & when I will be open and lure you all in to play in the Studio!

Yay! The lease is signed and executed. I have shiny new keys in my hands. And drum roll, please...

Creative U Studios will be opening soon at:

26370 Diamond Place, Ste 509

Santa Clarita, Ca 91350

I have lots more I want to tell you about and plan on sharing the before pictures here soon, but today is a very busy Mommy day so you will have to check back soon for all the details.

Have a great afternoon!

~A