hey all… i have some sad news to share.
our store studioWERX on Main is closing at the end of june. yep. it’s true.

the main reason for the closure is due to the unique situation our little storefront is in.

you see we sub-leased our store space of 250sq. feet in the front of the existing altered arts/collage store rubydog’s art house. leanne, rubydog owner, has decided after numerous years to close her store. in turn, that means that our little storefront is closing too.

i’m sad of course, but with a downturn in the economy in the usa affecting the buying power of people all over the world, with increasing higher leasing expenses, cost of gas and energy etc. it really doesn’t come as a huge surprise that this has happened. to be honest, i’ve been bracing myself for it for months.

what does this closure mean for lazar studiowerx?

• its really not a huge change other than our brick and mortar location will be closing.
• our online store is still open for business
• their will be some substantial new additions to the online store with new inventory and supplies coming on line from the closure of studioWERX on Main.
• we’ll be participating in circle craft in vancouver this november as we have in the past [yay!!]
• we may be opening our home studio for shopping on special weekends [these will be announced in the next few weeks as we determine dates]
• there is a very good likelyhood that artwerx/artistry will resurrect itself again and that i’ll begin the organizing of an event i the spring of next year
• i’ll still be teaching around town - dates and classes to be announced.

so my local buyers and my online shoppers, never fear… we’re still here. a little on our heels with the current state of things, but here none the less.

so please… shop the store in vancouver at 4738 main street while you can! check out the great sales that will be starting and please help leanne at rubydog out while there is still time for the store.

thank you for your patronage over the last year at studioWERX on Main. i will continue serving your needs locally and abroad either online or in someway here in vancouver. now and into the future.

xoxo christina

kal and i have been hunting down the elusive and oh so desireable ‘calendared vinyl’ from her bulletproof class at inspired.

we think we’ve found the perfect [or nearly perfect] match here in vancouver and you lucky ducks… i’m going to be stocking it in my online store! the material has been ordered, i’m just waiting to receive it later this week then the cutting down of the big sheets will begin.

the vinyl will be available in the following sizes:

• 5×7
• 8×8
• 8×10
• and custom upon request - email for a quote

the material was categorized under our see-throughs© clear albums since, well, calendared vinyl is pretty clear ;^) here is the link to the online store to pre-order from the first batch of material.

i expect to start shipping this yummy art material in early next week.

popped by our shop today, studioWERX on main and dropped off some new spring inventory for the store.

• first we have a great new collection of bird stamps! yep… i caved and did an entire sheet of birds - over 10 of them in total. we have them available as a sheet set, or as individuals and they are design in our signature etched style. yummy!

• i also brought in some new 6×6 paper pads by basic grey including sugared, boxer and sultry collections, 3 new 12×12 patterned papers from basic grey’s soon to be retired romani collection and 3 of the making memories noteworthy ledger style papers. the romani and mm papers go together really well… check it out in the photo below.

• other fun stuff includes the new cosmo cricket blackboard chipboard mini-books. love these! the chipboard is black all the way through and has a slightly rough blackboard finish. looks great with pencil crayons, gel pens, pastels, chalks, patterned paper and photos of course.

• we also have new stamps arriving from prima soon and fresh maya road chipboard goodies in the next couple of weeks, so stop by and check it out…

the store is in vancouver at 4738 main street [1/2 block north of 32nd avenue] and is open tuesday to sunday from 11am-6pm daily. here are a few shots of what you’ll see inside the shop…

thanks for switching your bookmarks and welcome to our new blogspace!

we hope that this new space will enable me to post…

• larger, prettier photos and artwork
• better, higher quality video feeds
• a more user friendly environment
• and i’m a code-geek… so this is just fun for me =)

enjoy the new space… and thanks for coming along =)

hey all, hope you’ve had a great weekend…

the street team has been super productive this weekend and we’re all participating in a studiowerx street team scavenger hunt!

the basic idea is that you start here, or on one of the other girl’s blogs, check out the free quickpage, then follow the links included in the post and go download a free layout using digiWERX products. yep. totally free! we like that. a lot =)

so here is my quickpage layout. all the digital products i used are from our digiWERX collections, plus a few items i scanned off an older layout. here is the list of yummy digital goodies used in this page:

• cardstock from the shabby chic collection
• collaged paper from the pharmacie collection
• a polaroid slide holder from our embellishments section.

the downloadable freebie quickpage file is located here: DOWNLOAD NOW

the file has transparent areas [they appear black in the png thumbnail] where the photographs are to be placed in the layout. simply open the PNG file in a photoediting program like adobe photoshop elements or CS+ and add your own images. super cool!

TIP: just remember to add your images in a new layer(s) behind the quickpage layer so that the transparent areas act as windows and will give you the same results as the layout pictured here.

to collect more quickpages using lazar studioWERX digiWERX scrapbooking and hybrid paper arts products, visit deb’s blog and continue on from there.

have fun collecting all this great stuff! we hope it inspires you to go and create digital projects. happy scavenging =)

here is a video of the inside of our shop: StudioWERX on Main. isn’t it cute?

that’s my art buddy deb off in the distance. she came in for coffee with me and basically i ended up putting her to work helping me switch christmas inventory over to more springy stuff. we did end up going for coffee, but i’m a bad influence and made her miss the beginning of a superbowl party. oh well… i’m more fun anyways

here are the goods… enjoy!

yep. i finished another set of digiWERX digital paper called digiWERX: correspondingly tonight. created in a neutral black and white palette, with a few ‘tea stained’ accents, this ‘die-cut’ and shaped digital paper is to die for. i love it!

the foundation of the 10 page designs is vintage ledger paper and Victorian ornamentation. its a wicked combination of flourish and function, shaken and not stirred [ah yes, james bond is on the brain].

here are some ideas for how to use this yummy, digi-goodness:

• using the ‘die-cut’ frame edge, cut out your printed paper to create a shaped layout, card or collage element
• print the digital papers at 6×6 and crop off 2", punch and coil bind into a 4×6 mini-album or journal. people will be asking you where you got it from!
• use the ledger lines for journalling, card writing, for title placement, to adhere letter alphas…
• take advantage of the uncoloured Victorian illustrations and fill them with colour using pitt pens, markers, pencil crayons, whatever! it’s a great way to coordinate with your photos and other patterned papers.

enjoy…

hey gang… just a quick note to let you know that the coordinating cardstock to our urban grunge digiWERX ’shabby chic collection’ has now been uploaded to our online store.

this cardstock is wicked [if i do say so myself - patting myself on the back]. here are the details:

• 6 coordinated colours
• distressing, texture and just plain old yummy goodness
• retail price for the cardstock pack is $2.49CAD
• original paper collection is $3.25CAD.
• in total it’s 12 amazing digital papers for $5.75… you can’t beat that!

check out some examples of how this versatile new digiWERX paper has been used by my bud and DT supastar becky olsen and one of our digi-specialists angel hartline… pretty freaking awesome huh?

my bloggy absence this week now has an explanation…

after much consideration and encouragement, yet again by DH terry, the stars have aligned and it’s happening… i’ve decided to release a limited edition coffee table book of my recent mixed media collage portraits!

it’s an 80 page, full colour book, measures 7×7 and is crammed with full colour versions of all my mixed media collages. cool huh?

i though it would be a fun thing to do and and something i’ve wanted to do for a long long time.

in the next few weeks, i’ll be listing my first group of limited edition paperWERXings: mixed media collage books on etsy. but, you’ll see it here first, and once i have the actual books in my hands, sneak peeks will be available as well… i could show you the computer sneak peeks of the book now, but that would be cheating lol! you’re just gonna have to wait, like me.

next on the horizon… finally self-publishing a ‘how-to’ book on image transfer. another item on my list of ‘i want to do [this]’. maybe in the next month or so. watch for updates on that book coming soon!