Catherine Duffy

Hello Lovelies.
We have shifted, please visit us at…

https://www.facebook.com/paper.and.stuff.craft/

Thank You

A big thank you to all the lovelies who have popped through our shop doors over the past five months. We do appreciate you.

If you have visited us over the past year or two you will know that John and I are working towards a 'flushing toilet' at home. The old one pretty much packed up about five years ago. It was still usable with the aid of a bucket of water – but not ideal. Our past five months has seen real upheaval for us at home with some radical 'maintenance' being carried out on one side of our home. New piers, bearers, joist, frames, windows, drainage, roof rebuild, etc… all while living in it.

We had one really entertaining month where we couldn't walk through the inside of the house, rather to get from one room to another, you had to exit the building and run around the outside of the house to get to the room you wanted.

…and we are doing this renovation in 'Duffy' time, which means that it certainly isn't like a reality show and completed in a week.

We are embracing the following phrases at home… Good things come to those who wait… It will get worse before it gets better… Embrace the imperfections… It's just a two bedroom cottage.

But if you'd like to hear the phrase that is dear to our hearts. Come and visit Paper & Stuff. Buy a little something, and you will hear…

"Thank you for shopping at Paper & Stuff, you have contributed to the Duffy's flushing toilet fund, thank you so much."

Happy Christmas

Hey, I blinked, and Christmas is here…
So where did this year go?

Woo Hoo! We’re back!

and it is a relief after all the puttying and painting at home to be back at work... hope you are keeping warm, it has been chilly.

Holidays at Paper & Stuff

Well hey, just letting you know…
we are closed for the July school holidays
and will re-open on Monday 23rd July.

So if travelling from far to visit the shop,
please plan around this. Thank you.

 

So what's happening at Paper & Stuff?

Well hello there! Yes, it has been a while since I have written here, April I think. Time just marches on, because here we are in July already, and the year has just been jam-packed full so far. If I blink I am sure it will be Christmas.

I hope you have been well, and life has been treating you kindly. We have been well, and being kept quite well out of mischief.

So the shop at Paper & Stuff is going well. Many familiar faces have been re-visiting us lately, some of whom we haven't seen for ten years or so. Many have been re-discovering their love of paper – whether through their card making, scrapbooking or mixed media. Plus we have been meeting lots of new folk who have moved into this ever-expanding area of Cooranbong, Morisset and Peninsula, and Lake Macquarie. New stuff keeps hitting the shelves, and thanks to our lovely customers, it marches back out the doors. We try hard to keep our prices good, and have a flash of new, plus plenty in our half price bin, to keep our customers happy.

John and I have had some exciting projects on the hop.

I have been re-building the wedding stationery website over the past few months, which is starting to look good, have a look: www.paperandstuff.com.au and once this is complete, I am going to build another one…

John and I have been really busy with Cooranbong Printing – experiencing a very busy pre-June 30 rush – we have both been at work for the past few weekends getting things out the door before we have two weeks holiday in July.

Our winter and spring couples have also been keeping us busy with reception stationery, and plenty of wedding invitation packages going out our doors in the past month. We have exhibited at three wedding expos so far this year, and have another two to go – these are fun, we enjoy flashing our wares.

In April we attended a really fun festival in Lithgow called Ironfest, and came away all inspired. Those of you who know us from Stitches and Craft days know we love to dress up and have a bit of fun while we work, because life's too short to take seriously… So we have signed up for some creative leather workshops with one of the few remaining tannery's left in Sydney. John wants to learn some new skills and to add leather into his bookbinding skills. I have ideas of a costume for next year's Ironfest.

Our really big excitement this year is that the renovations at home are progressing. Slowly. Really slowly. We are hoping that the next six months to 12 months will bring us a new bathroom, complete with flushing toilet! Our current bathroom now only has one functional item in it. The shower – everything else has gone 'ping' – so we are sort of camping in a house. I still cannot believe how many ducks you have to get in a row with a bathroom. We are sourcing all the materials ourselves, then getting people who actually know what they are doing to do it. As we can afford it. Thus the slowly bit.

One thing that has amazed me with renovating a timber cottage is how much painting there is. Every spare moment – painting, filling, sanding, and then painting all over again. Exciting. We currently have six sets of windows to paint, one set of doors, one room to fill, sand, undercoat and top coat, and then four more doors coming…

Still it is exciting. We have lived in our house for 25 years.

While we have been busy I decided earlier this year that to survive a renovation something has to give. So while my kitting table at home is under a stack of boxes, and we have been working in different directions at work, that we would take a break for a while with the monthly kits. I know that the will disappoint some of our customers. But once the painting is done, and the table has been found again, we will start them up again Promise. Too many ideas running around my head…

Anyway, stay safe, have fun, and remember,
Life's too short to take seriously…

Papercraft Kits No. 96

Our cardmaking kit is all pretty and vintage and shabby chic. This set of three cards is in soft colours is decorated with ribbons and lace with a touch of satin and a pretty pink flower. Kit includes envelopes. Created by Cath.
From $16 for the complete kit they are excellent value!
($21.95 includes postage & handling)

Our latest off-the-page crafty kit is a Shabby Chic Paper Bag Album. The album pages are sized 21x21cm or 8x8inches, plus handles. There are four internal pages to decorate, two pockets to hide items in, and the covers to decorate. It is decorated in soft colours with added vintage tags, ribbons and lace with a touch of satin and pretty flowers. The only problem with this kit is there are limited numbers remaining.
So if you want one, please hurry!
Our Crafty kits are $19.95 for the complete kit.
($25.95 includes postage & handling)

To order your kits either please phone
the shop on 02 4977 3200,
email Cath at [email protected]
or simply visit the shop.

And best of all when you've completed your project,
you can say… I made it myself!

Easter Hours

PLEASE NOTE
We are closed for the Easter Longweekend.
The shop will re-open Tuesday at 9am.
So if travelling from far to visit the shop,
please plan around this.
Thank you.

Internet and Phones are now working

Everything is working again, so hurrah!

However, if you phone the shop during business hours,
and the number goes straight to voicemail,
please leave a message.
We will return your call.

Alternatively, shoot an email to
[email protected]
(emails are responded to Monday – Friday from 8am to 4pm)

Paper & Stuff is Back!

Good Morning arty and crafty folk.
Hope you survived the holiday fun and games!

We are now back from holidays.
Our shop has returned to our normal trading hours,
of Monday to Friday from 9am until 4pm.

Remember, if you can't make it to the shop during those hours,
if there are three or more of you, and you re-warn me.
We can open for you. Just phone me.

We have lots of new and re-stocked fun stuff in store.
Plus, I have a few boxes still to unpack…

…off I go, box-cutter in hand, giggling…

Happy 2018!

A new year! Fantastic!
What will you make of yours?

I have a magnet on my fridge that says…
"Always make new mistakes"

So raise your glass to new mistakes, and new adventures!
2018 here we come!

Peace

John and I wish you all a Peaceful Christmas.

2017 has been an interesting year.
For some of our customers, it has been a year of new love found.
For some, a dear love lost.
Some have moved far away, others moved closer.

So whatever your circumstances,
however many of you gather around the table today,
we wish you peace.

Drive safely.
Stop.
Enjoy the small things that matter.
Be kind.

Christmas Holidays

Last year we closed for four weeks for holidays,
and we are doing it again this year.

Paper & Stuff will be closed from now
and re-opens at 9am on Thursday, 18th January 2018.

We have a few "not-so-small" home projects to achieve.
So hopefully the extra time will help us out.

New Stock in for 2018

Today is our last shop day for 2017,
and it is going to be over 40 degrees in
"Sunny Cooranbong"!

Normally at this time of year I restock after Christmas,
but I thought we'd get in early this year!

This way we hit the ground running for
when the shop re-opens on 18 January 2018.

We have just re-stocked the following ranges
• Bazzill 12x12 plain card stock – still $1 per sheet
• Crafty Stickers in gold, silver and fab holograph colours
• More of the $7.95 each dies, and $8.95 embossing folders
• Glitter, Fabric and Mirrorboard Thickers
• Kindyglitz is back
• Canvases, deep wall and just the boards
• White and ivory envelopes in all sizes
• Specialty envelopes and pouches
• New ranges of Kaiser papers and accents
• New Metallic Ribbons, rose gold, gold, silver, copper…
• New Glitter A4 papers (yummy)

…and wait, I still have boxes left to unpack in January.

One wise man…

A good plan isn’t one where someone wins,
it’s where nobody thinks they’ve lost.

Terry Pratchett.

If you have never read a Terry Pratchett book, do yourself a favour and start at the beginning of the Discworld series…

"The Colour of Magic".