Shopping Smarter

The February/March 2013 issue of Consumer Reports SHOPSMART magazine shared some interesting statistics about the increasing interest in buying American made goods.

 

According to a recent survey of 1,000 Americans, 78 % say they would prefer to buy products in the U.S.; 89 % said they would be willing to pay more for them.

 

Another report, "Made in America, Again" by the Boston Consulting Group, states that Americans are willing to a premium of 10 to 60 % on a variety of goods if they know they're made in the U.S. Even Apple said last year that it would bring home some of its Mac production from China, and General Electric made a similar move in 2010.

 

ALL of Beacon's glues are made in America and have been since 1926 when the company was founded in New York City. We at Beacon are proud that our glues have always met the highest quality standards while continuing to hire a local workforce.

Beacon Supports Cropping For a Cure

Cropping for a Cure is a very special annual party held in Redwood Falls, MN to benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event.

Beacon supports Cropping for a Cure by donating ZIP DRY PAPER GLUE for make-takes and goody bags.

These photos are from the 2012 crop. The 2013 crop will be held May 10-11, 2013.
Contact them at http://www.croppingforacure.com/ for further information.

CHA Winter 2013 Photos

BEACON AT THE WINTER CHA 2013 TRADE SHOW

 

This past January Beacon exhibited at the Winter Craft & Hobby Association Conference & Trade Show that was held in Anaheim, CA. We who live on the East Coast were looking forward to escaping to a warmer climate but, much to our surprise, it was bitterly cold, windy and gloomy for most of the week we were there.

The CHA Show is a trade show open only to retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and professional designers as compared to a consumer show which is open to the public.  The consumer shows allows for the direct sale of product to anybody who wishes to buy some. 

We always enjoy demonstrating Beacon’s superior glues by offering CHA attendees the opportunity to do a make-take. They actually sit down at our booth and create a unique project of their own design rather than just a “cookie cutter craft” that everyone makes exactly alike.

This make-take project of a felt clutch bag was hugely successful as you can see from these delighted attendees who are showing off their handiwork.

The fantastic handle clutches are from the Feltables line from the New Image Company, www.newimageco.com,and are decorated with the gorgeous flowers from Prima Marketing, www.primamarketinginc.com, along with assorted ribbons and trims as embellishments.  The clutches are available in a choice of three colors: heather gray, turquoise, or fuschia.

Here is a very enthusiastic fan of Fabri-Tac and 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue expressing her delight. FABRI-TAC did a great job gluing all the flowers, trims and embellishments to both the felt clutches as well as to the felt bib necklaces.

Gotcha! Beacon’s president David Meshirer stuffing the raffle box! Just kidding…he was helping a customer enter the contest.




The first lucky raffle winner! Hundreds of attendees entered Beacon’s GLUE & GOODIES BASKET raffle worth $300.00. Each basket contained a generous selection of Beacon glues along with a $100.00 VISA gift card, a box of yummy Godiva chocolates, and other treats. Four baskets were raffled during the show, one each day.



Another fantastic make-take designed by Beacon’s multi-talented designer, Susan I. Jones. This felt bib necklace was a huge hit with everyone. Everybody had a blast creating their own unique mix of flowers and trims.



Susan Jones (right) and her equally creative sister Judy Belkacem posed with a very happy buyer and her necklace. Great job, ladies!



This brave gentleman wasn’t afraid to get in touch with his feminine side! Yes, he sat down and made this necklace all by himself. We were quite impressed.



Another great make-take was a paper lantern that was decorated with pretty paper napkins using Fast Finish Decoupage. Instructions for making this project follow the photos.

DECORATIVE PAPER LANTERN
 
SUPPLIES

FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE
FOLDING PAPER LANTERN, WHITE We used a 10” size, but the lanterns are available in many different sizes.
TWO-PLY PAPER NAPKINS Must be two-ply!
SMALL BRISTLE BRUSH, RIBBONS OF DIFFERENT COLORS, SCISSORS


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place a small amount of FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE in a small plastic bowl.
2. Separate the two-ply napkins, tossing the plain white part and keeping the design.
3. Tear the napkin into pieces of various sizes, but not too small. Depending upon the size of the lantern, you may need several napkins to cover the lantern.
4. Open lantern and attach metal frame as per lantern directions.
5. Dip brush into FAST FINISH and cover a small section of the lantern with product. Gently press a piece of the napkin over the wet surface until it adheres.
6. Brush more FAST FINISH over napkin as this will seal the napkin piece in place.
7. Continue this process until the entire lantern is covered with the napkin pieces and is completely coated with FAST FINISH.
8. Select ribbons in various colors to match the pattern and cut different lengths. Attach to the bottom of the frame.
9. Cut a smaller piece of ribbon and attach to the upper frame in a loop for hanging the lantern.
10. Once lantern is dry, you can remove the frame and fold the lantern for storage.

Craft Industry Today Features Beacon's Quick Grip

The current issue of Craft Industry Today, the Craft & Hobby Association's official magazine, features many informative articles for anyone involved in the creative industry. We're delighted that Beacon's Quick Grip is pictured in an Instant Glam Necklace design by Fernando. Fernando will also be teaching an Instant Glam Necklace class at the CHA Winter Show in Anaheim, CA this week. As you can see, Quick Grip is Fernando's glue of choice for this fabulous necklace.

My Craft Channel Gift Basket Winner!

Beacon recently partnered with My Craft Channel to offer their viewers a special Glue & Goodies Gift Basket worth over $200.00. Almost 6,000 people entered the contest and Terri Harmon from Michigan won. Here’s her response after winning:

“Wow, you have just made this the best birthday ever! Wait, let me pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Nope, I’m totally awake and so excited. It really is my birthday and this is just the most awesome present. Thank you so much for offering these prizes and all the great programs on My Craft Channel.”

After receiving the basket, Terri was kind enough to share these photos and her comments with us.

"Just had to write again to let you know that this huge box arrived on my doorstep today.  It was the size of a TV box for the older style, maybe a 36" TV (not flat screen).  In it was the prize basket from Beacon Adhesives, loaded with all kinds of goodies.  I can't believe all the stuff they packed it with.  Someone really did an awesome job putting this together and it was beautifully wrapped with lots of colorful ribbons cascading from a huge bow (all of course to be used in my scrapping!).  :-)

I'm attaching a couple pictures because I can't possibly begin to describe all the goodness!  There are adhesives here that I never knew existed.  They also included non-adhesive goodies, too, including Godiva Chocolates, shower gel & body lotion, and even an American Express Gift Card!!

Please relay my thanks to your contact at Beacon Adhesives. I am so overwhelmed by their generosity.  I am also amazed that they took time out of their busy holidays to expedite this prize basket to me.  It's been only 1 week since you first contacted me for my address and that included Christmas & Christmas Eve holidays!

Thank you so much to everyone at My Craft Channel and Beacon Adhesives.  You made my day (again!).  :-)"

http://www.mycraftchannel.com

mycraftchannelblog.blogspot.com

Gloria Uhler of The Domestic Diva Uses FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE

Domestic Diva Online's Heavenly Golden Angel

Click the link above to visit Domestic Diva Online and learn how to make this angel using FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE. 

Pretty Poinsettia Candle Holder using FABRI-TAC, LIQUID LAMINATE, and ZIP DRY

MaterialsLIQUID LAMINATEZIP DRY PAPER GLUEFABRI-TAC • Glass votive candle holder 3” high or larger • Cream  or white mulberry paper • Red and green decorative holiday papers • Metallic gold pen • Leaf paper punch • Gold beads, approx. 4mm • Red fiber cord • Tweezer • Craft brush, 1⁄2” wide flat • Scissors
Instructions: 1. Tear mulberry paper into small pieces and adhere to entire holder with Liquid Laminate as per bottle directions. Let dry. 2. Apply Fabri-Tac to rim of the holder and wrap red fiber around several times. Glue in place and let dry. 3. Use the leaf paper punch to punch out 12 petals from the red paper and 5 from the green paper. Using the gold pen, draw lines around the edges of each petal and leaf. Let dry. 4. Cut out a small square of red paper. Glue 6 red petals onto the square using Zip-Dry. Glue 6 more petals in between the ones you’ve just glued to achieve a layered look. Glue the leaves onto the underside of the flower and glue onto the votive with Zip-Dry. 5. Glue 6 gold beads onto the center of the flower with Fabri-Tac.
Designer: Sandy Rollinger

That Bling Thing!

Shorn Mitchell, a Beacon staff member, was inspired to decorate the interior of her beloved BMW using Swavorski crystals and Gem-Tac Embellishing Glue with spectacular results. We love the unique look she created to personalize her car. Gem-Tac has permanently held the crystals in place through sizzling summer days and now freezing temperatures. Gem-Tac is also great for embellishing costumes, rodeo shirts, swimsuits, gowns, handbags, headbands, cell phones and just about anything else that needs a bit of glitz. Reach for Gem-Tac anytime you need to add a bit of glitz & glamour to a project.

A True Story

My husband Charles was recently installing a new window just before we were slammed by Hurricane Sandy. The idea was to replace a drafty, poorly made window that dated back to when the house was constructed in1910. Unfortunately, all did not go well when he dropped the new window. Amazingly, the glass did not break but the plastic frame shattered in several places. It was not a happy moment.

Fortunately, we have GLASS, METAL & MORE on hand and my husband began to piece the window together, glueing & clamping as he went. Within a few hours, the window was installed and the damage was not even visible. We both breathed a sigh of relief that we didn't have to invest in a new window as GLASS, METAL & MORE did a beautiful job, the perfect choice for keeping things together when they fall apart!

Melissa Frances Loves Beacon Glue!

MELISSA FRANCES launched her HEART & HOME giftware and home decor line in 1996, creating paper mache boxes and shapes with charming vintage looking art labels. The vintage line was so popular that customers began requesting the labels for their own craft projects... and Melissa's beautiful scrapbook line was born. Once the labels were massed produced, scrapbookers and scrapbook publications discovered them and shared their enthusiasm with the market. In the Spring of 2004, Melissa expanded and introduced a full scrapbook line including papers, embellishments, ribbons, trims, house kits, albums, and so much more.

Melissa recently filmed 12 shows for My Craft Channel and she kindly mentions Beacon glues in almost every episode. For more information about My Craft Channel, please visit their site at http://www.mycraftchannel.com/

A Stampendous project using FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE

Thanks to our good friend Laura Weed at Stampendous, their amazingly talented design team has  created a FAST FINISH FALL featuring Beacon's FAST FINISH DECOUPAGE. Using the wonderful Stampendous images and inks along with Fast Finish, Laura created an amazing pumpkin for all seasons.

Stampendous designer RHEA WEIGARD cleverly developed a new technique with Fast Finish that works beautifully in her project. You have to check out her design at The Stampendous Blog!

Holiday Crafting with LIQUID LAMINATE, DAZZLE-TAC, and ZIP DRY

Silver Snowflake Cookie Tin Materials DAZZLE-TAC JEWELRY GLUE ZIP DRY PAPER GLUE LIQUID LAMINATE • 4” X 6” metal tin (any color) • Silver metallic spray paint for tin • Blue spray paint for tin • Paper clay or any air dry clay • 2” snowflake cookie cutter • Blue and silver metallic craft papers • Holographic glitter • Assorted silver, white & blue tiny beads • Small craft brush, ruler, pencil, paper cutter or scissors, Lucite roller or old rolling pin, toothpick

Instructions: 1. Take can outside in a cardboard box and spray the lid using the blue metallic spray paint. Let dry and apply a second coat to cover completely. Remove from box. 2. Using the same box, spray the bottom of the tin with the silver paint. Once dry, repeat to cover completely. 3. Cut a strip of blue metallic paper 1” wide and about 5” long. Make sure the paper meets the lid and does not fit under it. Glue strip to tin with ZIP DRY PAPER GLUE. Repeat process on the other three sides and let dry. 4. Cut a 3 ½” square of silver metallic paper for the lid. Glue to lid top with ZIP DRY PAPER GLUE.  Let dry. 5. Roll paper clay to 1/8” thickness. Cut out five snowflakes and let dry at least 3 hours depending upon the humidity in your area. 6. Paint both sides of the wooden star with 2 coats of gold paint, drying between coats. Draw lines around the edges of the star with the black marker. 7. Glue one snowflake to the lid with DAZZLE-TAC and the other four onto the blue strips on the side. Hold in place for a few minutes to allow glue time to grab onto surface. 8. Add a thin line of DAZZLE-TAC around the perimeter of the silver paper on the lid, one side at a time. Use a toothpick to move the tiny beads onto the glue. Repeat process on sides of can over the edges of the blue strips as shown. Let one side dry before finishing remaining sides. Designer: Sandy Rollinger