Introducing Okido – A delightful and affordable new art and stationery line with a vibrant personality! Fun, Function, and Fashion come together in this broad assortment of colorful products that include colored pencils, pens, crayons, erasers, paper pads, and stationery sets, which are sure to appeal to teens and tweens alike. The visual impact is optimized through clear packaging that not only completely shows off all the product inside, but is also reusable to minimize waste and maximize function. All you see is color and product! Just in time for holiday is the Okido end-cap assortment! Not only great for back to school and impulse items, Okido products make for fantastic…

Strathmore Artist Papers THE GREAT HOLIDAY SWAP FOR ARTIST TRADING CARDS Retailers:  there’s still time to enroll! Strathmore Artist Papers™ is hosting a global artist trading card swap this holiday season. Join in the excitement, promote this innovative consumer promotion and receive great retailer benefits. Join by October 15 and receive the following: •    Promotional swap material including display header card with entry forms, poster with entry forms and 50 postcards for handouts or store mailings •    Chance to win $2,000 Retail Value of Strathmore® products* •    Increased traffic and sales as consumers purchase supplies for the swap! *Winner will be randomly selected from all retailers who enroll in the…

The market for Manga books and merchandise has seen continuous year on year growth, bringing commercial opportunity on a surprisingly broad scale. Outside of Japan, some of the world’s largest Manga and comic markets are in Europe, with North America also accounting for a sizeable section. Manga is a Japanese art form, originating in graphic novels (comic books) and now, increasingly, a part of mainstream popular culture. Manga fans will consume just about anything Manga-themed, and related art supplies are very much in demand. Regardless of artistic ability, end users are keen to recreate their favorite character artwork or even produce their own amateur comics – and as a result,…

We’re pleased to announce the launch of “Commercials Gone Krazy,” a nationwide video contest in which participants can create and submit their own Instant Krazy Glue® commercials online.  Be sure to tell all your friends and colleagues! Each contestant can submit one video and it must address the theme “Commercials Gone Krazy.” Entries must be one minute or less and in miniDV, BETA SP or MP4 format. It’s free to enter and those who wish to create their own “Commercials Gone Krazy” video can visit the contest Web site, Commercials GoneKrazy.com, to sign up. The Grand Prize winner gets a trip for two to Hawaii, which includes some crazy adventures…

As the busy Fall BTS season winds down, ColArt has launched a very exciting Holiday Gift promotion packed with a selection of new sets, as well as some old favorites, at great savings through MacPherson’s. This year, you will note the abundance of sets with open-window packaging designed to allow consumers to see what is actually in the set. New Sets are available in all product ranges and price levels, including: Winsor & Newton: All New Sets – 60% off! New Art Sets featuring Cotman, Galeria and Winton New Wood Box Sets w/open window design (Cotman, Galeria, Winton, Sketching) New Box Easel Sets (Cotman, Galeria, Winton) New Easel Painting Sets (Cotman,…

Our buyers love to keep our sales force informed of the latest twists and turns in product and supplier information. Here is a peak at the latest entry: MOORE PUSH PIN By popular demand, we have added the “T-Pin” from Moore; this item is listed on the Moore sell sheet from the last SMIAB. Click on the small image to the right for a copy of the sell sheet (2008 New Item Insert). The item number is MP72T-PIN-20, and the sell sheet shows the retail pricing. Product will be available in all 3 MacPherson’s DCs in the next two weeks, ans samples will be included in the next SMIAB shipment.…

The latest 12-page issue of the GOLDEN Just Paint Newsletter, which focuses on the new OPEN Acrylics product line, will begin hitting mailboxes on September 15, so be on the look out for it!  The newsletter will include a Consumer Sample Kit of OPEN Acrylics, and will be sent to over 21,000 artists, art educators, retailers and distributors worldwide. We’ve learned that the best way to describe OPEN is to hear from the artists who have been experimenting, discovering and participating in the line’s development throughout the process. In this issue Mark Golden asks four artists with very different working styles to share, from their perspective, the opportunities and challenges…

Royal & Langnickel is offering the “Deal of a Lifetime” on 7 new brush lines. Each line features double crimped brass ferrules and our exclusive Silk Touch handle. Buy two assortments and get one assortment of equal or lesser value free. Receive a 50+50% discount, plus free racks and free freight. These are your choices: Aurea, which means beautiful, is a blend of natural bristles with a special multi-diameter synthetic hair. Bordeaux is Royal’s smoothest red synthetic filaments ideal for the heaviest acrylics. Imia features the finest quality interlocking boar bristle hair. Longhandle Majestic has been designed with the same exacting standards as Royal’s existing Majestic line with multi-diameter taklon…

Susan Kocsis submitted this video report on a saint of an artist doing her part to honor some of America’s heroes.

We have had many entries (3) for the Art Dawg of the month contest and we are pleased to present the first winner, Shelby (she’s a girl!). Shelby is the store manager at the Art Rooms in Maryland. She also recently celebrated a birthday. Join me in congratulating her and please send in your photo entries for the coveted “Art Dawg of the Month” contest. And for the runners up, don’t get discouraged, you just may be the winner next month! Here is Shelby’s acceptance speech: Oh, my tail is wagging at the honor!  My name is Shelby and I am a good old american mutt. I manage my human’s…

Take a tour of the Montana Cans flagship store! Founded by Ruediger Glatz and Tim Latif in 1996, Montana’s humble beginning started in Heidelberg, Germany. With Montana Cans’ growth into the premier artists’ spray paint brand across the globe, the Montana flagship store has finally been opened in Glatz’s rustic hometown, which is also the location of the Montana Cans head office. See what Montana Cans is all about first hand in this short video clip, with a few words from CEO Ruediger Glatz himself.

Want to make the most of the upcoming holiday season? Who doesn’t? MacPherson’s and Creative Catalog Concepts (CCC) have teamed up to provide three eye-popping flyer options designed to drive current and new customers into your store to shop. Here are just some of the details: • Two 8-page and one 4-page versions to choose from • Free imprinting of your store info on the front & back of the flyers • Get $50 off your invoice when you use an optional Strathmore module in your artwork • The 8-3/8″ x 10-7/8″ size is ideal for newspaper insertion, and can be folded in half to get the best mailing rates…

To the consumer, most manufactured products are just practical, everyday items for general use and consumption. But all manufacturers know that behind this perception lies an attention to detail that must be sustained millions of times a year. In this respect, TRIA markers are no different. On the surface just a marker, but underneath lies considerable technology with tolerances sensitive to 1000th of a millimeter. Quality starts with the suppliers of Letraset’s raw materials. Letraset encourages its suppliers to use the same procedures as theirs. These follow military standard 105E, equivalent to civilian counterparts ANSI/ASQC Z 1.4, ISO 2859 and BS6001 (some countries have their own national comparable systems). On…

There are real Art Dogs out there, we can feel it. The Art Dog Blog is just a figurative dog, defined as someone or entity that has been involved in this art business for a very long time. Sometimes length of service equates with good things like experience, expertise and yes, occasionally, wisdom. You’ll have to be the judge in that contest! A different standard applies for real Art Dogs who are more appreciated for wagging their tails, slobbering constantly and generally acting as humankind’s best friend. We would like to honor these superior beings with a contest of sorts. No prizes, just glory. Here’s what you do… If you…