AHOY, MATIES....or should that be ARGHHHHHH!

I just returned from spending the weekend with my friend, Ettie, in Brandon and we participated in the 2011 Treasure Hunt Party Bus Tour sponsored by 9 stores in the Tampa Bay Area. We had a blast! I am the luscious red head on the left and Ettie is the beautiful chesty one on the right. Feel free to print out a copy to display in your living rooms!

We collected a lot of scrapping treasures and met a bunch of wonderful people! Among our favorites was this Mother and Daughter Team (who we thought were sisters to begin with!). This shows what can happen when you run with scissors. Thank you, Kristie and Lish, for the caution!


Another highlight of the tour was being man-handled by Jack Sparrow. We had to pose several times with Jack to get the photo we wanted but it was worth the sacrifice! We tried to sign up for a weekly photo shoot, but they couldn't do that....sigh....Whooooooooa! Watch that sword, Jack Baby!


The stores were great and we were treated to all kinds of goodies and freebies at each. We also obtained a tag from each store to hang on our pirate beads. That became a game in itself trying to keep them tied on, out of our food and debating which was our favorite. Ettie though she had lost one of hers until she excused herself to go to the "little girls room" and she found it. We won't say exactly where........

There were several demonstrations going on...all of them were very informative....


Hopefully, you will all join us next year for a high seas rip tootin' time (oh dear...that's ANOTHER whole story about the Walking Tacos)!!!!

PARTICIPATING STORES IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN IN ON THE FUN!

Violette’s Art Stamps
4604 Cleveland Heights Blvd.
Lakeland, FL 33813
www.violettesscrapbookstore.com

Scraporium
16518 N. Florida Ave
Tampa, FL 33549
www.scraporium.com

Whim So Doodle
237 2nd Ave South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
www.whimsodoodle.com

Posh Scraps
3454 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
www.poshscraps.com

Scraps of Art
8990 Seminole Boulevard
Seminole, FL 33772
www.scrapsofart.com

K2 Scrapbook Studio
4281 Clark Road
Sarasota, FL 34233
www.k2scrapbookstudio.com

Creative Hands
3477 Deltona Blvd
Spring Hill, FL 34608
www.creativehandsshop.com

The Stamping Studio
10544 Spring Hill Dr
Spring Hill, FL 34608
(352) 688-3656 for hours

Stamp & Scrap A Latte
80 Commercial Way
Spring Hill, FL 34606
(352) 686-8740 for hours

12 Different Embellishments Ideas From ONE STAMPIN' UP! PUNCH!

One of the first punches I received from Stampin' Up! was the Modern Label Extra Large Punch (#119849, P202) and I thought...nice. Then I started using it and thought "This could be a flower! This could be a pull tab! This could be a tiny mini album!" It's not just a nice label punch anymore.....It's a fabulous punch that packs a PUNCH! Here we go:

Idea #1...Label (DUH?)


Idea #2...Faux Frame (Kind of another DUH!)


Idea #3...Pull Tab on Tags! I'm was getting tired of using circles and these look so neat!


Idea #4...Banner


Idea #5...Ribbon on Pinwheel or hanging down from any other embellishment! Loop them over a ribbon, for example.


Idea #6...Chubby Bow


Idea #7...Primitive Heart Butterfly


Idea #8...Mini Tag Book


Idea #9...OK...let's "Kit" it up a notch!....Flower


Idea #10..Daisy


Idea #11..Scalloped Flower


Idea #12..Ribbon Buckle


And all from one punch! You don't have to wait on that flower punch to arrive now...just a few labels, add a circle and PRESTO.....a flower! If you don't have one yet, just click on the Fancy Gal above and order you one! I've punch over 500 punches on mine and it's still punching clean! How amazing is that....great quality and easy to use and it folds flat and locks for storage. It could only be better if it was made out of chocolate! Orders up to $69.50 ship for a flat fee of $6.95 and if you hurry you can still get in on the Sale-A-Bration FREE STAMPS for every $50.00 you spend!

Here is the guest of honor being mobbed by it's fan club.....


I rescued it and here is what you are ordering, except your's will be shiny and new and not used 500 times! Thank you!

I'm Back!

I am so excited! I have been having so many wonderful things entering my life lately that I should be skinny as a rail with all the happy dancing I've been doing! My hubby is going to retire so that we can travel more. The grandbabies and kids are well and are having lots of wonderful opportunities coming their way. The weather is just fabulous AND all my supplies have arrived from Stampin' Up! What more could a Gal want?! I have been creating and learning all about the Stampin' Up! products and business model. I am learning which of their products I absolutely love and want to make 50,000 things before they retire them! I have tried out their tools, created with their paper and chipboard and ribbons and buttons and inks and EVERYTHING! I love the quality and the colors ROCK! I can't wait to start posting tutorials so all of you can play along with me! Here are a few of the items I've made and I have about 50 more on the sideboard getting ready to finalize.
This is a card I did for a swap at our Demo meeting yesterday. I did 16 card fronts.

It is made using the double-sided Love Letter Designer Series Paper (#117162, P173 in the Big Idea Book and Catalog), Very Vanilla Cardstock (#101650, P169), Basic Black Cardstock (#121045, P169)and the En Francais Stamp (#109521, P142). Basic Black Ink (#101179, P169) was my ink of choice on this one. How simple is that?! I kicked (Kitted!) it up a notch by adding the "hello" peaking out from under the last embellishment rectangle with the corner of the paper anchored by one of our tiny brads. The hello stamp comes from the using part of the Tiny Teacup Stamp (#118086, P20) and I stamped it using ink from my Real Red Writer (#100052, P166). The brads are a kick as they are so tiny and I used one from the Neutrals Collection which come in 6 colors and you get 120 of them! (#119736, P187).

Using the same papers, I made this Father's Day Card for our son who is a pilot. The Plane and Simple Stamp Set....PERFECT!! (#121964, P40 in the Occasions Mini Catalog). If you like this one, get it before April 30, 2011 as that's when the new mini catalog comes out and this one may no longer be available!



And, again, using the same Love Letter Papers I made these 6" x 6" reversible scrapbook pages. I am loving this paper!!


And last but not least, I am making a bunch of these small note cards with envelopes out of the same paper. Aren't they so darn cute?!

AND I still have a lot of paper left over! You get (12) 12" x 12" double-sided designer paper for only $9.95. It's the heavier paper, too.....so easy to work with and punch and die cut. Speaking of punches....one of my favorites so far is the Modern Label Extra-Large (#119849, P202). You can see it on the Father's Day Card clipped to the seam tape ribbon on the tail of the plane. I am also using it for the pulls on my tags as am getting tired of the circle pulls. These punched shapes work PERFECT for the pulls and are so different!! You see it again on the scalloped envelopes in the last photo using it as an actual label. Stick Stampin' Up!'s Basic Rhinestones (#119246, P188) on each side and Oooh La La!

If you would like to order any of the items used in these projects, just click on my link in the upper right corner of this blogpage and it will take you to the website where you can order and even download all the catalogs free for 24/7 reading and ordering! Order before March 31st, 2011 and you can pick out a free stamp for every $50.00 you spend. Yay! We love free stuff! Also, now is the time to join Stampin'Up! as there is a 15% discount off the Starter Kit and a bonus bundle filled with over $50 in free additional products during Sale-A-Bration! Make it a business and love your work! Contact me for the details or sign up today on the same link to my Stampin' Up! webpage.

Now I must get back to creating as I still have PAPER LEFT!!!