Our return to San Juan

Each evening on a cruise when you head back to your cabin at the end of a long day, you are welcomed by a different towel animal each night.  Here are just some of ours.  What fun!

I don't like the last day of the cruise...having to get off the ship.  I just want it to never end, but alas, we must leave and make our way back home.  This year we discovered a fun new thing with Royal Caribbean-for a nominal fee, they will take your checked luggage right to the airport for you so you don't even have to deal with it.  That worked out great for us, as we had some time in San Juan before our plane left.  We were able to do a bunch of exploring without having to worry about our luggage. It was awesome and so totally worth the money!

We toured Old San Juan for a while, shopped a bit, had a drink or two, and then headed to the airport for our return flight home.

Then remember that 2 page layout I created in the beginning?  I used the first page in the front of my album and now I am using the other half for the last page.

Thanks for joining me on this little vacation.  I know I had a good time, and I hope you enjoyed it, too.  I love being able to scrapbook my vacations so I can re-live them each and every time I open the album up.  It is so easy to do now with Studio J, too.  If you need any help, just let me know...

Happy Scrappin'

Let's set sail for St. Maarten and St. Thomas

Today's first port of call is St. Maarten.  We have toured the island before, so we decided we just wanted a beach day.

The next day it was off to my favorite port of call, St. Thomas!  We headed right to Magen's Bay Beach, my favorite beach, too!  It is so beautiful there (and Dale loves the waitresses there...think it's got anything to do with the fact that they all are wearing bikinis??)

We finally decided to head back into town to do a little shopping-I usually end up getting something for myself when in St. Thomas.  I love the shopping there, too.  On this trip, I ended up buying the camera lens I had been dreaming of getting for a long time-at over 1/2 off!  What's not to love about that.  On our way back into town, we stopped of for this beautiful view overlooking the beach we just came from.  Take a look at the storm off the shore.

We have one more day of our cruise left, so I'll see you tomorrow...

Happy Scrappin'

Today's port - Curacao

Today's port is Curacao.  Enjoy the vacation...

Our head waiter was Ardith and she was a real hoot!  Now, as a reminder, if you try to put a photo on your page that is not of a good enough quality (pixels and all that technical stuff I don't understand) Studio J will let you know that.  I big exclamation point pops up and tells you that it might not be a good choice.  The picture on the upper left of the right page of Dale and I with Ardith is a prime example of that.  Studio J did tell me that it wasn't very good quality, but I wanted to print it anyway just to see what happens.  Well...it turns out all pixelated (is that a word??), so I guess if  Studio J tells you it might not work, they are right.  I did the experiment so you didn't have to.

Happy Scrappin'

Let's cruise to Aruba...

Today we are stopping in Aruba on our cruise.

Just click on the pictures to enlarge them and be able to read the journaling or get a better look at the photos.  I just loved all the iguanas.

Remember, to start making your own Studio J layouts, just click on the Studio J link on the left side of my blog.  It will take you to my website.  Then you just need to enter a user name and a password and you can get started.  It is that easy.  When you leave the site, you work will be saved for you for 90 days, so you have plenty of time to work on your project before you purchase it.

Happy Scrappin'

Have you tried Studio J yet? Well come join me on this cruise...

I generally make a scrapbook for every vacation I take.  With that said, I am also behind!  Can you believe that?  No, that does not mean I should quit going anyplace until I catch up!  It just means that Studio J came to the rescue.  I scrapbooked this whole vacation in a matter of 3 days (and that was not 3 complete days, either, it was just a little here and there).  I got it done and ordered it on a Wednesday night.  It was at my doorstep the following Thursday.  That was quick!

This is what the box looks like when it arrives.  I will open it slowly so you can see just how well your pages are protected.  No worries here with any of them getting bent up.

I also ordered in quantities of 5 so that I was able to get all the Memory Page Protectors for FREE!  I love that deal.  I also love the fact that I got FREE shipping, too-any order of 10 or more layouts at a time!

Then you receive this great index print of all the layouts you ordered.  What a great idea-know how easy this makes it to re-order any of these layouts now, say for Grandparents albums or something??

Whenever you order, you always get a 2 page layout.  Anyone knows that when you create an entire album, you need a single page in the beginning and a single page at the end of your album.  No worries!  I just created this double page layout and used one page for the front and one for the back of my album.  Simple!

I generally scrapbook my albums in chronological order, and this trip was no different.  I go in order of the Ports we are in.  This one, we started out in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

We will stop here for today, but join me the rest of the week as we continue our vacation Studio J style.

Happy Scrappin'

A trip to the Greenhouse

So, I told you about the shopping spree I won at the Greenhouse...Wow!  It was fun yesterday to pick out all those flowers.  I could spend all day at the greenhouse just looking at all those beautiful flowers.  Better yet, I was able to bring a bunch of them home with me.

Before I left, I made a list of what I needed.  I went through my gardens to see what perennials didn't come back this year (surprisingly, only a couple).  Then I checked off my flower pots that I wanted to fill.  I had a big cart FULL of beautiful flowers.  I got to the checkout and they started ringing up my bill.  Now remember, I had a $200 gift certificate.  Take a wild guess at how much it came to...

All this and I only had to pay 24 cents!!  I was amazed!

After my club girls left today, I even got them all planted!  What a great day!

Happy Scrappin'

Cherish the Moment with Passages

Here is one more card I created using the May Stamp of the Month Cherish the Moment.  I used the new Passages paper pack.

This one is put together using a pattern right out of the Wishes How-to book.  I just love these books as they tell me exactly how to put a card (or layout) together so simply.  It is like following a recipe in a recipe book, or if you sew, it is like following a pattern.  Faster. Simpler. Easier.  Love it!

Happy Scrappin'

You Are So Sweet

Here is the layout that my Club girls will be putting together on Sunday.

It uses the new Cherry-O paper pack along with some of the new buttons from the Tulip Mini Medley and the Glitz Stardust Glitter Glue.

The cherries are stamped with the new You're Sweet Stamp Set.

I have used this paper a lot already as it is one of my favorites!  Interested in getting some of your own?  Just contact me or click here or on the idea book in the left sidebar to take you directly to my shopping website.

Happy Scrappin'

Happy Mother's Day...a day late

I sure hope all my Mom friends had a wonderful day.  I know for me, it was a struggle.  For those of you that are new here and don't know me well, In the last 20 months, I have lost both of my children in separate car accidents.  I won't go into detail and I'm not looking for sympathy, but wanted you to know why it was a rough day for me.  We will never 'get over it,' but have learned to move forward as we don't have any other options.  If we don't, it will destroy us.

So anyway, I have to share my surprise last Friday.  If any of you are local to me, if you listen to Curt & Sue in the Morning on the I-94 radio station, then you probably already know the surprise.  For those of you that don't...here is the story:

My girlfriend sent me a text last Friday morning that said...check your email!  Well, I just happened to be checking it at the time and you just wouldn't believe the message she sent me.  Here is part of it:

Hi Tammy!
I don't know if you guys still listen to I-94 radio anymore but if you do and were listening this morning you would have heard your name. They were running a "Pamper Mom" contest and you had to write in and nominate her to win. Well I wrote in on Tony and Rhonda's behalf - AND YOU WON!!!!!

Here is a copy of the letter I sent them:

Hi Curt and Sue -
As much as I think my mom should be pampered - this letter is not for her. I would like to nominate my friend Tammy Hellstern to be pampered this Mothers Day. Tammy and her husband Dale were blessed with 2 children in this life. Unfortunately in September of 2008 they lost their older child, Tony, in a tragic car accident at the age of 23. But that would not be the end of their story. In an unimaginable twist of fate - only a few months later in July 2009 they lost their 16 yr old daughter in yet another car accident. They say that the hardest thing to live thru is the loss of a child - well, Dale and Tammy lost BOTH children within a year.
So on behalf of her two angels in heaven that are unable to nominate her themselves, I would like to nominate Tammy to be pampered on what will be her first Mothers Day without both of her children.
Thanks,
Sandy XxXxxxxx

Now, you can just imagine the shock, surprise, astonishment, grief, sorrow, happiness...you get the idea.  I was smiling through my tears!  I could not believe it and had absolutely no idea that she had done this.  Here is what I guess I won:

Tell us why your mom should be pampered.  Pampered with flower baskets from Season's Harvest Greenhouse in Menomonie, and pampered with a Season's Harvest Greenhouse shopping spree worth $200, PLUS a getaway for mom at Metropolis Resort in Eau Claire -- including flowers, candy, massages & all the pampering she deserves.  (Imagine mom being able to load up the car or truck with all the plants she wants!)  Submit your reasons why your mom needs to be pampered.  Every Friday, Curt & Sue will announce a winning mom, and she will receive a gorgeous flower basket from Season's Harvest Greenhouse.  And, on May 7th, one of our lucky winners will be drawn to receive the shopping spree.


All I can say is WOW! and THANK YOU, Sandy, you are the best!

Saturday came and I had my Open House to celebrate the new Summer Idea Book and Catalog.  In honor of National Scrapbooking Month, we did a lot of cropping!  Thank you to the ladies that came!  I had a great time.  I truly appreciate all my customers!

Sunday, my husband took me to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and we saw their adaptation of "Footloose."  It was wonderful!  I truly had a great time!  Thanks honey!

Now that you've made it through a post without any artwork, I will share the card that my Mom made for me.  She has really just gotten started in card-making, but she does a fabulous job!  Just look at the detail of this card!  Thank you, Mom!  I love it!

Happy Scrappin,

Come Celebrate the new Summer Idea Book & Catalog

Today is the day for my Open House...starting at 10:00.  If you are local to me or if not but you would like to travel :) you are welcome to stop in at my place to help me celebrate the new Summer Idea Book & Catalog!  We will be having fun, fun, fun!

Stop and shop or Stay and crop (bring your own projects to work on).  I will have Make & Takes for you to do plus you can get your FREE copy of the Idea Book if you don't already have one.

Here is just one of the Make & Takes I have for you.  We will be creating this layout using the new Splendor paper pack and also using the paper ruffles technique that I learned how to do last Sunday.

I love the look of these paper ruffles and I hope you will, too.  They really are pretty easy to make, once you learn how...that's what I'm here for, to teach you how!

I hope to see you later at my house.  Call me if you need directions (715-377-6195).

Happy Scrappin'

The last of the Art Day Techniques and Cards

Today brings us the last of the Art Day Techniques and Cards.  I will be showing you more come August when we have another Art Day.  Until then, if you have any questions about any of the techniques you've seen or any you haven't seen yet but have always wondered how to do, just let me know and I'll see what I can come up with.

First up was Jen showing us how to make Jumbo Scallops.

Here is her card using the new Cherry-O papers.

And last but certainly not least we had Liz showing us how to make some different paper flowers.

Here is her card.  I just love those flowers.  If you click on this link it will bring you back to another of my blog posts showing another way to create them.

Remember, I am having an Open House tomorrow.  I would love to see you there.  Bring whatever project you are working on along with you.  I will also have a Make & Take for you to put together.  Pick up your copy of the new Idea Book and Catalog.  Stop and shop or Stay and crop!  Just let me know if you will be coming so I have an idea of how many project to prep.  See you tomorrow!

Happy Scrappin'

Open House and Technique Cards

Have you seen the new Idea Book and Catalog yet?  If not, you better stop over to my house on Saturday, May 8th to get your very own copy!  I am having an Open House/Open Crop starting at 10:00 am for anyone that wants to stop over.  Stop and shop or stay and crop!  Bring your own projects to work on, but I will also have a Make & Take for you to put together!

And now for more of our Art Day Techniques and cards.  Lynn H. showed us how to make handmade Dew Drops.

Look at the cute little hedgehog on this card.  You will be seeing more of him in July as he is part of the July Stamp of the Month "Happy Forever."

Next  Nicole showed us how to use Shrinky Dinks.

And the card she prepped for us to make...

Happy Scrappin'