Lime Green and Estrogen

VINYL FEVER!

If you are not familar with the South Tampa independent music store called Vinyl Fever, you are missing a 25 year old local landmark of cool tunes! I remember many an afternoon during the 80's when I would visit and buy records (yes! Records and gasp- cassette tapes!) of my favorite bands like DEVO, Adam Ant, the B-52's and the GoGo's! My daughter Jessica has also fallen in love with the store and we have been visiting weekly! She likes All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, She Wants Revenge, and other bands I can't remember! Jessica is working at the shoppe this summer, stop by and say hello- she is earning CAR money for next year!

The reason I am bringing up Vinyl Fever is that we took our special guest, SHERI RIZZO, there this afternoon. (I also want to remind you to support independent stores when you can! ) Sheri Rizzo is teaching our Digital Discovery Classes at the shoppe this weekend and she is also giving us some personal training on our Epson Scrapbook Central system! We have been a little fearful of the BIG BLACK machine for awhile- but it is awesome once you get the hang of it! I have been making 12x12 PHOTOS, 12x12 copies of scrapbook pages, making sepia photos, editing and zooming photos and so much more! Thanks to Sheri, we are now ready to help you with your digital photo needs! Stop by and see the sample book of what we can do! So if you are ever wondering what digital scrapbooking and alternative music have in common, it's Sheri Rizzo! She had such a great time in Vinyl Fever, they gave her a free t-shirt to take home to Cincinnati! How great is that?

A Day at the Beach!

I must say that I have been skipping work a few afternoons during the summer to go to the beach! Not only did we spend a great week of vacation in the Outer Banks of  North Carolina, we have been getting some quality water time in at St. Pete Beach as well! I took this photo of Kimmie at the beach by Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. I actually made a layout with this photo and the new EK Inspirable Beach product.  Stop by the shoppe to see it! I am so happy that I have made about 6 layouts with PHOTOS on them in the last month, a new record! I have even DOODLED! Thanks to our DT member, Catherine, I have tried doodling a few times- it's so much fun! Catherine has had 3 of her layouts picked up by Scrapbook Answers magazine. We are so proud of her! She is teaching a doodling class at the "shoppe"in July. You will be doodling with rub ons, pens and stamps during class. Dare to doodle- you'll be happy you did! Catherine has also been bitten by the travel bug! She is attending CKU-Masters in Boston, Creative Escape in AZ and then will be taking on Texas with us at CKU-Houston! I can't wait to see the class ideas she comes back with! Speaking of class ideas, I have had a sneak peek at Donna Downey's 2007 classes! She will be teaching some AMAZING classes at our December event! I ALMOST feel bad teasing you so much, but it's so much fun! (BHEG- Big Huge Evil Grin)

The Wheels on the Bus!

Love to visit other stores, but cring at the price of gas? We have a deal for you! We have teamed up with "The Doodle" to bring you a COAST TO COAST bus trip in August! The kids will be back in school and you will be ready for a break! Whim-so-Doodle in St Pete and The Scrapbook Shoppe in Tampa will be taking a bus full of fun loving, supply hoarding, prize loving ladies to visit two great stores- Violette's in Lakeland (recently expanded and FAB!) and The Scrapbook Cottage on the other coast in Melbourne, FL! Saturday, August 19th is our date! $40.00 will be the cost and we are starting to get prizes from our "fav" manufacturers like Quickutz, Autumn Leaves and American Crafts. $40.00 will include transportation on a motorcoach, boxed lunch with your choice of sandwich with chips, brownie and drink, goody bag, door prizes and more fun than the speed limit allows! Want to check out their websites? www.whimsodoodle.com , www.violettes.com , and www.sbcottage.com

We each have 25 seats to sell, so call and reserve your spot today. You never know what other fun event we are planning next! This is a great opportunity to visit other stores without breaking the budget for a tank of gas! I know each store and you will not be disappointed- Violettes is a great store full of cubbies and nooks that delight around every corner! Scrapbook Cottage always has unique products you do not see elsewhere. HERE'S MY PROPOSAL- the first 5 ladies to comment on the blog will get $5.00 OFF their bus trip! Make sure you put your last name on the comment so I can write it down and give you credit when you call! This is going to be a fun one ladies! Don't miss out!

Happy Birthday Lexi!

Nope, it's not Lexi's big 40 quite yet! Lexi and I had a lovely birthday lunch (OK, we took notes about promotions we want to run, ideas for the shoppe, so it was NOT a martini lunch) at The Cheesecake Factory and then went back to open a few gifts at the Shoppe. She will be be travelling in style when she goes to Sonoma, Calfornia with all that Vera Bradley she got! Lexi got the "blue box" from her husband this birthday too! Her new necklace is so pretty- we just love Tiffanys!

I think this blog thing is pretty cool! I helps me release some pent up thoughts (sometimes a little more than I want to say in an update email) and I get to tell you "stories" about things we do and the craziness that goes on around the store. I can be pretty immediate with new products that came in- see QK below. We may even run a contest or two from the blog- so check us often! I sent out an email update- but these are a few of the things we unpacked today. It was fun!

Retro Rays and memories of the "trop"

Before I start letting you know about the blog, I thought I would try a few posts to make sure I get the hang of this. To be honest, I am not very technically inclined. I absolutely love my computer, the internet is the next best thing to a burger from Pane Rustica. I could even live without my microwave, but NOT my computer. However, that does not mean I know how all of it works! SO, I am giving a go at uploading a photo again to make sure I have this right!

We did do something fun last night! We bought some $5.00 cheap seats at the Devil Rays game last night.  A family of four was $20.00 and free parking! AMAZING! Had a blast, AND the Rays won! I looked up in the stands later that night to see my niece Cali (works on Sundays) and my Brother and Sister in law too! Apparently we all had the same brilliant idea last night to go to the game, but did not call each other! It was  70's night at "the trop" and they had some 70's major league stars throw out the first pitch. One of them was George Foster! I am not really a HUGE baseball fan but when I was growing up the REDS were my team. Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Jose Concepcion, Joe Morgan and George Foster. It brought back great memories. You know, stuff I should scrapbook but never get around to! Another amazing moment of my life happened at the "trop" as well! Brad and I were heading into the stadium for a game and we were discussing the opportunity for me to buy ownership at The Scrapbook Shoppe. He said "yes" right outside the gate! I don't remember much about the game, but I remember he said we could buy the "shoppe"! I guess without this stadium, I would not be writing this- I LOVE this stadium!

Lime Green and Estrogen, really?

Here I am, the one who said "I would not be comfortable blogging"!

I find that I am addicted to blogs- Ali's blog, Donna's Blog, Junkitz blogz, Chatterbox Blog! So if you can't beat the addiction, join it! In my quest to define the blog and be true to The Scrapbook Shoppe- I am calling it Lime Green and Estrogen! Why? This young reporter from the Tampa Bay Business Journal interviewed Alexia and I this week. (Doing an article about craft businesses, cool eh?) He is used to interviewing lawyers, stock brokers, you know- SUITS! When we were explaining our unique industry many subjects came up- including my love of lime green (painted everywhere) and that the majority of our customers are female! We suggested that he give his article a catchy headline like "LIME GREEN AND ESTROGEN". Since I do not think you will be seeing that in the Tampa Bay Business Journal, I decided to christen our blog with it instead!

I am excited that I will have an outlet to keep you posted about the day to day happenngs of life at The Scrapbook Shoppe! Be prepared! You will be hearing about the life of a Mom with a teen entering high school, the cheer mom of an overactive 12 year old cheerleader, and the musings of a scrapbook store owner- and they are all the same person! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!