One of my favorite stores and stamp sets..

Once a month, I go on a business trip with my husband to Huntsville, Alabama. It's similar to a mini-vacation for me, as we stay in a nice hotel, eat at great restaurants and go to one of my favorite rubber stamps and scrapbooks stores, The Rubber Stamp Lady. I get to sleep late at the hotel and then spend the day making cards or scrap booking. I have 2 different carrier bags, one packed for scrap booking and one for card making. I always have them loaded and prepared, as sometimes our trips are planned quickly. Before my first trip to Huntsville, I did a search for scrapbooks and rubber stamps stores, and found The Rubber Stamp Lady. What a prize! Now, I've been to scrapbook stores and rubber stamp stores, but it is rare to find one store that equally combines both hobbies. Well, the RSL combines these hobbies and does a great job with it. She (Peggy, the owner) does a wonderful job of keeping stock and creating artwork with the newest items on the market. Also, her staff are great-very knowledgeable, kind and always taking time to answer my questions or show me how to use various items. I've actually stayed in the crop room on a few occasions and worked on my scrapbooks. I've signed up for her newsletter, hoping to catch a class hosted at the store, during one of my visits, but haven't been able to do so yet. It's probably a good thing that I don't live closer, as my husband would have to get a second job to cover the monetary damage I could do in the RSL. So, visit the website and then plan a trip to go see The Rubber Stamp Lady. And, if you need to bribe your husband to get to Huntsville, send him to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, while you are at the RSL.

I purchased this cute Hero Arts stamp set, Sweet & Simple Patterns, during my last visit to the RSL. Their samples were just so darn cute and on display at the cash register, so I had to buy it. The cashier even let me take a picture of their samples, to get my creative juices going. So, these are the cards that I came up with. I used SU! card stock and inks, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. The ribbons are from Mays Arts, which were also purchased at The Rubber Stamp Lady. The patterned papers are from the Rob & Bob Studio Collection. I totally CASE'd (copy & steal everything) their display card colors of browns and pinks and created this set. It's an adorable stamp set and the cards would make a great gift for anyone.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!