Welcome to my castle.  I hope you are feeling like a Royalty while you follow the path from castle to castle.  I am excited to share some beautiful samples with the Hostess Set Cute by the Inch.  I did not think I would like this set when I seen it but I am so glad I got it.  I have done so many projects with it and I love them all.  This has been a fun set to use for Scrapbooking, cards and home decor.  I will start my samples off with a birthday gift set.  The gift set consists of a card, a tray with stamped tile added, a decorated box with bubble bath, a photo frame, chap stick and nail files all done in a Concord Grape, Blushing Bride color scheme.  I really want to add pearls to the top edges of the tray to match the box but I did not have enough so next order I will be adding those to finish it off.  Here is a group picture.

All of the items included with this gift set were items that have been sitting in my Royal Studio for two or more years just waiting to be transformed!

Here is a shot of the card, box with bubble bath and the inside of the tray.  Each tile is stamped and then I covered them all with modge podge so that it would protect it from water and such.


And here is a close up of the frame, chap stick, nail files and another shot of the tray.


I was very happy with how this frame turned out.  The frame was only twenty five cents and now it looks so pretty--don't you think.  I love that we can use our stamps for so much more than just card making.  But speaking of card making.  I decided to go one more step and create a Jar of Cards.  I used the same color scheme on the exterior of the jar, but each three by three card is done if a different in color.  There are two of each card with matching envelopes in the jar.


And since I am allowed six photos on my post as per the QUEEN and her Royal Crew I will show you a few more card ideas with this set.  I had to combine them into two pictures so they are kind of small but hopefully you get the idea. 

I am so excited and honored to be one of the chosen Honorary Queens for the Royal Blog Tour.  I am actually considering doing the tours in my gown with a glass of bubbly!  (Of course the only gown I own is a night gown, lol)

Still on the baseball them is this 8 x 8 scrapbook page of my son last year.  He had never played baseball before he joined this team and he did a great job.  Unfortunately he chose not to play again this year.

Hello stampers!!!! Jasper Jester here to give you another “colorful” clue. After this there is only one more. J Remember all entries must be submitted by 12pm (noontime) on Thursday, April 29^th. Your entry should consist of 6 “Royal Path Names.” Follow my “colorful” clues to guess them. The winner of this game will be announced on Friday morning, April 30^th.

And here is the last clue - #6. Remember the "colorful" clues I have given you. You should be able to guess the 6 Royal Paths now! Remember your entries must be submitted by 12pm (noontime) tomorrow. I think I have been good enough (boring) so off to see what mischief I can get into!

Jasper Jester here … I’m having an impish and colorful time sharing these clues with you. Only two more to go!

Time is really flying by and it is almost time for our new Royal Blog Tour! The excitement is out of control and you won't want to miss it. During the tour we will be giving away a Big Shot Machine to one lucky winner. (you can substitute for he MDS or $100 in SU product if you wish). We decided to get this party started a bit early and let you earn an EXTRA chance for the prize package. All you have to do is try to guess the names of the Royal Tour Paths by reading the clues. I have the first three here in one post so you don't have to look too hard, but the next three will be coming in separate posts. Collect all the clues and submit your guess for your chance to be entered. So to re-cap for you.... There are 6 clues, one for each of the Royal Paths. The goal is to pick the 6 names and submit an entry. Entries must be submitted by 12pm (noontime) on Thursday, Apr 29th. The winner will be announced on April 30th. The winning entry will receive an extra ticket into the drawing for the Royal Grand Prize – a Big Shot, My Design Studio or a $100 Stampin’ Up shopping spree. Now for the clues....







Good Luck !
Mary Jo

I know a bunch of you were wondering why I was giving away two of the same wheel to one person, well I am going to show you what I do with my wheels. Since Stampin Up has come up with these wheels that have so many different sayings on them I always order two of them. I keep one as is and take the rubber off the second one add it to cling foam and cut it apart to create a bunch of individual stamps. This truly makes it much easier to work with, and I love so many of the saying on these so it is fun to use them alone on other items. Here is a mini tutorial on how I do it--remember I said mini, lol.

First find the seal on the wheel and gently pull the rubber from the wheel. It is really easy to do. See the picture below.

Continue to pull the rubber off the wheel

This is what your rubber will look like when you have it completely off the wheel.

Next I added some cling foam mounting to the entire piece of rubber. This is optional you can use the rubber alone or even mount permanently on wood if you want.

Finally use a craft knife to carefully cut around each individual sentiment. And there you will have a whole bunch of individual stamps for just $8.50 talk about a bargain!



And now I bet you are wondering who the lucky winner of the two wheels is..............


It took a bit to find out who said they had subscribed and who did not. But after all that I then had to go back and check for double posts. To make it easier I printed the whole list of comments out then highlighted the ones that said that they subscribed and re-printed them. Added them all to one bucket and had my son pull a name. So the winner is.....

Kathy W said... 101

I became a follower, your stuff rocks- so creative and thinking beyond a card- love it!
kraftinkathy(at) verizon(dot) net

I can not say for sure if you won for commenting or subscribing but you won none the less! Congratulations Kathy, send me your address at yourrep@roadrunner.com and I will get these in the mail for you.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderfully sweet comments. You all made me smile.

Mary Jo

Next up is the candle. I love to make wraps for candles they are so easy to do and add so much to the candle. Just don't burn the candle with the paper wrap on it, lol!



Next is a place setting for my holiday table. The plate is first.


The napkin ring.


With the matching napkin too!



And you always need a little favor for people to take home so I altered this tiny little picture frame with one of my favorite verses ever.


Then to help decorate the rest of the dining room to match the table I altered this planter I found for three dollars at JoAnn's. There are mints in the middle one!


Here is a close up view of the planter box.


And of course no room is complete without pictures of my son! And he indeed transforms common days into Thanksgivings! What a fabulous quote!


So as you can see there are many possibilities with our jumbo wheels. Be sure subscribe or follow my blog because after the tour is over I will show you how to easily use all of the individual images on the jumbo wheel and get more for your money! Adding your name to my followers or subscribing will also get you in on my blog candy! See below.

GO TO THE ROYAL BLOG TOUR HOME PAGE ON SUNDAY, JULY 26TH TO START THE ROYAL BLOG TOUR AND ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A BIG SHOT DIE CUT MACHINE!

The Royal Blog Tour is three days long, and you'll be happy it is! There are four tours - a total of 80 fabulous blogs!

But wait - there's more!

Blog Candy, Blog Candy, and more Blog Candy. Over 50% of the blogs on this tour are offering Blog Candy.

Check the Princess list on launch day. Every name with an asterisk next to it is offering

blog candy.

That's not all! The Royal Blog Tour Home Page is offering their own Blog Candy. And it is -- a Big Shot Die Cut Machine!!!! Honestly - you don't want to miss this tour!

This drawing is open to all countries represented by Princesses in this tour, including Canada and Australia!

There are lots of other giveaways too so be sure to check them all out! I can't wait.

Mary Jo