The House That Stamps Built

For those of you who visit this blog regularly, you may recall that Repeat Impressions took a two week break earlier this month. December is usually a fairly quiet time in the rubber stamp business so we were able to sneak off for a little fun in the sun. As usual, Aruba was our destination of choice.

Before I give you this year’s trip report, I need to start with a little background story that began in 2010… Last December while checking email in Aruba I was astonished to see an online order come in from a stamper who was living in Aruba. What were the odds of that?! I was so excited that I just had to write to the woman to tell her that I was actually in Aruba for vacation at that very moment! She too was equally surprised and excited and invited us to come meet her. Of course we said yes, so Bill and I headed into town to meet our new friend, Lysiane.

Since that time we have kept in contact with Lysiane now and then via email. And this November when I saw an order come in destined for Aruba I wasn’t quite so surprised. Lysiane was in need of a few rubber stamps and crafting supplies that couldn’t be found on the island. And since we were planning to visit Aruba again this December anyway, we agreed to bring the order with us and deliver it to her there. How’s that for great customer service?! 😉

When we got together with Lysiane to deliver her order, I had more questions for her about the availability of stamping and crafting supplies on the island. Despite all the many trips we’ve made there over the years we were not aware of any outlets for paper crafters. Rather than just tell us about it, Lysiane volunteered to take us on a little field trip to the crafting shops that she frequents in Aruba.

What a fun day! We made stops to several shops that sell scrapbooking and/or other crafting supplies. Rubber stamps were scarce or limited at best, but the rest of the supplies were fairly well covered. Most of the shops were a little out of the way from the usual tourist haunts so we were not aware of them. Here’s a look at a few…

Masy-Fral is a true craft store with quite a big variety of supplies. And it turns out that we had actually passed by a couple of these other shops in our travels before and never realized what was hidden behind their doors. The paper crafting departments were sometimes an add-on to an existing business. Like this shop that was primarily a photography store and now has a growing scrapbook section. Who knew?!

And this shop that sells basic craft supplies in addition to the school and office supplies that they advertise.

We also stopped by the Craft Shop. This little shop carries beads, scrapbooking supplies and a small selection of stamps. They also hold classes. A group of young girls were paper crafting holiday picture frames when we visited.

One of the larger and well stocked craft shops is called Hindu Palace. I had actually made several trips to this store in the past. At that time they were primarily a wonderful shop to find Christmas ornaments, wedding and decorating supplies, and housewares. Imagine my surprise when Lysiane showed us that they now feature a large paper crafting department where the housewares once were.

The highlight of the crafting portion of our field trip was to a little out of the way home-based stamp shop called Quality Marking Systems. Here we met a lovely lady named Alice who offers stamping classes, supplies and custom stamp services in the shop attached to her home.

It turns out that Alice makes a couple of trips to FL each year. When we told her that we participate in stamping conventions there she was very excited to hear more about it. Now we’re hoping to reconnect with Alice again next June at the stamp show in Orlando. We also tossed around the idea of getting together with her next year in Aruba and maybe giving a class together. How cool would that be?!

Lysiane also introduced us to a couple of staples in the Aruban diet. We enjoyed a mid-morning snack of pastechi and krokets. The pastechi is a sort of half moon fried dough pocket stuffed with either cheese or meat or both. The outside was warm and sweet and very similar in taste to the fried dough we see at the county fairs here at home. We indulged in the gouda cheese pocket. And the kroket is a snack of the Netherlands. (Aruba is a Dutch island.) They look like a fat mozzarella stick but are filled with some kind of smooth meat paste. These are eaten with a spread of spicy mustard along it’s length. Both we’re quite good!

In addition to all the crafting stops and goodies, Lysiane also shared a little of her island life with us. We visited her lovely home, got a peek at the new craft room her husband is renovating for her, met her many fur kids (both cats and dogs), and marveled at her beautiful orchids. Among other things Lysiane also has a mango tree growing in her yard. She generously picked one for us to take with us. It made a delicious addition to our breakfast a few days later! We also made a stop to meet and visit with Lysiane’s mother at her home. I think we may have discovered where Lysiane gets her green thumb! 🙂

The rest of our vacation was all about relaxing. Much of our time was spent reading by the pool, taking walks on the beach, and dodging rain showers. (It was a lot wetter there this trip than in years past.) The only real downside of my trip was the lack of regular Internet access. I learned it was much harder for me to cut the cord than I expected, but somehow I survived!

Here are a few other photos from my trip I thought you might enjoy…

And there you have it… a little glimpse at this stamper’s trip to paradise. Thanks for reading! 😀

Wendy
Repeat Impressions