A Rainy Adventure in Tampa/St. Petersburg
Last week it was off to Tampa, Florida, where I, and Alex Perruzzi, our VP of Licensing, appeared on the Home Shopping Network. We were there to promote some of our terrific crafting tools and supplies, including our ‘Today’s Special’ Star Burst Punch Collection. This box of four fantastic tools let you punch around the edge of a page, both narrow and deeply, on the corners, and all over the page with die-cut precision. Our first time-slot was from midnight to two AM and the following day, we appeared for a good part of the afternoon. Our flight, which was scheduled for later that evening, was canceled due to stormy weather, which gave us some time to do a bit of exploring. We drove across Tampa Bay to nearby St. Petersburg, where we found a very unique book store called Haslam’s, a multi-generational business that carries both new and used books. It is known as Florida’s greatest rainy-day attraction and guess what? It was raining!
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- On the Home Shopping Network, the featured ‘Today’s Special’ was our Star Burst Punch Collection.
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- The kitchen set with cakes and cookies decorated using the Cricut Cake machine. The pom-poms were made using our Pom-Pom Party Packs.
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- These cupcake picks are adorned with designs from the Star Burst Punches and our pearl embellishments.
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- This is a glossary of what the very versatile Star Burst Punch Collection can do. You can edge punch, corner punch, deep edge punch, and punch all over the page.
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- These great projects were made with the punches and our pearl embellishments.
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- We offered this Halloween option for the ‘Today’s Special’ autoship. There are 3 sets of punches slated for autoship and I was thrilled that 75% of the customers who called signed up for it.
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- Lenore Bremner, one of our crafters, made a lot of these projects. She designed a lovely tribute to her daughter, Tyler.
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- This great set of punches is only available at HSN for $49.95.
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- Here I am with Alex and Callie Northagen, our launch host at the midnight hour. We were selling our 24-pack of glitter, glittering glue, and glitter clean-up cloth – SOLD OUT!!!
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- I was very impressed with the layout and the great variety of subjects available.
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- They wanted to provide other readers with used magazines and books at bargain prices.
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- A wonderful selection of archaeological books
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- Haslam’s was started more than 75 years ago during the Great Depression by John and Mary Haslam, who were both avid readers.
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- This is Emily Dickinson, who is quite shy, just like the author.
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- And this is Tom Clancy slinking around the store like a character in an espionage thriller.
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- A large metaphysical section to help answer questions such as, ‘What is there?’ and ‘What is it like?’
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- Martha Stewart Cupcakes came out in 2009 and spent 11 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list!
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- Or Good Things for Easy Entertaining from 2003? Entertaining, my very first book from 1982, is behind it.
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- Hors d’Oeuvres, from 1984, was rereleased in soft cover with an updated photo.
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- And Suzanne’s daughter, Heather Conley, makes this a fourth generation business.
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- Of course, I checked to see if they had any of my books on their shelves – Arranging Flowers from 1999 and Great American Wreaths from 1996.
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- Next, to the Cookbook Center – Perhaps you remember the Martha Stewart Cookbook – Collected Recipes for Every Day from 1995?
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- Seeing all of my books displayed here gave me a great idea!
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- This is Suzanne Haslam Hinst. She is the granddaughter of the founders, making her the third generation.
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- I got out my pen and started to autograph each copy!
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- The owners were very pleased to see me doing this.
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- Including me! The gentleman is Ray Hinst, Suzanne’s husband.
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- Last year’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts was prominently displayed with other books about sewing.
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- I also greeted some regular customers.
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- While Teacup, the star of the store, greets every customer who comes through the door.
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- Over 300,000 books in stock has grown to more than 500,000!
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- After TV, we did some exploring. Haslam’s Book Store, Florida’s largest, is located at 2025 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.
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