More Stamp Club Shares

We arrived in San Antonio Friday - timing it right as we arrived at Ashley's house just as she was getting home from work.  We didn't try to push the drive, stopping just south of Montgomery Wednesday after about 8 hours driving.  Thursday we drove to Coushatta Casino (about an hour or less from the Texas state line but in Louisiana).  We tried our hand at a couple of Blackjack table without much luck.  But the hotel was very nice and very inexpensive to my surprise.  We paid $69 (no tax since it is an Indian reservation) for a really nice big room and that also included $20 for breakfast the next morning.

We have been on the go since we got here as usual.  Friday night we headed straight to a Mexican restaurant for much missed Tex Mex, our favorite.  Saturday Ashley and I headed out to do a little shopping and Sonny went on his own to pick up some things to do a few handy man chores around Ashley's house.  Saturday night Ashley's friends, Lisa and Danny, had us over for dinner.  They have a 7 yr. old and 2 year old twins so it was a fun evening.  Plus Danny had been smoking a brisket since 8 a.m. and it was delicious!  On Sunday, after church, my nephew, his wife and little boy came over for lunch and we watched the Cowboys together.  As soon as the game was over and they left, we headed to a bar to watch our Steelers pull off another nail biter of a game against Green Bay.  From there, we met Ashley's friend Courtney and her parents for a birthday dinner since today was Ashley's birthday.  Courtney and her mom will be going on the New Zealand trip with us so it was nice to meet her mom in advance. 

I have a few more goodies to share from Stamp Club. 

Joy made me this great Steeler scarf!!

I wore my scarf today to watch the Steelers BEAT Green Bay!!

Back of Snowman Treat

Isn't this adorable?  Joy made this cute Snowman candy bar holder using the Envelope Punch Board.

More Stamp Club Goodies

It was just like Christmas at my house on Tuesday .... oh wait, they were Christmas gifts!!

My good friend, Judy has been doing some sewing - something different from stamping for a little bit of a change.  She made me this great Kleenex holder.  I just love the colors!  It will be going with me to New Zealand!



This is another one she made (for Marianne)

Close up on the flower that is on my mug rug

Judy also made me this mug rug - isn't it great?

Judy is not only a talented sewer but look at this card she made me.  She should be teaching Stamp Club!!

close up of the ornament ... really pretty!

We are on the road to Texas.  We made it to Greenville, Alabama last night.  Left home about 10 a.m. and got to Greenville about 7 p.m. (actually, it was 6 p.m. Central Time).  Sonny went out and got us a pizza and we watched the hockey game.  I won't be surprised if Sonny tries to make it all the way to San Antonio today.  When you get so close, it's just as easy to stretch it and rest when you get there.  We'll see.  I actually got to do a little Christmas shopping yesterday on the way.  Sonny stopped for gas one time and I saw a Goody's store in the shopping center.  So he dropped me off there while he pumped the gas.  I was looking for a pair of shoes but they were not on sale so I didn't buy them - too close for Christmas.  Then later when we stopped for lunch, there was a Kohl's close by.  Sonny needed to use the rest room and I told him Kohl's had real clean rest rooms, so we went there and I bought a few Christmas presents this time.  I was like a whirlwind going through that store!

Greenville Mouse Hunt

We picked Ashley up last Friday night at the Greenville/Spartanburg airport and spent the weekend in Greenville.  It was a lot of fun.  She ended up bringing Bogart (her cat) with her and didn't get charged for him.  He was in his carrier and she draped her coat over it, got on the airport and slid it under the seat.  Bogart is a mute cat so he didn't make any noise.  Sammie was not excited to see Bogart when we got home Sunday night though!  Hopefully, they will start getting along soon.

We stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Greenville and spent Saturday just wandering around downtown and shopping.  I got a couple of Christmas presents bought so that was a good thing.  A lot of the trees were showing off their beautiful colors.

 

 

 

While we were there, we went on a mouse hunt!  For his senior project at Christ Church Episcopal School in 2000, Jim Ryan proposed the idea of installing a family of nine unique mice sculptures in surprising places along Greenville's Main Street from the Hyatt to the Westin Poinsett Hotel. His original idea spun from the book, Goodnight Moon, which he and his mom read every night when he was small. There are nine mice pictured in that story. Ryan made his way through the red tape involved in any city project and then raised the money, with the assistance of donors and the mayor, to complete his project.  Greenville sculptor, Zan Wells, actually created the mice. She and Ryan became a team, and Wells sculpted nine individual bronze mice, each one with his own look, character, and special place on Main Street.  Ryan and Wells placed the mice in their permanent places, thus creating Greenville's fanciful downtown scavenger hunt.

Cruising

We made it home Tuesday afternoon and picked up Sammie from my mom's. Mom really liked having her visit and I don't think she wanted to see her go.  But I think she missed me a little bit!  While I was trying to type my blog posting, she jumped up in my lap and stretched out in my lap so I couldn't type anything on my laptop. 

Our cruise was awesome!  Alabama put on their first concert out on the pool deck as we were pulling out of the Miami port.  They may look pretty old but they can still belt out the songs.  We were all having a great time singing along with their familiar songs.

 

Alabama Concert .... day 1

 Day One was the first theme night - Rep Rally Night.  We showed our Steeler pride and got lots of attention!

Sonny & Ashley at Alabama concert - day one

When we woke up on Friday (day 2), we were in Nassau and docked next to us was the Disney Dream cruise boat.  I don't know if this is the same one Jeff and Darcie sailed on last month but if so, too bad we didn't plan our trips so we could have met up with them.

 

 

 

This was the view from our balcony of the Disney ship!



 

Day 2 - we woke up and saw this next to us!

Day 2 - Ashley and I showing off our tees

 Day 2 we disembarked in Nassau.  It was drizzling a little bit making it pretty hot and sticky.  But that didn't stop us. 

Day 2 MDS tees
 

 Ashley and I made tees using My Digital Studio.  On the front are flip flops and the caption "Alabama and Friends Festival at Sea" and on the back is the picture of my feet in the sand and the caption "Dance Barefoot"

Norwegian Pearl

I'm on my way back home.  We had a great trip / cruise!  Made lots of new memories.  We dropped Ashley off at the Ft Lauderdale airport about 11:00 this morning and made our way through Florida to a hotel in Brunswick, Georgia.  So, tomorrow's trip should not be too long.  I am going to try to share a couple of pictures but the internet in this hotel is pretty slow!

Our ship - we were on the 9th floor - one of those rooms up there with a small balcony.

Waiting to go through Customs - at Miami cruise terminal

The view from our Miami hotel - just beautiful!

Night View from our hotel window in Miami Wednesday night

We made friends with the Security Guard at the Miami Marriott and he gave us vouchers for drinks Thursday a.m.  He didn't realize we were checking out that morning for our cruise.  Ashley and I couldn't let them go to waste though!  So we headed over to the bar and had mimosas and bloody Mary's!!

The 3 of us as we pulled out of Miami on Thursday

Happy Birthday - Let the Party Begin!!

Happy Birthday to me!  Guess Stampin' Up planned this party in my honor!!  Since I am now officially on Medicare, I can use the savings!!  We are heading out today for Florida.  We will pick Ashley up at the airport in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday and spend the night in Miami before boarding the Norwegian cruise ship and the Alabama Festival At Sea!!  Whoo Hoo!!

 

I always love when Stampin’ Up! rolls out a wonderful promotion.  We’ve been celebrating Stampin’ Up!’s 25th anniversary all year-long.  It all started with an amazing Sale-a-Bration with Silver Glimmer Paper as a bonus for certain hostess orders.  It continued with Best of 25, monthly limited-edition collections of stamps from the last 25 years.  Customers earn an additional $25 of hostess rewards on orders greater than $250 in October.  For the past two weeks, we offered you the opportunity to join Stampin’ Up! for just $25 (and we’ve added more time for you to join - more on that later).  Those are all great, but the promotion that launches today will surely send fireworks into the night sky. 

 

 

Starting today (October 22) and through Monday (October 28), Stampin’ Up! is offering a 25% discount on 25 pre-selected stamp sets.  Wowzers!  There are some amazing sets here – gorgeous holiday sets, great sentiments, single stamps and even an alphabet set.  I’ve already made my wish list – and I know some of these are on yours, too. 

 

Click on the flyer HERE and see all the great deals!! 

 

Go to my Online Store (link at top of blog) and order away!!  Please use the hostess code  KYR7ZKH9.

 

WEEKLY DEALS

We’re not done yet.  Today is Tuesday, which means we are starting a new week of Stampin’ Up!’s Weekly Deal, typically a selection of five products at discounted prices.  This week is no exception. 

 

And don't forget the new items added to the Clearance.

 

Too many great deals to pass up!!

Button Buddies Flower

I'm home and getting for Stamp Club this week.  We left St. Augustine this morning after breakfast and headed north.  We stopped for a delicious fried chicken dinner at the Front Porch restaurant in South Carolina.  I had the best fried squash I have ever had!!  Sonny actually made the suggestion to stop at this restaurant since he has been there before with his shooting buddies.  Usually he doesn't care for good ole' Southern cooking but he enjoyed the fried chicken as much as I did - plus mashed potatoes and gravy!  My mouth is watering.

This is one of the cards we will be making this week in Stamp Club.  I didn't use Button Buddies enough but I will be holding on to it for a while.  It is such a fun set.  For this card I used a combo of old and new colors - Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry (new) and Riding Hood Red (retiring).  This was a super easy card to make.  Just stamp 2 of the flowers directly on the card and the third flower on scrap paper - I used Naturals cardstock for this card.  The card can be punched out with the Scallop Punch.  Add a button to the center, a flag with a sentiment on top of a strip of DSP and voila, an easy card!

Still in Florida!

I'm still in Florida!  We have been having so much fun!  Sonny has been such a good sport about the beach and the sand - gonna owe him big time!!  It has been so relaxing.  We spent most of the day out on the beach - we would go out around 10 a.m. and walk a couple of miles before settling down in our beach chairs to snooze and read our books.  Then up to the room for lunch and back to the beach till around 3:30 pm.  After we showered and got ready, we would go into the town of Fernandina for dinner and a few drinks.  Last night we found a piano bar that was a real treat.  Today we checked out of the motel and decided to drive down to St Augustine while we were so close.  We toured a chocolate factory (free tastings!!) and hopped on a tour trolley to learn a little about the city.  I found a local winery for a free tour and tasting so I was happy!  We went ahead and got a hotel for the night so we could find a sports bar to watch the Penguins play-off hockey game.  (It is now in it's 2nd overtime!)  Tomorrow we will have a long drive back home but we both have obligations on Tuesday so have to get home.  Plus Sammie is missing us I'm sure.  Angela was a big help and came over to feed Sammie a couple of times while I was gone but she told me Sammie was not very sociable.  Guess she's pouting since we're gone!

My new hat!

footprints in the sand

Sonny snoozing

Seashell in the sand

Early morning sun on the ocean

Posting from Florida!

We are in Florida - Fernandina Beach - enjoying the sun and sand.  We arrived yesterday afternoon after a stop Tuesday night in Sumter, SC in time to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.  (That was a challenge - to find a sports bar that carried the hockey game in Sumter!)  Last night Sonny and I wandered arround the shops and bars downtown.  We ended up at the Thirsty Pelican and joined a trivia game.  We didn't do too well but it was fun anyway ... and the food was excellent!  Today I spent most of the day on the beach soaking up the sunshine.  It was a perfect day - overcast all day so I didn't just burn up.  Sonny was a sport and sat with me for a couple of hours.  Tonight we met some friends who live in Jacksonville at the Green Turtle for a couple of drinks and then on to an Italian restaurant for another wonderful dinner.   When we got back to the hotel a little after 8 pm, I wanted to watch American Idol since tonight was the finale.  I forgot that I could not get the sound on the tv to work last night - but only on Fox which is the station that carries Idol.  I went to the office tonight to tell them about it.  Turns out our tv is the only one it seems that the sound does not work on Fox!  The TV in the office and in the empty room next door both work.  After about a half hour of fooling around with the tv with no luck, I finally convinced the gal to just let me sit in the empty room next door to watch the show.  She first told me I would have to pay a cleaning fee if I did that!  But she finally called the owner who ok-d it so I was able to watch the finale.  I liked both of the gals who were in the finale and wasn't surprised at the outcome.  (I'm not saying who since I don't think Ashley has seen it yet since she is in Vegas this week!)

This week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge sketch was a great one.  I made my card Tuesday night while we were in Sumter but didn't have time to post it.  That's the great thing about MDS.  I can make a card while I'm traveling by just using my computer!!

I used the kit Big Top Birthday for most of the card.

Make sure you check out the other cards from the design team HERE.

My Mother's Day Card

I received a beautiful Mother's Day card from my sweet daughter.  What a lot of work went into this card .... especially knowing that she does not own a square punch!  She cut all these squares out with her cutter.  Wow!  She told me that this would have been an easy card to make using MDS.  So I thought I'd give it a try!

I made my "inchie" card into a birthday card.  So, what do you think?  Ashley's is better because it has a lot more elements but an MDS card is very "doable"!!

Sonny and I are headed to Florida tomorrow to celebrate our anniversary a little late.  It's been a long time since we took a little vacation - just the two of us.  He is not a big fan of the beach and I think I could live at the beach.  But, he is being a good sport.  We are staying on Amelia Island at Fernandino Beach which I think is a pretty quiet little beach.  I've got a few good books packed, my sunscreen and my bathing suit .... ready to relax!

Cropping Weekend

Marianne and I had a fun weekend at the Scrapbook Creations Paper Craft Festival in Spartanburg.  There was cropping, make and takes, demos, classes and lots of socialization!  Sonny and I had lunch with Marianne in Lincolnton on Friday and then she and I took off for the festival.  We went with an open mind but we really weren't sure what was in store for us as I mentioned in my last post.  Upon our arrival, I got my goody bag and tee shirt.  The goody bag was supposed to be $130 worth of product - not so sure about that but it was ok.  I got a large pack of Graphic 45 paper, a 6x6 stack of patterned paper, some embellishments and 6 packets of double page scrapbook layouts.   Friday night we participated in a Make and Take event where we went to 8 different tables making various things.  I thought the make and takes were a bit too simple but it was fun anyway and midway through, they had a fabulous dessert bar!   a representative of Bazzil Paper was doing one of the make and takes and she showed us the samples she was doing for her classes on Saturday.  One of the classes was an 8x8 Mini Album that was super cute so Marianne and I decided to sign up for it.  We took the class on Saturday and as is usual in most classes, didn't get it all finished.  So that gave us something to do back at the crop table.  We were having such a good time working on our album that we decided to stay another night.  We stayed at our hotel Friday for free with Choice Reward points I had earned so paying for one night was no biggie.  Since we had already checked out of our hotel, we had to find another one.  We stayed at the crop until about 11 pm.  There were several hotels within a couple of blocks from the Expo Center so after striking out at the Howard Johnson's, we headed across the street to the Econo Lodge and got one of their last rooms.  We went to sleep around midnight but shortly after we fell asleep, the occupants of the room next to us woke us up with their noises which continue for 2 1/2 hours!  Banging on the walls and hollering "shut up" did nothing to stop them so Marianne finally called the front desk.  At first we were told there were no rooms available but a bit later, they called up to tell us they had a room.  The attendant brought us another key to a room down the hall and told us we could have both rooms - just leave our things and go down the hall to sleep.  So at 3 a.m., Marianne and I are traipsing down the hall with our stuff (didn't want to leave them unattended) in our nightgowns!  It took forever for us to get back to sleep and we were both zombies today!  We ended up sleeping through breakfast service and heading back to the convention center around 10 a.m.  We worked a bit more on our albums until I ran out of glue / tape.  Well, the way they had everything set up, it was easy to just go to their store and purchase what you need.  So, I bought a brand new bottle of Zip Dry Liquid Glue.  After I snipped the tip off of it, I was squeezing it onto one of my pages when the top came off and over half the bottle ended up in my lap!!  Only at a Scrapbook Crop would someone run over with a camera to take a picture of someone with glue in their lap!!  Now I have to figure out how to get all that glue washed out of my jeans!!  Anyway, long story short ... it was a fun weekend.  On the way home, we were starving and found a great restaurant just by chance.  We were looking for somewhere to eat when we drove by a restaurant called Wade's in Spartanburg.  There were a ton of cars in the parking lot so that's always a good sign plus the line of people to get in.  It was good ole' home cooked food that was delicious!  I had fried chicken, field peas, creamed corn and squash casserole plus some melt in your mouth rolls!  The restaurant has been in business since 1947 so you know it's good!

We were shocked to see how much STUFF people bring to these crops.  It was like packing up your whole craft room and taking it all!  Here are a few pictures to prove it:


Marianne and I had nothing compared with our neighbors!!

 


Easy Access Shopping Area



One person's STUFF plus she had a table full too with 3 machines - note her cushy chair cover!  She came prepared!

  

Lots of STUFF! 

How Time Flies!

I have discovered something today.  Three weeks sure can fly by!!  I can't believe I have been here in San Antonio three weeks ... seems like just a couple of days ago that I was packing my suitcase (and hoping it didn't exceed 50 lbs!).  Now I am packing my suitcase to return home.  No worries over it being too heavy this time - I am not taking 2 cases of Cheerwine in my suitcase like I was coming here.  I've got most of my clothes in and it's only at 30 pounds so I'm good to go.  I wish I could stay just a few more days to make sure Ashley keeps getting stronger but I'm sure she will be ok.  Yesterday we went to the movies and saw "42."  She came back home and hit the couch until dinner time when we went to a Mexican restaurant that is close to her for my final Mexican "fix."  Just those little trips wears her out,  Luckily she has 3 weeks off of work so she will have plenty of time to rest and get stronger.  She tapered herself off the Percodan today but she still has it if she needs it.  It just makes her sleep all the time which is not a bad thing.  We've enjoyed making a couple of meals that Sonny would not even touch.  Tonight we had Quinoa which I had never had before.  I had clipped out a recipe from the Charlotte Observer for stuffed peppers with the quinoa, dried apricots and cherries, pistachio nuts, celery, cilantro, cinnamon, and ginger.  A very different combination of items but it was really good (and good for you!)  Last week we made a Greek Tabouli Salad that I had tasted a few months ago.  The recipe is on the box of tabouli.  It was yummy and I actually ate it for a couple of meals.  Again, nothing I will make at home since only one of us would eat it!

I made a card tonight using MDS for the Late Night Stamper's color challenge to use Old Olive, Summer Starfruit and Raspberry Ripple.  What do you think?

This would be very easy to reproduce using real paper and stamps. 

Here are the elements I used with MDS:

Background - Old Olive 
Embellishments
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Old Olive
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Old Olive bow

Stamps
    Berry Christmas\Christmas Jingle - stamps\All Scallops\All Scallops - scallop 4, Color = VERY VANILLA
    _Designer Kits\Topsy Turvy Celebration - candle, Color = RASPBERRY RIPPLE 
    _Designer Kits\Topsy Turvy Celebration - candle, Color = RASPBERRY RIPPLE
    _Designer Kits\Topsy Turvy Celebration - candle, Color = SUMMER STARFRUIT
    Perfectly Penned - happy birthday, Color = OLD OLIVE
Punches
    Basics\1.25 Square Punch, Fill Color = VERY VANILLA
    Basics\1.25 Circle Punch, Fill Color = SUMMER STARFRUIT
    Basics\1.25 Circle Punch, Fill Color = RASPBERRY RIPPLE
    Basics\1.25 Square Punch, Fill Color = OLD OLIVE
    Basics\1.25 Square Punch, Fill Color = VERY VANILLA

Girls Gone Wild Trip

I did a MDS challenge for Heather and Kim's Simply My Digital Challenge on Facebook.  Each week they post a new challenge.  This is my first time to participate.  The challenge was to use a pie graph in our layout and to follow this sketch:




I had fun creating the pie graph with MDS.  First I used a Circle Punch and enlarged it.  Next I used a Square Punch and just stretched it down to make a long line.  I dissected the circle with the "line."  Then I took a Triangle Punch and stretched it so it fit in each slice of pie.  I filled the punch with my photos.  When I finished filling all the triangles, I deleted the original circle and lines.

I used pictures that I took last week of Ashley, Mom, Angela, Marianne and I having fun in San Antonio. Note the title - Girls Gone Wild!!   Hope you like it!

Sketch Challenge

It's time for Wednesday's sketch challenge from the Paper Craft Crew.  It's pouring down rain here now plus thunder and lightening so hopefully I won't lose power before posting this!!

This was such an easy card to make using My Digital Studio.  Everything on the card came from the digital kit, Simple Snapshots.  By using a designer kit for everything, I don't have to worry about things matching.  The only thing not part of the kit is the button and bakers twine I used on the flower.

My family headed back to NC today.  Ashley was a great sport and took them to the airport at 6:15 AM while I slept!!  I did get up to tell them good bye.  They looked like traveling gypsies!  We were all starting to panic last night when we could not get everything in the suitcase without going over 50 lbs.  At one point, Marianne had her carry on bag so stuffed, it was weighing in at about 40+ lbs.  There was no way she was going to be able to carry it!  But we got everything in finally.  Ashley hung around the airport after letting them off in case she had to come back and get something that wouldn't fit (in case their bags were over 50 lbs.)  As it turned out, everything went through and when they got to the gate, they were able to check two of  their carry on bags.  That just left each of them with one additional carry on, mom's wheelchair and Marianne and Angela each had a sea-pack breathing machine!!   Hopefully, when I return home, I will not have any problems with my luggage being too heavy.

We found a new Mexican restaurant yesterday for lunch over near the mission we toured.  It was really good!

Yum .... sopapillas!



Mom couldn't look at the camera - too busy sipping her Margarita Swirls!