I'm Back with Paper Craft Crew Sketch 108

I'm baaaccckkk!!  We had a great trip and a great visit with Ashley.  But you know how it is - as great as it is to travel, there's no place like home!!  Sonny and I feel like all we did this past week was eat!!  Guess that means I won't be doing much cooking this next week!!  (A gal can hope, can't she???)  We left early Wednesday morning in order to get Ashley to Ft Belvoir by 3-3:30 so she could in-process for her course. Fort Belvoir was a huge base - not what I was expecting at all.  It is only about a 30 minute drive (depending on traffic) to Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and DC.  The base is practically a city in itself with a population of about 7,000.  We spent Wednesday evening in Alexandria just wandering the downtown area and having dinner at an Irish Pub we remembered from when Ashley was stationed in DC.  Thursday evening we took the metro to Bethesda and walked to our favorite restaurant to have strombollis.  Friday we met Ashley's friend, Debbie for dinner in Falls Church.  Saturday we drove to Arlington to check out the National Harbor which is 350 acres of shopping, waterfront activities, offices, hotels, etc.  There is a Carousel and a Ferris Wheel there.  We did not see the Carousel but you couldn't miss the Ferris Wheel.  Neither Sonny nor I like Ferris Wheels so we had to disappoint Ashley and say no to a ride.  We thought it would be too hot but I have since learned that the gondolas on the Ferris Wheel are climate controlled.  Maybe next time we visit .... it would be great to see the Washington DC skyline from 180 feet in the air!  

Of course, Sunday found us searching for a Steeler bar to watch the nail-biter game!  We won but considering we were ahead 24-3 at halftime and ended up making a field goal in the last 5 seconds to win the game, it was the usual Steeler nail biter to the bitter end.  The bar that we found was PACKED with real Steeler fans!  It was standing room only by the time we found a parking spot about 6 blocks away.  This morning we got up early and made the drive back to NC in the rain.  We have two happy cats who were glad to see us walk in the door.  We are babysitting Ashley's cat, Bogart, while she is at Ft Belvoir for four months.  In fact, while we were gone, they somehow set off our motion detector on our house alarm. Marianne called me about 5:30 a.m. Friday morning since they called her when they couldn't reach us at home.  She was on her way to work so was able to meet the police at our house to make sure all was ok. She had to call Angela to come over since Angela had the spare key to our house!  Family is nice!!

I did this card before I left for the Paper Craft Design Challenge using My Digital Studio.

Here is the sketch:

Charleston, Blendabilites and Endless Wishes

I was in Charleston last week and had a great time.  We met Ashley there.  She was attending a medical convention of some sort (and was one of the lecture-ers!)  But she still had time to spend with us.  We took a  bus tour around the city Wednesday morning before she had to go to work.  On Thursday our plans got changed around a bit. Originally, Sonny was going to go to Fort Sumter with one of Ashley's friends who was flying in from Houston and I was going to go to one of the local beaches.  Well, best laid plans .... first off, it was pouring rain most of the day Thursday so the beach was out. And to top it off, Julie missed her flight and instead of arriving in Charleston at 11 a.m., she didn't arrive until around 5 p.m.!!   So Sonny and I drove over to Wadmalaw Island to tour the Charleston Tea Plantation where Bigelow American Classic Tea is made.  It was very interesting to see what goes into making a tin of tea.  I didn't realize that tea is grown from a version of the camelia plant.  Right down the road from the tea plantation, we found the Firefly Vodka Distillery!  They have a tasting room where you get a tasting shot glass (to keep) and you can select 6 alcohols to test.  I had only heard of Firefly sweet tea vodka so I was surprised they have many flavors of the sweet tea vodka but also rum, bourbon, liqueurs, and moonshine, too!  You do only get a sip of each, which ends up being about a shot in total.  Despite the fact that Sonny is not that into infused vodkas or 'fruity flavors,' we both had a fantastic couple of hours here. Indeed, at the end of it, the tasting was just a very small part of it. We walked away with Lemonade Vodka for me, Apple Pie Moonshine and Chocolate Pecan Pie Liquor for Sonny!  For a beer drinker, he surprised me!  The Irvin House Vineyards was next on our list!  It is owned by the same people as Firefly.  Sonny does not drink wine so he came in and sat next to me during my tasting.  The wine was right up my alley .... a sweet muscadine wine!  They have 5 varieties of wines and I walked away with the Magnolia Wine (for my health you know)!! Muscadines, once thought of as "the fountain of youth", have been praised for its significant levels of resveratrol, an organic molecule and powerful antioxidant. A study by the National Institute of Health found that muscadine wines have seventtimes more resveratrol than other wines.  

Good to the last drop!

Vineyards

Me and Waddy having a "cuppa" tea

 

tea fields

I was playing around last week with my Blendabilities.  I really love them!!  They blend really well and makes me look like a great water-color-er (is that a word???).  Anyhoo ... here are a few images I colored using the markers.

For the Birds stamp - Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities

Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities

Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities

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!