Sorry I haven't been posting much ... just enjoying my time with Ashley. We haven't done a whole lot this week, just visiting and getting caught up with each other. While she was at work, I've just chilled here at her house. She took off work on Friday and we ran errands all day. Yesterday we worked in the yard for a few hours; then met her girlfriend, Courtney, at Typhoon Flats for a pitcher of margaritas and some lunch. We had a real wholesome lunch - fried pickles, chips and queso and a hot dog!! But it sure was good. Courtney and her mom are going with us to New Zealand so we looked through our guidebooks and they got their laptops out to do a little research on our trip. Today Ashley and I went to church, had a massage and we invited Courtney over for dinner and to watch the Academy of Country Music awards show on tv. Courtney brought me a beautiful vase of flowers for my anniversary.
Today was our 40th anniversary!! How fast those 40 years have flown by - it's hard to believe. I think this is the first anniversary we've spent apart. I was so proud of him - I actually got my anniversary card in the mail on Thursday! Ashley surprised me with a great gift! She is sending us on a cruise - and she is going with us - in October. The cruise is by the same company that she takes her Rock Boat cruise with every year. This one is Alabama and Friends celebrating Alabama's 40th year (in honor of our 40 years of marriage!) I'm so excited. I knew she and Sonny had been up to something in the past month or so but I never guessed it was this. My daughter is such a blessing in my life.
Here is the card I made for Sonny. I should have left it home for him to get when he returns but since I didn't have time to make it before I left, I'm putting it in the mail tomorrow!
I used Ashley's "Cheers to you" stamp set.
Ashley and I made a wreath today to put on her front door for Fiesta. Fiesta is a big deal in San Antonio. It began as a way to honor the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. Now it has grown into a huge festival to honor the diverse cultures in San Antonio. It lasts a couple of weeks with parades and events held all over town. I have actually never been here during Fiesta but I think it would be fun to see some of the parades - especially the one down the Riverwalk.
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!
Get your cup of tea - or coffee - this is a long one!!
TWO HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS TODAY FROM STAMPIN' UP
First some 'refreshing news'! Today Stampin' Up! has announced that they will be refreshing the four color families. Don't freak out like I did! Some of them I am really sad to see go - like Regal Rose and Baja Breeze (my favorites!) and Certainly Celery and Pretty In Pink .... but I'm happy to see some others like Pear Pizazz and Calypso Coral staying around. (I'm still looking for my favorite green - Kiwi Kiss but no such luck.)
I love color! However, I know it's essential to stay up-to-date with color trends. Stampin' Up! has tweaked our current colors. Just take a look at current fashion and home décor to see these new changes are right on target. DON'T MISS there's a brand new color under neutrals called Smoky Slate. I think I'm gonna like that one!
Beginning TODAY (4/4), all retiring/discontinued color products (i.e. ink, paper, ribbon, accessories, etc.) will be available ONLY while supplies last. This means that some products will not be available through the retired list period (WHICH BEGINS APRIL 24 AND RUNS THROUGH JUNE 3, 2013). Stock up on your favorites this weekend while shipping is FREE (April 6 - 8--SEE OFFER BELOW).
FREE SHIPPING THIS WEEKEND!
Stampin' Up! is offering FREE shipping on EVERYTHING April 6-8 (excluding expedited orders)! That's right. There is NO $6.95 shipping minimum or limit on how large or small your order must be.
Free shipping starts: Saturday, April 6, 2013; 2:00 AM (EST). Online orders must be completed no later than Tuesday, April 9, 2013 by 1:50 AM (EST)
Need help building your list? Here's a list of some of my favorite promotions going on now:
Stampin' Up! Photopolymer Clear Stamps. Perfect placement and great cling. #132956
Sign up now for Stampin' Up's Paper Pumpkin Kits. Quick, simple and fun paper crafting projects delivered to your door each month. Info HERE.
OnLine Classes #133385 - $14.95 - Tip, techniques and videos to create 30+ projects. Wonderful for seasoned as well as new stampers. I just watched a video that's part of the class on the Stamp-a-ma-jig and learned how to easily line up stamped letters once and for all. To order - click HERE
New Product - Talking Tags - Buy 'em by the sheet. With Talking Tag, you can record your own personal message that recipients can access by scanning the Talking Tag. Attach them to cards, invitations, gift tags, business cards, catalogs, scrapbook pages, wine bottles . . . well, anything! Info HERE.
You never know what is waiting for you in the Clearance Rack!! Check it out here -
Best of 25 Years Stampin' Up stamp sets - April's set is butterflies! Don't miss these monthly collections of Stampin' Up! oldies but goodies (plus a brand new stamp in each set)! To order and see all the previous month's stamps, click HERE
And a bit of sad news - Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Pencils are being discontinued - the Brights crayons and the pencils are done - the remaining Neutrals, Regals and Subtle Crayons - are available while supplies last and will not be on re-order - so if you want to finish your collection - get them now.
#119802 - Subtles Collection $16.95
#119803 - Regals Collection $16.95
#119805 - Neutrals Collection $16.95
■Place an order with me between April 6 and April 8 to take advantage of TOTALLY FREE SHIPPING. Order as little or as much as you want. This is one exciting promotion! Place your order with free shipping between April 6 and April 8.
■Review the color refresh charts
■Stock up on the retiring colors you love – once the papers and inks are sold out, they are sold out. Get them while you can.
■Go ahead and replenish your stash of the colors that are sticking around for at least another year. These are not retiring. Woo hoo!
Well, are you still with me? A lot of stuff, huh? Check it all out and if you decide to place an on-line order (see the ORDER ONLINE button at the top of my blog), if you use the Code EBB22MUZ - you can have everything shipped directly to your home. If you cannot order on-line, contact me and I will work something out for you.
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!
I hope you had a wonderful Easter. We went to Ashley's church and then came home and made a great lunch. It's so nice to have so many hands help to prepare the meal. The weather was great and we sat outside in the sunshine for a while. Marianne, Mom and I even dunked our toes in the pool. It was pretty cold but after a while, you didn't notice it. I'm not ready to get in yet though! Later in the afternoon, we went over to some friends of Ashley's and hid Easter eggs for their little ones. We had bought some cascarones and had fun breaking them on each other's heads! Cascarones or confetti eggs are festive, hollowed-out chicken eggs filled with confetti.
I just love this little elephant! I decided to lay him down to make it easier for him to blow his pinwheel out of his trunk. I paper pieced Henry the elephant with some DSP. The chevrons on the side are from the Oh Hello stamp set and they go pretty well with the chevron embossing folder. I used the Pinwheel Sizzix Die to make the pinwheel out of the Razzleberry DSP.
For this elephant, I also paper pieced him. To get the scallops on the side, I used the plastic overlay that comes with the Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate (pg. 26 of the Spring Mini Catalog) and sponged ink through the openings. There's more than one use for the Scoring Plate!!
We are all getting excited for the new catalog, right? Well, Stampin’ Up! is giving us our first sneak peek at a new stamp set that will be available in the catalog – and giving us the opportunity to buy it between now and May 30.
Round Array is a new stamp set of 8 adorable images (currently offered in clear-mount only – it will be available in wood-mount in the catalog) that coordinates perfectly with the 7/8″ Scallop punch. There are two options:
■The stamp set with the punch at 15% off (133899) for $23.95
We arrived in San Antonio safe and sound Wednesday afternoon. It was an interesting flight - at least the beginning was. We arrived at the airport - looking like traveling gypsies! When we put our suitcases on the scales, Angela and mine were both overweight - Marianne had about 4 pounds to spare. So we opened up our cases and started rearranging things. I had 2 12 packs of Cheerwine in my suitcase and Angela had 1 in hers so that was a lot of the weight. After moving things around, then the gate attendant told us that our carry-ons were too bulky. So .... a little more rearranging. Then we discovered that because I had a Delta credit card, we got all our luggage for free. I knew mine would be free but didn't know everyone traveling with me would be free also. So, we ended up checking one of the carry on bags since Mom and Angela were sharing a suitcase. Luckily we had arrived at the airport really early so got everything switched around with lots of time to spare. As it turned out, when we got to our gate, the airplane was full so they checked our carry on bags for free to our final destination. That has happened for me the past 2-3 times I have flown. Our plane was late leaving Charlotte which cut into our layover time in Atlanta. We were supposed to have an hour but it ended up being only about 40 minutes and of course, as luck would have it, we landed at Terminal A and were departing from Terminal E. We had Mom in a wheelchair and were racing her through the Atlanta airport!!
We have been busy since we've been here. We had some good Mexican food Wednesday night. Yesterday we went to the outlet malls in San Marcos and were there for 7 hours! Oh my! We laid all our purchases out when we got home and Ashley is now trying to decipher all our receipts so we can all "settle up." We combined some of our purchases because of coupons or military discounts.
Our Vera Bradley and Bath and Body Loot
Part of our loot!
Probably a good thing Sonny doesn't read my blog!! And Marianne's husband told her not to come home with another Vera purse. Well, she didn't buy one - she bought several!! It was a fun and successful day. Angela, our non-shopping sister, was a good sport about it.
Today we went to the Alamo and to the Riverwalk. The weather has been nice - in the 70s, low 80s today. Tomorrow and Sunday is supposed to be in the mid 80s.
This is the FREE April desktop download available from Tuesday's downloads!
I also love a couple of the other downloads on Tuesday and will be making something with them on the plane to Texas! Check out - APRIL SHOWERS KIT and THIS and THAT EPIC KIT!!
Here is my card for the Paper Craft Challenge this week:
This card was made using the Hello There Kit download from February 19. It is a really great spring-y kit.
Make sure you check out the other cards made by my fellow Paper Craft Crew HERE. There are a log of really cute Easter cards!
Here is a cute little box I made a couple of weeks ago using the Petite Pocket Die. I think this die is my favorite to make little boxes and envelopes to go on cards.
Box open
box closed
I used Pool Party card stock and stamped a background all over the paper after die cutting it. I put the box together using Sticky Strip (red line tape). I distressed a small piece of Core'd'nations brown card stock to make a belly band. Then I tore the edges of a small piece of Newsprint DSP to go around the belly band. Next I tied some Bakers Twine around the belly band with a couple of Tiny Tags hanging off. The finishing touch was to stamp a ticket from That's the Ticket to adhere to the front and added a punched flower. Pretty shappy chic, don't you think?
I'm trying to get packed for my upcoming trip to Texas. We were hoping for 80 degree days while we were there but it's looking like it's only going to be in the mid to high 70s for next week. Anything is better than the cold weather we are having here! Snow was even sighted this morning in Mooresville!! Crazy! I don't mind the cold weather but enough is enough! I'm ready for spring!!
I have to brag on my wonderful daughter! She called me a week ago and asked me if I'd like to go on a trip with her .... to Australia and New Zealand!! Would I??? Is the Pope Catholic??? When and where? Let me pack my bags! Ashley and her friend, Courtney decided to take their mothers on this trip and make it a mother-daughter trip. I can't wait! We'll probably be going at the end of the year. What a wonderful child I have.
I want to alert you to another special Stampin' Up is having this week. If you like to create with fabric, this deal is for you! All Stampin' Up's FABRIC is 50% off! Quantities are limited so if you want it, you better run .... not walk .... to my store and put your purchase in now. Click on Shop Now at the top of my blog.
And a bit of sad news - Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Pencils are being discontinued - the Brights crayons and the pencils are done - the remaining Neutrals, Regals and Subtle Crayons - are available while supplies last and will not be on re-order - so if you want to finish your collection - get them now.
