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

K-Cup Holder

This pretty box will hold three K-cups and is a perfect gift for any coffee lover! These boxes go together quickly, so you can make several for gifts, vendor shows or it also makes a great class! The coordinating buckle-card adds just the right touch to this ensemble.

This great project comes to you designed by Laurie!

To get the instructions for Laurie’s project, just subscribe to Craft Project Central May!  And if you have a minute, please leave Laurie a comment on her project!  Have a fun crafting weekend!

Nothing makes a better impression than a hand-made gift bag. Make this elegant gift bag and fill it with some yummy treats or a special gift. It is perfect for any occasions, from birthdays to weddings. Great for a stamp camp, or as a class project.

 

To get the instructions for Monika’s project, just subscribe to Craft Project Central for May!  And if you have a minute, please leave Monika a comment on her project!  Have a wonderful crafting day!

Mother's Day Cards

I got a couple of Mother's Day cards today in the mail.  Wonder how long I can "milk" Mothers Day??!!!  Both cards use punches on the front.

This is the card Ashley sent.  Isn't it great?!!  She used a butterfly punch with dimensionals.  And the two buttons .... love it!  I particularly liked the gift certificate that was inside too!!

This next card is from my upline, Carol.  She used a flower punch on the front with the Polka Dot DSP behind it.

I am heading to Charleston, SC tomorrow.  Sonny and I are driving down and meeting Ashley there.  She has a conference there this week.  Charleston is such a great city.  I haven't been there in about 14 years.  Ashley and I took Marianne there for her 40th birthday.  I'm ready for a little R&R!!  It's been about 5 months since I took a trip ... too long!!

Happy Weekend!

Hope your weekend was a good one.  Ours was bittersweet.  Our friends, Margaret and Graham have been here all week and we took them to the airport Saturday morning.  We met Marianne and Greg and after we went to the airport, the four of us enjoyed breakfast at The Original Pancake House in Charlotte.  Marianne and I each got the Dutch Baby, one of their specialities.  It is an air filled yeasty pancake served with lemon syrup, lemons, butter and powdered sugar.  Yum!!  It was delicious but I didn't eat anything the rest of the day!!  (I didn't count the calories!)

After breakfast, we drove around Charlotte reminiscing as we drove past our Grandparents house and the house we were living in when Marianne was born.  Then we went to the memorial service and the celebration of life for our cousin, Bobby.  It was a really nice service with many sharing their stories and memories of Bobby.  He was such a "bigger than life" guy who never met a stranger whose flame was snuffed out too soon.  May he rest in peace.

Today we picked up my mom to take her out to lunch.  When Sonny walked by her hanging fern plant that was on her front porch, a bird flew out and perched on her roof.  Upon further investigation, we discovered there was a nest with an egg in it in the fern.  The mother bird kept her eye on us and her nest.  When we went inside, she resumed her perch in the fern on her egg.  I was able to get some pretty good pictures.

We thought it was just a pigeon but a couple of people have told us it looks like a Mourning Dove.

We had a nice bar-b-que lunch with Mom, Angela, Marianne, Greg, Derek and Harrison at Sonny's where all mothers ate for free!  That makes it a little better for everyone!  After lunch, we went to BJ's and then home.  I had a few cards to make to mail out as well as coming up with ideas for Stamp Club this month.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I hope to be spending much of the day with my mother.  And although I won't be with my own children for Mother's Day, I hope to at least get a phone call!  I will see Ashley next week in Charleston and can't wait!

This is the card I made for Mom using the wonderful Blendabilities!  I love them and will be sharing more in the coming weeks.

Sketched Birthday Card Set

Birthday cards are needed all year long, and this ensemble includes four cards featuring fun polka dots and a handy decorated box to hold them. The box will hold four cards and four envelopes, or you might prefer to fill the box with two sets of cards. Perfect for a class, this project would also be a well-received and useful gift.

This fun and very useful project comes to you designed by Regina!

To get the instructions for Regina’s project, just subscribe to Craft Project Central for May!  And if you have a minute, please leave Regina a comment on her project!  Have a wonderful crafting weekend!

Fresh Prints Place Setting

This Fresh Prints Place Setting is a great way to brighten up your table! This place setting features a wipe-able placemat, a place card, a coordinating napkin ring and a sweet treat envelope to finish your meal! Use this place setting as a gift, for a party, or to just brighten up your morning meal!

This is a project featured over on Craft Project Central.  This was designed by Michelle Wecksler. To get the full step-by-step instructions for Michelle’s project, just subscribe to Craft Project Central for the month of May!  And if you have a minute, please leave Michelle a comment on her project!  Have a fun crafting day.  Michelle will be randomly selecting one lucky winner to receive a free subscription - IF you leave a comment!

 

Craft Project Central Card Sketch

Each month Craft Project Central hosts a monthly Card Sketch Challenge.  For every ten cards submitted, one winner is picked for a free month subscription on Craft Project Central!  The winner(s) will get to select the month of their choice!  So if they have 15 submissions this month they will randomly pick one winner from all submissions*.  If they have 40 submissions they will randomly pick four winners from all submissions, and so on! They really want to give away some free subscriptions, so please do join the challenge!!

(**If a project designer submits a card for the inspiration, they won’t be in the winner random-selection pool, but their cards will count towards the “for every 10 cards submitted winner total”.)

This month Christy Fulk is the designer and creater for the sketch challenge.

Here is the sketch:

 And here is my card using My Digital Studio and that great DSP, Kaleidescope!

Proud of My Grad

Get ready for that special graduation celebration with this display for guests to leave a special message for the graduate. The So Proud of You tasseled garland, draped along an everyday yardstick, will inspire your guests to add a message on one of the handmade note cards. The ‘Memories’ and ‘Wishes’ labeled jars will hold those messages for the grad!

 Julie Beltramo designed this project and her tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central. 

To get the instructions for Julie’s project, just subscribe to May!  And if you have a minute, please leave Julie a comment on her project!  Have a wonderful crafting day!

And if you would like to see all the designers (and me!) for May, check this out!