On Our Way

It’s another big week for our family. This morning, we have loaded up the car for a little roadtrip and we are off on a summer adventure. In celebration of Pete’s graduation, we are spending the week in our nation’s capital, Washington DC.

I haven’t been to DC since I was very young. We have plans to visit all the major sites, which will keep us quite busy, as you can imagine. There’s the monuments to visit, as well as the Library of Congress, the Senate and House buildings, the Capital. I believe the White House is currently closed to visitors right now, so we’ll miss that. But then of course there is the Smithsonian. And Arlington. And probably a hundred other places, as well.

I shall miss you while I’m away. I know I haven’t had the chance to keep up with you all as much as I would like these past few weeks. Just busy, busy right now. After DC comes Peter’s college orientation, which will have me running off again…….but then things will slow down for awhile. And in the mean time, I have some fun projects scheduled to share with you the rest of the week. So I hope you enjoy, and I hope you all have a fabulous week, my friends!

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Quiet on the Home Front

Hiya Peeps! Happy Saturday. And happy National Scrapbooking Day, too. I’m sure a lot of you are planning to do some scrapping today, right?  Perhaps you’re going to cruise the internet and do a bit of blog hopping, or play along with the fun contests and challenges that abound on a day like today. I sure would love to join in. But I’m afraid things are on the quiet side here at my house this weekend. Don’t think I’ll get to do any scrapping. Because this weekend, I’m having one of these….

Source

It’s a neighborhood-wide sale. And I guess they don’t care that it’s National Scrapbooking Day today……sigh…..

I couldn’t NOT take advantage of the opportunity, though. Sure do need to purge and clean-up a bit around here. Wish me luck that I’ll sell lots of stuff. Maybe everything??

Better get going. But before I do, there’s somebody here who would like to say hello. Do you all remember little Benjamin Tinpins?

He’s awfully shy. But he’s getting braver. Because he’s a big boy now. Little Benny is now one year old. And he wants to say hi.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends! I’ll be thinking about you, and I’m looking forward to seeing all your fabulous scrappy projects from today. Make one for me, will you?

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Duck, Duck, Goose?

Hi Sweeties! Happy Pi Day! Are you all thinking what I’m thinking on this annual observance of 3.14 day? Time to celebrate with a little pie?

On Monday, my girlies came over for another day of crafts. I’m so happy that we started up our old tradition again. As you can see, we had spring and Easter on the brain. My friends may not have known much about paper bags before, but they’ve become pros by now. I think I’ve converted two more crafters over to the dark side.

There’s just no end to things you can make with a recycled grocery bag….

I designed the tall bunny. You’ve seen him before, last week for Glue Arts Kids Crafts. I made a second one on Monday, a bit shorter than my last one. Now I have a big bunny and a little bunny. Too cute.

My friend, Paige, designed this bunny. This guy got some whiskers and an actual cotton tail.

And then Joanne designed the duck.

Or is it a chick???

Or could it be a goose??

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Crafty Club

Years ago, I had a little crafty club with my girlfriends. Every couple of weeks we would get together for lunch, laughs, and crafting.  We had a ton of fun, but to my friend, Linda, it was a business opportunity, also. She was always hoping that we could have fun, and make a few bucks on the side. After months of working, we threw a craft sale in Linda’s garage and invited all our friends and neighbors to come. I still remember how excited we were that day. And it makes me smile.

Not long after that first sale, my friend Linda moved away, and the rest of us got busy with other things. Life has a way of doing that sometimes. But recently, after an entire decade, us remaining crafty gals decided we should start up the club again. Just for fun. Just for us.

Yesterday we made our first project.

Joanne picked it out. A paper bag owl for us Halloween lovers. Goodness knows, I sure enjoy a nice paper bag project!

We may be ten years older, but it sure feels like old times.

I guess some things never change.

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Beach Retreat

Some of you may remember that I recently got to sneak away for a long weekend in Myrtle Beach for a scrapping retreat at the beach. I had such a great time with my girlfriends. How lucky I am to have such people in my life. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in such a long time. I even got a bit of crafting in…….amazing for me at a crop. I usually blab too much to get anything done.:)

We stopped off in Wilmington along the way to have lunch at the most quaint little spot along the riverfront.  It was warm enough that we were able to dine on the back deck and enjoy the scenery.

Then it was off to Myrtle for 3 1/2 days of scrappy happy at the beach.

All told I made 7 cards, a wall hanging, and started a mini album. Considering it was possible I would accomplish nothing, I thought this was pretty good. I’ve shared a couple of the projects with you all already, but here’s one of the cards I made using leftovers from our recent Glue Arts partnership with Simple Stories. I do love this Year.o.graphy line.

Life is sweet, indeed! Especially life at the beach. Can’t wait for Scrapping at the Beach Retreat 2013!

Thanks for stopping by everyone. Wishing you all a wonderful day.

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Lake Walk

Hi everyone! Happy Friday to you! It’s SUCH a happy day today.  I’ve been looking forward to this day all week. Of course it is Friday, and the start of the weekend, but it’s not just any weekend. It’s a very special loooong weekend. Almost a mini-vacation kind of weekend. Because not only do my kiddos get both Monday and Tuesday off, but today is a half-day, as well. Sigh………what bliss!

We’ve got big plans for today. Mr. Pete is heading over to his buddy’s house this afternoon, leaving Missy Nik and I free to go on a little mommy/daughter date. We’re stopping at Panera’s for lunch, and then it’s off to the lake for a long walk and leisure. Nik will sketch on the pier….

Her passion.

While I plan on doing some stitching. An old passion of mine.

I began embroidering when I was a wee little thing. Used to stitch all the time, but I’ve gotten out of the habit. I want to pick it back up again. Made this little pillow with leftover fabric this week. It has put me in the mood for more.

I just love simple days like this. Hope YOUR day is wonderful, too! Thanks so much for stopping by, my friends. See you all soon.

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Quiet

I’m breathing a sigh of relief today. The last of my CHA projects are finished, boxed up, and on their way. 11 projects done, and down to the wire, too. A big relief, indeed. Next week, I can share. But for now, things are a little quiet.

Quiet, but still very busy. Because even though CHA stuff is now over, there’s still lots to do. Like work on my project for this….

So excited! Echo Park and Epiphany Crafts are partnering up to bring you a fun hop filled with inspiration, ideas and projects from both teams, and of courses prizes! It all starts Monday, January 30th.

I’m also busy packing for this….

The 10th Annual Scrapbooking Beach Retreat in Myrtle Beach. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for 4 days of scrappy happy at the beach with some of my girlies. Cannot wait to go. Still so much to do.

So sorry for being quiet. I’m going to miss you all.  Will try to load a few posts for while I’m gone. There’s maybe a few peeks I can share with you, and I still haven’t showed my January winter decor. I’m sure you’re all just itching to see my snowman collection, right?

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Happy Birthday

Well, the big day is finally here. It’s my birthday!! And what a wonderful day it’s been so far! Thank you, thank you to all of you for your sweet birthday wishes! You all really know how to make a girl feel special. And to make things even more special, I’m not doing anything today but play. Nope! No work, no cooking, no cleaning. Not gonna do it. Can’t make me.

Going to eat out all day and gorge myself on pumpkin cookies that I made just for this big day. Sigh…….doesn’t that sound lovely? Nothing but treats today.

And speaking of treats, I received the most wonderful birthday treat this week. ScrapStreet Magazine honored me with a special feature on their blog. Goodness, I think I’m still blushing! Thank you, Melissa! You are tooooo good to me!

So I’m off to enjoy my day! Thank YOU again for all your sweet well wishes and birthday greetings. I’ll leave you with a little birthday photo of me, sporting a new birthday hat from a dear, longtime friend of mine. He wears one of these ALL the time, and I guess he thought it was high time I looked just like him.

Thank you, Jon! I’m honored to follow along in your footsteps. But somehow……

I think the beanie looks much better on you.

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Blowing Rock

Hi everyone, and happy Saturday to you! Hope your weekends are off to a wonderful start. We had a load of mulch delivered on the driveway this morning which mean a whole lot of work and sore muscles are heading our way later today and tomorrow. I’m thinking I may have to come up with some excuses as to why I’m “allergic” to mulch. Poor PopPop. I don’t know why that guy comes to visit us!

Today I wanted to share some photos with you of our adventure to Blowing Rock last weekend. After all the hemming and hawing, we did pack up and head to the mountains, and it was a really nice time. A bit cold, yes, and a bit past the peek autumn color, but beautiful still. Here is scenic downtown Blowing Rock, a charming little town filled with bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and shops.

Some of the shops.

Wouldn’t this be a lovely place to stay?

From downtown we headed to Blowing Rock park.

The scenes were breathtaking, even past the peek of color. Above Nik’s head, you can see the famous Blowing Rock of Indian legend.

Of course my kiddos had to climb the rock.

One for one more photo, here is my little devil, all dressed for Halloween trick or treats.

For those of you interested in following along on the Handmade Holiday Blog Hop today, here is the list of participating blogs.

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com/
Spellbinders http://www.spellbinderspaperarts.com/Community/Blog.aspx
Hampton Art – http://blog.hamptonart.com/
Zutter – http://binditall.blogspot.com/
Graphic45 – http://g45papers.typepad.com/
Donna Salazar Designs – http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/
The Twinery – http://www.thetwineryblog.com/
Authentique Paper http://authentiquepaper.blogspot.com/
Jan Hennings – Glue Arts http://papercraftpleasures.blogspot.com/
Kim Sonksen – Donna Salazar Designs – http://kimsonksen.blogspot.com/
Jamie Harper – Hampton Art http://www.jamieharper.typepad.com
Jenny Suchin – The Twinery http://www.suchins.blogspot.com/
Heather Conklin– Authentique Paper http://goldiecar.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel- Graphic 45 http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Christine Emberson – Spellbinders http://hope-chances.blogspot.com/
Julie Overby – Spellbinders http://joverby.blogspot.com/
Julie Ranae Murray- The Twinery http://juliesopenwindow.blogspot.com/
Mary Dawn Quirindongo – Clearsnap http://mypinkmexico.blogspot.com/
Lea Sanders – Zutter http://leasanders.wordpress.com/
Tara Orr – Graphic45 http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Patti Milazzo – Glue Arts – http://pattimilazzo.blogspot.com/
Emily Lanham – Authentique Paper http://createserendipity.blogspot.com/
Jessy Christopher – Donna Salazar Designs – http://www.teacherjessy.blogspot.com

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Blog Hop project. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day!

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ArtSpark Chalk Festival

This past weekend, my daughter, Nik, got to participate in the ArtSpark Festival held each year in downtown Raleigh. She worked in a team of 4 to create a 4′x4′ block drawing done in chalk pastel on the street. Regional artists, as well as students from local middle and high schools were invited to attend. This year’s theme was “Bug Bites”, and the artists were asked to create a work of art representing that concept. Nik had such a good time, and I had so much fun watching the students at work. I’m so proud of my girl for applying for and making this team, and I know she was proud, too.

The ArtSpark Festival is held downtown on Fayetteville Mall, just steps from the State Capital building. The streets were blocked off for the event, and the entire mall was filled with street artists and colorful blocks of chalk drawings.

Unfortunately, storms passing through our area washed away some of the artwork started Friday evening. We, ourselves, got rained out on Saturday completely. Even covering the art with tarps didn’t save much. Sure felt bad for those folks.

Sunday was no rain…….but lots of wind and cold. It was, by far, the coldest day we’ve had since last winter. I was bundled up in a chair, trying to find a spot out of the wind. But the kids didn’t care. For me, all I can say is, thank goodness for Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

The girls drew a praying mantis, sitting down at table to dine on a delicious looking crickety bug. As you can see, the mantis has proper table manners with his checked tablecloth and neatly tucked dinner napkin.

He even uses silverware.

Yes, proud mommy moments for me. And a ton of fun for the girls.

How about YOU? Do anything fun this weekend?

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