Halloween Hi

Hi Sweetie Peas! Hope you all had a very wonderful weekend. I am back from my weekend scrapbooking retreat at the beach, and I must say that we had a fabulous time. It is so good to get away with the girls. I haven’t laughed that hard in I don’t know how long, and………I even got a bit of scrapping done.

I have photos to share from the weekend, but first, it’s time to share my Monday project for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. I’ve been playing with the new Bats Clear Stamps Set and Die again. I think we should go ahead and declare 2012 the Halloween of the bat as I seem to have gone completely batty this year. Let’s just make it official and get it over with, shall we?

I had leftover kraft envelopes from my Maya Road project last week, which became the inspiration for this little notecard. Covered some manila tags with inks and bits of torn dictionary pages and stamped lots of tiny bats from the Clearly Beautiful the Four Seasons stamp set for a spooky backdrop. Tucked the tags into the envelope and added one large die cut bat to the outside. Lots of happy polka dots and a sentiment strip finish things off.

And now for a few photos of the beach retreat.

The Trinity Center is only steps away from the ocean, and yet it feels like you’re in the mountains with the rustic buildings and all the wonderful trees. It really is the best of both worlds. So serene and so peaceful.

It was very humid and quite rainy while we were there, so humid in fact that I had a hard time keeping my camera lens from fogging up. But I did still manage to do a little rocking on the back deck and got in one nice walk along the beach.

Mostly, though, we spent our time in here…..

having a great time.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too!

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Sharing today’s project with Paper Issue’s Tag, You’re It challenge

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Liberty Antiques Festival

Hiya Sweeties! Happy Wednesday to you! This morning we are busy little bees, getting my mom packed up and ready to head to the airport. We’ve had a nice long visit, but it’s always a bit hard to say goodbye. Luckily, it won’t be too long before summer is here, and we’ll be packing up ourselves and heading to California for our annual vacation.

So while Mom is finishing getting ready, I’ve been going through my photos from the Liberty Antiques Festival last Saturday, and thought I would share a few here with you.

Many of you know by now how much I adore old, rusty funky junk, so it will come as no surprise that the Liberty Festival is a much anticipated event in my house. Twice a year, around 375 vendors come from over 20 states to set up their tents in an old field in the tiny town of Liberty. There are 100 acres on this farm, and it takes all day at a very steady pace to see most of the goods. I’ve gotten sunburned, near heat-stroked, completely exhausted, and this year half-froze, but I wouldn’t miss it for anything! From a distance, the Liberty Festival is not much to look at……..

………but, boy, is it ever filled with good schtuff!

Here’s Mom, smiling at the camera!

And here’s my buddy, Kathy, who loves old junk just as much as I do.

Oh, hello! Here I am, having a great time…….wish you were here!

So…..what did I bring home with me? An old chenille spread, in the wedding ring pattern, for my bed. And this lovely junky egg basket.

Which will be great for putting more schtuff into, don’t you think? I haven’t had time to play with it yet………oh, but the possibilities!

Now it’s off to the airport I go. Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

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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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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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Rusty Bucket

Hi everyone! Happy, happy Saturday to you! I am such a happy camper right now. A couple extra hours of sleep, no alarm clock jarring you awake, and a leisurely cup of coffee= one happy girl. I wish every day could be a weekend day!

Last night, the official fall-activity schedule kicked off in our neck of the woods with a Fall Open House at one of my favorite local shops, the Rusty Bucket. I look forward to this every year, being the serious Halloween-lover that I am.  I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Of course I brought my camera along, so I could share it all with you. ‘Cause I know you all love Halloween as much as I do, right? Snicker, snort!

The Rusty Bucket is known for their early-Americana, county-style primitives. They fill their shop with antiques found on old farmsteads and one-of-a-kind, handcrafted items from local artists. There’s always something unique and special, every time I visit.

Such a fun, happy place! Charming on the inside, and welcoming on the outside, for those who’d like to just sit a spell.

Thanks so much for visiting with me! I’m off now on another of my favorite adventures, a day of antiquing. Hope your weekend is filled with wonderful adventures, too.

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Girls Day Friday

Hi everyone! Happy Friday. It’s always so nice when the weekend is here, isn’t it? Nik and I have been having the most marvelous girls day together. Went to lunch and then stopped in at work to find that Halloween has made it’s way into the gift boutique.  So many happy, beautiful things to look at. I do get quite giddy about Halloween.

Since I’m in charge of the social media at the garden center, I always have my camera along. Would you like to take a little peek?

Too fun, right? This metal pumpkin guy came home with me. I couldn’t resist.

Did I mention that I get a little giddy about Halloween?

Yup………..

I do.

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Wilmington Revisited

Hello everyone! Hope you’re having a fabulous weekend. It’s been beautiful here these past two days, and nice and quiet, too. On a lovely day like today, I thought it would be nice to take you visiting with me again, to show you the second half of my girls’ weekend away to Wilmington last month.

As many of you know by now, I absolutely adore going antiquing, and Wilmington is a fantastic place for treasure seekers like me. Top on our priority list of places to visit was Castle Street, a quaint shopping district dedicated to antique and vintage thrift shops. In an area of about 2 square blocks, there are 9 stores to visit, and of course we hit them all.

One shop was even housed in an old church. I loved the wooden ceilings and the stained glass windows. Such a fun place.

After spending most of the day in the New Castle Antique District, we headed towards the riverfront area. And got a much needed pick-me-up at Port City Java, followed by more shopping along Front Street.

Afterward was a fabulous dinner at Fish Bites, Wilmington’s second-highest rated restaurant. The highest ranked restaurant we hit the night before.

What a wonderful time we had. If you are ever in North Carolina, I highly recommend a visit to Wilmington. And if you come, I’ll pop up and join you!

Thanks for visiting with me. It’s always more fun to have YOU along.

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A Visit to Wilmington

Over this past weekend, I had the good fortune to be able to slip off for a girls’ weekend to the beautiful town of Wilmington, NC. What fun it was to get away for a few days, to relax, have fun, take in the sights, and eat out at great restaurants. And did I mention shopping?  Well, let me tell you, we shopped and shopped and shopped, until we could shop no more. There was just no end of fabulous places to go. In fact, we ran out of time before we ran out of shops. Guess that just means I’ll have to go back soon.

Would you like to come visit with me?

All in all, Kathy and I managed to stop at 17 antiques and thrift stores in only one and a half days. Our first afternoon was spent on Market Street, with stop number one here at Cape Fear Antique Center.

I’ve got my game face on. Shall we go inside?

This place is big with over 12,000 sq. feet of floor space. If you’re looking for furniture, this is a great stop. I still managed to find a few smaller knick-knackies to bring home. Oh, you know I did.

My favorite shop of the day was the Ivy Cottage, an absolute bonanza of consignment treasures housed in 4 separate buildings. 4 separate buildings, I tell ya!

Dinner was along the Cape Fear Waterfront, at the  Caprice Bistro, Wilmington’s top rated restaurant.

I immediately fell in love with this place. The scenic riverfront location and the historic building with original paneling and pressed tin ceilings are gorgeous, and the food is magnificent. We were given the front table by the window, which was the best spot in the house.

Through the windows we could watch the horse-drawn carriages and steal peeks of the USS North Carolina battleship permanently docked across the river from downtown Wilmington.

I ordered the house special, a local catch called a Trigger fish. And boy, oh boy, was it out of this world good.

And dessert was cream puffs with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Hope you enjoyed this small visit to Wilmington with me. I have more to share with you soon, but I’ll save that for another time……..

after I get something to eat!!

Darn pictures

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