Road Trip Home with Mom!!

   We picked up Mom at  Land o'Lakes where my sister, Phillis lives.  Tearful goodbyes all around.  We pointed the van north and just kept driving. We landed in Smithfield, North Carolina. I think this is where they make the bacon. It's been a great trip so far. We ate at Cracker Barrell. No pics of food, too hungry.
   But I did take pics of cute items in their gift shop. I think I can get some ideas for cards from these cuties. Check them out and see what you think.

Wouldn't they make a cute card?

Awful cute.

   We are heading to New Jersey in the morning to spend the night with my brother, Hal and his wife, Charlotte. It will be a long drive, but we make stops along the way to break it up.
  I am anxious to get home as I have accumulated alot of ideas for future projects.
   I hope to start my Christmas cards by June. It would be great to get them done and ready for the holidays. Way less stress when you plan ahead. Don't you agree? Well, we will see if I can accomplish this goal or not... So much to do.. So little time.




What about these two?

Check back and at a later date. I hope to make these ideas into some sort of paper craft. Not sure what at this point, but something.. I hope. 

Love the yellow!







Last Day at Disney!

   Our last day at Disney was wicked fun!! We went to Hollywood Studios to play Toy Story Mania one more time. If you haven't done that game, you should try it out.. Wicked Fun!! Then we headed to Animal Kingdom to see Festival of the Lion King. We had missed seeing it twice before. They gave us priority seating because they felt bad. We had front row seats. Awesome!

   The music was from the movie and was just as beautiful as I remember it. We all said that it was worth walking in the rain to get to the show. The rain had stopped by the time the show was over. Thank goodness. The day was quite lovely after heading to lunch at Downtown Disney at Portabello. Great italian food.



Another great hat!



The candlestick



Cool hat!



  I have been taking pictures that might inspire my cardmaking when I get back home. Here are some more ideas that I want to use; especially the art deco look to the hat. I think I might use this idea on my drawer card that I started before I left for Florida. Can't wait to try it.

   We took Chris and Tom to the airport around 5:00 p.m.. It was hard to say good-bye 'cause we had so much fun together. We head to my sister, Phillis's home around 5:00 a.m to pick up my mom. We then head our van northward towards Maine. I hope the weather has warmed up a bit since we left. It will take us three of four days to get back to Brunswick. I hope to find more inspiration along the way. Can't wait to get back to my studio and use some of these great ideas. Thanks for looking.!!

Vacation Inspirations

   I am just putting pictures up that I took yesterday that made me smile,and gave me ideas that I may work with when I get home. I love that I can look around and something will make me think..."What a good idea!"

Crystal chandeliers

   This first picture is from Downtown Disney. It's the Trend store. I love the different colors of these chandeliers. I think it's a girl thing:


Zentangling!!

   This next picture is actually a tee shirt that was in ESPN shop at Downtown Disney. I loved it because it is zentangling at it's best. It's on Mickey!!! Chris wants to buy it...Love how the colors blend to a different color as you move downward. Check it out:

   This is a window at Magic Kingdom. We headed there after eating at Red Lobster. Tom's FAVORITE place. I noticed the window in one of the stores. Must be a girl thing again. I love the manniquin's ribbon sash. I think Tim Holtz has a die cut of a manniquin.  The ribbon makes it look regal somehow.


Hanging out!

    I almost forgot about these fish. They were hanging on the wall at Red Lobster. I liked how they were colorful and in different patterns. This idea might find its way to a card. Hmmmm...
  Well, those are a few of the inspirations that I found yesterday. Today we go to Universal Studios. What will I find there?  Check out my blog tomorrow and see for yourself. Thanks for looking!  

"Smashing" Idea !

   I found this video on Scrappy Boutique's blog. This is a scrapbooking/cardmaking store in Sand Lake, Florida. We were planning on going there after we picked up Chris and Tom at the airport, but they are closed. It's suppose to rain on Thursday, so we are hopping over there before we take Chris and Tom back to the airport.
   These books are a great idea. I think it came out of the winter 2011CHA conference. I can't wait to start mine. I could certainly fill one with "things" I have loved about our trip here at Disney.
   Thought you might like to see the video I watched. Inspirations....

Inspirational Mickey PIn

Love this pin!!

   I saw this pin at Downtown Disney. I thought it was such a nod to Tim Holtz's work and Wendy Vecchi's work. I think it would be a great idea to take a die cut and use the Cuttlebug folder to emboss gears on other characters. I am going to buy this pin the next time I see it. Thought it might be an inspiration to others.
   You can tell I miss my papercrafting hobby. I am hoping that when my sister, Chris and her husband, Tom get here on Sunday that we will have time to head over to our favorite craft store. I hope to have a video of that place for you all to see. Oops.. I've already picked up the Southern accent.
   Thanks for checking out my blog. More to come.....

Yippee! Yemasee...

Traffic Jam

   We drove forever today. A traffic jam outside Washington D. C. held us up for a time. We got through after about 30 minutes. Bummer.
We headed towards Virginia, which was easy sailing. Hardly any traffic there.
   We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel in Wilson, North Carolina. Good eats. The cornmeal muffins and homemade biscuits hit the spot.

Cracker Barrell rocks!

I couldn't help but check out their gift shop. It was full of great ideas for possible future cardmaking once I get back home. I loved the saying about chocolate. That could find it's way on a card,too.
   I saw green grass for the first time in a long time. The weather was lovely. We started out in the morning at 45 degrees, but ended up the day at 81 degrees. Nice.....




 

So true!

   We drove some more... alot more. We ended up in Yemassee, South Carolina. We are only about 5 hours from Disney. Can't wait to get there.. It's really been a fun road trip. Haven't seen any craft stores, but I know there is one in Florida. I hope to talk my husband into a little side trip...

Thanks for checking out my blog.. More to come tomorrow...

Shopping at the Mall

  I love walking around the Maine Mall and looking for ideas that inspire my paper crafting/cardmaking or helps in my desire to make my home more homey.... Pottery Barn is one of my favorite stops; even though I can not afford to buy much there. The combination of colors they use in putting bits and pieces together are quite striking. Take this beautiful yellow centerpiece. This inspired me to make a "Thinking of You " card for my brother in law's mother who fell recently and is in rehabilitation. I thought she could use a little "pick me up" card. So yellow is "just the ticket" for thinking spring-like in this all white wonderland.

Another great idea!

Love this decorating vinette

   I will be posting that card later today after I put a few finishing touches on it.
   I couldn't help taking pictures of the neat carousel that is in the middle of the Mall. It's fun to watch the kids having fun on this ride. Although some preteens looked like they might be sick after twirling in the teacup so much.
   Anyway, I am ending this post with a picture of a chandelier that is in Brighton's store. It reminded me of Stampin Up's chandelier stamp. So pretty.
   The weather has improved but the melting snow from yesterday is now solid ice today. It should be melting again today. I see shoveling the slush in my future.  Oh well.. we will be Florida bound soon.