Timing is Everything at Disney.....

   We had another great day at Disney. Our sister, Phillis, drove from her home to come stay with us a few days. We met her in the parking lot and got her settled in . 
   Tom was golfing for the day so Chris, Russ, and I headed to Animal Kingdom. Now it is pretty busy down here. I think there are some schools that are on spring break. We thought we might have a little wait getting on the Safari Ride, but we walked in line about 10 minutes before we were right there waiting for our jeep to seat us.

The jeep ahead of us....

  We really got to see alot of animals and it was around ten o'clock. The weather was a little sticky, but not too bad.

They were walking across the road.

We saw these deer like animals as they were trying to cross the road. One of them got by while these two were waiting patiently for us to move on by. Really beautiful to see.

Beautiful.....

Reaching...

 Love, love seeing all these giraffes. It is the most we have every seen in one place on this ride.
They were all kinda together eating. The giraffe on the right here was using its tongue to reach those vines hanging down.

Majestic.....

Close up.....

   They were not bothered by us in any way. I just love seeing them in their environment.
  Another animal that was not bothered by us in any way was the lion. He was just snoozing up on the high rocks as if we weren't there. This is the second time he has been there when I have been on this ride.
  His mate is below him between the rocks, but I couldn't get a shot of her.

Nap time around ten..

  We left the safari ride and were just in time for the Flights of Wonder show. We have seen this before,but
they change it a little each time we go and the tour guide is a hoot.

The Bald Eagle

  They emphasize conservation during the show and really do a good job introducing the different birds in a humorous way. One bird flew by so close I could feel the wind as it passed. NO sticking your hands up here.
  Russ wanted to ride Mount Everest. Chris and I waited to get a shot of him on the ride, but we missed him. He was out before we could see him. Rats..

Mount Everest

We were done at Animal Kingdom and it was lunchtime. Perfect since everyone was streaming into this park. We caught the bus back and met up with Phillis and Mom. We wanted to eat at Beaches and Cream. Russ and I had never eaten there so we were excited to try it out. It did not disappoint.

Old style decor, but really done well.

   It is not a big place at all right next to the main pool at Beachclub. We were really lucky to get in without a reservation.
  The food was really
good. We had sandwiches and fries. Nice vacation food. We shared a brownie sundae which was really yummy.

Pastami  rye

Hamburger and fries

 We went back to the room to rest our feet and get re-energized for Downtown Disney. Mom decided not to go. We thought we had worn her out enough so we took the car.
  Downtown Disney is always busy. They are building a walking bridge between Saratoga Springs and Downtown Disney. They have started construction already.

Big changes....

  They are closing Team Mickey store to make three stores in its place. Also, Pleasure Island on the West side is closing to make room for different stores. It will really be an interesting change. I heard they wanted to rename the place Saratoga Springs.
  We ended the day at Downtown Disney. I have a few pictures of our fun there. Tomorrow we will go to Hollywood Studios. Hopefully to catch the Toy Story Mania ride. But I don't know if we can get on. I tried to get a Fast Past on my computer and there weren't any available for tomorrow. Well, timing is everything....

Showing the way....

He squirts water.

Love him in the World of Disney store.

Ceiling is very interesting..

Nighttime at Downtown Disney

Candy store ...ummm....

My Aching Feet!

   We had a great day today. The weather is still agreeing with us. Not too hot and not too cold. We had breakfast in our rooms and then headed to Magic Kingdom. It was perfect timing 'cause there weren't too many people there so we didn't wait long in any lines.
    We saw work being done in front of the castle. They are draining the moat to make more of an area to view fireworks there. Also, they are enlarging the eating area in front of Casey's hot dog place. I took pictures of the moat to remember the way it was.

Draining of the  moat

We wanted to go on the new Ariel Ride in Fantasyland. We walked right on. This is a great ride for adults and kids. For kids because it shows the story of the Little Mermaid. For adults because it is cute and we sit down in a clamshell. My feet thank me every time.
 

Chris and Tom

This looks a little hairy.

   On our way to Ariel's ride we passed the new and not open Seven Dwarfs rollercoaster ride. They were working on putting landscaping and such on the top of the hill. It looks like it might be a ride that I can go on. It won't open until the end of March so we will have to wait.

Not a bad turn...

We had been walking quite a bit so we thought it was time to have a Dole Whip. This is a yummy concoction we discovered over by Carribean . We just have to have one of these when we come to Magic Kingdom. I don't know why it is not sold in every park.

Doesn't that look refreshing???

    We headed back to Beachclub to take Mom our to lunch . We walked over to Boardwalk to eat over there outside. We had a lovely walk on such a lovely warm day. There was a slight breeze which made it so nice......
 

It was a perfect day for a long walk.

   After a relaxing lazy lunch of hot dogs and grilled chicken, we wanted to check out The Screen Door which is a gift shop on the Boardwalk. It is a large gift shop at that. We enjoyed looking around. We walked back to Beachclub and decided it was time for a dip in the pool and hot tub.

This is the Beachclub quiet pool. The noisy one is out front.

Steam pot at Joe's .

   We rested for a few hours and then headed to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. We wanted to try their steampots of crab legs, shrimp, boiled potatoes, corn, and sausage. It was quite good, but you have to work so hard to open those crab legs. I enjoyed the food and might try the King Crab steam pot.

Eating outside.

 The Fireworks at Epcot were next on our fun. Another gorgeous night to be out and about. The crowds weren't too bad either. We found a great place to wait and watch the fireworks.The end to a perfect day.

Gorgeous display.

No Snow Here!!!

   We had a smooth flight to Orlando. The weather is beautiful here... No snow .. no cold... just 81 degrees.  What a change... Love it..
   We went Red Lobster as is our tradition. Love those cheese biscuits. Headed to Beachclub and our room was ready after only a short wait while we ate ice cream outside of the Marketplace gift shop.     

Love those cheese biscuits!

   Our room is on the ground floor which is great for Mom. We can see the pool right outside our patio door. Love that, too.
   We wanted to get a few groceries at our favorite store: Gooding's Grocery. Love this place. They have everything we need for reasonable prices. I always look at their bakery department but try not to buy.. I said try...

Aren't these cute..

 We headed to Epcot after getting our stuff settled in the room. Epcot has the Flower and Garden Show starting March 5th. We were checking it out to see if it is something our Mom would like to see. So refreshing to see green foliage instead of all the white frozen stuff.     The topiaries are out and around here and there. Some are new and some are from the year before. I love to see the creative ways someone has with plants.

They do such a good job...

    The Flower Show is not opened yet, so some of the exhibits were not open. There is a butterfly pavillion that has been really fun in the past, but it was closed til Wed. So I just took a few pictures of what we could see.
 

Lion King? I think...

     It was really hot but we soaked it up. Started cooling off as evening came on. What a good way to start our vacation. We loved it.

Great views..

  We were getting tired. We tried to eat dinner at Beaches and Cream, but they were full. No admittance.
   We ended up going to Perkins off property for just a bite.
Too tired to even get into the hot tub, maybe tomorrow.

  I did finish a card before I left for Florida for a friend that broke her arm after falling on ice at home. I felt so bad for her. I took the piece I had made from the colored glitter technique and made it into a card for her.

For Karen....

Check out an earlier post for links to a video tutorial on how to do this technique. It does make a great card.
  Well, I think we are headed to Magic Kingdom today. We probably will come back at lunch to the pool. It is suppose to be 83 degrees this week. Bring it on..

Getting Warmer???

  I saw signs of Spring this week with a few robins outside our windows. What a nice way to start a week. It has turned colder but I think it will be getting warmer soon.
  I have been working on a new technique which I did learn about awhile ago from a class I took from Jeanette at Stamped Designs in New Hampshire. I had forgotten all about this until my sister, Chris, at Calla Lily Studio showed me a project she had been working on incorporating the technique. It is coloring micro fine glitter with Copic Markers using stickers from Elizabeth Crafts Designs.
 Here is my finished work.                        

               

Love the sparkly look of this technique.

  The black lines you see of this design is the sticker part from Elizabeth Crafts Designs. She has black lines, gold lines, and I believe silver lines in her designs. This link to the video showing you how to do this technique is awesome. The lady does an excellent job of showing how to do this work and do it easily. Coloring Glitter

   My sister at Calla Lily Studio has an example of what she has done with this technique at Calla Lily Studio Blog

   The sheets of stickers are only $2.00 each. The Micro Fine Glitter you can purchase for around 5.00. The double sided adhesive sheets are around 8.00. You might give it a try, if you are looking to do something a little different. 

Smash Wallet Mini-Album

  The other project that I finished was this Wallet Smash Mini-Album. I think that is what the gal doing the video called it. I love it. You can slip this into your pocketbook and haul it out with pictures of your kids, trip, or grandchildren. It really can be used for anything. And it is so easy to make. It didn't take me any time to put it together. She is over at Papercraft Button . This is a link to the video she does on this project. She does a great job explaining each step. Papercraft Button  

    Here is a look on the inside.

There are pockets for photos and journaling. 

  I am quite proud that I have gotten so many projects done.
   Another project I have pretty well completed is my 6x6 wedding album for my son's upcoming wedding. I want to put in pictures from the time leading up to the wedding and any pictures I take from the bridal shower and rehearsal dinner. I want to purchase an actual wedding album from their photographer, but this album will be my pictures. I loved making it.

Wedding Album

   I used the hidden hinge system to put the pages
in the album. I had purchased wedding paper
at Michael's in South Portland. I had alot of embellishments left over from  when I did my own scrapbook on my wedding. Ginger,over at My Sister's Scrapper, has a video series on making this album. She does an excellent job on her directions. Here is the link: Pocket Page Mini-Album
This album does take a little time and lots of designer paper. I would purchase a collection of paper; either 6x6, 8x8, or even a 12 x 12 pack. It is wicked fun to see what collections are out there and which one you want to use. You really need to think about what pictures you will be putting in the album because this will probably effect the design of the album and what embellishments you want to use.

Tags slide into a pocket.

A little attached tag to put tags behind.

A fold out 

Waterfall photo album attached to back page. 

Each page has a pull out photo mat in the side pocket.

Loved the wedding design paper.

   I used magnets to make sure some of the pockets or flip pages

stayed in place. You put these in before you add the design paper.

You also use a ton of scor-pal tape or any other double sided tape.

   Wow! Another project done.. What shall I do next? I think I am going to make an Explosion Box. My sister, Rochelle, over at Creative Corner Studio found the directions to making it and we all chipped in to buy the directions. Both my sisters have made this box, so it is my turn. 

  I can't start it until I get back from Disney. Yes...we are going again. This time with Chris, Tom, and my mother. We are excited to be leaving the cold and heading towards the warmth. My sister , Phillis, will be joining us for a few days. She lives outside Tampa. Love seeing her. Can't wait. I always clean my craftroom up before I go, so it will be ready when I get back. Here are a few pics of a pretty clean craftroom.

 So it is off to Florida. Many thanks to our house sitter, who gives us peace of mind while we go and have some fun. I hope it doesn't snow while we are gone. 

Too Much Snow.....

  There is such a thing as too much snow.. I know some people would disagree with me, but I just finished shoveling heavy wet snow off our back porch. Don't my shoulders ache. The only thing that cheers me up is that we saw robins at our bird feeder this afternoon. Doesn't that mean that spring is around the corner. Hallelujah!!

Across the street from our house......

  Anyway, I am happy to announce that wedding invitations to our son's upcoming nuptials are being sent out as I type this post. We are excited to see Nathaniel and Kristin so happy. I was asked to make the invitations which I happily worked on for months. It is a beach themed wedding . Kristin's colors are turquoise and brown. They really go well together.

I ordered these envelopes from Cards and Pockets. 

I added a shell die cut from Sizzix. I thought it worked well here. I am going to use the same die cut on  the rehearsal dinner invites, too.
  I really like working with vellum. You have to use a special glue to get vellum to stick to anything without seeing the glue. I used Stampin Up's stick glue. It worked very well with the white paper I used.

The invitation open.

 The envelope opens  up vertically. I used my Stampin Up stamps for the shells on white paper. The invitation is printed onto the vellum. It is an overlay to the stamped design. Scor-pal tape was used to adhere the invite to the envelope. I also used a Stampin Up punch on the inserted cards that you see in the picture.
  The hardest part of this whole process was making sure the headings lined up once you put them into the pockets. I finally got it right.

Another view...

 
 

   I am presently working on the rehearsal dinner invitations. I have come up with several designs, but I think I have hit on the right one. I will post pictures of the results as soon as I am finished. I can't wait for June. Prayers for a beautiful day weather wise.
   

Busy Bees!

  Wow! Am I behind in posting!  I finished my thank you cards to friends who were so generous this past holiday season. I cased two cards from Pinterest 'cause there are such cute cards there.

Thanks Elaine for all you do....

I love using my scraps 'cause my storage is overflowing with scraps from my many projects. Putting different designs together is not real easy.
  The second card  was fun to make cause after you stamped your design you cut it into pieces and then put it back together, kinda.

Helen is so thoughtful....

   Whew! Where has the time gone. January is behind us and hopefully most of the bitter cold. I have not posted for awhile due to being so busy with home projects. We have been transforming our bathroom to make it more to our tastes. What a project. But perfect for staying inside during the cold season we have had. First we hired a contractor, Ian Smith, from Cumberland to take out our tub and put in a new shower. We love it.

Looks great.. subway tile is so classic.

 

Before.......

 Next, the vanity looked so dated next to the new shower, we decided to buy a new counter top at Lowe's. Russ wired a new outlet for me on the right side so that I could have easy access to power. I did the "mudding". As you can see this isn't my day job. But good enough...  
I had seen on Pinterest that some people framed out their old mirror to give it a new life. I love this idea, so Russ framed out our mirror. I painted it white and it looks fabulous.
   Here is the semi-finished vanity. I still have to sand the nail holes and touch up the paint around the mirror, but you get the idea. Russ is pretty handy to have around the house. He does great work. We are now working on the bedroom because next to the bathroom it looked a little dated.

After...........Looks so much better. 

Before....

   

          I have been showing my friend, Elaine, how to make Ginger's Pocket Page mini-album from My Sister's Scrapper. Pocket Page Album She does a great job explaining all the steps and giving you the dimensions you need. Elaine is a creative person and did a great job designing her album.

What a lovely cover...

                                                                            She has a lovely cottage, so she decided to devote her album to the fun times she and her family have had there.
  She is almost done, but needs to add her photos and some embellishing here and there. I had wicked fun working with her on this project.

The back.... perfect...

 

Inside pages...

                                         I am working on a wedding mini-album for my son's upcoming wedding in June. Plus, painting the bedroom and redecorating it. I think this will keep me busy and out of trouble.
  My sisters are working on an explosion box that has pockets. I hope to begin work on that idea soon.