Gettin' Crafty in Columbia!

A couple weeks ago I was itchin' to have some crafty time to myself. I mentioned this on Twitter, and @corgidusty, aka Donna, piped up and mentioned she was going to a stamp show that weekend & I should join her. She's in Columbia, South Carolina, which it turns out is a pretty easy drive from Atlanta. So I convinced the hubs and off I went! Here are some photos from the weekend, not the best quality ever since they were taken with my phone, but you get the idea. :-)

My Saturday was off to a fabulous start as I drove into this gorgeous sunrise.


See this girl? Doesn't she look happy & relaxed to have some alone time?


Donna met me at the StampScrapArtTour show and we were off to shop!


The highlight of the show was the Stampers Anonymous booth. Sigh. Oh my word, so much Tim Holtz & Ranger goodness gathered in one place. Pace yourself, Libby!


I wanted to hide this entire display in my bag...


Another highlight? Meeting the one & only Ted of Stamper's Anonymous!! I am now only two levels of Kevin Bacon away from Tim Holtz! I'm not sure that made sense, but maybe you know what I mean. (Has Tim ever met Kevin? Hmm, I wonder.) The other lovely face in the photo is Donna.


Ok a slight detour from stampy goodness to show you my lunch because oh my word it was so good it was nearly a religious experience! I've been eating mostly vegan lately and big thanks to Donna I got to get lunch from a vegan/raw cafe. The "meat" on these tacos was some walnut concoction. And the sour cream was made out of cashews. And it tasted JUST like sour cream. I have no idea how they did that. It was CRAZY good. I may have to drive back to Columbia just to eat this again!!


Ok back to the crafty stuff. After the stamp show Donna & I stopped by her house to let her dogs out and grab some supplies. I got to see her WONDERFUL stamp room! Very nice.


And then we went to her LSS, The Stamping Place & Scrapbook Station, for a Mardi Gras-themed crop night! The ladies at this store were so much fun! They went all out with Mardi Gras decorations, masks, food - what fun! Here's the party cart complete with a delicious punch and king's cake!


Me in my mask.


The entire crop crew.


I spent the evening coloring a Birthday Princess from MFT.


Actually, I colored a whole bunch of Birthday Princesses! I'll share the finished cards tomorrow. :-)


I had so much fun hanging out and stamping on Saturday night, I stayed for the Sunday afternoon crop as well before heading back to reality, aka Atlanta. Huge thanks to Donna for being such a sweet host, it was great to meet you IRL!

Texas Tuesday - missing my bluebonnets!

Last night my friend Christina, who lives in Austin, sent me an email that said, simply: "Bluebonnets!!!! That's all. First of the season." Sigh. I miss Christina, and I miss my bluebonnets! This is my first spring away from Texas after living there for 16 years. Christina understands how joyous it always is to see the first sweet little blue blooms popping up along the road. Back in the day we'd text (page, actually - wayyy back in the day!) whenever one of us spotted the first bluebonnet of the year. Her email last night made me smile big time, even if it also made me a little sad to be missing her and to be missing Texas in the spring.

All I can do this year is share a bluebonnet card.


I adore this Jam'n Frame with Bluebonnet stamp that Joyce Meyer drew for Texana Designs. I stamped it on the polka dot cardstock, and then stamped again & paper pieced the flower and leaves with textured cardstock.

I was going to add last year's photo of the kids in the bluebonnets to this post but I just realized we never took one. During our very last spring in Texas. We were probably too busy geting the house ready to sell. I think I may cry now.

• Stamps: Jam'n Frame with Bluebonnet, Everythin' is comin' up Bluebonnets from Texas Designs
• Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Recollections cardstock (kraft)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Other: Marvy punches, American Crafts twine

I *heart* Catered Crop Recipe Swap!

Hi crafty friends! A couple weeks have gone by since my last post (!) so that means once again it's time to pop in and post a card for Linda's Recipe Swap challenge! This week we are playing with hearts! I *heart* hearts!!


I also *heart* the ADORABLE Pure Innocence images from Heather Ellis! Heather is generously sponsoring this week's Recipe Swap. I chose one of my very favorite images to play with - Pure Innocence 019. So very sweet!! The doily is from a pack of Wilton doilies - I colored it pink with a Copic. And the heart buttons were at Joann's, I gave them a little sparkle with Stickles.


I just love Stickles, don't you? I know Ryan does. Hee hee!


Check out this GORGEOUS inspiration board Linda put together for this week's challenge. All you need to do to play along is include hearts somewhere on your design. Linda's Pinterest board is sooooo pretty, too! So much inspiration!


I played along with Jen's February SFYTT for the layout. I'm 2/2 so far this year, woohoo!


Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Pure Innocence 019 digi from Heather Ellis, Flopsey Bunch of Hearts (message) from MFT
• Paper: SU pink, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Other: Wilton doily, circle punch, Favorite Finding wood button (Joann's), Martha Stewart twine, Corner Chomper, Diamond Stickles