2022 Fall Vacation - Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg

This year we ended up being able to book Pigeon Forge during leaf season. I enjoy traveling during the fall so we can see the leaves change. We live in Florida and the leaves do not change here. It was so beautiful and I feel a pull to the mountains every time we travel up there.

Day 1 - Traveling up to Tennessee you could start to see the leaves change as we got towards the middle of Georgia. It was a full day of traveling. We stopped and stayed the night at my sister’s house.

Day 2 - We hung out with my sister most of the day and met my Niece and her family for lunch. After lunch we packed up and headed towards Pigeon Forge. I wanted to be sure to make it up there before dark because I wanted to see the mountainous terrain. As we were driving through a little town there was a drive up A&W Restaurant. I had never been to one of these old fashion drive ups. We each got a root beer float in a nice collectable mug. We made it up to the resort and checked in. After checking in we always go to the grocery store to get breakfast food and some snacks.

Day 3 - This was mostly a shopping day. We hit up the outlets. Then we had lunch at The Apple Farmhouse Grill and checked out The Apple Barn. This area was really neat to check out and walk through the little shop. We then went down to The Island of Pigeon Forge, which was a little shopping area with a few rides. This was Halloween night and they had a bunch of kids dressed up trick or treating at all the shops. It was so great seeing all the kids dressed up.

Day 4 - We drove down to Gatlinburg. This is a strip of a ton of shops and eateries. We walked around and checked everything out. We stopped and got donuts from the Donut Friar. Then for lunch we found this cute little Celtic Pub. The guys running the place were so great. We got a spice bag which had fries, fried chicken pieces, and peppers & onions. It was served with this beer cheese that was just amazing. By far the best meal we had the whole time we were there.

Day 5 - The fiancé wanted to get up early and drive the Cades Cove Loop in hopes to see a bear. We saw lots of deer and beautiful scenery. There were a couple of old churches and buildings through out the loop. They also had little pull offs so you could get out and take pictures. The halfway point has restrooms and a little souvenir shop. The fiancé was a little disappointed we didn’t see a bear up to this point. Well after we got back on the loop and down just a bit there was a huge black bear right off the road. They had park rangers there to make sure nobody got to close to the bear. It was really cool to see a wild bear that close up, we were probably about 30 ft from the bear. We headed back on the loop and ended up seeing a couple more smaller bears off in a bit of a distance. One was just chilling on its back.

On the way back to Pigeon Forge we stopped at this little river stream. It was so pretty!

We also stopped off at Goats on the Roof and fed some goats. We didn’t ride the mountain coaster because at this point we were pretty hungry.

We ended up going to the old 50’s style diner. The food was pretty good here and the setup was really cool. I wanted to do the Gem Mining so we went and did one bucket. I got the treasure hunter bucket, which had some fossils and sharks teeth, along with the gemstones. This was such a long day, we went back to the room and relaxed pretty early.

Day 6 - We took our time getting up and getting ready. Anytime there is any museum that has to do with crime or police, the fiancé wants to check it out. There was a museum called Alcatraz East. It had a lot of exhibits on different crimes throughout history, a whole area about forensics, and a few cars that were involved in crimes. This museum was very informational. After the museum we headed to Downtown Flavortown which is Guy Fieri’s restaurant. The food was really good and the restaurant was huge with an arcade and bowling alley. I took a picture of this little robot that helps with bussing the tables. The fiancé wanted to go back to one of the shops that was near the Gem Mining, so I went and mined another bucket and got so many neat gems. We called it a bit of an early night so we could go back and start packing and getting things together for the ride home the next day.

Day 7 - We drove through the mountains heading home and I got some really pretty shots.

We had such a wonderful time and loved the area!

I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my Newsletter Here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Your Top Picks of 2021

I thought it would be fun to show off the top 5 items you purchased and the top 5 favorited items from this year in my shop. You all amaze me and I so appreciate all the love this year. I have so many ideas for products for 2022 and I can’t wait to share them with you all.

The Top 5 Most Favorited Picks

5. Mystic Ghost Ouija Planchette - Enamel Pin

4. Pog Mo Thoin - Sticker - This is a waterproof vinyl sticker. If you don’t know this means “Kiss My Ass” in Gaelic.

3. Full Moon - Enamel Pin

2. Lucky Witch - Enamel Pin - This was the first enamel pin that I designed.

1. Moon Phase - Washi Tape - this washi tape has silver foil accents and shows the phases of the moon with pretty little faces in them.

The Top 5 Most Purchased Picks

5. Irish Skull - Sticker - This is a waterproof vinyl sticker.

4. Irish Skull - Button Pin

3. Slainte - Sticker - This is a waterproof vinyl sticker. This is translated as “health” in Gaelic. People use this as a toast when drinking at the pub.

2. Pog Mo Thoin - Sticker - This is a waterproof vinyl sticker. If you don’t know this means “Kiss My Ass” in Gaelic.

1. Do Magical Shit - 4-Color Pen - this is a Papermate Joy pen, the colors are Lime Green, Sky Blue, Magenta, and Purple.

I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my Newsletter Here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

2021 Fall Vacation - Orlando & Seattle

This was another year that we were hoping to go to Ireland! We decided again to wait because of certain covid restrictions getting there and back, along with the additional cost that were associated with all of it. Instead we decided to spend a couple days in Orlando and then fly off to Seattle, Washington. I was always curious about Seattle because I was big in to the grunge scene when I was a teenager. When the fiancé suggested it, I was excited. He had also wanted to see the Star Wars section at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and this was the only Disney Park I had not been too. We picked the dates and planned everything out.

Sunday, November 7th we drove up to Orlando and checked in to the resort. We were both getting a bit hungry so we headed to Disney Springs because we wanted to eat at Raglan Road (well since we couldn’t go to Ireland). There was a 2-hour wait, but they said we could order from the little bar around back called The Hole in the Wall. We ordered a couple of drinks first while we looked over the menu. I got a Bailey’s shake and it was so good! As far as food goes we decided to share an appetizer since it was getting a bit late. We got the Pull the Boxty which is a thick potato cake with ham hock and caramelized onions on it. It was yummy! Then before we headed back to the room we stopped at Everglazed donuts and picked up a half dozen donuts for breakfasts.

Monday, November 8th we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The Star Wars section was great! It was neat to see all the space crafts, droids, and storm troopers throughout the area. We rode two of the rides, which both were simulation rides. Normally they mess with my motion sickness but I actually did alright on them. We had lunch at a little place called Docking Bay 7. We had high hopes for this place because the fiancé saw something about it on a show he watched. The food wasn’t as good as we expected, we got ribs and it was full of cartilage pieces. The Moof juice was pretty yummy though. I noticed the Coke’s came in a round bottle kind of shaped like a bomb, so naturally I wanted one. The little red robot in the picture below was the attendants assistant. The guy said he usually talks but he had been quiet most the day. We walked around the rest of the park but nothing else really caught our attention as much. We were exhausted and left around 5pm.

Tuesday, November 9th we ended up going shopping at one of the outlet malls by the resort. For lunch we wanted to go to this place called The Whiskey, that we have been to before, but they were closed for a maintenance issue. We ended up going to Mellow Mushroom and had pizzas instead. We took it easy the rest of the day to pack and prepare for our early flight to Seattle the next day. I didn’t take any pictures from this day.

Wednesday, November 10th we had to get up super early to get to the airport and park the car. I sat by the window and felt like a kid because I love looking out the window to see the scenery. The first picture from the plane I just loved the clouds, the second was part of the Rocky Mountains and then the third was us landing into Seattle. If you look closely in that third picture you can see the Space Needle. In the air we gained 3 hours because of the time difference so we had plenty of time to do some exploring. We checked into the hotel and headed down to Pike’s Place Market. This is where they sell all the flowers and frozen fish. We were both hungry so we first stopped at a place called Beecher’s Cheese Market. They make the cheese fresh everyday. I didn’t get any pictures of this at this time. I got a small thing of mac and cheese and it was so good! I was so hungry that I didn’t even think to take a picture of it. We walked around and ended up at the Gum Wall. I wasn’t going to search this out but we ended up there so I took some pictures. It is a whole alley where people stick gum to the wall. I just couldn’t do it! Then we found we were still a bit hungry and ended up at Pasta Casalinga. I got the Wild Boar Ragu with the Burrata on top (see picture below). This was so good, the pasta was fresh and the wild boar added another level of flavor. We noticed it gets darker a little earlier in Seattle then we are used to at home. We were both exhausted and went back to the hotel to relax. I passed out almost as soon as we got back.

Thursday, November 11th we decided to go back down to the Pike’s Place Market and get Starbucks from the very first location. We had to wait in line a bit to get inside. I wouldn’t say that there was anything different about the coffee but it was neat to see where it all started. I am a big Starbuck fan. We also went to the pastry shop next door called Piroshky Piroshky. I got a chocolate hazelnut pastry. We walked around to look for a place to sit. While we were walking by Beecher’s they were making cheese so I took a quick photo. We found a place to sit and enjoyed our coffee’s and pastries. We then walked down to find Pike Street Press. I have a love of letterpress and this was such a great shop. They took custom orders but also had a bunch of cards and stationery for sale. Since it was a bit rainy we decided to go to the Museum of Pop. This museum was right next to the Space Needle. It was an interesting place to walk around and learn about different pop culture moments. First we stopped into one of the sound rooms and they were playing the old Nirvana Unplugged that played on MTV back when I was a teen. They had a whole section on Hip Hop, Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. There was also sections about Fantasy, Horror and Video Games. While in the Pearl Jam section they had a poster from the Lollapalooza I ended up attending. Seeing all the artwork from the records and t-shirts really brought back memories. After the museum it was time for dinner, we went to a place called Serious Pie. It was a brick oven pizza place and the pizzas were a more artisan style. After we ate we walked around a bit an ended up at the Amazon Go store. This store is so neat, you pull up the Amazon App, and click in-store code, this allows you access to get in the store. Then you just pick up what you want and walk out, there are not any attendants or cashiers. Then whatever you picked up shows up as a charge on your Amazon account. It was really weird. Then we walked by the Amazon Spheres. Apparently, from what I heard about these is they were built for the Amazon employees as a place to lounge and get away from their desks for a bit. We also found the Amazon 4-star store, everything in this store is rated 4-stars or more. After this we called it a night and ended up back at the hotel, where again I pretty much passed right out.

Friday, November 12th we went to the Starbuck Reserve Roastery. We each got a croissant sandwich and I got the cold brew trio and he got the Whiskey Barrel Aged Cold Brew. The Whiskey Barrel Aged Roast was so good, this was not an alcoholic drink but you could definitely taste the whiskey in it. This place does small batch specialty roasting. It smelled so good in there. One of the things I was super excited to see was the Fremont Troll. He was super cool and bigger than I was expecting. He is actually holding a Volkswagen Beetle in his one hand. This was an art project for the city. We then walked down to a little brewery and had a flight of beers. I loved seeing all the colors on the trees, we don’t get to see this in Florida. Then the fiancé wanted to go check out Kurt Cobain’s old home. I was a little hesitant because I didn’t want to disturb the people that lived there now. He mentioned there was a little park next door to the house so the family is used to people coming by. So we drove out there, it was down a long windy road. When we got there it was a neat little neighborhood. There was a small little park with a couple of benches right next to the house. Of Course the house was all gated up and you couldn’t really see in with all the trees and bushes around it. I did feel a bit melancholy just being there. On the benches were a lot of graffiti and little trinkets left for Kurt. I left a little piece of moonstone that I had in my purse and he left a coke bottle cap that we had gotten earlier in the trip. If I had known about the Rainier beer ahead of time I would have gotten a couple of those and drank it for him. It ended up being a memorable experience and I am glad we went. For dinner, I had found a place that served traditional Chinese dumplings called Dough Zone Dumpling House. We got a few different things and shared them, we got the Green Onion Pancake, the pork soup dumplings, and pan fried chicken wonton with a spicy sauce. They were so delicious. This was down by the convention center so we walked around and found the Cheesecake factory, we got drinks and cheesecake to end the night.

Saturday, November 13th is our last day in town. I found a place called Biscuit Bitch that I wanted to try. We ended up waiting just about an hour to get our food but I think it was worth it. Look how big those balls of dough are for the biscuits. We both got biscuits and gravy, except I got mine with hot links and jalapeños. We then drove down near the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners stadiums. We found a little place to park and we ate our breakfast there. We saved the Seattle Needle for last. I was hoping we would get a clearer day before we went up in it, but it did rain the whole time we were there. It was really cool up there. The clouds peaked a bit above and we were able to see Mount Rainier. When you first go up you actually end up on the 2nd floor of the top. This is where the cafe is and where you can walk around outside. When you go down the stairs to the 1st floor, it has a glass floor and actually moves. We stayed up there for quite a bit. I had missed the statue of Chris Cornell when we went to the Museum of Pop earlier so we stopped by so I could get a picture. We went back to the hotel and started packing and organizing some of our stuff for the flight home. We then went down by the water and walked around. It was rainy and getting colder! We wanted to try a Seattle Hot Dog but the stand we went to was out of ingredients to make it, so we just got a plain hot dog. We found a Harley store and the fiancé was able to add to his poker chip collection. There was also a store called the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. This was a really neat store with all kinds of oddities and souvenirs. We then called it a night and went back to the hotel to get some good sleep before the long trip home.

Sunday, November 14 we got up super early for the airport. The whole time in Seattle I never adjusted to the time difference. I was up at 4am (7am Florida time) and I was in bed asleep by 8pm (11pm Florida time) every day. Another difference in Seattle from Florida is they are more strict with the Covid precautions. You had to wear a mask regardless if you had the vaccine. You also had to show your vaccine card to go into most of the public indoor spaces, including dining and museums. We don’t have that here in Florida! I really didn’t mind having to show that information. I felt a bit more comfortable eating, knowing that everybody that was there had the vaccine. It was definitely a long trip home. The plane took off in the morning just after sunrise and we landed in Florida just at sunset. We then had to make the 2-hour car trip south to go home. Overall it was a great trip, there were definitely some things we didn’t get to see on this trip. Some of it was because it was raining and some because we just ran out of time. I think I would go back.

I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my Newsletter Here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Summer Vacation 2021

I had been wanting to get up to Tennessee to meet the Grand Niece and Nephew since they were born. I finally got to take a week off this Summer and go up and spend time with them and my sister. When I got up there Saturday evening both the babies were there to greet me. They are both so adorable. I also got to meet my dog-niece Stormie, my sister’s new puppy.

Sunday I woke up with a headache, which seems to happen almost every time I go up there. I am guessing it has to do with the elevation difference. We hung out around the house and watched tv and my niece came over and made us dinner.

Monday we had a sister day and went into Chattanooga and did some shopping. We ate lunch at Nic and Norman’s which just opened recently as a second location there in Choo Choo Chattanooga. If you didn’t know, this place is created and owned by Norman Reedus and Greg Nicotero from The Walking Dead. The food was so amazing. After lunch we went over to Gate 11 Distillery to get some Gin. I had tried this Gin before and bought a little bottle of it, so I wanted to pick up a big bottle. We did a tasting but I didn’t get a picture before we finished them. My sister wanted to go to this neat plant nursery and ended up buying a few plants. I got a small Lemon Grass plant and a Fiddle Leaf Fig. We headed home and relaxed the rest of the night. I played a little bit of Animal Crossing and I was able to catch the last bug to fill out my critterpedia.

I had been wanting to go to the Georgia Aquarium for a long time. They have whale sharks there and I wanted to see them up close. So Tuesday we headed into Atlanta and went to the Aquarium. I was so amazed by this aquarium. The way it is setup is so different and how it is all in a 2 story building. The other thing that was different is the animals were all so active. Normally you go to an aquarium and the animals are hiding and hard to find most of the time. These animals were moving around and seemed so busy. They also had quite a few creatures that you don’t see in other aquariums like the japanese spider crab, garden eels, and piranhas. The most exciting was seeing the whale sharks. They are just so huge!

After the aquarium we went to one of the malls in downtown Atlanta and did some shopping and ate lunch. My sister had never been to the Cheesecake Factory before. The food was good, but the cheesecake is where it is at!!

Wednesday we stayed at my sister’s house and the kids brought over the babies. So we got to spend the day with them and I did a little photo shoot with them. I got some really good photos of the babies. I would share them but my niece has asked not to share pictures of her baby online and I will respect that! That evening when the kids left, my sister and I went and had dinner at Chicken Salad Chick and did a little shopping at HomeGoods and TJ Maxx.

On my drive up to Tennessee I noticed a sign for a Sunflower Festival. We decided to drive down to Calhoun, Georgia and check this farm out. It was so pretty and had a bunch of activities to do. We picked some Sunflowers, watched the pig races, and checked out the other animals.

Friday was my last day, and I spent the day with my sister and we had a nice relaxing day. My sister has a friend that owns a Salt Therapy business. We went and sat in the salt cave for thirty minutes, it was so relaxing. After that we headed back to Chattanooga to check out the area some more. We found this little coffee shop called Mean Mug and got Coffee and pastries. We then went to Chattanooga Whiskey and tasted some of their experimental batches. There is a little tea shop next to here and I had been wanting to check it out. It was so interesting, it was almost like a little witchy tea shop. We went back to Gate 11 Distillery because the fiancé wanted me to get him a bottle of their absinthe. We decided to stay for a drink. We then headed to the Chattanooga Mall and had lunch at Red Robin. Then did a little shopping. It was such a good day.

I had such a great time with my sister and being able to see the babies. I miss them all so much! Saturday morning I got up early and headed back home to Florida.

I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my Newsletter Here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

2020 Art Adventures

This past year was so hard on everybody. I sincerely have hope for a better 2021. I thought I would share the art I accomplished this year. I wish I would have finished more pieces than I did, but I am really proud of what I was able to get done. Another goal that I have had for a couple of years was to open my Etsy store and refocus it into a stationery store. With this I was able to draw and design stickers, greeting cards, and my very first enamel pin and put them all up in the Etsy Store.

I had the idea for these gemstone designs for quite awhile now. I had been working on them for over a year and I was able to finally finish them up. I decided to design a gemstone for each of the monthly birthstones. I completed these drawings in Procreate on my iPad. I then took them and created greeting cards and stickers from them.

The majority of the drawings I completed this past year was on my iPad using Procreate.

I really enjoy drawing pumpkins so I created these pumpkins all showing various emotions. I then created a halloween card and sticker sheet with this design.

I also took a few designs that sold pretty well up on Redbubble and had my own stickers made. Some of these are still up on Redbubble also.

I have been wanting to create an enamel pin and was able to bring that to life this year. My two favorite holidays are Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day, so I combined these into one design. I am really happy with this design. I do hope to create more of these in the coming year. I have a couple ideas I am working out now.

I created and designed these witch icon sticker sheets in Procreate on my iPad. These are vinyl stickers, they are waterproof, and you can stick them pretty much anywhere. I have also designed paper sticker sheets with the icons a little smaller to go in planners and bullet journals.

I took the pumpkins and the witch icons and made patterns out of them. I uploaded them to Redbubble to be sold on house wears and other items as a print on demand. I became a great aunt this year and purchased those designs on blankets for the babies. These blankets are so soft.

I participated in an October monthly drawing challenge to complete one drawing each day of the month. Here again I used Procreate on my iPad to get more practice drawing digitally. This is a round up of the top nine designs from Instagram. I did make these into paper sticker sheets that can be used in journals.

I created a little zine out of all the drawings. This is available in the Etsy store.

For the winter holidays I created some greeting cards. I also took some of my old designs from the cards I send out for my personal cards and put them up for sale in the Etsy shop. Here are a couple of the new designs from 2020.

Here is the new drawing and design that I made into a Holiday card and sent out to my clients and family. This one will go up in the shop as we get closer to the holidays this year.

I would love it if you had a chance to check out my little Etsy Shop. To keep up with new updates and upcoming sales join my newsletter here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and if you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some creative randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.