Ice Storm!

Well, my area got hit really hard by an ice storm the past few days. I mean REALLY hard. Mostly all of my county and the neighboring one lost power. There are trees down everywhere and power lines across the roads. Now that it's starting to melt there are flooded roads all over. It's quite a mess.

Thursday night we lost power at my house. And no power means no heat! So I spent the night laying in bed worrying about whether my kids were warm enough, and listening to branches and tree snapping right outside my windows and hoping none of them hit the house.

By the time we woke up in the morning around 6 the house was down to a brisk 50 degrees. The County had been declared in a state of emergency. And things were not looking good in terms of power coming back any time soon. I took the dog out for a walk and surveyed some of the damage. Of course you know I had to take the camera right?

This first shot is the tree right outside my window that I had to hear snapping and cracking all night. Check out the huge branch that is speared straight into the ground!



At one point I heard a huge crack and a crash outside my daughters windows. I ran over to check things out but it was too dark to see. She was safe and that's what mattered at that point. In the morning I found the source...

This the view from the side with the window I tried to look out that night.


This is a closeup from the other side. My landlord usually has his truck parked here but something told him to get up and move it in the middle of the night. Good thing, huh? Too bad he couldn't have moved that fence too.



And I'm glad it didn't fall to the left or my cute "reindeer" car would have been all squished. It's hard to tell here but there is about a full inch of ice on this car! It took forever to chisel it all off.


And this one hit my landlords porch but thankfully didn't do any damage thanks to the big bush taking most of the weight.


Too bad the tree didn't fare as well. This was a gorgeous tree too. :(


Strangely, in all that destruction there was so much beauty.



And this is my favorite. This is that gorgeous tree that we now have to cut down ...


We ended up packing up some stuff and braving the roads to get to my parents house. They didn't have power, but thanks to a propane heater they at least had heat. One of the first places that power was restored was the local shopping area so that people could at least get food and anything they needed so I headed there for coffee and to pick up some food that we could eat without needing to cook it.

It was a long day packed in a house with 6 bored people and no working toilets. We did have a battery powered radio for updates and some Christmas music at least. I got a call around 6 pm that my house had power back! I can't tell you how relieved I was! However, as of the time I am writing this (almost 11 am the next morning) my parents and many others still have no power. So if it keeps up the tables may turn and I may be packing a bunch of people into my rather small apartment. Oh well, we do what we have to, right?

I think I'm done!

You know...it took WAY longer than I would have thought to redo the whole blog from scratch but I think it was worth it! What do you think?

I used my collab kit with Madame Wing called Azure Whispers.

Pardon my mess...

Sorry about the messy blog. I'm in the process of making a new skin and have run into some glitches. It'll be prettied up soon :D

Improvements....

Do you know what I love about scrapping and designing? The fact that I am always learning new things and improving. I hesitate to rescrap a photo I have already done before but sometimes you just have to. I did this LO back a while ago.



It's alright but nothing great. When I saw Franziska's gorgeous Grace kit I decided maybe it was time to redo this photo since it is a favorite of mine. I also did some work on the photo itself. Thanks to Lynda.com I am learning a TON about retouching my photos. I would like to show you the improvements.

First, the original photo as my mother took it.

And then the improvements I made .... the leaves actually have color again!

And with a little help from a great kit... the new and improved LO...

Full Credits

You can get this beautiful kit at SBG.

Sunny Sunday

Alright, I'm back. Sorry to have neglected my blog but it's been a little hectic. I've been dealing with some emotional stuff on top of just being very busy in RL and the scrap world. But I wanted to pop in quick and let you know about Sunny Sunday and tell you that my kit Get in Gear is on sale for only $2 but today only.

Every Sunday SUN has a sale where everything in the Sunny Sunday section of the store is $2 or less...this week it includes my kit:



And btw...PDPlum is having a pretty great sale too!


Check out these 2 kits from PDPlum that you can pick up during this awesome sale...

The first is Ashlea Brooke, gorgeous huh? And if you pick this one up be sure to participate in the November QP Olympics since it's the featured kit.

And the second one is just plain awesome too....


And did you notice that second preview was a bit different? That's right...new packaging to match the brand new look of SUN!

You want what? ANOTHER freebie?

Alright...you got it! I have the honor of being one of the girls to get my hands on the gorgeous collab Bubblicious by mgl Scraps and Ellie Lash. You can find this kit starting today at Scrapbook Graphics. Because Ellie Lash is one of the newest designers at SBG! And to show you how gorgeous this kit is several of Monica and Ellies CT members got together and made QPs for you. After you download mine just head on over to visit Debbie's blog "Musings of a Scattered Scrapper" and grab the next beautiful QP!

Wanna see the kit first?


Here is my QP (image is clickable), I hope you like it :) I left you plenty of room for a title too.


And here is what it looks like with a photo...

Enter If You Dare....Mwahahaha.....

It's freebie time again!!! And Sunshine Studio Scraps designers have teamed up with several of Scrap Orchards designers to create a fun and safe Trick or Treat neighborhood for you. And unlike that other trick or treating you can stay nice and toasty in your own home :)

So step right up and knock on my door. And when you are done please visit my neighbor Allie at Lliella Designs blog and see what kind of candy she has for you! Just don't forget...the designers are from all over the world and if a link isn't up then it will be soon. These links will be up for a long time so don't worry about missing out on any of the goodies we have planned for you :)

Door graphic created using Midnight Pumpkin by Julie. Itis. at PDW!

Oh, and one last thing before you go. I just heard about a FANTASTIC sale coming up and I just HAD to tell you about it. I'm sure that if you had visited my blog before then you realize how I love the designs by Monica at mgl Scraps. Well, check this out!!

DSD Sale at SUN!

You knew the awesome designers at SUN would never let DSD pass without a sale right? But did you know it would be this good?

I was digging through the secret files....

So I was bored and decided to go rummaging around the files at SUN tonight. Guess what I found! Now, I'll show you ... but you can't go telling anyone about it OK? Alright, alright...I guess you can tell all those awesome designers you know all about it!!!

Amazing, isn't it?

Are you the type of scrapper who's layouts all seem to look the same? I'm amazed sometimes at how different each page I do can be. I did 4 LO's this week (I know...I'm shocked too!) and I was uploading them and thinking about how they all have such a different feel.

Credits

Credits

Credits

Credits

Making good use of some sick time!

Wow have I been sick this week. I truly thought I had pneumonia at one point. I was wrong thankfully but I sure was miserable. Thanks to my great doctor I am feeling much better (though still not good) now that I got an inhaler and some other prescriptions.

Anyway, my point is that I didn't have any energy to do anything around the house and I couldn't concentrate enough to design at all. So I tried to do a few layouts and I actually managed a few cute ones. So I figured I may as well show them off.

The first was using a kit that I got in a grab bag a while back and loved but never had the right picture for...until now :)

Template by Sya's Blueprints
Kit from Sweet Digi Scraps Grab Bag - Flowers a Go-Go
Alpha is from mglScraps Somewhere Else

The next was for the current "Scrappers Choice" Challenge at SUN.

Bountiful kit by Sherri Tierney
Bountiful Alpha
Bountiful Solids
Beaded Alpha and string from Britt-ish Designs Grab Bag
Date Slider is from Ellie Lash Barely Slidin By

And this one was just because this is cute is just WAY too cute not to scrap with!!!

Everything from Studio Flergs Awesome new Fairytale kit!

Seriously! Check this out! Is this awesome or what? (And BTW...visit Flergs blog for the girl dragon as a freebie!)

I'm IT.

Julie, being the wonderful friend that she is ... tagged me. After all...I did say I wanted to make sure and post more regularly!


Husband Tag…..

1. Where did you meet? On the bus in middle school *LOL*

2. How long did you date before you got married? 7 years to the day.

3. How long have you been married? 8 years and a month

4. What does he do that surprises you? It's amazing that no matter how many times I say something he forgets it in a matter of seconds.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? His eyes.

6. Does he have an annoying habit? Many actually...but to name one...he's a tapper. He has to be tapping his fingers, or a pen, or his feet, or whatever he can get his hands on. It's enough to drive a person nuts. Oh, I JUST have to mention that he is also a slurper....I can not be in the same room with him if he is eating soup or cereal...or drinking iced coffee for that matter.

7. What is your favorite quality of his? His work ethic. That man will work his fingers to the bone to make ends meet for his family.

8. Does he have a nickname for you? Dani. Hon.

9. What is his favorite color? Navy Blue.

10. What is his favorite food? Magic Cookie Bars

11. What is his favorite sport? He's not a big sports guy. But he used to be on a stock car racing team and he does like baseball.

12. When and where was your first kiss? In my driveway.

13. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go to Disney World. WDW Rocks!

14. Do you have any children? Haven't you seen any of my LO's? I have 2 of the cutest kids you'll ever "meet".

15. Does he have a hidden talent? A hidden talent? Well, if he does...it's HIDDEN!

16. How old is he? Nearly 33

17. Who said "I love you" first? Him. And I told him I was too young for that and don't say it again *LOL* I was 15!

18. What is his favorite type of music? He likes all kinds of music. Usually remix dance club type stuff....you know, the stuff I hate *L*

19. What do you admire most about him? Didn't I basically already answer this one?

20. Do you think he will read this? Chances are slim to none.

I'm trying...

I'm trying to be a better blogger again. So far so good. Life was crazy but I think I'm back on track now. In fact, I made it to not one ... but TWO speed scraps yesterday! Yay, me! Two layouts in just a few hours. And one of them I love and the other I really like too :)

Here is the one I did at the SUN speed scrap hosted by none other than ME! *L*

Click for Credits

And this one I did at the ScrapMatters Speed Scrap hosted by my fellow Wonder Girl Jen.

Click for Credits

And with all the chaos I haven't even been telling you about all the cool things going on at SUN! Check out these awesome kits that were released.


And if you have never bought a SUN Collab then now is the time to start. These Collab kits are HUGE and always awesome. This months Collab is absolutely stunning!!! The preview, as gorgeous as it is, doesn't even come close to doing it justice! Click the preview to get a better look at this awesome kit...there are NINE detailed previews in the shop so you know what you are getting!

A new look and some SWW fun!

So do you like the new look of my blog? I've been playing around with it and made a bunch of changes that I am really quite pleased with :)

Enough of that...on to really important matters now...SWW IS BACK! Please come join us at SUN and check out all the great challenges we have going on! Here is a quick look at all the great things happening...

And I am personally hosting the Quote Challenge so I hope to see some great layouts again this month!

Sunshine Wonder Week Blog Train Kickoff!

It's that time again!!! Sunshine Wonder Week is here and as always there are tons of challenges and prizes! But first, we are doing a special Wonder Girl Blog Train to make up for not having Sunshine Wonder Week in August. A few pieces that we all made that will stand well on their own but compliment the Anchors Away kit perfectly! So click the preview image to find your download! And then visit the other Wonder Girls Blogs for the rest! Happy Scrapping and don't forget to come back and join us for all the fun that starts on Sunday!

Ale
Janel
Jen
Joanne
Laura
Mandi
Mari
Teri
Wendy

Pointless...and yet not.

OK..so I have so many more important things that I should blog about but I am going to pop in and plug the awesome book series I am in the middle of reading. Many of you have probably already at least heard about it. I am on book 3 of the Twilight series and I am just as hooked as everyone else! If you haven't read it yet then you should! And do it before November, because the series is so good they made a movie and it comes out November 12th! The trailer looks fantastic! It looks like they stayed so true to the book.

And I took one of those silly but fun quizes this morning too. And guess which twilight character I am?

Alice Cullen You are Alice Cullen. Your ability to foresee danger and misfortune doesn't diminish your bubbly optimism. You are a force to be reckoned with -- anybody with enough sense knows, you never bet against Alice.

Twilight Quiz by QuizRocket.com fun tests!
Fun Quizzes | Quizes | MySpace Quizzes
» » "Who Should I Vote For?" « «

A sneak peek at something special.

Did you think I disappeared? Sorry ::insert bashful face here:: August became one of the craziest months I think I've ever had. But almost all of it was great stuff that happened (I'm trying not to think about that ugly speeding ticket I'll be fighting in court)! I got a great new job and some of my work can be done right from home. You probably already know that I got a new puppy and that has taken some adjusting. My husband threw me a big surprise party for my 30th birthday and took the whole weekend off to spend some much needed time with the family. And all that is just the tip of the iceberg...it was a crazy and great month. But now I'm back and ready to roll.....and in a big way too!

I have just finished my first ever store-worthy kit!! YAY ME! So on Sunday you should find my collab with Boyerville Scraps in the Sunshine Studio Scraps shop!! I am SO excited!

Want to see what it looks like? Well, here is a hint:


And I just have to show you what my awesome fellow Wonder Girls just added to the shop. That's right...I said the Wonder Girls have added stuff to the shop!! Both items were created using the Jigsaw Peices SUN Collab.

There is a keyplate album from Wonder Girl Mandi

As well as a quickpage album from Wonder Girl Janel.