Sunday, February 28, 2010

Valentine's Day cards...

Hello Stamp friends!

I'm sorry it's been so long. With my boys being home two weeks due to the back-to-back blizzards, I didn't have much time to create. I had to send out my Valentine cards late:(

I'm pretty happy with the way these cards turned out. I love the Scallop Border punch and it looks so elegant when used with the matching corner punch. I used Gretchen Barron's tutorial for the beautiful Scallop border frames. You can see her tutorial here: http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/tutorial----scallop-trim-border-and-corner-punch----cutting-squares-and-rectangles/. Thank you, Grethcen!


I think I prefer the red one, (red is my favorite color:) but I love Chocolate Chip & Pretty In Pink together and I really like the new Epoxy brads!

I will be back tomorrow with some Easter projects I have to share:) Have a wonderful evening!

Julie

Monday, February 8, 2010

Snowed in...

Good morning!

I live about 20 miles south of Washington, DC.  The kids were home from school last Wednesday from a snow storm that left about 8 inches of snow in our area. We had been hearing forecasts for almost a week that said to expect a larger storm that had the potential to give us another 1-2 feet of snow! They predicted it would start sometime Friday afternoon and that it would most likely be worse than the December 19th snowstorm that we missed while on vacation.  They said that it would be the storm of the century and referred to it as Armageddon. We just kind of shook our heads and laughed.

My husband stopped at the store on his way home from work on Thursday night. (I had a baby shower to attend at my former employer on Friday at noon and had planned to bring a dish.) He was going to pick up the ingredients along with some bread and milk and called from the store. It took him forever to find a parking space and that the shelves were empty. He said "You wouldn't believe how ridiculous people are acting! They think the world is coming to an end!" It was close to 2 hours before he got home.

Friday morning I got up early and made the dish for the shower. I sat down at the computer to pay a couple bills and that's when I got an e-mail that said they were moving the shower up an hour, due to the weather we were expecting. Five minutes later, my phone rang. It was the school saying that my oldest son had gotten sick in the classroom. I had to pick him up from school. At this point, I was still planning to at least drop off the food for the shower, since it's only a 30-minute drive, but it started to snow when I was on the way back home from the school. My mom, who works for the company, told me not to come and that there was plenty of food. I really didn't want to miss the shower, but I decided it was probably best to stay home.

As the afternoon went on, the snow got heavier and they were expecting the worst from 10pm through the early hours of Saturday morning. They said we could get 1-3 inches an hour along with winds up to 30 mph. My husband went out every hour until about 11pm just trying to keep on top of it. He finally fell asleep before midnight. When I woke up, I looked out the window and just couldn't believe my eyes. There was at least a foot of snow on the porch and 12 more hours of snow yet to come! My husband called our neighbor across the street. They were outside with their Bob Cat clearing driveways. The wife answered the phone and my husband said "Can someone come rescue me?" Karen said "What do you mean?" He said "I can't get out my freakin' door!" They came over and shoveled in front of the door and he was finally able to get out.

This has just been a mess, but we are still so blessed. We didn't lose power during the storm, which is usually the first thing that happens when we get a normal thunderstorm. We are still a little concerned about the amount of snow on our roof. Most of the weight is on the bottom of the slope, (my hubby knocked down what he could reach. We are praying for the temperatures to rise above freezing, so it will melt off. Other concerns we have are we are running low on propane, which we cook and heat with. We have a tiny Chinese Dwarf hamster and we worry that he won't make it if it gets too cold. Here's a picture of our little Snuffy. I think I'm more attached to him than the kids are:)

 
I called our propane company on Friday morning and they said that there was a ticket out, which means they are on the way, but we worry about how they would even get to the tanks when they get here. To make things worse, I just heard on the news that we are expecting another 5-10 inches of snow tomorrow afternoon. I love snow, but Mother Nature is out of control! LOL!

When I heard about the snow, I thought I could actually get some things done on the computer. It's been a challenge with the kids home. I've been playing the referee all weekend. I've been trying to get the last set of cards posted from my Open House a couple weeks ago. I had extra supplies and started putting them together the following week. I finished everything except the folder I made to hold the set of cards. I had hoped to decorate it for the Open House, but ran out of time. I finally did it yesterday morning. I love the Daisies #2 die. It has to be one of my favorites. I'm not sure if you can tell, but this flower has a lot of dimension to it. I just put my thumb nail down and pulled the edge of the flower up. It was so easy and is very effective. This little holder is perfect for two cards and two envelopes. Here is picture of the whole set:


We found out last night that school would be closed today. My husband left for work around 7am this morning and witnessed two SUV's spin out in front of him. Thank God he made it back home safely.

Here are some pictures of my children playing in "The Aftermath". Enjoy!

 

The last photo is a mini flag in my front yard. As soon as I can get to it, I'M TAKING IT DOWN! LOL!!!

 I hope you have a wonderful day!

Julie