It's official - full blown BLIZZARD!!!

The interstate system has been shut down....the National Guard has been called out....a Civil Emergency has been declared.....the Govenor has declared a State of Emergency........bottom line......it's a big honkin', full blown, all out, snow storm!!! YIPPPEEEE!!! I lOvE sNoW!!! Bring it on!!! So, for your entertainment, a few pics of today's excitement.....

First up - a pic right after the storm - drifts up to our first floor windows....



Next up a before and after pic of one of the doors to our home...keep in mind the after pic does not include the full width of the steps - just enough to get by. We haven't had our street plowed all day and probably won't have it plowed before morning. With 20+ inches of snow in less than 12 hours, cross streets mean nothing!





Next up...dueling snow blowers...the neighbor and DH battling it out to see who tackles the five foot snow drift first...



Hubby plowing through in the other direction, even though the snow drifts are up above his 5' 7" frame....



And finally, a parting shot of DH's Dodge Durango stranded out on the street....such a sad sight!



But tonight ends on a good note - we were able to plow the truck and get it off the street, we have food in the house (I went shopping on Monday!), the power hasn't gone out yet (a lot of people are without power) and I have enough snow to last me for at least a week!

For everyone who is in this situation, or soon will be.....batten down the hatches and carry on!! It's how you handle life's challenges that create the person you need to be!!! SnOw On!!!

CPS 200

Well, I had a few minutes after dinner tonight to create, but no inspiration, so I head over to the Card Positioning Systems blog for a layout idea. I haven't made anything just for fun in so long, it was nice to have an opportunity! Here is the sketch for CPS 200:



And here is the card I made:








Very simple little card - nothing much to it, but it was quick and easy and got my mojo going a bit. And I just love the sparkle already built into the patterned paper!

Hope you have a great week, and thanks for stopping buy!

Supplies used:

Ink: SU! Sage Shadow, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum & Barely Banana
Paper: PTI Stampers Select White
Patterned Paper: DCWV Pocket full of Posies stack
Stamps: Basic Grey Delta Series
Miscellaneous: Pink Stickles

Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge!!

(Just wanted to add that if you click directly on a picture - it will enlarge and you can see some more detail.)

I'm FINALLY getting an opportunity to post something! Thank you for stopping by and please let me know what you think about my card that I made today for the Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge!! The Challenge today was to re-purpose or re-use holiday remnants from gifts that you may have received.

Because our family is so large and because on the other sides of our family, we have always drawn names to buy for one specific person, we wanted to do things a little differently for the gift exchange. If you want to participate in gift giving on Christmas Day afternoon on my Dad's side of the family, you buy a gift for your appropriate gender - if you are a man, you buy a man's gift; if you are a woman, you buy a woman's gift, within the pre-determined price point. The tag reads, "For a man from Joe" or "For a woman from Sue". Then, when it's time to open presents, you get a random gift from another man or woman. You don't get your own gift back. This gives you the option of participating if you want to or not with out any pressure!

We have a goofy 'tradition' in our family that started when I was really little. Once all the gifts have been distributed and opened, the fun really starts!! We take the left over wrapping paper and have a paper war! It's every person for themselves - no age, gender or race discrimination here - the wrapping paper FLIES!!!! Some people stock pile the paper thrown at them and let off a paper explosion, others throw it off as soon as they get more, and yet others swing at it like batting practice to keep it away from them! It is so funny and we all laugh so hard! So much fun! After about 10 minutes, everyone is done throwing and the clean up begins. A word of caution - make sure no open flames or breakable items are around before this happens - ask me how I know!!

Once again, I have diverted the real purpose of this post! I chose to use some of the wrapping paper thrown around to create an Iris fold thank you card!







It's colorful and bright without looking like a Christmas card, but if my recipients look carefully, they will see their wrapping paper in my thank you card!

Thanks for stopping by!!!


The details:
Stamps: PTI Green Thumb and Out on a Limb
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Fine Linen and Spring Rain, Miscellaneous Christmas wrapping
Ribbon: Michael's brand
Buttons: PTI

Just a bit about what's going on....

Not that you NEED to know, but it's important to me and my family and those that know me that read this blog....my one and only child is on his third deployment. He has served two tours in Irag - the first being 15 months, the second being 12 months with a 12 month lay over between the two. He is now on his third deployment, this time to Afghanistan for the first time. The first time he was deployed, me and my Mom did it together alone. The second time, we did it with his new wife, which we barely knew, but we did it and came out together with a stronger bond between the three of us. This time, all three of us are doing it together and are stronger than ever before as a united front of Women who care about a young man, only 23 years old.

Granted, this is what he has wanted to do since he was eight years old. His dream was ALWAYS to defend his Country no matter what. However - me....well, I'll be honest here, not so much. This is MY ONLY CHILD!! But I will support him and HIS dreams and goals NO MATTER WHAT! He is doing it with his whole heart behind it and with the love and support of EVERYONE in our family fully behind him.

So, to all of you that have been deployed or currently have someone deployed that you love....STAY STRONG!

Love ya! ~ Me!

PTI Princess Challenge: Huff on it!!

Hi everyone - back at you with another Papertrey Princess Challege! For this challenge, color on your stamps with markers and HUFF on them to remoisten them before you stamp on your paper!

I made a card and notebook for my DIL's birthday....



A close up of the notebook....



And a close up of the card where you can see I used the huffing technique on the flowers....



It's a simple technique, but one that I think changes the look of your stamped images and brings them into a whole other perspective! Thanks for stopping by!!

Ta Dah!!

Hi peeps!! Surprised to see a post from me?? Only jumping on for a bit to post a card or two for you. Short, sweet and to the point. No frills, no muss or fuss. First up is a graduation card for one of my SIL's daughters....



And the inside.........



Thanks for stopping by!!!

The Deets: All items by Papertrey Ink except were noted....
* Paper: Melon Berry, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream
* Stamps: Beyond Basic Borders, Star Prints
* Sentiment: SU! All Year Cheer
* Buttons: Vintage Cream/White Collection
* Thread: DMC floss # 353
* Punch: Martha Stewart Punch Around the Corner
* Ink: Hibiscus Burst and Melon Berry
* Miscellaneous: Nestabilities and Pop Dots