Surviving Hurricane Matthew

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What an exciting few days. Living on the East coast of Florida put us right in the path of Hurricane Matthew. My daughter-in-law, Becky, and my grandkids, Sofia, who is 13, and Anderson, who is 9, had planned a trip down here from KY since it was Fall break up there. Her niece was flying in from California and her sister was flying in from Michigan and they had plans on staying in Cocoa Beach, going to the Halloween party at Disney World and then to Universal. Matthew really changed up those plans. Cocoa Beach, along with all of the barrier islands, was evacuated so the beachside condo was out. Since the hurricane was scheduled to hit Thursday night the Halloween party at DIsney wasn't going to happen either. And her sister was flying in on Thursday so that didn't happen. They did manage to go to Magic Kingdom on Wednesday and because of the hurricane coming the park was not crowded at all. They were with me Thursday night during the hurricane and then Friday they went to Orlando and got a hotel room so they could get to Universal early this morning (Saturday) before they flew home this evening. What an adventure.

I have lived here almost 50 years and this hurricane had me a bit worried. I have plywood for the windows. My son, Jason, came over on Thursday morning to help put them up. I don't have plywood for the windows on my sun porch so I wasn't in total darkness. Once the plywood goes up it gets very dark in those rooms that are covered.

Hur shuttersSee the hole in the middle of the plywood on the right? It's the kitchen window and the hole is for looking out into the front yard to see what is happenig. 

Hur ceilingEarly into the heavy rains I realized the ceiling in my spare bedroom closet was cracked and water was dripping in the closet where my most treasured Christmas decorations and some stamping supplies are stored. We quickly moved everything out of there and into my stamp room which was a good thing because a little later the ceiling came crasing down.

Hur ceiling2

Hur. Stamp room collageMy stamp room overloaded with the stuff from the other closet. What a big mess!

Hur partyOur Hurricane dinner. We had not lost power . . . yet! 

Hur fenceI watched my backyard fence blow down. sad

Hur cardsWe still had power but lots of wind and rain so there was card playing, games, reading and even yoga to pass the time away.

We did lose power at 5 AM Friday morning. And as of now, Saturday night I still don't have it back. It's so interesting that carrying a lantern into a dark room you still automatically reach for the light switch. Having no electricity means you have no air conditioning in addition to no lights. And by now food in the refrigerator is going to have to be thrown away.

Hur rainAfter the strong winds moved on we went outside to check out the neighborhood. It was still windy and raining and quite exciting.

Hur treesLater in the day we went for a drive. Some of the hardest hit areas were actually just around the corner from my house. We saw so many downed trees and power lines.

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So for the second night I am staying with a friend who has gotten their power back. I am really hoping mine comes back by tomorrow. My son and daughter don't have power back yet either. And my daughter is getting married Monday morning at 7 AM in an outside wedding.  Very thankful that the hurricane has moved on and we will have a nice day for the wedding.

Today was spent cleaning up debris, fallen branches, putting the house back in order and even doing some stamping. It's been a long, hot day and I'm ready to call it a day.

Thanks for stopping by and goodnight all,

BethDanielsSignature

 

 

Fall Samplers

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I just had my classes for the Fall samplers (also know as collage). Remember the ones we did with the fish? The idea is to make several for different holidays or time of year and rotate them in your frame. It was a little more difficult to do this Fall project because finding stamps with this this theme was not all that easy. I had to bring out some of the retired stamps.

8x8 Fall

The 8" x 8" sampler has squares that are 2" x 2".

12x12 FallThis 12" x 12" sampler has squares that are 3" x 3".

The class included every person receiving half a package of the Petals and Paisley Designer Series Paper, 1 sheet of Copper Foil paper and 1 sheet of Pumpkin Glimmer paper. The piece of paper used for the background was perfect for lining up the squares.

Hurricane Matthew is heading our way. There are mandatory evacuations beginning tomorrow for the barrier islands which are just 20 miles from us. I have heard there is no more bottled water or plywood available, many gas stations are out of gas, schools are closed Thursday and Friday, and many people are boarding up their windows. I have lived here almost 50 years and have been through several hurricanes. The worst I have experienced is 5 days without electricity and a few fallen branches. I am hoping this storm takes a turn and we only get hit with a little wind and rain. My daughter-in-law and grandkids just flew in from KY this afternoon for Fall break and her niece and sister are flying in tomorrow. Their plans were to stay on the beach and go to Disney and Universal. sad Matthew is really putting a damper on their vacation.

Thanks for stopping,

BethDanielsSignature

Clearance Rack – New Items Added – Up to 60% Off!

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There are many new items added to the Stampin' Up Clearance Rack. Some are as low as $2.00. These items are available while supply lasts. Some of my favorites are the Spider Web Doilies, Red Foil Paper, 1" Square Punch, Envelope Paper, Pool Party Glitter Ribbon, and Corrugated Paper. 

Ordering: Please use Hostess Code K9N36GJ3 if your order is less than $150. 

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Thanks for stopping by

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Vintage Leaves

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It's still very hot and humid here in Florida and so it seems a bit early to think of Fall, the crisp cool weather and brightly colored leaves that go with it. But it is almost here and time to be making those seasonal cards. I took out my old favorite, Vintage Leaves stamp set, to make this card and chose non-traditional colors pulled from the Warmth and Cheer Designer Series Paper Stack.

Navy Vintage Leaves

This was such a quick and easy card to make. The leaves are stamped with Night of Navy ink on Delighful Dijon card stock and then cut out with the coordinating framelit dies. I embossed the navy card stock with the new Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (page 13 in the Holiday Catalog). This new "Dynamic" style embossing folder creates very deep embossing. The folder itself is bigger (6" x 6") and thicker than our other folders. Because of this you use just one plate with the multipurpose platform instead of two.

Navy & Dijon Vintage Leaves

I added a Copper foil leaf to the group of stamped leaves for contrast and repeated that with the punched out mat behind the sentiment (done with retired punches).

I wanted this card to be masculine appropriate and needed something to tie those leaves together. A regular bow didn't do it but I had some of the new Dijon ribbon which was perfect for creating this embellishment. The ribbon comes in a 3 pack assortment of Delightful Dijon, RIch Razzleberry, and Mint Macaron. So here is how I made the embellishment which I believe looks a bit like a gathering of straw or hay:

  • Cut 3" ribbon and cut off one side of the binded edge. Save this to tie threads together.
  • Pull out all of the threads and place in a stack.
  • Tie the threads together with the edge you cut off.
  • Trim ends if it's too long.

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Have a great day!

BethDanielsSignature

September CD Calendar

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We are a few days into September and want to share the CD calendar page before the month is gone.

Sept. CD Calendar

This bookworm is so stinkin' cute. I am working on next years CD Calendar designs. It's a popular class for sure. The class is schduled for Sunday, November 13th at 1 PM or on Monday, November 14th at 9 AM. The class fee is $15 for one calendar and $6 for each additional calendar. You will make pages for all 12 months which will fit into a CD case which comes with the class. If you would like to come RSVP soon. Class size is limited. Prepayment is required. If unable to attend you will be given the supplies.

An update on my catepilars. They are all gone now and I have found one chrysalis hanging from the eaves of my roof. I still have plenty of milkweed plant so I am hoping it will attact some new butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by,

BethDanielsSignature

Gingerbread House

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Prepping for a Christmas card for this weeks classes . . . A lot of cutting.

Gingerbread Card Prep

When I saw the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper in the new Holiday Catalog I fell in love with it, especially the cute gingerbread houses. I knew I would be fussy cutting them out for a Christmas card. I love every single sheet of paper in this package and love the colors too.

Gingerbread House

The card base is Early Espresso with a Real Red mat. There is only a 1/8" difference in sizes of the card base and the red mat and the white card stock so it's a little difficult to see in the photo. I cut out the gingerbread houses, some gingerbread men and a star.  I used the Christmas Pines stamp set for this card. There is some embossing using the new copper embossing powder and I added the new copper metallic thread to the card behind the gingerbread house. The little strip of Early Espresso polka dot paper is from the Neutrals DSP paper stack.

Here's a look at the inside of the card:

Gingerbread House inside

 

 

I hope you are excited over the Holiday Catalog as I am. If you don't have one and would like a copy let me know. And if you would like to attend one of my classes I'd love to have you join us.
FYI: It's just 16 weeks 'til Christmas!
Thanks for stopping,

 

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New Catalog & a New Sale Start September 1st

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Just one more day for the Holiday Catalog to go live and if that isn't exciting enough there is a new sale that starts tomorrow too.

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For the next three weeks Stampin' Up! is offering special itmes on sale 25% off. Each week there will be new items on sale. Here is what is on sale this week from Thursday, Sept. 1st through Sept. 7th. Remember, one week only. Love the enamel shapes and especially the metallic enamel shapes. They add so much to your card and go through the mail with no problems. I'm stocking up!

25 off

When Stampin' Up introduced the limited-time Thoughtful Branches Bundle on August 1, they said it would be available through August 31 or while supplies last. Well, happy day—there is still inventory available! They will continue to make the Thoughtful Branches Bundle available while they have supplies. According to them "once our inventory is depleted, this exclusive bundle will no longer be available, nor will it be offered in future publications." I had hoped it would come back in a future catalog but it seems that it will not so if you love it and didn't get it yet there is still time but hurry.  There is no way to know when the supply runs out.  I love this set. It is so versatile. Who would imagine the hydrangea flower as a pumpkin! Check out some of the different ways to use this set on Pinterest. Here are a couple of my projects using this set:

HydrangaI CASED this card from Dawn Olchefski with just a few changes I made. I thought it was so different and clever the way she curved the bottom white piece of card stock. Just use a round plate or bowl to make a template.  Here is the inside:

Hydranga inside

Now what really pushed me to buy this set was seeing that the hydrangea flower could easily be made into lilacs which are my very favorite flower. It's what I miss the most living in Florida.

Lilac gift bagThis gift bag was such fun to make. Just stamp and cut the hydrangea flower into three pieces and layer to create a lilac. I used the little clothespins to attach the tag and learned a handy tip from my upline and friend Catherine Harwood. Put a glue dot on the inside of the clothespin and attatch the tag. When you remove the clothespin to get into the bag the tag doesn't fall off.

 

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beautiful branches thinlits

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's a lot of info for one day. If you're in Florida you are probably being hit with a lot of rain. So pull out some stamps and make some cards!

Thanks for stopping by.

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Star of Light

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Just one more day and you can order from the Holiday Catalog. It is full of wonderful new stamp sets and products. Here is a peek at one of the Christmas stamp sets called Star of Light.

Star of Light 2

The swirl of stars, the sentiment, and the image on the silver foil star are from this stamp set. There is a coordinating framelit to this set however I did not use it this time. I chose to die cut a silver foil star as my focal point. The swirl of stars, the sentiment and the image on the foil star are heat embossed with silver embossing powder. I added strands of the metallic silver thread to the back of the star using glue dots and then popped it up with a dimensional. There are also some small stars stamped on the card front with Night of Navy ink.

Here is the inside:

Star of Light 2 Inside

 

 

In March I bought one milkweed plant hoping to attrach butterflies. A friend bought three plants at the same time. She had numerous butterflies which laid their eggs, turned into chrysalis and she watched the new butterflies emerge. I had a few butterflies flying around my plant but never saw a caterpillar. I was very disappointed. Then a few days ago this happened:
CatepilersI was so excited when I saw them. There are 5 on the one tiny plant. It's amazing to watch them eat the leaves and even the stems. I worried that I would not have enough for 5 of them so I went out this morning and bought 3 more plants. I know a lot of kids experience this when they are young, in school I suppose, but it is the first time I have ever seen it. Watching a miracle happen right in my front yard. Makes me happy.
Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day,
BethDanielsSignature2

Thoughtful Branches – Limited Time

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thoughtful branches.jpg

Stampin' Up just released a gorgeous new stamp set and die-cut bundle called Thoughtful Branches! It's a beautiful 23-piece all-occasion set featuring nature images along with some really nice sentiments. These are exclusive for August and available only while supplies last, so you won't find them in any catalog! I have seen so many beautiful cards made already with this set.

thgoughtful branches stamps

beautiful branches thinlits

Remember to use your Bonus Day Coupon Codes this month. If you purchased product last month for $50 or more you received an email from Stampin' Up with a code for $5 off your order placed in August.

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Seaside Shore Collage Class

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I saw a collage recently using the Seaside Shore stamp set and immediately thought of doing a class every few months doing a different themed collage. The idea is that you would purchase a frame and rotate the collages depending on the time of year. I will provide the designs and materials to create the collage on a piece of cardstock.  You will have a choice of doing a 12" x 12" collage or an 8" x 8" collage.

fish collage, both

I have framed the smaller collage but have not bought the frame yet for the larger 12" x 12" collage. Because most of these square frames are either white, black, or a wood tone I am going to design the projects to work with one of those options. Of course you can purchase any frame you choose to coordinate with your finished collage. Using a 40% or 50% off coupon from one of the craft stores to get your frame makes this a very affordable project.

fish collage on rug

I put this on my furry rug to take the photo. Doesn't it look like is on top of some seaweed!

fish collage 8x8

The class size will be limited so you need to RSVP right away to reserve your spot. You also need to let me know if you want to do the 8" x 8" or the 12" x 12" size. There is a lot of Wink of Stella glitter on this project so the price will include your own Wink of Stella pen which you will take home with you and will have for future collages. I already have plans for a Fall and a Winter/Christmas collage. Next year I will continue with a Spring collage and maybe a Valentine themed collage.

This Seaside Shore collage class will be Thursday, August 18th at 6 PM or on Friday, August 19th at 1 PM. The class fee is $12. Subsequent collage classes will be less since you will already have the Wink of Stella pen. You don't want to miss out on this. To sign up for this class send me an email at bethdaniels@cfl.rr.com

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