Rainbows Bring Cheer!!

Well hello and a very happy Monday to you all!  Wow what a week it was last week and I gotta say I’m glad to see it over with, LOL.  First the earthquake and then Hurricane Irene swept thru—boy the East Coast knows how to throw a party huh?!  We did go on our mini-vacation on Thursday thru Saturday to Baltimore and I must say we had a great time.  The weather was beautiful and we got to do a lot of our favorite things starting off with the Redskins vs. Ravens football game---we are HUGE football fans!  Everyone in the family loves the Redskins BUT Alexa (she’s a Ravens fan) so the game was interesting---we were cheering for the ‘Skins and she was rooting for Ravens.  And boy was it a close game, ‘Skins were winning until the LAST 45 seconds—CAN U BELIEVE IT, ugh LOL and Ravens got the ball and scored a touchdown.  But it was fun and we had a great group of people sitting around us—a mixture of fans from both sides.  I love that Ravens & Redskins fans can get along well, none of this obnoxious bully kinda business. I’m all for fun and competition but when you are afraid to go to a game because of the fans—that’s a big waste of my time (ahem….you know which teams I’m talkin’ about if you follow football lol).  ALTHOUGH I AM A HUGE FAN of whooting & hollering amongst the enemy much to my hubby’s chagrin—I love to antagonize in a NICE way hee hee—just can’t help myself!  Then on Friday we went to the Maryland Zoo—we hadn’t been there with the kids since they were 10 and 8 years old so that was fun.  We got to feed the giraffes and see some chimpanzees up close and personal (see slideshow below).  Then that evening we hit the Inner Harbor to eat at Phillips (a must eat stop if you ever go) outside to enjoy the nice weather and harbor view.  Then it was off to see the Orioles play the Yankees at Camden Yards (yes we love baseball too)—I HATE THE YANKEES (sorry but I do LOL) so I was sooooo thrilled to see the Orioles beat their pants off hee hee.  Excellent game and there were a TON of Yankees fans there too—didn’t y’all know a hurricane was coming, LOL!

Then on Saturday morning we did a quick trip to the National Aquarium—if you have never been it is a MUST SEE—one of the best in the country and always fun.  We of course had to see the dolphin show as Alexa is wanting to major in Marine Biology in college and hopes to be in the internship at the Aquarium next summer.  And in case you are asking yourself—YES THE HURRICANE WAS COMING ON SATURDAY but the Dean’s like to tempt fate and have a little fun every now and then KWIM. And we were NOT the only crazies—there were lots of us around and about LOL!  I must say that driving into the heart of the hurricane to my parents house (in St. Mary’s County, MD where they got hit HARD) to get doggies was not so much fun, lots of standing water, falling trees/branches and heavy winds.  But we got home ok and battened down the hatches.  We were lucky here in Virginia where I live, just rain and wind and a few branches in the yard thankfully.  My parents and brother’s house are without power and they both had some yard/fence damage unfortunately. But the worst is that my sister’s house had a tree fall on it and it has been condemned so I feel really badly for her & my niece. While things can be replaced people cannot, I know this was a huge blow to her and I’m praying for her and everyone else that got severe property/personal damage due to the hurricane.  While it may have been “less” of the storm they predicted, it still affected a lot of people and I’m saying a prayer for them all.  And looky-loo another storm on the horizon—so hoping it stays out to sea or just blows away, crazy weather!

Slideshow Pics (if you get my blog by subscription you must come to site to see):




NewsBitz:

-Make sure to hop over to the SCACD Store Blog here to see sneak peeks of new stamps, and some awesome blog candy!!



-If you are a member of the BookEndz Group at the CMC Classroom, our Book Wrap Up Party will be Thursday, Sept. 1st at 8:15 pm EST!  There will be a fun chat to discuss the book, our views and YEP PRIZES!!  Everyone is welcome to join in on the fun and I will also announce the NEW book for October!! Hope to see you there!
 
-If you have been waiting for my CMC Copic class info for the Chicago area, it is NOW up at www.cmcroad.com – first day is almost sold out with a few spots left, but 2nd day has just opened.  Would love to see you!  For the California dates, they should be up next week just have to confirm!! thanks!

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Rainbow Cheer!!

So with everything that went on last week I think I was wanting a few rainbows in my life LOL!  This card was made for the current Gina K StampTV Challenge I am hosting called “Free For All Friday” that you can join in on HERE.  It’s a Sketch & Color Twist (get it---sketchy & twisty, hee hee) Challenge—the color twist is to use colors of the rainbow!  I hope this card makes everyone smile today no matter where they are or what situation they are dealing with

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

-Creations by Gill M (anything that flies)

-Ellephantastic Challenges (layers)

-ECP Challenges (photo inspiration--I choose colors)

-Show & Tell (Crafting Misfit--anything goes)

I used the new and fabulous StampTV set called “Vintage Chic” (omg there is a ton of wonderful images & sentiments in this set).  I LOVE, LOVE this sentiment that says “Why are you trying to fit in when you were born to STAND OUT!”—it is one of my personal mottoes and did I say how much I LOVE IT LOL!  The papers are all by My Minds Eye from their Lime Twist collections.  The aqua cs was embossed with one of my fave CB embossing folders “D’vine Swirls” to replicate the wind and clouds.  The fun border trim was made with a MS Border Punch and then I added Stickles to the white stripes of the patterned paper for more sparkle.  A bow made with the Bow Easy and some rhinestones finish it off.



I double stamped the kite and then cut out one of them and popped it with dimensionals.  I used multiple SU stamp pads to roll my stamp image and sentiment in for a rainbow-colored pattern. And yep the kite got a good coat of Stickles (in my fave Stardust).  I used my Inkssentials Blending tool along with SU ink to create a cloudy, blue sky.

So hope this made you all smile today and I will see you again this week with some more fun projects!  Praying for everyone that suffered any kind of loss or damage due to the Hurricane!