Snowed In For 3 Days

Seriously, we do not know how to deal with snow in the Tidewater area of Virginia. We have snow rarely and usually not much more than an inch or two so the cities don't have the resources to handle things effectively like Northern cities do. We have had two snowstorms with only a few days between. First one gave us about 4" here in Norfolk. This last one something between 6-12". We went from 60 degrees early last Tuesday and hours later temps had dropped over 30 degrees. For about 12 hours it snowed, some mixed with sleet. Not big fluffy flakes but lots of little stuff, most of it overnight. And most everything came to a standstill. I'd done a normal grocery run while out Tuesday so no worries there. To our surprise, my husband's transit company called to say he wouldn't be working on Wednesday. Nice but we expected he'd go back Thursday. Wrong. When the city cleared the major roads, all the snow from the street was dumped along the curb, blocking off bus shelters and making it impossible for the buses to run. (Yes, he drives a bus.) Service was cancelled for Wednesday, Thursday, and today. Rain is expected with warmer temps so maybe there will be service again on the weekend but he doesn't work then anyway. So he got an unexpected vacation. We've just been hibernating but today managed to get one car out around 9am and traveled up the road to have a big breakfast. Still lots of snow in residential areas making it hard for folks to get to the main roads and interstate. Once out of the neighborhoods, you can travel. So, what have I been doing? Nothing much - lots of napping, reading Donna Tartt's book A Secret History, and working on a collab to benefit Digi Style designs which has been doing some major updating to store. We're doing a Mardi Gras theme. Don't know exact release date yet. I went on a creative binge once I got past the colors. We were given a pretty large color swatch but I stuck to the 4 colors that were most like the traditional Mardi Gras color scheme. Here's a sneak peak at what I made: First from Wonderland Scraps, a set of 12 full size papers and 3 frames. Personal use.

And from Sher Scraps a bunch of CU4CU products, ranging from bead overlays to elements - lots of party elements. I mistakenly did separate previews for each package and now am supposed to smush them all together somehow. Not easy so I'll just sneak preview them here as a bunched set.

And here is a feathered pin freebie for you:

My entry in Wilma4Ever Altered art Challenge for January

Easy challenge this month - make an ATC (artist trading card) using 50% items from Wilma 4 Ever designers. I used the Fibromyalgia Awareness kit by April The Scrapaholic. It's a simple card but my way of saying I'm grateful my fibro has been mild so far this month, and also a chance to send people to the National Firbomyalgia Research association site for education about what is a fairly invisible illness.

Bundle Up freebie extra

Quick note as I wait for my Dad to appear. (He visits every Sunday.) I found this little guy in my Victorian scrap stash and think he would go well with Bundle Up so, if you want him, he's yours. Not even going to package up with preview TOU etc. He's copyright free so use as you like.

Have a great weekend - what's left of it lol. Tomorrow is what we here in Virginia call Lee_King_Jackson Day and is a holiday for many people to celebrate these 3 important figures.

A Little Romance Tagger Kit

Haven't done a tagger kit in ages but had some items I thought might work together, so here goes.

There are 12 tagger size backgrounds (800 x 800 pixels) and 32 tagger elements in Valentine/romance theme. All are saved at 300 dpi in case you want to print something. (Okay, it's also my habit to save at 300 dpi because I usually do full size kits and artist trading cards which I may want to print to include in lunches, letters, etc. I found that if tagger stuff is "standard" tagger size but saved at 300 dpi, you can stretch the backgrounds a bit to make the 2.5 inches x 3.5 inch ATC size.) Here's an example of a tag I made for myself with the kit.

I'm not a great tag maker and seldom use them since I don't use the mail program that supports tags. Still, it's fun to play around with. Here's a basic Valentine's tag that you may snag if you wish.

Doing the crazy weather thing here in Tidewater - was about 60 yesterday, colder today and dropping more overnight. And the weather people are talking possibility of snow again. My sinuses are going crazy! Saw my rheumatologist yesterday. After discussing the severe pain I had following our vacation trip in September and my PCP's diagnosis of degenerating discs in lower back plus arthritis, she checked a few things herself. She thinks I may have Piriformis Syndrome and is going to send me for physical therapy in hopes they can teach me some exercises that might help when the problem reoccurs. Otherwise, she said I'd done everything I reasonably could for myself. Just can't get motivated to do work that needs doing. Have gone through a couple novels my Dad brought me (Kay Scarpetta mysteries) and finished the 6th book of the Games Of Thrones series. I was hoping that would be the end of that and only reading it because I wanted to know what happened to a couple characters I'd found interesting. But no, it appears that the author is going to continue with this series forever! Oh well, that's probably it for me. Passed it along to my nieces who have the other 5. ***In one good piece of news, my niece and God-daughter, Rachel B, has been accepted to Old Dominion University! Congratulations Rachel! Love you and hope you will fulfill your dream of becoming a marine biologist.

Mid January Notes & Challenge Kit

Here it is mid month already and I'm still lagging behind in everything! Hope your holidays were wonderful. Ours was quiet and didn't feel like Christmas until my son and his girlfriend arrived the Friday after. They live in PA now so it's hard on them to make the rounds to see all the parents, other family, and friends. Long drive to VA and all around in the state: Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Charlottesville. They stayed overnight then headed back on the road. Thank heaven Berkeley did most of the driving because Jeremy had worked double shifts to get the time off. Next year, with Berkeley going back to college and reduced finances, they decided they would stay home at Christmas but will come for Thanksgiving. While I totally understand, it's not the same without my best Christmas present (Jeremy) here. Got my flu shot on 12/31 - delaying no longer because flu is epidemic here in VA. We went out for our traditional Chinese dinner on New Year's Eve but 1/1 found me with pain all along my spine and aches and chill. Mild flu? reaction to shot? or just my usual fibro mess triggered by crazy weather, stress, and having done too much? Rested up a few days and all better. Got all ingredients to make Tipsy Cake but didn't get a chance to make and serve because . . . Unfortunately, Miss June developed pneumonia. Docs at hospital sent her home with meds and follow up with her pulmonologist. Said she'd be better off staying indoors at home than in hospital. Pulmonologist put her on more meds and nebulizer and just yesterday she finally started to improve. Meanwhile, Dad got a sinus infection and thrush! So he's being treated too. I decided no resolutions for this year, just monthly goals - no more than 3. For this month, I choose these: 1) Improve housekeeping habits by developing a morning and evening routine that I can stick to so I don't let things go and get overwhelmed. 2) Work on financial record keeping. First, get tax info ready before hubby asks for it. Second, created a budget sheet to better keep track of how I'm doing with controlling expenses. 3) Get hair cut and permed. (It's about half way down my back now.) So far, so-so. I've got numerous projects in various states but my interest isn't there. So I decided I'd participate in Pixelscrapper's January challenge which is to create a mini kit with 6 papers and 12 elements. If I understood correctly, we got to choose our own theme and colors. Below you will find my mini kit called Bundle Up:

I'm not sure I'm doing this right, but I'm putting the links to download it here. http://www.4shared.com/zip/wnRx7sAUba/ws_BundleUp_1.html? http://www.4shared.com/zip/-_MBUnlBba/ws_BundleUp_2.html? http://www.4shared.com/zip/4vOa7DuEce/ws_BundleUp_3.html? Hope you enjoy Be sure to go to Pixelscrapper and check out the other kits.