Blizzards, hurricanes and tornadoes...

Once again, I had the pleasure of being a guest on Give Your Photos Stories. We were talking about big storms. Being the Sexy Action News Team Weather Girl in our house, I loved this topic!

For those of you want to know where in the world I experience all this weather fun, here's a handy, dandy map:

That part that juts out into the water is called the Delmarva Peninsula because it's comprised of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. (cleverest name ever... no) Technically, there's water on all sides, so it's kinda island like. When there's a big storm, if you don't leave you're stuck because the bridges and tunnel close.

My photo was about Snowpocalypse (remember Feb '10?). We just weren't used to snow, so my poor husband is out in a blizzard with no gloves, no hat and no scarf. We hadn't seen snow in ages, so there wasn't a need for these accouterments. My hubby had just measured the snow at 15 inches, which he promptly rounded up to 2 feet. I couldn't let him be wrong. We spent an entire week arguing the point while we were snowed in.

different photo- our porch, steps and car... 

I haven't scrapped the photo yet, but plan to soon. Being on the podcast brought out the larger story of just being ill equipped to deal with such a large snow, as a community and as a family. My husband is now super serious about shoveling when it snows. He doesn't want to repeat the experience.

There was a lot of discussion of hurricanes. Every year since moving to the coast, we've had a significant tropical storm or hurricane. I have so many of these stories, but the most notable one is probably Sandy. I scrapped this storm shortly after it happened.


































The eastern portion of Delmarva was lucky, despite the photos here, there wasn't too much damage. The Chesapeake side and the central portion of the peninsula had terrible flooding. People actually were trapped in storm shelters.

We evacuated for Irene. After the earthquake I was shaken- literally and emotionally. (thanks to having a house on sandy soil, the shaking was pretty strong here and I found it disconcerting) I wasn't hanging out. We decided to take a mini vacation to my parents instead. (which prompted my dad dub his house a "refugee camp") The crazy part was they had a wind storm the day of the hurricane and coming back we had to deal with parts of our route being flooded. Again, Delaware was lucky.

Other than some fierce thunderstorms and derechos, we've been lucky this year. Even the recent blizzard that slammed the East Coast avoided us (we only had 3 inches of snow). Knock on wood we are done for awhile. I like weather and all, but I don't like it when my house sounds like it will fall apart.

♥ Carrie

MOC, flies and therapy

Have you heard Debbie Hodge's new podcast? It's pretty awesome and rather ingenious. It's called Give Your Photos Stories. I was lucky enough to be a guest last week with Katrina Kennedy and Ronnie Crowley. We talked about bugs and critters... and I laughed until I cried. I talked about flies at the beach and a little why I don't mind putting my thoughts about autism on a page. Stay tuned because I may turn up on another episode.

Today was challenge number 27 and I can hardly believe it's almost over. Today was a color challenge, which I love.




I really like the way this turned out. I think I've used all the ombre papers in the September Storyteller Collection. I know they aren't trendy anymore, but I still adore the ombre.

Yesterday's challenge was to take a bad photo and use it on a page. I do this regularly, so it was a snap. I don't scrapbook because I'm a stellar photographer, I do it because I want to record why it was significant to pick up the camera and take that photo.



I used a summer kit to create a page about snow. (James really hates that the snow has ruined his walks) Not the best composition, but I was determined to used that key. Even if it isn't a perfect fit for the page, it does balance the weight of the viewfinders.



This was for the Photoless Challenge. I normally don't use the doodle-ish elements, but this kit was in my stash and my house was messy. I obviously did not feel like cleaning. I put it all on an orderly grid by color and called it a day. Also, I didn't clean until today. ha!

I think the challenge I put the most work into was the Scrap Therapy challenge.



I took it to heart, unleashing all my thoughts on the page. The hubby has been having a particularly hard time lately.  I let it all out and felt a ton better afterwards. The word art may seem contrary here and that's exactly how I meant it. This is a contrary thing we're experiencing... and these issues and feelings that are repetitive. The screws are literal. *snicker* I tend to be very intentional with what I put on a page.

Until we meet again...

♥ Carrie

Month Of Challenges nearing finish line

When I started the the Month of Challenges over at the The Lilypad, I told myself that if it was too time consuming or too stressful I would stop. The moment it became a task instead of a fun exercise, I'd quit. Well, I'm still hanging in there. It's day 21!

I've learned a few new techniques and a few things about myself during this challenge so far. The biggest benefit to the past 21 days is that I'm making pages faster than I ever have. (which still seems slow compared to more prolific scrapbookers... ha!) 

I've also put a lot of stories down on pages that wouldn't have made it otherwise. For instance, this was a quick page (they still exist apparently) challenge. You had "pimp" it with your own style.  This page is about these (grumpy) guys being wrong and me being right. It happens a lot around here:

A benefit to these challenges is stash shopping. I hadn't ever used this kit before, but the colors work great with my selfie (trying to take more photos of me this year). The challenge was to use at least 3 flowers. Yech. I hate flowers, but embraced them anyway:

There was also a Year In Review challenge. I used a photo collage maker on the web called Photovisi. I didn't really edit the photos since they were so small and because I didn't want to take the time. It's review page after all. This is one I'll print 12 x 12 to put in with my other 2013 Months in Review:



This page was created for the challenge where you had to scrap new photos, something I do often. My kiddo's new pair of glasses. I called the page specs because glasses is a long word and because that E is reminded me of an eye chart. I probably need to snap a picture of his old glasses that were held together by duct tape. I can't begin to tell you how many pairs of glasses he's had in the past 5 years, but the eye wear shop closest to us stocks a lot my of my son's frames.



I have no clue what I'll do when this month is over! I've grown accustomed to the daily pages. There needs to be some sort of MOC rehab for those who've hung in there.

Now off to wait for the snow!! Stay warm, everyone!!

♥ Carrie

P.S. Have you heard the new podcast over at Get It Scrapped?

Is this thing on?

Hello Interwebz! It's been awhile. I hope everyone survived the holidays unscathed, assimilating into a new year nicely. Santa brought hubby the flu Christmas Eve, which isn't a huge deal for most, but when you've got to worry about inflammation killing you it's a scary virus. He survived the illness and my nursing and so did our marriage (he's a horrid patient).

We didn't even make cookies for Santa, or we made them too early never getting another chance to make more.



January first started the Month of Challenges at The (dash) Lilypad, which I made a goal of finishing because I'm insane.  I've learned some new techniques, re-affirmed my liking of how I accomplish certain techniques and discovered that I'm better at using a template as a sketch than a template (by eyeballing it). You can see all my pages HERE.

All three kitties survived the holidays, I'm glad to report. One of them began un-decorating the tree Jan. 1st. I'd call him naughty, but he actually expedited the process.

Speaking of kitties, Jackson Galaxy of My Cat From Hell fame shared photos of both Butters and Thor on his Facebook page.

I would like to thank everyone who sent me snow! Or at least wished for me to have some because it worked. We were forecast to get an inch or so, but we had a little over four inches and it stayed for a couple of days.



Of course, I had the windows open several times in the past week and once had to turn on the a/c it was so hot. Oh well.

My word of the year is "believe". I used to be better at this and the Universe has been placing this word in front of me a lot, so I'm listening. I created this simple page to honor it.




I am working on pulling off some big changes this year, which for now will remain a secret. I'm going to believe that with lots of elbow grease and determination, everything will work out.

♥ Carrie