It is so good to be stamping again. For those who do not know, early on Tuesday morning, March 3, Nashville and Mt. Juliet (as well as several other places in Tennessee) were hit with an F3 tornado. It was 1:00 am and I was in a deep sleep when my husband started screaming for me (and our son) to run to the basement. We had no earthly idea why, but we jumped out of our beds in total darkness and ran downstairs. I grabbed my cell phone to light the way and it didn't take long before I realized what was happening. Thankfully, our home was spared, but our neighbors just a few houses away were not so fortunate. Had the tornado shifted just about 100 yards or been a little wider, it would have been a much different story for us.
Many houses in our subdivision were damaged and hundreds of area homes, businesses, and schools were destroyed. As bad as it was, it could have been so much worse. Typically, there is a much greater loss of life when a tornado strikes in the middle of the night while everyone is asleep. In fact, that was exactly what happened in Putnam County later on that night when the same storm produced an F4 tornado. It was absolutely tragic. Ironically, for our community, it was a blessing that the children were home instead of at school. Yes, there was some loss of life, but if you could see the schools that were destroyed, you would understand what I mean.
Our family gives thanks to God that we only had minor roof and tree damage. We were without power for around 48 hours so we lost our refrigerated food, and we were without internet for about 72 hours. That was a minor inconvenience compared to what so many others experienced. Our community was so blessed to have the aid of so many wonderful relief organizations that responded quickly to the situation. We personally were blessed to receive assistance from Eight Days of Hope. They came in with a chainsaw crew and helped remove the uprooted trees from our yard and our neighbor's yard. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude.
After a few weeks of frustration, it finally seemed like life was just beginning to return to "normal". But now the entire world has been turned upside down by the COVID-19 virus. I am a very social person, so all of this social distancing has been a challenge. Thankfully, I am able to work from home for the foreseeable future and I am grateful to still have a job. I really needed to do something to de-stress, so I decided to make a card for our color challenge this week at the Global Design Project project blog. This is such a soft and beautiful color combination and perfect now that it is officially spring.
For my card, I started with a top-folding Whisper White card base and layered on a strip of Parisian Blossoms Specialty DSP #151192 (Pool Party) and then die cut a rectangle of Best Dressed DSP #151319 (Petal Pink). Next, I stamped the flowers from the SAB Happy Birthday to You Stamp Set (#152308) on Whisper White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and die cut the flowers with the coordinating dies. I also used the foliage dies from the same set to cut some additional accents. I love that we have all of the colors in this challenge available as Stampin' Blends, so I colored all the images and foliage with the blends so they completely match.
The Happy Birthday greeting is also from the same stamp set, but I literally cut it into two pieces and then used a stamp positioner for the exact placement of the words. The bird is from a retired die set called Birds & Blooms Thinlits. If you don't already have that die set, there is a similar bird die in the Stained Glass die collection. I also added some retired Petal Pink chevron ribbon for the bow accent. I typically don't use retired products on my blog cards, but I was in the zone and just grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on. I also added some champagne rhinestone basic jewels to the flowers.
Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this great color challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.
We would love to have you play along with us this week.
I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR
If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.
Have a blessed day!
