Back On and Catching Up

 Hey there.

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers!

We survived the hurricane and I'm back online to do a catch up post.

I missed being able to post some DT makes, so first I'll start with the most recent.

Here is my DT make for Pattie's Creations Challenge #221 which starts now through September 4.  I used her Black-Eyed Susans digi, coloring them with Promarkers and accenting the seed heads with Nuvo Crystal Glaze.

I used this Splitcoaststampers sketch for my layout but changed it to a landscape orientation.
(I submitted my project late so it's not in the challenge post, but I've shared it here anyway.)

Next, my Guest Host Design for Sunday Post Card Art's current theme of Jellyfish, where you still have another day to enter. I have used Visible Image stamps on a Distress smooshed ink background.

And next, my Guest Design make for the current Dream Factory Challenge #130, which ends on August 14. 

I used this Splitcoaststampers sketch as a loose layout guide.

I arranged 2 old Polkadoodles cossack digis that I found in my files on my card front, coloring the whole scene with colored pencils and then accenting with gel pens on an ink-stenciled confetti background. I also added two balloon die cuts and a few die cut confetti bits. The sentiment was added by me in PSE before printing.

And here's my DT make for the current Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #19, which ends on August 12.

I created a Distress ink-stenciled background and added a palm tree die cut and some die cut stars and sea gull. My floral image is an Alex Syberia digi called Tropical Bouquet and I fussy cut it to pop it up with dimensionals. It and the tree were colored with Promarkers and accented with gel pens.

  
I took inspiration in the tropical blooms and leaves of the mood board and used a Splitcoaststampers sketch for my layout design, stretching it to a 6x6 size.

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Now, for a personal update:

Honey and I came through the hurricane okay, just losing our old backyard fence on one side. (The other side got taken out by the Durecho storm in May and its replacement weathered Beryl well.)

But we lost power, internet, cable TV and cellphone for the first week, then spotty coverage at best the second week. Luckily we had the natural gas generator for electricity, but not being able to connect with the outside world for so long was not fun and anxiety-inducing. We talked quite a bit about the current state of our old house, the local infrastructure and local city government. 

And by the end of that first week we'd made plans to move a couple hundred miles inland close to our daughter and son-in-law, hopefully by year's end. Beryl made us throw in the towel, as in last straw. Our city has not been run well for a few years now and our area's infrastructure is frankly falling apart. We miss our kids and want to see them more.

We've made a few day trips to explore housing and tomorrow we leave for a few towns closer to the kids. 

So enough for this post and to be continued tomorrow...