Febuary 2009 Update on Galveston Texas with Pictures!

EDITED TO ADD: The picture link below has been updated on 3-6-09, to show the Moody Garden area, the seawall, and beach repair.

Hi all,

In looking at the post hits, I saw that many visits were for the Update on Galveston Texas. Unfortunately my first post did not include the pictures that we took while we were visiting there at the first of February because they were deleted by that phantom person in our house! But, good news! A friend who lives in Galveston graciously took more pictures for us to post so you could see the ongoing rebuilding of Galveston.

Click on the link here: mhtml:%7B5B409185-9F95-4D2B-AD8C-F1F7B60C1FBD%7Dmid://00000015/!x-usc:http://www.flickr.com/photos/35827096@N07/ and you can see them. There are pictures of the 91st pier or what is left of it, and a truck that was washed up on the pier and stranded there, the Flagship hotel which is still has extensive damage, you can see straight through the bottom floor, and as of now there are not any repairs being done on it. The pictures of the Strand show the work being done and there has been even more progress since the first of the month. The carriage is back so that means that things are starting to try to get back to normal. Kings Candy was rebuilding as well as other stores, as fast as they are going it should be soon. The water line is shown in one of the photos,it is on the red stone building on the Strand.

Galveston State Park is shown and you can see the entrance is still closed but the sign saying it will be back after rebuilding! When we were down there the surge gutted park headquarters office was still standing, but in these pictures it has been demolished, so the clean-up is progressing.
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There are no pictures of the beach repair, but that was going along nicely with truckload after truckload of sand being piled up on the beaches along the seawall. And, even with the erosion there still was plenty of beach to use where they hadn't gotten to yet. Stewart Beach looked forlorn with many of the structures wiped off the beach but the main public building where the concession's/showers/and such is still there. I'm sure that by summer it will be filled with people enjoying the sun and water again!
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There are no pictures of Moody Gardens yet but there was work on Schlitterbahn and the area looks like it should be back up by summer or sooner. I will see if we can get more pictures in the coming weeks to show the progress in all these areas, so check back every so often to see how Galveston is progressing!
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EDITED TO ADD: If you would like to have more updates on Galveston, leave me a comment to let me know! I'll keep posting updates every so often if you want to see more!
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Until the next post,
Shalom,

Sonya
Comments are always welcome! Take a moment and leave me a note!

Blue Hydrangea

Here is another card using the hydrangea stamp that I love! it happens to be one of my favorite flowers and comes in some amazing colors, so you will see it again! The flower was stamped and embossed in gold then water colored in Tombow markers on watercolor paper. I had to try Jerri K's tutorial, which you can see on her blog here: http://jerrikay.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/01/31/water-color-tutorial/ , and didn't have any Me & Carrie Lou stamps yet, so I used the closest kind. It was my first attempt at her watercolor technique, I still need more practice to get it down. Though, I doubt that mine would ever compare to hers!
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The blues are really vibrant in the flower and the very blue card stock was the only one that made the hydrangea pop. I cut out around the image and then used my 24K pen to highlight the edge. Next, I layered this onto a piece of metallic paper with a small swirl design, it doesn't show up as pretty in the picture as it does IRL.
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Then I accented it with blue crystals and added a sentiment that is popped up with dimensionals, then a sheer gold bow was added to finish. I can't wait to get some Me & Carrie Lou stamps to practice on!

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Drop me a comment on how you like it! I am going to finish up a couple more of the take out boxes and post them. Thanks for visiting, have a great day!
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Until the next post,

Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are very welcome! Take a moment and leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

Quilled Jumbo Clip Bookmarks

Hi all! Just a short post to show more Jumbo Clip Bookmarks that I have made. These have quilled embellishments of flowers, fringe flowers, folded roses and a butterfly. Making these cute clips can be addictive! I found some of these jumbo clips in silver at WalMart in the office supply aisle, they are just a bit smaller, but not enough to matter. Have fun making these, if you do, post a comment with a link so I can see yours!

Until the next post,

Shalom,

Sonya

Comments are always welcome, Leave me a comment so I can see if the "comments" work!

2000th View Blog Candy Update Still on Despite Comment Trouble

BLOG CANDY WINNER: Tasha! Email me your address and I will send this card to you with a matching envelope so that you can send it to friends or family! Thanks to all who commented and TRIED to comment. I hope it is fixed now so the next time I give blog candy away it will work!

Edited to add: Comments still not working in most cases. Leave an email on link at sidebar and you will be entered to win the card. All emails will be deleted after winner is picked and will not be shared, sold or anything else! Sorry for the trouble!

Hi all,

It seems blogger is having trouble letting you comment on the original Blog Candy Post. So try it here and I will add up all off the comments from this post and the original one in order of posts to get the random number. If it still doesn't work you can also you can email me at the contact email on the side bar to enter.

The Blog Candy is still up for grabs, so try to post one place or another and I will choose the winning number tomorrow and post it here on this post! Sorry for the trouble, Thanks for looking!

Shalom,

Sonya

2000 View Blog Candy!

It's almost there, the 2000 view of my blog! In honor of all of you who drop by to see what is new, I am giving away this card as Blog Candy! To have a chance at winning this card leave a comment and when the counter hits 2000 I will post the random generated number for whose comment is the winner out of all who have left a comment that day! The winner will be posted on this post so check back and see if you have won!

I have wanted to do a shaker card for some time now and I thought that the 2000 view would be a great time to do so. The card base is a blue shimmer card stock from Bazzill. I used my scallop and circle Nestabilities to cut out the darker blue frame from cardstock. Then I used the same scallop to cut a piece of transparency and adhered it to the back of the blue frame.

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Next I water colored a background for the fish and cut it out with a circle Nestie. The fish were stamped in Stazon black on watercolor paper and water colored with markers. They are accented with glitter glue and were cut out. Next I quilled the kelp in a dark green using the wheatear/looped technique. The fish have dimensionals and are layered amongst the wheatear kelp on the watercolor circle background.

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I put a ring of double sided foam along the back of the blue card stock/transparency frame and when that was done I poured some of the blue and green metallic micro beads in it as the "shakers". Then the fish background was attached to the blue frame sealing in the beads.

The sentiment and fish were from the Ocean Friends stamp set from Kim Hughes and can be found at Cornish Heritage Farms and Ellen Hutson. The sentiment was stamped in Tim Holtz's Distressed ink, Denim, and was cut out and layered with the Nestabilities label dies. I tied a sheer blue/green bow and attached a green crystal brad at the knot. Inside the card I stamped from the same set, the wave in Brilliance tri-color blue/greens stamp pad, and then put the seahorse, colored the same as the fish, on top. Lastly, I used iridescent glitter glue to adhere the three clear Dew Drops "bubbles" near the top.

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I had fun doing this card and it was easy! I will have to make another for the grand kids, they would love it. So leave a comment for a chance to win it! Thanks to all who drop by!

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Until tomorrow to see who is the winner,

Shalom,

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Sonya

Comment for a chance to win!

Mazel Tov Sizzix Take Out Box

Here is another one of the Sizzix Take Out boxes. This one is stamped with the Papertrey Ink Mazel Tov stamp sets. I love this set! You can find the link on the sidebar. You will see it again for Passover as I will be making several things for our family sedar. I used the gold metallic paper and medium blue metallic pearl cardstock for the layers and stamped the images in gold embossing powder. I have two more boxes to make and post so check back in to see them this week. These are so fun and easy to make I will have to restrain myself from making too many and having them setting around!
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I love seeing how many visits to my blog come from all over the world! If you like the projects drop me a comment. I am going to give away some blog candy when the counter hits 2000! So whoever has the random number comment on that day will receive the project posted! So be sure to watch that counter and post a comment when it gets close!

Until the next post,

Shalom,

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Sonya

Comments are always welcome, drop by and say hello!

Quilled Lavender Sizzix Take Out Box

This is one of my new dies, the Sizzix Take Out Box. It is a smaller version of the ones you get at the Chinese restaurant. I think that they are so cute and versatile. You can use them as a small gift box or as a table favor! I haven't been inspired much of late as you can tell by the lack of projects posted. Sometimes it doesn't come easy! I have to play with the designs until I get it in the direction I want it to go. This little boxes are great for that. There are so many different ways to decorate them, simple, all out or anywhere in between. This box takes one 12 x 12 piece of cardstock and I would use one that has a solid core as the score lines and folding can show the inner white core as mine did here.

I must be on a purple streak because I went straight for the purples again! The decoration on the front was cut with my scallop Nestabilities out of purple metallic cardstock layered with a light purple pearlescent circle. You will see more of this metallic cardstock in future posts, I really like it! The quilling is set on the last white scallop layer. There is a scallop layer on top of the box stamped "Celebrate" in gold embossing powder. Both scallops layers are raised with dimensional's. The handle is a lightweight silver wire with small clear beads attached through the sides with small eyelets.

The quilling has a purple 6 petal flower accented with a lavender crystal flower. The fringe flowers are a graduated from dark purple, purple, lavender to white. Punched flowers have a lavender pearl as their centers. The punched fern is green vellum with shimmery gold. More boxes are coming in the posts this week. I love playing with all the possibilities!

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I have added an email contact on the sidebar especially for this blog and you can email me about any piece. Look in the links bar often as I am going to be adding other great quilling and cardmaking sites and blogs! There are so many talented paper artists that inspire me! Thanks again to all who leave such kind and encouraging comments, I love hearing from you.

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Until the next post,

Shalom,

Sonya

Comments are always welcome, drop me a hello!