The Day After The Earthquake

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had a very Happy Easter.

We here in SOCAL had a rockin' and rollin' one! Yep - the earthquake that's been making the news this week was felt by just about everyone here.

And it was a doozy, let me tell you!

I've lived in SOCAL for 35 years. I've experienced a number of earthquakes, and generally, they're just a little blip on the screen of life. You realize AFTER they're over that it was an earthquake. We have earthquakes every day - most of them are tiny - 1 -3 on the scale. Very few people feel those, unless they're very sensitive.

But not this one! Oh no... We rocked and rolled for about a minute. Now, that may not sound like a long time, but believe me, when you're experiencing an earthquake, that's an interminable amount of time.

You're just SURE it's never going to stop.

I have to say, for the first time in all these years, I was frightened.

My friend, Susan, called me almost before it was over to make sure I hadn't missed it ( I hadn't!) and we chatted for a little while before hanging up. She told me when we were chatting they'd registered it at a 6.9 tremor.

Before two hours were over, they'd re-evaluated, and decided it was a 7.2.

That's larger than the quake that hit Haiti several months ago! And look at all the damage that one caused. Remember, Stampin' Up! even contributed to that one by giving a percentage from the sales of all "I {Heart} Hearts sets sold during the month of February.

We've been VERY fortunate. I've only heard about two deaths, and some, but not major, damage to buildings, along with some roads having buckled and a few bridges damaged.

Of course, the news each night tells us a little more, but, really, we were VERY, VERY fortunate that the damage wasn't worse.

There have been a large number of aftershocks, but I've only felt one. Don't know if I'm not paying attention, or I just happen to be lucky enough to live somewhere we're just not feeling them.

Anyway, in years to come, I'm sure each Easter will bring back memories of where we each were and what we were doing when the "The Quake" hit.

But you didn't come here to discuss earthquakes, I'm sure.

So, let's get on to some stamping!

Last week was my friend, Jay's, birthday. I had a number of photos I'd been promising to make him copies of - mostly of his dogs, Angel and Rocky, along with a couple of him that I've taken over the past year or so.

So I thought, what better time to give him a little scrapbook of all the photos I'd been promising.

Remember last couple of times, I'd been showing you the scrapbooks made using the toilet paper holders? Well, I decided, since I didn't have a lot of photos, I'd make him one of those.

I started with Brocade Blue DSP from one of the Hostess gift 6x6 Designer Series papers.

These are the handiest little pads of paper! Next time you hostess a workshop (call me and book one!) treat yourself to that as your Level I Hostess gift. It'll last you a very long time!

I added some Rich Razzleberry CS, on which I used the Pinking Hearts punch.

Unfortunately, that punch was offered in the Occasions mini-catalog, which has expired. I'm 99.9% sure it'll be back in the new Idea Book and catalog, which will debut July 1st. I sure hope so, cause I like the punch very much!

I'll quickly show you the rest of the covers of Jay's book, then at the end, show you the fully decorated product.









And here's the finished product:

I didn't want to get TOO frilly, since this WAS for a guy, but at the last minute added the blue daisy and Kiwi Kiss corduroy button.

And they MADE the outside of the scrapbook.

It was so jammed with photos that the inserts kept falling out as I was working on it, so I used a piece of Bluebird grosgrain ribbon (long retired, but I like the color! And it matched the DSP, LOL) to tie it closed. The ribbon"belly band" just slips right off so you can look through the book.

Jay's going back East to see his family next month, and I'm hoping he'll take it along to show relatives his puppy dogs. But if he doesn't, well, at least I've fulfilled my obligation to get those photos to him!

Have YOU made one of these TP scrapbooks? Post a photo of it in my comments section, or send a link to your blog - would love to see it!

Keep on stampin'!