Back from the Beach

I made it back from my (too short) trip to VA Beach for SU!'s Regional Seminar. It was a smooth ride both ways, other than the rock that hit and cracked my car's windshield somewhere near Richmond, VA. What started as a nick with an adjoining 4 inch crack was over a foot long by the time I got home this evening. The annoying part of this is that I just had my windshield replaced 2 months ago after the same thing happened on my way to work. At least I know where the repair place is now . . .

I arrived in VA Beach early enough on Friday afternoon to make a quick stop at Sandbridge Beach. Sandbridge is located a bit to the south of VA Beach, right at the VA/NC border, and is where my family vacationed for many, many years. It's a quiet, residential area with lots of houses raised on "stilts," very different from the boardwalk atmosphere found in lots of vacation/resort areas. I have a lot of fond memories of times spent there, so I couldn't miss the chance to revisit it. It was a little surprising to see the town I remembered as quiet, and almost desolate, have a stoplight and a bunch of condominiums. Here's a photo of the beach on Friday--it was too cold to put my feet in the water, but I did take a short walk on the sand.


After visiting Sandbridge, I headed to the SCS dinner at Rudee's. I had a fantastic time at the dinner. I made a bunch of new friends and enjoyed swapping with everyone. The cards were all incredible, as were the door prizes that everyone donated. What a creative and generous group of people! This is a picture of the card I shared at the dinner (and also at last weekend's shoebox swap in Baltimore). The card's layout was borrowed from Michelle Wooderson. Even though the card may appear to be tall or oddly sized, it still fits perfectly in a standard size envelope. The base (Elegant Eggplant) is a 4 1/4" square card. The flower is stamped with Brocade Blue and Elegant Eggplant ink using the rock and roll technique. It's raised on a dimensional and is outlined by paper piercing using the Bodacious Bouquet Classy Brass template. The center of the flower is highlighted with Waterfall Stickles to match the ink and cardstock. I made different cards to swap at the SU! Regional Seminar--I'll share those later this week.

Materials Used:
From Stampin' Up!: Bodacious Bouquet and Warm Words stamp sets; Bodacious jumbo wheel and handle; Brocade Blue, Elegant Eggplant, and Always Artichoke Classic inks; Brocade Blue, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, and Whisper White cardstock; eggplant grosgrain; Bodacious Bouquet Classy Brass template; mat pack and paper piercing template; silver brad; stampin' dimensional
Other: Waterfall Stickles (Ranger)