Cloud9 WPlus9: Hope

This is my second post today.  CAS(E) this Sketch is just a post away.

It's time for this month's Cloud9 blog hop (using WPlus9 stamps) blog hop and the sad news is that this is the last hop.  For the last challenge, they are leaving us with an Anything Goes challenge.

Since it is wide-open challenge, I thought this would be a good time to CASE someone who always leaves me gasping aloud in awe.  Debbie Hughes at Lime Doodle Design makes wonderfully creative, clean and absolutely gorgeous cards.  She has one particular layout that I have fallen in love with.  It's using a tag at the edge of card - see it here, here and here.

So I took my Wplus9 Timeless Tags 2 and the stamp set Heartfelt Mix and tried my own version of the tag on the edge!


On a very different subject, do you ever feel that nature is tired of us humans?  Tornadoes and floods and earthquakes and wildfires.  Here was the view from my place on Tuesday.

Those aren't clouds.  That is what it looks like when 100 homes are burning in a massive wildfire. (ETA: A news conference just said 360 homes by now.)  My home is an hour away and it still looks that overwhelming.  That photo was taken on Tuesday.  Since then, winds have shifted my direction, the smoke is blowing in and I don't even a clear view of my neighbor's house.  (There is absolutely no danger to me - it's 60 miles away - so I really don't have any right to complain about haze and smoke smell.)  There are mind boggling photos on news websites of this Black Forest fire consuming houses with walls of flames.  And it is still 0% contained with more evacuations ordered this morning.  On a positive note, as of this morning there are no fatalities, although officials say that could change as they know there are people who chose not to evacuate.  There are lots of homes still standing as the fire is very erratic, so we'll pray that's where the people are who stayed behind.
Sadly, this area also had a huge fire last year that burned 346 homes.  I have photos here and here of last year's fire on the west side of Colorado Springs (a city of almost a half million people).  This year's fire is northeast of Colorado Springs - it's not as close as last year's but it is a neighborhood whose residents most likely go to Colorado Springs for work or shopping.
Forest fires do happen and they are actually good.  They clear out old vegetation and allow for new growth.  Pine trees don't even drop their seeds unless there is a fire.  It's all part of the plan.  And, with humans living virtually everywhere (personally, I'd love a secluded home in a forested area) - there are always sad stories.  But it has become very scary over the last year to realize that these huge, out-of-control fires happen near major urban areas, not just out in the wilderness.
Sorry for the sidetrack - back to what you came for - here are the details on today's card:

• Stamps: WPlus9 Heartfelt Mix, Sweet Nothings (sentiment)
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Fine Linen, Smokey Shadow, Stampin' Up Calypso Coral
• Paper: white
• Accessories: WPlus9 dies: Timeless Tags 2 and Hearts/Clouds die, Ellen Hutson Daffodil Sequins, May Arts twine