Brother & Sister Birthday Cards and Snow in October?!

Hello, friends! 

Crazy day, that's all I can say.  We had a snowstorm today and it is not even the end of October!  More on that later.

I wanted to share two birthday cards I made for my nephew Nate and my niece Adrienne...they are brother and sister, and their birthdays are within a week of each other.  Here is the card I made for Nate, who tuns two tomorrow:

I embossed the gumball machine from the Sweet Stamp Shop's Sweet Tooth set onto watercolor paper, cut it out, and adhered it to a two-tone card.  I stamped the sentiment at the top and added a Hero Arts "Happy Birthday" (from the Birthday Messages set) at the bottom.  The pearls were added for dimensional gum balls.  I hope he doesn't try to actually eat them!

Nate's older sister, Adrienne, is turning five next week.  I adapted a card I previously posted and made it into a birthday card.  Here is what the card originally looked like (posted in September at my blog HERE):

Here is what I did to make it into a birthday card, adding a Hero Arts paper-pieced elephant and some Martha Stewart punch balloons, patterned papers, and a fine Sharpie:

It is so nice to have these simple one-layer cards on hand...so easy to jazz up for any occasion!

OK, so back to the snow.  We had to drive about 75 miles north/west to my brother's house for Adrienne and Nate's birthday party today.  When we left our house it was raining, no big deal.  As we were halfway there it turned to snow, and it snowed hard and fast. 

It was funny the way fall and winter mixed together on this ride...we would be riding on the snow-covered road and all of a sudden we'd be under a big old maple tree full of glorious red leaves and the road under it would be dry...then within seconds we'd be back on the snow-covered road with white pine trees all around again. 

Here is the view out the passenger side windshield as we drove there:

By the time we reached their house, visibility was bad.  Here is the view when we pulled into their driveway...see the ice on the windshield?  Can hardly see their house in the distance...and this was around noon!

They still have some cute fall decorations out on their back deck...poor scarecrow!

Our drive home was crazy...it took us 2 1/2 hours to get home, when it is normally a 1 1/4 hour drive.  We got detoured about four different times due to fallen power lines, tree branches, and slippery hills our poor minivan could not get up!  Luckily, at one point we got behind a snow plow (maybe a quick answer to a silent prayer whispered as my 9-year-old daughter cried in the back seat because she was scared?)...it was a slow drive but it cleared a path for us to follow, at least until it came to a fallen tree branch that it couldn't get by and it turned around...we actually fit under the branch and kept going. 

By the time we got home it was just raining.  Go figure. 

I hope this is not a sign of what is to come this winter!

Have a peaceful night...I know we'll sleep well!
Judy