A couple of my favorites.....

Here are a few more of my challenge submissions for Johanna's "Talk Like a Pirate" challenge weekend on SCS!

Here is Pirate Challenge #7: Make a card with a tree in it. This one by far is my favorite! I had this idea in my head and it executed perfectly on paper!



The trees are from the Stampin Up Lovely as a Tree set (which I will never get rid of). I don't know about you, but I love using glossy cardstock for cool effects like this one. One of my last orders from Just Johanna, included a grab bag of sorts of rubber by the ounce that she was offering (the rubber was for discontinued sets). In my 'comments' when I submitted the order, I asked Johanna if she could specifically include any Halloween images (as I love Halloween). Johanna was sweet enough to include Halloween images per my request (which included a TON of current images too)! You just have to LOVE customer service like that! Am I a dedicated customer now? YOU BET!

Here is Pirate Challenge # 10: Make a card for a little boy.



Both of my boys approved of this card, so I think that I hit the mark. These stamps were one of Johanna's special deals a little while back. This was my very first purchase from Odd Bird Planet. I used some Basic Grey paper (their baby line from a little while back) to paper piece the hot air balloon. The black background is some of that super glittery sugared Doodlebug cardstock.

Tah for now! I'll see you tomorrow with a few more posts!

Ahoy There!

Johanna (of Just Johanna's Odd Bird Planet) was having a "Pirate" challenges all weekend over on SCS. I was DETERMINED to get some stamping done and was able to complete 7 of the card challenges.

Here are my submissions for Challenge # 1: Stamp a Critter, Turn it into a Pirate




This is Flo Owl all decked out as a Pirate. Flow has a hand drawn peg leg and eye patch. She is sporting a pirate hat that was borrowed from Pirate Kitty (from TCP). Her sword came in the rubber grab bag special that Johanna was running a little while back. Nothing too elaborate for this challenge.

Challenge #2: Incorporate Treasure (bling, sparkles, glitter, gems, costume jewelry, etc.) into a card. If you know me, I was ALL over this challenge.




I had FUN with this one! This is Allison Little Owl who is sporting a little pirate hat that came in my rubber grab bag (I don't even think the little pirate hats are available anymore, but gosh are they ever cute and fun to work with). I stamped her on top of the Pirate Booty treasure chest from TCP and watercolored using my WWC and Copic Spica glitter pens. Used lots of bling from my stash on the inside of my pirate chest. The sentiment is also from TCP. I used my new Pacific Point and Riding Hood Red In Color cardstock colors from SU on this one (the new Riding Hood Red satin ribbon is to die for BTW). I thought that the Swirls cuttlebug embossing folder looked like waves and attempted to capture that feel by cutting selective portions out.

Be back tomorrow with a couple more challenge submissions!

Three Peeps Challenge

Two of my favorite peeps and I decided that we would start doing a monthly challenge of sorts here on our blogs. Who are those peeps you ask? None other that the uber talented Karrie Baker and Toni Armstrong. These two ladies have talent literally seeping from their pores! They're just that good! If you've never checked out their blogs, I highly encourage you to do so.

The three of us will all be contributing one factor to each of our challenges (i.e. specific stamp set, color, sketch, element, etc.). For our very first challenge, Toni challenged us to all use the new Birthday stamps from The Cats Pajamas. Karrie challenged us to use the color Turquoise in our creations. My required element you ask? Must use BLING BABY!!! LOL!

I was lucky enough to get the new Smells Like Cake and You Say It's Your Birthday stamp sets shipped before the official release date from the super cool and swanky designer for The Cats Pajamas, Alma de la Rosa. Alma not only designs the swankiest stamps on the planet, but she was also kind enough to listen and respond to the manic begging that came from me the second I saw the first sneek peek from her design team for the new sets. Thank You Alma!!!

So are you ready? Here goes....



Is this not the cutest little gift card holder that you have ever seen? I've been wanting to try the pattern for the Gift Card Holder that Jenn Balcer created for SCS for the longest time, and finally had the perfect opportunity with this challenge! I love how I was able to showcase so many of the different TCP images on one project.

Here is a picture of the inside. The gift card holder features two coin envelopes. One envelope is for the actual gift card, the other is for a stamped insert that you can write your greeting, etc.



Please be sure to check out both Karrie's and Toni's blogs as I'm sure that they each made something absolutely adorable! Thanks for stopping by!



Recipe:
Stamps: Smells Like Cake, You Say It's Your Birthday (all from The Cat's Pajamas)
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Cool Caribbean, Lovely Lilac, Shimmery White
Ink: Black Staz-On, Tempting Turquose, Pixie Pink
Other: Assorted Copics, Copic Spica glitter pens, Sakura stardust glitter pen, various stickles, Kaiser bling, rectangle nesties, dimensionals, Fresh Favorites II eyelets, ribbon, dimensionals, Ticket Corner punch, 1 1/4 Circle punch

What I did over Labor Day Weekend

I know that this post is a few days late, but the photos are too pretty NOT to share. LOL!

Every year over the Labor Day weekend holiday, Colorado Springs, CO has a hot air balloon classic. It is not for the faint of heart (nor slow to rise) as you have to get up at what I fondly refer to as "O-dark-thirty" to go and see the balloons. As the kids have gotten older, it has been a little easier to get them out of bed ("when it is still night" according to the kiddos...LOL!)!

This is the very first balloon that took off! The balloon pilot wanted to be the very first one to touch the lake and get a cup of water.....

Here the balloon pilots are starting to inflate for the very first 'wave' of balloons to take off!

Here is Harland and Christopher! Harland now has his very own digital camera and was busy snapping photos left and right. Unfortunately, Harland came down with a nasty ear infection on Monday night. I had to take him to the Emergency Room at our local hospital on Tuesday morning. We did not make it out of there until 4:00 AM. Tired kid and tired mommy! LOL!

The ever popular Noah's Ark balloon!

This is the very first time that I have ever seen this ladybug....

Loved the patriotic Red, White, and Blue balloon! That is Cheyenne Mountain in the background.

I have many more pictures (literally in the hundreds) but thought I would share just a few! Our balloon classic isn't as big as the one held in Albuquerque, NM that goes on in October, but it is still fun to go to!

Gnome Down - Take 3

So today at work, on one of my breaks I check my e-mail to see a note from my good cyber-friend Karrie telling me that she already posted her card for the third installment of our Gnome Down challenge with our new Odd Bird Planet stamps. I couldn't resist taking a peek at Karrie's card and just couldn't believe what I saw with my eyes! Once again we were very much on the same wavelength, this time each using the little Mushroom Scene from OBP. Karrie's card is a stunner with such beautiful watercoloring...my card really pales in comparison! My favorite thing about my card is the shimmery red mushroom tops with the white polka dots (and of course the cute OBP images)!

My hat is off to Karrie as I just love her card! Please check out her card here! Stay tuned for the next challenge...I'm thinking that we'll be having fun with Sprinkle and the rest of the gang next! Maybe we can have a Triple Play challenge of sorts and involve Toni in our fun.

Thanks for stopping by!



Card Recipe:

Stamps: Kelly's Sleeping Gnome left, Mixed Mushroom group, Cathrine's Gnome Hammock, Catherine's Mushroom Scene

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Shimmery White

Ink: Timberbrown Staz-On, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip

Other: WWC, Aquapainter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Copic Spica glitter pens, Chocolate taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, mat pack and needle tool, white gel pen

Gnome Down - Installment #2

OK....since I had another one of these masked and stamped images laying about from my first gnome challenge with Karrie, I couldn't let it go to waste (that is after all a 5x5 inch panel of my coveted shimmery white paper)! LOL!

I decided to go for a cute wintery scene! The base card is a 6x6 inch piece of Naturals White paper. I used so many glittery products on this particular card to make it sparkle like winter scene with fresh fallen snow, I almost lost count! And can I say that I am loving the new SU In Color Baja Breeze!

I first watercolored my scene, and then masked both images and sponged in my sky (Soft Sky and Baja Breeze). I added a few glittery touches here and there with my Copic Spica glitter pens. Next I used a Versamarker to strategically highlight a few areas in which snow would collect on a little mushroom house. I then sprinkled on some Winter Wonderland embossing powder (Stampendous) and set with my heat gun. I then used some Liquid Applique in a few spots (including the smoke coming from the chimney) and again covered with the same embossing powder for some added texture and sparkle. I used Diamond Stickles in a few spots for extra glitter. The snowflakes on the card base are from the SU set, The Snowflake Spot (which was stamped in Baja Breeze). I also used the 'dots' stamp from the same set for the falling snow on the focal image.

All I can say is that I had fun 'shopping' from my stash of stuff to find things for this card!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out Karrie's card here. Our next installment of the Gnome Down will be Saturday! Hmmmm.....which Gnome to use?



Card Recipe:
Stamps: Kelly's Gnome Right, Cathrine's Gnome Home (all from Odd Bird Planet), The Snowflake Spot (retired SU)
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Naturals White, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)
Ink: Black Staz-On, Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Versamark, Versamarker
Other: WWC, Copic Spica Glitter Pens, Diamond Stickles, Winter Wonderland ep (Stampendous), Liquid Applique, velvet ribbon from stash, photo corner punch, scallop edge punch, glitter brads (KI Memories)

Gnome-down with Karrie!

So...the other night I open up my e-mail to find a notification that one of my stamping idols posted a comment to my meager little blog. The comment went something like this:

"A MONTH SINCE YOU LAST UPDATED????? What the HECK?? LOL I miss you...come out and play. I will if you will... :) "

That stinker Karrie (whom at my discretion I may refer to as 'The NAG' from time to time) dangled a tempting little carrot in front of my nose in the way of a challenge. For your viewing pleasure, we are using some of our recently acquired stamps from the Odd Bird Planet. We both fell in love with the new Gnomes from the OBP line. If you've never been to Odd Bird Planet, I highly recommend it (although be warned, you may leave with your wallet feeling a little lighter)! LOL! While you're there, you should check out the cute owls that Karrie designed. They can be found in the new releases section (along with the gnomes). I picked up every single one of them so you can expect to see something cute made with these stamps soon!

I wish that you could see how sparkly this card is! I hand drew the polka dots on the mushroom cap and then covered the spots with Martha Stewart chunky white glitter. I then used my Copic Spica glitter pens all over for some extra shimmery goodness! The scene was masked and the sky and grassy area were sponged. The rest of the scene was watercolored. If you click on the picture, you may be able to pick up on a little bit of the sparkle.

Karrie and I will probably have another challenge of sorts after the new The Cats Pajamas release. You all know how much I *heart* Sprinkle! Please stop by Karrie's blog and check out her card. I'm sure that she'll be posting it soon!

Thanks for stopping by!



Card Recipe:
Stamps: Gnome Sweet Gnome, Kelly's Gnome Right, Cathrine's Gnome Home (all from Odd Bird Planet), Sanded (SU Background)

Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Shimmery White, Chocolate Chip, Real Red dp (all SU)

Ink: Black Staz-On, Chocolate Chip, various re-inkers

Other: WWC, Sakura glitter pen, Copic Spica glitter pens, Martha Stewart Chunky and Fine Crystal glitter, Real Red brads, Corner Punch, Scallop Edge punch, dimensionals, velvet ribbon