SOS challenge black, white and one other colour - 2011 365 #136

The challenge this week at Shopping our Stash is black, white and one other colour...my choice was pink...I based my card loosely off of the invitation my girls received for one of their good friend's birthday parties.  This girl loves the zebra/pink combo, so I thought it was good timing for this challenge...I tried to do several attempts at the zebra stripe for my cardstock...at least 8 prototypes are in the trash...I just couldn't get the look that I was going for in my head...the end result was okay, but then most of it was covered up by the doily so you can only see the edges anyway...time well wasted, I suppose??  Now it sort of looks like bricks...oh well...why don't you crack out the black and white and come on out to join us this week...maybe it won't stump you the way it stumped me???

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

penny black saturday challenge - monochromatic

sparkles forum - anything that sparkles

2011 365 #135 - opus gluei challenge "owl always love you"

The Poobahs over at the Opus Gluei this week have gone a little "owly" and are in lovey dove spirits, so this is my attempt at the "Owl always love you challenge" this week...the hubby got a real kick out of the "let's flock together" sentiment, but boys will be boys...I punched out all of the owls with a punch that I got from Stampin' up...in reality, I do not like birds or anything about them, so it is hard for me to use them on a card or project...the hearts are all from the same punch (I am entering it in the Stuck on U Sketches heart die challenge too) and the branches were cut out on the cricut...so come on out and play with the Poohbahs this week!

2011 365 #138 - season's greetings

Another Christmas card done!  Wahoo...this card making season is off and running...I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday for this card...it was a fun one...I am also entering it in the Pixie Dust Studio Challenge for round and round circles...thanks for looking...off to make some more!

2011 365 #137 - reindeer card

I made this card with Basic Grey papers that I have been hoarding since last year and a stamp that I bought last weekend...it's a pretty simple card that turned out kind of funky...this was not the original plan, but it is the end result...I embossed the reindeer with cuppa joe embossing powder, so it smells like coffee...just a fun twist...I am entering it in the following challenges:
colour create: lime, aqua, white and texture...there are definitely all 4 aspects in this card
Christmas Stampin all year long: clean and simple - I don't do much more simple than this
Bah Humbug: rudolph or reindeer - check
scrapbookers anonymous: use a "B" item from your stash - I used blue basic grey paper that I hoard
Thanks for looking...yippee one more Christmas card done!

2011 365 #134 - another hedgehog Christmas card

just loving these little guys...so quick and easy to colour...I followed the sketch from PaperCraft Star and am also entering into the following challenges:
Crafts & me: stripes
Simon Says Stamp: dies to die for...used nestabilities and border
Paper Sundaes: felt (the two snowflakes are cut out of felt)
Thanks for looking and have a great evening...off to watch survivor...hopefully me person in the pool won't be eliminated tonight!

2011 365 #133 - hedgehog Christmas card

I had a few spare minutes to squeeze in a card tonight and this is what I came up with.  I followed the sketch from the Clean & Simple sketch challenge.  The star is sparkly in real life but I am not sure if it is noticeable in the picture.  I am also entering it in the following challenges:
Papertake weekly: creature comforts...a hedgehog is a creature if I have ever seen one
Less is more: anything goes - they are trying to get 1000 participants this week
Alphabet Challenge blog - Q - quick and simple...this card is one of the quickest I have done in a while

Now I am off to eat birthday cake with my hubby and my girls (well Fudgee Turtle Ice Cream Cake - cuz I just don't like real cake and I get to have what I like on my birthday!)

SOS challenge 18 - no colouring - 2011 365 #130

Happy birthday to me (yippee)...This is my attempt for the no colouring challenge over at Shopping our Stash this week...as soon as the girls issued the challenge not to colour, that was all I could think of doing...which is funny because quite a few of my recent projects haven't had any colouring on them...I am like a little kid when it comes to crafting...if you tell me no, that is all I can think of doing...so I switched it up and started inking everything....this also caused me to become a super huge fan of the Tim Holtz distressing inks...they were soooo  much fun to use...I cut this doily out from my Cindy Loo cricut cartridge...I only bought this cartridge because I liked the name...not because I liked any of the images, so I felt I should at least open it for this challenge...otherwise I should be ashamed that I bought it...the cut outs all started white and I filled them in with distress inks to get the desired shading...just inked the bird too, put on some crystal effects and glitter...I even decorated the inside to go with the outside to finish it off just that much more and that's all she wrote!  So put down your crayons and your pencils and come over to join us at Shopping our Stash this week...

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

 Crafts 4 Eternity recipe challenge: leaves, birds and glitter...check, check, check!

Just us Girls: Aqua, Pumpkin and Kiwi....plus I have a little brown mixed in with all the oranges, but I am entering it still because I also made the bird beak pumpkin...

Stampy Land Challenge - decorate inside and out...check!

2011 365 #132 - 'tis the start of the season

Well, I finally caved and decided to start making my Christmas cards...I don't like to start them too soon because I am worried about jinxing our summer away...here the summer is so short and the winters are sooo long that I don't want to tempt the fates by making Christmas cards while it is warm outside...and then there was Wednesday morning...with frost...and not just a little, but have to go and find the window scraper kind cuz a credit card just wouldn't do...and then again on Thursday...only this time there was some ice added in and I figured "forget this" it's Christmas card time now!  I used the sketch from Card patterns for this card and I used the photo inspiration from Christmas stampin all year long.  I am also entering it in the Winter Wonderland challenge for a "girlie card" which had to have a girl on it...mine has two so I think it should work!  Thanks for looking!

2011 365 #131 - mousey birthday

the flowers on this card are just cut up circles of the scrap from the card...I added in some swirly gems, but they are kind of hard to see in the picture...I coloured in the little mice with my copic markers and discovered that the oval nestibilities fit very well into the lable die, wahoo...I made this cute little mouse card for the following challenges:
Let's capture these sketches - followed their fabulous sketch for this card...had to rotate it a little, but tried to keep as close to it as I could
BasicGrey challenges: brown and pink...I used the bittersweet line of paper which is one of my favorite lines of all time from them
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - friendship...what's more friendly than a group of micey friends bringing flowers and presents?

SOS Shabby or Chic challenge - 2011 365 #128 - vintage card

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is Shabby, Chic or Vintage...which I find quite distressing - pardon the pun. This is as close as I get to vintage or Shabby...not sure I really get that whole concept...I like bright and cheery more than grungy...but this is my attempt anyway...the flowers and patterned paper are just a paper bag that my girls' dance shoes came in...I thought it was kind of cool, so I used it on the card and sprayed the flowers with 3 colors of mist and some goosebumps for some texture...they were just cut with the nestabilities...I like the way the look came out because it is all the same paper, but it looks quite a bit different on the flowers than on the background...the Goosebumps kind of gives the flowers a varnished look...the ribbon is some of the first ones that I ever purchased and couldn't bring myself to cut it...until today!  So dig through your old stuff and come up with a great vintage project to show off your skills!

2011 365 #129 - birthday card in blue

I made this card with the sketch from CPS card sketches...it was a monochomatic experiment with mists and tim holtz ink...not quite sure if I like the effect yet or not, but it was fun to do...I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Sparkles forum challenges: white with one other colour
Craft your days away: make your own flowers

Dancin' with the Poohbas - 2011 365 #126 and 127

The challenge at the Opus Gluei this week is Dancing with the Poohbahs...having my two girls in dance 10 hours a week, I thought this would be an easy challenge...I could make thank you and Christmas cards for the dance teachers....but could I find my really nice dance stamp set in that mess I call a craft room?  Not a chance...so I made a hokey card that I wasn't too thrilled with:

it was too flat or something...not sure what, but it is sure lacking that you know...so I changed avenues and scrapbooked one of their classes from last year's dance recital...I am not normally a clean and simple scrapper, and these pages still feel like they are missing something to me, but here they are anyway:

so why don't you dance on over to the Opus Gluei and play along with us Poohbahs this week?

SOS Challenge 16 - Birds, Bugs or Beasts - 2011 365 #117

This is my submission for the Birds, Bugs or Beasts challenge over at the Shopping our Stash challenge blog this week.  When I saw this challenge I was just giddy because I love this beast stamp that I have and I just don't have very many opportunities to use it...but it is soo much fun to colour in and can work in so many different colours...I did his tail and horns and stomach with stickles to add in some dimension to him, and I just love that Basic Grey paper line...the colours are ones that I absolutely adore working with...I coloured that little beast with copic markers, added a bit of ribbon and that's all she wrote....

So get out your ants, your flamingos and the boogey men and get started on this challenge!

2011 365 #125 - sleepless in Seattle

This is a picture of the house that was used by Tom Hanks in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle"...it is a cute little house just floating in Lake Union...we saw it while on a "Duck" tour....kind of cool....

I used the sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches for this one....seemed to work out well...that's it for today...more to come soon as I have way more pictures to do...8 pages in one day is enough for me...

2011 365 #124 - space needle

This is just a simple page for the great picture that my hubby took of the Space Needle...it almost looks like a postcard...so I felt it could speak for itself...

2011 365 #123 - gum wall

We found this gum wall in a back alley in Seattle just a block or so from the market...we were told about it by a guy at the pizza place we had dinner at the night before, so we knew it existed, but we had no idea where it was...we were looking for the Seattle Aquarium and we cut through the backlane to get to the road and lo and behold, there was the gum was...the most disgusting yet facinating thing that I have ever seen...Emily insisted on putting her gum on the wall to mark her piece of history...I replicated the wall on my page by melting hot glue in blobs and then putting glitter and pearlex in it while it was still hot...burned my fingers a couple of times this morning doing it, but I really like the effect that came of all the burns...

2011 365 #122 - bear hug

This picture of Lauren with the bear is the closest she will ever get to one voluntarily...we saw one on our outing in Juneau and she nearly dropped...Her knees turned to jello and her face turned white...but she was okay with this one at the hotel in Fargo...they had a great time there....

I am entering this page in the sketch challenge from Creative Scrappers #172

2011 365 #121 - king of the world

Emily and I were out on the decks after dinner on our "fun day at sea" and I snapped a couple of "King of the World" pics...you couldn't do a cruise scrapbook without the Titanic pose...of course, she wasn't allowed to hang over the edge of the bow, so this was as close as she was allowed to get...we might have to rent that movie this weekend, now that we are back (and there is no fear of hitting any icebergs)...

2011 365 #120 - our stateroom

Our room on the cruise was soo small that we could reach out from one bunk bed and join hands with the person on the other bunk bed...but it is what we considered home for 7 nights...the steward was soo nice to the girls and put up with all of us coming and going all day long....we had a new towel animal every night after dinner along with our daily news for the next day...if we ever did it again, we would definitely go for a room with a window...too claustrophobic for me....that room was definitely too small for 4 people...

2011 365 #119 - feeling green

The girls were a little sea sick on the second day of the cruise, so of course I had to take some pictures...they were completely green...we happened upon the Green Album two days earlier in Seattle at Starbucks and they begged an pleaded for us to get it for them...who knew the two would be tied together in a scrapbook page in the end???