Flying Monkeys with Party Hats for Dynamic Duos #53

Hello there stamping friends! It's time for a new challenge over at Dynamic Duos. This week is "Black Tie" week where we select one color...pair it with Basic Black...and add an optional theme element to the challenge. Please join us with a project featuring: Pacific Point, Basic Black and the *optional* kid-theme.  I always need cards for the wee ones...I don't know about you.

I wish I could say that this challenge was easy for me. But with a long week at work and some volunteer commitments, I had some struggles getting my finished project together. In all honesty, it is ONLY because of a few of my fellow Dynamic Duos Design Team members that I am even posting my card this week. I love these gals and I  love how amazing they all are. *BIG shout out to the DD gals for your awesome encouragement*

Sooooo, let's talk about this card. Are you secretly hearing the theme song for the wicked, flying monkeys from the "Wizard of Oz", after seeing this card? You should...because these monkeys are "cray cray". I stamped them and punched them in different poses to try to add some personality to the little buggers. I also colored their faces and bellies for some added detail. The little hat was hand-cut and popped up for fun.  

My card was created from the *retired* set Fox and Friends and the sentiment is not SU! but seemed to fit perfectly with the card...I mean how often do you actually SEE a monkey wearing an itty bitty hat? 

Um, I JUST noticed that this guy is wearing a hat...so I suppose to answer my question above, monkeys actually DO wear hats pretty often. Who knew? Even Toto looks surprised in the photo. 

Please stop by the Dynamic Duos page and join us! The challenge is open through Thursday May 23rd, until Noon (PDT). Be sure to stop by and visit our fabulous Design Team members, too 

The Dynamic Duos Design Team

Alison Barclay

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Michelle Williams

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

...and me! 

Have a HAPPY day! :)  

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Paper Players 64- Plant or Animal CAS

Hi there and Happy Paper Players Sunday to you! This week, the lovely and talented Ann Schach is our  hostess and she has challenged us to create a Clean and Simple card using an animal OR a plant as your  main image. 

For my design, I used the fantastic sketch over at Cardabilities this week. I just discovered this site and there is some awesome creative inspiration there! :) 

I ended up creating TWO cards for the challenge. I started out with a baby card in mind, as I am needing one for a dear friend. Then, after whipping up a 'boy" card...I just decided to make another card for a "little lady", too. You can never have too many baby cards on hand...I actually have a swap coming up later this month that is "baby-related"...hmmmm! As the theme of this challenge was CAS (clean and simple), I tried to keep my layers to a minimum (for the first time EVER) and wanted to showcase the new Nursery Nest DSP I recently purchased. I paired the paper with the Fox & Friends stamp set. 

Here is a close-up of the "boy" card: 

 Here is the close-up of the "girl" card: 

Same elements...different colors...and there you have it: simple cards for a baby boy AND a baby girl! All of the supplies used are listed below but if you have any questions, please shoot me an email.  We sure hope you will join us this week at the Paper Players. Be sure to visit the rest of the gals on the Design Team to check out their lovely creations: 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao
Sandra Conner (September GD)

Before I go, I wanted to share a photo. This is EPIC because since we have had these two crazy cats under one roof...this is THE closest they have EVER been to each other. I think the look on Benjamin 's face completely expresses the utter "joy" he is feeling for this moment, as well: 

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope your day is HAPPY and fun!!! :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Fox & Friends and Short & Sweet
Paper: Nursery Nest DSP, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride and Marina Mist Classic ink
Accessories: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder punch, Scallop Edge Border punch, Word Window punch,  Pear pizzazz 1/2" Stitched-Poly ribbon, Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly ribbon, Basic Rhinestones and Stampin' Dimensionals
Non SU! Accessories: silver pearls, circle and scallop circle die cut

Guest Designer at A La Card Monkey

Hi there! I am really excited to share that I was asked to be a Guest Designer this week over at A La Card Monkey. I was picked as a "Challenge Princess" two weeks ago and that is one of the fabulous perks that come with the "title". How fun is that? This week the theme is all about the furry friends! Simply use an animal, ANY animal, with the sketch below and play along. 

My card started out as a kitty card. As I was searching through my patterned papers, I just couldn't find anything that was really "working" for the feline theme. I found this retired Tall Tales DSP and loved the color combo. 


What goes better with trees then MONKEYS? Haha! I thought it was fitting for the challenge, too. I embossed these little fellas then colored in their faces, bellies and cheeks. The tree branches were made from the 2-Step Bird punch. After I cut and glued the Old Olive "leaves" I thought I would add a little dimension to them by adding some flocking. (I have a ton of this "Flower S---" stuff and never seem to use it!)  I made a huge mess PLUS the cat got into it...yup, took a little break from making the card to get the carpet cleaner out. Gah!! I really like the effect, though. 

I actually made this card for a special, little gal who is having a birthday this month. She really loves animals, so I hope this one is a hit. I used some retired rub-on's for the sentiments. I really liked that I could cut them up to place them exactly how I wanted them. I completely messed up the inside sentiment, though. It was SUPPOSED to say "Let's Celebrate!" but the "Celebrate!" got stuck to my finger in the process of adhering "Let's". No problem, I just found another rub on and made it work. :) 

There you have it! I hope you will ink up your CRITTER stamps this week and play along at A La Card Monkey. Thanks so much for stopping by today! Until next time...


Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Fox and Friends 
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft ink and Crumb Cake Classic ink (for sponging around the edges)
Paper: Tall Tales DSP (ret.), Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Old Olive and Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Clear Embossing powder, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon (ret.), Square Lattice Embossing folder, 1" Circle punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch, Scallop Trim Border punch, Linen Thread, 2-Step XL Bird punch, Circle Scissors Plus, Glass Mat, Sponges, Hobby Blade, Cutting Mat, Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones, Chat Room rub-ons (ret.) and Chit Chat rub-ons (ret.) 
Non SU! Accessories: alcohol based markers, glitter glue and green flocking

Hello Baby! (Paper Players Sketch Part 2)

Hello and Happy Friday...or as we are calling it in our house, "Turkey Recovery Day"! I hope everyone here in the U.S. enjoyed their Thanksgiving, yesterday. We had a fantastic time with our great group of friends (and the abundance of food that was also in attendance). We were sent home with enough food for at least 3 more meals. Yikes! Today, though, we are in "turkey time-out" and I'm making some good ol' Texas chili for dinner. Mmmm! My only shopping was done from my Mac today, I was not about to brave those crowds. No way! How about you, did you shop today? 

I mentioned earlier this week that I had two other cards that I created from Nance's sketch Challenge over at The Paper Players this week. Well, I almost forgot to post them and the challenge ends tonight. Eeek! You still have 9 more hours to play along with us this week! ;) Also I completely forgot to take a photo of BOTH of the cards before I mailed one of them off on Tuesday. I hate when I do things like that...turkey on the brain, I guess. To distract you from my "whoops", I present you with this ONE happy baby card! How can you not smile with that cute, little, orange giraffe from the Fox and Friends set? 

Since this card is for a little girl, I thought it would be fun to add "Baby's First BLING" to the card with 2 sizes of pink jewels and some super-shiny ribbon. All little diva's have to start somewhere with the sparkle, right? There are lots of DOTS on this card, to play off that adorable giraffe image. The card came together really easily, inside and out, with the help of my punches, too. I think it is a fun change from using the same ol' pastel colors on a baby card, which really just wouldn't suit the parents of this particular (soon-to-be) munchkin.  

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 

Stamps: Fox and Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red classic ink

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Rich Razzelberry, Very Vanilla card stock and Sweet and Sour Specialty DSP

Accessories: 2 3/8" XL Scalloped Circle Punch, 1 3/4" XL Circle punch, 1 3/8" X 5/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Heart-to-Heart XL punch, Scalloped Trim Border punch and Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folder

Non-SU! Accessories: shiny pink ribbon and pink jewels

Thanks for stopping by today! 
Have a great day! :)

Three Little Birds

Anyone out there familiar with that Bob Marley song? After I added the title to this post, I think it's safe to say that I will have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Sing along if you know it... 

"Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright. Rise up this mornin', Smiled at the risin' sun. Three little birds, Pitch by my doorstep. Singing sweet songs, of melodies pure and true. This is my message to you-hoo-hoo..."  Yup, stuck in my head now, (especially the last part). HaHa!  :) 

I made this card for this week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts. The theme of the challenge was to use buttons to create a clean and simple card. After seeing the picture below, that was posted on their page, I had NO idea what I was going to make. I just knew that it was going to have a lot of RED on it. That was my inspiration.

I pulled out my Summer Picnic DSP (retired) because it has a lot Real Red throughout the designs. I wanted something with round shapes to play off of the whole "button theme". I pulled out some of my prized (retired) Real Red Corduroy buttons for this one as well. I get a little nervous using them because I know I can't get them anymore. Then for the stamps, I picked the owl from the Fox & Friends set for two reasons. First, I just love owls (and giraffes, another random tidbit). Second, his little round eyes went perfectly with the DSP and the buttons.  


I tried to keep reminding myself this was a clean and simple card, so I tried not to add a ton to it. For me, that is easier said then done. I love lots of little details and sometimes find it tough to stop adding on to a card. I threaded some embroidery floss through the buttons before attaching them. I had originally tied three little bows (oh no, I'm humming the song again) but I thought it took away from the buttons too much. I also added a piece of (retired) ribbon and then used the white gel pen to make little dots around the scalloped circle punches. This is as CAS (clean and simple) as I could make it. :) 


Now if I could just get that song out of my head...

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Fox & Friends, Owl Together Now (sentiment, retired)
Paper: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Bashful Blue cardstock, Summer Picnic DSP
Ink: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive classic ink
Accessories: 1 3/8" circle punch, Scaloped Circle punch, Corner Rounder punch, 1 3/8" x 5/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" x 7/8" oval punch, white gel pen, Rel Red Corduroy Buttons (retired), red ribbon from the Jersey ribbon collection (retired) and some white embroidery floss (non-SU!)


Have a great day!
Thanks so much for stopping by,