It’s a Jungle Out There

So are you thinking about African Safaris or the television show Monk? I hate that this is the last season of Monk. I just started watching it late last year! Oh well, my hubby works at the library and he can bring home all the past seasons on DVD for me. Today’s challenge at 365 Cards was to make a card with a jungle theme.

I had purchased these Changito stamps after a class using these cute monkeys. I stamped and colored the image in. I did stamp a leafy branch that is just peeking out of the leafy ribbon. Isn’t that wonderful May Arts ribbon? I have that in a few colors. The brown panel was run through the CB for texture. If you can't see it very well, click on the image for a larger view. I haven’t stamped an inside sentiment yet as I could use this card for a few different occasions. The green base card is made with Bazzill cardstock.

For all you Monk fans, it is Friday night and there is a new episode tonight with a voodoo doll theme.

My Sew Wild Blue Sketch

This is my second card of the day. This time I combined four different challenges. I began with the sketch challenge by rainy and added fauux stitching by bevmom, blue embellishments by sgtstamper, and finally a wild animal by pickletree.

I began with flipping the sketch on its side as the elements seemed to work better. I looked through the few animal stamps that I have and decided that Changito the monkey seemed more wild than my little hedgehogs :) I colored him in using my copics. In wanting to add the blue embellishments (i have blue brads, buttons and ribbon) I choose the paper by Best Creation for the swirls that resembled the coffee steam. The final element was the faux stitching as I don’t own one of those Janome mini machines. If you look closely, the ribbon I choose looks like it has brown stitching on it also.

And now for a life lesson…when transporting kayaks, be sure you have at least two tie-down straps to secure them on top of your vehicle. I was taking my son just a few miles down the road to launch and we could only find one tie strap. So we used bungee cords as additional holds. They hold but not as well as the orange straps. We almost lost one on US 1. It was seriously slipping off the back corner of my Trailblazer! After re-positioning it we continued on and reached the launch site. Once the boys were on their way, I called my oldest who had the other straps in his car and ordered him to bring one home ASAP. I am now waiting on the call to pick them up.

One week to go...what's a girl to do?

I have one more week to get through before my trip to Savannah. What to do, what to do. I surfed the net and notice that two of the sites I frequent are both having challenges. The first, Stamp Shack has a 10 day window to upload your creations, the second, Splitcoast Stampers only has a two day window to upload. So I hung out at SCS and was able to do 6 of the challenges as they were happening. At SCS, you only have a 45 minute window to complete your card. It is all on your honor, but I stick to it as it really makes your creativity flow.

The first challenge began Friday night when Jenn Balcer hosted a surprise challenge to kick off the Mini Vegas stamping weekend. Her challenge was to Bellie up to the Buffet. We had to use at least three different embellishments on our card. Here is what I submitted:

It was a card I showed a few weeks ago we made at class. I restamped the image, this time coloring in with copics. I added mini buttons on the pj's and stickles to the coffee steam. I myself do not drink hot coffee or tea for that matter, but from the many comments I had on this card, the sentiment rings true to many!

Monkey'in Around today

At last, Saturday! I had hoped to sleep in a bit today but my body still woke up early. By 8:00 am I grabbed my book and read for an hour. After doing a few chores around the house, I went to a class at the LSS in the afternoon. The insructor was Pat - Sentiments Pat for you shack ladies, and I love to take her classes. She packs so many projects and techniques into her classes that the time just flies by. The theme today was using the new Changito stamps by Stampendous. I love this monkey so I had signed up for this right away.


Here are the first two cards. For the birthday card, the image was stamped in versafine and embossed so we could watercolor with markers. Glitter was added to the frosting and a bit of diamond glaze on the stawberry atop the cake. I have a secret to share to get your hand doodling evenly spaced. Pat gave us round plastic canvas coasters and used that as a guide around the circle. Pretty neat huh? For the ballerina card, we stamped the image first in versamark and embossed with white ink. The image was stamped again on a piece of white CS, embossed and colored with chalk for a softer look. The white scalloped felt strips are also by Stampendous. We took two strips of tulle, tied a knot in the middle and then spread it out for a tu-tu effect.

These next two cards were also fun to color. For the soccer card, we used the new EK Success slim punch that has a bubble look. We punched around the edges of the card then put a piece of light brown behind it. The image was stamped and embossed then colored in with watercolor paints by Hero Arts. The second card used watercolor pencils for coloring. Did I mention that Pat must have every medium there is to color with?! I used a multi-liner pen that was a size .05 to hand doodle. I didn't know they made them that tiny. It added just the right touch. Now that I am looking at the card, I see I forgot the stickles in the coffee steam. Oh well, I will add them when I am done here.

This last card was my favorite......

and here is why.....

It is a POP-UP!!! How cool is this? The images were all stamped, embossed and colored with Pearlescent watercolor paints. They shimmer like H2O's but are soo much cheaper. Isn't it adorable? Pat gaves us an extra template for the pop-up so we could make more at home. Didn't I tell you Pat puts a lot into her classes? If you see one you especially like, please leave a quick comment.

I have a Stampin Up workshop tomorrow so I need to check the kits to make sure all pieces and parts are accounted for. I will share those cards with you later this weekend and let you know how it turned out. The ladies attending are all good friends of mine so I expect to have fun.

Ciao