CCEE2005 International Hot Air Balloon Week

Lynn finished up her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by telling us that this is International Hot Air Balloon Week.  She asked us to fill the skies on our cards with bright and colorful hot air balloons.

As I probably have mentioned before, a ride in a hot air balloon is something that I have checked off my bucket list.  My late husband's 50th birthday gift to me was a ride in a hot air balloon.  It was perfectly delightful.  So I really enjoyed making my challenge card for this week.

I have used these hot air balloon dies from Cheery Lynn Designs many times in the past.  I paired them with a Karen Burniston Train Pivot Panel die, turned vertically so as to add the three balloons on the inside of the card.

Be sure to check out CCEE Stampers blog for some more high-flying fun!

My Menagerie

I have been having so much fun with the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up die this week.  I have made a menagerie of animals with it.  The latest one is this cute little mouse.

In addition to this mouse, I have made a turtle, a lightning bug, a bubble bee and a peacock.  This may not be the end of my animal farm, but I will try to contain myself.

Just know that these are not the last cards I will be making with this wonderful die!

CCEE2004 - Ice, Ice, Baby, Ice, Ice

"Baby, it's cold outside!"  That's what Lynn told us this week.  She asked the CCEE Stampers to show off their icy creations -- adding glitter or shine to make some shimmery winter beauties.  I live in Florida, and we don't often see ice outside -- but I did my best with this challenge.

Actually, I enjoyed making an icy card.  I used a fun die -- the Lawn Fawn Magic Picture Changer to show off this cute little Mama Elephant penguin who is learning to ice skate.  As you can see by the second photo, he's having a little trouble staying up on his skates.

It may be a bit difficult to see, but I added some Stickles to the icicles at the top of the card and some Wink of Stella to the ice flow he's skating on.

Be sure to check out some more wintery cards at the CCEE Stampers blog.

CCEE2003 - Book Publishers Day

This week Lynn asked the CCEE Stampers to create a card which features characters, a theme, or a quote from one of our favorite books!  Bonus points if it is on the current best sellers list.  My favorite series of books is not on the current best sellers list (no bonus points for me), but I LOVE the Lord of the Rings trilogy (along with The Hobbit), having read them several times.

Last year I bought a Divinity Designs (Our Daily Bread Designs) diorama die at a stamp show.  It took me from June until December to use it, but I've used it more than once since then.  This was the first card I made with it.  You can see Gandalph, Frodo, and the other hobbits inside my diorama.

My friend knows I love Lord of the Rings and gave me a new book for Christmas.  So, as a bonus, I decided to make a bookmark to use while I'm reading this book.  It looks pretty interesting!

Check out the reading list of the rest of the team over on the CCEE Stampers blog.

Totem Pole

I saw a double Surprise Ball Pop-Up card made by fellow Karen Burniston DT member Karen Aiken earlier in the month, and the first thing I thought of was TOTEM POLE.   I was curious as to whether I could make a totem pole using this die set.  Turns out I could.  I've had this feather patterned paper for a while and decided to use it on my card.  There's just a little hint of the paper on the front.

But, when you open the card, there's lots more of it.

Here's a close-up of the totem pole.

My card today was made to celebrate the Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony, which takes place five days after the first full moon in January -- which is today.  If you would like to read about this annual ceremony, you can get lots of information here.  But, as it turns out, the Iroquois, who were native to New York State, did not have totem poles -- just the tribes in the Northwest Pacific area.  So we all learned something new today!

CCEE2002 - Law Enforcement Appreciation Day

Lynn continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week and tells us that, in the United States, January 9 is a day set aside to celebrate police officers by thanking them for their public service and showing them respect.  Let's help out by creating a card to thank these dedicated servants.  To spread the word, she encouraged us to post our cards on all of our social media accounts.

The town I live in has a program sponsored by the police department to place lock boxes by the front doors of its senior citizens.  These boxes contain a key to the front door to make it easier for the police to make emergency well-checks of its citizens who live alone and may be in trouble.  (Note that the police are the only ones with the combination to these boxes.  I don't even know the combination to the box by my door.)  Each Christmas they hold a Christmas party for Teri's Kids (the seniors who participate in this program).  I made this card to give to Teri (the head of the program) at the party to share with her fellow police officers.  I put a "Merry Christmas" sentiment inside.   It is a waterfall card made with some stickers (no police stamps in my inventory of stamps) and the Karen Burniston Frame Pull Pop-Up die.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more cards of appreciation for our police officers.

Karen Burniston Designer Challenge - Hearts

It's time again for the Karen Burniston Designer Challenge -- the first one of 2020.  This month's challenge is getting ready for Valentine's Day -- the theme is "Hearts."  I had made a Christmas card using the Surprise Ball Pop-Up and some of the EZ Lights, so I thought I would give Valentine's Day a try.  I'm happy to say that, even with a little hiccup, it worked.  The cute little girl on the front is from Paper Nest Dolls.  See her heart-shaped lollipop?

The hiccup occurred because, unlike some card makers who plan out their cards to the last detail before the first piece of cardstock is cut, I am of the "make it up as you go along" school.  I thought I would make an A2 size card -- not realizing that, when the ball is flat inside the card, it would extend beyond the sides of an A2 card.  After I had made my ball, including putting the EZ Lights on the inside, and mounted it on the card base, I realized my mistake.  Not wanting to start from scratch again, I cut the ball with the patterned paper layer off the base and mounted it to a wider card base.  Of course, then the "frame area" was wider than I would have liked; so I added the Border Blends down the side -- both inside and out.

It almost looks like I planned it that way!  When you push the little heart, the lights show through the cut-out hearts.

As many people have said in the past -- there is no such thing as a mistake in card-making, only an opportunity to create!  Here's a little video showing how the card works.

When you turn the lights out, here's how it looks.

CCEE2001 - It's June in January

Lynn starts off the new year as hostess for the CCEE Stampers.  For her first challenge of the year she reminded us that some of our fans may not realize that two of our CCEE Stampers Design Team members are living down under in Australia.  Their seasons are the exact opposite of ours.  They have always gone with the flow and designed cards to conform to our climate.  Lynn wants us to turn the tables this week and make some summery cards they can put to use right now.  Bring on the heat!

One of my favorite techniques is the Triple Stamping technique, and that's what I used for my "June in January" card.

To see how the rest of the team handled this challenge, visit the CCEE Stampers blog.

Happy New Year!!!

I want to wish all my friends a very Happy New Year!  Here we are at the beginning of a new year and a new decade -- where has the time gone?

To celebrate the new year I made a pop-up card using the Karen Burniston Surprise Ball Pop-Up and some fun My Favorite Things stamps.

When you open the card, up pops the ball -- complete with fireworks and champagne and/or wine glasses.

Here's a close-up of the ball so you can see the wine glasses a little better.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and again I wish you all a wonderful and productive new year!