Z is for Zebras

Today is the letter Z.  I could not forget the Zebra for the letter Z.  I have always been fond of zebras.  They are such unique animals with their stripes. 
I like pink zebra prints even more.  Anytime anyone sees zebra prints, they give it to me.  I have all kinds of things in zebra prints.   I even have a snuggie that my mom made me that is zebra.

I found the above picture online and I like to think that these zebras are hugging.  I can dream right?
I can't wait to share my zebra card with you today!

The base of the card is created with Black Licorice Cardstock and a piece of zebra print paper.  I then took a piece of Butter Cream Cardstock and die cut with the Journey rectangles with the piercing element.  I stamped one zebra from the African Safari set with Black Licorice ink just to the left of the center on the Butter Cream rectangle.  I stamped the other zebra on a piece of scrap and detail cut him out.  I adhered him to the card with foam squares.
Before adding this piece to the card, I wrapped Black Licorice Twine around the whole card and tied a bow on the left side.  I then added the zebra piece.
Next, I thread some Black Licorice Journey Twine through a Wooden Accent and then adhered this to the card using a Journey Dot.
I stamped the Happy Hello from Little Big Greetings with Black Licorice ink on Butter Cream paper and cut the sides into banners.  I adhered this to the card.
To finish the card, I added a Fun Day Element to the side.  Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed my take on the A to Z Challenge.  I hope you continue to visit as the month of May will be all about May Flowers. 

Y is for Yellow Daffodils

Y is for yellow daffodils.  There is something about yellow daffodils that makes me happy.  I don't know if it is the color, or the fact that they are flowers?  I just smile when I see these flowers.

 I would love to just run and jump through this field of daffodils.  Wouldn't that be fun?

No other flower scrams spring like the yellow daffodill.  Here is a card I can't help but share.

The base of the card is Lemon Grass Cardstock with a Pool Play cardstock piece on top, slightly smaller.  I stamped the Pool Play cardstock with the Ink Splat ATS and Pool Play ink to create a background.   I tore the bottom of the piece to add texture.
I then took a strip of Lemon Grass Cardstock and ripped it on both sides.  I stamped the grass from the Backyard BBQ stamp set in Lemon Grass ink on Whip Cream Cardstock.  I detail cut this piece out and then adhered it to the strip of Lemon Grass cardstock.
For the flowers, I stamped the Elegant Flower on Whip Cream Cardstock 14 times.  I cut 7 of them using the outside line and 7 using the inside line.  I then curled the edges if the little flowers to create the "cup" of the flower.  I adhered these "cups" to the larger flowers using foam squares.
The stems are strips of Lemon Grass Cardstock and tied piece of Lemon Grass Thread for the leaves.
I placed everything on the card front and then added then added the strip on top.
I stamped the sentiment from Little Big Greetings with Beach Breeze ink.
To finish the card I added a piece of Lemon Grass Thread around the whole card and adding Rainbow Drops to the centers of the flowers.  Enjoy!

X is for Xerus

 X is for Xerus.  What is a Xerus you ask?  It is an African Ground Squirrel.  I know!  I didn't even know there was an animal besides the x-ray fish that started with the letter X. 

This picture I found of the Xerus makes me think that he wants to say something.   Maybe he is telling us to go away?  Their diet is roots, seeds, fruits, pods, grains, insects, small vertebrates and bird eggs.

From what I read, these little creatures can be pets and roam just like the house cat.  You might need to have more than one of these little guys, because they like to live in groups.
An interesting thing about this breed is that mature males like to form their own groups and there can be 19 to 20 individuals in one group. These groups are called bands.
So, I hope you learned about another animal in this great world.  Until I did this challenge I had no idea.
Since I don't have a Xerus stamp, a squirrel stamp will have to do.

The base of the card is Butter Cream cardstock that I stamped with Ink Splat in Pineapple Smoothie ink.  I then die cut a Banner Parade with Journey Basics: Brights Pattern Paper.  I then cut a strip from Hazelnut Blend cardstock.
Next, I die cut a Journey Rectangle with the piercing element out of Butter Cream cardstock.  I stamped the Share Life ATS with Hazelnut Blend ink.  I then sponged Beach Breeze ink around the image, lightly. 
I then die cut a Journey Circle from Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock.  I then stamped with the sentiment from the stamp set Branch Out with Hazelnut Blend ink.  I adhered the circle to the back of the "squirrel" piece and then adhered the whole piece to the card with foam squares.
I finished the card by adding a little color to the leaves of the branch and wrapping Natural Journey Twine around the card and tying it into a bow.  Enjoy!

W is for Whale

W is for whales.  These big beautiful creatures of the sea.  I don't think we understand the size of these creatures until we can get up close and personal, not that I have.

These creatures are beyond amazing to me.  They are so big, but can still get their bodies out of the water like the above picture.  They are a support to other life, by allowing barnacles and sea lice to attach to their skin and live there.

There are over 75 different species of whales in the sea.  The best known whales are the humpback, orca, and blue whales to name a few.  Did you know that whales like to sing?  They do.  They use their singing to communicate with other whales.

Today, I want to share a card that shows off a cute little whale.

The base of the card is Whip Cream cardstock.  I then took the scallop border die from the Border Basics and die cut with Huckleberry Fusion, Blue Lagoon, Beach Ball, Beach Breeze and Pool Play cardstock.  I actually used the negative to create the layers of waves.
I then stamped the whale from the Whale You ATS (Bloom Benefit from the Bloom This Way catalog) with Black Licorice ink on Whip Cream cardstock.  I then used Huckleberry Fusion ink and sponged the whale.  I added him to the card with foam squares.
I didn't have the right sentiment, so I printed the sentiment with my computer and Whip Cream cardstock, cut it into to strips and then cut each of the words apart.  I added the words to the card using foam squares.
To finish the card, I added some Journey Sequins-Blue Skies for bubbles.  Enjoy!

V is for Vegetables

V is for Vegetables.  I love almost all vegetables.  I love them raw, cooked, steamed, etc........ 

I loved teaching my lesson on what the difference between a vegetable and a fruit was to my preschoolers.  I would always try to find a few "weird" looking foods, but the best part was seeing them discover and like eating new fruits and vegetables.  Today I have a card that celebrates my love of vegetables.

The base of the card was created with a piece of Hazelnut Blend cardstock.  I then took the Hexagon Prints and stamped it with Whip Cream ink.  I then distressed the edges of the card with Hazelnut Blend Ink.  Next, I wrapped Natural Journey Twine around the whole card.  I added a Metal Button and Wooden Accent to the  the side.   I then added some splatters of Gold Silk on top.
I then die cut a Journey Circle from Journey Basics: Neutral Pattern Paper.  I distressed the edges of the piece with my scissors and then distressed the edges with Hazelnut Blend ink.
Next, I die cut from Butter Cream cardstock with Journey Circle including the piercing element.  I then stamped the Cornucopia with Black Licorice onto the circle.  I also stamped the sentiment from Many Wishes with Hazelnut Blend ink.
I finished the card by coloring the Cornucopia with Copic Markers.  Enjoy!
....and don't forget to eat your vegetables!!!

U is for Under the Sea

Today is the letter U.   I knew immediately what I would do Under the Sea.  I have always been fascinated by the world that occupies the oceans around us.

Not only is there a whole different plant life, but completely different creatures than what we have on land.   Something I have always liked is the amazing colors that the sea provides.

Today, I made a 6 X 6 scrapbook page.

The base of the page is Denim Days and Blue Lagoon Cardstock.  

To make the sand, I cut two piece of Oatmeal Cookie cardstock and ripped the top off and used Oatmeal Cookie Ink to create texture.

I then ripped a piece of Rock Candy cardstock to create a rock and used Rock Candy Ink to add texture as well.

I then used Journey Circles and Whip Cream cardstock to create the bubbles.  I distressed the edges of the "bubbles" with Beach Breeze ink.

I then stamped the sea creatures from the Sea Friends stamp set.  The crab was stamped with Candy Apple ink on Oatmeal Cookie cardstock.  The coral is stamped with Limeade Splash ink on Limeade Splash cardstock.  The starfish was stamped with Hazelnut Blend ink on Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock.  The turtle was stamped with Kiwi Slice ink on Pool Play cardstock.  The fish were stamped with Lemon Drop ink on Whip Cream Cardstock.  Of course all of these pieces were detail cut out.

I finished the page by adding some rhinestones for more bubbles, Journey Sequins-Blue Skies on the turtle's shell and a little drop of Journey Glaze on the fish eyes.  Enjoy!

T is for Trees

T is for Trees!  Trees have always amazed me.  They stand so tall and can resist the wind because of their roots, which you can not see.

This past November, we took a road trip and on the road trip we stopped at the Muir Woods.  There was a trail that you followed that took you through these amazing redwoods.

Trees are beautiful and my card today is a reflection of their seasonal changes.

The card base is created from Whip Cream Cardstock and then a slightly smaller piece of Pool Play cardstock.  On a strip of Whip Cream cardstock, measuring 5 1/2 x 2 1/4, I stamped the four trees everywhere from the Nature Trees set in Dark Roast ink.

I then took the circle stamp from the same set and stamped the colors to the trees.  I stamped two trees with Limeade Splash, one with full color and one stamped off first.  I then stamped one tree with Orange Creamcicle and the last with Beach Breeze ink.

I then added seasonal touches to the trees.  On the first tree I added Journey Sequins-Pink World for Spring.  I added some Gold silk to the autumn tree.  Lastly, I added Journey Sparkle Cuts to the winter tree.

I die cut a piece of Beach Breeze Cardstock with the scallop die from Border Basics.  I added added it to the tree strip and added this whole piece to the card using foam squares.  

I finished the card by wrapping Whip Cream Thread around the card and tying a bow on top of the Wooden Accent.  I stamped the sentiment from Greeting Trends with Beach Breeze ink on Whip Cream Cardstock and cut a banner on the left side.  Enjoy!

S is for Snow

S is for Snow.   I love snow.  I love the white, cold, blanket that covers everything in the area.

I love the look snow gives to a space in nature.  Something about snow, makes me feel a sense of newness.  It is hard to believe that all that white stuff is made from individual snowflakes that are all completely unique.

Just like we are created different, snowflakes are each different from the next.  This reminds me of how God created us each different.  Can you imagine if God had created us all the same?  It would be a pretty boring world, don't you think?
FYI:  Let me say that I in Southern California where we do not get snow.  I love snow, but I often wonder if my love for snow would be different if I lived some place where it does snow a lot.

The base of the card is Pool Play Cardstock.  I started the card by stamping the three different sizes of snowflakes from the Snow Burst stamp set with Beach Breeze ink.  I then took Whip Cream Cardstock and a sponge and swirled a light layer of the ink over the card to soften the look.
I die cut the Doily from Vellum paper, cut in half and attached to the top half of the card.
I then die cut the irregular scallop from the Border Basics set in Lavender Fusion cardstock and attached this to the middle of the card.  I also cut a strip of Winter Fresh pattern paper, cut one side into a banner and attached it to the card.
I wrapped Whip Cream Thread around the card several times.  Then I created a fluffy bow and tied it on to the card with Whip Cream Thread .
I then took Winter Fred and stamped with River Stone, the snowman on Whip Cream Cardstock and then again on Orange Creamcicle Cardstock for the carrot nose.  I then stamped the Winter Fred with Hazelnut Blend ink on Pool Play Cardstock for the branch arms and again with Lavendar Fusion ink on Pool Play Cardstock for the scarf.  Lastly, I stamped the hat with Black Licorice ink on Whip Cream Cardstock.  I colored the strip on the hat with colored pencils.  I paper pieced him together and used foam squares to attach it.
To finish the card, I colored the eyes, mouth and buttons with a Sharpie to make them black and added some Sparkle Drops randomly around the image.  Enjoy!

R is for Rainbow

The letter R is for Rainbows.  Not only are rainbows beautiful after a period of gloom and rain, but they are also an important promise between God and His people.

The rainbow is a sign from God, that he will never flood the earth.  What a great promise!
I love to look for the rainbow after a rain because they are beautiful.  They also remind me of the promise.
Let me share today's card.

The base of the card is Pool Play Cardstock.  I then cut a piece slightly smaller and used the Above the Clouds embossing folder.  I then took the Whip Cream ink and swirled it over the top of the clouds to bring them out a little more.
Then I die cut a cloud from the Cloud Dreams die set in Whip Cream Cardstock.  I distressed the edges of the cloud with Beach Breeze ink.  I stamped the sentiment from Banner Wishes with Beach Breeze ink.
I then attached a piece of Candy Apple Satin Ribbon, Tangerine Fusion Gingham Ribbon, Pineapple Smoothie Gingham Ribbon, Catalina Splash Satin Ribbon, and some others to the back of the cloud.  I then attached the cloud to the card with foam squares.
To finish the card, I added some Journey Sequins-Blue Skies with Journey Glaze.  Enjoy!

Q is for Quail

Today is the letter Q.   There are not many things that come from the earth that start with the letter Q.  The only thing I could think of was the California Quail.

The male is actually the one with the thicker and darker plume on his head.  The plume on his head looks like one feather, but it is actually a cluster of 6 feathers.
The female is more of one color, but quails are interesting creatures.  The quail can go without water and can survive by getting it's water from the insects and vegetation.  The quails live in groups and most of the time all the adults take the roll of parent; talk about it takes a village to raise a child. Quails are pretty cool birds.  They are also the state bird of California.
The card I created was a challenge.  Fun Stampers Journey does not sell a quail stamp, so I had to improvise.  Here it goes.....

The card base was created with Buttercream Cardstock and a piece of Journey Basics: Neutrals.  I then die cut from Cocoa Powder cardstock with the Border Basics, scallop die.  I then cut a strip of Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock and attached it to the top of the scallop strip.  I adhered this whole piece to the card.  I stamped the sentiment from the Greet and Shout set with Cocoa Powder ink.
I then die cut a Journey Oval from Butter Cream Cardstock and distressed the piece with Cocoa Powder ink.  I then wrapped a piece of Natural Journey Twine around the whole card and tied a bow.
To make the quail, I first took the bird from the Bird Tweet set and inked it with Hazelnut Blend and then took the River Stone ink and sponged it to the areas of the bird above.  I then took a sharpie and added the black to the eye area.  I added an eye back in with a white pen.
The plume was made from half of the heart stamp from the Enjoy Coffee set, in Black Licorice ink.  I detail cut half the heart out and adhered it to the top of the bird. 
To finish the card, I added the bird to the card with foam squares.  Enjoy!

P is for Plumeria

P is for Plumeria.  My favorite flower in the world.  When I was in Hawaii, I was in love because they have plumeria's growing everywhere and in all different colors.

Pink is my favorite color and these pink plumerias are gorgeous!  They take me back to the wonderful trip I had to Hawaii in 2009.  As I write this blog post, I am imagining myself sitting on the beach, with one of these on my ear, listening to the waves.

Ok, back to reality.  Today, I made a more papercrafting project.  I took the Fun Stampers Journey Flower Layers Die and made a hair accessory.  Here is the flower laying on the table.

Here the flower in my hair. 

I die cut a Flower Layer flower from the die set with Whip Cream Cardstock and the leaves with Limeade Splash cardstock.  I colored the inside of the flower with Copic markers.
I then took the flower and cut the petals a little deeper.  Then I took the petals and overlapped them slightly and glued them, to form the cone shape of the flower. 
Before I assembled the flower hair accessory, I covered the flower and the leaves with a thick layer of Journey Glaze and let dry for a little bit.
When I came back, I curled the petals a little bit more.  I then added the leaves to the bottom of the flower.
Lastly, I took a crystal topped pin, colored the crystal with Lemon Drop ink and poked it through the center of the flower.  This became the hair pin part.  Enjoy!

O is for Owls

Today I want to share my love of owls.  I think owls are very interesting creatures.  They have big bright eyes and are night lovers.  I think that I would be very happy as an owl.

When I think of owls, I think of cute little creatures that I use in my classroom.    I use OWL's to stand for Outstanding, Wonderful Learners.  I like to call my kids OWL's because it is a positive encouragement.  I also like to decorate my classroom with all the cutesy owls.

So, let me share my card.

The base of the card is created with Whip Cream and Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock.  I then took a piece of Whip Cream Cardstock and stamped with the largest brush stroke from the Brush Stroke stamp set, in Beach Breeze Ink.  I stamped the brush stroke, from the bottom to the top of the card.  I adhered this piece to the card base.
I then wrapped Beach Breeze Thread around the card and tied a bow towards the bottom.
I die cut a Journey circle from Whip Cream cardstock and adhered it to the card with foam squares.
I then die cut  the vine two times from the Border Details with Lemon Grass Cardstock.    I adhered these pieces to the card, making sure one overlapped the oval, to make a branch for the owls to stand on..
Next I stamped the large owl and small owl from the Hoo-Ray! stamp set (on sale this month for 30% off) on a scrap piece of Whip Cream Cardstock using Hazelnut Blend ink.  I detail cut them out and added them to the card with foam squares.
I then stamped the flower in Lemon Drop ink on Whip Cream cardstock from the Sweet Today set (also on sale this month for 30% off).  I detail cut the flower out and adhered it to the card.
To finish the card, I added a few Journey Sequins-Blue Skies and some Journey Glaze to the owls eyes and flower center.  Enjoy!

N is for Night Sky

Today is the letter N and I have always loved the Night Sky.  There is something so calming about sitting and staring at all those little twinkling dots.

My favorite time of the day when we go camping is when we all sit around the campfire and talk.  I spend much of this time staring at the stars. 
On one of our trips, they had a discovery night, where they showed us different things in the sky.  They also had a very high powered telescope and we were able to see Jupiter.  It was amazing.  There are so many things in the night sky, but my favorite are the stars.
Today's card is all about my love of the night sky.

The base of the card is Black Licorice, Rock Candy and Denim Days Cardstock.  On the Denim Days cardstock piece, I stamped with Clear Pigment ink and the star from Banner Party, randomly on the piece.  I then took the biggest stylus end on the Bloom Tool and dipped it in the Clear Pigment ink and created the small dots.  I then sprinkled Journey White Embossing Powder over the whole card and shook the excess off.  I then used my Journey Heat Gun to emboss the stars.
When this was done, I added the piece to my card.  I then cut a piece of Black Licorice 2 x 4 1/4 and cut a swirl through the middle.  This created the mountains for the bottom of my card.  Next, I die cut a medium size star from the Star-Dom die set with Black Licorice cardstock.  I cut each of the points off the star and used them to create the trees on the card.
Lastly, I stamped the sentiment from the Star Bright set in Denim Days ink on Whip Cream Cardstock and detail cut the piece out.  I then adhered it to the card using foam squares.  Enjoy!