Occasions Blog Hop adventure

The Llamas are hopping again, and we're so happy you've joined us. You may have arrived here from Birds of a Heather (isn't that the cutest name?) or you may be looking for my ColourQ challenge card (it's the second one).  Either way, if you have time to hop through, you'll find links at the bottom of this post to take you forward to Kath's All That Scrap or back to the Llama Hop home page, and I think you'll find it worth your time.

My husband and I enjoy kite-flying, and many of our friends are kite flyers, so when I saw the preview of Send Me Soaring, I knew that I would have to have it, and announced early that I'd use it for this hop.  Wouldn't you know, when it arrived, I was completely blank for ideas.  I finally started earlier this week by opening my Occasions mini catalog to page 37 and using the Stampin' Up!® sample for inspiration.  I struggled with this card, but when I looked at it the next day, I loved it, and it's my favorite of the three:

stamp set - Send Me Soaring; ink - Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Whisper White craft; card stock - Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo; designer series paper - Twitterpated; Big Shot with Adorning Accents embossing folder; stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

The next card is something different.  I don't know why I thought of using the Paper Doily as a background element for kites, but I think it works.  I knew I wanted each kite a different color, so ColourQ challenge #118 gave me a palette to work with.  My favorite element is the Netting background stamp - it adds texture without overwhelming the other elements.  I don't think this stamp is getting enough ink & paper exposure yet.  I think I probably should have made the vertical strip a little longer so the kites could have tails:

stamp sets - Send Me Soaring, Netting; ink - Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral; card stock - Pool Party, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral; punch - Curly Label; Big Shot with Paper Doily Sizzlit; Whisper White baker's twine, stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

Years ago, my parents and some of their friends owned a hot-air balloon; my father had his pilot's license, and we spent many fun-filled hours chasing it around the countryside.  The Up, Up, and Away stamp set from the current Idea Book & Catalog was another of those sets I knew immediately I would have to have.  When I saw Send Me Soaring, I was just sure the two sets would work together so that was my inspiration for this card:

stamp sets - Send Me Soaring and Up, Up, and Away; ink - Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White craft; card stock - Naturals White, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry; specialty designer series paper - Flirtatious; stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

The colors look a little faded or "off" from my unfortunate choice of background.  I'll try to remember to stick with the lighter-colored backgrounds in the future. :)  When I showed all the cards to Tom, this one was his favorite.

I hope you've been inspired to do some soaring of your own.  Please click below to hop on to Kath's blog.

If you'd like to start at the beginning, or would like to make sure you've seen all the wonderful llama blogs, check in at the home page.