From Courtney's Closet #21 - an inspiration challenge

Subtitle: The Card That Kicked My Butt!! Ugh. So you thought last week's challenge was difficult?? Well you're gonna just love this week! And sorry Maria - there's purple once again!! :-) I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had a 'very different and fun' outfit to show you, well this is it! I love the funky stuff they have at Target for little girls, and I couldn't resist this. Daddy thinks it's a bit loud for Courtney, but I think it's just great! However... trying to copy it onto a card... not easy! So now you know I don't cheat - I could have very easily just given up and picked something else from the closet... but I was determined to use this one! And actually, after lots of struggle, I rather like how the card turned out! I used my Cuttlebug to cut out a bunch of flowers in the cardstocks I chose to match Courtney's pants, and then just randomly placed them on a black panel. Courtney's shirt has a cute little bird, but I felt like using an owl - I realized the other day that although I *love* the latest Stampin' Up catalog, I don't think I've made a single thing with any of my new stamps since the catalog came out!!! That's just wrong. So tonight I wanted to right that wrong just a bit. :-) Although - as I was coloring this owl, in my whacky colors, I kept thinking of Just Johanna's "odd bird planet" - because this owl is one odd little bird for sure!!! You can't really tell, but he's cut out and popped up on dimensionals, and I also added a little shimmer to his belly and closed eyelid with a Spica glitter pen. I thought "whoo-la-la" was a fitting sentiment for this wild and crazy card! So what do you think? Are you up for this challenge?? Or are you going to run and hide and pretend you never saw this week's post? :-) If you do give it a go, be sure to report back here and let me know about it! And if you post to Splitcoast, please use keyword FCCC.
Last week I thought I picked something super easy for you - purple and cupcakes are two of my favorite things!! But it proved to be more of a challenge than expected for some - although I truly would not guess that from looking at these fantastic creations! First up, one of my two new players - Berenice. I'm so excited she played, her little cupcake is so cute and sweet!The second newbie this week is the niece of my most faithful player, Sue! She gave a disclaimer that she's not a "professional" stamper - as if ANY of us are!! We're all here to have fun, Katie! And it's so fun having you join us with this super cute card!And next is Katie's Aunt Susie - my girl Sue is so stinkin' creative, look what she came up with this week!! I love how she put a cupcake in that crabby lady's hand instead of a coffee cup. Too funny!Kathryn's card this week is so sweet and cute - I just love that Kim Hughes cupcake!This week's over-achiever award goes to Jenn, who made not one but TWO cupcake cards! She's too critical of them on her blog (aren't we always our own worst critic?), I think they are wonderful! I love how she used the little cupcake to make the letters on the first card, so clever! And the second card is just completely yummy!Diane got to play this week!! Yay!! I missed her. And I love what she came up with! I am seriously in love with that new SU Top Note die, but am trying to resist the urge to buy it... but boy is Diane making it difficult!! LOVE how she Cuttlebugged on top of it!My favorite misplaced in Oklahoma but 100% Texan gal, Megan, got to play again too, and created this beauty!Anita is having a blast with her new Big Shot, and put it to great use on this fun and vibrant card:Anita's daughter Katie got to play again too, I just love the cupcake image she chose for her sweet card:I *LOVE* this adorable gift card holder that Karen came up with this week! The fun colors of the cupcakes, the glitter and crystal lacquer, all on my beloved Kraft background - just too cute!But this week I have to give top honors to Maria - her card is soooo cute, I love how she used the printed paper on the cupcake top, and the pink ribbon - and since she claims purple is a struggle for her, I have to give her props for fighting her way through it and coming up with this sweet card! Maria, email me your address at stampinlibby at gmail dot com and I'll put a little something in the mail to you!Thanks everyone for playing, your creations this week were fantastic! And thanks everyone else for popping in the take a look!

• Stamps: Owl Together Now from SU
• Paper: Orchid Opulence, Purely Pomegranate, Bashful Blue, Taken with Teal, Basic Gray, Basic Black, white
• Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Copic markers for coloring
• Accessories: Cuttlebug and flower dies, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, white gel pen, black Glaze pen, Spica glitter pen, metallic purple brads from my stash

And since you all don't seem to mind when I indulge myself... I can't help but share some more cute photos this week!!!! Here's my sweetie, standing up like such a big girl!Sweet as can be...What a happy girl!And my favorite of them all...*smile*