It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

Hi, everyone! Happy Monday... or is that an oxymoron?

Regardless, it's a college-basketball-final-game Monday! I really don't have a horse in this race, so I'm hoping for a closer game than the Saturday games.

Three Things and a Story

It was an absolutely gorgeous day here. Temps in the 70s, nothing but sunshine and blue skies, and a light breeze. Let's just say it was a perfect afternoon for a walk on the beach.

So, today I am grateful for:

• skies so clear it seems possible to see forever,
• a fabulous whole-family-project sand castle, and
• pups who love a leisurely stroll with their masters.

As long as I can remember, there's been an elderly gentleman -- LOL, think he's the same age as we are -- who walks along the shoreline with his beloved dog. Every time we see this gentleman and his pup, the pup has a beloved stuffed animal in his mouth. And, we have never, ever seen the doggie put down his toy. So, every trip we hope to catch a glimpse of these pals. Needless to say, seeing them today brought a huge smile to my face.  :)

... No, It's Super Dad!

When deciding what to make today, I started the morning with a challenge blog hop. And, the result is a card that a little one at Nationwide Children's can give to a dad. (Please note, the current challenge at SAS4Kids is to make mom/special female cards. I'm just a little off schedule with this particular card.)

Today's Mojo Monday Sketch was a key inspiration for today's card. When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of a red and white background and a blue field of stars.

Strathmore watercolor paper; Recollections black; Distress Ink barn door red paper
Stampin Up! vellum, heat embossed with Versamark ink and Zing embossing powder
Mama Elephant tiny heroes and Stampin' Up! guy greetings stamp sets, inked in StazOn jet black
Distress Inks salty ocean and fired brick, applied with Ranger blending tool
Prismacolor pencils
SU stripe  decorative mask; Memory Box texture brilliant stencil
Creative Memories circle cutting system; SU owl builder punch (for tiny hearts)
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen; Recollections foam square
 

However, the best laid plans, there are no stars in my stash. But, you know what they say about necessity. So, I went with hearts instead of stars. The blue panel was created by punching stars out of masking paper and inking up this panel. Moreover, my stash doesn't have any patriotic paper. So, the striped background also was inked using a mask from Stampin' Up! I used embossed vellum for the horizontal strip element so that the blue and red/white layers would show through a little bit while adding a little extra oomph behind our little super dad.

Hubby had mixed feelings about this one. He liked the little super hero. However, he didn't think that the sentiment was clear enough. Gotta love his literal view of the world.  :)

In addition to Mojo Monday, I'm linking this up to the following challenges:

• Shopping Our Stash's Something for a Big or the Biggest Boy... since it's intended to be given to a special dad by a little one,
• The Male Room's Magic/Fantasy Challenge, and
• Anything Goes over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog.

Parting Thoughts

The new Flowers or Fantasy Challenge went live this morning over at Cards in Envy. There is a Mom/Special Lady Challenge going on over at Send a Smile 4 Kids. And, there are two days left to play along with the She Began to Fly Challenge at Words 2 Craft By.  :)

Enjoy the game tonight, college hoops fans. It'll be the last one we see for a while. Just wish the tip was a little earlier.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!