Stamptacular Sunday "Spots & Stripes" Challenge

This week’s challenge is going to be so much fun!  We can’t wait to see what you create!

This week's challenge is a…

“Spots & Stripes!”

For this week's challenge you will create a card or project that includes lots of spots and stripes!  The theme and colors are your choice!  Oh…and don’t forget to STAMP!  After all…we don’t call this the STAMPtacular Sunday Challenge for nothing!      

You will have from now until midnight (EST) February 2^nd, 2013 to complete this challenge and post a DIRECT LINK to your submission into our InLinkz in order to be entered into the drawing for this week's fabulous prize donated by:

STITCHY BEAR

PRIZE:  $10 GIFT CERTIFICATE!

AND

7 KIDS COLLEGE FUND

PRIZE:  $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE!

Holy crapoly! It's 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, and I am just starting my blog post for Sunday morning. What the heck happened to my day? How did it get so late? I had planned on a long blog post, to satisfy my sisters, and I don't know if I can stay awake that long. Oh, who am I trying to kid. Of course, I will stay awake that long. I have to share more pictures of my trip.

Before I start I want to show you how old Gary and I are now. We were given a new Camaro convertible at the airport to drive. Well, not given exactly, it certainly wasn't free. But the young girl thought we would love to tool around in it. Not. so. much. I couldn't have the top down in the daytime, or I would have burned to a crisp. And it was too cool to have it down at night. That left what? Useless. And the top was so low that Gary got a neck and backache trying to see through the windshield. (Of course, it would have helped if he had found the button to lower the seat, but don't tell him I said that.) And every time I got in or out of that car, I really fussed about it. OK, I bitched. There. Are you satisfied? I admitted it. It was horribly difficult to maneuver my way in & out. I'm just too old. Welllllllll, after two days of driving the da** thing, Gary took it back and got a minivan instead. Hilarious, huh? Two old fogies driving around in a minivan. Perfect. And so it was. Much better being up high to see the sights than driving along with my butt dragging on the ground. Just thought you might like to know. Or not.

OK, on our last episode I had just landed us on the Big Island of Hawaii. And it is big. Compared to the other Hawaiian islands I have visited anyway. It takes a good deal of time to drive around it. There is so much to see, that one cannot possibly take it all in during one week. But we gave it our best shot.

I did not journal this trip. Probably should have, but didn't think of it. And I don't want to hear about my brain, or age, or any other wisecracks. Because I have already told myself all of them. Well, most of them anyway.

But my photographs give me some sense of the order in which we did the touristy things. Although I took photos with our little camera, too, and the dates are really screwed up on those pictures. I don't know why. Perhaps my evil twin did it.

The day after we arrived we had lunch at Bun's Cafe. I had a BBQ pork sandwich with the most delicious bread! I wanted to have fish, but they only had ahi, which I do not care for. So I opted for the pork, which was quite tasty, but the star was that bun!

Then we went to check out a beach, (Kahalu'u), that was supposed to be good for snorkeling. We really didn't like the look of the beach. It looked tough to get into for snorkeling, and there was supposed to be a rip current possible through there, which I didn't want to chance. As it turned out, there were high surf warnings for Hawaii the entire week we were on that island. Bummer.

We headed south to find Big Island Bees. My sister, Merrilyn, loves their honey and requested some in exchange for taking care of you know who, Donovan the Dog. Odd story: she actually wanted us to go to Buzz's Honey, because she didn't get the chance to while she was on Hawaii in October. Apparently dear Buzz has goats. And she wanted me to see them. However, she forgot to mention that. And here's the kicker: she doesn't like Buzz's honey. Just Big Island Bees honey. I give up. And you think I am odd??? (It comes naturally in my family. Sorry, Merril.) Anyway, we were on a very narrow road leading down the side of a steep cliff and finally gave up before we got to the bottom. Silly us. But the address for the place was really confusing, and we thought we would get lost, so we turned around and went back northwards.

North to Greenwell Coffee Farms. We did the little tour, which was quite interesting. They not only raise Kona coffee, but also bananas, macadamia nuts, and several varieties of avocados. And I had no idea that coffee starts out as a "cherry":

Crazy, huh? It was kinda cool to see what they did to actually produce coffee. I now have a better understanding of why it is so expensive. And, apparently, the reason that Kona coffee is so good is due to the ash content of their soil. Needless to say, (so why am I saying it?), we bought several gifts for family members while we were there. But not Merrilyn's honey. (Clearing my throat and running away now.)

Another highlight: we went to lunch the next day to the Four Seasons. Expensive. But it was so worth it--our lunch was fantabulous, and the view was, too. We had some of the best guacamole I have ever eaten--due to the yummy avocados! Those chips were super good, too. They said they added chili powder to them. Here are some shots of our luncheon views. And, that is Gary's drink with an orchid in it. I don't know what he had, but I had a Mai Tai--and a mighty fine one at that.

It's funny. The Four Seasons and the golf course, Hualalai at Ka'upulehu, are an oasis in the middle of a lava field. How bizarre and beautiful:

And, after lunch, we made our way back south to find Big Island Bees. We had actually asked someone how to get there. Imagine that. The place was not thrilling. They have a small museum about honey production, and we saw some bees in a room. Okey dokey. Perhaps Buzz's would have been a better visit. But we got lots of honey there--it is really, really good honey, and we managed to snap photos of the resident lizard. Gecko. Whatev. I lurved him. Apparently he stops by each day, looking for honey?? Isn't he pretty? 

We also visited Kealakekua Bay, where Captain Cook was killed and immortalized with a monument, which happens to be on British soil. I found that interesting. A plot of land on the island of Hawaii that was given to the UK by the Hawaiian princess, Likelike. We did not hike out to see the monument, but we did see the bay and the heiau, where Cook performed the first Hawaiian Christian service for a funeral of one of his men. I told Gary that I just felt such sadness while we were there--overwhelming sadness. Then I read that the heiau had been used for human sacrifices. I needed to leave the area. Other people were sunbathing and there were some snorkelers. I don't think I could have done either. But I did take some photos of the heiau and the bay. The monument is somewhere at the top of the cliff in the first photo:

And this last photo is a different view of the bay. After we left the park we went looking for a small beach, (which we actually found, much to my amazement), that is to the left side of the bay. It made me feel even sadder, so we got in the car and drove back to the hotel. Later we had dinner at Ultimate Burger, which had Big Island beef--grass-fed and hormone free. It was delish!

Good grief, it is now 1:30 a.m. on Sunday and I haven't even started my card description. Guess I'd best get to that immediately, if not sooner. (How could there be anything sooner than immediately? That's another goofy saying, don't you think?)

Okey dokey. For my image I chose The Paper Shelter Snow Angel. And my sentiment is from Create with TLC. Both were printed on Cryogen CS. I chose an easel design, just for grins and giggles. My DP is from the Basic Grey Aspen Frost collection, and I paired it with Stampin' Up CS.

I colored this little cutie with Copics: W1, YG61, YG63, YG91, YG93, YG95, E000, E00, E11, E21, E25, E29, R20, R22, R24, R27, R29, R83, R89, BG10, BG11, BG70, BG72. I accented her with a white gel pen, added Flower Soft Polar White to the snow and Stickles to the sentiment.

She was die-cut with a Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Circle die. The I sponged VersaMagic chalk ink around the edges of the scallops. My snowflake card stop was made with Cheery Lynn Snowflakes #4 & #6 and Whimsy Winter's Jewel 1 dies. I added a SU rhinestone brad to the center of the snowflake. Another fairly simple card for me. What's up with that, anyway?

Well, it's almost 2:30 a.m. and I am going to turn into a wicked witch if I don't get myself to bed. Sorry the post was so long. And I have so much more to say--oh, stop your groaning. You don't have to read it all, you know! Just skip to the juicy stuff. What? There wasn't any? Tough. Maybe next time.

Until then, have a great week. And let's see what your spots and stripes look like. Don't forget to catch the rest of the DT cards--they're fab as always.