CCEE Birds and Bees and Hot Air Ballooning photos

Wow, it's been so long since I've written a blog post, I'm hoping I remember how. I just got home after 8 days of camping, and I got to go hot air ballooning over Lake Tahoe. I'll share some photos with you in a bit.

It's a new month, and that means a new challenge host for our CCEE (Cheers and Challenges Eager Eight- a group of eight friends that have been challenging each other for over 2 years) group. This month Cindy Motherway is our challenge hostess. I admit a bit of trepidation when she's in charge, cause she likes to be very creative. And sometimes we really have to step out of our boxes. But this month she's been pretty easy on us, and at the same time, pretty creative too. This week we had to make a card with Birds and Bees on it. No problemo...I have many direction choices I could have taken with that one.

I chose this sweet Whiff of Joy image called Willow with Strawberry Basket. I thought it would be charming to add the Whiff of Joy Fall Grass image, and a little bird from the Hero Arts Sparkle Clear: Hello Birdie set. The images were colored with copics.

I added some Kaisercraft Curls Wood flourishes to the bg, some gorgeous Ivory Silk Ribbon (May Arts), and a sweet little bee charm to complete my requirement. I'm sorry, but I don't remember where I got the bee from. Finally, I added a touch of Ultrafine Transparent Glitter with my trusty Quickie Glue Pen. The yummy decorative paper is Vagabond by Kaisercraft.

Too complete the card, I sewed around the edges and Ink distressed them with Frayed Burlap (Ranger Distress Ink).

We'd love it if you'd play along!! All you have to do is head on over to the CCEE Stamper's Blog for the details, and of course to see what the other gals have come up with this week.

Stamps: Willow and Strawberry Basket and Fall Grass (Whiff of Joy), Hello Birdie (Hero Arts)
Paper: Island Mist Dark (Prismatics), Neenah Solar and Natural White, Vagabond dp (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Frayed Burlap (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Copics, Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Glitter (JudiKins), Quickie Glue Pen, Wood Flourishes (Kaisercraft), Ivory Silk Ribbon (May Arts), Bee Charm, Dimensional Tape, Sewing Machine

Now for the hot air balloon photos. They are all unedited. The colors are exactly as we saw them. It just depended on the sun's location. You can click on the photos for a better view.

First of all, the sunrise as we were leaving the dock:

The four brave souls: My daughter, me, nephew and son

Looking up underneath the balloon right before it landed on the boat to pick us up. (we were the second group to go. The basket holds 12 passengers)

One of the gorgeous views we had of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake from the balloon:

The balloon's reflection in the water as they were airing it up: (the white specs in the photo are shells on the lake floor. The water is that clear.)

The boat where they air up the balloon, launch it, and deflate it from:

Looking straight up inside the balloon as they air it up:

I have many, many photos of our ballooning experience (airing it up, taking it down, and gorgeous scenery), but I won't bore you with all of them. These were some of my favorites. If you ever have the opportunity to hot air balloon over Lake Tahoe, CA, I highly recommend it. This was my second flight (I went up 7 years ago with my son), and I'd do it again in a second.

Happy Stamping my friends!!!