A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!

July 2, 2018

Celebrations Faux You!

Hello Stamplings!

Happy Canada Day yesterday to all my Canadian friends! And Happy 4th of July Wednesday to all my American friends! And happy birthday today to me! I enjoyed a long weekend of celebrating because we had the twins from Thursday to Sunday. Yippie!

While they were off hiking with Papa, I made this Onefaux:
I did a rare flat screen photo cuz the shinorama on the glossified flowers made my outdoor photos over-exposed and you know what that means: Fuzzy focus, no tan lines, and neighbors calling the police. Wait. What?

I have seen some beautiful faux stained glass works of card art around Blogland, most recently by my talented friend Lisa, so I'm CASEing her today after she brilliantly CASEd Jennifer. I don't have a die cut flower that worked as well as Lisa's, so I chose this pretty "Glorious Gerber Daisies" die from Memory Box. Hopefully, when you click to enlarge the image you can see the stained glass effect I was going for. The petals and leaves are ombre-colored IRL. 

It takes a bit of time to execute this technique which Lisa explains very nicely, but it was fun and I love the result, so I will definitively do again. And, I say, isn't Hammy getting good at the paint schplatters?!

Challenges
 
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Twofaux

For America's birthday card, I used fireworks ... but, of course!
This is called "Embossed Folder Stamping" and it's an EZPZ way to make a QACAS card with faux watercoloring. You just ink the inside raised bits of your embossing folder, spritz liberally with water, place a piece of watercolor paper over it and press it with your hands, a hamster, or a brayer.

You can respritz and do it again if you have leftover ink on your embossing folder. My firework was depleted after one pressing, so I reinked that bit with just red, spritzed, and pressed again for this second "stamping."
This fabulous fireworks embossing folder was a birthday gift from my talented friend Ang, known on both sides of the pond as Mrs. Duck. Thank you, Ang! The Celebrate die cut is from Avery Elle and the decorative tape is from Washi.

Challenges
Grab Our Badge!

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Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* Thank you for the wonderful birthday cards that have been pouring through my happy mail slot for days now and I know there will be more to come. You're the best friends and card pen pals a girl could have! Mwah! I've been so becited and now I'm off to open them!

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! Please let me know you came by so I can be sure and return the flavor!

*Life is too short!

To open the pop-up comment box that let's you jump to the end w/o scrollingClick CTL + Home. Click the Home tab under my blog banner which resets the post. Click Page Down to reach the end of the post. Click Comments and a pop-up box opens. Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

77 comments:

StirYourCreativity said...

Happy birthday Darnell!! Have a blast. Beautiful celebratory card and that stained glass effect

Liz said...

Happy Birthday, Darnell! 🎈🍷🎂🍷🎈

Love the stained glass effect on your first card, very effective. I'll need to check that technique out. Your two patriotic cards are wonderful too. Happy 4th July for Wednesday. xx

Tina Z. said...

Happy birthday Darnell!
and amazing effects on the cards!
hugs xx

kiwimeskreations said...

What a fabutastic card your stained glass window one is - I will womble over to Lisa'a blog and have a look.
I do hope Hammy was not harmed in the pressing of the paper onto the embossing folder..... My Tinker is a bit large for that (He's a cat that weighs about 9lb, with sharp pointy bits too!!)
Love your 4th July cards
So glad to hear you had a wonderful birthday and kept the mailman busy... and a belated greeting from down under too.
Blessings
Maxine

Craftychris said...

Happy Birthday My Friend! Your weekend sounded wonderful. Love your stained glass effect card - the flower is gorgeous against the pink and those splatters are fab! The celebration cards are so cool - I have finally had a go at that technique myself - I bet Hammy is hiding in case you do it again! Have a wonderful day! Hugs xxxxx

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Happy Happy Birthday, Darnel!!!! I wish you a super mega fabulous celebration with your family!! Enjoy your special day!! :D
Amazing glossy inlay on the flowers and love the touch of white splatter!! Great America's birthday cards too, really "explosive" and striking!! :D
Big hugs!

Wendy L said...

Super card, thanks for joining us at MAWTT, xxxx

Stamps and Paper said...

Wishing you a very happy birthday Darnell ...hope you have a lovely day..love the effect of your stained glass card....

Anne

Craft buddy said...

Wow, so many techniques and textures. It's a great combination of cards. I like your sentiment matching the paper, layered over the flower, I will be trying that out myself! Thanks for joining us at Moving Along with the Times x Jessie

Sue said...

Happy Birthday Darnell.

The cards are fab.

Enjoy the celebrations on the 4th. Sue

Redanne said...

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday dear Darnell!!! Now that's got to be better than hearing me sing!

I hope you have THE most wonderful day my friend, I will be thinking of you all day today and hoping that you are. I hope the boys made you some wonderful cards, it must have been lovely having them to visit for a few days!

That is a lovely big bunch of cards you have to open, it just shows how much you are loved.... hope mine arrived, I sent it in plenty of time.....

Your cards today are beautiful, happy 4th July to you and yours. Great big hugs and lots of love, Annie xxx

Christine said...

Happy Birthday my friend - lovely time of the year to have birthdays.
Love the embossed effect on the twofers..... was trying to remember how to do that technique only the other day, well done for reminding me.
xxxx

Lisa T said...

Happy birthday Darnell! I hope you have a fabulous day! Your gerbera card looks really beautiful and isn’t it a great technique, although I agree it does take a little while and strength if you don’t have an electric die cutter lol!! And I love your inclusion of white splatters too, they look so pretty on the pink. It’s a gorgeous card. Thank you so much for the shout out too, that’s so kind of you. Enjoy your day my friend, hope it includes bubbly stuff and cake xx

Aileen said...

Happy Birthday my wonderful friend and I hope you had a wonderful yummy day with lots of cake and lollies and ice cream ( oops I thought I was talking to my granddaughter then) but you can have all those things too. And lots more and massages and presents and holidays and Sven to do you massages ok xxxx Aileen oooops nearly forgot to say I love your cards and your faux glass look is so beautiful, I have to go try that idea soon, you should see my place, been busy setting up for more alcohol drinking, no no, playing, safety zones etc. I also need to try the ink inside the embossing folder idea another I haven't done yetttt. All lovely cards my sweet friend.

Ros Crawford said...

Oh I missed your birthday! So sorry... I'll get on to it now so you can keep celebrating! It's so hot here (for me anyway, I'm not used to it) and my brain is fried! Your cards are fabulous as always and those daisies are stunning... Happy 4th of July to you and yours! Mwah!

Marilyn said...

Happy birthday!! Love your card!
Have a great day!
Marilyn❤️

Heidi MyLittleStampingBlog said...

Both cards are great. The paint splatter is perfect, what a bright lovely pink card! The fireworks is a neat technique I have been meaning to try and you have the nicest ef as a gift from your friend! Have a good day and happy birthday!

Cat Craig said...

Happy Birthday Darnell! Your cards are fabulous. loving the stained glass -- i need to catch up on yt. Your patriotic cards made me smile - I love them.

Michelle W said...

Happy birthday Darnell and thanks for sharing your embossing folder stamped card with us at CAS-ual Fridays!

Pat said...

A very Happy Birthday to you Darnell and glad you had a lovely few days with the twins and hope you have a great day today. I adore your beautiful and bright card using this faux stained glass effect and a brilliant CASEing of Lisa's adorable card, and super spattering in the background too, then your wonderful celebration cards, and what a fabulous folder to use for the stamped EF technique. Wishing you a Happy 4th July for Wednesday too. x

oldpunca said...

Happy Birthday, dear Darnell!

There is always something new on your blog. I'm admiring faux stained glass. Definitly new technique to try out. The stamping with embossing folder is always fun. You never know, how it will look like at the end. :-))) Your fireworks cards are beutiful.
Have a great day!
Hugs,
Sonja

Dana M said...

Happy Birthday Darnell! Beautiful cards, love the stained glass technique and your paint splatters are perfect!

adele holcomb said...

Wishing you a very happy birthday!!! Hope your day is full of good wishes and hugs. :)

Em Louise Fairley said...

Gorgeous cards, Darnell. Happy birthday! xoxo

Nan G said...

Happy Birthday my friend! Your card is in the mail...no really it is...I was late sending. Love the stain glass card. Happy 4th of July to you also. It’s going to be crowded and crazy here this week due to the big race on Saturday night at the Daytona Speedway. Good thing I don’t drive anymore I won’t have to be out amongst them. :)

Bobby said...

Happy Birthday, Darnell. That's a lovely card you made yourself. I'm going to have to get a die that I can do that technique with. Thanks for sharing it with us at Just Us Girls. Your fireworks cards are wonderful and perfect for a celebration of the 4th.

JoAnn said...

Happy, Happy Birthday Darnell. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Love your pretty daisy card with the stained glass effect. Also, your fireworks cards look great too. TFS

Lisa said...

Happy, happy birthday, Darnell!! I hope your day is filled with much love and happiness!!

Your cards are so stunning!! I love the stained glass effect on the first one!! The fireworks cards are so patriotic and fabulous!! Love them all!! Have a great day!! Birthday hugs :)

Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts

Trina P. said...

Happy birthday, Darnell! 🎉🎉🎉 It sounds like it was off to a super start on the weekend! If I remembered correctly, it’s a week long event, isn’t it? Besides, can’t celebrate someone like you for just one day! 😉 And on your birthday, you are so sweet to treat us to not one, but two fantastic cards! Those faux stained glass flowers are beautiful... love the sparkle! Great job with your EF stamped fireworks... so festive and perfect for this celebratory week (happy pre-Fourth of July to you!). Have a fabulous birthday! Enjoy your special day!
Cheers, Trina xx

Susan said...

Hope you had a fabulous birthday, Darnell! Love the cards you did with the fireworks - great use of the embossing folder!! And your stained glass card is so pretty - love the soft ombre orange and green of the stained glass flower against the pink card base.

Brenda in IN said...

Happy Birthday! I'm so glad you were able to spend time with the twins for several days. I love this stained glass card and that die. I went to Lisa's page and oh my gosh, I have that die she used so of course I now have to try that. I love the flower petals you created. Two great fun cards for the 4th. If I try that I will have to use a brayer or my hand since I don't have a hamster! Enjoy your special day and the holiday. Hugs to you.

conil said...

Well, crap! I've done it again...missed the birthday of someone who's important to me. Can you see me grovel...well, I am.
It was wonderful that you could spend time with the boys (all of them) on your special day. And you even managed to share a threefer with us. And what a threefer it is. Love the stained glass look on your beautiful daisies. Fantastic CASE which proves you don't need a giant flower to make it impactful. Fun firework cards...happy to see them there rather in the air. Makes it so much more safe. Both are perfect celebrations of our country's birthday.
Speaking of which, Happy Birthday...your belated card will slip into the mail today.

Carole said...

Oh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Darnell...enjoy all your celebrations and the 4th July too! Your cards are lovely...love the daisies and of course the fireworks...fabulous...a useful folder....and a good technique. Have a really wonderful week my friend xx big hugs xx

OH Babs said...

Dear Darnell today is your birthday hope it is full of CARDS, gifts, ice cream and cake and wonderful memories.
Love the America card. Hope your weather is cooling down - ours is set to begin.
Hugs, Barb

Verna Angerhofer said...

First of all a very Happy Birthday to you. And, I hope you got to have cake and ice cream too. I love the birthday card you made. It is wonderful. And, the Fourth of July cards made with the embossing folder are fantastic too. I might have to give that a try one of these days too. Fireworks is always a must for the Fourth.

nancy littrell said...

You have been a very busy, creative year older girl, my friend. I LOVED your stained glass die cut flowers and thank you for the link to Lisa's technique.

Happy 4th of July, Dolly. Your eb folder stamping turned out beautifully. TFS both our Canadian friends card and our card. Keep having fun and celebrating the holiday week with the family. Hugs....

Happy Birthday to you......

Sue - said...

Happy Birthday Darnell, hope you’ve had a fabulous day! Love the stained glass effect - off to check out the technique now.

Christine Alexander said...

Best birthday wishes Darnell, I know you will be celebrating in style with the whole family :)
Your stained glass flower is so cool, that technique is on my list to try. Have a wonderful 4th of July.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Oh Darnell, what a fun and super festive card, love the explosion of color and details, looks like pressing the image with Hammy worked to perfection, he must be the best helper EVER!!Thank you for sharing with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, hope you play again real soon.
Hugs.

Harriet Skelly said...

Happy birthday Darnell! Glad you have been celebrating over the weekend and having fun! Hugs, Harriet

Jean said...

Sounds like the perfect birthday! Such gorgeous cards! Happy 4th!

Brenda said...

Happy Birthday Auntie!!!! I'm hanging my head in shame as your card is sitting in my mailbox for the mail person to pick up today. Yes, I'm late once again! Dang it!!! June just got away from me so fast. But hopefully it will keep the festivities going for you! lol Love, love, love this beautiful card! The pink and orange is so pretty together. I love the stain glass look you got. It looks great with those beautiful gerber daisies. I too watched JM and hope to try this technique out some day. Hammy is really good with those splatters! Totally in love with the 4th of July cards! That is a cool embossing folder and I love how you inked it up and dressed up these fun and patriotic cards. I must get my folders out and get inky with them again! Happy 4th Auntie!!! Hugs, Brenda

ionabunny said...

Happy Birthday Darnell. Your card will be a little late, cos it's still sitting on my desk LOL. Ah well, take my advice and celebrate all month. Hope you have a wonderful day. Great splatts. Lovely stained glass effect. Awesome fireworks. Hugz

Glittered Paws said...

Happy Birthday and I know you love happy mail. Hope your share with a Hammy. Love your stained glass flower going to have to go check out how to do this. Great 4th of July card.
I’m still working hard in physical therapy to get my rotation motion back. I can do some simple cards but can only work at it for half an hour. Just takes time.

Jenny L said...

Hi Darnell,
Happy Birthday
Hope you have had a great day.
As always your cards are so brilliantly created and very wonderful designs.
Love your faux stained glass technique it looks amazing.
Must look this one up.
I have that die and I love what you have done with it.
Love and big crafty hugs from my house to yours. Jenny L.

Sarah said...

Happy Birthday Darnell. Hope your day has been filled with all the things that you love...and lots of cake!! xx

Heather said...

What a very cool effect with the first card - reminds me of the stained glass cookies we did when was a kid using crushed up lifesavers in a dough outline, lol. So fun! Thanks so much for playing at Sunday Stamps! And Happy Birthday!

Kathleen said...

Two really lovely cards and especially love the stained glass effect, I did zoom in to have a better look.
Super 4th of July cards and fab EF.
Hope that you have had a lovely day.

Kath x

Shelly said...

Happy birthday, my friend!! Hope you have a fabulous day and week! :)
Your cards are all so fun and festive!
Hugs

Donna said...

Stunning cards, like the dimension on them and the stained glass effect is fabulous. Happy, happy birthday!!

Lisa Elton said...

The Happiest of Happy Birthdays to you sweet friend!! Sounds like a wonderful weekend with your boys mixed in with a bit of crafty time. FABulous cards, as they always are. Wishing you an yours a Happy and safe 4th!

Carol L said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed a wonderful weekend with the twins and now it's your turn to celebrate! YAYYYYY Happy Birthday to you my friend, I hope you have a great celebration! I love the flowers on the first card and how beautiful they turned out with the technique used, and the EZPZ cards for the 4th don't look as easy as you make it sound, but they sure look great! live it up and celebrate - you definitely deserve it!!!! Big Birthday Hugs comin' right atcha!

Bonnie said...

Happy, happy birthday my friend! I'm glad it's a good day for you!

Love the faux stain glass flowers! Love that shine and Hammy has perfected the splatters! Your fireworks are perfect for the upcoming holiday! Very pretty in red, white and blue! Happy 4th of July! Enjoy!

Karren said...

Wonderful cards, Darnell! And happy, happy birthday! You are so deserving of all the cards flowing into your mailbox, because of all the happiness you spread around blogland. I think my card might arrive a few days late, but better late than never :)

Helen F. said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~ Darnell!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time with the twins and your cards are simply fabulous, darling! :-)

Pat said...

Love these cards today. Happy, Happy Birthday to my sweet friend. So glad you've had time with the twins- aren't grands the greatest. Hugs to you.

Cheryl W. said...

Awesome cards, all! I especially love the fireworks. Neat technique! A belated happy birthday to you, too. Hope it was a happy, happy day.

Lynette said...

Fabulous cards, Darnell!! I hope you had a super-wonderful birthday!

Kathyk said...

WOW! Splendid makes from you, loving the sizzling colours and the patriotic colours too.

Lovely haul of happy/birthday mail too - hope you had a LOVELY day

Kathyk

Anita in France said...

Hope the rest of your day was wonderful, Darnell ... it probably took you all that time to open the stack of happy mail!! What fantastic celebratory fireworks ... there's such a brilliant sense of energy about them ... they'd be spectacular for a birthday as well as for the 4th of July! LOVE your pink based stained glass daisies ... crisp, delicate, dreamy ... perfect with those tiny splatters (Hammy did a fine job!). LYAMYMA ... IWLTCY! Big hugs & bisous, Anita :)

maria f. said...

Alles, alles gute zum Geburtstag. Hope CA has a wonderful firework display in your honor!!! Just love those red, white and blue beauts and must have a look at the faux stained glass. Very interesting Watson.

Lisa Mensing said...

Great card! Love the fireworks. Thanks for playing along wit CAS-ual Fridays!

Gerrina said...

Oh, oeps, belated birthday congratulations!!!
What a great and festive long weekend it must have been!
Love the flower-stained glass card and your fireworks look great (like it when you get a wow-result with an easy technique....) Enjoy the summerdays! Hugs, Gerrina

JD/ Jill said...

Happy Birthday! Hope you had a very special day. Neat seeing the pic of all those cards that you have received. I would hope that mine was in that pile...but I'm pretty sure it's going to be late...Hugs Jill <--who always seems to be running late. Can I blame it right now on that HOT HOT weather we are currently having? Hope it's cooler your way!

PS. Your cards are wonderful...as always

Leslie Miller said...

Happy birthday yesterday, Darnell! Sorry I'm a day late, but you should be celebrating all month, anyway, right? Your stained glass card has thrown me for a loop today. Haven't seen the technique, but it looks so beautiful and interesting, so I'll be looking up the video. Thanks! Three cards just full of creativity today, in fact. Now I'm thinking I'll have to try the embossing folder watercolor technique, too. I'll bookmark this post and try to remember to come back. Busy times here. We're test driving a new motor home today. Yep, got the vacation bug bad!

Ashwini Rao said...

Belated birthday wishes, Darnell - I hope you had a fabulous day!
Your stained glass card sure is fabulous, the effect is just wow!! Love the pink base with splatters - doesn't distract from those floral beauties and adds just the right amount of oomph. Thank you so much for joining us at Seize the Birthday challenge!

Nora Noll said...

Happy Belated Birthday!! I LOVE your fun red, white and blue cards but your STAINED GLASS CARD JUST FLOORED ME!!! How CLEVER that you did this technique with a daisy? LOVE!!! It looks so cool and would never have thought of something like this. Have a Happy 4th of July tomorrow!!

Linda said...

Lots of love and birthday wishes to you my friend. I'm sorry but my card will be a little late.
Gorgeous cards as always, love the flowers and of course the fireworks look fab. Sending birthday hugs xx

Loll said...

The embossing folder stamping is so fun and easy, isn't it??!! LOVE the results from your star spangled banner ef!

And I love your stained glass flower Dolly! Gorgeous! I just saw this technique a few days ago and am looking forward to giving it a try. You did an amazing job. And I'm loving your splatters! Love, Lolly

Ruth said...

Oh my goodness! I saw Lisa's, which was amazing, and now yours which is totally awesome to. I wonder if I have the patience to try it...… Happy Birthday for when it comes - as usual I forget all birthdays, but expect something in the next few weeks when I have my act together. It means your birthday will last a whole lot longer! xxx

cm said...

Belated Happy Birthday, wonderful friend...and because I'm late with my birthday wish (which is: hope your day was filled with celebration, joy and love...and more of the same, in abundance, for the year about to unfold), I think you should carry on the festivities today and into the weekend. Actually, carry on the entire month!
Your cards are fabulous! The stain-glass effect: lovely! A technique I must try once I get my hands on some of the sheeny stuff. Thrilled you shared it in the JUGS Wild Card gallery!
Your 4th of July duo: fireworks fantastic! I 'think' I've tried the inked EFs once or two, with limited (or rather, zero) success...need to give it another go after seeing your delights here.
Hugs and love~c

Claire Broadwater said...

HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday Darnell! Fireworks for the 4th and you!!! I love your cards! This technique is fabulous! I need to try it again! FUN, FESTIVE and Fabulous! So happy you joined us at The Paper Players 400th challenge! XX

Fikreta said...

Happy birthday.
hope you had great day.
Very nice cards!
hugs

Shona Chambers said...

Ugh how did I miss your birthday???!!! I thought I had everyone's birthday in my little book....obviously missing one of the very important ones it seems! Happy Birthday and so sorry I didn't get a card to you. Sounds like you had a fab time with the boys, who are so grown up I saw in previous photos. I remember when they were so little...... Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and your cards are definitely celebration worthy!! Mwah xxxx

Joanne James - The Crafty Owl said...

Happy now-belated birthday wishes Darnell - hope it was fabulous, just like your cards. I am loving the faux-watercolouring, perfect for those fireworks and so bright and bold with your patriotic colours. Thank you for joining us for the Paper Players 400th birthday celebrations!

Monika Reeck said...

Ops late Happy Belated Birthday Darnell
And I wanna say woooow the glossy field flower is genial looveee the way you used my sketch this time
Many thanks for plying along with us at Sunday Stamps..See you again tomorrow :)
Hugs
Monika

Annette Elliott said...

Happy belated birthday, Darnell! It sounds like you had a fun birthday week of celebrating! Your flower card is gorgeous, and we are so happy you played along with this weeks challenge at Sunday Stamps!