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!

February 18, 2014

Vintage Family Postcards

Hi There!

Before I start, can I just ask what the heck keeps Olympic female ice skaters from coming out of those crazy dizzying turns without teetering and falling flat on their bottoms?! Incredible!!

Something a little different today as this post is just a sharing of some very very old cards, none made by me. [Warning: It's very long and photo-heavy ... contrary to most of my posts, oh, guffawhahahaha!]

Valentine's Day reminded me that I had them stashed away, but when I looked at them again I realized that there are also birthday postcards and even an Easter postcard. They are fragile and beautiful and, well, just so fabulous. Considering my family history, it is heartwarming to have these treasures from my grandparent's time. I wonder how many of you are fortunate to have antique cards among your pimentos.

They're all from the same time period; one does show the 1911 postmark, so they are over a hunnert years old! Crikey! I'm not sure why most of them are not postmarked. Perhaps they were delivered by hand? Perhaps they came in envelopes, even though they are post cards? 

Enjoy!

 Thin as egg shells. 
The butterfly appears to have been cut out by hand
 and pasted in the center ... maybe by a child?

Kindest Greetings

Through the days before thee
May the skies be fair,
Ever shining o'er thee,
Bright beyond compare.
May no mist of sadness
Rise thy life to dim,
May your cup of gladness
Richly overbrim!


**********

 Notice the horseshoe

(I'd love to have one of my German friends translate this, please.)


 **********

 The rose feels like velvet. The "doors" open behind the rose.

Sweetest
scented flowers
of fortune
strew your
path in life.
 And it's signed on the back "Congratulations from Mrs. Michael"
My guess is it's from a teacher.


**********

 Another fragile one, "To My Beloved One"

Tell me, sweet,
does that heart
of thine
Cherish a thought
that is
hope to mine?
(unsigned)


**********

 This birthday postcard is so pretty and textured.

 It is addressed to my grandmother, before she married my grandfather.

Congratulations for a happy birthday. Your friend, Alma Arp


**********

 You can dimly see the "Happy Birthday" banner.

 This one is addressed to my grandfather.
Again it is in German, but I'm assuming the greeting says
"Happy Birthday ... from Johanna." (?)

 Close-up of the postmark.


***


This one obviously was either hand-delivered or mailed in an envelope.
Transcription, adding some punctuation and capital letters:
Dear Sister, We all wish you a happy birthday and many more. How are you? We are all o.k. Why don't you answer my letter? I guess you are quite busy. I am too. You better come down and get your apron. How are the folks getting along? Hope mama is over her cold by this time. Answer soon. From Winnie John.
(Is it just me or was there a little sisterly snarkiness in this card! Amusing! )


**********

 It's impossible to capture entirely how 3Delicious this card is!


Dear Cousin, Best Easter Wishes from your Cousin Hanna.

**********
Isn't it neat to think that over a hundred years from now someone will be looking at one of your cards! With technology moving as fast as it is, away from old-fashioned things like writing with a pencil or pen on paper, one day your cards will be looked at with AWE!!  Well, I already look at your cards with awe, but you know what I mean!

~~~

I'll leave you with our latest family Valentines, crafted by two nine-year-old boys in the year 2014. 
Henry and Adam

Adam made one for Papa which reflects his love of motorcycles:

And Henry made one for Bama (that's me) reflecting my love of frogs.
BTW: It says "don't be an 'airhead' ... because the name of the candy is Airhead (if you can believe it!).

And you'll kindly allow me this fragrant indulgence as I point out that Henry has written words on the hearts on the other side which he feels describe me: "cool, fun, great, funny, rocks, and super awesome!"

Gulp. Blush. The feeling is mutual!

~~~

Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  LITS!* 

  
 
*Life Is Too Short!

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Mwah!

February 16, 2014

Santa's "Hamster" ~ NBUS #105


hELLO! hOW'S YOUR WEEKEND GOING?

oY ... don't you hate it when your cap locks is on when you don't want it to be?

I started today's card earlier in the week and after the boys went to bed, I was able to finish it before the deadline for the current "Use an Animal" challenge at the famous Merry Monday Christmas Challenge. 
Here is my card:
The stinkin' cute mouse, sediment, and Santa are all NBUS stamps from the super fun Paper Smooches set called "Santa Paws." You can't see it, but I liberally applied Wink of Stella to everything. The snowy hills are handdrawn and that reindeer is from Stampin' Up.

If I need a hamster running the wheel in my head to help me focus, then I fingered for sure Santa needed his own hamster (or, in this case, a Christmouse) to help him keep everything straight, what with the ginormous lists of boys and girls and addresses and calories imbibed slurping the milk and munching the cookies ... Why I imagine if he didn't have a hamster/mouse he'd get all distracted and possibly stop off at a fly-in movie theater all night. That would not be good.

You might ask what the deal is with the motley fur on Santa's hat. Well, he forgot to put his hat in the laundry, so Mrs. Claus had to pull an old one out of the donation box which had yellowed with age. Wait. What? The donation box had yellowed with age or the hat had yellowed with age? I wish I was better at parsnipping my sentences.

~~~

I used markers to color my card, so I'm entering the "Make Your Mark" challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.
GRAB OUR BADGE!
I was happy to see that Kim is continuing the anniversary celebration at Paper Smooches Blog with a "Fun and Cute" challenge. 
Grab our banner
There's a lot of red and white on my card, so I'm linking up with the current challenge at Festive Fridays which is this beautiful photo inspiration.
And, as so often happens, yet another Christmas challenge is currently featuring red, as in Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. You can find it over at Jingle Belles! 
jingling all the way!

***

The little reindeer seen on my card photo-bombing Santa is obviously NOT Rudolph. He is the lesser-known, but impish, Ruben, who's claim to fame is his uncanny likeness to the adorable Katie Couric! 


***I hope you get the opportunity to support the challenges that are brought to us by our fellow card artists. They all put a ton of work into each challenge! You can click on the links for all the details regarding rules, sponsors, and prizes.***

~~~

New Friends Corner

I have two more new friends joining us today for you to meet. But first I want to take a second and thank those of you who do click on the links and make new friends with my friends!

Shona Chambers of Twine Around. Shona has only been blogging since September 2013, but she has shared card-after-wonderful-card on her posts. I love her style and I think you will, too, as you help me welcome her to this supportive stamping community!

Sid of Harpies Crafty Corner. Sid is my second male follower and I'm so delighted about that! He has been blogging since 2006! Yes, another blogger who has been inspiring us for a very long time with his incredible spirit and works of card art!

Welcome, Shona and Sid, and thank you for joining us!!

~~~

Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  LITS!* 

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment and/or join as a follower!  Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor! 
  
 
*Life Is Too Short!

Project Details
Paper PTI white
Stamps    The Alley Way Stamps "Santa Paws"
SU reindeer, set unknown
 InkSU real red; Versafine onyx black
Markers: SU real red, basic black, basic grey, smoky slate, pink pirouette, Marvy pale pink
AccessoriesLiquid Applique; googly eyes from stash; Wink of Stella

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Mwah!

February 14, 2014

Loads of Love! DJKASE #7 and #8; NBUS #104

Welcome to Friday and Happy Valentine's Day! 

Thank you for whooshing through your week so you could get here! Oh, what's that? You whooshed through your week so you could get chocolates? Well, I don't blame you one bit. You come back tomorrow after your lovely fest o' love! I hope you do everything I used to be able to do!

~~~

Laurie's Card
My Photo
Laurie with Noah
For my first Friday DJKASE, I am copylimenting the very talented Laurie Unger of Laurie's Stampin' Place. The card I have chosen to DJKASE is shown to the right. It is entitled "Red Mittens" and it's from Laurie's post on August 16, 2013. SOOO CASlicious, wouldn't you agree?!


Laurie has been making card art and blogging since 2006. Yes, that's right, 2006! So if you don't already know Laurie, bring a very large beverage and treat yourself! And let's help Laurie reach 100 followers, too (and even more)! She's very close to that benchmark!

I made my card a Valentine card, but otherwise I pretty much copylimented Laurie's card. I mean, the whole point is that's how much you love that particular card, right? 

Here is my card:

I started by taking this one sheet of 12x12 heart DSP from GKW and coating a few hearts with Glossy Accents and then, when that wasn't enough, I added some Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. 
After letting them dry for a day, I cut out the hearts and decided which ones I wanted to use on my card. The white PTI paper was run through the BS using the Lil' Inker "Stitched Rectangle" die and then attached to the card base. The NBUS sediment is from a Simon Says Stamp set called "Just a Love Note." The corners were rounded with the Corner Chomper.

The bow was made from a Memory Box die called "Crisp Bows." In order to have my hearts at the proper angle, I cut two bows and then clipped the ends off. I then reattached them to the bow at the proper angle of the dangle and added a pearl from a NBUS Hero Arts package. One of the hearts is glued to the card base, the other one is popped up.

Yum. They look like heart lollies, don't they? 

Thank you, Laurie, for all your support and encouragement and, especially, for all your beautiful work which is so inspiring! I hope you are pleased with my DJKASE of your stunning mitten card!


***************************************************************************

My Photo
Ardyth
Ardyth's Card
For my second DJKASE today, I have chosen the card artist known to all of us as Ardyth. Ardyth has been crafting and blogging her signature graphic cards on her Maskerade website since January 2012. Literally every card of hers is in my "To CASE" folder, but it was her card (above right) on her February 10, 2014 post entitled "Valentines for Little Boys" that I chose to DJKASE. 

Because, of course, it was perfect inspiration for Valentines for Henry and Adam!


The images, except for the hand-drawn heartbeat are all from a NBUS stamp set called "Lighter Than Air" made by The Alley Way Stamps. The card base is PTI white, the little sparkly heart is SU glitter, and the ink is SU real red.

Thank you, Ardy! You are a friend, and an inspiration, and a cheerleader, and an all-around generous and uberly talented lady! I hope you are pleased with my DJKASE of your perfect 'boy card.'

***

I believe the Mono Chrome shades of pink on my heart card mean that I can place my second entry in the current challenge over at The Card Concept Challenge. I am really enjoying this challenge where ALL card styles (concepts) are not only made by various members of the extraordinary Design Team, but you see ALL the concepts in the gallery, as well, which makes it not only inspiring, but educational.
Since my card involved a bit of fiddliness and consumption of time to put it together (SO worth it), I'm thinking the concept is CAL = clean and layered.

***

I'm thrilled that my heart card works for the new sketch challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch, where the Guest Designer is the fantastic Mona Odegard.
***

I'm feeling like my puffy hearts are BOLD enough to work in the current challenge at the always-fun CASology!

***

I am linking both of my cards with the current challenge at Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge which is "We Love Stamps." We sure do, Simon!
Simon Monday Challenge Blog
***

All the challenges mentioned in today's post are easy to link up with and if you click on the links you can visit the blogs for all the details on the rules, sponsors, and prizes.

~~~~~~

New Friends Corner

I'm delighted to have three more wonderful card artists for you to meet today!
Laura Pizz of Crafty Chicks Creating. Laura has been blogging since 2011. She is a mom and a scrapbooker, as well as a card artist. She shares my love of entering challenges and her cards are always bright and wonderfully executed! 
Nora
Nora Noll of A Creative Touch.  Nora has also been blogging since 2011. She is a mom and a scrapbooker, as well as a card artist who loves challenges. Do we see a pattern here? I feel like a matchmaker and that these two ladies will be fast friends, if they aren't already! Nora's work is always crisp and fresh and captivating!

Carri of Double Click Connections AKA A Busy Bee. Carri has been blogging since 2009. She is an award-winning card artist who is and has been on several design teams. You will quickly be enchanted and inspired by her talent, her creations, and her enthusiasm!

Welcome, ladies, and thank you for joining in the Playhouse fun!!

~~~

Papa and I will be captivated and enchanted by the twins who are coming for a sleepover starting today through the weekend so their parents can celebrate a little alone time! Works for us!

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy. LITS!* 

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

Loads of Love & Kisses!

 
*Life Is Too Short!

To open the pop-up comment box that let's you jump to the end w/o scrolling:
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Mwah!