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!

October 28, 2024

The Group of Seven Get Glittery and Happy Halloween!

Hello Stamplings!

It's good to see you again! I hope everyone has been keeping well and enjoying some crafty time! 

Has the panic of Christmas card-making hit you square in the face yet? Me, too. It's such a shock every year, in spite of our wonderful all-year-round Christmas card challenges. Does that mean we're not the brightest ornaments in the box or are we eternal optimists, thinking somehow another month will be wedged in there to give us more time?

Fortunately this month's technique at Group of Seven Cardmakers lent itself to Christmas card designs for me and because this is the fourth week of the month, my I.D.E.A.S. schedule is "Anything Goes!" Woot!

Our technique this month is Glitter Painting on Acetate. Wait. Wait. Don't run screaming at the mere mention of the word herpes glitter. It is messy, sure, but what's the big deal if you go to the grocer's with glitter in your hair or down your shirt front? Even a schparkle or two over tonight's spaghetti and meatballs could be fun, right?!

Onefer
It is a bear trying to photograph glitter AND acetate! For both my cards, I reached for an old favorite stamp set from PTI called, "Botanical Blocks IV." After stamping the image with StazOn ink onto acetate, I painted the poinsettias with glue and glitter. Once dry, I backed the image with a watercolored pink pp from my stash, and finished with a stitched gray frame.

Twofer
For the holly, once the glitter was dry, I glued a small red panel behind the acetate to back the image. Then I glued that to a panel of SU emboss-resist pp. Finally, to bring the eye to the center, I glued a narrow dotted frame to the acetate. On the advice of my two whiskered helpers, no sediments were added to either card.

You might wonder why I only used white glitter on my cards. It's because when I moved everything out of the Playhouse for repainting and purging last December, I purged my collection of glitter. Fortunately, Hammy spoke up as I putting all my vials in a box and he reminded me that I should hang onto the white glitter for snow and such on Christmas cards. Thank you, Hammy!

If you still have lots of glitter in white or in colors and you want to paint with it on acetate (which is totally fun and very addictive), you will see lots of colorful examples on the Group of Seven Cardmakers website! And you'll also find a linky tool where we hope you will share any schparkly cards you make!
Happy Halloween!
A coupla weeks ago, I posted a wreath with a big black spider from a Memory Box die. I thought I would try using the negative spider as a stencil and it worked great! After stenciling with orange CP ink, I embossed the panel with a 3D Tim Holtz folder that looked a bit webby. Before running it through the Gemini, I used a gray ink pad to lightly ink the pointy bits.

Another Fun Visit

Last week my friend Bev visited me from Wisconsin and this week I visited my friend Brenda in Indiana! Brenda's blog is Inkspired to Stamp.
It's not the best photo, but we are novices when it comes to selfies! It had been five years since we were together and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit! And it was wonderful to meet Daisy, The Wonder Dog ...
... who was sad to see me go.😒I felt the same way, Daisy, but I'll be back!

~~~

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 join as a follower! I hope your tricks and treats are lots of fun!

*Life is too short!
Challenges
Just Us Girls: Use a stencil.
Little Red Wagon: Embossing.
Rudolph Days: A/G Christmas.
SSS Wednesday: Christmas.