Roses Are Any Color!

Hello Stamplings!

O jp[e upir javomg ... oops, right fingers, wrong keys! I hope you are enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend here in America! We will always remember and be forever grateful to all the men and women who have bravely given their lives in service to our country.♡

During the week I did some spring cleaning which I find weirdly enjoyable, but I also made a few cards because, you know, I'm not completely nuts. Did you snicker or was that a hairball in your throat?

Onefer

You might recognize both Jen's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the colors from Color Hues. My friend Lynette made pretty cards recently using one of my favorite techniques. It is known by many names, but I've always referred to it as 'direct-to-stamp' because you apply color directly to your stamp with markers, spritz the stamp with water, and then stamp the image onto paper. 

I happen to have a NBUS stamp which I thought would be perfect for the technique. It's called "Rose" and it's from Art Stamp (carabelle-studio.fr). I had success using classic red and pink markers for the rose and I was mulling over design ideas for those images when, by some miracle, I remembered the Color Hues colors and wallah! Did you know purple roses symbolize enchantment, love at first sight, royalty, mystery, and spiritual growth? (I think AI got a little carried away there.)

You can't see it, but Hammy gently winked the rose, being careful not to let the colors run. Hammy has very short legs which work great on the wheel, but when it comes to chasing running colors, he just sits and watches. Ask us how we know! The frame is from Papertrey Ink and the sediment is from My Favorite Things. 

I'm also playing in the Allsorts Challenge (Anything Goes). Allsorts is celebrating their 17th birthday! Congratulations!!

Twofer

I used a NBUS book die from Pinkfresh Studio called "Floral Tale" for this design. It comes with lots of stencils and flower dies, but for this inaugural outing, I made a Christmas card design using evergreens. The NBUS 3D e/f is from SSS, called "Delicate Pine Branches." The tiny evergreen stamp and sediment are from GKW.

Today is the 25th, which means it's the start of this month's Rudolph's Day Challenge and the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar is A = Anything Goes. I'm also playing in Addicted to Stamps and More (Christmas).

Stanley Redux

Just as a reminder Hammy and Stanley went to stay with our neighbors last year while The Mister was laid up. During that time, their little girl Daphne fell in love with Stanley, so he continued living with her and we walked back and forth often to let the lads have time together. 

Last week we learned from Daphne that her Dad had been transferred and the family was moving to Sydney. Sadly for her, hamsters are not allowed in Australia. We had quite an emotional goodbye with lots of stories, hugs, and tears. 

We will miss Daphne, but happily for us, Stanley is back home and the two critters are elastic to be back together again! And Hammy and I can use the young 'un around here to keep us on our toes!

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Enjoy your week! 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! 

*Life is too short!