Warm Washi ~ ATCAS#30; ATSM#80; JUGS#225; NBUS#98

Happy Wednesday to yee!

I've got introductions and a public service announcement and I've had a prolapse of my darn cold, so let's get right down to beeswax.

Still in the love card mode, I had a PTI sediment on my desk that I used on a card a few days ago, and some NBUS Washi tape and I started fooling around and made a QACAS card.

No sketch or color challenges fit my card, but both of my favorite "Addicted To ..." challenges lined up nicely.

First up, in Alpha Betty order, is Addicted to CAS where the "New" theme challenge is still on for a couple more days. The Washi tape from SU is new.

Next is Addicted to Stamps and More where there is a photo inspiration challenge just starting.

I thought my card resembled the pink stripes on the sweet box of hearts.

And over at Just Us Girls (JUGS) there is a LOVE photo inspiration board.

They are on challenge number 225! That's remarkable and so appreciated by all of us!

***

I hope you can join in the fun! Just click on the links for the rules, sponsors, and prize information.

***

Originally, I just laid the tape strips down with torn edges (as one does) in rows above and below the sediment. It sat that way most of the day and it bothered me and the hamster. We act like we are all free-love-and-let-it-all-hang-out types, but it turns out, not so much. He kept yammering on his wheel until I took a rooler and a craft knife and trimmed the tape all straight-laced-and-buttoned-up down both sides. No wonder I'm multi-personable and cray-cray. I stand by the power of my conflictions.

Anywiz, I found out that Joe is not my sister, she is PJ's husband (that was a shock! ~ you'll meet PJ in a sec), so I'll just say that after I trimmed the tape, I popped on an itty-bitty star and couple of butter fly sequints made by Darice (I don't know her) and the hamster grinned his toothy grin of approval.

~~~

In Our New Friends Corner, coming in again two-by-two, please meet:

Princess Judy Palmer, known to me as PJ, of Blog This! Princess Judy has been blogging since 2011.  She has attitude and cattitude, fabulous card-making talent, and a wonderful sense of humor. You will definitely enjoy the carnival rides at her place!

Sue Rose of Sue's Stamping Station. Sue has been blogging since 2012, but only a few times a year. Her cards are really fantastic so maybe your visits and comments will encourage her to post and share her work more often!

Welcome PJ and Sue and thank you so much for joining our party!

~~~

Too Much TV For Little People

I thought I would close by sharing a public service announcement. Please pass this on to anyone you know who has young children. It's a warning about what can happen if you let them watch too much television.

On Sunday a young pastor was presenting a children's sermon. During the sermon, he asked the children if they knew what the resurrection was. Now, asking questions during children's sermons is crucial, but at the same time, asking children questions in front of a congregation can also be very risky.

A little boy shot his hand into the air. The pastor called on him and the little boy said,

"I know that if you have a resurrection that lasts for more than four hours you're sposed to call the doctor!"

~~~
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!

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Let Your Heart Be Your Umbrella! CCC #2; DD #87; LIM #156; Paper Smooches; Pixie's #109; SCT #53

Greetings! It's a wonderful new week, untraveled!

I wonder, is there a song entitled, "Let Your Heart Be Your Umbrella?" It would be rather silly, I suppose, in a litter real sense. What next? "Let Your Toes Be Your Foundation?" Well, actually, that one does make sense. I realize it's spose to be all about letting a smile be your umbrella, like that's going to keep you dry, but today let's be equally silly and use hearts as our umbrellas. 

It all started with my desire to participate in the current color challenge at Dynamic Duos. 

I haven't been able to play with their colors in a while and this week's melon mambo and black are favorites of mine, so I really wanted to play.  The dessert option is umbrellas.

I also wanted to play in the current challenge at Less Is More which is a sketch. I missed last week and this is one challenge that I do hate to miss. Chrissie and Jen are so talented and are such wonderful hostesses. Their cards, and the cards in the gallery, are always inspiring!

Because my card is another Valentine and it uses hearts, I'm linking again with the fun Simply Create Too challenge.

And, I'm linking again to The Card Concept Challenge (texture) after Ardyth suggested it would fit in the Clean and Graphic category. That's beciting since that's outside the box for me!

I used snippets of card stock on my die cuts, so I am trumpeting off to play with the other talented crafters at Pixie's Snippets Playground. Di, the lovely headmistress keeps promising to make a challenge logo, but she doesn't do it. She's forgiven because of her tender back and blown-down fences, but that doesn't keep me for pasting her lovely counterspace as the Pixie logo every once in a while to nudge her about it. (Thank you for all you do, hun. Ya know I love ya!)

Finally, I see that I've missed the Anything Goes Paper Smooches Stamps SPARKS challenge, but the new Designer Drafts challenge is a very similar sketch, so I hope it's all right to play along.

Remember, for all these challenges you just need to click on the links for all the details on rules, spoonsors, and prizes. I hope you can join in!

~~~

Wake up!  Here is my make and take:

Now, I realize that my heart umbrella is not down on the panel like it should be ala mode the sketches, but it's not my fault that the wind came up just as I was taking the photo! Thank goodness my heartbrella hooked itself on the letter ell or it would have been blown right off my card!

This card is a simple-dimple, EZPZ, QACAS, Joe's-your-sister kinda card. Okay, that's a lie. It only has three ingredients, but it did take a bit of time cutting the dies and layering and gluing. That sort of thing. It was very satisfying to me in the end and worth the time it took to get this CASlicious result. 

~~~

In Our New Friends Corner, I'm happy to introduce you to:

Susie Lessard of Summerwalk Designs. Susie has been blogging since 2010 and as the wife of a retired naval officer, she has lived all over the world. You will love her wonderful writing as well as her talented works of card art!

Kristine Porter of Merry Heart Creations. Kristine is a Kindergarten teacher and CTMH consultant who has been blogging since 2012. Like a lot of us, Kristine is addicted to pretty paper, which is soon obvious when your see her beautiful patterned paper card art!

Welcome, Susie and Kristine, and thank you so much for joining!!

~~~

I'm a story teller, which means I'm often economical with the truth ... wait, what? Okay, fine. Which means I often lie, so I thought you might appreciate this cartoon illuminating what might happen to me:

~~~

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 and true black; SU melon mambo
Stamps	None
Ink	None
Accessories	Die: Paper Smooches "Love Word" FBD021 Die: Memory Box Petite Umbrella (handle) Punch: SU heart; Simply Scored

In the Pink ~ Papertrey January 2014 Blog Hop; ATCAS #30; CASOS #25; NBUS 97

Happy Saturday!

I almost hate to say that today is the 25th and we are already near the end of the first month of the new year. As your granny used to say, "Close your mouth, child, you look like a fish gasping for air in a dry pond." And then she would gasp for breath coz that was a lot of words to string together when you're frustrupated.

The good news is it's time for the monthly Papertrey (PTI) January 2014 Blog Hop. You only need to use one PTI product to play along. It's a day-long hop so if you're quick like a bunny, you can make a pink card and hop on the hop. This month the challenge is to make our cards using shades of pink only (other than neutrals). As always there is a beautiful photo board for inspiration:

Here is my bling-studded entry:

~~~

I am also entering:

Addicted to CAS, where the theme is NEW ~ my sediment.

CAS on Sunday where the theme is LOVELY DOVEY; make a card for love/Valentine's Day.

Please click on the links for details about the rules, sponsors, and prizes!

~~~

After yesterday's epic long post, I'll do you a favor and make this one an epic short post! 

Enjoy the hop and 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! You warm my heart! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!

  

 

*Life Is Too Short!

Project Details
Paper	SU pretty in pink
Stamps	PTI "Scentsationals" (NBUS)
Ink	SU regal rose
Accessories	Dies: PTI "Sunrise Impressions Plate 2"; Spellbinders Classic Hearts Bling: from stash

As Lovely as a Dotty Tree ~ ATSM #79; CTS #61; DJKASE #2 and #3; NBUS #96

A Friday WHOOSHIE hello to you!

I'm showcasing two of my followers today in my Friday DJKASE tributes. I hope they don't mind sharing the spotlight. Here, in my exact words, is the accounting of what happened.

It all started with the random selection of Cathy of Cathy's Card Spot for my Friday DJKASE. Cathy is a frequent visitor and commentator.  She is a talented card artist who has been blogging since the end of 2012. She makes beautiful CAS cards and always photographs them on a wee easel, so appropriate because they are truly works of art. (Cathy has the added blessing of sharing her love of card making with her sister Maureen who also has a blog! How fun is that?!)

I spent a happy couple of hours looking through Cathy's posts and had narrowed down my choices to a half dozen. This was one of them:

Cathy's card ~ July 21,2013

Isn't it gorgeous? I knew I had that Memory Box "Small Circle Burst" die and it was NBUS.

~~~

Then I noticed that the new sketch had been published for one of my favorite challenges called CAS(E) This Sketch. 

I remembered Cathy's card and I thought I could make a circle burst tree . . . 

And I knew my card would fit into the CAS theme at Addicted to Stamps and More challenge, sponsored by Deedee's Designs.

~~~

Then, I happened to visit another follower named Maureen, of Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo. Maureen has been a lovely friend. She is a doting grandmother who has been blogging since 2011. Her grandchildren also enjoy making cards and it's a treat when Maureen shares their art on her blog!  

You can imagine how I felt swept up in Serena Dipity's fairy dust when I clicked on Maureen's blog and found that her most recent card used the same die! Here is her brilliant card:

Scrappy Mo's card ~ January 21, 2014

Well, that squinched the deal, didn't it?!

~~~

Here then is my thank you copyliment for you, Cathy and Scrappy Mo, and I hope you are both pleased!

The tree trunk is a snippet of woodgrain paper from GKW. It is glistening with Wink of Stella which I'm guessing is what makes it look coral and not the deep rose color it is IRL. The banner die is also NBUS and I'm sorry to say I can't remember who made it. It came with a set of sport dies, soccer balls, trophies, that sort of thing if that helps with the police lineup. Even the sweet little sediment is NBUS, made by Darice.

To make the dotty tree in valentine colors, I cut the circle burst die out of my PTI white card base, and then cut it again in SU pink and primrose. I attached a large piece of double-sided tape to the back of the front on the inside of the outside and then I just popped the dots in the holes, altercating. It may seem tedious, but it took very little time and I had the TV on to entertain me. Besides, with a code in my node and my voice a mere whisper, what else did I have to do?

TIPSTER ALERT:  That little tool there is a God-send for picking up little paper bits like this and for rhinestones and other assorted bling. It's called a "Quick Stik" and Mr. Google can assist you in finding where you can buy one. It's nifty.

~~~

Getting back to my witness statement regarding the making of today's card: As I was leaving the Playhouse to go to the Bighouse and get on the computer, I remembered that I didn't make a note of what precise pink SU paper I had used. With my hands full of my card, my die envelope, my outgoing mail, my cell phone, my camera, and with my large glass of wodka tucked in between my armpit and my bozzoom, I stepped back into the Playhouse and bent over to peer in my Pink Paper file cabinet to look at the file folder tabs.

As I bent over, I heard a peculiar sound, like rain on the roof. I stood up startled because we haven't had rain here in ages and we are in dreadful need of it. The sun was shining, how could it be rai ~ the cogs fell into place as the hamster dutifully turned the wheel around to where it put two and two together. I looked down at my feet.

To my horror, I realized that I had pulled an Oliver Hardy. Oliver was a comedian and movie star, part of the duo of Laurel & Hardy, popular between 1920-1940. I dated Oliver briefly and he used to spill his drink when he looked at his watch after I asked him what time it was. I got him every.single.time. Payback is a splinter in the wind of regrets. As I bent to peer at my tabs, I spilled my drink. (Which luckily was only water, and not wodka, for I would have been wery unhappy about that.) 

As the water poured out, it made a raindrop-on-rooftop sound because it was splattering all over my entire collection of Valentine supplies which I had pulled out of storage to be at-hand for timely holiday creations. Here's a close-up. You can see there was quite a pool.

Wetted down were lots of ancient schtuff and bits of one-of-a-kind treasures. But these things happen. In true silver-lining fashion, I thought to myself:  it's not like I dropped a match on it. I'll assess it all later after it has dried and it's a decent hour to pour myself a wodka, for weals. 

Not to mention how fortunate I felt that the deluge did not get on my freshly-made card, my camera, or my cell phone, in order of importance.  Phew!

~~~

Well, this post was epic, even for me. It's what happens to a talker when she can't talk and the keyboard becomes her voice. And it clears up the mystery for anyone who might wonder what the heck I do all day. Cough. 

Whatever you do, 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!

Yummo Christmas Card ~ CCC #2; MM #92; NBUS #95; Pixie's #108

Hi There!

We are back and we had a lovely time celebrating our anniversary with the kidlets, as you will see by the collage of pictures at the end. Unfortunately, on the last day I came down with some kind of crudski in and about my breathing passages. I've almost totally lost my voice which Mister is luxuriating in, bless me. No, I don't mean because I'm so tolerable, I mean because I sneezed.

So I comforted myself by making a simple CAS card for the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge. It made me feel better to keep up my resolution about making Christmas cards all year long. This week's challenge is one of those challenges that make me hungry while I'm being creative because the recipe is red vanilla, kraft chocolate, and ribbon. Ya gotta love commas. I once had a cake made with red vanilla, but I've never eaten kraft chocolate. It's prolly the only kind of chocolate I've never tried and if someone sends me some, I will happily eat it.

Here's the beautiful photo inspiration:

And here's my card:

The paper is PTI kraft (which I scored) and an unknown snippet of beautiful textured text paper. My little snippet will allow me to enter my card in the playground collection over at Pixie's Snippet Playground!

And speaking of texture, thanks to my sweet friend, Geri, I am also entering the Card Concept Challenge, which is to use texture on your card. I am entering in the Clean and Layered style category. (I was quite thrilled and appreciative when my card for the inaugural first challenge at CCC was chosen as a winner!)

Lest you think I'm talented enough to make that poinsettia candy, please allow me to show you the NBUS packaging from wench it came. As you can see, my ribbon is sheer chocolate. I told you it was a yummo card.

I hope to see you in the galleries at these two very fun challenges!

~~~

And I am so pleased to introduce you to two new ladies in Our New Friends Corner. (Sorry, sometimes the photos don't want to cooperate when it comes to sizing.)

Barbara Roe of Love2Colour. Barb has been blogging since 2010 and is a devoted card artist for many charitable organizations. Her cards have cheered countless people over the years and I know you'll be happy you went to see them!

Sathya of Expressive Creations. Sathya has been blogging since 2011. Like so many of you tireless ladies, she is a multi-talented crafter who is interested in many crafts, all of which you'll enjoy!

Welcome, Barb and Sathya, and thank you for joining us at the Playhouse!

~~~
Just a few photos to share of our lovely weekend away:

~~~

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!

Polka-Hearted Valentine ~ ATSM #78; Curtain Call; NBUS #94; SCT #53

Good Monday morning!

I hope you woke up with the fresh breeze of a new week wafting through your imagination. I know it's hard to think of it that way when so much of a new week brings with it meniality and a rut well-traveled, but truly there is always the possibility of freshness, too.

Ah, possibility. That would be a good word-of-the-year and I'll bet there are some of you who chose it. Did you know possibility is a word derived from commingling the words posse and nobility? It came about when the town of Eldwinham sent out a posse after King Wenscil who had embezzled the treasury. Oddsmakers were laying bets that the posse of only three lads had no chance of catching the King surrounded by his protectors, but they did! They caught him and brought him to justice and even recovered all the money! Ever after their heroism has been symbolic of hope for the underdog and bright beginnings to dark days.

~~~

After that session on Fiction in History, the class will turn to the Challenges for today:

• Addicted to Stamps and More, where the theme is "HOLIDAY-related."

• Curtain Call, where the theme is "Love Letter." I think Valentines are love letters, so I hope my Valentine will meet the criterium.

• Simply Create Too, where the theme is "Valentine's Day or Use Hearts." This is a new challenge to me, brought to my attention by the uber-talented Maria F. of Riesling Mama.

Remember to click on the links to join in the fun and for all the rules, sponsor, and prize details!

Here is my homework:

Simple-dimple. The polka-hearted papers are from my Ancient Stash made by GKW. The sediment is NBUS from a Simon Says Stamp set called, "Just a Love Note" and it's erected on pop dots. The ribbon is SU real red polka dot. Thaz it.

~~~

In Our New Friends Corner I'm delighted to welcome these schweet ladies:

Marcia of Marcia's Stampin' Pad. Marcia has been stamping since 1999 and blogging since 2012. I think you will have a hard time finding a card, tag, or creation anywhere on Marcia's blog that you don't love!

Mau of Mau's Place. Mau has been blogging since 2010, but her creative life started when she was just 14 with knitting. For years she handmade dolls and clowns and sold out at craft shows. Then she fell in love with sugar crafting and then with card making. She's a multi-talented delight!

You will love getting to know Marcia and Mau and their wonderful card art! Thank you ladies, for joining in the fun at the Playhouse!

~~~

As an aside, Mau told me that she has been reading me via Bloglovin' only and realized that I didn't know about her that way, so she also joined my site as a follower. If you'd like to be introduced to my other followers and be included in the wheel to be DJKASEd by me, please click on the blue "Join This Site" button to the right in the side bar ~ I'd love to meet you and thank you with an introduction!

~~~

Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  We are still off enjoying the long weekend and celebrating!! 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!

Scheduled post.

Winter Wishes ~ DJKASE #1 (Lin); NBUS #93; SSMC

Happy Friday!

Yes, it's true, we've whooshed around again!  Already!

I should squickly tell you that my former office did a bang-up job of sending me off with love and affection. Luckily I am dear friends with almost all of them after all these years so I'll still be popping in to visit every now and then.

More importantly, the Mister and I had a wonderful anniversary celebration which will continue through the long holiday weekend! At our age we like to celebrate with Gusto and, of course, his wife Merry. I'm going to try and schedule a post, maybe for Sunday. Once again, please forgive me if I don't get by to visit for a few days because of all the festivi.

Thank you all for your best wishes for both happy events!!

~~~

It's time for my very first Friday random "copyliment" of CASEing (CASE: copy and share everything) a card made by one of my beloved followers.  I shall call them DJKASEs and they will be numbered like fine wines and NBUSes. Aren't you becited?

The card artist chosen for today is Linda from Lin's Craft Corner. Lin is a retired doting grandmother of six who has been blogging since 2011. She makes lovely clean and simple cards! This is the card of Lin's that I chose to copyliment:

LIN'S CARD ABOVE

Isn't it gorgeous?  Because Lin's card was made in the fall and used fall colors, I changed it to reflect wintertime. 

Here is my DJKASE of Lin's pretty card:

DJKASE above

The evergreen stamp is from a Hero Arts set called "Needles and Cones" and the NBUS sediment is from a PTI set called "Bigger Blooms." I used a smaller SU pine needle stamp to make the background design on the card base. All the ingredients are listed below.

Lin, I hope you are pleased. Thank you for following and leaving me supportive and sweet comments!

I'm going to link my card with the current challenge of "Anything Goes" over at Simon Says Monday Challenge.  The link will take you to all the fine print details and I hope you can join in!

~~~

Okay, I made up the word copyliment and now I have another new word for you. I don't know who coined it, but I know a lot of us resemble this remark!

Source: Facebook

Now I'm the last person on earth to criticalize anyone's grammermama, but wouldn't it flow better through your brain pipes if it read:  "The inability to start something until you've had a cup of coffee."? Either way, it's true that!

~~~

Enjoy your day and your beverages!  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; SU Bermuda bay
Stamps	Hero Arts LL605 "Needles and Cones"; small SU pine stamp was used on the card base; sediment is PTI "Bigger Blooms"
Ink	PTI pine feather and aqua mist; SU old olive and mellow moss
Accessories	Die:  Lil Inker "Stitched Rectangles" Darice sequints