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!

August 10, 2020

Sunshine or Moonshine?

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you doing well!

I just realized that now you're going to be expecting a recipe for moonshine. I asked Dr. Google and my, is it ever a long and involved process! I'm surprised there isn't a shortage of booze on the shelves by this point in the pandemic, so Justin Case, I'm going to stock up on corn mash.

🌞🌝🌞🌝🌞🌝🌞🌝🌞
(Interesting that the moon emoji is larger than the sun emoji.)

We have a fun, wide-ranging, far-reaching, and imagination-stretching prompt for you this month at the Twofer Card Challenge. It's sun🌞 OR moon🌝. And note: there are a lot of summertime/beach themed challenges abounding in Blogland right now, so the more challenges, the merrier! 

Here are the two designs I came up with:
The item my two cards have in common is a NBUS Hero Arts die called, "Safari Sunset."

Onefer
Everything about this card is self-exploratory. Onto a piece of jungle-y pp, I layered the sun cut from more pp and inlaid with clouds. The giraffe is a stamp from Fiskars, stamped onto pp from Bo Bunny and then fussy cut, and the sediment is from W Plus 9.  EZPZ!

Challenges
Please grab our logo
Twofer
This Christmas design on the other hand ... I mean, I don't even know what to say. I knew what I had in mind, but it took some convincing for my ginfers to put it together. Quite a few bits went into the circular file and a few handstands had to happen, but eventually Mr. Muse was happy with the black and white winter sun and the Swiss dot snowfall. The peace die is from Winnie & Walter. Hammy added the star to balance the design. Peace out.

Challenges
  Snippets Playground Badge
~~~

I would love to see you play with us and enter your beautiful sun or moon designs in the gallery at TCC!
Please remember that you can make two conventional designs or one conventional design and one unconventional design using the prompt. We have winners for both categories. The fabulous Team ~ and our talented Guest Designers Mac Mable and Linda W. ~ have made conventional designs to inspire you over at the August Twofer Card Challenge! Mwah!

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In other news, we were surprised recently when two peacocks came strutting by our house!
They just calmly walked on by, even with me standing in the driveway, holding Nellie. Sadly, they were so calm, they didn't fan their tails for us. They must be someone's pets and I hope they made it home okay. Never a dull moment in Sublurbia! [ETA: Maxine tells me these are peahens, not peacocks and like so many birds, the ladies don't have much to show. Thank you, Maxine!]

~~~

Enjoy your day! 
No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* Stay safe and keep well!

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!)

67 comments:

Stamps and Paper said...

Hi Darnell....two great makes Darnell..love your jungle card with the elegant giraffe and your black and white Christmas card is stunning, it does look very peaceful....
Yes we are having some hot weather at the moment which we're certainly not used to but the heat is very oppressive.. I know we shouldn't complain.
Hope're you are ok...

Anne

kiwimeskreations said...

Stunning cards Darnell - and I love Hammy's star - he has a good eye for placement ;)! Who would'a thort you could make a black and white Christmas card!!
Hmm, those were pea hens, so they have no tail to fan... oops!
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine

Di said...

Super cards Darnell - as always! Love your giraffe - and the black and white Christmas one is a stunner as well.As Maxine says, they were peahens. Although, they do actually fan their tails which are shades of brown and quite small compared to the male bird's glorious plumage. What a wonderful sight though - just strolling by your house.

So glad Nellie coped with her dental treatment - two teeny front teeth are nothing in the great scheme of things for a dog. Hope she's fine again now.

Hugs

Di xx

Marilyn said...

Cute cards! Love the giraffe on your first card!
Have a great day!
Marilyn ❤️

sandie said...

super cards-I really like how creative that second one is-so dramatic and love you used the embossing to add that lovely texture. And the first card is perfectly themed-I feel I am there in the jungle! Sorry not been visiting much but thank you for popping over to me and sending hugs xx

Cat Craig said...

Love your creative use of the fab die to make that black and white holiday card. So peaceful and eye catching. Your giraffe card is very safari-ish and is sure to brighten someones day. Great inspiration cards for the challenge. WoW 30...thats a milestone. Those peacocks with the little dangly crowns crack me up. To bad you didn't get a show.

Bunny said...

My son has had 2 male peacocks in his area lately. Very friendly for males who will normally spur you and can do some damage. Unfortunately they are loud so he shewed them away. I think they are someone's pet. I hate to think that someone may have let them loose.

Lovely twofers. [Bunny]

Jeanne said...

Two lovely cards, Darnell. I'm a tad partial to the giraffe one because of my giraffe loving daughter. I really like the jungly background too, with the beautiful sun. (Amy in fact just had a photo with herself in it printed for work and she selected one that has a giraffe behind her. ;) ) The moon card is so striking! Well done! Oh my, the animals are just as confused as the humans on how to behave! LOL Reminds me of the time when we had a flock (not sure if that is the correct term) of turkeys ambling through our neighborhood and hanging out on our lawn. Hope you have a fabulous day. Thanks for sharing. Hugs!

Brenda in IN said...

Love the giraffe in the jungle, that's a great card. The black and white is so stunning in it's simplicity. It really draws the eye in. When you mentioned peacocks walking down the street I was afraid you were into the moonshine early in the day. I was relieved to see the picture!

Bonnie said...

Fantastic use of patterned paper on the first card! Love the giraffe enjoying the sunset! The black and white Christmas card is dramatic and unexpected! Isn't it fun when we have an unexpected visitor in the neighborhood. peacocks/peahens are not something we've seen. Hope they made it home okay.

Sue D said...

Great cards. A week ago we had two peacocks stroll into our yard too! They even came up on the front porch to the door--I think they saw their reflection. One of them fanned his feathers a little. They wandered around our yard for a while and then headed on to the next yard.

Pat said...

Two great Twofers Darnell and love that sweet giraffe with the foliage and the wonderful large patterned sun with the clouds scudding across it, and a great idea to have this in black and white with the snowfall for the winter seasonal version. Fantastic cards! What a surprise to see the two peahens pass your house. Not what you would expect to see in a Californian suburb..lol. x

Marcia Hill said...

Two AWESOME cards Darnell! Loving all the pp on your safari card and those are some pretty mad fussy cutting skills on that giraffe!! :0) Your dramatic Christmas card is AMAZING my friend...had to stare at that one for awhile! And Peacocks in suburbia...who woulda thought??!! They remind me of a trip to Binder Park Zoo when our girls were young and they had Peacocks just roaming around free and they were also quite noisy and scared the daylights out of our oldest who was probably 6 at the time...hubby had to pick her up and carry her anytime the Peacocks got too close! Hahaha...what a memory!! Thanks for a FUN challenge this month...loved it!! Hugs. :0)

Mrs A. said...

What can
I say,two more masterpieces in the bag and hamm is such a pro at the finishing touches. Hugs Mrs A.

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

What a wonderful Twofer with that safari sun die, Darnell - you really made it shine (no pun intended!)!! That giraffe image looks amazing atop the jungle pp and the sun sets it off nicely! Wow - love the black/white Christmas card with the split sun and added star!! Darling pea hens - glad you got a photo of them to share with us!

Thanks so much for having me as one of the guest designers at Twofer this month!!

designbydonna said...

Love that safari look.The giraffe is so stately standing thre. Safari had been on my bucket list but the wallet protested that. Had to settle for the safari at Disney. Love the elegance of the b/w card. It does invoke a feeling of peace.

Em Louise Fairley said...

Gorgeous cards, Darnell xoxo

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

I'm here with 2 hats on today! I love your jungly giraffe it feels jungly and with the huge sun - hot! Love the so different and clever B&W card. Could do with some of that moonshine though LOL. So with my DT hat on I'll say - Thank you so much for joining us in our Birthday challenge at The Male Room this week. Looking forward to seeing you again in our next challenge.
Faith DT

Faith my blog

Anita in France said...

The sense of lushness and tropical heat from that huge sun on your giraffe card is delicious, Darnell ... your pp choices work beautifully together! Love that the giraffe dressed for the occasion with a party ribbon and bow in his tail! Wow to your Christmas card ... bold, chic, dramatic and with such cool impact! How fun to have the peahens visit ... p'raps they're fed up with confinement and have gone to have a little fun! LYAMYHAHMA ... big hugs and bisous, Anita :)

Happy Dance said...

It feels like a jungle, with the heat and humidity, out there today. Here's me wishing I had the foliage like your patterned paper in my backyard! Lush and luscious. Very cool giraffe, too. Am loving that you've used chevron pp for your sun. Also very cool. That black and white Christmas card is unusual, and is truly peace-filled to look at. I love the single star, and the snowy paper you've used here. Give Hammy a pat, and take twofer yerself! My so funny. Great twofers, and way to think outside that box!! Miss you. xo Bev

Gerrina said...

This die is one that I always dind so beautiful. And here on your two beautiful cards it shows again how versatile this one is! The black and white one is a stunner! Hugs, Gerrina

Bobby said...

Two fabulous ways to use that sun die, Darnell. The jungle paper is perfect for the giraffe and the black and white one is simply stunning.

Kara Lynne said...

What a fantastic sun - it's a great size with your giraffe! All of your patterned papers played together perfectly! Such a cool Christmas card too, Darnell, with the mirrored reflection and I love the addition of the Swiss dots! Peacocks in the street!? You couldn't make this stuff up. Glad you took a photo. Yes, never a dull moment!

Ashwini Rao said...

Stunning twofers, Darnell! I don't know which one I like more, but I sure am loving the 'unconventional' one, since I rarely get those ideas! But I love the look of savannah on that handsome giraffe card too! Thank you so much for joining us at the Seize the Birthday challenge!
PS: Maybe the peahens were confirming if you'd get their gender right and so took more time to show off! :D

Dotty Jo said...

Two lovely cards, Darnell! Thanks for playing at Christmas Kickstart and for your kind comments. Yes, it's great to have Gay in Blogland again - she's been missed. Big hugs, Jo x

Verna Angerhofer said...

Your cards are both so well designed and beautiful!

Hilda Burton said...

I love both these cards, Darnell. You are so clever. Your blog is so much fun that even on busy days, I must take time to see what you've been up to. Thanks for the picture of the beautiful peacocks. Be well. Have a lovely day!

HilaryJane said...

I love these 2 especially the Christmas one, it is so stylish and the dotty embossed background to the bottom half is just a genius touch xx

Colleen said...

wow, you always have special creations for the your Two-fer challenge, now this is going to tax my little brain, but I will see what I can come up with...nothing as fantastic as your two, for sure!! Have a blessed and wonderful week!

oldpunca said...

Your twofer is innovative and fantastic as always. Awesome safari sunset with the giraffe and super nice unconventional christmas card. I like them both. :-)
I am sending holiday greetings from the most beautiful river in Slovenia named Soča.
Stay safe!
Hugs, Sonja

cuilliesocks said...

Hi Darnell, love your two cards, they are fabulous, I love the Christmas one, so very different in design and colour to trad Christmas cards, and I love the giraffe great image.
How lovely to see the peahens having a wander down your street, thanks for sharing, Kate x

Sandra H said...

Two stunning cards Darnell as always your so creative love the black and white my favourite Swiss dots folder used and what a beautiful giraffe πŸ¦’ the sunset is brilliant on this card xx

Redanne said...

You have created Twofer magic here again, I never quite know how you manage to think up such great designs. The giraffe is beautiful but the Christmas sun card is so stylish and elegant, it really does have the wow factor!

Always a pleasure to visit your blog, you always raise a smile, so thank you once again for that my friend. Big hugs, Annie xxx

Kathleen said...

Great use of the die and a super image, beautifully coloured with a lovely backgroud too.

Kath x

Mac Mable said...

Great use of the safari sunset die cut Darnell. The birthday card looks wonderful and I love the contemporary and creative Christmas card x. Wow to the peahens popping in x. Thank you for having me as a guest designer this month Darnell x.....I don't have any sun or moon dies or stamps and only had the one stencil so it cut my choice down as what to use x.....Fabulous inspiration Carnell and both cards are clearly different in design an dI love them x.

Donna said...

Fabulous cards Darnell, like how you stamped the giraffe on patterned paper, great effect and like your Christmas catf!

conil said...

Oh boy, am I impressed inlaid diecutting all over both cards and what cards they are. That die really did work for you and Hammy. LOVE your African themed card. Gorgeous papers and the amazing giraffe...he needs someone to neck with, don't you think. Maybe she's hiding in the bushes. The drama you achieved with the subtle details on the second card left me gasping. Truly incredible effort.

Brenda said...

Are you running moonshine now Auntie?! lol Yes making moonshine is a long process involving corn. Ahhh, Prohibition and moonshine-that's pretty much how racing got started in the south. lol I am totally in love with your sunset twofers! Loving that sunset die to boot! The "Africa" (that's what I'm calling it) is amazing. I love that giraffe, I think I need one in my stash. The paper is awesome and I love that you cut the sunset out of pattern paper too. Love it! The black and white one is just plain gorgeous and elegant!! It looks amazing and makes for a beautifully stunning Christmas card. I'm in love! As I was looking at your picture of the peacocks, I was wondering where in the world was their long tails that they fan out, but then as I read farther, I saw they were not peacocks. lol I should have trusted my eyes when I didn't see the flowy tails! Yes, only the males get to look so beautiful, not the ladies. The peahens are still pretty though and I hope they got "home" safe and sound. Looks like you have more wildlife in the 'burbs than I do in the country! lol Hugs, Brenda

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Great use of that beautiful die, love both our creations, especially that one with the gorgeous giraffe!

Fikreta said...

So wonderful cards!
if peacocks came strutting by our house I would keep them LOL!

Leslie Miller said...

Oh, wow... all we get in our neighborhood is turkeys, but only in the fall. Come to think of it, they'll probably be showing up soon (sad face). I don't want summer to be over. I'm completely in love with your two cards, Darnell! Wowie wow, the giraffe card with all the PP -- fantastic! I have to say your Christmas card is very creative with the positive/negative and that one little star. You get a standing ovation from me!

Loll said...

Two awesome cards, my friend! LOVE that fabulous giraffe with the jungle background and large sun. And what a cool Christmas card --- black and white is classic and your design is artsy. Great work! Playing along for fun as usual (so happy I can do that now!). Love, Lolly

Lisa Elton said...

You've created a marvelous safari card Darnell, the sun looks steamy hot! And look how clever you were to use the die for a Christmas card. It turned out great! Peacocks... peahens... still fun to see them strutting by!

Trina P. said...

Thank you for reminding me I have a NBUS Forest Sunset fancy die from HA!
Terrific twofers. The jungle-y pp is perfect for your giraffe jungle scene. Using the die to then create a b/w Christmas card is so creative and unique.

TK said...

Wonderful cards, and you took that safari sunset in a totally unexpected, unique direction. Congrats on getting that second design finished, fumble fingers and all!

Cheryl W. said...

Your peace card caught my eye right away. It is so striking in black and white. I also really like the graceful giraffe you used on your other card. They truly are gentle giants, aren't they? As for your peahens, it seems that animals of all kinds are aware we're all staying inside our homes and not much of a threat. I had to stop and wait for a gaggle of Canadian geese to cross a busy street in Minneapolis the other day. They just slowly waddled across, not caring one whit about the traffic!

Christine Alexander said...

great twofer Darnell, love those clouds rolling past the sun and the moon.
BTW I think you'd know if those pea hens lived near you they make quite the racket. A friend had to get rid of hers because the neighbours complained :)

JD/ Jill said...

Two great cards. I say this to myself every moneth...."This month I'm going to do this challenge again." Then time seems to fly by and I don't get it done. If I have to be honest, a couple of times I did get ONE card done, and then couldn't think what to do to make a second card.

Your peacock picture makes me think of our trip to California back in 2007...we visited a lot of wineries..And one of them had peacocks running around their yard. There were so many of them and they were all so beautiful.

brenda said...

He's a very bold and lovely Giraffe Darnell and looks splendid placed against the Serengeti sunset (in my mind that's where he is and not in captivity! Many thanks for joining in with our Masculine theme at Stamping Sensations challenge.

B x

Sue said...

Hi Darnell, Great cards. I especially like the sun one.

Where my friend lives there are loads of Peacocks. When the males spread their tail feathers it is beautiful.

Hope you have a nice day. sue

frommycraftroom said...

Two fab makes. Now I wouldn't have know you used pp for the Giraffe unless you told me - I would swear it looks hand coloured.

I'm surprised by the limits here. I can only buy 2 cartons of milk but I can buy 120 bottles of wine! I'm not sure who and what they would be doing with all that wine (and there are different limits on spririts & beer!) as we can't have visitors and are only allowed out of our homes for 1 hour each day withing 5km. Now if it was good for me I'd drink less milk. By the way I feel so sad for the mums who need the limits on milk each and every day! When my kiddos were younger we would use around 15 litres a week.

What lovely visitors you had too.

Cathy said...

Two great cards Darnell, I love giraffes, so that is my fave! Hope you are safe and well. (Thankyou for playing along at Seize the Birthday too) Cathy xx

Jane said...

Such an awesome use of pp. The giraffe looks so good and I thought it was hand coloured until I read your post. Thanks for playing at AAA Birthday, hope to see you join in with future challenges too. Stay safe and keep crafting!

Marlena M. said...

Fantastic inlay designs Darnell! WoW to your peahen sighting, what a fun surprise, ha! ;)

Sarah said...

Two very different cards, what a useful die set that is. I hope your visitors managed to find their way home. I bet that was a first for Nellie!! xx

Lynne K said...

Gorgeous giraffe card! Certainly in his element against that lovely background paper. Thank you for sharing with us for our Masculine challenge at Stamping Sensations.

Lynne

Joan said...

Great cards, love the Giraffe on the Safari card

Thanks for joining us at Stamping Sensations this month

Joan

Greta said...

Wow--so creative, Darnell! Wonderful cards! That would have been a surprise to see the peahens walking down the street. Not sure what Fritz would have thought. Squirrels & rabbits bother him the most--even more than cats!

Celeste Goff said...

Two fabulous cards Darnell! Love that jungle paper!

G Peplow said...

HI there Lovely Darnell :) Great Christmas card, I had to screw my eyes up to see the snow falling, you hid them so well :D Hope you're well, hugs from me :D xx

Lady Joyful said...

Brilliant cards! I really like the birthday card you entered to our challenge, but the monochromatic design is very clever too. Thank you for joining us at The Male Room - Charlotte/Lady Joyful, DT

Di said...

So glad you came to play in the Snippets Playground my friend! i wonder if your pea- thingies have been back to see you? Tee, hee.

Much love

Di xx

Kampin' Karen said...

What a fun blog, Darnell. I'm so glad I found you through Di Wray. My favorite of the two cards is the giraffe.

Glittered Paws said...

Love the giraffe card - but I have always loved giraffes whether whimsy or more life like. Took me a minute to see the dotted swiss on the second card but so CAS.

Zoechaos said...

Just scrolling through #MyNBUS to see what catches my eye. Your striking black and white Peace card leapt out at me it is so special. It was only when I landed here that I realised it is one of yours! For this design I can even forgive you for it's being a Christmas card. Everything about your black and white card is spot on and I applaud it, nay I give it a standing ovation.

sallysbitz2 said...

Two brilliant cards, love your techniques x

How lovely to see those two birds so close up x

hugs sally x
sallysbitz2.blogspot.co.uk

BoΕΌenA said...

Two amazing, memorable cards, Darnell. Your birthday card is wonderful, I love the jungle scene. I love the Christmas card too, you made great use of this die so surprising and innovative which makes the holiday card very modern design
xx