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 3, 2021

Hello Month of Love!

Hello Stamplings!

Ah, Feb Rooary, how we love thee! As someone with an unusual first name and hard-to-pronounce maiden and married surnames, I feel your pain. I have always thought the Greek God of Calendars gave you an impediment right from your creation. Fortunately, you were then passed on down the line to the Hellenic Handmaiden of Holidays and she gave you the best holiday of all! LOVE

Things always have a way of working out.💕 

In celebration, I am greeting you with a card. (Although I must add that I don't know why you had to rush January out of here so fast!!)

On watercolor paper I masked one-third of the card and brushed on a red line of demarcation to give my die-cut hello sediment and heart something to stand on. But before I added them, I used a stencil from The Crafters Workshop to add a bit of red fishnet stocking effect to the panel. Then I added a triple die-cut hello from MFT. (I cut it first from an old snippet of background which was white heat-embossed and smooched and then I cut it twice more in deep lipstick red.) 

The heart die-cut is from a free die that came with my Gemini, Jr. I heat-embossed it with fried brick embossing glaze. (You don't really fry bricks, you fire them, but some typos are just too fun to fix.) It's my first time using one of the glazes. Hammy suggested we glaze it twice and here you can see the cool leather effect that happened.
Challenges
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(Thank you, Rachel!)
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Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* Take care and keep safe!

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!

RIP Captain Sir Thomas Moore. 1920-2021.💜

*Life is too short!

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64 comments:

Sue said...

Hi Darnell, That is a fab card.

Hope you have a nice day. Sue

Tina Z. said...

Such splendid design, great CAS.
Crafty hugs xx

kiwimeskreations said...

Wonderful card Darnell - Hammy was a genius to suggest two coats of glaze on the heart ;).
Those parapradokians are such fun!! Thanks for sharing them
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine
p.s., I know what you mean about names that folks find difficult to spell - I've had some amazing spellings, like you, both before and after marriage !!

Sandra H said...

This is so gorgeous and the heart well done hammy on suggesting a 2nd coat looks amazing .....there are lots of names l can’t pronounce let alone say or spell enjoy the day x

Lia said...

A great CAS card. I love it!
Lia xx

frommycraftroom said...

I love your "love" card. And agree January went way to fast.

#5 & #7 made me chuckle the most!

Marilyn said...

Beautiful card!
Have a great day!
Marilyn❤️

Jeanne said...

You never cease to delight, Darnell! Thank you for this lovely card and the funny (and oh so true) list! What a day brightener both are. :) Have a happy day.

Lisa Babitz said...

Love your CAS design only using 1/3 of the card. Your "leather" heart looks awesome! Thanks for the chuckle as well!!

Hilda Burton said...

Love your beautiful card today. And the funny is hilarious!! Enjoy your day!

Pat said...

What a beautiful card to grace the month of 'love' Darnell, and I love the ombre effect with the pretty stencilled background and the red heart with the super double embossing using the glaze, also the brilliant look of the triple layer sentiment with the wonderful pink smooshed white embossed leftover piece which looks fabulous and the perfect placement of the one little gem on the heart. x

Em Louise Fairley said...

Beautiful card, Darnell, though I have to disagree that January was rushed... it felt like an eternity to me xoxo

Karen said...

Love this CAS design! That fishnet stocking stencil adds just the right amount of texture, but it's that amazing sentiment that steals the show! Thanks for joining us at Color Hues.

Surekha Galagoda said...

Dear Darnell
The card is beautiful to greet February. Stay safe and blessed

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Always a joy to visit Darnell. Love your card and the heart double glaze and stencil, love the design. I agree about January why didn't she want to stick around for long? Love the "Tickle to my brain".
Keep safe
Faith x

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

A lovely CAS and the double coat of sparkle looks great, well done to Hammy :D
Fun list of thoughts, it makes me giggle

Nan G said...

Stunning QAS card Darnell. I’ve not seen that new glaze stuff used before...pretty cool. Have to tell/show a friend about this, she’ll love it. What January is gone?! Yep, right there with ya on the tongue twister last names Darnell. Oh my how mine gets butchered. The Girls and I send warm hugs.

designbydonna said...

Beautiful card. Thanks for the funny tickles to my brain. Cheer on a cold gloomy day.

Brenda in IN said...

Great design and pretty hello with the bright red embossed heart. Thanks, too, for the funnies. I love number seven.

Jean said...

Your card is lovely and I laughed out loud while reading those. Thanks for brightening my day!

I Card Everyone said...

A heartfelt hello, and a whole list of hardy har hars! That's what we've come to count on!
Fabby, D!
=]

Verna Angerhofer said...

Beautiful card and Hammy's suggestion of doing the glaze twice paid off. I like that heart that way!

Lynette said...

Such a cool card with many great ideas! I LOVE those sayings. LOL!

LeAnne said...

What a cool card....cool letters and heart...and a cool link to Captain Tom. What a guy! Thanks for sharing this with us at the Paper Players this week!

conil said...

Got so distracted by the 10 Paraprosdokians that, after I stopped giggling, had to go back and remind myself what I came here for...that LOVE-ly Valentine's card. I'm assuming the Mister is getting it, or could we start a minor scandal?

HilaryJane said...

Love this one Darnell. Using that stencil was a masterstroke, it adds a perfect texture to the card that enhances the roughness of the watercolour paper. well done xx

Susan said...

Lovely Valentine, fun Paraprosdokians (especially loved #7), and total agreement that January rushed out of here awfully fast.

Cat Craig said...

Fabulous design and techniques here Darnell. Thanks for the witticisms. So many are true...lol.

Aquarius said...

Loving the Love card. great sayings, made me smile

Kathleen said...

A really super CAS creation, beautiful colours and design. Love the Brain ticklers.

Kath x

ionabunny said...

Your heart is beautiful Darnell. I agree about the January thing. I am sure short Feb will also be ending before we've had time to share all the love we should. Love those paraprosdokians. HUGZ

Lindsey said...

I love the patterning of the die cut hello! And at first glance, I thought, what extra-cool watercolour paper texture, but it's subtly and gorgeously stencilled. Embossing glaze hadn't really entered my consciousness until I noticed it as part of the new DI release, but seeing your heart, I want some! :D Beautiful card. Thanks for joining us at Color Hues!

Bonnie said...

Ooh la la! You brought out the fishnet hose! It made an awesome background for your embossed and smooshed love sentiment! Love that double embossed heart! I'm still giggling over that unpronounceable list!

Lisa Elton said...

What a fabulous way to usher in the month of love!

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

Gorgeous card, Darnell - just love the hello heart!! And funny list - soooo true!!

TK said...

Love your Love card! The leather affect is quite interesting too, as is the fishnet stocking blending -- awesome.

Haha - your Funnies are excellently funny!

Cheryl W. said...

Wonderful card! Love how you made your line of demarcation and then stenciled the water colored area. I might be able to handle this amount of water coloring, so I think I'll give it a try this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration.

Loll said...

LOVE your CAS mixed media Valentine's card Dolly! Beautiful design! The soft stenciling in the background is so pretty and I love how your red stripe is ombre. Your hello is beautiful with the smooshed colour and heat embossing. What a beautiful design. And the heart is gorgeous. Such rich colour from your two coats of glaze. I'm proud of you using a new product that has only come on the market in the past year. :) Love, Lolly

Ustvarjalni utrinki Tamara P. said...

Gorgeous card.
Have a nice weekend
hugs Tamara

Linda said...

Beautifully CAS. I love the embossed heart, great colour from the two layers of glaze. Thank you for sharing at Perfectly CAS.
Thanks for the giggle too .... have a lovely weekend! xx

Sue's Crafty Corner said...

Such a beautiful CAS card Darnell.

Sue xx

Kara Lynne said...

Gorgeous Valentine, Darnell! That heart really does have the look of leather and I love how you divided the card - so clever! I enjoyed that fun list, I'll have to share it with Gene.

Sarah said...

You are absolutely right...where the heck did January go?!! That's a fabulous card and I had to smile at the not fishnet tights, it's been a good while since I have worn any of those!! Gorgeous colours and the fried brick heart looks amazing, Hope you are doing okay xx

Debbie Crowley said...

A sweet CAS and love your glazing!! Perfect "hello" die cut. Thank you for joining us at the Paper Players this week.

Redanne said...

I love your beautiful card and the red glazing looks fabulous, it really does give a leather look - I love those glazes, Fired Brick is a definite favourite!

Those paraprosdokians are such fun! Keep safe and well my friend. Hugs, Annie xxx

Vicky Hayes said...

What a beautiful card Darnell.I love the subtle background and I adore the pattern on your sentiment and the leather look heart. I for one and not sorry to see January go, even though I am trying very hard to enjoy every single moment, but spring just doesn't happen in January! Or February come to that. Or March unless a miracle happens. I'm here for miracles!! Vicky x

Carol L said...

What a lovely way to welcome in the month of love! It's such a beautiful monochromatic look in such a wonderful CAS card and that big red heart is perfect! Thx for the link to Captain Tom, what an amazing individual!

Mac Mable said...

Time is just flying past. I am grateful for that in these challenging times as like you said we are keeping busy but hey I wish it would slow down a little so that I could catch up with myself x.
What a fabulous and romantic card Darnell x. Love all your attention to detail with the stencilling and the way you have done the die cut sentiment and that leather look heart x. Always a delight to pop in and read your blog Darnell .....Thank you x.

Nancy said...

Despite the pandemic, I do feel life is going rather quickly too. As for your CAS card, it is so pretty! Love the way you did the hello and the clean dividing line is perfect!!! It is always a pleasure seeing you in one of my galleries and I love that you share your humor with us as it is so needed right now. Thanks for the chuckles and playing along at Color Hues. Take care!

Celeste Goff said...

Happy heart month Darrell! I love your gorgeous CAS card and that embossed heart is amazing!!!

Pia S said...

Cool effect with the glazed heart and patterned sentiment. CAS perfection.

Linda said...

Your card is just so lovely Darnell. Love how you masked and then watercolored a line. And that Hello is so pretty with the glazed heart. Hope all is well with you and stay safe. Hugs....

Kate said...

Thanks for the giggle! It's a LOVE-ly card! Very sad about Sir Tom!

Kate said...

What a wonderful card. The "fried" brick heart is a fabulous addition. I enjoyed reading your fun post as well. For what it's worth, I had a very easy maiden name (Bryan) but it's simplicity was too much for many. I constantly got O'Bryan, Bryant, etc!

Thanks for joining us at Little Red Wagon this week!

Kate
Small Bits of Paper

JD/ Jill said...

Beautiful Valentine caard!

oldpunca said...

It is not easy to combine different red colors. You've done it perfectly. It is fantastic Valentines card. It was smart to listen to Hammy. The small guy always has smart ideas. :-)
Have a great day! Hugs, Sonja

Leslie Miller said...

What a perfectly beautiful CAS creation! I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I marvel because it's so hard for me, but I sincerely love the look of this with the patterned "hello", the delicately stenciled background, and the embossed heart that finally convinces me that I need the embossing glaze. I just love the look of it and love your whole card! Thanks for the funnies, too!

Sheri Gilson said...

Beautiful! Love the CAS design! Thank you so much for playing along with us at the Color Hues Challenge!

Fikreta said...

Beautiful card!

Ros Crawford said...

Well a leather heart doesn't break so easily... Love you card and heart and you made me laugh out loud with those para whatsits... Have a super day

Vikki H said...

Aw, you saved the best for last! What a great list!! The card details will inspire a lot of crafters! Happy Valentines Day!

Greta said...

Striking & beautiful, Darnell! Love the background you made for that wonderful word die cut!

Helen F. said...

Awesome card, Darnell! Love the leather-look heart and patterned HELLO! This is CAS at it's finest!

foleysfriend said...

What a fabulous "hello" card! I love the monochromatic look and the design on the "hello" is beautiful. Now why haven't I ever thought of doing that? The glaze sure makes the heart super special. Thanks for joining us at Perfectly CAS.

sue n.