Earth Day!

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you're having a good and plenty kind of day! Who remembers Good & Plenty licorice candy? I still love them and have loved them since my childhood in the 1890s. You'd think they would be stale, but no.

Onefer

Today is Earth Day ~ Yay! Last week Serena Dipity came by to visit the Playhouse and together we made a card to celebrate her. Mother Earth, not Serena.

It all started when I was flipping through my binder of die-cut shapes. No, wait a sec. It all started a coupla weeks ago when I noticed on the calendar that Earth Day was coming up on the 22nd, so that was in my subterranean conscience. So then Serena showed up just as I turned the page in my binder and right before my eyes was the above circle die cut from an old session of dribbling alcoholic inks onto Yupo paper. I looked over at Serena, she smiled knowingly, we both looked at Hammy and Stanley and together we all yelled, "Globe!"

Then, if you can believe it, the littl'n ran over to Mt. NBUS and nosed out the arms die from Alexandra Renke. I recently got it on super sale, wondering at the time when I might ever use it. (But, you know, super sale!) Then, not to be out-done, Hammy dove into my stash of sediments and found the perfect one.

So we had the bits, now we just needed a background and that was quickly sorted when I remembered I had some ancient pieces of cloudy blue sky vellum which I embossed with a ... ta-da ... cloud e/f!

You gotta love when Serena Dipity shows up!

Twofer

Here's another nature theme with a blue green color scheme. I made this card (cough) ago, but I can't find that I ever posted it. The background was made using the dirty pour technique during one of the fun Canadian crafty sessions I attended. The beautiful seahorse is from Katzelkraft and the Lavinia ocean flora stamp was a gift from a sweet friend. Hello friend.

I.D.E.A.S.

Both of these cards (and any of yours this week!) will fit the A = Anything Goes brief of I.D.E.A.S. I'm looking forward to playing with you and 📌ing your creations!

And to close ...

With the rain we've been getting, we are seeing bulbs come up for the first time in years. First the smattering of white irises and then as they were fading, we were treated with just one regal purple bloom! Thank you, Mother Earth! Every day should be your day!

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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!
Challenges:
Onefer: Inspiration Station (photo of globe inspired me); Can You Handle the Pressure? (a/g); SSS Monday (It's up in the air).
Twofer: Addicted to Stamps and More (make your mark); Double D (water related).

April 15: E is for Embossing (Powder/Folder)

Hello Stamplings!

How's your little heart pumpin' today? My computer wants that to read: how's your little pumpkin heart today? I don't think science has figured out how to do that yet.

My heart was fine last week, but my head was in a vice.🤕 I had five consecutive days of migraines, but I've had two good days now, so whatever that was, it doesn't ever need to happen again! (And bless all of you who deal with this routinely.❤) In the between times, I turned to cards to keep my mind on something else. I have to say, having the I.D.E.A.S. schedule (see side bar) has given me focus and purpose. 

This week is all about embossing. Spring flowers are popping up here in yards and along country roads. In particular, wild California poppies are abundant because of all the rain we've had. So in tribute:

Onefer

This is a Penny Black stamp which I painted with Distress Oxides. It was my first time doing that and I like the chalky result, even after winking. If you look very closely you can see a bit of stenciling. That was young Stanley's work and I am proud of how he did and how smart Hammy was to choose one of my stencils with teeny tiny holes for Stan's first effort. I added the sediment from PTI and some soft DO blending around the edges.

And, after all that, because this is Week Three, I ran the panel through my Gemini with a Sissix 3D e/f. It's not something I would normally do, but I have to say, it gave the card a certain glow-up!

Twofer

Another poppy design, this one from PTI called Botanical Blocks III. I embossed it in platinum powder and painted it with my Ziggies before matting. The card was embossed with a Darice e/f. 

Hammy thinks I should start a new aaacronym: WBUCSI. It stands for, "winked, but you can't see it!" (I'm doing my best to start a trend of "senior speak" to make the kids try and figure out what we're saying for a change!😂)

Threefer with a Twist

I switched over from poppies to daisies:

This quick card features a NBUS 3D embossing folder from Altenew, called "Daisy Bed." The panel was matted with black and the die-cut sediment is from W&W. I painted the background with my Ziggies and then used a small bb to blend ink on the daisy centers (WBUCSI). 

The Twist

(Not my card. Read below.)

The same day I made my daisy card, I received the above beautiful daisy card in the mail from my friend Anita all the way from France! What are the chances?! The same-wave-length-coinkydink gave me goose-bumpers and I just had to share! Thank you, Anita!

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Enjoy your daisylicious 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! If you play with embossing this week, please let me know so I can visit you and pin your creation to my I.D.E.A.S. Board!

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

#1 = We Love Stamping (Spring)
#2 = The Flower Challenge (add layers); 
         Snippets Playground (The poppy panel of three layers and the sediment were all made from snippets.)
#3 = Can You Handle the Pressure (A/G); Beautiful Blossoms (Mood Board)

April 8: D is for Dies/Die Cuts

Hello Stamplings!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you are doing well! 

I'm running short of time, so I'll get right to my "D is for Dies" designs for Week Two of April's I.D.E.A.S.:

Onefer

My featured NBUS die this week is "Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame" by Memory Box. That's a mouthful, but it makes the best QACAS cards. It cuts like a dream and you're left with a beautiful rose wreath and a single swirly rose. The swirly rose in this design is inside the card.

I love the look of the pretty patterned paper I used. So simples. To add interest, I used the same paper to back my sediment and for the card base, I used a paper that Hammy has been hoarding. (He's so busy playing, teaching, and having fun with Stanley that I was able to sneak a piece!) It has a lovely corduroy look and feel. To jeuss that even more, I added score cards and pretty flat bling.

Twofer

Another QACAS card along the same lines using plain white card for the diecut and another awesome textured paper for the card base.

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And now a few photos to share of my adventures last week:

Lee, Diane, Diana, Darnell

I met up with my sister Diana and we went to visit our cousin Lee and his wife Diane. Lee is our cousin on our Dad's side and I've only met him and his wife once before, many years ago. It was very nice to see them again! 

Lee is 84 and a hoot. If we had grown up in the same area, we would have gotten into a lot of mischief. For example, notice that hat and hair you see in the closeup? That's fake hair! What's left of his hair is cut very short. He loves it when his barber shop gets a new barber and he can spring that hairdo on them!😄 (He only gets away with it for a minute because those twinkly eyes give him away!)

My sister and I both love trees and there were several cool areas along our drive for me to snap photos.

We also stopped at a tulip farm where our timing was perfect to see the incredibly beautiful tulip bloom this year! Thank you, sis, for a fun time!

~~~

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! I neglected the computer last week, but hopefully I will catch up with you soon.

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More (Die Cut and/or Stencil); Memory Box Challenge (Birthday); Seize the Birthday (Spring Floral); and SSS Wednesday (Happy Birthday).

April 1: I is for Ink/Color Mediums 🫣

Hello Humin StamPlings!

I we Hop youre feeling gud. Happy Aprul FulsDay!! It's me and Stan on the Keybord today, haHa! Mom wasunt able to go on track and do today because she was buzzie for Easter and company here for some many days. 

Mom loves April Fuls Day and hated to mist it so we are fooling her! We even made a Card wifs paintY IKNs and water bowl!!! But we haf to wait for Mom to come out to fed us Before we could take a pikchur. I'm a gud helper, but I done know how to do it that. 

Mom will be reely sirprized and laff a lot even tho  we maked a mess!

😲😲😲

Oh, my, what can I say?! These two are going to keep me young! After I stopped laughing and cleaned up these two fur balls and the pools of water and paint all over the place, I could not get them to settle down for the photo! 

This was a great April Fool's Day surprise and Hammy and Stanley are just the sweetest to do a card and post for me to keep me on my I.D.E.A.S. track! (Of course, this means if your daughter or grandson or dog makes a card, you get to post it and play along, too!)

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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! Now go pull a prank on someone you love!

*Life is too short!

Go7: Cover Die Eclipse

Hello Stamplings!

As promised, I am back today with this month's Group of Seven Cardmakers (Go7) technique and makes! 

This technique was SO interesting and satisfying! Basically ... well, let me show you the photos first:

I painted the pear with markers, spritzed, and stamped. The cover plate is by Reverse Confetti.

And the same stamped in gray:

And this one uses two pieces of patterned paper:

The pp used above is ancient and in person it has a beautiful twinkly glaze:

~~~

I just love these designs and now I want to try this technique using other large stamps and cover plates. Basically, here's how it works:

• Using your Misti, stamp two card fronts with the same large image (or grouping of smaller images).  Background stamps, large florals, etc., work well.
• Using a cover die, cut ONE of the stamped or pp panels.* (If desired for texture, cut more blank pieces with this same die and glue them into a stack with the stamped one on top.)
• Glue the stamped cover die-cuts onto your second stamped panel, being sure to perfectly line up the stamped patterns.
• Note:  if you don't have any cover dies, use multiple small shape dies to cut the second panel and put them in place.

*This step freaked me out because when I removed the die-cut from the die, very little of the image was showing on the paper. I cocked my head from side to side to side ~ like Hammy trying to keep up with Stanley ~ but I went ahead with the next step and, wallah, it all became clear! It's like magic!

If you click over to the Group of Seven Cardmakers website, you will find a Gina K. video link and full instructions, as well as the sensational cards created by the other designers. I also found a great video by Heidi Walker using Lavinia stamps on The Yorkshire Crafter. Remember, there is also a linky tool on the website for you to share your results using this fun technique!

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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! Again, enjoy the Easter weekend! I'll see you Monday!

*Life is too short!

Challenges:
Card #1: Addicted to Stamps & More (Any Occasion)

Card #3: Cut It Up (Happy Birthday)

March 25: A is for Anything Goes

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you skipping the light fantastic! Not sure whatever that means, but it sounds fun! There will be no skipping for those of you in states where Mr. Snowman decided he wanted to show up and play with the Easter Bunny, especially after you've been enjoying warm summery weather! Sorry.😒

Welcome to the fourth week of the month where the brief is "anything goes" on my I.D.E.A.S. calendar (see side bar). My focus this week has continued to be Easter cards. I'm scurrying to prepare for Easter hosting this year and I'll also be back on Thursday with my usual monthly Group of Seven cards, so this post will be a quick runway show. I'm sure you're busy, too, so start the music ...

My frog bunny was very popular on the last post, so he stayed on for another week! (There will be a lady in the lobby after the show to take orders for those of you who need those tenny shoes!)

All the pretties in the show today followed the famous MacGyver Method of Design, j.f., products were primarily used from my box o' bits, aka BOB. For the above card, the blended background, glossified flowers, leaves, and winked bunny were all found in BOB. I stamped and fussy-cut the clay posts and sliced openings for the inserts. The sediment was stamped and embossed in shiny copper. I actually die-cut and added the frame.

Of course, you can't see any of the shine and I'm sorry I forgot to take a closeup for you. Thankfully, you have a great imaginarium. 

And a few other simple designs:

I was especially happy to find a way to stitch together these vintage floral fabric sprays with the sweet bunny on a linen background (dry clean only), surrounded by a bold cardigan in matching colors. Please note in the the catalog photo below that this design comes in several bright colors which will take you right through the summer months:

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I will leave you with some delightful baby chick photos, although not the baby chicks you might be expecting for Easter!

Longtime readers will know I love to check out the nesting eagles via live cams this time of year. The website which has several live cameras watching the eagle nests can be found here: Explore.org. The above collage was made by viewer janntonne and it captures the adorable triplets at the West End Overlook of the Channel Islands in California. 

BTW, if you go and check out the cameras, you will be amused to see that a pair of Canadian Geese have taken over one of the old eagle nests in Decorah, Iowa! They are nesting on six eggs! 

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

Stanley is saying hello from his first Easter basket! (Hammy is in there under the grass, grabbing a nap!) I wish you all a Happy Easter/Happy Spring!⛄

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! See you on Thursday!

*Life is too short!

Challenges: SSS Wednesday, Krafty Chicks, Allsorts Challenge