Guest Designing at Rudolph Days Challenge!

Hello Stamplings!

Surprise! You didn't expect to open your screen and see me here on a Thursday, but I'm happy and honored to be here today as a Guest Designer for the Rudolph Days Challenge! 

Onefer. I went with traditional colors for this design:

The holly and pine frame in green are NBUS from PTI. I let the guys blow their little gold-filled whistles onto a small red panel to insert in the center of the frame. Over that I added a heavily gold-embossed Red and Greens brooch, er, branch from Penny Black and a chipboard sediment from Memory Box.

We'd love to have you join in with your Christmas in July design this week ~ and hereafter! You might not want to look, or you might just be peeking through your fingers, but the truth is, that 'mail date' for your cards is fast approaching! 

🎄 Challenges will run monthly starting on the 25th of the month at 9am UK time and running until the last day of the month. 🎄There will be a Top 3 chosen each month and published at the start of the following month.  Everyone who is chosen as part of the Top 3 will be invited to join a future challenge as a Guest Designer. 🎄The challenge theme is always anything goes as long as it's a Christmas project - you can link up anything you want as long as it's been hand made by you - this includes digital cards that have been made by you. 🎄More guidelines on the Rudolph Days site.

Twofer

Hammy and I took this opportunity to teach Stanley about "non-traditional" Christmas colors with our second design. This was very QACAS because it only involved die-cutting gold mirror cardstock, some beautiful pp that I'm delighted to find a perfect use for, and a sediment from Memory Box! Shazam, Stan!

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You're welcome for the cold Christmas makes to cool you off if, like us, you are still sweltering. And now a quick punctuation to my post from Monday as a little icy refreshment ... one more fruit cake! No, no, I mean fruit make!

Pink Fresh, "Pears and Pomegranates" and NBUS "Stitched Whirl Background" from Simon Says. Stitched circle from MFT and sediment from PTI.

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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! 

*Life is too short!

Challenges

Christmas Kickstart: Festive Frames

Color Hues: Red and Green

Cut It Up: Christmas in July

Love Those Pretty Papers: A/G PP

Snippets Playground: A/G Scraps (gold mirror, pink and gold card for sediment, pp)

            

Anything Fruity Goes and a Tribute

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you in your happy place! After I finish this post, I'm going to try a new recipe for sour cream blueberry muffins. I'm needing some comfort food. And maybe a tipple.

Onefer

This is the fourth Monday of July, so it is A = Anything Goes on the I.D.E.A.S. board. Over at Seize the Birthday, my friend Colleen is the hostess and she has chosen fruits. Given that Colleen had a lot to do with the fruits used in my cards today (thanks, Col), I couldn't not play along! The NBUS stamps, dies, and stencils are from, "Pears and Pomegranates" by Pink Fresh. The e/f is from Cuttlebug.

Twofer

Of course, I had to make two of them!

In Tribute

Some of you may have heard that our little corner of Blogland suddenly lost a dear friend on July 18, 2024. Her name was Anne Redfern and her blog was called Redanne. She was hugely talented with her craft supplies and her needle and she especially loved mixed media, all things Tim Holtz (including Tim and Mario), and making unbelievable miniature works of art.

More than that, Anne was a close friend to many of you and to me. She let me call her Annie and we first became acquainted on February 22, 2012, when she stopped by my desk on, "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday" and left me a kind comment. Many thousands of comments followed, as well as emails, gifts, cards, and Zooms.

I was star-struck and delighted to have the chance to meet Annie in person in 2015 and spend two days with her and David when I traveled to England. I happened to have a free day at that point and they delighted me with an unexpected car trip over to Conwy, Wales!

I so enjoyed seeing Annie and David's community, their home, and especially Annie's craft room and creations. She even spoiled me with a delicious homemade meal! Just look at that beaming smile!

By the way, Annie would hate that bit about me being star-struck! Her smile and her kind eyes reflect the humble and gentle soul that she was, always ready to encourage and inspire others, never complaining, and incredibly generous.

You may remember that earlier this year I featured Annie on my blog when I introduced you to little Stanley:

Annie's most recent adventure in crafting was felting, which she enjoyed in spite of the pain in her hands and fingers and she felted Stanley and the top of the sweet round box she used to mail him to me from across the pond. 

I will always cherish many happy memories of Annie and I'm so grateful for our close friendship and for all the good times we shared because of this hobby.

Rest in peace, my friend, free of pain. I miss you already.

~~

Life is short. Too short. Please enjoy yours and thank you for spending part of yours with me! 

Challenges:

Seize the Birthday: Fruits

Can You Handle the Pressure? A/G Embossing Folders

Just Us Girls: Mood Board. My card has pears instead of pineapples, but the colors inspired me.

p.s. Yum.

Emgoldened!

Hello Stamplings!

And good Monday morning to you! Or whatever time of day or night you are popping by. Beverages on the bar along the back wall and I'm thinking I'll plug in the mini-waffle iron and make a few snackies.

If you are following along with my Monday schedule or just my weekly Monday posts, you'll know I'm featuring E=mbossing today. And who doesn't like a little added gold?

Onefer

This NBUS rose embossing folder is from Sizzix. I spread gold ink on the debossed side of the folder and ran it through my Gemini. Then I added diluted gold ink to the raised areas of the roses and leaves and Hammy and Stanley, freshly back from camp, went nuts with the gold schplattering.

The stitched rectangle dies are from MFT and the die sediment is from Memory Box.

Twofer

This card features an embossing folder which I first used a couple of months ago. It's called, "Gracious Leaves," from Open Studio and it strikes me as Christmassy. For the front smaller panel, I did the same technique of rubbing gold ink on the debossed side and then I painted the leaves and berries with diluted gold ink.

I added the stitched frame and the joy sediment from Memory Box, both cut from gold. To add a further touch of eleganzia framing, Hammy rubbed gold ink all around the front edge of the card. 

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The power of words ~

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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:

Alphabet: H is for Holidays

Can You Handle the Pressure? A/G

Christmas Kickstart: Festive Frames

Jingle Belles: My Sweet Emboss-able You

I.D.E.A.S. Die-Cut Day!

Hello Stamplings!

Welcome and good day to ya! I'm feeling okay and I'll feel even better once I get off the shingles meds. Thank you for all your wonderful birthday and get well wishes and prayers! You're the best!❤

I have my usual twofer for you. One is a card I made a coupla weeks ago and one I managed during the week.

Onefer

The beautiful vellum butterfly image is from a company called Stamp On It. I attached it to a stitched and scalloped pink square and then attached that to a sheet of vellum, which was attached to the card front with a fold over the top. I then added the die-cut thanks from poppystamps and the sequints.

Before I added the vellum to the card base, I thought a layer of text on the card front would look lovely under the vellum crinoline, so I used my old SU En Francais stamp:

Twofer

A simple W-O-W Christmas card on hammered cardstock to kick-start what will hopefully be weekly Christmas card makes from now on. Tick-tock, tick-tock! I love pure white-on-white cards, but when I go to make them, I usually end up adding a bit of color, a touch of gold embossing, a little bling, something. I'm pickled tink that I managed to restrain myself for once! (It helped that the lads are away at summer camp right now!)

The corner die is actually NBUS and it's from 2015. I mean, seriously? I really am a bad offender of not using my schtuff, aren't I?! And I have a set of these, Christmas and non-Christmas dies. Slap! Never mind, better late than never as I always tell you with your NBUS!

Sorry, I digested. The ornament is ancient (but often used) from Spellbinders, called, "2011 Heirloom Ornaments." The sediment has escaped its packaging. I'm imagining you imagining the die ripping apart the thin cellophane envelope and flinging itself into the drawer. 

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The Mails and The Mister

I have one of those first-of-the-month birthdays that are a surprise when you turn the calendar, so I'm fortunate to get cards for many days after wards. I have to say that this year the mails have been extraordinary! I have received many cards from England and Canada in less than a week! Bravo!!

But then, this:

It is so sad to see a lovely handmade card mangled, especially when there was nothing on the card which should have caught in machinery.😢 On a positive note, I am happy that the mail personnel didn't just throw it away! 

❤❤❤   

Per tradition, The Mister made me a copier paper handmade birthday card, which I treasure each year. He is not usually one for quips, but he really made me laugh out loud when he wrote this in the card:

Happy 75th Birthday!

If you were a building,

this would be quite

an accomplishment.

And you still have all your shingles!

😂😂😂

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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:

Triple B: July 

Shopping Our Stash: NBUS!

Peace On Earth: A/G Christmas.

Birdies Welcome July

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are doing great as we turn another page on the calendar!  

Remember those desk calendars that were loose-leaf and held in a plastic caddy with loops? Then you'll remember how in July there were more used days of the year than unused days of the year. 

The moral of the story? Whatever you meant to do in 2024, better get out there and get it done! 

At the ol' Playhouse, the lads and I are starting a whole new month of I.D.E.A.S. I went with QACAS and OLC for this Inky first week!

Onefer

I used these stylized birds on a card not too long ago and I had so much fun, I brought them out to play again. I painted them with my Ziggies, Hammy put on his new blade runners and expertly added the score lines, while the little wonder Stanley tried his luck with schplattering more than one color! 

Twofer

These birdhouses are from an ancient wooden stamp from Hooks, Lines & Inkers dated 1993! Haha, some of you weren't even born then! Cough. More on that in a minute. 

I painted, added a little blue blush to the edges, and finished it off with another old wooden stamp of dots from Stamps by Judith. The sediment is from another old stamp (not wooden) from Technique Tuesday called, "Chicadees."

Happy Inking! I hope you'll join me and my big I.D.E.A.S. this week!

Speaking of Old

Tomorrow I turn 57, if you don't mind me transposing the numbers. I was feeling pretty smug about making it to such a really big number, what with one thing and another. So smug in fact, on Saturday the Bluebird of Irony shite on my face with a case of shingles! 

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm praying and doing my best to keep it from spreading to my eye.🫣 Hopefully, the shingles vaccine will lessen the severity. Plans with family and friends have been canc postponed. And the cover on my birthday cake? A heat dome of temps forecast to reach 90-110 for several days!

But it's all good! This, too, shall pass and lots of folks can't say that. It's hard to get me down because it's still my Diamond Jubilee and I'm happy to be here for it! And I've got dozens and dozens of beautiful cards to open tomorrow! Mwah!

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

Happy 4th of July if you live in America, where we have celebrated our independence and our precious democracy since 1776!

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:

Addicted to CAS: Critter.

Addicted to Stamps and More: Make your mark.

Krafty Chicks: All occasions.

Seize the Birthday: A/G.

Group of Seven Goes Monochromatic!

Hello Stamplings!

The Group of Seven Cardmakers are showcasing the monochromatic design element this month. You use just one color on your design and by using different shades of that one color you can make some very striking cards.

Onefer

I chose red as my color choice. Wait. What? Just seeing if you were paying attention. With this heat, it's easy to nod off in class. This card is pretty self-exploratory. The flowers from SSS are called, "Bouquet of Thanks."

The only thing you can't see clearly above is that the chevron background is actually an emboss-resist paper. This shows the shine better:

And now you can see the lads' brilliant winking, too!

Twofer

This is a one-layer design, which stencils make easy. This NBUS stencil from A Colorful Life Designs is called, "Elegant Snowflake." Just to be different, I decided to color it as a stylized poinsettia. 

I have to say, don't do what I did. I wish I had taken a photo of the millions of pieces of masking tape I had to use to cover the various bits as I changed colors of ink. And then, when it was all done, I was disappointed to see the blending wasn't even even, but I wasn't about to try and fix it! 😰

We would love to have you show us your monochromatic designs if you have a play! There is a link provided over on the Group of Seven Cardmakers blog. 

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Enjoy your weekend! 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:

Just Us Girls: A/G Stencils.

Colorful Options: Aqua

Peace on Earth: A/G Christmas.

Rudolph Days: A/G Christmas.