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!

March 18, 2024

March 18: E is for Embossing (Folders)

Hello Stamplings!

It's lovely to see you! I hope you are doing well! In this hemisphere, it is the day-before-the-First-Day-of-Spring! It is also National Awkward Moments Day in the US, but more on that later. 

And it's also the third Monday of March, which means I am featuring embossing folders for this week of my I.D.E.A.S. calendar (see side bar.) I realize that I should include wet embossing on week three, so I will change that on the calendars in the future.

Onefer
This is a bit busy for me and I had a couple of conniption fits in the process of making it. If that's not a term used where you live, it means to become unreasonably angry or upset or to have an outburst of frustration or ill-temper. No one knows the exact origin, but it is thought to be related to the word canapshus which is a type of hors d'oeuvre ... no, that's not right. Sorry, I jumped the track.

What happened was, I used a NBUS 3-D e/f from Paper Roses called "Tulips" to emboss a snippet of watercolor paper in perfect Easter-y colors. It didn't fully fit the card front, so I found a piece of mulberry paper from the last century in the exact shade of lavender to put behind it.👏

And then I spent the next three days trying out every die-cut greeting, flower, bunny, bling, chicken, etc. to adorn the thing! I think the problem was that the card was so pretty with nothing else added, but I mean, I couldn't just leave it like that. As a result it has the layers that you see, which in the end feel right.

The tulips were die-cuts from my friend Sonja, which Hammy taught Stanley how to softly blend with ink. The rabbit no longer has his packaging, bless. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you that I also took a finger dauber and added a bit of light purple to the raisiest raised bits of the folder. I held my breath because I usually make a dog's dinner out of that effort. Yes, more 👏.

The sediment is NBUS from poppystamps called, "Proper Happy Easter." Even that was cut several times in all the shades of the rainbow in order to see which one worked best. This is one of those cards you send to someone special!

Twofer(s)
This is the same folder, using an old smooched background panel from my stash and leaving the design QACAS. (This panel was smooched with some pale colors and quite a bit of watered-down gold, so in person it is quite golden and schparkly.) I just added the sediment and bling and I let the boys use it for gold-schplatter training porpoises. The sediment turquoise blue is vellum and the raised letters are gold.
Same smooching and schplattery treatment with this card, except that I used a NBUS 3-D e/f from Altenew, called "Flowers and Leaves." They look like stylized tulips to me and this bit of smooching had quite a bit of pale spring green color.

Awkward Moment

As most of you know, I've had Hammy for years and he gradually became trustworthy enough to have free reign of the Playhouse 24/7. He is patiently training Stanley, but Stanley still gets into everything, so he is locked safely in his cage at night. 

Apparently last night I didn't close the latch and when I walked in this morning, I was greeted with this:
I can't even be conniptioned because they're just too darn cute!

~~~

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:
Onefer: Snippets Playground (snippets used for embossed panel, bunny, and sediment.) The Paper Funday (a/g w/ twist of "the dies have it.")
Twofer (blue): Can You Handle the Pressure? (with a twist of bling).



45 comments:

Aquarius said...

Oh Darnell, I do so love reading your posts, they are always so full of fun and make me smile - even laugh out loud sometimes 🤣. Beautiful Easter cards, well worth the precious time spent on producing them. Great choice of embossing folders.

Liz said...

Beautiful cards, Darnell. I especially love the first one, the delicate pastel colours are gorgeous.
I hope Stanley and Hammy helped pick up all those gems, I expect you’ll still be finding the odd one or two weeks later.
Liz xx

Jeanne said...

Your cards are just so lovely, Darnell! Happy almost spring! And your two friends are a wee bit naughty, but that keeps you in line doesn't it? Have a happy week!

Carol L said...

These Easter cards are just over the top amazing and beautiful! That embossing folder is outstanding and I love what you've done with it, adding the bunny and tulips. The 2nd ef also gives soft and subtle results with those pastel colors. They're all beautiful in spite of the chaos created overnight in your playhouse with those busy little hamsters LOL

designbydonna said...

All three are just WOW!. I really love that tulip e/f. and your colors are so light and springy.

Marcia Hill said...

Beautiful cards Darnell and cute (but messy!) picture of Hammy and Stanley, but I have to tell you that the best part of this post is your frog dressed up as an Eater bunny decoration...totally cracked me up!! Thanks for my Monday morning chuckle!! Hugs. Linda :0)

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

Fabulous Easter cards with those embossing folders, Darnell - thanks for the inspiration!! I played along :) Especially love the one with the added bunny and tulips that you thought at first was too busy - it's perfect!! Oh and the Stanley/Hammy escapade is adorable - nice to be able to attribute mishaps to them, right?

Cat Craig said...

Lovely cards Darnell. I do enjoy the color added to the embossed panels. It adds so much more. Those two need to be watched...at length...lol.

Loll said...

So funny. Even though the first card took a LOT of effort, it is really beautiful and you found the perfect compliments to that amazing EF. Ditto for the second and third cards. Stanley is a handfull ... Hammy is going to have to keep him in line. :) FYI, I am playing along again today. Enjoying using lots of my NBUS, my friend. Thank you for the inspiration! Love, Lolly

Karen said...

Your companions are so adorable--they are smile-producing for sure! Wouldn't want to clean up that mess, but have seen something similar here for sure with no one to blame but me! Lovely cards--as always! Now I have to go look and see if there is an embossing folder in my NBUS box. I'm not sure--which tells you something about the quantity of product that's in there!

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Great use of your beautiful EF Danell, and the first one is my fav! And such fun frog!! :D
It seems that Stanley has to be educated, he is not good as Hammy (was)! Poor you with all those sequins to catch!
Hugs

brandco2450@gmail.com said...

The first card is a bit busy, but it's beautiful! And I love
the other two!

Robyn Oliver said...

It all looks like a lot of fun at your playhouse Darnell....three lovely Easter cards with this weeks embossing folder IDEAS prompt... they're all special and I can totally understand the frazzled hair bit trying to "decided"...... cool EFs using smooched backgrounds and your little added mulberry paper...reminds me I heaps of that too... oh goodness... I am impressed and inspired though, back later with a couple I've nearly finished... thank you and hugs Robyn

Lisa Elton said...

Wonderful embossed cards today, Darnell! Worth the fits they gave you! I can just hear Hammy reprimanding Stanley for his naughty behavior ;)

Di said...

Beautiful cards Darnell - love the EF as well as the Easter sentiment - and such pretty colours. Sorry but Hammy and Stanley, along with Mr Toad almost stole the show!
great fun!

Hugs
Di xx

Bonnie said...

Such pretty embossing folders smooched with Eastery pastel colors! You can't blame Stanley for wanting to play with all these pretty gems. Maybe Hammy can work on teaching him how to pick up stuff off the floor.

Dthielker said...

Beautiful Spring/Easter cards, nice colors and designs Darnell!

Megan J said...

Hi Darnell, lovely cards with your embossing folders, Paper Roses is Aussie company, our card sizes are different to US our small cards are typically 10.5cm x 14.8cm. Conversion 4.13in x 5.82in. Thank you for the inspiration... Megan

Gerrina said...

I love that first card! I get that you had a hard time to put something on the embossed base, but the one with most on top is my favorite... And yes they are too cute... Hugs, Gerrina

TK said...

Fun cards, and quite adorned with all the splatters that your cohorts provided! I'm sure Stanley will be up and running in the "ways of the playhouse" soon but until then I send my blessings - lol

Cheryl W. said...

Your cards are very luxurious. That 3D embossing is so impressive! Love the soft coloring, too. Looks like Stanley has the mischievous energy of any young human boy, bless him! I think Hammy's training efforts will get him going in the right direction. It just takes time. You probably guessed that I've had my own experience with small mischievous boys.

LesleyG said...

I can’t stop laughing, and nearly didn’t see the first card , so distracted by the frog bunny. Beautiful cards, and thanks for the smiles 😃xxx

cuilliesocks said...

your cards are gorgeous Darnell, I love the designs, and soft spring colours.
Beautiful embossing folders too, Kate x

Donna Walls said...

The cards are lovely with the gorgeous embossing, and the soft colors are so Spring-Time. And of course, I got the biggest chuckle from your post. Thanks for the giggle this early morning. Thanks for linking up at The Paper Funday Challenge and we hope you'll share another lovely project soon.
Donna xx
Beautiful Blossoms Challenge
Inspiration Station Challenge
Paper Funday Challenge

Sarn said...

Oh, naughty Stanley. Hope Hammy can get him under control ASAP!

LOVE all the cards in this post.
Thanks for coming to play in the Snippets Playground, with Stanley and Hammy, but I think they are a bad influence on Dudley! See you up in the treehouse for some of the St Patrick's Day Guinness later. xxx

Izzy Scrap said...

Love your smooched and schplattered embossed background for these beautiful Easter cards. And I especially love the first one with these subtle and delicate Easter colours. You may have struggled doing it but I really love how it turned out with this sentiment and the tulip and bunny die cuts. The "someone special" will really love it ! I thought that I had rough time with my three cats, but I see that you are not bored either with your two hamsters ! Hugs xx

Bobby said...

It looks to me like your calendar is working for you, Darnell. You have made three wonders for Embossing Week. I love the light colors on the backgrounds and I too audition colors when placing die cut sentiments on cards.
Those rascals! Sequins are a bad spill but not as bad as the box of Altenew mini cubes I knocked off my desk the other day and the lids came off. Guess what I ordered that came in yesterday? Labels that go around the bottom so you know what lid goes where.

Sue said...

Oh dear Darnell you do cheer me up all the time LOL Gorgeous cards are usual and I do hope they have helped you pick up all those gems lol hugs Sue x

Inkyfingers said...

What a lovely trio of cards, Darnell. I particularly love the first one, even though it gave you some trouble because the beautiful pastel shades rock my boat. Well done too, for finding the perfect shade of mulberry paper to go with the lovely panel. The Easter frog edging in on your photos is adorable!
Hope you are well.
Hugs
Carol x

frommycraftroom said...

So worth the 3 days it took to make the first card! Definetly for someone special.

Poor Hammy & Stanley, in a few weeks you might laugh about that. A couple of weeks ago my little grand daughter had a similar issue with blue buttons. She loves to come into my room and shake the tubs and see what is inside you know buttons, sequins, brads of all sorts! you get the idea. Last week when she came to visit she reminded me what had happened with the blue buttons - she's 2.5! I'm sure I'm not the first and will not be the last to have a little person spill a container of buttons - I'm glad it wasn't the sequins though! or the glitter :)

Leslie Miller said...

Oh, stop! That last bit about Stanley... I know the feeling. Sophie's training starts in earnest next week and I don't know how many hamsters we'll see there, but maybe... Good luck! I love embossing folders and these are beauties. The first rendition of the tulips is especially lovely. I hope you have the right special person to send it to.

Christine Alexander said...

too funny about Stanley and Hammy getting into mischief in the playhouse :)
Two great cards, love all the embossing xx

R's Rue said...

So pretty

Colleen said...

Darnell, I so enjoyed visiting your blog and getting up to date on all that is happening in your playhouse. You are one busy lady with all those critters trying to play with you, and oh what a mess they make when left to their own devices. What will they do when you are gone for a week???

Love your cards and must try to get time to play along with this new challenge you have going! What a great way to use our supplies and not let them get buried in a stack of unused! Oh if only there was more time in the day and oh if only I had more energy to play for hours without barely coming up0 for breath. Oh for the good ole days!!

Em Louise Fairley said...

The cards are beautiful, Darnell. And the troublesome twosome are cute! xoxo

Pat said...

I love your gorgeous tulip embossing folder Darnell, and the sweet little added tulips and little bunny sat on the Easter sentiment and love the soft colours you used, and the smooshed background used on the other two with some pretty added spattering and bling and the third using that different EF which does look like tulips to me too. I see that Stanley has been creating havoc in the Playhouse with a pot of gems..obvioously needs more training..lol. I have put up a card for this Week 3 embossing theme. x

JD/ Jill said...

All Your cards are wonderful! It brings back many memories for me. Can't tell you how many times in making just one card... I have almost finished but it seems to need just one more thing...and that one thing can take me all day in the craft room trying to find that one thing... (from every drawer and box that I have. Hope you are having a good week. Blessings, Jill

Kate said...

Gorgeous card Darnell, thanks for the inspiration! And thank you for always managing to make me chuckle - usually out loud and now make sure I'm not drinking my morning coffee (or evening tipple) when I read your posts! I hope you have a good week, looking forward to hearing more antics from Hammy and Stanley! Hugs, Kate!

HilaryJane said...

I made it before Monday! Those little hamsters can be very useful when things go wrong. I had to laugh. I think all your deliberating on the first card paid off. It looks great and it is my favourite. Such pretty colours and you have such lovely sunshine. There hasn't been much of that round here recently xx

Julia Aston said...

First I just have to say - you have some wonderful sunshine over there on the other coast - I can just feel those warm rays... I just love your pretty embossings here and all the methods you used for coloring each one. The first is my fav I think - I also love your sentinel frog/bunny - and I also have to say I don't even have a hamster and I sometimes find this mess on my floor??!! at least you can blame someone else Julia xx

AlisonC said...

I was just looking for your blog to comment and there you were commenting on mine. 😊 I had trouble commenting this morning due to a glitch. Hey ho. I do love the tulip folder, so of pretty and perfect for the time of year in those Easter colours. I love your plan of campaign and I'm glad it's working for you. My crafty corner often looks like that without the help of small creatures. I hope they tidied up xxx

Sandra H said...

Ooh wow Darnell your cards are beautiful i really like the first one the pastel colours are gorgeous hope Stanley and Hammy helped you to pick up all those gems and I would expect you will still be finding them for some weeks too enjoy your day x

Kathyk said...

Whilst not your usual style, Darnell, it's rather lovely and so good to see that you are working your way through your own NBUS!

Kathyk

kiwimeskreations said...

Wow and wow again over these amazing and beautiful embossed cards Darnell - and doesn't the schmooshed and schplattered cardstock make the best backgrounds when using embossing folders for backgrounds!
Blessings
Maxine

BożenA said...

A great combination of embossing and coloring. I love your colorful sentiments, they look really elegant
hugs,
BożenA xx