Deep In the Wreaths!

Hello Stamplings!

Good to see you! I hope you had a great week and that you are enjoying the last days of August, wherever you are. I'm a morning person, so I love waking up to sunshine and goin' and doin'. Which means I'd better make the most of these days before the sleepy darker mornings roll in.

This week's I.D.E.A.S. Calendar is A = Anything Goes, which I turned into anything wreathy goes. 

Onefer

This is QACAS at its finest, if I do say so myself, with a chorus of agreement from the hamster gallery! I used more of that brilliant textured card I found which looks like Cord U. Roy's pants. The doubled-up wreath is made from Washi Tape die-cuts from Pinkfresh Studio. The gold-embossed sediment is from GKW. After wards, I ran my Galaxy Gold Dew Drop ink pad around the edges of the pants card.

I'm playing in the AAA Cards Challenge (Anything Goes CAS with the option of green); and the ABC Christmas Challenge (Q is for Quick).

Twofer

Guess what? This card features a NBUS Penny Black stamp and die set called "Winter Blessings" which I recently purchased! I'm trying to be better at that, realizing I risk NBUS Mountain erupting one day when I least expect it because of all the jealous stamps, dies, and stencils that have been stuck there for (cough) years.😱

Anyberry, I used kraft paper and three of the five stamps in the set and there you go. Trivia: in all my years of card-making, this is the first cardinal stamp and die I've owned! Thank you, Penny! It's a beauty and I can't wait to paint it, but this time I simply cut it from red paper and dressed it. Winking of the cardinal and berries provided by my wee helpers. I added three score lines to the bottom pursuant to Lesson 41 in the Book of Compositions.

I'm playing in Christmas Kickstart (Let's Wreath It Up); Little Red Wagon (Circle of Life); and Penny Black Saturday Challenge (Anything Goes - optional: embossing).

Threefer

If you play in Freshly Made Sketches, you'll recognize this layout from their challenge #700. They are celebrating 14 years of challenges! WOW! They went back in time to re-use Sketch #14 (below) for the celebration. It's my first time using this sketch because I didn't start playing in their challenges until my early days on March 4, 2012 with challenge #24! Where has the time gone?!

To build the sketch, I started with the wreath to keep with the theme and I cut it from a scrap of green metallic paper. The wreath is NBUS from Pinkfresh Studio called "Leafy Circle." Then I went through my stitched square dies to find the right size and die cut it from metallic gold. I cut a 4.25 square card base and covered it with a gold panel. 

Then the fun begin. Hammy looked through my gold flecked vellum paper, Stanley looked through window at the squirrels (he is still very young) and I looked through my dots and stripes pp. A sheet of gold stripes won and then we had to spend another hour doing the math and trying to attach the little panels so they were evenly spaced, but differently angled for more interest. Then we had a lie down.

To add the wee corner detail per the sketch, we found this cute little gingerbread cookie which my friend Bunny sent me back in January 2024. It was a happy rediscovering and there are five more little cookies in the envelope, so you will be seeing them again. (If the lads don't run off with them as little playmates!) Bunny included a note that the cookies were from Impression Obsession.

I'm also playing in Rudolph Days, an Anything Christmas Goes challenge that runs from the 25th to the end of every month.

~~~

As we say in the industry, if you've made it this far, thank you!🫶 I actually made a few more cards and have some wreaths still to use, but it's Sunday and nearly Ni-Ni time, so I'll save them for another post. The fact that I didn't realize I had so many wreaths tells me it's time for a visit from Scour and Reorg, characters I love in the book of my life, weirdo that I am.

~~~

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar: A = Anything Goes

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your creations with no restrictions! It's a free-for-all and you never know ~ your creation may help motivate someone out of their creative schlump! 

I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! 

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their designs last week! Mwah! 

~~~

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!

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Click here to enter

Puffy Dogs and Puffy Clouds

Hello Stamplings!

I hope the world is treating you like the good person you are!🤗

I've had a busy week with lunches and appointments and we had a wonderful get-together with the family before the grandtwins go back to college next week for another year!** The course work is getting harder, but there is nothing like the fun of your college years! 

This week is E = Embossing on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar and for my first card, the lads and I went traveling in the Wayback Machine. (Google spellcheck wants me to call it the "Swayback" Machine!😀)

Onefer

What happened was, when we went over to see the kids on Saturday, we took Nellie and Jack to the dog park. It turns out they were having a Show-Off-Your-Collar contest and I was able to get a cute shot of of several of the pups lined up against the fence. (Nellie is in the photo, too, but she is hard to see against the white fence!)

The embossed fence e/f is from Darice. The old puffy dog stickers are from Doodlebug. The stacked sediment is from The Greetery's Birthday Blooms. 

Challenges

Addicted to Stamps and More: Any Occasion.

Just Us Girls: Word week: Birthday.

The Paper Players: CAS: Critters.

Twofer

The jump-off for this design came from the current sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. The linen panel was die-cut using my NBUS Distant Sun Collage from Memory Box. For the card base and to fill in the sky aperture, I again went back in time and used some gold-speckled DSP I have. After the DSP was popped in the sky hole, the whole panel was embossed using my Subtle e/f from SU. The lads each added enamel dots and I finished with a tiny gold dot of punctuation. QACAS!

Other Challenges

Allsorts: Begins With "B."

Seize the Birthday: No Flowers.

I.D.E.A.S. Gallery

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your creations using your wet and/or dry embossing! Sharing your card may help motivate others out of their creative schlumps!

I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! 

~~~

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!

**It is an emotive time for me and The Mister because we were exactly the twins' age when we met 56 years ago! Even to us, we look like babies in this photo, but back then it wasn't unusual to be on your own at 20 years of age, or younger. It's too expensive for kids in college to do that now.  

I'm sure many of you can relate. Sometimes it seems like it was a hunnert years ago, sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday!

Time is a funny old thing.

*Life is too short!

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Dies Through the Seasons

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you well! Well in health, well in spirits, and well in creativity!

This week the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar is D = Dies/Die Cuts (which can also be fussy-cuts). Dies are having a heyday right now and I got so charged up, I did a threefer. Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound naughty.

Onefer

For this card, I was inspired by the photo at the 

Inspired By Challenge ~ specifically the frame and the colors of the leafy spray on the mantle.

I found papers in my stash that have a lightly embossed feel, so I used a creamy one for my background here. I used a woodgrain paper to cut my stitched rectangle frame. The vases are dies from Paper Smooches. The stems are a combination of dies from SU and MFT. The sediment is from Gina K's, "A Little Love." 

I'm also adding my card to Cut It Up, where the brief is to add a sentiment and to Snippets Playground, where the brief is to use your scrappy snippets.

Twofer

Here is another piece of the pretty paper I found ~ this time in a beige color. Nothing original about this design, but I can't remember ever doing it before and I love the simplicity of the scene.

Looking at it on my monitor now, the lads and I are karacking up because it looks like we tossed a coupla dog turds on the grass beside the pile of leaves!😂It's okay because the recipient is a dog-loving friend with a fall birthday and a wonderful sense of humor!

Challenges

Addicted to Stamps and More: Birthday.

Cardz 4 Galz: Create a scene.

Krafty Chicks: Birthday.

Threefer

And, thirdly, the challenge at Color Hues schparked another Christmas card for the stash. The poinsettia is an old beauty from Waltzingmouse, colored with my Ziggies in all pinks, even though it came out a bit rusty rose in the photo. Hammy and Stanley were thrilled to have a big field upon which to use their new winkers and when they were finished, I fussy cut it. 

The gray background paper was decorated with a Dotted Scallops cover plate die from Pinkfresh Studio and gold bling and a simple sediment finished it off.

Other Challenges

The Flower Challenge: Add embellishments.

The Holly and Ivy Christmas: Anything Christmas goes.

Just Us Girls: Die Cuts - Florals.

      

~~~

💐I don't say it often enough ... Thank you very much to all the card challenges out there who provide us with endless inspiration and challenge us creatively!👏

~~~

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar: D = Dies

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your creations using your dies! Your card may help motivate someone out of their creative schlump! I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! 

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their designs last week! Mwah!

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Bees & Berries

Hello Stamplings!

And Happy First Monday of August! You know, this whooshing by of time is a bit concerning when you are of a certain age. As I tell the Mister, "At this rate, we'll be dead before we know it!"

Too honest? What can I say? I have a wicked sense of humor. But then we both laugh and carry on because we can't slow it down or speed it up, it is what it is! And what this week is, is I = Ink/Color Mediums on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar, so here we go ~ 

Onefer

For this design, I decided to use Lindy's Magical powders through a stencil. I used a NBUS stencil from Designs by Jaime called, "Mini Chickenwire." After sprinkling on yellows, orange, and golds, I liberally spritzed the panel and lifted the stencil. After the ink dried, I ran the panel through my Gemini using a Darice honeycomb e/f. 

In the photo of the finished card with the frame, it's a bit hard to see the inky honeycomb pattern that resulted from the technique, although it does look like delicious honey drippings. I took the photo on the right when I was playing around with different ways to lay my dies. Sorry for the shadow, but I think you can better see the outline that was left when I lifted the stencil off the ink. It's a fun and super-easy technique.

The bees are NBUS from Pretty Pink Posh, "Bee Friends," and they glisten from all the winking the lads added! The sediment die was in my stash. The scalloped frame is from Pink & Main.

Challenges

Addicted to Stamps and More: Birthdays.

Allsorts: Animals or Anything Goes.

Just Us Girls: CASE a Designer. I CASED Elizabeth's pretty honeycomb card.

 

Twofer

For my Twofer, I pulled a NBUS die from the mountain. It's from Memory Box, called, "Silverdale Branch." I colored it with my Ziggies and waterbrush and because it's a little too early to be picking holly, I painted it with a light hand before passing it to Stanley and Hammy for winking. The Joy die is from SSS called, "Elegantly Modern Christmas." 

~~~

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar: I = Ink/Color Mediums

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your colorful/inky art! Your creation may help motivate someone out of their mojo schlump! 

I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! Thank you so much to everyone who shared their designs last week! Mwah!

~~~

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Pull My Arrow!

Hello Stamplings!

Sorry to hear that many of you had a rough week with extreme heat and storms. I hope you are hanging in there and staying safe. Here we have had unseasonably coo ... 🤫 whoa! I don't want to jinx it.

I had a little procedure last week. The battery in my ICD ran out of juice and the device had to be replaced. It's perfectly normal and, in fact, I've outlived two other ICDs since I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2007. The only thing is, I was told this battery would last until the end of this year, so when it started faintly beeping for 15 seconds every five hours during the day (always when I was sitting at my desk), I thought it was something on my desk or in the rolling carts under my desk that was beeping.

Long story short, it took me two days of tossing the joint before I figured out it was me! So dumb. Maybe you had to be there, but I must have looked like I was doing an I Love Lucy comedy skit! 

Anyflies, all went well and I felt good enough by Friday to make a card or two thanks to this being A = Anything Goes on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar!

Onefer

For this design, I turned to Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration and I went very literal with Jen's sketch. I immediately thought of a gift card holder, so I turned the sketch sidewayz. I used some beautiful sheets of flowered paper (I think from SU) which I've had for many years. Each color family comes in three monochromatic shades and different weights, which was perfect for this sketch composition.

When the recipient follows the arrow and pulls the vellum strip out, she will find this:

Fun to make and fun to receive!

Other Challenges

Cut It Up!: Monochromatic.

Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes option.

Twofer

Scrapbook & Cards Today held a wonderful Holiday Magic event on Saturday. The mittens and sediment are NBUS items from the kit. I embossed a black panel with the Stately e/f while Hammy and Stanley scampered to the top of their cages, poised for action. They did a stellar job of schplattering the base with diluted white acrylic paint before I added the mittens and warm wishes cut from snippets. 

Challenges

Addicted to Stamps and More: Christmas.

Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.

Snippets Playground: Anything Goes using snippets.

~~~

So what happened was, my friend Susan and I went shopping a coupla weeks ago. We thought it would be fun to buy identical shirts and wear them when we went out to lunch together with our husbands. We were curious if they would even notice. 

And did they notice? No, of course not! In fairness, Susan and I sat across from each other in the restaurant rather than next to each other, but still! You gotta love 'em! 

As we were walking to our cars, Susan and I sat next to each other on a bench and I asked the guys, "Do you notice anything?" 

Ask that question and you'll see a look of sheer panic flash across a man's face!🤣

~~~

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar: A = Anything Goes

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your creations with no restrictions! It's a free-for-all and you never know ~ your creation may help motivate someone out of their creative schlump! 

I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! 

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their designs last week! Mwah! 

~~~

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter