Majestic Sunflower and Stag

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you had a great week and you are doing well! This week begins with Labor Day here in America, so cheers to all those who labor and to those who are retired from laboring! [The holiday was rushed into law and signed by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 to mend relations with workers.] Cheers also to those of you who labor unpaid keeping house and family together, clean, and feed. In fact, triple 🍷🍷🍷 to you!

On a sad note, the week ends with our remembrance of 9/11. This year is the 25th anniversary of this horrific event. It is a time to remember those lost and how we came together as a nation to grieve and to support the heroic first responders.

It is fitting that I start today with a sunflower. Sunflowers always turn their faces to the sun and they symbolize love, loyalty, and resilience.

Onefer

It is I = Ink Week on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar. This sunflower is an old-timer from Technique Tuesday. I'm not sure when the stamp came out, but I first blogged a card using it in 2017. This design represents a rare hybrid sunflower which has a rainbow center that you can only see once the seeds have fallen. 

The sediment is from GKW, simply matted and attached to a textured card base. Hammy and Stanley love sunflower seeds, so they patiently took turns winking their favorite flower one petal at a time!

Playing in Beautiful Blossoms (Anything Floral Goes); CAS Mix Up (Sunflower); and Freshly Made Sketches.

Twofer

Here we have another QACAS design. This reindeer is also an old-timer. It's from Stampin' Up and I painted it direct-to-stamp using SU markers. More winking from the lads and this time you can see a few of the schparkles. Maybe. The sediment is from Simon Says Stamp. The dusty blue textured border is cut from a Papertrey Ink die set called, "Reflections: November Dies."

Playing in: CAS Christmas (Woodland Critters); Christmas Kickstart (Reindeer Games); and Color Hues (Dusty Blue and Brown).

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😡Blogger has been buggering with commenting, so I haven't been able to leave comments on NBUS or return comments. Someone told me it is working again, but the format is odd. I hope I'm able to catch up soon and I thank you for your patience!

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Chris Dring FB

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

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse! Just FYI, I'm not sure if I'll be able to post next Monday. We have someone house-sitting and taking care of Nellie and the lads while we take a few days off to spend time at the coast!

p.s. Don't go googling hybrid rainbow sunflower seeds. I just made that bit up.🙃

*Life is too short!

WOYWW #900!

Hello Stamplings!

I heard through friends that What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) is celebrating its 900th weekly desk hop today and everyone who currently or formerly used to participate is invited to link up for this special event! In 2011, as I trolled The Webs, I learned of WOYWW and began to link up. If you're interested in more detail about that, you can read about it in my post here.

The whole idea of WOYWW is that each Wednesday you take a photo your desk (no fair cleaning it up beforehand!) and share what you are working on. The linky format is a list and you hop along the links visiting other desks, commenting, and making friends! It was a simple idea that the delightful Julia had when she created the WOYWW concept, but the friendships that have resulted have been meaningful and long-lasting. I hope she knows that. Thank you, Julia!💋

I'm joining today to celebrate Julia's accomplishment and also spread the word. Some card designers just want to blog their cards and no small talk, and that's understandable with our busy lives. But if you're a person who also enjoys the social aspect of blogging and getting to know the artists behind the cards and vice versa, then please join in the fun next Wednesday! Sara Brennan took over the reins for Julia, so you can find WOYWW at Sarah's Craft Shed. Thank you, Sarah!

Here is my desk for you to gawp at, as required:

Not much has changed at the ol' Playhouse desk. Which is good thing! Lately, I've been stenciling up a storm of leaves and you'll see a couple of cards I posted Monday and a couple new ones that are engorged below. I didn't have time to try reds and greens for Christmas. Oh, wait, there's also Easter and the 4th of ... nope. Sometimes my ideas go from brilliant to ain't nobody got time for that.

For longtime deskers, you will see my requisite glass of wodka and look, there's Hammy! If you haven't visited me in a while, I'm delighted to introduce you to Hammy's helper, Stanley. Stanley was lovingly felted for me by my dear friend Anne Redfern of Redanne, who passed in July 2024. I met Annie on WOYWW and Stanley reminds me every day of how much I miss her ~ but the memories are all happy ones. She was so considerate and she thought Hammy could use an assistant, considering he is quite elderly for a hamster!

You might also notice the two handsome lads gracing the family wall calendar. Yes, those are the grandtwins Adam and Henry, all grown up! As little guys, they were often featured on WOYWW making their own cards at this very desk.

Okay, you know how I get to rambling, so I'll shut it, show you the results of my desk disarray, and you can move about the Hop! 

The NBUS sediment is from Harvest Mouse by MFT.

Yes, I meant to smudge up the background. Not. Before the ink was dry, I took a ruler to draw the spidey web line and smudge happens. So I leaned into it. The spider stencil is handmade. It's the negative of the "Creepy Spider" die from Memory Box. The sediment is from Hero Arts.

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

Thank you for coming by to visit me as you hopped around the desks or just came calling!

*Life is too short!