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. I watercolored the image with my Ziggies and Hammy and Stanley, who love sunflower seeds, 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!

So long, August!

Hello Stamplings!

Well, that's summer. I hope you closed the door behind you because a lot of folks don't want to see any more of 2026 summer! I know it's not official for another few weeks, but I am hoping Lady September puts on her fall hat right from the first!

When I think of fall I think of leaves, and since it is a rare 5th Monday of the month, that means this is S = Stencils on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar. After that opening, I know you were expecting a card done in fall colors, but, no, I copied the example on the leafy stencil packaging because I love these spring and summer colors. I'm just trying to keep your brains confused. I don't want to be the only one confused around here!

Onefer

I actually have two Onefers. The NBUS stencil I used is "Leafy Background" from Pinkfresh Studio, designed by Inna Moreva. The sediment is NBUS from Gina K. 

Then I saw the AAA Colourful challenge which had similar colors, but with the addition of blues, so I had another play:

The die-cut sediment is from Simon Says Stamp, attached to a panel to which I stenciled random leaves and added score lines and pop bling that was popular a few years back. Hammy has gotten quite adept as picking colors to match the cards. My collection of dots are so old, the gluey backing is failing, so I remove it and glue them on, rather than have them fall off during mailing. 

I tried the Nuvo drops and still have (cough) little bottles of them, mostly brand new because I could never get them to perform for me. Not even Hammy could make them work. I suppose it's like making pancakes ~ you'd think, in time, you'd get good at forming them, but not us. Does anyone want several bottles of Nuvo drops?

But I digest. I have a feeling I will be using this pretty stencil a lot, next in fall colors, and perhaps even for Christmas cards?!

Playing in AAA Colourful (Colourboard #31); Just Us Girls (Stencil Week); and Seize the Birthday (A/G).

Twofer

For this week's Christmas card, I started with the sketch from the talented Michele F. for Freshly Made Sketches. Some of you might recognize the background striped paper as being from PTI back in the last century. I love the linen look and feel and how the bright colors make me happy. 

I used a rounded corner stitched die from MFT as the angled element of the sketch and for the middle focus pocus I used a peppermint candy stencil from SSS. After masking and blending the two shades of pink, I die-cut the candy using a circle stitched die from MFT. The Ho Ho Ho sediment is from Impression Obsession. A few silver sequints were picked out by Stanley for the finishing touché.

Playing in Freshly Made Sketches; The Paper Players (Tic Tac Toe: diagonally top right to bottom left); and Rudolph Days (AG Christmas).

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

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse!

*Life is too short!

Et Wallah, Anything Goes!

Hello Stamplings!

Welcome to a new week! I hope it's a great one! We've been busier than ticks on a deer with appointments and lunches and seeing long-time friends. In spite of it, I managed to tuck in some relaxing crafty time. I hope you've had some, too!

It is A=Anything Goes on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar, which is always a fan favorite here! 

Onefer

Fortunately, last week my updated Artistic License arrived by post, so I was able to take an old favorite hydrangea stamp (Mondo Hydrangea from Essentials by Ellen) and color it in unusual colors. Normally hydrangeas grow in hues of pink, blue, purple, and I think white, but I thought this beauty would be a perfect candidate for the current Color Hues challenge of yellow and orange. Besides, I haven't painted with my Ziggies in ages and I so enjoyed it! 

Then a funny thing happened, which seems to be happening every time I create, which is fine since funny things are good. I stamped the hydrangea in Versafine black onto watercolor paper. When it was dry, I stamped it again using Versamark and clear embossing powder. I already had my embossing stuff out, so the image was powdered and dried with the heat gun. 

But as the powder was heated, it started turning a sort of funny white/gray color. "Ern?," I thought, laying my right ear on my right shoulder, "what's happened to my clear powder?" I was committed at that point, but a good attorney got me out. Wait. No. Different story. I finished the embossing and then I saw that the embossing powder I had out on my desk was white, not clear. Now that I think about it, since clear e/p and white e/p are both white powder, it's a wonder I haven't done that several times before! 

After I finished painting the hydrangea, I stamped the sediment from Gina K. and blended yellow ink around the rim to frame the image, bring your eyeballs into focus, and keep the card one-layer.

Beside's Marcia's Color Hues challenge, I'm playing in AAA Birthday (Flowers); Inkspirational (Word Prompt: Garden); and We Love Stamping (Summer Blooms).

Twofer 

For this quick Christmas card, I die-cut some pretty red cardstock using a NBUS die from Scrapbook.com called, "Nested Swiss Dot Rectangles." For the center, I used one of my favorite stamps from Simon Says Stamps set called, "Holiday Greetings Mix 1." I stamped it in Versamark and heat-embossed it in white. (After checking the label!) 

Sorry you can't see the shine from the embossing or the white gel pen I used to fill in the berries and leaves, or the white acrylic paint schplattered about by Hammy. I attached the finished panel to a snowy embossed background panel.

Stanley's job for this card was to punch out the red swiss dots. Needless to say, the little darling went about it with reckless abandon!

Playing in: ABC Christmas (R is for Rectangle); Addicted to Stamps and More (Any Occasion); and Allsorts (Embossing: Heat or Dry - both used).

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

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse! Stay safe!

Mwah!

*Life is too short!

ESPP!

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you doing well and not impacted by all the terrible weather-related suffering that's happening around the world. There seem to be more catastrophes than ever happening all at once.

The post title today stands for Embossing and Stenciling on Patterned Paper. It all started because the brief this month at CAS Mix Up is Stenciling Over Patterned Paper. I wanted to try it and then once I got started . . .

Onefer

I went through my patterned paper and I found a half-sheet of this pretty wave pp. I knew I had an cute whale die from PTI, so I die-cut one and then used the negative space to stencil the whale onto the paper. I ended up accidentally stenciling the whale over the pattern in such a way that she ended up with a smile! 

In order to keep my design CAS and use the Freshly Made Sketches sketch (turned horizontally), I cut the pretty pp into a diagonal panel. It is E = Embossing week on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar, but after going horizontal, I realized that all my wave e/fs are vertical.😮 Hammy to the rescue! He reminded me that I have a horizontal wave die, so I used a rubber embossing mat and turned the die into an e/f! The NBUS sediment is from the same PTI whale set.

Besides CAS Mix Up, I'm playing in: 

Addicted to CAS (Water); Allsorts (Embossing); Freshly Made Sketches (sketch turned sideways); Seize the Birthday (Funny/Punny); and Just Us Girls (Water).

Twofer

For my Christmas twofer design, I used a JoAnn's Park Lane e/f called Holly Berry using a pretty raspberry cardstock. 

Here's a photo of the old SU DSP I used. The poinsettia stencil is from Tim Holtz, blended with raspberry ink. I cut the poinsettia stencil panel down to a banner and added a simple sediment from SSS's Holiday Greetings Mix I.

I made a few more simple cards while I was on a roll and Stanley has a pile of pp for me to match with stencils tomorrow. I'm enjoying that part as much as the stenciling ... pairing the stencils with the pp to make the best designs gets my 'ol grey matter working! 

Playing in: Krafty Chicks (Christmas); and Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round (P is for Poinsettia).

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

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse! Stay safe!

*Life is too short!

Floral Display and Santa's Sleigh

Hello Stamplings!

I hope that you are doing well! Welcome to the 2nd Monday of September ... haha, just seeing if you were paying attention! 

It's bad enough it's already August 10th! Which is D=Die Cut week on the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar and in an attempt to recognize the days are getting shorter, I put a little fall color in my Onefer.

This is a NBUS Hero Arts stamp and die set aptly called, "Flowers in Vase Bundle." I stamped the image in black and heat-embossed it in clear onto watercolor paper. I used my Ziggies to color everything and Hammy and Stanley softly blended the corners. I die-cut the image a second time to give it some lift and finished it off with a frame and sediment.

Playing in: A Cut Above (Die-cut with the Fall Flowers twist); AAA Birthday Flowers; and Addicted to Stamps and More! (Birthday).

Twofer

T'was the night before Christmas and the toys were all made.

Santa waved goodbye to his dear elf brigade.

The sky was all twinkly with bright stars overhead   

As Rudolph pranced forward, his nose oh so red.

All of a sudden there arose such a clatter!

Santa pulled on the reins to see what was the matter.

As the sleigh landed softly, masked men did appear!

Santa declared, "Now what have we here?"

One of them yelled, "Our horses are lame and we need your rig!

Get down from that sleigh now and don't flip your wig!"

Santa cried, "You must see that's not right!

The sleigh's filled with toys for delivery tonight!"

The robbers cared not and tossed Santa aside. 

Seeing them do this chaffed poor Rudolph's hide!

He broke free of the bridle and ran to his master.

Sitting beside him, the world seemed so much vaster.

Santa puffed on his pipe, as the wind tickled his beard.

"Well, Rudy," he mused, "That was certainly weird."

"It will all work out," he added, still jolly,

"But before we start walking, I've a message for Lolly.

I'm sorry CAS Christmas that I cannot play!

I was robbed very rudely of my beautiful sleigh!"

With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

This is just in fun. You know Santa could conjure up

 a replacement sleigh so the children get their toys!

Supplies: NBUS Cottage Cutz, "Santa & Reindeer Resting." Poppystamps, "Stitched Landscape." Night sky schplattered by Hammy and Stanley.

Playing in: Snippets Playground Challenge 538 (Die was cut five times using red, white, black, brown, and gray snippets.); Just Us Girls (Die week); and Christmas Kickstart (Friendship).

I still can't believe I don't have a sleigh in all my schtuff, but if you do, CAS Christmas is a challenge for you!

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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!