Mono Chrome Thank You and Christmas Bauble

Hello, my stampling friends! Happy August 1st!! 

I hope you had a great weekend and your week is off to a fantastic start! Mine is going to be very busy with appointments and friends, so forgive me for being laconic in the next few posts, which is so hard for me to do. I'm usually blahblahconic!

Onefer

As I mentioned the other day, my bloggie friend Coni came to visit. She was kind enough to gift me a stamp set which I used for this thank you card for her. The "Say It With Flowers" set is from Pink Fresh Studio. It comes with a die as well as the flowers and several sediments. Thank you again, Coni! 

You might notice the "rustic" edges of the die-cut flower panel. That's because I really biffed the stamping at first, but rather than throw it away, I turned it over and used the other side. The pretty ridged aqua paper has been in my stash since well into the last century. The silvery tone on the aqua flowers is caused by a thick winking with a fresh WOS pen. The sediment is from PTI's "Bold and Beautiful" set. 

Challenges

• The Challenge: Keyword below. I chose simple, monochromatic, circle, and friendship.
• Just Add Ink: Sketch below.
• Make My Monday: Monochromatic.

Twofer

Another Christmas card for the ol' Stasharoo. I took my cue from Less Is More where the brief is to pierce our project. 

I pierced my card with a needle and silver thread to make the ornament hanger. As I pulled the thread through, I called up a memory of a thousand years ago and made French knots. It turned out pretty cool in real life, if you don't mind me saying so. 

Here's the messy and lumpy reverse side, which is why I popped up the front panel with foam tape. 

The Mod Ornament die is from Simon Says Stamp. I die cut it in silver, removed the inner bits, and stuck it to the card under the knotty silver hanger. Then I painted those inner bits in monochrome blues with my Kuretake GT paints and followed that with winkling. The sediment is heat-embossed.

Here's a closeup of all the shiny schparkle!

Not my usual easy-to-mail card, but it's going in Hammy's basket of cards which he will paw-carry at Christmas time to people like his hula-hoop trainer, his organic carrot supplier, and the vet who removed the bone spur from his elbow. You know, as a result of the hula-hoop lessons. 

Challenges

• Cardz for Galz: Christmas or winter.
• CHNC Challenge #344: Anything goes; option of gingerbread.
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything goes.
• Less Is More: Pierce your project.

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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!  Please let me know you came by so I can be sure to return the flavor!

*Life is too short!

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Oh, Shoot! ~ CCC #50; CHCC #150; JBs; NBUS #72; PS Sparks; SSS

Okay, honestly, don't hate me, I didn't plan to post another card today! 

It's not my fault.  It's the fault of the Paper Smooches Trend Watch challenge, which is "stripes," inspired by this stripey and gorge tote: 

You know I love stripes almost as much as I do polka dots, and plaid, and ...   So when I saw that the challenge was mere hours away from closing, I rushed out to the Playhouse and I made this:

Can you see that he has his carrot nose stuck to the freezing pole like poor Flick in A Christmas Story?  That's why he is saying, "Oh, Shoot!"  He needs your help, so on the inside it says this:

The Santa dude does not come stuck to the pole in this NBUS set.  The pole is a separate stamp from the Santa, but I snuggled it up against the Santa dude to create my scene and I made his nose a bit longer to stick it to the pole.

 

There's lots of sparkle on the pole and the scarf, but you'll have to take my word for it.

 

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Thanks to my friend Alanna, I'm excited to enter my card in a brand-new-to-me challenge called Christmas Card Challenges.  The theme this week is a sketch challenge, but any holiday card can be entered!
 

I'm also entering the always-popular Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge where the theme is "Outdoors."

 

And, wait, even more excited is another brand-new-to-me challenge called Jingle Belles!  The theme this time is "Holiday Traditions."  The connection to my card is that A Christmas Story is the Mister's favorite Christmas movie and we have it on a DVD.  It is a tradition in our house to play it a couple thirty hundred times between the turkey's departure and Santa's arrival!!

 

And, lastly, I'm entering the ongoing Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge, where the theme is "Keep it Clean and Simple."

 

I hope you can join in these fun challenges!  The links will provide you with all the fine print and the prize and sponsor details.

 

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Okay, I'm off to continue hopping.  Sitting still and typing this gave my legs a bit of rest!  I know you are prolly sick of me, so I promise I won't post again for awhile! 

No one really knows how long "a while" is when you stop and think about it.   Di A. Bolical 

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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 leave a comment and/or join as a follower!  Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor! 

 

 

*Life Is Too Short! 

 

Paper:  Confetti (UM); SU! Stripe

Stamps:  Paper Smooches "Swanky Snowdudes";

  Avery Elle "Oh Happy Day" sediment outside;

  Stampa Rosa "B 11-2668" sediment inside 

Ink:  Versafine onyx black

  At You Spika red

Googly Eyes