Floral and Femininine DJKASES

Hey! How's it goin', Owen?

I'm wondering if all our electronic deVices are causing the hormonal fluxations of Wilma Weather. The temperatures forecast for us today, only the 6th of April, are for over 90F and then by Friday it will be back to the 60s. Everyone across the world seems to be hot one day and cold the next. It's positively  menapausal!

In honor of that, I'm going from the vibrant to the sublemon!

When I saw the card that my friend Joyce made for the April CASE the Designer series at Happy Little Stampers, I couldn't wait to have a go:

For my card I used the amazing "Mondo Hydrangea" set from Essentials by Ellen. The sediment is from the "Fall" set by Technique Tuesday. I used my Ziggies to apply the color, but (for the most part) I first scribbled the color on an acrylic block and then applied it using a paint brush and water. 

You know there's an easy way to make this kind of card and then there's a hard way. The easy way: you stamp your image, die cut the middle bit with a rectangle die, pop it out, color it, and pop it up right back over the spot from whence it came so it lines up. The hard way: You stamp seventy-eight two separate images and then work like a dog to line them up straight. I chose the hard way because Hammy took all the furballs on the bus yesterday to go see their mama. It's an understatement to say I missed them like heck on a horse.

I was so happy when I got it finished, I winked it like there's no tomorrow!

Here is Joyce's beautiful card:

I'm also playing in Cards in Envy (my first time here!) and CAS on Sundays, both with flower themes.

 ~~~

After a break of chockies and wodka, I tried the technique again, the right way (sort of):

The colors on this one were achieved by using my TH markers directly to the stamp (Crafty Individuals) and then spritzing the stamp and applying it to mixed media paper. I had to take a photo in the shadows so the sun didn't completely wash out the subtle shadings. 

Even though this time I cut the card correctly, I still managed to have wind on the brain. When I sighted my behind I could see I need to lose some weight. Wait. What? No, I meant to say that I could see I should have placed the dies such that they didn't slice through the Pretty Poppies (MFT) sediment right at the tender part of the under belly. Sigh. 

If I put an emoterman right here for these two makes, he would be slappin' hisself upside the head! I'm paying the air fare to have those furballs fly home tomorrow. I can't wait for that bus.

Sorry, I digest. I made the above card as a DJKASE of a superb card made a month ago by my friend Elaine at Craft-E-Place. Here is her pretty card, which is artfully sedimental!

Elaine also happens to be guest designing for the current Time Out Challenge so I'm entering my card there. They are celebrating strong women this week and my card is going to my sweet friend Verna. She is 92 years old and although she has had many physical ailments (including 17 fractures of her back), she never complains and her smile and spirit are always uplifting and inspiring. Her 4'10" frame is a tower of strength, grace, and compassion.

I'm also playing at Inspired By All the Little Things featuring Nancy Leppek (photo inspiration) and at both Twofers Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (birthdays). Happy 7th Birthday to Simon!!

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I was going to share some Easter photos, but this post is, once again, already too long.

I do want to add, however, that I've had some very kind and very blush-worthy emails lately and it reminds me that it's been a while since I've said thank you to all of you for being loyal readers and friends! Your encouragement keeps me going, warms my heart, and is very much appreciated! 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! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor! 

*Life is too short!

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CASEing with Acorns and Penguins

Greetings Stamplings!

How are you this fine November day? I love the coziness of cardigans that autumn brings out of the closets and drawers and under-the-bed containers. Besides being cozy, they cover up the candy rolls of October. Don't they? Just let me believe that.

Did you know that the word cardigan originated during the Crimean War? The leader of the Charge of the Light Brigade was James Thomas Brudenel, the 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868). His troops wore such garments to keep them warm, which cut down on the endless murmuring about how bloody cold it was. Thence and forsooth thereafter, we've called them cardigans. 

Cardigans also became handy places to put one's pipe when not puffing, especially for the middle and lower classes. The upper classes, of course, wore smoking jackets. This is why the upper classes rarely died of lung cancer, seeing as how their jackets did the smoking for them.

But that's not why you called. Let's henceforth off to Cardland, shall we?

Well, actually, let's go first to Tagland:

I cut my tag using the Memory Box "Stitched Main Street Tags" die and embossed it using my Cuttlebug "Distressed Branches" e/f. The acorn is NBUS from the "Thankful" stamp set by Avery Elle. It was a gift to me from my friend Taunya Butler of Daisies Girl. Thank you, Taunya! 

I stamped and paper-pieced the bottom of the acorn using PP in a pretty aqua, caramel, and brown woodgrain. The acorn was then embossed using an antique blue moire e/p. I cut the top half of the acorn with my skizzors and pieced it over the woodgrain paper. The leaf is a metal embellie from Vintage Trinkets. The thank you sediment is from Your Next Stamp.

This little guy is going to be appearing across town at these various venues:

• CASEing Genius Challenge: In honor of the one-year blog'versary of her "CASEing Genius" series, Kelly is having her own challenge with prizes. To participate, you simply CASE one of the genius ladies Kelly has listed in her challenge post. With this tag, I am CASEing (or as I like to say when I do it, DJKASEing) my friend and Genius Kara Lynne of Kara Lynne's Card Designs. To the right is Kara's beautiful aqua, copper, and gold autumn thank you tag.

• Kelly also wants us to chose one crafter that we want her to CASE for a future {CASEing Genius} post. That's like asking me to choose a favorite child. I say that metaphysically because I do have a favorite child, having only had the one. Still, it is part of the challenge, so I had Hammy write the names of all my followers on slips of paper and then sleep on the pile for two days. He then ran through the pile of names scattering them about like leaves on a blustery autumn day. The last name remaining in his cage was my talented friend Jacquie Southas of What Did I Do Today?, so I happily nominate her!

• Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge 2015, which I mentioned in my last post.
• The Male Room: Hardware.
• Virginia's View Challenge: Texture.
• Your Next Stamp Sketch and Color Challenge: I used the color challenge.

~~~

Today's Twofer

Moving forward to Christmas and penguins:

A silver metallic card mat overlayed with white provides the Christmassy background for my penguin Rockettes. I stamped the penguins (from Stamps of Life) in gray to provide a shadow and then applied the stamped and die-cut little dancers off-set over the shadows. The sediment, which I think is NBUS, is from PTI. My "balloon" is overlapping red star sequints.

This card was made as a CASE of this week's Muse, who is another friend, Ardyth Percy-Robb of MASKerade. Here is Ardyth's adorable card:

Ha ha, I just noticed when I went over to MUSE to grab the link and image that half the entries feature penguins! Great minds! I think it was the black and white of the pandas and this time of year that made us think of penguins. 

I followed Arydth's line design, her white on silver/gray matting, the tall element held by one critter, and, of course, the black/white/red. However it inspires you, I hope you'll CASE Ardyth's pandas and play along this week!

I'm also playing at City Crafter Challenge Blog where the theme is "Getting Ready for Christmas!" and where my friend Marcia Hill is the Guest Designer!

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New Friends Corner

Please join me in welcoming these five new friends to the Playhouse today!

Vikki Hein of Vikki's Paper Crafting. Vikki has been blogging since 2011. She lives in Southern Oregon and she only manages to blog about once a month, but that's okay. Even once a month is enough for her to keep in touch with us and allows us to be inspired by the beautiful and innovative designs she posts when she does get creative!

Birgitanita of Birgit's Hobby Blog. Birgit lives near the sea with her cat Gilbert. She is the mother of two grown sons and she started her blog in 2012. Birgit makes excellent cards ranging from very clean and simple to elegant layered works of art.

Tanja Kewel-Neet of My Happy Place. Tanja has been blogging since September of 2009. She has been on design teams over the years and is currently on the TAWS design team. If I am reading the Google translation correctly, Tanja started her blog in order to become a Stampin Up demonstrator. I'm glad she did so that we could meet her and enjoy her bright and cheerful card art!

Andrea of Arty Andrea. Andrea lives in the UK and started blogging in 2012. She's had a few setbacks this year, including a recent broken wrist, so she hasn't been blogging much. But she did blog quite a lot prior to this year and she will be back to it once she is able. Her layered and embellished cards are really divine and her coloring is superb!

Shruti Goel of Crafts Devine: Shruti Goel's Creations. Shruti started blogging a few years ago, but she only started posting consistently as of this year, so I consider her to be new to blogging. She makes beautiful CAS designs and enjoys sharing them with her readers and entering them in challenges!

Thank you for joining, ladies, and welcome to the Playhouse!

~~~

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 and return the flavor!

*Life is too short!

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I'm Up at {CASE}ing Genius!

Hi there!

Here we are again, whooshed around to a bright, cleanly-laundered Monday, fresh as a daisy!

Today is a super-duper day for me as I am honored to be up on Kelly Latevola's blog You and Your Big Dreams as her featured genius! Yup, moi! 

Every Monday morning, Kelly publishes her unique {CASE}ing Genius series where she showcases different card artists she admires. It is a HUGE compliment to me that Kelly is interviewing and {CASE}ing me for her latest feature and I hope you will pop over and check it out!

If you haven't already, I have no doubt that you will fall in love with Kelly as I have done! After wards, search "genius" on her blog and the entire series will appear to delight and inspire you!

~~~

As many of you may remember, I previously DJKased Kelly here. Today I thought it would be fun to reciprocate's Kelly's compliment and thank her for including me in her series by doing another DJKase. This time the card I chose from Kelly's varied and plentiful array of card art is this one. 

And here is my DJKASE:

For this one-layer card, I used leaf stamps from SU. I stamped them with a Kaleidoscope "Autumn Leaves" ink pad. I wasn't happy with how distinct the ink color separations were using the pad, so I used Distress Inks and a water brush to blend (and add to) the colors. Kelly is a huge proponent of using micron pens to outline images, so ala Kelly, I used a Pigma Micron 01 in brown to outline the leaves and the markings. I love the definition it gives! The sediment is from SU.

Thank you again, Kelly, for this enormous honor! I very much appreciate that you do this series which either introduces us to new card artists, or allows us to become better acquainted with fellow artists we have already met in Blogland.

I think the true genius here is YOU!! 

~~~

Challenges

• Inkspirational Challenge: One-Layer Card.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

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New Friends Corner

I am so tickled to introduce you to two new friends of the Playhouse:

Kelly of Sandcastle Stamper. Kelly lives in Miami and she has been blogging since 2009. She is the mother of four who began scrapbooking when she was 16 years old.  In addition to paper art, she is an aspiring writer who enjoys reading, writing book reviews, volunteering at her children's schools, and spending time at the beach. She is a card artist who serves on design teams and enjoys entering challenges. I think you will enjoy her fun, sweetly-layered, and colorful cards!

Tina Z. of Treebug. Tina is from Slovenia. She is a  fairly new blogger who just began her blog in April of this year. She makes delightful cards, has a passion for the environment, and loves, loves, loves to enter challenges. It would be so wonderful if you visited, followed, and left some encouraging and supportive words for Tina! (And Kelly!)

Thank you for joining, ladies, and welcome to the Playhouse.

~~~

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 and return the flavor!

*Life is too short!

To open the pop-up comment box that let's you jump to the end w/o scrolling:

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If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave
me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!

July CCC Reveal and DJKASE #33

Hi Everybody! Happy Weak End!!

And Happy First Day of August 2015! (I'm not even going to give it the satisfaction of talking about how it whooshed in here like a speeding locomotive.)

On a positive note, it is time to reveal the cards those of us sent and received who partysipated in Deborah Nolan's (Society of Stampaholics) July Card Chain Challenge.

Here is my card:

Made by me and sent to Janet (Mauritias) of Swanlady Impressions

I used the Lil Inker stitched rectangle on the card base and the stitched oval for the peek-a-boo opening. The paper behind the opening and the stapled ribbons are by SU. The NBUS sediment is from Kaiser Craft's "Friendship Sentiments" set. QACAS!

I followed the friendship theme and sketch option below. Next to it is the beautiful card I was fortunate to receive from the talented Marga from Spain, whose blog is My Crafty Inspiration.

  

It would be lovely if you could visit Marga! I think Deborah's challenge is really a fun way to send Happy Mail all over the world and make new card pen pals, so I hope you'll check it out and join in!

Today's Twofer

My second card today is a twofer inside a twofer, so to speak, because 1) I made another Christmas card, and 2), I squeezed in a DJKASE for July! 

I am bemused at how the sun angle makes it look like my Rudolph's right eye is lidded and half-closed in a wink, as if having two differently sized eyeballs wasn't oddball enough! It gives him even more of a "Yo, dude, waz up?" expression. Up close you can see that he doesn't even have an eyelid IRL:

The striped fishtail banner is from MFT. The scallop frame is cut from felt using a NBUS Nestabilities die called "Lacey Squares." The wee reindeer is from Paper Smooches "Santa Paws" set. And the NBUS "Joy" is from Winnie & Walter.

And who is my DJKASE inspiration? I'm delighted to say my honoree is my friend Jane Willis of Onions and Paper. Jane's blog name refers to the fact that she provides us with mouthwatering recipes for food in addition to her outstanding recipes for cards! Of course, me and the hamster are all over that combo plate!

Here is Jane's May Rudolph Day card which I pretty much COPIed.

Made by Jane Willis

I just fell in love with this adorable card! I took some liberties with the layout, but the focus pocus is pretty much the same. I loved the pop of stripe on Jane's card, so I used a striped pp for my fish-tail banner. After the blizzard fiasco in my last post, I know Jane will forgive me for not drawing faux snowflakes around and about my reindeer! 

Thank you, Jane, for the inspiration! It was a pleasure to DJKASE you! (For other honorees, see the tab at the top of my blog.)

Challenges

• Paper Smooches SPARKS: Anything Goes. [Paper Smooches Stamps]
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.
• Simply Create Too: Anything Goes.
• Christmas Card Challenges: Anything Goes.
• Freshly Made Sketches. You might think I used the same Deborah CCC sketch as the first card above, but in the ironical ways of Blogland, check out the current FMS sketch!

 

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Cookies

Oh, crumbs, why did They come up with the word "cookies" to refer to our blog history? Why couldn't they just call them "crumbs?" Or "doo-doo" or "ka ka" or some other descriptor of scat left behind that doesn't involve getting me all excited and salivating for cookies? Anythistles, I noticed a little deeliebob has appeared next to my "Overview" title in my Design page. When I clicked on it, I found this notice:

"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. 

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. 

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities."

If I understand it correctly, it's now the law of the land in Europe and Google makes it sound pretty dire if you don't have the banner on your site, so I'm leaving it alone. I can also assure you that I don't advertise for anybody nor knowingly provide your information to anyone.

But I mean, aren't cookies just a necessary evil both in the Land of Interwebs and as they relate to waistline spread? We just involuntarily leave our crumbs behind, don't we? I mean, when any of us from any country clicks around the Webs, don't we know that you know that I know that they know that you know that I know that they know where we've been, right? You know what I'm sayin'?

~~~

Speaking of cookies, I went out to a belated birthday lunch with my friend Donna a couple of days ago. (Yes, that's right, I celebrate all month. Can I get an Amen?) I ate a very healthy lunch, but as I was leaving, I saw something in the Temptation Counter than melted all my resolve to be a good girl.

I'm a sucker for a cinnamon roll and this beauty was the Mother of all Cinnamon Rolls!

I put the coffee cup next to it for scale so you can see how decadent and gynormous it was. (Eek, don't mention scale!)

I hope Europe doesn't have a law against publishing photos of cinnamon rolls! Oops. Now I've done it.

~~~

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 and return the flavor!

*Life is too short!

To open the pop-up comment box that let's you jump to the end w/o scrolling:

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If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave
me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!