Hello Lovely Hummer Surprise!

Hi there!

Thank you all so much for your get well wishes for my upcoming surgery tomorrow. Between your good wishes and prayers, the learned hands of the surgeon, and the tender care of the Mister, I will be up and about and jumping around in no time! Mwah!

This is a scheduled post relating to Monday's NBUS Challenge #9 post. (If you are looking for it, click here.) I mentioned that one of the optional themes was the "hidden word" technique. The card I posted Monday was actually my second attempt at this technique. Today I'm showing you my first attempt which failed so it didn't count!

But first, let's look at this card:

I colored this NBUS stamp ("Hello Lovely" by Concord & 9th) with my Ziggies. I gave it a very pale blue background wash. I love this beautifully drawn bouquet stamp and was pleased with my watercoloring.

So what happened was, I decided foolishly (because Hammy had abandoned me to go on his Christmas hols) that it would be a good idea to use this pretty little card as a candidate for my first time trying out the "hidden word" technique.

Okay, great. I looked through my word dies and choose a beautiful NBUS die from Papertrey Ink's "Graceful Greetings" set.

Well, ahem. Who knew that this beautiful floral image and the beautiful NBUS sediment that I picked were not a great match? Not me. The words were SO well hidden that they were impossible to read even with the layer of tangerine-colored fun foam I had used to make the words stand out!

(Sorry, I didn't think to take a photo at that point what with the shock and all.)

What a bummer. Still, I didn't want to bin the card so I thought if I inked the coordinating stamp and stamped it, at least then a person would be able to see the greeting. What did I have to loose at that point?

So I inked the stamp and very, very gingerly stamped the greeting on top of the popped up words! By some miracle, I was able to stamp it cleanly and now the words can at least be made out.

Sorta.

What the what?

"Sending Things?" "Sending Huge?" "Sending Fhugs?" (A couple of you said, "Sending Thugs!" I can't believe I didn't think of that! I get the best comments!)

In case you can't read it, even though it is stamped, it says, "Sending Hugs," although the lines of the stamp and the lines of the "Hugs" are strangling each other. It is still better than when it wasn't inked. Oy.

We live and learn!

I wanted to share this with you in case you are trying this optional hidden word technique and having issues with it. Now you know you aren't alone, but I do hope you persevere!

And if you aren't trying the optional technique, that's fine, too! Just feel free to use your NBUS and play along here!

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Hummer Surprise

I have to share some becitement that is happening in the backyard, even though torrential rains have poured down and nights are getting at or close to freezing. Those of you who have been friends for a long time know that I love hummingbirds and we have been very fortunate to have had them in our backyard for years. A few have even become quite tame.

Some hummers fly south for the winter, but some hang around because they know we will always have food for them. So this past Christmas, the Mister got me a pretty new feeder:

We placed the old feeder right outside one of the Playhouse windows so I can enjoy their visits up close and personal. These photos were taken from my desk.

A coupla weeks ago, I spotted a female hummer making a nest in the oleander tree just to the right of my window.  The skill and workmanship amazes me. And they make them look so pretty!

Here is photo looking out of my window at the tree. I placed a red circle around mama on the nest.

Here's a closeup:

On Sunday, I had the Mister take a peek in the nest while mama was away and he found a single wee baby, already hatched! (Normally there are two chicks, but we are happy to have one.)

I'm so blessed! Yesterday I was able to get this photo right through the window:

This is the fourth nest in two years we've discovered in different places in the yard. The other three nests all ended sadly. Twice a scrub jay took the eggs and once a scrub jay took twin babies. I know that's nature's way, but as you can imagine, I am SO pulling for this mama and baby! The odds MUST be in their favor, right?!

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

I'm delighted you are enjoying the NBUS Challenges! I will see you on the other side ~ er, wait, I don't like the sounds of that! Let's just say I'll see you on Monday with NBUS Challenge #10! I should be able to do a quick edit to let you know how I'm doing. Again, thank you for all the prayers and positive thoughts! I feel the love and fhugs!!

*Life is too short!

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DJKASEing Marybeth

Oh, hi!

I'll bet you never thought these ol' pins could waddle that fast did you? I wasn't planning this post, at least not today, but about an hour ago I came across my note with a challenge I HAD to play in and the time is almost up.

It was very important from me to join in the Tag You're It challenge so I could DJKASE one of my favorite card artists. She is Marybeth Lopez and her delightful blog is Marybeth's Time for Paper. If you aren't familiar with Marybeth, you are in for a treat! She has never made a card or a tag that I haven't fallen in love with!

Marybeth is the featured designer at TYI, and here then, is my attempt to emu late a Marybeth Masterpiece:

I'm sorry the photo does not do this pretty tag justice. Here is the challenge prompt and Marybeth's tag:

Aren't they stunning? I'm especially biased about the card you see because I was privileged to receive that card from Marybeth for my birthday last July. It is even more gorgeous in real life! Now it is my turn to honor Marybeth by making a "Marybeth" DJKASE for this challenge.

My colors are different because I like to be a bit different with a DJKASE, so I used the color choices from the MFT Card Challenges: Color Challenge, which is also about to close!

The papers used in my tag are PTI kraft, vintage cream, and new leaf, as well as Bazzill lavender. The tag die is the MFT Die-Namics "Vertical Frame." The roses are from the PTI "Rosie Posie" dies, embossed in purple (the shine doesn't show in the photo). The leaves are from a Sissix die. The sediment is NBUS from the MFT set "Pretty Poppies" heat-embossed in SU dark brown and the dewdrops are from Hero Arts.

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Because I used several snippets, including a snippet of ribbon, I am taking my tag over to the Playground at Pixie's Snippets Playground to show my mates.

And the current challenge at The Card Concept is "Thinking of You" with a photo of roses! I hope a tag is okay? That question has not been asked in the FAQs, quite possibly because the natural response would be, "It is called the "card" concept, dearie! Off you go!"

Still, I'm going to be a rebel and see what happens. It never hurts to try.

And, lastly, I am entering a new-to-me challenge called Retro Rubber where the premise is to encourage us to use our older stamps that still need some love! (Actually, I have plenty of NBUS stamps that are over a year old and never been loved at all, she says, ashamed.) For this challenge, Retro Rubber wants us to make a tag or a card with a tag. My "Rosie Posie" and leaves are over a year old.

If any of these challenges are new to you, please check them out and play along to show your appreciation for the hard work involved in maintaining a challenge!

The challenge links will provide you with details on rules, sponsors, and prizes.

~~~

Marybeth, thank you for your friendship and encouragement and for using my beautiful birthday card as your "Tag You're It" feature photo!! It is a pleasure and an honor to support you in TYI and add you to my DJKASE tab of card artists!

~~~

In Other News

I have one other thing to share with Marybeth and with all of you. You all know how much I love hummingbirds and how we had our resident hummer Hitler for years and how he died and another male attached to our feeder. Well, we've had some interesting developments the last few months which have led to this exciting event:

All these years and we've never spied a nest before. Not only that, but look where it is:

 

I put a circle (upper left) where the nest is in the small tree behind. It is right outside my Playhouse window! It's up too high for me to see inside, but I'm okay with seeing it all!

After I posted this, I realized that in the picture above I captured the little mama at the feeder, so I made another copy with an additional circle on the right (below) where she is barely visible. You can see she has a straight shot to her source of nutrition.

Aren't they smart to nest in the Oleander tree? Her back and wing look just like a leaf. Can you see her? She is fiddling with the nest; the eggs haven't hatched yet. (Mister got up on a ladder and peeked inside. We plan to have him do it again and snap a photo.)

The reason I wanted to share especially for this post is because Marybeth also loves hummers and I've been jealous of the fact that for years she has enjoyed having hummingbird nests in a miniature tree in a pot right next to the diving board of their pool! The wee birds are unperturbed by all the activity and the adults and kids using the pool can look right down in the nest! So, look, Marybeth, we have a nest, too!

I'll keep you posted and share more photos. I have my ginfers crossed that the babies make 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 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!

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Hummer Happenings

Greetings!

Do  you miss me? I sure miss you!

This is a scheduled post which is weird for me because I like sitting in the same room with you when I'm writing and you're reading my writing as if I'm writing while you're reading as I'm writing. Even though I'm not here, I hope you will still feel me, yo. (I've always wanted to say that!)

I want to share with you an update on our resident hummingbirds. But first, since this is a hobby blog about making cards, a card:

The beautiful hummingbird and middle part of the above design are from a purse notebook given to me a long time ago by my dear friend Annie. I used it through two note pads and a dried-up pen, so it was time to make it into a beautiful card. I added the piece to a partial paper doily and glued it over the edge of a tall card base. Simples. QACAS. The sediment is from The Alley Way set "Words to Live By." The duodecuple flat sequins are by PTI.

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A Changing of the Guard

Pinterest

If you've been a bloggie friend for a while, you know that for many years we have had a dominate male Anna's hummingbird at our feeder. Because he patrolled the feeder with, well, violence, we named him "Hitler." We've been enjoying his escapades for many years. This summer, as happens every summer, he was kept extra busy as new hummers appeared in the yard and made vain attempts to drink from the feeder. Some of them were returning from their winter migration south and some were quite obviously local youngsters.

Weeks went by and then I started noticing that when "Hitler" was on his little swing or sitting on a branch near the feeder, he wouldn't dart off when I got near. Odd. He was always very skittish and wary. So I started talking to him, as one does. And to my surprised delight, one day he threw back his head and started "singing" for all he was worth. It went on for a number of seconds. I complimented him profusely. The more I talked, the more he sang. He fluffed up his feathers and cocked his head. I started to emulate his chirping/singing as best I could. I couldn't get over his friendliness and I thought to myself, "Whatever has gotten into Hitler?!"

Then light dawned. Low and to the east. Hitler had passed on to the Spirit Land of Hummers. Of course! We had, after all, been owned by him for many years.

This little hummer wonderbird is no doubt Hitler's offspring, but how awesome that he obviously tokes after his mother as he is uber friendly, nearly tame! After a few days, he has started coming to the branch or feeder when I "whistle" for him! If you are s(coughing), you can go to YouTube and see videos of people with hummers perched on their shoulders, heads, hands.

Needles to say, I'm all over this and enjoying long minutes communing with my little dude every time I go back and forth between the Playhouse and the Big House! When I return from my vacation, I am going to try holding a container of sugar water in my palm (I saw that on another blog, but I can't remember where) and I'll have Mister take some photos for you if it works. Wish me luck! So beciting!

In the meantime, here is a photo comparison. Many, many photos of Hitler have graced the pages of this blog over the years. Here is one:

And below is a photo of the "new" Hitler. You can see the difference in the neck feathers. The new little guy has undeveloped scarlet feathers along the neck and, in fact, he has a couple of scarlet feathers down low on his left shoulder.

 

 

They are so beautiful and so magnetic! I am amazed by the personality differences that sets the two apart, even more than the markings. In the five or six years that we were owned by Hitler, he wouldn't let us get within five feet of him. This new little guy lets me get within inches while he sits on the swing or drinks from the feeder.

I couldn't end without sharing this related photo, too. 

What? This is a shot of the patio under the tree branch where the hummer likes to sit. If you guessed that those are little hummer poopoos, you'd be correct!

New Guy does display some hitlerlike behavior when other hummers come to the feeder, but so far he seems much more Zen than his papa was! Here is a long shot so you can see him on his little swing "guarding" the feeder.

I haven't quite decided on a name. Do you have any suggestions? Sometimes I call him "Fluffer" because it is soft to say and because when I talk he puffs up and fluffs out his feathers and tail. Please let me know your ideas! Maybe there will be a prize!

I'll keep you posted on my domestication efforts. And if you notice I'm visiting less, you'll know where my time is going! Already I'm picturing the next time I run into old friends and they ask me how I am keeping busy in retirement. Erm. Do you think they will put me in a padded cell if I'm honest and say that I'm trying to tame a hummingbird? Maybe we should just keep that between us!

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New Friends Corner

As promised, here are five more talented and inspiring card artists who have been waiting patiently to meet you! It is my extreme pleasure to introduce you to:

Claire Broadwater of Claire Creates Cards. Claire is an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator who has been blogging since May 2013. She is a wife, mother (of twins!), and grandmother of five. As Claire says, she has been playing with paste and paper for 27 years as a First Grade teacher! In a nutshell, Claire makes HAPPY cards. Even her spooky Halloween cards are happy! I think you'll love your visit and become a fan!

Rebecca of Rebecca's Cookery and Crafting. As you can tell from the name of her blog, Rebecca loves horseback riding and chemistry. I'm kidding, of course. Just seeing if you were paying attention! Rebecca loves to cook and she loves to craft so you get double the goodies when you follow Rebecca. By the way, Rebecca only started blogging in August, as in two months ago! Please do make a special effort to go and welcome Rebecca to this wonderful caring and supportive Blogland community of ours!

Susan Butler of Scrumplescrunch. No, this time I'm not kidding, even though that sounds like one of my made-up words! Sue has been blogging since 2010. She is an artist. In addition to making cards, Sue has enjoyed sewing, cooking, cake decorating, quilting, and scrapbooking. She is a designer and an award-winner. In addition to wonderful inspiration, you will find tutorials on Sue's blog!

Vikki Ryan of Vikki's Stamping Story Take 2. Vikki is from Tasmania and she has been blogging since 2013. Vikki works full-time so she doesn't have time to blog very often, but when she does, it's great to see either the cards she has made or the beautiful photographs she shares!

Kris B. of Created by Kris B. Kris has been blogging since 2012. She met me through my NBUS Challenge, but the pleasure has been all mine! It's no wonder she is a designer! I simply adore all of her card designs and how she interprets the various challenges she enters. I think you'll agree with me after you have visited Kris!

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

[If you have joined as a follower and have not been introduced, it's prolly because you did not leave me a comment and I could not find you by doing a Google search. Or it was Operator Error. Please feel free to email me!]

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

What's My Name?

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!

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

Click CTL + Home. 
Click the Home tab under my blog banner which resets the post.
Click Page Down to reach the end of the post.
Click Comments and the pop-up box opens.
Click Jump to Comment Form; no more car pool tunnel!
Mwah!