Mister's Birthday and Double the Joy

If you're looking for my NBUS Challenge, click here. 
Less than three days left. The challenge closes at 
NOON (12 p.m.) Pacific Daylight Time September 25, 2014.

Hi there! I hope you're having a great week!

I'm popping in with two EZPZ QACAS OLCs for you today. (Why, honey chil', pretty soon we won't even need lower case letters!) What that says tis: easy peasy quick and clean and simple one-layer cards.

It was the Mister's birthday on Sunday, so I thought I would show you the simple card I made for him. The Mister is a simple guy, so no phoophoophanalia for him.

The motorcycle die was a gift from my friend, Karendipity, after I saw her use her own die on a fabulous card on her blog. She knows my Mister's hobby is motorcycles. Thank you, again, Karen!

I am entering Mister's card in the current "Masculine" card challenge at The Paper Players, and in the always "Anything Goes" challenge at Seize the Birthday (no toppings), and in KIS - Keep It Simple, which is to use "no stamps" on your project.

~~~

The same aachronyms can be applied to the card I made for the special "Double the Joy" challenge over at TIME OUT Challenges to congratulate DT member Bev (Uniko Studio), who recently gave birth to twin boys, Josh and Ben! 

Bev, I wish you and your new family every happiness!! You are in for a fun journey with never a boring moment!

I'm also entering this card in Addicted to CAS where the code word is "Cuddly." Having a baby in each arm is about as cuddly as it gets!

Click on the challenge links for details on rules, sponsors, and prizes!

~~~

Speaking of cuddly, these are two of my favorite pictures of me with our twin grandsons, Adam and Henry, at one month old and seven months old. That seems like only yesterday and it's very hard to believe that they are almost ten years old now!

With Dad, August 2014
First day of 4th Grade 

In related news, those very same boys made their Papa some great birthday cards. I thought you might enjoy the inside of this one from Henry, which I'd say is fairly age-appropriate for a 9 yo boy!

I haven't heard that one in an age! (I have to say I'm impressed by that drawing of a toilet and by his use of a parenthetical comment!)

~~~

And here's Kevin, the birthday boy, aka the Mister, aka Papa:

His happy place.

Henry, Papa, Adam
September 2014

Some of you have seen the picture below. It was taken around the time I first met the Mister (which, by the way, as of September 5th was 45 years ago!).

Settle down.

And here is that handsome fella today in the privacy of his own home and garage and he doesn't care who's looking. 

Yes, that's right. That belt belongs to an old bathrobe he found hanging in the closet. He does own a belt, but it's just the one, and he didn't want to switch it out of his other pair of "good" work shorts , which you can see in the photo above with Henry and Adam. I'll wait while you scroll back up and look. 

All of his shorts eventually end up looking like this. I recently found three other pairs in his dresser drawer. He says he is keeping them, "Just in case." 

Just in case what? ______________ I could make it a fill-in-the-blank contest! I'm sure you could come up with some of the same answers I'm thinking or maybe you have even funnier ones ... .

And for the love of God, why do all his shorts end up like this? Do strange roaming Chihuahuas attack him in the garage while he's working on his motorcycles? Does he just ignore them and let them leap up and hang off the hems of his shorts until they're torn to shreds? 

The shorts, not the Chihuahuas.

He was a good sport to let me take his photo, knowing I would be making fun of him on my blog. But just between you and me, there are times when I hope some lovely widow lady will walk by the house and see him in the garage. Naturally, she will assume that he has no one to care for him so she will kindly offer to do so. 

Ladies?

~~~

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!

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!

Stacked Holiday

[If you're looking for my NBUS Challenge, click here.]

Happy Funday!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend wherever you are on this rotating star called Earth!

Can I just say that I love seeing Christmas cards again this year that are not in the traditional colors. Don't get me wrong, I do still love a traditional and classic CC in red, green, white, silver, and gold, but I also swoon my cocoon over the other colors that are being sued. Okay, well, that's a little harsh. I don't think anybody needs to go hiring an attorney over it. Why don't we just say "used," instead of "sued." Thank you. That's better.

Today my ever-changing favorite CC colors happen to be pink and white and gold. I'm honestly not that into pinks as a go-to color for my cards, but I think that is going to change as a theme for Christmas this year at the Knauss Hauss.

Here is my card:

Then I thought maybe a few sequints might be in order so here is the edit.

I used a PTI die ("Wonderful Words Christmas") and cut the holiday out of a piece of gold foil striped vellum paper. The paper came from a pad of DCWV foiled vellum that I received as a gift from my friend Greta. I call her Great because every time I go to type her name, my ginfers type the word Great instead. She has kindly saved me lots of backing up and retyping by letting me change her name. I mean, who does that? A good friend.

Here is a close-up.

I think everything is pretty self-exploratory. The pretty ribbon is just Offray from the 2for$1 bin. 

Challenges

• Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, where the very talented Karren wants us to make the sediment the star of the card.
• Festive Friday challenge, with a pretty pretty photo inspiration.
• Keep It Simple, which is asking for projects with "No Stamps."
• CAS on Sunday, where the theme is "Sequins Celebration."
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where the theme is "Tag It."

Please click on the challenge links for all the details on rules, sponsors, and prizes!

Stamplorations

Also, I'd like to remind you that I am guest designing the sketch challenge over at Stamplorations and I'd love very much to see you join in! There are SO many ways you can interpricate this marvelous sketch!! Go for it!!

New Friends Corner

The party welcoming new friends is still in full force in the Playhouse! Here are five more talented ladies you will want to get to know!

Jacki Daniels of Crafting in My Kitchen. Jacki has only been blogging since June, so please make a special effort to go welcome Jacki to Blogland! We all remember what it was like when we started our blogs and began to share our cards. You will be delighted and inspired by Jacki's cards which are full of life and exquisite details!

Sonja of Old Girl. Sonja is a very talented card artist who started blogging in October 2011. Her blog is enthusiastic and filled with photos as well as her cards. And her cards, oh, my goodness, Sonja does some amazing things with her cards in terms of design and embellishments!

Julie of Julie's Journal. Julie has also been blogging since 2011. She is a scrapbooker and a card artist. Her cards are CAS and so impeccably made. I love seeing them in the galleries of some of the challenges I visit. And Julie is a thorough card artist who always beautifully decorates the envelopes and the insides of her cards!

Susie Stacey of My Little Sanctuary. Susie has been blogging since 2010. She is on design teams and loves playing in challenges where she has won many awards. Her cards are always darling and completed with care and attention to detail. Susie makes the kinds of cards that I always feel are gifts in and of themselves!

Lee Ann Barrett of Greyt Paper Crafts. (Greyt name!) Lee Ann has been blogging since 2011. She, too, serves on many design teams and has received much recognition for her card art. Many of you are already familiar with Lee Ann, but if you haven't had the pleasure, I know you will enjoy visiting her and becoming a follower!

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

~~~

I highly recommend the movie I saw Friday called "This is Where I Leave You." I sniggered so hard into my sweater sleeve at times that I missed the next bit, so I'll have to see it again! In short, the family in this movie successfully put the fun back in dysfunctional!!

~~~

The NBUS Challenge ends on September 25th, which is only four more days! 

A big thank you to all who have entered!! Good luck!

~~~

Phew! 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!

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!

Three-Part Harmony: WOYWW #270; OBW #58; KIS #45 & TCC #16

Howdy Wednesday Hump Day!

I'm happy you've come back after spending so much time with me on Monday. I really really really appreciate the affirmation I received from so many of you!

Today my post is going to be divided into three chapters. I know I could do three separate posts, but I want to avoid peeps feeling like they have to comment on each one what with all of us being so busy with little baby Yada Yada and her dog Scoot Along, so I'm pimplifying things.

With the chapters clearly marked you can do the finger waltz down the page and just stop in at the chapter of your choice or park your digit and go for the whole tour, thank you very kindly.

Chapter One: WOYWW

First up today is What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday (WOYWW). WOYWW is a desk-hopping challenge where I show you mine and you show me yours, you know, like we used to do in the playground with our pop beads and chewing gum wrapper necklaces. Our wonderful and talented hostess is Miss Julia Dunn and she has created and manages this fun and addicting weekly challenge, for which we are grateful.

Here is my desk. I'm working on the cards I need for August birthdays and anniversaries. Yes, I'm aware that anyone celebrating in August prior to, say, August 10th, will get a belated surprise in their happy meal. I've found that people easily forgive me for doing that now that I've reached the age of bewilderment.

So. Not too exciting unless you enjoy looking at address books. Although my Wall of Art and window view  alone are always worth a stop in.

But, wait. What? What the heck kind of craft supplies are in that open drawer in the lower left corner? Aluminium foil? The foil from those old chewing gum sticks? Let's have a closer look.

Oh, sorry, sorry. Before you do that, I have to close Chapter One. Thank you for stopping in on your way around the WOYWW hop! If you leave your number with your comment, it will help me find you. Have a wonderful week! Mind how you go, if you go.

Chapter Two: Our Beautiful World

There is an awesome challenge in Blogland that I've been wanting to join for evages and today I can finally seq my way right to it. Squee! It's called Our Beautiful World and I just love the sound of that. The premise of the challenge is to create a friendly community where we can share the beauty of the world as seen through our lenzes, following weekly prompts. The current prompt is "Chocolate." And you know that had my face written all over it.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done!

~ Author Unknown

('ll wager that unknown author was a woman.) 

And, so, here is the close up of my desk drawer shown in Chapter One, which close-up I am entering in Our Beautiful World!

Hershey's Chocolate Kisses rule! Now you know the secret to my happy, happy, joy, joy attitude!! And doughlike grandmotherly figure like in children's old-timey storybooks.

Chapter Three: KIS

Lastly, because time is running out at this next challenge, I'm quickly sharing and linking a card I made for the current Keep It Simple challenge where the brief is to use "Only Stickers."

And here is my card:

Live each DAY with

kindness, happiness, and a smile.

Isn't that a beautiful quote? Unfortunately, both the hydrangea sticker and the clear epoxy sticker are ancient and no longer in their packaging, so I have no idea what company manufactured(s) them. Maybe K and Company? The ribbon is "Ribbon-by-the-Spool" from the dollar bin at Richard's.

The End. 

I hope you will click on the links for each of these wonderful challenges where you will be welcomed with open arms! The links will take you to information regarding the rules and any sponsors/prizes.

Wait! Edited to add:

A couple of sweet friends have suggested that I enter my card in the current "Wedding" challenge over at The Card Concept where it fits the clean and simple category. It doesn't get more clean and simple than a sticker card! The flowers are so pretty for a wedding bouquet and that sediment? Well, let's just say that more marriages might last if that were everyone's daily mantra!!

~~~

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!

I'll leave you with lots of kisses!!

 

*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!

Happy Birthday, Kylie!!

Greetings!

I hope all of my American friends had a wonderful 4th of July celebration! Between my birthday and the 4th, my party hat has made a permanent indentation under my chin. I like how it gives me an automatic wattle lift so I'm thinking of just wearing it all the time. Trends have to start somewhere and it's cheaper than surgery.

Today we are here celebrating another July birthday! Lots of us were born the last week in June and the first week in July.** (I think we can surmise that Halloween costumes really turned on our freaky parents.)

~~~

The Birthday Girl for today's party and blog hop is the well-known and well-loved Kylie Purtell of Kylie is Addicted to Stamps! You can find the party headquarters for Kylie's birthday over at Loll's blog, "Stamping with Loll." Thank you, Loll, for hosting the party!!

Kylie is a sweet and sassy, fun and funny Australian who inspires me again and again with her incredible card art! She is also the owner of two challenge blogs I love: Addicted to Stamps and Addicted to CAS and she has recently started a craft forum called Happy Little Stampers. (You should check it out and register!) If there's one thing I've always said about Kylie, it's I wish that girl had more energy.

Here is my card for you, Kylie:

I used one of my favorite watercoloring techniques of applying ink with markers directly to the stamp and then spritzing the stamp with water before stamping it onto watercolor paper. The stamp used here is a Penny Black brush stroke image called "Pastoral" (2952K). For a little more interest I used two pieces of diagonally cut paper in colors matching the marker ink as my mat. I applied the sticker sediment and enamel dots to a vellum overlay and wrapped it around one side of the card top, which I then popped up with foam tape.

I hope you have the best birthday ever, Kylie, and many, many more!! Mwah!

~~~

I am entering my card in these current challenges:

 Addicted to Stamps which is "Make Your Mark."

Congratulations to Kylie for achieving over 500 followers for this challenge blog and congratulations to the very talented new and returning Design Team members!

**************

Keep it Simple (KIS) which is "Lots of Turquoise."

Be sure and click out the challenge links for the details on rules, sponsors, and prizes!

~~~

**Just before post time, I learned that today is also the birthday of our bloggy friend Shery of Stamplorations! Happy birthday, Shery, and many, many more!! Mwah!

~~~

New Friends Corner

I'm delighted to resume introducing all the new friends that have come to the Playhouse! Here are five more sensational card artists:

Hilde of Happy Glitzy Girl. Hilde has been blogging since 2010 and makes the most amazing bright and glitzy cards. She is a breast cancer survivor, wife, mother of three and grandmother of three who has always loved crafts. I love her colorful and happy cards!

Angel Johns of My Whole Stampin World. Angel is a Stampin Up demonstrator who has been blogging since 2011. She is mother to Caleb and Noah and lately she has managed to spend more time on challenges and blogging. You will love her upbeat writing and cards!

Carmen of Carmen's Creations. Carmen is a Canadian, wife, and mother of four who has been blogging since April 2013. She loves to work with cut files and digital images and creates terrific and well-executed cards. Carmen is a designer and challenge participant whose cards have won her many awards!

Chrissie of Simply One Of A Kind. I've known the very kind and talented Chrissie from the beginning of my blogging days and to me her blog name fits because she herself is one of a kind and her cards certainly are! I'm sure a lot of you already love Chrissie's card art and know her as the co-creator of the popular and fun "Less Is More" challenge. If you've never visited her personal blog, you're missing a treat and a ton of inspiration!

Debi Brile of That Might Look Good on a Card. Debi has been blogging since 2012. She is another designer, award-winner, challenge participant, and all-around crafty and happy card artist! As you can tell from the hilarious name of her blog, Debi is a hoot and I'm sure you'll enjoy your visit with her!

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

~~~

Take it easy this weekend with those leftover fireworks and that potato salad that sat outside for hours yesterday!

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!

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!