Friendship needs no words, but sometimes it needs Depends

Hello Stamplings,

Oh, dear, that hasn't happened for years. My whole post just went belly up and disappeared. Pfft! And I was all finished. Total operator error, I'm sure, but that doesn't give me any solace, especially since I'm not sure prezackly what I did wrong. Since everything I write is spontaneous, it's weird to start over so we'll just move on as soon as Hammy returns with my wodka. Thank you, buddy.

Okay, that's better. Here's my Onefer:

It's hard to get more QACAS than this card with no stamping on it. This lovely friendship text paper (from PTI?) is from my stash. The NBUS die cut called "Sweet Tulip" is from Simon Says Stamp. I'm tickled to say that I haven't had it on Mt. NBUS for two years like usually happens. In fact, it only arrived a few days ago! The sediment is a store-bought button, also ancient and also from my stash. I backed it with a matching stitched circle die cut.

BTW, I just found out I have a Super Power! Yup, I do. I have the uncanny ability to complete the purchase of craft items online just hours before they go on sale! It happens with different companies and this is the third time in a row that it has happened with SSS! (Don't tell the Mister.)

Challenges

• Double D Challenges: Pink and white.
• The Flower Challenge: Use your latest stamps or dies.
• Inkspirational: Text. Designer's choice: Use your stash.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: No stamps allowed.
• Stamp Ink Paper: Monochromatic.

 

Twofer

See, now the title of my post makes sense! This card is a reminder of the Best Friends challenge currently going on at Words 2 Craft By (W2CB) where I have the pleasure of being the Guest Designer this month! 

The NBUS girlfriends and the sediment are from the Art Impressions stamp set called "Laughing." It was a gift from my friend Brenda when I went to visit her last fall. (Thank you, mf!) I paper-pieced and Ziggified the girls and then I masked them in order to brush antique linen Oxi ink through a water drop stencil to make the background. The panel was then inked around the edge and adhered to the card base.

I hope you'll be able to make a friendship and/or kindness card and play along this month at W2CB! 

Challenges

• Addicted to Stamps: Anything but a square.
• Mod Squad: Brand name clear or rubber stamps.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Anything goes with snippets.
• The Library Challenge: Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. (Title.)

~~~

Caught this little guy on the fence yesterday. Don't know whose yard the orange came from, but you can't blame him for stealing it. This is, after all, cold and flu season!

~~~

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: 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 a pop-up box opens. Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Critters and Cards

Hello Stamplings!

Happy Sunday! I hope this finds you well and your little dog, too! Or cat. Or hamster. Or bag of Halloween candy. Whatever makes you smile your inner smile no matter how crazy insane this world gets.

What's making me smile here (besides the resident hamster) are a coupla squirrels who are loving the little squirrel candy that our Japanese Maple is covered with this time of year. I wish you could see these guys outside my Playhouse window doing unbelievable gymnastics as they reach the farthest kernel on the wimpiest branch. Yesterday the fat one literally fell to the ground when he reached too far and lost his little squirrel grip.

I have to admit I laughed my head off, but not until after he shook himself off and literally leaped back onto the tree for another go at whatever crack that tree is providing. In between watching the squirrel antics, I managed some cards:

When I saw Pink Fresh Studio's newest release, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this NBUS "Lush Greenery" set. I die-cut and stamped the two images from one of my stencil monoprint backgrounds made with Lindy Magicals. You can't see the shimmer, but it's there. I also schplattered a few Lindy's in the background. Very QACAS. The sediment is from Neat & Tangled.

Challenges

• Creative With Stamps: Halloween or Leaves.
• Mod Squad: Fall thank you card.
• TIME OUT: Grateful.

 

~~~

While the first card was very QACAS (quick and clean and simple), was it really clean enough to be suitable for the current Less Is More challenge? I didn't think so, so I whipped up this Twofer with one set of leaves, popped up for dementia:

Challenges

• Less Is More: Dimension.
• Words 2 Craft By: October eves.

~~~

And because it's past time to be working on Christmas cards:

This is a schparkly QACAS die-cut-only card. The silvery watercolor background pp is from Momenta, the NBUS cover plate is from Reverse Confetti, and the stained glass center image is NBUS from Avery Elle. I silver-embossed it, painted the bow and bell with Ziggies, and Hammy added a schparkly layer of winking.

Here's a better view:

Challenges

• City Crafter Challenge: Silver bells.
• Rudolph Days Challenge (from the 25th to the last day of the month).
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything goes.

~~~

Real quick, I have to show you another critter that came around while I was photographing my cards:

It's a wee baby fence lizard no bigger than my pinkie finger, but it's so hard to tell scale. Just know that those little flowers are teeny-tiny! He sat there for five minutes while I talked to him. The Mister shakes his head when he sees me outside talking to the hummingbirds and lizards. He is sure the neighbors are going to turn me into the Loony Bin peeps!

Here's a closeup:

Actually I've refrained from showing you the lizzies for ages even though I have lots of pics. We've had a large crop of babies this year and it's really amazing to see them when they're about an inch long. Although he won't admit it, the Mister likes it when any of them come out for a shower when he's watering the plants!

~~~

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: 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 a pop-up box opens. Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Day Five - Stamplorations Spotlight Week!

Hello!

Happy Friday! Thank you for whooshing through the week with me as we have celebrated Stamp Spotlight Week at STAMPlorations!! It's been my absolute pleasure to be guesting along with Shery and her uber-duber talented DesignTeam! 

Here is a last look at all the magnificent stamps in the new release:

Today, our spotlight is on The Bee's Knees SMALLBIRDS:

Aren't they sketchy and sensational?!

I had so much fun with them I made you not one card, not two cards, but THREE cards! 

Cuttlebug e/f; SU ribbon; sediment from Fond Expressions

Challenge: Uniko Studio Challenge: Things with Wings.*

Darice fence e/f; Kaleidescope ink; SU dots; sediment from Noteworthy
Challenge: Less Is More: Things with Wings.

Copper and star papers from stash; star e/f from Darice;
sediment from Noteworthy
Challenge: Mod Squad Challenge: Encouragement.

Between my cards and the terrific cards of the DT, you can see how great these stamps are to play with and how versa tile they are!

Remember, Shery is generously offering PRIZES for this Release Week! Commenting for prizes closes on April 27th and winners will be announced on the STAMPlorations blog on April 29th. 

For a chance to win one of the prizes, make sure you leave a comment here and on the blog posts of the fabulous Design Team members listed below. Each has made you fantastic inspiration using The Bee's Knees SMALLBIRDS:

Becca

Cornelia

Deepti

Maria

Monika

Sari

Shery

Shirley

Vicki

Prizes:

• FIVE (5) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a $10 gift certificate.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate
• + surprise prizes (depending on the response we get)

ETA: Wait. What? I see there is some news over at Shery's blog:

According to a little birdie, 5 prizes have been added, so there are now 11 prizes instead of 6 up for grabs! You can read all about it here.

~~~

Hammy and I would like to thank Shery and the DT for allowing us to play with them this week. We really enjoyed showcasing the sensational new release! We'd also like to thank all of you for your wonderful visits and encouragement!!

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

Doodling and Smooshing Diddly-Woo

Hello, Friends!

How was your week? Thank you so much for whooshing through it to come here!

There was a recent Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge where Ashley showed us how to doodle our nondetailed stamps. I missed the challenge, but I love the doodle idea so I incorpulated it on both my cards.

Now the current Make It Monday challenge shows us how to watercolor smoosh our backgrounds, which I also love, so I combined both techniques in my first card. Both of these techniques are super fun, so you should check them out.

Here's the smooshed and doodled card:

I have "smooshed" watercolor backgrounds in the past by using my craft sheet or acrylic blocks, but in her awesome video, Betsy shows how to apply ink to a sheet of acetate, spritz it with water, and then lay your paper over the ink. When the paper is lifted, you are left with a lovely watercolor wash. You can repeat the process for more color.

Now you might look at my card background and ask, "huh?" 

I know it's faint, but, honest, I did do the technique! It's just that I was looking for a very soft wash, so I only did the process once. Plus, I used PTI inks of spring rain, aqua mist, and a little enchanted evening, so two out of the three inks are soft. I usually like bright watercolor smooshes and I've got one to show you next week, but occasionally it's nice to go subtile and let the image be the star.

For my leaves and blossoms, I used my NBUS set "Beautiful Blooms II" from Uniko Studio (which I won, squee!). The stamp is a two-step stamp, meaning you stamp the flower "base" and then you overstamp it with the flower detail (lines). Because I wanted to practice doodling, I just stamped the base. I chose to do the doodling with a Micron blue #36 pen, rather than black.

After I doodled the lines, I used my water brush and enchanted evening ink to give the blooms some added dimention. Now that I look at my card on here, I think it looks like shadus interruptus happened and it could use a little more attention to dimention. The sediment is from PTI "Bigger Blooms." The papers are PTI white, enchanted evening, and spring moss. 

Oh, and Hammy wants me to tell you that the flower is also winked with Stella, but it doesn't show.

~~~

And my second card:

The background for this card is a different kind of smooshing. It's the kind of smooshing that lazy stampers do. I took a cotton ball and pounced it alternatively between the spring rain ink pad and the paper. I actually did that after I did the flower and sediment because I felt it needed something. I like how it kinda sorta looks like blue sky peeking through the clouds. Kinda. Sorta.

The cone flower stamp is from SU called "Inspired by Nature." It is a stamp with no detail, so all the lines and dots you see are doodles that I did with my Copic multitliner pen. But first, of course, I painted my flower using my water brush and PTI pure poppy and SU going gray and mint melody. The sediment is from PTI "Think Big Favorites #24." The paper is PTI white and spring rain.

Say what? Oh, yes, here is a close-up of the WOS and the gloss I applied. Hammy is fussing about it because he always has to remind me to add sparkle and shine to my cards.

Thank you to Nichole and the gang for the awesome Make It Monday tutorials! 

~~~

Challenges

• Mod Squad Challenge: Flowers
• Take It Make It Challenge (Craft Stamper): Anything goes with a stamp.

~~~

Some Days Are Sad

I got news today about a dear bloggie friend who's husband is gravely ill. They are much too young for this tragic outcome, so I pray for a miracle.

Also, one of my surrogate moms, Verna, who has appeared here before, recently had a freak accident and she is not doing well. She is 90 years old and somehow she got squished between two automatic sliding doors, breaking her back in four places. She has already survived one broken back, but this is a hard uphill climb for her.

And then.

I missed getting a picture of the baby hummingbird eggs for you, but I did get a couple of the new hummerlings.

Wednesday

Thursday

That was just taken yesterday.

Today when I went out after lunch the nest looked a bit disheveled, so I climbed the ladder and took another picture. I can't see into the nest, even on the ladder and so you can imagine my devastation when I downloaded the photo and found an empty nest except for a couple of feathers. I will spare you the photo.

I'm O-for-2 in the surviving bird experiences in our back yard visible nests. The Mister thinks the mama immediately forgets and moves on, but I don't think he really believes that. He's just saying that to make me feel better, bless him.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of this news, but I got you all enthralled with me so I had to let you know what happened. Sometimes nature can be harsh. Next time I promise I'll take a photo diary and I won't share it with you and get you all becited unless and until it comes to a happy ending.

In the meantime, you take care, watch those sliding doors, and appreciate all the beautiful birds you see. It's a wonder that any of them survive to birdhood.

~~~

And, of course, 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.
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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!

Celebrating International Women's Day 2015

Hello!

Welcome friends, both women and men, as we celebrate International Women's Day 2015. 

All around the world, International Women's Day represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality.

International Women's Day 2015 Theme: MAKE IT HAPPEN

Each year International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. The first International Women's Day was held in 1911. Thousands of events occur to mark the economic, political, and social achievements of women. Organizations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations, and the media celebrate the day.

Various organizations identify their own International Women's Day theme, specific to their local context and interests. Many charities, NGOs and Governments also adopt a relevant theme or campaign to mark the day. For example, organisations like the UN, Oxfam, Women for Women, Care International, Plan, World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and more - run exciting and powerful campaigns that raise awareness and encourage donations for good causes. 

~~~

In the spirit of #Paint it Purple, I made a couple of cards in celebration:

Those are little sundresses marching around the globe of the world. I'm not thrilled with how they look like hair bows or bikini tops or you're-not-quite-sure-at-first-glance-what-they-are, but hopefully, you get the point of my design.

I like my second card better.

I am finally finishing the online watercolor class from *cough* months ago, so that I can in good conscience take the online class that starts next week. I have learned that if I don't sit down and do the classes when they first go live, they get shoved to the back burner. The one deep in the shadows and forgotten.

The pretty NBUS shoe from Rubbernecker is embossed in purple. The sediment is from PTI's "Meadow Greens" set and it may have been NBUS as well. The background is gaily watercolored and sprinkled. 

~~~

Challenges

• Craft Stamper Take It Make It: Anything Goes [Use a Stamp].
• Inkspirational: Sprinkle
• Mod Squad Challenge Blog: Make a Background.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Special Lady/Girly.

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

~~~

New Friends Corner

I'm delighted to have you meet these new friends of the Playhouse!

Ilse of My Creative Space. Ilse is from Belgium and she has been blogging since 2009. Ilse loves entering our many fabulous challenges in Blogland and she will fill you with inspiration as you enjoy all that her varied style has to offer from CAS cards to fabulous art journal pages!

Shawna Standish of The Grand Stampede. Shawna has only been blogging since November of 2014. That was only a few months ago, so please do pop over and give some welcome love and encouragement to Shawna! Shawna has only been making cards for two years, but as you will soon see, there is a professional feel to all her card art that will make you think she has been making cards for a decade!

Jenelle Triggs of Blue Lily Sentiments. Jenelle is also fairly new to blogging, having started just last July 2014. Like a lot of us, she started blogging to enter her favorite challenges and share her love of paper crafting which she learned as a girl when her mother helped her make cards. Jenelle also loves scrapbooking and making paper collages, but her current interest is making cards which she does extremely well. Please visit her and let her know what a welcome and kind community we are!

Charlie-louise (Mrs. C.) of Craft Room Diary. Mrs. C. has been blogging since 2011 under her former SU blog "Crafty Little Moo." She can now be found exclusively at the "Craft Room Diary," which she started at the end of last year. Between the two blogs you will find enormous inspiration from Mrs. C.'s creations and also her craft room photos and adventures!

Christine Pereira of Mud Maven Designs. Chris is on the other end of the spectrum in that she has been blogging and sharing her amazing creations since 2007! Chris is a potter and a weaver, and she also enjoys knitting, crocheting, and sewing. Besides stunning cards, Chris shares free sediments and family updates. (She and I share the magic of having twin grandchildren!) I know you will enjoy meeting Chris and seeing her beautiful card art over the years!

tesno70. Welcome! I'm sorry I cannot find any information about you via Google. Please let me know if you have a blog or online photo gallery that I can share.

Lorraine Mastalski of Paper Vermissage. Lorriane's blog name comes from her love of all things paper and "vermissage" means a one-person art show! Lorraine is a lifelong crafter who has been blogging since 2008, so again you are in for extensive visits to soak up all of Lorraine's inspiration! You will love her gorgeous and creative cards, her tangle art, and her photographs!

Claudia Neubacher (die amelie) of Von Pappe II. Claudia is from Austria and she started blogging in June of 2012. With a Master of Arts degree, Claudia was an arts and crafts teacher for almost 20 years and now enjoys life as full-time mom, paper artist, poet, and writer. She is on several design teams, has won several challenge awards, and is a designer and writer for Craft Stamper magazine. Claudia loves all things weathered and grungy, textured, and graphical. The inkier, paintier, messier, and more chaotic her crafting becomes, the happier she is! Whether you create steampunk and mixed media or not, you will be fascinated and enchanted by Claudia's incredible talent!

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

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy. LITS!* Celebrate your own womanhood and/or that of the women in your life. And cheers to the feisty women who came before us!

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.
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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!