Happy Celebrations! OCC Day One. NBUS #128

Hi There!

Along with a lot of you, I spent today AWEspired by the teachers of the Online Card Class on water coloring! If all goes well, I will be posting every day for the next several days, as will a lot of you, so I will try to keep my posts uncharacteristically short. It took me longer to type uncharacteristically than anything else I did today.

So far I made two of the three cards taught to us today via excellent videos by my card artist heroes!! So without further a dew, here is my homework from Day One, Cards A and B.

Traditional with Stencil.
Day One, Card A
Video by Jennifer Rzasa

I only have a couple of ancient brass stencils and this one giant 12x12 stencil that came with my cutter, so that's what I used for the design embedded in the wet watercolor paint. Cool, huh? The NBUS tag is by My Favorite Things. If you would like any other product details, please let me know.

I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which is "Anything Goes With Sequins." Click on the link for more details and join in the fun!!

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Here is my second card:

Misted Distress Ink on Acrylic
Day One, Card B
Video by Laura Bassen

This card is also straight forward, but if you would like specific product details, please let me know.

I am entering this card in the current Keep It Simple! challenge which is "watercolor."

I'm also entering the Moxie Fab World "Hip on Handwriting" challenge. Actually, either of my cards would work for this challenge! Yippie! There is still a bit of time to play along!!

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I love water coloring, but I don't always deploy the color via water in a way that is presentable to anyone other than a preKinnergardner. I am hoping this class will help me embrace my inner water colorist more often and with more consistent results. I have always loved these classes in the past and I already feel like I've gotten my money's worth with this one and it's only Day One! Thank you, ladies!

It's not too late to sign up. Here is a link for registering.

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In other news, this morning my thumb on my right hand decided to split right open shortly after class started. I didn't notice it until I was halfway through with my first assignment. Seeing bright red pigment show up on my blue watercoloring made me cock my little spaniel head for a minute. Ern?! 

I am telling you this and showing you photos TOTALLY for sympathy! I think I should get extra credit from the teachers for trying to paint with a bulbous thumb!! I cut the finger out of a cheap rubber glove to help make it less bulbous.

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Oh, sorry! I forgot I was going to keep this short! Bye! See you tomorrow. 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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Moxie Fab Thanks Blog Hop! LIM #145

Hello, Moxie World!

If you are looking for the Thanksgiving Inspiration Event click here!

 

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Link

This post is part of a blog hop in tribute to Cath Edvalson.  You should have arrived here from Tyra's blog, Just Tyra.

Cath wrote a very heartfelt goodbye post and since I can't say it any better than she did, I'm going to turn her words to us right back at her!

It has been an honor to have you as a part of your lives, Cath. And though we will miss the Moxie Fab World and the role it has played in our lives so very much, we will always cherish the good times we have shared, the support you have offered, the inspiration you provided us, and the love and respect we feel for you, now and always!

Cath, you said, "But nothing lasts forever, . . .  ."  I beg to differ.  Because of you, Moxie Fab World will last forever in our memories!  Again, paraphrasing your own words: 

The Moxie Fab World has been a rare and wonderful gift in our lives, and so have you, my moxie fab friend. Thank you for the inspiration you gave us, the love you have shared, and for helping to make our lives so incredibly rich.

It will always be a moxie fab world!

~~~

Using this Tuesday Trigger from last year (which I wasn't able to play in) as my inspiration,

 

I made this card for Cath,

For my moxie flower, I used the stem from a Hero Arts "Fanciful Dot Filament" and then added "flower" curls using some unnamed small stamps I've had for ages:

It's a wonderful coinkydink that the challenge opening today at Less Is More is one-layer thank you cards, so I'll be entering my card there.  Thank you, Chrissie and Jen!!

~~~

At the end of my post is the extraordinary list of participants showing their love for Cath today.  Next on the hop is Jen of Newton's Nook Designs. 

That's a lot of hopping to do, so I won't keep you.  By the way, you don't have to hop through the whole list today.  Your poor little bunny legs couldn't do it!  Visit the participants at your leisure and enjoy this tribute and the mountains of inspiration for days and weeks to come!

~~~

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

 

As always, thank you for coming by 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!

I've edited my post to remove the 285 participant links so you don't have to scroll down so far to add your comment.  If you would like to access the full list, please click here and you will be directed to Moxie Fab World.  Thank you!

 

 

Halloleaves ~ ATCAS #25; MFW TT; OLW #163; SOS #124; SSS

Hello!  Happy Sunday!

 

It's a beautiful fall day here, so I'm going outside to enjoy it while it lasts.  (Our temps are spose to drop twenty degrees tomorrow.)   There are still a few challenges which allowed me to squeak in one more Halloween card, a one layer one that's not the least bit spooky. 

• The code word at the current Addicted to CAS challenge is One Layer:

• At the always entertaining and inspiring Moxie Fab World, Cath has give us this spectacular photo inspiration for her "Enthralled by Fall" Tuesday Trigger:

I want to pour milk on that bowl of leaves and eat them with a spoon!  Talk about fiber!

• The One Layer Wednesday challenge this week is being hosted by the fabuloso Karen on her Snippets site.  Her challenge is for us to use orange on our one-layer cards.
• At Shopping Our Stash, the brief is "Halloween OR Orange and Black."

• And, finally, at Simon Says Stamp, the Wednesday challenge is "Halloween or Halloween Colours."

My card:

I tried to channel my inner Heather Telford and the rest of you yummy maskers/spongers, but I need lots more practice still to get my banner edges to be crisp.  I fudged and used a colored pencil to firm 'em up.  Wait.  What?  You were just thinking what I was thinking, weren't you?  How great if they could only make pencils to firm up certain other things around here!!

Other than getting the banner edge firm, it's a fun and easy technique.  Once you mask off the area that you don't want stamped, using post-it notes, you can just wildly stamp your images in the different colors.  Really, it's fun and pretty QACAS.
 

~~~

 

Today I have a new friend and a new blogger to welcome and introduce to you.  I hope you will look off into the distance for a minute and remember how it felt to be starting out with your blog and then pop over and give her a warm welcome.  I told her how nice you are.

 

Her name is Dora B. and her blog is 7 Cardologists.  Here is a picture of the seven lovely lady "cardologists."  I love that name and wonder why I didn't think of it!  You have previously meet Susanne and I hope the other ladies will join me as subscribers or follow if they have their own blogs.  For today, we are welcoming Dora and wishing her all the best!  Thank you, Dora, and welcome to our party!

~~~

In other news, we have a huge crop of basil going to seed:

When Mister looked at the clump yesterday, he noticed it was jiggling and swaying.  It turns out that sweet little finches LOVE basil seeds!  There must have been 20 or more hidden in there!  We've never noticed them before this year.  True finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae.  Mister promptly decided these are from the subspecies, Italiallidae.

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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 or leave a comment.  Once again someone has written to say that I may not even see her comment, as I have so many.  Please don't ever feel that way!  I see them ALL and I know that I'm very blessed to hear from so many of you.  I treasure each and every one of you and your comments!  Truly. 

 

*Life Is Too Short!

Paper:  PTI white
Stamps:  All SU!
Ink:  SU!  only orange, tangerine tango,
  calypso coral, melon mambo
Enamel dots:  My Mind's Eye

Punkins, for reals and on paper ~ CASology #66; ColourQ #211; NBUS #62; STB; and Moxie Color

Hi Dear Friends,

Once again, here we are whooshed around to Friday!  This week we entered the midpoint in October, a month of ghosts and goblins, witches and warlocks, cauldrons and candies corn, and the always iconic PUMPKIN.

 

I have some punkins to share with you today. 

 

My first card was made for the current challenge at CASology where the cue card word is, wait for it ... pumpkin!

And I used the really pretty fall colors from the current challenge at ColourQ.  Isn't that table of feet a hoof?! 

Here is my card:

The punkin image is by Hero Arts (A166) and the sediment is by California Rubber Stamp (C1409).  The bling is by My Mind's Eye.

I made the background behind the pumpkin by scribbling markers onto one of my acrylic blocks, spritzing it with a water mist, and then turning it over onto a piece of glossy cardstock.  It's a NBUS technique for me.

I have "smacked" acetate before, whereby you scribble markers on a piece of acrylic and then lay a piece of card over the scribbles.  When the card is lifted, you have a beautiful background.  Another similar technique is to scribble right onto your craft mat; I haven't tried that one yet. 

ETA:  This fun way of applying color to your card seems also fitting for the Moxie Fab World Color Media Challenge, so I'm linking there as well!

~~~

 

My second punkin card is a QACAS card that I made just for fun.  But then, after I made it, I realized that it was perfect for the current challenge at Seize the Birthday where it's always "Anything Goes" and this time the special "toppings" feature is to use fall colors. 

To use the colors of FALL on your project!

 

I have several sheets of beautiful patterned paper designed by Tim Coffey for K & Company and I've made a few cards just to showcase the paper.  Today I'm featuring the pumpkin paper:

The card and ribbon are SU! pumpkin pie.  I think the sediment is a Hero Arts, but it's unmarked, and the backing green mat is SU! wild wasabi.
 

~~~

 

Finally, I have a couple of for reals punkins to share with you.  We have the immense pleasure of having the grandtwins for a THREE-night sleepover!!  Squee!!

 

I got a great picture of them:

Pretty cute, right?  Look how big they're getting!  This is what I had to go through to get the above picture:

Ya gotta love digital cameras!  Remember taking your film in (or sending it in) to get prints made, praying that out of 36 photos, you might get one that was good?!  And you still had to pay for the other 35 that didn't turn out well?!  Ah, me, one of the many instances where the "good ol' days" weren't.
 

~~~
 

Enjoy making your day a good ol' one!  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!

 

 

 

*Life Is Too Short!

 

Birthday Cruise! ATCAS #20; CCIC; LID; MFWTT; NBUS #38

Happy Sunday!  Happy Monday already to some of you!

Today our imaginary couple Wilfred and Verneta are enjoying mimosas on their patio as the first act in a day-long celebration of Vern's 58th birthday.  Willie reaches between the folds of his newspaper and slides a card across the glass-top table while Verneta is looking down, petting Tops. 

 

[Aside:  Verneta had picked the sweet pound dog because his assorted brown spots against his creamy coat where the exact opposite of the normal coloring of his breed.  Usually the coat is brown and the spots are cream colored.  Being a wry lady known for her somewhat sarcastic wit, Vern decided to flip the traditional name of "Spot" to "Tops."  It amused her no end to see the dawn make its way across the faces of those who fingered it out.] 

 

As Verneta lifted her auburn head, her gaze fell upon Willie's card in its ivory linen envelope with her name scrawled across the front in his illegal handwriting.  She picked up the card and for several minutes held it lovingly, running her hands across the silken finish and, finally, against her cheek which had become flush from the morning sun and the mimosa.

 

Using her clean croissant knife, she slit open the envelope to find:

 

A small ladylike gasp of delight and pleasure escaped her lips.  Can it be?  A cruise for her birthday?  But this IS a surprise!  They had talked about it, perhaps a few years from now when Willie retired, but now?  Inside she found:

[The photo has been cropped to omit the private message Wilfred wrote to his beloved.]

"Oh, Wilf," sighed Vern.  Wilfred had never been happier than he was at that moment, watching the joy light up Verneta's continence.  He made a mental note to give his housekeeper a little something extra in her next check.  What a bonus that she not only did windows, she made delightful little homemade cards designed to his exact personal specifelicitations.

 

~~~

 

Challenges:

 

Addicted to CAS (ATCAS) #20 "Holiday."  My card reflects the "on vacation" definition of the code word.

 

Curtain Call Inspiration Challege "Carnival Craze."  My card focuses on the "Keep Sailing" verse.  Willie and Vern will be sailing off on a Carnival cruise! 

Lil' Inker Designs 3rd Birthday Challenge and Celebration.  Congratulations to Lil' Inker!!  I've used their wonderful products on my cards before, but this is my first time joining in one the challenges!

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger Challenge: "I'm Craving Navy."

 

As always, many of the challenges I enter have awesome sponsors and prizes, so I hope you will click on the links for the details, meet the fab Design Teams and Guest Designers, be amazed by their inspiration cards, and join in these fun challenges! 

~~~
 

NBUS #38 ~  In my own ongoing challenge to use up my "never-before-used schtuff," today's NBUS are the image and sediments from the Technique Tuesday stamp set "R&R."  I don't think I've used the summer starfruit paper before, but I'm not sure.  I have seen negative comments about the color, but it's quite striking IRL against the midnight muse and white.

 

I originally had the image framed in the navy and starfruit mats against the white card base, but in one of those moments we have, I started playing with putting the cutout back into the negative frame and I really liked how it looked.  The card itself is an example of how you can use a colored card base and still have a CAS card with lots of "white space."  (Thanks, Chrissie.)  I colored the wooden anchor charm with a SU! midnight muse marker.

 

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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! 

 

*Life Is Too Short!  

 

Paper:  PTI white; SU! midnight muse,

  summer starfruit

Stamps:  Technique Tuesday "R&R"

Ink:  SU! midnight muse, summer starfruit marker 

Dies:  Li'l Inker "Stitched Rectangles"

Embellie:  Studio Calico

A Special Day ~ ABNH #27, STB; DD #61; FMS #94; MFW; SSS

Hi!  Howdy!  Hello!

Aaaccckkk!  Until about an hour ago, I had totally forgotten that I wanted to make sure I played in the current A Blog Named Hero (ABNH) challenge where the challenge is to use a favorite Hero Arts stamp.  I have so many, but this is my all-time favorite! 

 

So there will be no NBUS on this post today, because both my stamps are old-timers and well-loved!  Sort of like me. 

 

Here we go:

 

Since my card is a birthday card, I'm also entering it in the current Seize The Birthday (STB) challenge where the theme is "Anything Goes!"

 

 

 

 and in the current Birthday Card Challenge at Moxie Fab World (MFW).

 

 

For my colors I am using the current Dynamic Duos (DD) challenge, where the colors are pink pirouette and sahara sand. 

 

 

For my sketch, I am using the current Freshly Made Sketches (FMS) challenge. 

 

 

For my finishing touches, I am using the current Simon Says Stamp (SSS) challenge where the theme is "Pin It!"

 

As always many of these challenges have fantastic sponsors and prizes.  To shorten my post, I ask that you visit the links for all the details and to join in the fun!!

 

~~~

 

Wiping my brow, I give you my card:

 

 

I know so many of you have loved and used this hydrangea stamp which in my world will never go out of style!  Using black embossing powder, I heat embossed the image onto vellum.  The vellum was colored on the back side using SU! markers and attached to the pink pirouette mat, which was then attached to the sahara sand card base.  I added glitter accents to the blossom centers, which are hard to see.

 

~~~

 

Chow for now!  Someone check the book and see if this is my shortest post EVER!  Gotta dash!  Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy.  LITS*!

 

Thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment and/or join as a follower! 

ETA:  Since I rarely link more than two or three challenges, and I was in a hurry, I didn't check the challenge rules before I published.  I am not eligible for any recognition at Freshly Made Sketches, because entries are only allowed to link up to three other challenges.
 

*Life Is Too Short!  

 

Paper:  SU! pink pirouette and sahara sand;

  unknown vellum

Stamps:  Hero Arts H2121 and C2926

Ink:  Black EP; SU! sahara sand

Embellies:  SU! clips; unknown brads