NBUS Winners/Thank You/Announcement

Greetings!

I'll get right to the recap of the NBUS (never-before-used schtuff) Challenges #8, #9, and #10. You ladies blew me away! The total number of entries for the three weeks was 606! I know, WOW, right?!

I left comments on all but a few of the second and third entries, because after a while I was spending a lot of time proving I wasn't a robot and answering picture puzzles. (BTW, there were a couple of blogs that required I log-in, which I didn't understand and didn't do. I have enough log-ins and passwords! I hope this isn't something we have to start doing before we can leave comments on each other's blogs?)

I have to say, it was such a pleasure seeing your enthusiasm for using your NBUS! It was also a ton of fun to see the cards of those of you who were able to join in my somewhat off-the-wall optional themes! 

And it's a great honor to have added three new Pinterest boards to showcase your cards for people from all over the world to be inspired by! You can find all TEN prior NBUS boards here.

Of course, I had to make you a thank you card!

I used a NBUS stamp from Winnie & Walter called, "From the Bottom of My Heart." I prefer to say thank you from the heart of my bottom, cuz it is SO much bigger, but I love this sweet thank you heart with the traditional message carved right into it. I added vertical score lines and strips of colorful heart rick-rack Washi tape on each side to add more interest. A little heart bling for the final punctuation and thazit.

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Okay, I'll stop pancaking so we can get to what you came for!! Even though I use Random Number Generator to chose the winners, I always get requests from folks who want to see the "winning" cards. I made these collages to show the RNG selection and the card entered at that number. Whoop!

Winners for NBUS Challenge #8 (Total entries 180)

1. $25 Gift Certificate:

#19 Verna of VA's Creative Clutter

2. $25 Gift Certificate:

#94 JoAnn of Crafty Nana's Blog

3. Faber Castell Polychromos:

#72 Maxine of Kiwime's Kreations

4. Mini MISTI:

#54 Andrea of KandA Creative Moments

5. Clarity Stencil Brushes:

#70 Christine of It's a Card Day's Night

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Winners of NBUS Challenge #9 (Total entries 196)

1. $25 Gift Certificate:

#83 Mary Ann K. of Lakeside Stamping

2. $25 Gift Certificate:

#129 Sybrina of Chapter Three

3. ATG and three tape refills:

#156 Greta of GG Creations

4. Mini MISTI:

#76 Kitty of KT Fit Kitty

5. Chameleon Pens:

#152 Carol of Crafting By Carol

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Winners of NBUS Challenge #10 (Total entries 230)

1. $25 Gift Certificate:

#106 Marianne of Marianne's Cards 'n Stuff

2. $25 Gift Certificate:

#199 Donna of Lakefront Stamping Creations

3. Scor-Buddy Scoring Tool:

#164 Nonni of Nonni's Handmade Cards

4. Mini MISTI:

#215 Barb of Barb's Studio Creations

5. Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens:

#124 Bozena of Art Card Box

Congratulations to all the winners! (If I have messed up your choice of prize, please feel free to let me know and I will fix it.) To see all prior winners, you can click here. 

I hope that ALL of you who participated feel like winners because you put to use some goodies that have been neglected! Well done, everyone!!

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NBUS #11 ANNOUNCEMENT!

Normally, I hold my NBUS challenges in March and September each year. Because of the special celebration this year, I surprised you with a three-week, three-part NBUS party. Since it is (already!!) the middle of February, I'm sorry to say that I won't be up for another challenge the first of March.

But I hate to have you wait all the way until September, so here's my plan:

You may remember that last year I ran a blooper April Fool's Day hop and my intent was to make it an annual event. It was a one-day linky party that let you link any card with a big fat boo boo. Obviously, being April Fool's Day, I was looking for the funniest bloopers!

[As an example, I made an Easter card last year with bunnies and I thought it was fine. It wasn't until after I took a photo of it that I realized two of the bunnies looked like they were gettin' busy! Bloops!]

I've decided that this year I will combine my Second Annual April Fool's Day Hop with NBUS Challenge #11 and have it run for ten days from April 1 to April 11. Mark your calendars!

You will be able to enter any creation using NBUS, as always, but if you have any blooper photos, or if you happen to make a blooper card between now and then, take a photo of it before you bin it, cuz we want to see it!! 

In short, you will be able to enter:

• a NBUS card with no bloopers;
• a blooper card with no NBUS (yes, that's right!); and/or
• a blooper card with NBUS.

If that made sense to you, then you have been a friend of this blog for a very long time and I've left word with the guard to give you access to me in the Loony Bin on Visitor's Day! 😇 Please remember to bring a radish for Hammy!

Feel free to ask questions if that didn't make sense!

~~~ 

Enjoy your day! Enjoy your Valentine's Day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* If it isn't a great day for you, I hope you will find your own way to enjoy it!

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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Click Page Down to reach the end of the post.
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Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, 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!

NBUS Challenge #10!

Greetings, NBUSers!

Today is the start of the third and last week of my 5-year blog birthaversary! I'm blown away by how many of you have enthusiastically joined in the celebrations and I've loved seeing and pinning your remarkable creations! Thank you!

If you would like to see week one of the celebrations (NBUS Challenge #8) and the gallery, click here; for week two (NBUS Challenge #9), click here.

The basic idea of this challenge is evident in the name. You are to use schtuff never before used (virginal) on your creation. It can be something you've had for years or something you got yesterday. For the history of NBUS and to see prior challenges, please see the tab above or click HERE.

January 30, 2017 ~ February 5, 2017

🔹Please use a NBUS item and share what it is.
🔹Please follow using the blue "Follow" button on the side bar.
🔹Please only enter this challenge three times with new work only.
🔹Please only enter four other challenges, for a total of five, including this one.
🔹Please mention the NBUS Challenge and link your post back here.
🔹Please leave encouraging comments on each other's creations.
🔹Please click HERE for how you enter if you don't have a blog.
🔹Please enjoy!

Note: These are all NEW prizes for this week's challenge!

1. $25 gift card. Winner's choice to any American company. [GC]
2. $25 gift card. Winner's choice to any American company. [GC]
3. Scor-Buddy scoring tool [SB]
4. Mini MISTI Stamping Tool. [M]
5. Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens [Z]

I will hold three separate drawings for each of the three NBUS Challenges. Winners of ALL THREE challenges will be published on February 13, 2017. These prizes are open to participants from all over the world who enter their creation in the gallery.

Important: In your comment (or after your name in the gallery when you link up), please indicate which of the prizes you would like to win by including the alpha letter(s) shown above after the name of the prize. If you have no preference, please indicate [ANY]. 

To be fair, for the non-gift certificate items, please don't request them if you already own them or something substantially similar. If you do not make an indication of your preference, I will assume that you do not want to be included in the drawing for a prize. 

Contact Information:  Also, if you and I have not communicated via email in the past five years, please make sure you use the secure "contact me" form on the right to provide me with your email address! Commenting doesn't always provide me with your email information if you are a No-Reply blogger. If I can't contact you, you can't win!  💙

🔹🔹🔹

This week I have to explain my optional theme before I show you my card.

There is only one optional theme for this challenge and credit for the idea goes to my friend Harriet. I mentioned to her that I was trying to think of unique themes and she suggested that I check and see what today's "National Day of . . ." was. You know how there is always something being celebrated every day of the year, like National Day of the Hot Dog, or National Day of Celebrating Corduroy, or National Day of Hippopotamus Toenails, etc.. 

Well, I did check and, by golly, I found something!

Today is "National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!" 

Squee!! 

So for your optional theme this week you can:

a) use Bubble Wrap in some way or some fashion on your creation (maybe you have a bubble wrap stencil?), or 

b) use bubbles, or use wrap, or use some other unusual material in some way, or

c) check and see what "National Day" is being celebrated on the day you make something for the challenge. To find out what is being celebrated each day throughout the week-long challenge, just click here for the days of January and here for the days of February.

That's it. Have fun!

Remember, the theme is OPTIONAL.

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Here we go with what I did to inspire you. (Did you get your dwink and sumstenance?)

I cut a piece of bubble wrap and randomly dropped drops of alcoholic inks. I've never seen this done before, but it prolly has been. It was really fun! I didn't try it with reinkers or other liquid inks, but I can't wait to see the results if you try it!

As I dropped inks, I stopped after every few additions of ink and took a piece of glossy card and placed it upside down (glossy side down) onto the bubble wrap. Then I placed my large acrylic block on top of the piece of card and gently but firmly pressed the card into the bubble wrap for a couple of seconds. Bubble wrap smooching, if you will! Then I lifted the card, set it aside, and kept going, applying more drops of different colors, and repeating the process.

Ten minutes later and I had the makings for several cards!

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And here are the finished cards!

I happened to have a piece of acetate on my desk at the time and I held it over the glossy inked paper and I loved the extra shine from the acetate. So I used my NBUS MFT Die-Namics "Stitched Rectangle Frame" die to finish the design. Each card looks like a framed photo under glass which is pretty darn cool, if I do say so me wee self.

The horizontal card shown above was one of the last presses (smooches) I did and for that I used a piece of nonglossy card stock just to see how it would do. It did great, but I like the bubble wrap effect better on the glossy paper. The NBUS sediment on the horizontal card is "Label Tape," also from MFT. The "Celebrate" sediment on the vertical cards is also NBUS and it's from PTI's "Bold and Beautiful Sentiments" stamp set.

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When I was finished and I started to clean up, Hammy threw a carrot carat at my head and said, "Hold on there, Missy. Don't you think the bubble wrap itself is the prettiest part of this whole Rigguma Roll?"

As usual, he was right!  The photos don't really capture how brilliant and shiny the bubble wrap is, but each circle looks like a tiny brightly colored glass marble in real life!

So I threw the carrot back at his head (which he deftly caught between his paws), divided the wrap in two, and made these cards:

I taped the bubble wrap to a snippet of card and then framed it with foam and set it aside. I next taped a snippet of acetate behind the front card opening and then sandwiched the two together like you would do for a shaker card and applied the die-cut words from Winnie & Walter. 

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Enjoy your day! Enjoy NBUS Challenge #10! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse. Thank you very much for participating in these NBUS Challenges and for being incredible friends and followers and supporters! Your friendship and your encouraging comments keep me going! MWAH!

If you have any questions, please use the contact form on the right or email darnell dot knauss at gmail dot com. And, remember, if you want to be in the drawing for a prize, please make sure to let me know which prize you want and your email address!

Edited to add: My surgery went well! I'm pretty much sleeping if off and the stitches are still angry, but every day is a huge improvement over the day before. (I can add that being on pain pills does not improve one's pygint skills!) THANK YOU with all my heart for all your emails, comments, and cards! MWAH!

*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 walla, 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!

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