NBUS Challenge #1 Winners and Rap Up

Hello There!

I have a few thoughts to rap up my first NBUS Challenge, but already your eyeballs have drifted down the screen and your finger is twitching on the mouse, so I'll save them for after! 

Applause, applause, applesauce, applause, applause!! Congratulations to all the winners! Some of you may not even be aware that I added five more $25 gift certificates after the entries reached 100. So here are the TEN winners chosen by Mr. Random and Mrs. Dot Org! If the Orgs weren't in charge, I'd have prizes for all of you who entered!!

Colleen #55   

Petra #254     

Jill #162           

Alanna #90        

Di #242              

Susan B. #80  

Hettiecraft #53  

Marybeth #62  

KandA #190          

Carol L. #100     

• In addition, I am adding two surprise $25 gift certificates:

First, to 11-year-old Alli who was the youngest participant using her loving Aunt Carole's blog, This Small Corner of Texas! It's wonderful to see a young person engaging in the ancient art of card making!

#197

Second, to Mamie Reese as a representative of my "behind-the-scenes" readers who don't have blogs. Mamie has been a long-time supporter of my blog and we have become card pen pals. Here is the pretty NBUS card which she mailed to me:

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Thank you so very much to everyone who participated with your beautiful works of art!! I've made a Pinterest Board for NBUS #1 so it's easy for all of us to refer back to the gallery for inspiration. It goes without saying that the response was overwhelming and heartwarming and heartfilling! Mwah, mwah, mwah all over your smiling cute little faces!!

Winners, enjoy!! Please email me at darnell dot knauss at gmail dot com, to let me know your choice of the company where you would like to shop your $25 gift certificate! Yippie!!

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NBUS begets NBUS

So. Okay. I got about a third of the way through the entries and visiting your blogs to thank you for kindly joining in and it hit me that this challenge might be one of the stoopidest things I've ever done. 

Gasp!!  WHAT? What do you mean?

Well, I mean, think about it.

Why did I coin NBUS and start purposely numbering and using the acronym when blogging my cards?

Answer: Because I realized that I was buying lots of new schtuff after seeing other blogger's cards and then I was putting it away (too much to leave on the desk, oink!) and then forgetting about it. By challenging myself publicly, I started looking at and using my NBUS.

So, that's all good, I was making progress, but what's happened since I commented on 281 challenge entries and focused on the wonderful NBUS products you were using?

Answer:

It turns out that now I've bought loads more NBUS, thanks to you guys! Mt. NBUS is so high that the newest NBUS is covered in SNOW (not an acronym) and I've had to hire a miniature sherpa to help Hammy help me!

Not to worry, you've all convinced me that you love the idea of this challenge, so I will do another one when I reach 600 followers, if not before.

I think I will need to take a few days off from blogging pretty soon, however, so I can make mole hills out of that mountain and keep the NBUS from overtaking the BUS!

I also think it's time for a new acronym, one shared with me by my friend Redanne, who heard it used on TV:

SABLE =

Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

Yup. At my age I now have a SABLE of NBUS! But I love it, so what can I do? And I love finding out that I'm not alone with this tissue. Thank you for making me feel "normal!"

Okay, settle down. Nobody is buying that I am normal in any way! (Hammy, stop it, you'll choke.)

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Kindness Begets Kindness

I would also like to thank you for following my lead and taking an extra minute or two when you are surfing the waters of card blogs to leave the artist a meaningful comment. I see a lot more of that happening and it makes me very happy!

There are many serious or super busy bloggers who just want to post their work or who just want to make cards to inspire us to buy product and for them it's not about visiting and commenting. And that's fine. We don't judge. But there are even more bloggers who want to post their project and maybe market a product AND have you follow them and make friends. It's wonderful to see you taking that first step and then watch as it is resiprocated around the globule! 

I also see some of you are duplicating my "New Friends Corner" or similarly taking the time to introduce your new followers to your readers so that they might make new friends, too. It's like a handshake across the intertubes ... ice being broken ... conversations starting ...

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Finally, I also want to pacifically thank my many new followers who have recently joined! I will continue with my New Friends Corner introductions, five at a time, when I resume normal posting. I haven't forgotten you!

Enjoy your day, everybody! 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!

MWAH! 

  

 

*Life Is Too Short!

REMINDER ~ NBUS Challenge #1 Ends Soon

Hello My Friends!

Thank you so much to everyone who has so enthusiastically supported my very first NBUS Challenge!! This note is to remind you that the challenge will be closing at 12 noon PDT on Friday, June 27, 2014. If you need a time zone converter for your time zone, you can find one here.

To get to the original post where you will find the all-important rules, a list of the prizes, and the InLinkz button, click:

HERE

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You are the BEST FRIENDS EVER! Your response has filled my heart to overflowing! I will post the winners at 12 noon PDT on Sunday, June 29, 2014. 

I had no idea when I jokingly made up NBUS that it would actually become well-known in this acronym-filled Blogland stamping community! During this challenge, I realized that there are three other four-letter words you can make from these letters: 

SNUB = schtuff never used before.

BUNS = before-used-never schtuff. (Wait. What?!)

NUBS = never used before schtuff.

Had I know it would take off, I think I would have chosen NUBS which works and is a cute word. Then again, knowing how I get myself into trouble with words sometimes, the word nubs is prolly a slang expression in some countries for a part of the human or aminal anatomy! 

So NBUS it is and NBUS it shall remain! I hope you get a chance to join the challenge, if you haven't already!

Mwah!

I Love You More! Meet the New NBUS Riders! NBUS: #135

Hello! Hello!

Take a deep breath! Ah, the freshness of a brand-new Monday! There is nothing like it!

I needed to make some anniversary cards, three in fact. Just like graduations, June is a time for weddings and what follows weddings? Babies! Oh, well, that, too, but this time I was thinking of yearly anniversaries. With the success rate of divorces ... wait. What? It's sad, but true, so every anniversary is a cause of much celebrating!

I have had the idea of this card in my head for some time. It came together, but it was like pulling teeth. I always say I love it when a card practically makes itself (well, duh, who doesn't?), so it stands to reason that there will be times when a card will fight you all the way. Sometimes you give in and give up and sometimes, dagnabbit rabbit, you refuse!

Put on your shades! 

The sunset colors were made with my NBUS Tim Holtz DI markers scribbled on an acrylic block, spritzed, and then stamped onto watercolor paper. The couple is from one of my all-time favorite SU sets called "Summer by the Sea." To make the happy couple more noticeable against the riot of background color, I applied some hash marks to the image with a black outliner pen.

The "husband, wife ..." is also by SU and the "Happy Anniversary" is from the PTI set, "Think Big Favorites #24." The conversation bubbles are NBUS from the Amy Tangerine stamp collection. The hot button is from my stash.

Everything is as I imagined it would be except for the part where I schmudged the "MORE" which I hand-wrote on the card. It was fine. It even looked like a stamp made it. But could I leave well enough alone? Oh, no. No. I decided it needed a doodled box around it. But then I thought the box around it was a little bit crookedy, so I made the outline thicker in order to straighten it. And then one side was too thin so I made that thicker. So now my card said sweetly: "I heart U." "I heart U" black box. You know, like he had called her a bleep and the censors had put a black box over it. Really?

I came THIS close to throwing it out, but I had put too much into it, so I held my ground and just stamped "MORE" on a yellow scrap of paper and popped it up on the card. The "MORE" word was cut from a stamp in my NBUS Tim Holtz set "Playful Journey." Goodness, lots of different companies played together on this card!

I hear some of you asking the obvious question, where the heck is Hammy? Very a stoot of you! I wouldn't have had so much trouble making my card if Hammy had been here. Hollywood called and Hammy is now a star making Sprint commercials! They call him Tom and he has a mobster accent! Here's a YouTube video. I'm going to give him his 15 minutes of fame and then I want him BACK!

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I am entering my card into the current FUSION challenge. The colors are obvious and if you turn the sketch on it's side and bring the sides in to make it narrow, there is my layout. It's been a long time since I've done a  true fusion!

I'm also playing in the Mod Squad Challenge where the theme is "Happy Anniversary."

And I'm also linking to the current Time Out Challenge which is "summer" (w/o the option of flowers). I should have doodled a flower on the beach. My bad.

Make sure you click on the challenge links to find the details on rules, sponsors, and prizes. Even if you can't join in, you will find fantastic inspiration from the Guest Designers and Design Teams!

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NBUS Challenge #1 Reminder

I want to thank all of you who immediately sent me comments of support and then entered your card in the gallery of my first-ever NBUS Challenge! Talk about inspiration, there are some amazing entries!! I so appreciate your participation. After supporting numerous challenges and friends in the last couple of years, it's fun to have that love returned! The information on the NBUS Challenge can be found here. The Challenge is open until June 27, 2014. Please make sure you read the rules and paste this button on your blog post featuring your card entry. Thank you!

I would also like to remind you that I am the co-Guest Designer for the month of June at a new challenge that would love to have more participants!! Please do join me by linking your card to Words 2 Scrap By where the theme is "Oh, The Places You Will Go!"

Thank you, everyone! MWAH!

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New Friends Corner

It turns out the letters BUS in my acronym were appropriate as A TON of new friends have taken the N Bus right up to the Playhouse!! There are so many, in fact, that I'm going to introduce them to you in groups of five. I want you to click on the links and I think if there are too many it will become a job, and we don't want that now, do we?

Today, first and foremost, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the new friend who was responsible for the 500 milestone mark which precipitated the first NBUS Challenge! Her name is Simonne Clay and she has been writing her blog Semsee Crafts and making her award-winning cards since 2010. There is a ton of inspiration on her delightful blog, a lot of it whimsical, which is always a treat!

Joyce M. of Cards-by-the-Sea. Joyce has been blogging since 2011 and she is one of the most creative and prolific card artists I know. It isn't unusual to visit her and find an array of a half-dozen cards in one post! I have trained myself now to place my left hand under my chin to hold it up before I click to open her blog! I mean, seriously!

Mary Anne (MA54K) of Lakeside Stamping. Mary Anne has been blogging since 2009 and you know that means tons of goodies are there for you to scroll stroll through and enjoy! Mary Anne's blog is a happy, lighthearted place and her terrific cards are a reflection of that!

Jenny of My Paper Epiphany. Jenny has been blogging since 2011. Jenny is another prolific card artist who makes the most beautiful clean and simple (CAS) cards! She always nails the challenges she enters, so she has won many awards!

I'll finish today's introductions with Shery of One-Layer, CAS, and Mixed Media Cards. Shery has been blogging since 2012. She is an award-winner who serves on many Design Teams and she has also started up her own challenges, which you can find on the side bar of her blog. Whatever style of card art inspiration you are looking for, Shery's blog is the place to go!

Thank you so much for joining, ladies! Welcome to the Playhouse!

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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! 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!

NBUS Challenge #1 Celebration!

Hello, my friends!

Here we are, whooshed around to another Friday, the first Friday in another new month!

And here I am, pickled tink to note that I have reached 500 followers, which just astounds and even confounds me! But whoopie!! I am so grateful for your encouragement, support, and friendship. I think this milestone event gives me the perfect opportunity to show you just how grateful I am!

I have never offered blog candy in the traditional sense, preferring to do so behind the scenes on an individual random basis with you. I wanted to do something different, so I put on my thinking cap, noting that it hardly fits now that my head is swollen from all the love you give me in your comments! I decided it would be fun to host a first-ever NBUS challenge and award prizes!

What the heck is NBUS? Most of you know coz you're followers, but it's an aaackronym I coined about a year ago that stands for "never-before-used schtuff." That means virginal. I wanted something that would motivate me to use product that I buy (or win or receive as a gift), put away, and forget about. The idea behind it is not new. Susan Raihala of Simplicity created a "Use Your Stamps" challenge, specifically for stamps. There is also Kirsten of Crash Your Stash, Traci of Depleting My Stash - My Journey, and there's Shopping Our Stash. I'm sure there are others, as well.

Counting and posting when I use NBUS on a card has worked for me as I have used NBUS 134 times since last June and I don't even count paper or small items. And even if I use three NBUS on a card, I only count it once for that post. Of course, the whole time I'm using NBUS, I'm buying more NBUS! Hey, what can I say? I'm a product pig and you guys are all enablers with your fantastic creations!

I've been delighted to see a lot of you picking up the NBUS moniker and playing along on your blogs. Now you can do it and win a prize! I even had my new friend and follower Nikki of Graphix and Designs design a challenge button for me! 

Here we go!

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NBUS Challenge #1 

"Anything Goes" 

(Friendship Theme)

Rules

• You MUST use a NBUS item on your creation and tell us what it is. It doesn't matter if it's old or new (although that old virginal schtuff would really  like some attention!). 
• The theme is "anything goes" with an emphasis on "friendship." You are an eclectic group of followers with a wide range of styles. I want you to be cozy and inside your comfort zone. Show me what crafty project or style of card art brings you the most creative joy and makes you think of friendship.
• Cut and paste the NBUS button above into your post and include a link back to here. 
• Please enter only four other challenges, in addition to this one, for a total of five.
• You may enter up to three times. New work only, please.
• Link up your creation using the InLinkz button below in the usual way.
• This challenge will close on Friday, June 27, 2014 at noon PDT.

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PRIZES

FIVE TEN $25 gift certificates will be

awarded from the following (your choice):

• Country View Crafts (UK)

  
  

• Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store
  
  

• Online Card Classes
  
  
  
• Papertrey Ink

  
  
• Simon Says Stamp

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June 13, 2014 Edited to add:

After just one week, the entries are over 100! I am overwhelmed by your support and enthusiasm for my NBUS Challenge. In appreciation, I am adding these prizes!

• FIVE Winner's Choice Gift Certificates! $25 each, to the company of your choice!

MWAH!

If you would like to play just for fun, please say "playing for fun" in your comment after you link.

******

Miss Elaine E. Uss

Commenting

I'm not going to police you, so this isn't a "rule," but I would appreciate it if you would comment on at least three other entries, preferably names that you don't recognize. When you go to their blog to comment, click to follow them while you're at it. It's a free random act of kindness that will make someone's day! And if someone follows you, follow them back, like your mama taught you.

Who Can Play?

I know a lot of you follow me through reader subscriptions and may not have clicked to follow where I can see you on the thumbnails on the side bar, so my actual followers number more than 500. I would like my subscribers to participate in the challenge, too.

(The advantage of also clicking the blue "Join This Site" button is that once I see you there, I introduce you and your blog to my other readers. It is okay to both follow and subscribe to a blog.)

There are also a lot of you who don't have blogs, but you are faithful readers and some of you leave comments or email me. I would like you to participate in the challenge, too, if you like. If you don't have a blog, you can create a free Flickr account and upload your photo there, or through Splitcoaststampers. Once you follow their easy directions to upload your card, you copy the URL and then enter it through the InLinkz button below. I understand that it will not be possible for participants who use Flickr or SCS to post my button.

If you don't want to do either of those things and you just want to email me a picture of your card, that works, too! I want to include everyone! If you feel left out, or have alternative suggestions, or questions, please email me and let me know. (darnell dot knauss at gmail dot com.)

I'm grateful to you for being there, no matter how you access my blog!

Prize Selection

Because you are all my friends, I could never select one of you over another, so I will use Dr. Random and Mrs. Dot Org, Mr. Hammy Hamster, Mr. Mister, or Mr. Random Stranger off the street to pick the winners. I will announce the winners on Sunday, June 29, 2014.

If this is successful, I will hold another challenge when I reach 600 followers and so on! Sorry this first one is so wordy. If this catches on, I'll do a tab at the top of my blog that contains all the small print crap information to shorten future challenge posts so they don't blah blah bore you to death.

Here is the card I made for you! I hope you'll join in and link up. I can't wait to see what you make!

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

Thank you, again! Mwah!!

 

*Life Is Too Short!

An InLinkz Link-up