Loll's Mixed Media Tag Event!

Hello! Happy Toozday!

I'm honored to be here today as one of the special Guest Designers taking part in my friend Loll's inspirational Twelve Tags of Christmas event! There are awesome prizes to be had and the gallery will remain open until November 22!

Loll is showcasing "mixed media" art for this tag event. I thought at first this would be out of my artistic range, but I was happily wrong about that. If you are primarily a CAS card artist and think you might not manage mixed media, check out the definition below my tag.

In the proverbial words of Babe Ruth, if I can do it, you can do it!

Here is Loll's definition of "mixed media" for this event and my compliance:

1. Make a tag with stamps + ink: my snowflake is stamped in Lost Lagoon ink.
2. Add two other elements which add texture or dimension: 
• the die-cut JOY; 
• the snowflake e/f embossed on glossy paper.

That's it! How EZPZ was that?! In addition to the requirements, I added a lovely soft-grained Lost Lagoon ribbon from SU and I backed my tag with another layer of the shiny metallic paper I used to die-cut the sediment word. 

Tags are on fire right now all over Blogland! We all love them, we all make them, and I'd love to see your tag(s) entered in this fun event of Loll's. You can link up here!

I'm also entering these Challenges:

• Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge: Tag.
• Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge: Tag.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets (scraps).

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We were thrilled to get LOTS of much-needed rain here, even thunder, lightening, hail, and rainbows! At one point I looked out and saw my little hummingbird, thus:

The smart boy figured out he would be out of the rain a little bit if he perched on top of the swing!

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New Friends Corner

Please help me welcome these five new talented friends to the Playhouse!

Juhi of Juhi's Handmade Cards. Juhi is originally from Bangladore, India, but she now resides in Singapore. She has been blogging since 2009. Her cards are truly works of art, worthy of framing. You may have seen them in the winner's circle at challenges. You will be inspired by her vibrant colors, her video tutorials, and by how impactful her CAS designs are!

Ruth of Crafting While the Baby Naps. I just love that blog name and admire any mothers who manage to mother AND blog! Ruth began her blog just this past February so she is brand new to our community! Please do make a special effort to visit Ruth and introduce yourself! Her cards are not only clean and simple, they go the extra mile with her excellent crisp execution and brilliant coloring!

Rita of Cards by Rita. Rita has been blogging since she became a Stampin Up demonstrator in June of 2010. She is a SAHM who lives in Texas. Rita enjoys making her beautiful cards to send to friends all over the world. Her expertise with Copics is apparent in her cards which are radiant and fun! Plus, she often shares adorable family photos with us!

Shirley of Glittered Paws. Shirley lives in Missouri and she started her blog in 2009. She is a retired nurse who is now a hopelessly addicted papercrafter. As her blog name suggests, Shirley and her husband have plenty of beloved pets underfoot gathering glitter from Shirley's art studio! Shirley is another Copic Certified Designer whose cards are simply gorgeous!

Maureen Wong of My C.A.S.E. Studies. Maureen started blogging in 2008! She is the mother of two humans and two furballs. Maureen loves blogging and visiting other crafty blogs for inspiration. She has served on many design teams and she was a Stamping Royalty winner in 2014! Needless to say, you will find oodles of design ideas on Maureen's blog!

Thank you for joining, ladies, and 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 join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!

Source

*Life is too short!

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Fall and Winter Sparkle

Hey! How's it going?

Hammy has all the time in the world, but alas, I don't, so he kindly found a few challenges that we could quickly manage with simplicious one-layer cards. Making cards can be a practical exercise, it can satisfy our creative needs, or sometimes it can be pure therapy. And, of course, it's always extraspecially fun when there's sparkle involved!

Today's Onefer

I have had a couple of pieces of this pretty blue snowflake paper for over a decade. I purchased it at a stamping store parking lot swap meet, so I have no idea how old it actually is. I could never come up with a satisfactory way to use it over the years, but, man, oh, manski, just look at what modern-day die-cut snowflakes and a few sequints did for it!

Those silver snowflakes were cut with a NBUS "Let It Snowflakes" die from MFT. The sediment is called "Seasonal Sentiments" and it's also from MFT. And that's it. A QACAS ten-minute Christmas card! Now if I only had lots more of that paper ...

Challenges

• Addicted to CAS: Sparkle.
• Muse Card Club: Michele Ferguson (use patterned paper).
• Muse: Christmas Visions: Kimberly Wiener (blue, snowflakes, sequints).
• One Layer Christmas Card Challenge: AG with optional twist: Silver.
• One Layer Simplicity Challenge: Weather (Snow).

Today's Twofer

Because my onefer OLC was so simples, I had time for another. This one took a bit longer and satisfied my curiosity about a technique I've wanted to try.

I recently started dabbling with my Ziggies and I saw where someone ~ I forget who ~ had used Ziggies to color directly to her stamp, spritz, and apply to watercolor paper. I've loved this technique for a long time using my Marvy markers, but I wanted to try it with the Ziggies. Conclusion: I think they worked fine, but if I'm honest, I'd rather save my Ziggie ink for more traditional watercoloring and use my other marker brands for the direct-to-stamp-and-spritz technique.

The sediment is from PTI's "Meadow Greens." After wards, I winked and glazed the wheatheads til they sparkled.

Challenges

• Fusion Card Challenge: Photo Inspiration only.
• Less Is More: One Layer ~ Autumn.
• The Challenge: The Colors of Autumn.
• The Male Room: Autumn.
• TIME OUT Challenges: Autumn ... .

I just love how challenge blogs play together so nicely some weeks! And did you like how I put the winter card in front of the autumn card just to mess with you?

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Since Hammy has been so helpful and so patient with the current situation, I gave him a special treat served up on the back of one of my large wooden background stamps!

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New Friends Corner

As always, I'm grateful to have five more new friends to introduce to you!

Sandy Mork of Snippity Do Dah. Isn't it interesting that yesterday we had Scrappity Do Da? I hope these two gals find each other through the New Friends Corner! Sandy is brand new to Blogland! She just started in May of this year to share her sensational card art and quilts. I love her cards which usually feature adorable kids (young and old) or cute critters. Her coloring with pencils is fabulous! I hope you will go and welcome Sandy to our amazing community!

Alicia O'Bryant of Golden Goddess Designs. Alicia has been blogging since 2012. She has served on design teams or as a guest designer for challenges, and she also enjoys entering challenges, where she has received well-deserved recognition. In addition to terrific card art, Alicia has wonderful scrapbook layouts to inspire you!

D.Ann C. of D.Ann's Crafting Whims. D.Ann is also a newbie among us. She started blogging this year in March. In addition to her beautifully colored and uniquely designed card art, D.Ann enjoys crocheting and knitting. Not to mention, she is an excellent photographer (especially of flowers) and a jewelry maker! Please stop in and welcome D.Ann to Blogland!

Kelly Deal of Dreaming of Vintage. Kelly has been blogging a couple three times a month since 2010. As you can tell from her blog name, Kelly loves vintage. Her works of art are vibrant and alive. Whether it's 3D projects, ATCs, canvases, tags, or cards, there is a ton of inspiration waiting for you at Kelly's blog!

Jerri Thomas of Bug 'n Me Creations. Jerri has been blogging since 2009! Talk about having experience with this fun hobby and with blogging! Jerri has served or is serving on challenge design teams and she also enjoys participating in challenges. You'll find tons of enjoyment and ideas at Jerri's blog for cards ranging from sweetly romantic to punny and funny!

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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! 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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It's the 25th ~ Time for PTI and Rudolph!

Happy 25th Day of August 2015!

I hope you're having a great day! When I can, I like to play in two challenges that occur on the 25th of every month, so that makes it an automatic twofer day!

First up:

After masking the top of the card base at an angle, I first heat-embossed the NBUS PTI outline "Vintage Linens" stamps in black. Then, using the PTI photo inspiration below as, well, inspiration, I stamped the solid stamps in PTI inks: orange zest, scarlet jewel, raspberry fizz, and spring moss. The sediment is SU. 

When I removed the mask, I was horrified to find the scarlet jewel ink had bleed through my mask onto the white card base. That little booboo was quickly fixed by adding the PTI classic kraft ribbon and a swirly paperclip. Truth be told, it was another one of those happy accidents as it looks so much better dressed! (Don't we all, really?)

Challenges

• August 2015 Blog Hop Challenge for Papertrey Ink: Photo Inspiration.
• Less Is More: Sketch Inspiration.

  

Today's Twofer

Switching gears to Christmas I made this:

This OLC is adorned with NBUS Technique Tuesday "Chickadees" stamps which I purchased over a year ago. (Slap!) I'm not sure if I have used the "Jolly" die from Lil Inkers before, but I can tell you that the gold lamé paper from Tim Holtz is NBUS and I had a heck of a time cutting it. The red sparkly side embellies are Washi tape. The sweet little santa hats are from Memory Box. I drew a bit of ground for the Santabirds to stand on and then enhanced their beaks and feet with a gold At you Spica pen.

After making this card, and enjoying a minute of Hammy doing a dozen summer salts to signify his pleasure, I took some photos.

When the above photo appeared on the monitor, however, I sat with my head leaning over my left shoulder. To me, Mr. Santabird and Mrs. Santabird look adorable in their cute santa hats. Fine. But doesn't it seem like Mrs. Santabird is looking at something that isn't there?

Well, I thought so, too, so I gave them some privacy for a brief 30-minute gestation period and now they are a family!! This time even I did a couple three summer salts!

Ah. That's better!

I know there is a baby bird in the Chickadee set, but I wanted a baby who was returning mama's gaze, so I used this cutie-patootie stamp from Paper Smooches "My Peeps" set.

(That explains why the Missus has a "Well, who are YOU?!" look on her face. We won't mention that the Mister simply looks clueless.)

Challenges

• Happy Little Stampers August Christmas Challenge: Sparkle.
• One-Layer Christmas Card Challenge: Christmas Card (w/o twist).
• Rudolph Days: Christmas Card.

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Hark!

Details

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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! 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!