And Just Like That ... 🗓️🗓️

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are doing well! We finally turned our backs, er, our clocks back, so I should start waking up in with more engery. I have such a hard time getting going when my brain tells me, "It is the pitch of night, go back to bed." Today I have to get through the first of a series of yucky dental appointments and the election is tomorrow. Anxiety is high, so thank you, Lord, for potatoes, from which wodka flows.

But that's not why you called in. Let's talk about pretty things. Like cards. Christmas cards, to be exact. And it's week one of November's I.D.E.A.S., so I had a play with Ink.

Onefer

The trends of using die-cut images and embossing folders continues in delightful ways with this hobby, but for this QACAS design, I really enjoyed just using stamps.

I have to say this was a treat to photograph. She said, snarkcastically. I finally got an angle to show both the embossed shine of the sediment and the glossification of the berries, compliments of Hammy and Stanley. The sediment and the double-stamped NBUS mistletoe are from, "The Magic of Christmas" by Simon Says. 

Twofer

Back in February, the Group of Seven Cardmakers did a technique called, "Masked Stenciling" and I made this pair using that technique. I especially love the die cut deer and trees with their unexpected stencil lines and lavender color.

~~~

Lunch With Girlfriends

By Kathy O’Malley

Elaine’s vertigo has never been worse.

Kay can’t recall where she left her purse.

Rhonda’s about to replace her knees.

Linda’s breathing is tinged with a wheeze.

Donna's left boob has a troublesome lump.

Diane’s on her third trip to take a dump.

Lorraine’s husband can’t remember a thing.

Nine years a widow, Marge still wears her ring.

Marlene is dealing with another UTI.

Sally’s giving hearing aids another try.

Marie has decided she can’t drive at night.

Sharon still wears clothes two sizes too tight.

They’ve been through divorces and babies and wakes.

They do for each other whatever it takes.

They’ve already buried Marcia and Kate.

And truthfully, Lizzie’s not looking so great.

So whenever they can, they get out to eat.

Open bottles of wine and forget their sore feet.

There’s laughing and crying and letting down guards.

And when the bill comes, there’s ten credit cards.

So here’s to the waiters who keep orders straight,

And the places that let lunches run three hours late.

And here’s to the girlfriends, those near and those far.

Here's to the girlfriends, you know who you are!

🥰🥰🥰

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! 

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More: 2: Die Cuts and Stencils.

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round: 2: Reindeer, Deer, or Moose.

Color Hues: 1: Red and Black.

Jingle Belles: 2: Christmas animals.

Peace on Earth: 1: Christmas.

We Love Stamping: 1: Christmas.

Holiday Gold and Silver

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I hope all is well where you are. If not, I hope it gets better soon. xoxo 

I had a fun and very busy week! Before my friend arrived, I managed to make a couple of QACAS Christmas cards for today's post.

At times like this, my I.D.E.A.S. schedule helps tremendously because I don't have to think about where to start. This week is D=Dies and because I'm way behind on my holiday cards, Christmas was the obvious theme. And because I'm also trying to use up my bits and pieces and my pp, that's where I started.

Onefer

I found the gold heat-embossed evergreen sprig and the mug in BOB. I wish now I had taken a couple of minutes and heat-embossed the mug in gold instead of just rubbing the edges with a gold ink pad, but never mind. 

The joy die is from Memory Box. Going through my pp for a background, my little helpers didn't have to search long once they saw this beautiful blue paper shot-through with gold. I brought the corner chomper out of retirement to give my card design that extra "oh yeah" feeling.

Twofer

This is so simple for the big impact it makes. Even though it doesn't show clearly, the front panel is hammered card. The tree aperture die is from poppystamps, called, "Sloping Hillside." I chose this pretty pp because it also has a hammered look. It comes in many colors and has patches of gold- or silver-embossing. The sediment from GKW nestles in there perfectly and depending on the pp I used, I heat-embossed it in either gold or silver.

~~~

Some of you may remember the very lovely Bev from her blog Happy Dance. 

Bev and I met online in December 2012 and it was such a pleasure having her visit for a few days! We have been on many craft retreats over the years and I have been to her beautiful home in Wisconsin a few times, but this was her first trip to California! 

The Mister gladly went off on a motorcycle ride to allow us some "girlie" time and needless to say, we had a blast! (He did, too!)

~~~

I hope you enjoy the coming days! 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! I'm going to be with another friend this week and the week after, so I prolly won't post next Monday. 

*Life is too short!

Challenges

Krafty Chicks: Christmas

Love Those Pretty Papers

Peace on Earth

I.D.E.A.S. Die-Cut Day!

Hello Stamplings!

Welcome and good day to ya! I'm feeling okay and I'll feel even better once I get off the shingles meds. Thank you for all your wonderful birthday and get well wishes and prayers! You're the best!❤

I have my usual twofer for you. One is a card I made a coupla weeks ago and one I managed during the week.

Onefer

The beautiful vellum butterfly image is from a company called Stamp On It. I attached it to a stitched and scalloped pink square and then attached that to a sheet of vellum, which was attached to the card front with a fold over the top. I then added the die-cut thanks from poppystamps and the sequints.

Before I added the vellum to the card base, I thought a layer of text on the card front would look lovely under the vellum crinoline, so I used my old SU En Francais stamp:

Twofer

A simple W-O-W Christmas card on hammered cardstock to kick-start what will hopefully be weekly Christmas card makes from now on. Tick-tock, tick-tock! I love pure white-on-white cards, but when I go to make them, I usually end up adding a bit of color, a touch of gold embossing, a little bling, something. I'm pickled tink that I managed to restrain myself for once! (It helped that the lads are away at summer camp right now!)

The corner die is actually NBUS and it's from 2015. I mean, seriously? I really am a bad offender of not using my schtuff, aren't I?! And I have a set of these, Christmas and non-Christmas dies. Slap! Never mind, better late than never as I always tell you with your NBUS!

Sorry, I digested. The ornament is ancient (but often used) from Spellbinders, called, "2011 Heirloom Ornaments." The sediment has escaped its packaging. I'm imagining you imagining the die ripping apart the thin cellophane envelope and flinging itself into the drawer. 

~~~

The Mails and The Mister

I have one of those first-of-the-month birthdays that are a surprise when you turn the calendar, so I'm fortunate to get cards for many days after wards. I have to say that this year the mails have been extraordinary! I have received many cards from England and Canada in less than a week! Bravo!!

But then, this:

It is so sad to see a lovely handmade card mangled, especially when there was nothing on the card which should have caught in machinery.😢 On a positive note, I am happy that the mail personnel didn't just throw it away! 

❤❤❤   

Per tradition, The Mister made me a copier paper handmade birthday card, which I treasure each year. He is not usually one for quips, but he really made me laugh out loud when he wrote this in the card:

Happy 75th Birthday!

If you were a building,

this would be quite

an accomplishment.

And you still have all your shingles!

😂😂😂

~~~

Enjoy your week! 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! 

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

Triple B: July 

Shopping Our Stash: NBUS!

Peace On Earth: A/G Christmas.

Group of Seven Goes Monochromatic!

Hello Stamplings!

The Group of Seven Cardmakers are showcasing the monochromatic design element this month. You use just one color on your design and by using different shades of that one color you can make some very striking cards.

Onefer

I chose red as my color choice. Wait. What? Just seeing if you were paying attention. With this heat, it's easy to nod off in class. This card is pretty self-exploratory. The flowers from SSS are called, "Bouquet of Thanks."

The only thing you can't see clearly above is that the chevron background is actually an emboss-resist paper. This shows the shine better:

And now you can see the lads' brilliant winking, too!

Twofer

This is a one-layer design, which stencils make easy. This NBUS stencil from A Colorful Life Designs is called, "Elegant Snowflake." Just to be different, I decided to color it as a stylized poinsettia. 

I have to say, don't do what I did. I wish I had taken a photo of the millions of pieces of masking tape I had to use to cover the various bits as I changed colors of ink. And then, when it was all done, I was disappointed to see the blending wasn't even even, but I wasn't about to try and fix it! 😰

We would love to have you show us your monochromatic designs if you have a play! There is a link provided over on the Group of Seven Cardmakers blog. 

~~~

Enjoy your weekend! 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!

*Life is too short!
Challenges:

Just Us Girls: A/G Stencils.

Colorful Options: Aqua

Peace on Earth: A/G Christmas.

Rudolph Days: A/G Christmas.

June! Aswoon With Inky Play

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are doing great as we cross over to the second half of 2024! Already. Whether in your peejays or a ball gown, and whether heading into summer or fall, I hope you are enjoying yourself! 

A new month means I started my crafty schedule rotation anew. This first Monday means inks and I had more fun with smooching.

Onefer

Before smooching, I used my old text die from SU, heat-embossing the stamp with white e/p. Then I scribbled my favorite colors of Ziggies onto a piece of acetate and liberally spritzed the ink with water. Then I laid my watercolor paper in the wet scribbles, giving it a swishy to pick up the ink. I lifted the panel and then reinked/spritzed the acetate and this time I turned the acetate over and dabbed it onto the panel in places where I wanted to add ink.

Did that make sense? First time paper onto inky acetate. Second time inky acetate onto paper.

Once I was happy with the coverage, I used my Memory Box Double-Stitch Cut Out to separate the panel into two. I attached the larger panel to a lavender card base and then popped up the smaller inner panel using foam. The die-cut sediment was in my BOB from a previous smooching session. 

Hammy added bling to finish the design with a "rule of three" lesson for Stanley. It became confusing when Hammy added six bits of bling, but I left them to discuss it further while I went inside for a nap. No fool I.

Twofer

That smooching was fun, so I did it again. The text stamp is a big ol' wooden stamp and you know you can't see Versamark until after you've done your embossing powder. In this case, I want to reassure you that you are not developing double-vision. I clearly rocked the stamp when pressing it.👀I decided it was too pretty to waste, so I covered a chunk of it with a "Layered Poinsettia" from Spellbinders. I love the non-traditional colors on this one.

Threefer

Last fall I played with dropping alcohol ink onto aluminium foil and this butterfly (Vivienne Butterfly by Memory Box) was one of the die-cut results. It has been cocooning in my BOB and finally found a home on this CAS birthday card using my NBUS Filigree Border from SSS. 

I.D.E.A.S.

If you like playing along, here is the calendar for June. Thank you for joining me and for letting me know when you do, so I can 📌 your card!

~~~

I know this is photo heavy, but I just have to show you this crazy tree we see on our morning walk. It's a regular Italian Cypress, but it has some kind of flowering vine growing all the way up and around! It's the craziest thing. I zoomed in, but I don't know what type of flower it is.

~~~

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! 

*Life is too short!

Challenges

Onefer: Addicted to Stamps and More (any occasion); Cut It Up (a/g)

Twofer: Allsorts (lots of layers); Peace on Earth (a/g Christmas)

Threefer: Seize the Birthday! (use metallics); SSS Wednesday (a/g)