Deep In the Wreaths!

Hello Stamplings!

Good to see you! I hope you had a great week and that you are enjoying the last days of August, wherever you are. I'm a morning person, so I love waking up to sunshine and goin' and doin'. Which means I'd better make the most of these days before the sleepy darker mornings roll in.

This week's I.D.E.A.S. Calendar is A = Anything Goes, which I turned into anything wreathy goes. 

Onefer

This is QACAS at its finest, if I do say so myself, with a chorus of agreement from the hamster gallery! I used more of that brilliant textured card I found which looks like Cord U. Roy's pants. The doubled-up wreath is made from Washi Tape die-cuts from Pinkfresh Studio. The gold-embossed sediment is from GKW. After wards, I ran my Galaxy Gold Dew Drop ink pad around the edges of the pants card.

I'm playing in the AAA Cards Challenge (Anything Goes CAS with the option of green); and the ABC Christmas Challenge (Q is for Quick).

Twofer

Guess what? This card features a NBUS Penny Black stamp and die set called "Winter Blessings" which I recently purchased! I'm trying to be better at that, realizing I risk NBUS Mountain erupting one day when I least expect it because of all the jealous stamps, dies, and stencils that have been stuck there for (cough) years.😱

Anyberry, I used kraft paper and three of the five stamps in the set and there you go. Trivia: in all my years of card-making, this is the first cardinal stamp and die I've owned! Thank you, Penny! It's a beauty and I can't wait to paint it, but this time I simply cut it from red paper and dressed it. Winking of the cardinal and berries provided by my wee helpers. I added three score lines to the bottom pursuant to Lesson 41 in the Book of Compositions.

I'm playing in Christmas Kickstart (Let's Wreath It Up); Little Red Wagon (Circle of Life); and Penny Black Saturday Challenge (Anything Goes - optional: embossing).

Threefer

If you play in Freshly Made Sketches, you'll recognize this layout from their challenge #700. They are celebrating 14 years of challenges! WOW! They went back in time to re-use Sketch #14 (below) for the celebration. It's my first time using this sketch because I didn't start playing in their challenges until my early days on March 4, 2012 with challenge #24! Where has the time gone?!

To build the sketch, I started with the wreath to keep with the theme and I cut it from a scrap of green metallic paper. The wreath is NBUS from Pinkfresh Studio called "Leafy Circle." Then I went through my stitched square dies to find the right size and die cut it from metallic gold. I cut a 4.25 square card base and covered it with a gold panel. 

Then the fun begin. Hammy looked through my gold flecked vellum paper, Stanley looked through window at the squirrels (he is still very young) and I looked through my dots and stripes pp. A sheet of gold stripes won and then we had to spend another hour doing the math and trying to attach the little panels so they were evenly spaced, but differently angled for more interest. Then we had a lie down.

To add the wee corner detail per the sketch, we found this cute little gingerbread cookie which my friend Bunny sent me back in January 2024. It was a happy rediscovering and there are five more little cookies in the envelope, so you will be seeing them again. (If the lads don't run off with them as little playmates!) Bunny included a note that the cookies were from Impression Obsession.

I'm also playing in Rudolph Days, an Anything Christmas Goes challenge that runs from the 25th to the end of every month.

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As we say in the industry, if you've made it this far, thank you!🫶 I actually made a few more cards and have some wreaths still to use, but it's Sunday and nearly Ni-Ni time, so I'll save them for another post. The fact that I didn't realize I had so many wreaths tells me it's time for a visit from Scour and Reorg, characters I love in the book of my life, weirdo that I am.

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I.D.E.A.S. Calendar: A = Anything Goes

You will find a linky tool below for you to share your creations with no restrictions! It's a free-for-all and you never know ~ your creation may help motivate someone out of their creative schlump! 

I love seeing what you create, visiting you, and pinning your designs! 

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their designs last week! Mwah! 

~~~

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Anything Goes, Girls!

Hello Stamplings!

One more week, or rather six days, and we will be whooshing away another page of this year's calendar! Rrrippp! 🗓

We have a busy few weeks ahead with traveling and with friends and family visiting. I have made a few cards to try and keep to my I.D.E.A.S. schedule, but I'm not sure they will get posted ... best laid plans and all that! Commenting will be sparse, but I know you understand.🤗

Today being the fourth week/letter of August, it's a free-for-all, otherwise known as A = Anything Goes!

Onefer

I was inspired to make a card for the Pink Fresh Studio August 2024 Challenge. It gave me a chance to use some of the new Washi die cuts that Col, Lin, and I made in June. This time I used the beautiful balloons and a Pink Fresh sediment from the "Perfect Sediments" set. The NBUS cover plate background die is called, "Hexagon Tile," and it is also from Pink Fresh.

I was going to call it good, but then Hammy suggested adding some schparkle with a frame from MFT cut from pretty blue glitter paper and, not to be out-done, Stanley suggested I add an escaped balloon in order to balance the compost. (That's what he calls it. We think it's cute and don't have the heart to correct him!)

Twofer

For this card, I used a NBUS Penny Black set called, "Painter's Vase," which I received from my dear friend Loll in 2019. It's been buried on Mt. NBUS ever since, but this week I was inspired to excavate it because Loll is a Guest Designer for the current Penny Black Saturday Challenge. The brief is anything goes with the option of flowers.

I used the technique where you color the stamp with markers and then spritz the image and stamp it on your paper. I wanted to also play in the current Color Hues Challenge, where my friend Tracey is the host, so I used yellow and orange markers.

I love how the vase turned out, but I think the flowers could use more shadows or white highlights. I also think the design itself needs something like a frame or some soft background blending or stenciling, and a shadow to ground the vase ... . I love this technique, especially with PB stamps, so I'll keep playing and improving.

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Enjoy your week! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* 

Oh, I have to share this photo of a baby fence lizard on the patio. That is a tiny toothpick next to him! So cute!

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!

Joy and Janis

Hello Stamplings!

How have you been? No matter which side of the world you are in, it's always exciting to welcome spring and fall! It's so great to be back in the Playhouse and needless to say, Hammy was happy to be out of the suitcase!

Onefer

A dear friend let me borrow the very large and very cool Joy and Noel word dies from Penny Black. They make such pretty QACAS cards. I cut the Joy from patterned paper and then Hammy suggested adding a snowflake from Simon Says, changing out the center star to draw the eyes in. I have to say, I may get these word dies for myself ... there are lots of fun options that come to mind for filling the large O in the die-cut words.

Challenges

• BYSH Cardmakers: Falling for the Holidays linky party!
  
• Penny Black Saturday: A/G with option of Halloween Bingo.
  
• Simply Clean & Simple: A/G with option of Autumn.

Twofer

Except for the Santa hat, all the ingredients in this recipe were made using dies and snippets I borrowed from friends. Well, the snippets weren't borrowed. My friends were happy to be rid of those! To make him look Christmassy, I added the tiny Santa hat from Memory Box to kitty's head. We couldn't find the little ball die for the top of the hat in the die envelope, but Hammy saved the day by finding a tiny flower die that worked even better!

(I am sorry that the cat from Simply Graphic looks like it is being electrocuted. His eyes did that because I used the flash.📸)

Before I left on my travels, Jo from The Christmas Kickstart Challenge called in to let me know she was doing a special tribute to our mutual friend Janis Woolwright, who sadly passed away in January this year. Every October, Janis ran her Cat Lovers Blog Hop, so Jo is holding this month's Kickstart challenge to remember Janis. Thank you for doing this, Jo! 

I'm happy to be joining the tribute and it would be lovely if you could play along, too! And, p.s., there are sponsors and prizes, so check it out!

Other Challenges

• Jingle Belles: Not a creature was stirring.
  
• Peace on Earth: Christmas.
  
• Snippets Playground: A/G using snippets. I used snippets for my kitty cat, Santa hat, and Merry Christmas sediment.

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Uh Oh.

And in other news, I flew home and came down with a cold two days later. Just to be sure it was only a cold, The Mister put on his scientist hat and did a Covid test. It was positive.😧We happened to have additional tests from a different company, so we ran the test again ... and again it was positive.😵‍💫

It has taken me a coupla days to write this post and last night the Mister had a sore throat and early cold symptoms. Sure enough, he took a test and he, too, has Covid. We aren't really surprised. Now we can commiserate together through what will hopefully be a short complication-free convalescence.🙏 

Take care out there and enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

*Life is too short!

Autumn Lanterns

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I hope you're doing well! We're good. We're enjoying the cooler temps and busy with house and yard projects. And with the fall TV lineup in full swing, I'm away from my computer a lot more. 

Then I saw a few challenges I wanted to hit before they close so made this:

This design features the Penny Black Flower Lanterns. It is not NBUS, but I've only used it once before. I started by coloring directly on the stamp with markers and then spritzing, but it didn't work as well as usual, so I used my Ziggies to paint it in, ending up with more of a no-line watercolor look. Hammy, who is bored with me being busy elsewhere, gleefully added schplatters!

Challenges

• Color Hues: Orange and green.
  
• Penny Black Saturday: AG with option of spooky.
  
• SSS Wednesday: Fall colors.
  
• The Flower Challenge: Use a sentiment. Happy 6th Birthday!!🎂

And sharing ...

These are off-season cards I made a while back, but I think if I don't pop them on here now, I will forget about them by next summer. I figure some of us will have some warm days again with Indian Summers ~ in spite of the fact that some places are already getting snow flurries!🫤

The jar and sediment are NBUS from The Greetery's "Just Mason Around" stamp and die set. The flowers were all die-cut ages ago, waiting patiently in my stash to be colored. I gave the set away, so I don't know the manufacturer.

I stenciled the backgrounds for a bit of fun. Hammy wants to have a go inking the stencils, so we are having the local cobbler prepare little tiny daubers for his feet. They will be sewn from the finest leather and well-supported because the little feller has weak ankles. (All those years on the wheel you know.)

I'll be linking this to Snippets Playground. The jars and flowers were all cut from snippets.

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And then this happened ...

It's been about four years since the last time, so that's not too bad. I did my best cleaning them up. I'm still finding them with my bare feet. The sequints aren't too painful to step on, but those little tiny beads I had in the container (who knew?) are no fun to step on!

~~~

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

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leafing me some love!

*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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Let's Make a New Plan, Clan!

Hello Stamplings,

How're you doing? How is the change of seasons treating you, whatever part of the world you're living in? Mother Nature can be a force, but I do love that we have four seasons to keep things interesting and fresh.

Speaking of keeping things interesting, I've decided I need to change up how I create because I'm in a rut. I wish I knew how to make and upload videos for this post, but even if I did, I'd talk too much and the video would be too long and I'd take the train off onto sidings and around curves and we'd get lost and ain't nobody got time for that.

So here's the thing, which I think I've told you before. I love flower card designs that other artists make. I love flower stamps and dies. Over the years, I have amassed more flower stamps and dies than any other type. In my row of cabinets, one whole cabinet is dedicated to flowers:

Here's the second thing. Considering the above display of outrageous commercialism, you'd think I would mostly make flower designs, wouldn't you? In fact, I rarely do. I'm such a goose. I have had this goal to change the situation for at least four years now, but I've successfully ignored it. 

Now, because I've had to take a break for health reasons, I'm finding it hard to jump back into my former routine, so I thought this would be a good time to change things up. And, if I make my plans public, maybe I will hold myself accountable and stick to it. I'm also making it public because some of you might be in a Rudderless Rut, too, and maybe you would like to join me with your own twist and tackle that creative thing you never get around to or you've been putting off. We can be support systems for each other!

To begin, I went through all the drawers in the Flower Cabinet and pulled out every stamp set and die that is NBUS. I mean, to me, it just makes sense to first use those things that I've purchased, or been given, and never used. I'm a bit embarrassed to show you how much schtuff there is:

Yes, this is going to take awhile. There are over 50 items in those baskets 😯 and that's after I pulled out things to give away. (Hoard much?) I hope to make my designs different enough and interesting enough that you won't get sick of the focus pocus always being flowers. 

My plan is to use challenges as inspiration (because I appreciate them and don't want them to close) and/or to finally CASE (copy and share everything) some of the wonderful flower designs I have saved over the years.

One.

For this card, I started with a design that I wanted to CASE. I have literally hundreds of saved cards in my To-CASE folder so even picking one to start with was a process. I chose this beauty made by Marika Rahtu:

Marika is SO talented, but she is no longer blogging or on IG. I do hope she is okay and that she comes back at some point to share her enormous talent in Blogland. To CASE Marika's card, I chose my NBUS Penny Black cling stamp called, "Full of Glee." For my coloring, I chose my inspiration from the current Color Hues challenge of purple and green. I am also entering the TIME OUT challenge (spring) and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge (A/G with option of Easter).

Two.

Okay, so that felt really good, but I felt like I wasn't really giving the beautiful PB stamp the full exposure it deserves, so I made another card. This time I CASEd Lolly. She has done many wonderful designs using this stamp and I chose this one:

For my color inspiration, I chose yellow from Colorful Options challenge for April. I am also entering Seize the Birthday (with the option of spring) and the Alphabet Challenge (B is for Blooms). Here is my card:

This reminds me of how freckled I used to get in the summertime. I want to make it clear that the over-exuberance of schplatters is not Hammy's fault. Everything was fine until I suggested he do one more high-jump off the paint brush and there you have it. Oh, well, you can never have too much gold, right? Or is that diamonds?

ETA: Thanks to my friend Cat, I'm also entering Challenge Up Your Life where the prompt is splatters! 

I have to say, today was fun and I'm off to pull another item out of the basket! Wish me luck. I'd love to hear if you join me or if you are working on your own way to recharge your batteries ~ both in terms of creating and in sharing on your blog.

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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 a pop-up box opens. Click "Jump to Comment Form" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)