Through the Seasons

Hello Stamplings!

How's your week going? I know I've been posting a lot this past week, but because of a busy first half of the month, everything card-related got pushed and now I'm up against some challenges closing so I've got a Fourfer for you. Ah, that was sweet of you not to groan.

I promise I'll be quick, but I'll wait a sec if you want to get a drink and put that lumbar pillow behind your back. Doe a deer, a female deer, re, a drop of golden sun, mi, a name ... oh, hi. I was just humming while I waited for you.

Here we go!

Onefer

I've used NBUS butterflies from Memory Box cut from a watercolor background for this design. The dies are called "Drifting Side Butterfly" and "Flitter Side Butterfly." 

Challenges

• CAS Watercolour August Challenge: Colorful butterflies.
• Country View Challenge: Texture.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Clean and simple.

Twofer

I liked it so much, I made a few more of these colorful butterfly designs. For this one, I added gems and a birthday sediment.

Challenges

• Cardz 4 Galz: Wings.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippity bits and pieces.
• Seize the Birthday: With toppings option of butterflies.

Threefer

I made this simple design using a plaid stencil and a bottle of NBUS Wendy Vecchi Pearl Mica Spray. I am intrigued that the Pearl spray appears silver when sprayed on the black. The stencil is "Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Plaid THS097."

Challenges

• CAS on Friday: Use a stencil.
• CAS Stencil: Sprays.
• Watercooler Wednesday: Marsha's masculine anything goes.

By the way, the shimmer is amazing in reality:

After spraying the stencil inside a big box, I quickly flipped it over onto another piece of black card and was able to get another shimmery panel. It's lighter, of course, but still visible enough to grow up to be a card some day.

I have to say that was fun. I've had this spray for ages and never used it. I have occasionally tried other sprays in the past without much success. I really appreciate the CAS stable of challenges for inspiring me to step outside - literally - and try new things! 

Here's a tip I saw on a blog (I'm sorry I didn't note which one): When you spray, don't point the spray at the paper. Lay a big box on its side and place the paper flat on the side that is now the floor of the box. Then, instead of pointing your nozzle at the paper, point it at the back of the box and you'll get lovely coverage just from the falling mist and there won't be much piddling. It worked for me. (I hope it wasn't just a spray manufacturer telling us to do it this way! 😏)

Fourfer

This is another card panel I made at the 2019 ESCR. The card is glossy black and the embossed snowflakes were made by pushing a glittery paste through a snowflake stencil. Again, very schparkly in real life between the glossy card and the glitter in the paste. I used Nancy's technique where you cut strips out of the image panel for a little extra interest. I think the sediment is from PTI?

Challenges

• CAS Christmas Card August Challenge: Glitter.
• Cupcake Inspirations: Glitter.
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas goes.
• Merry Little Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas goes.

 

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Thank you for making it to the end! I try to only do two cards per post because I know it's hard to remember them by the time you get to the end. Oh, and before you ask why I didn't mention Hammy's help with these, he is away at the annual hamster convention in Bellingham WA in honor of Mr. Saddlebags.

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!)

More Sharing Time

Good Day, Stamplings!

While I have candied nuts roasting (making the house smell amazing), I wanted to share a few more Christmas makes and support many of the challenges and the designers who work very hard for us. I'll put a lid on the chatter box and just get goin'.

Onefer.

I tried to channel my inner Kay Miller! Here is a closeup of the winking. Can you tell I used a new Stella?!

Challenges (badges below)

• CAS on Friday: Christmas.
• CAS Watercolour: Anything goes.

Twofer.

I really overworked the Zigsters with this one. Peace on earth looks like there might be some storm clouds brewing! (Obviously, my inner Kay went on lunch break.) 

You know how you keep going and going some times like you're having an out-of-body experience? You can see yourself watching your hand continue of its own volition and you're thinking, "Why is my hand acting on it's own without any communication from my brain which is yelling, "STOP!"? 

I'm sharing it anyway because I feel like I saved it a bit with the framing and bow. It's prettierer in real life when you see the shiny leaves and Nuvo berries on the holly.

Challenges (badges below)

• Addicted to Stamps and More: Make your mark.
• Simon Says Stamp Monday: Christmas / Winter holidays.

Threefer.

This super-QACAS number is a repeat of a design I made last year, but never posted. A minimal effort at stamping and embossing and a maximum effort at using up some ribbon.

Challenges (badges below)

• Curtain Call: Inspiration graphic. Please note: This is the last challenge for the Curtain Call. I hope you will be able to join in to show your appreciation for all that the current and past teams have done to inspire you! Thank you, CC!
• Stinkin' Inkers: Celebrating the holidays.

Fourfer.

Here is another card with more of my Brusho background. The NBUS Reindeer Window is from Memory Box. I hope you can see the beautiful texture on the card base. I've been hoarding these ancient yummy pieces of colored and textured card stock forever. I decided that makes no sense, so I'm setting them free.

Challenges (badges below)

• Moving Along With the Times: Twas the night before Christmas (reindeer).
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use those snippets!
• TIME OUT: Photo inspiration below (reindeer).

~~~

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 to 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" and wallah, no more car pool tunnel! P.S. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Mwah! 

Trees and More Trees and a Blog Hop Winner!

Greetings!

I was away a bit longer than planned as we enjoyed having the boys stay on after Thanksgiving to help with decorating for Christmas. It's so much fun and so appreciated!

I don't know where the last two days went, just one thing led to another. And then yesterday there was the small matter of the kitchen sink pipe overflowing inside the wall and seeping through the baseboards into the family room, around the corner into the living room, and under the piano. Then you wish your own kid, your neighbor's kid, your nephew or niece, or anyone you know had become a plumber . . . !

So how's everyone else humpin' on this Wednesday, eh? This very last day of November. Now it is full-on the time of year when we're not-even-kidding busy! I mean, seriously, this is all-hands-on-deck for card artists who make holiday cards. And when you only have two hands and two paws, there aren't enough hours in the day!

Which means I'll stop chatting and away we go.

Onefer. (a, b, c)

I'm going to skip the ingradients, but if you are dying to know the man who factured something, just shoot me an email.

Challenges

• Christmas Card Challenges: Anything goes.
• Merry Monday Christmas Challenge: Masculine.
• Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Got the blues?

~~~

Twofer.

Silvery and simples.

Challenges

• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets. Since this was a batchmake, I used up a lot of white and silver sniplets.
• SSS Monday Challenge: 'O' Christmas tree.
• Stamp Ink Paper: Embossing.
• TIME OUT Challenge: Christmas with the option of glitter/shimmer.
• Uniko: Christmas.

~~~

Threefer.

It's very hard impossible to see that I heat-embossed the acetate with snowflakes, so I've tried to help you see them by adding red circles:

Challenges

• CAS Colours & Sketches: Sketch, which I flipped.
• Make My Monday: CAS Christmas.

~~~

Blog Hop Winner!

A coupla weeks ago, I participated in STAMPlorations Giving Thanks Blog Hop. I offered those who commented on that post a chance at my own prize of a $25 STAMPlorations gift certificate. Using the Random Number Generator, I'm pleased that the winner is Trina P. of My Crafting Closet. Congratulations, Trina! I will send you an email. Thank you to everyone who commented!

~~~

Enjoy your day playing with your crafty holiday goodies! 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 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!

OLC and FFL and Wait. What?

Greetings, Stamplings!

I hope you are having a great week! I have a bit of news which I'm sharing below, so I'm going to get right to my cards.

I started with two very CAS one-layer cards for the One-Layer-Santa challenge at Less Is More:

Those reindeer karack me up. This is a fun NBUS stamp from Penny Black called "Joy to the World." The sediment is also NBUS from PTI. I colored the image with my Ziggies and grounded (skyed?) it with Perfect Pearls. I wish I had embossed the sediment, but I couldn't find my red e/p. 

Then I made this one:

I happen to have two of these brick e/fs and I really wanted to use the old chimney stamp from SU with the brick e/f design and make it one-layer, so I used a ruler and my craft knife to cut a rectangle out of one of them in order to keep that part from embossing.

I think my new altered e/f will work well in the future for a floral or ivy stamp. The image and sediment were heat-embossed in black and the image was colored with my Ziggies.

I'm also entering the first card in the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge, where the brief is to use reindeer on  your card. And I'm also entering the second card in Leslie Hanna's The Crooked Stamper's Sketch Challenge.

Two more fun and easy-to-mail cards done!

~~~

Next I went all fancy, frilly, and layered (FFL):

I've had these vellum sheets out of the drawer to use somehow on a Christmas card so as soon as I saw the photo inspiration for the City Crafter challenge, I stopped what I was doing and made this card, using the sketch inspiration from Stamp Ink Paper.

The card base was embossed with a snowy e/f. Then the middle panel was covered half with the white swiss-dot vellum and half with the turkoyce vellum. The seam was covered with a pretty silver ribbon. The topmost panel is silver mirror partially embossed with the same snowy e/f as the card base. 

The "joy" is cut using a die from WPlus9 called "Seasonal Sentiments." I used a sparkly aqua glitter paper, which you can see better here:

The snowflake is from a MFT "Let it Snowflake" die. The silver stud is from GKW. I used plenty of snippets, so I'm also playing over at Pixie's Snippets Playground and there's plenty of texture, so I'm linking for the second time to Virginia's View Challenge.

~~~

Big News

Well, dearies, you are not gonna beleaf what happened! Remember a couple of months ago when the Mister first injured his own self and Hammy got in a tiff (he couldn't find a taxi) because I was ignoring him and he went away for a while? Apparently he had a good ol' time because the other night about sunset, we had an unexpected knock on the Playhouse door.

Well you cudda blown me over with a whiffle when I opened the door because no one was there! I was about to close it when I heard Hammy gasp from the window sill over the paper cutter. I whipped my head around to look at him and saw him looking bug-eyed down at my feet so then I looked down at my feet and then it was ME who gasped when I saw this:

I know, whoa, right?! (My friend Eve from the Playground first wondered if this might happen when Hammy took off. She should tell fortunes for a living! As near as I can tell, they're almost six weeks old.)

I won't bore you with the details like how long it took to find an expert with a magnifier large enough to decipher the hand-pawed note I found under the babies from their Momma. Suffice it to say she thinks it's time my rascal Hammy paid the piper and it's his turn to take care of them!

I was pretty upset for about a half a second which is how long it took me to realize I had six more little brains and six quads of paws that will come in handy as I make holiday cards in the short amount of time that's left. I'm happy to say they are very quick learners and so smart, even that little runty fella on top! But where did they put my red e/p?!

There are three girls and three boys. I'm thinking I might hold a contest to name them and then adopt them out after the first of the year. Hmm? Anyone? 

~~~

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!

photo source

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!