The Stars Come Out for Twofer and CAS WCCC!

Hello Stamplings!

I've made you a coupla reminder challenge cards for the blog today and I thought while I was at it, I'd remind you that you're low on Almond Milk. Oh, wait. I don't think we're sposed to call it that anymore since it's not really milk, you know, from mammals. So please make sure you pick up JOAN (Juice of Almond Nuts) for breakfast tomorrow.

Ready? Here we go! 

I used a Sizzix large star die on both designs and went unconventional for one of them for the Twofer Card Challenge. Conventional or unconventional, I would so love to see your two designs for two different occasions using the same STAR stamp, die, or stencil over at Twofer Card Challenge #13! You have until the end of day on February 24, 2019 to play.

Here's a closeup of my unconventional baby card:

Well, the baby card isn't unconventional, but the use of the STAR die is. I've had this adorable little baby shoe sticker in my stash since I first started stamping and the star pp is also ancient from my stash. The card is pretty self-exploratory. I used one leg of the star die for the window latch and a sweet covered dot for the knob. When the little window is opened ...

... you see a cute stamp from Papertrey Ink. Thaz it. QACAS and a little something different.

My Twofer:

My twofer design uses all the legs of the star die as well as the body, as nature intended. And since this post is also a reminder to you of the ongoing CAS Watercolour Card Challenge, I used red and pink to watercolor the white heat-embossed NBUS stamp from MFT called, "Floral Fantasy Background." I believe the die I used for my hidden letters spelling FRIEND is also from MFT. The striped paper is from my stash and the sediment is from WPlus9's "Birthday Wishes" set.

I'd like to thank the entire Design Team at CAS Watercolour Card Challenge for having me as a Guest Designer for February! I'm loving all the wonderful red and pink designs in the gallery and I hope you can join in before the challenge closes on February 24th!

 

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I'm playing in:

• Retro Rubber: Tic Tac Toe. Middle row across: stripes/birthday/red or pink. Star die more than a year old. Sentiment released April 2016.
• Seize the Birthday: Anything goes #159. 
• Simon Says Stamp Monday: Typography (play with letters).

~~~

Epilog

I find these full frontal background stamps fascinating to heat emboss on colored card, so while I had the Floral Fantasy stamp out, I had fun embossing it in gold, silver, and platinum e/p onto various colored card. Here's a collage of some of the cards I made from my play.

You have to admit, it's very versa tile for coming up with lots of design ideas. I tried to turn each card into the light to show you the magnificent shine. These designs also allowed me to use several NBUS stamps and dies. Whoop!

~~~

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!)

A May and December Revue

Hello Stamplings,

Here we are at the end of April! I mean, APRIL! Oh, sorry if your name is April. I didn't mean to yell at you.

You know how some people name their children after books of the Bible? In our part of town there was a family of twelve who named their seven sons after books of the Bible, but named their three daughters after the calendar months April, May, and June. I always thought they were the prettiest names.

Since May is literally right around the corner, I thought I'd make a MOM card which I'll give to my friend Verna. (It sounded for a second there like May and I grew up to be neighbors!)

When I was looking through my mulberry bushes paper the other day I also found my considerable stash of handmade designer paper. Yes, it's true, I do hoard it. When I come across it, I spend an embarrassing amount of time caressing it. But, hey, I'm older and wiser practical and it's not doing anyone any good in the drawer, so I used a pretty piece for my card.

Other than the tulip stamp you see which was inked directly and applied to the paper, everything else you see is embedded in the paper by the maker, including those sweet blue and beige flowers. It's hard to capture in a photo just how fragile and beautiful the paper is IRL. The sediment frame is from Impression Obsession.

Challenges

• Retro Rubber: Vintage.
• Simon Says Stamp Monday: Flower power.
• Stamping Sensations: One for the girls!

Twofer

I couldn't resist the fun Merry Monday photo this week chosen by my friend Colleen. I made this Christmas village using a NBUS stamp from PTI's "Winter Hills" set and I tried to capture the whimsy by using some older PTI pp for the background border and roofs. Hammy added snowflakes in the background using gold Brilliance ink and I die-cut snowflakes from gold shiny paper.

Challenges

• Merry Monday: Photo (below).
• Rudolph Days. Anything Christmas goes.
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas goes.

~~~

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!)

Happy Easter!

Hello Stamplings!

I would like to start by giving you our heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of concern, prayers, and best wishes for Rachel! It makes a difference and means the world to us!

I know it's a busy week for those of you preparing for Easter and Passover and many of you have the additional busyness of having the kids home for spring break. Some of you might even be on holiday to sunny climes or visiting The Geezers and to those I say, "safe travels!" 

I've not had time this year to make and send the number of Easter/spring cards I normally do, but I did manage a couple to share.

Onefer

I've had this beautiful filigreed egg since 2002 and I never tire of it. Sadly, it's from an OOB company. This time I heat-embossed it using SU melon mambo and the shiny pink glaze is beautiful in person. I put a slit on both sides of the egg and wrapped it with matching SU ribbon. The sediment is from Paper Smooches.

Challenges

• Cards In Envy: No patterned paper.
• Just Us Girls: Easter/spring Photo Week.
• Retro Rubber: Anything goes.

Twofer

I simply HAD to use my NBUS Chickadees from Poppystamps for an Easter card before Easter was over. I used an easy design with some ancient SU pp showing through a peek-a-boo MFT window. Conferring with the hamster, we decided that it would look silly to have the chicks be blue or pink so we called in Char Truce. 

After she left the Playhouse, we had a bit of a giggle and didn't know whether to show you the card or not after the sweet chickadees ended up looking like cartoon chickens they were recovering from a bout of food poisoning! Sometimes artistic license runs amok, but they are still too cute not to share!

Challenges

• Double D Challenges: Things with wings.
• Poppystamps: CAS.
• Sunday Stamps: Easter palette.

~~~

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!

Remember it's Easter and there's an Easter bunny. Even if it looks like a chocolate-covered raisin, it might not be!

*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!)

Hollies and a Rainbow

Hello, Stamplings!

We had an unexpected but very pleasurable weekend with the grandsons. There's never a dull moment when they are around and even the Dukester joined the party this time; photo follows. I hope you enjoyed your weekend, too, whomsoever you had under your feets!

We are leaving this morning for a few days of are and are and a belated celebration of our anniversary in January. After not being crafty all weekend and, going forward, not being crafty this week, yesterday I sat down to make a coupla cards for a new Christmas challenge in Blogland started by my friends Loll and Bonnie. (CAS Christmas)

[I know a lot of you purse your lips when you see Christmas cards this early in the year. I understand it's not for everyone, so you can scroll quickly down to a non-Christmas card I added just for you!]

Onefer

The holly (from a vo wooden Stampin' Up stamp) was heat-embossed in platinum and colored with markers. The cross-stitch die border is from Memory Box and the sediment is from Technique Tuesday. Here is a closeup of the platinum schparkle.

Challenges

• CAS Christmas: Holly.
• Retro Rubber: Sketch. I've had the holly stamp since the very early two thousands; it might have been made in the late nineteen hundreds!
• Use Your Stuff: Anything goes.

Twofer

Fancy cards are all fine and dandy, but Hammy loves it when fun and critters are featured!

This positively giggle-inducing snowman from Purple Onion is super becited to stand under an archway of holly from Avery Elle! He was heat-embossed in black before being painted with Ziggies and fussy-cut. The holly was heat-embossed in green and die cut. The photo below shows the gloshiness a teeny bit better. 

Challenges

• CAS Christmas: Holly.
• Cardz 4 Galz: Furry friends. Wait. What? I mean, you have to wonder about this cute snowman. Check out those hairy arms! Is it a man in a snowman suit? Or a Yeti? Or a golden retriever?
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Anything goes.

Threefer

And just for fun, a rainbow of paint drips and a rainbow washi tape border surround a bold sediment from Simon. I made this card a while back and was happy to find it in my unposted photos. Everyone enjoys seeing a rainbow when skies are gray, literally or figuratively, and bonus, these drippy colors are also glossified. The NBUS paint drip stamp is from Darkroom Door.

Challenges

• CAS-ual Fridays: Beautiful rainbows.
• Simons Says Stamp Monday: Whatever the weather. Haha, what a dodo I am. They aren't rain drops, they're paint drips! Wonder if Simon will notice!
• Moving Along With the Times: Rainbows.
• Stinkin Inkers: Wishy Washi.
• TIME OUT: BOLD.

 

Gratuitous Duke Awwww Moment

In his dotage, Duke is now allowed on the couch at the grandparent's house, but only on top of whatever handy tablecloth or blanket are around. This is how Papa found him when he got up Sunday morning. Awww!

~~~

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!)

A Pool Boy and a Snazzy Silhouette Dress

Hi Honey Stamplings, I'm home!

Did you miss me? Did the dog run away trying to find me and the cat go up a tree? 

I squired Hammy away with me in the suitcase and we had a blast while we were away! Wait. What? I wasn't in the suitcase, he was! More reunion talk below, but for those who just want to see cards in this space, I have a couple that I made before I left which I didn't have time to post.

Onefer.

This old gas bag is no doubt known to a lot of you and I never tire of her! I used to draw a ciggie in her hand, but that's so last century and no longer acceptable. When I recently got the NBUS sediment from Verses Rubber Stamps, I immediately thought it would be perfect for her. I meant to add some clouds, but I, well, I forgot.

Challenges

• CAS Mix Up Challenge: Watercolour wash (sky and lawn) + stamping + die cutting (scalloped border).
• Double D Challenges: Sentiments/Quotes. They can be silly, right?
• Retro Rubber: Anything goes. I've been stamping this lovely lay-about lady laying out for years and years. She is a vo stamp from Art Impressions.
• Stamp Ink Paper: Watercolor. In addition to the background washes, I watercolored the image with my Ziggies.

Twofer.

The jewel-toned background of this card was in my UCB box. I made it ages ago by smearing my Ziggies onto an acrylic block, spritzing it with water, and then stamping it onto paper. I actually still have a few of these spritzed arty backgrounds in the box. When I saw the challenge at Just Us Girls (which I missed, darn it) was "Block Watercolor Stamping," I pulled this background out and attached it to a coordinating colored card base. Now what? 

I turned and whistled over my shoulder for Hammy, who was busy in the neighbor's fig tree. (Figs are like crack for the field mice, roof rats, raccoons, and little domesticated hamsters in the neighborhood!) With the promise that he could go right back to stuffing his face, Hammy cleaned himself off in the birdbath and sat on the window sill to see what my panic was. He is so great at remembering the challenges, he immediately told me to add a silhouette.

The NBUS silhouette die I chose was "Princess Dress" from Memory Box. As my friend Lolly says, silhouettes can be any color, but for this background, I felt black was best. The NBUS sediment is from Paper Smooches.

Challenges

• CAS Watercolour Card Challenge. Silhouette.
• Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge. Silhouette.
• Sunday Stamps: Autumn colors.

~~~

Reunion Memories.

One of the many pleasant experiences of my trip back to the Midwest was meeting my bloggie friend, Pat McCleary. 

Pat is a lovely lady who makes beautiful cards, but she doesn't have a blog to share them. I found out she was a fan when she sent me a complimentary email in 2013 telling me how much my blog brightened her day. Well that made MY day! I feel blessed to have finally been able to meet her on this trip!

We all have silent friends out there reading our blogs who we don't know about because they either don't follow us or don't have blogs of their own. I haven't said so in too long: to all of you silent supporters, thank you very much!

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I only have a couple of photos of me at the reunion because I was busy taking photos. Here is a group photo of all of us. I'm over on the right.

And here I am with two of my oldest friends ~ not in terms of their age, but the age of our friendship:

That's Glenda on the left and Mary Beth on the right. I made the photo black and white because I couldn't figure out why the color photo gave us all neon green hair! And, yes, for the eagle-eyed among you, the buttons Glenda and I are wearing are made from our senior class photos. Fun idea!

~~~ 

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

I'm going to sleep for two days and then I'll be back on Sunday for opening day of NBUS Challenge #12! See you then! 

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! 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!