Thinking of Maui

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you doing well! I have had a quiet week, creatively. Which, if you are in the middle of one of those rare times when your chores are caught up and you are free to play, is flustruating. 

So I looked at YouTube videos one day, Pinterest the next, and Instagram the day after. I got so many great ideas! Unfortunately, then I slept in between and forgot everything. Then I turned to my folders of ideas that I've saved over the years. We've talked about this before. You know those folders of techniques you want to try and those cards you want to CASE? 

 
Here's how that went. I opened the technique folder on my computer and was smacked in the face by spider webs. It looked like there was a nest of rats under a pile of die-cuts and pastes over in the corner. I quickly closed the door. I moved down the list to my to-CASE folder and the dust and spiderwebs there weren't too bad, since I'd just been in there recently. I thumbed through a few hundred cards, but mojo was missing. 

So on the sixth day I poured a wodka for me and a thimble of carrot juice for my wee helper and we decided to try going through everything in the Playhouse. Did I start by excavating something from Mt. NBUS? Of course not. I was drinking. I started in the farthest cupboard and we were both embarrassed by how much the door squeaked when I opened it. Fortunately, as I snooped around in there, I could feel my ol' mojo juices slooooowly start flowing. Squeeeeee!

When I got to the Fruit section, I stopped. I haven't done a card with a fruit image for ages and with summer fully upon us, fruits around here are sumptuous and plentiful. Our favorites right now are peaches and blueberries, but when I came upon an old pineapple stamp, I thought about the tragedy in Maui and a card was born:

I did my favorite direct-to-paper technique where you color your stamp, spritz it lightly with water, and then stamp it onto paper. After wards, I filled in bits using my colored pencils. And after adding the sediment, I ran the panel through my Gemini using the Subtle e/f from SU. 

At first, I made several panels using traditional yellow, green, and beige markers to color the pineapple and I will finish them and make them into cards soon, but this off-beat pineapple is the one I wanted to share today. It came about after Hammy passed me a few purple, teal, and blue markers. 

I cocked my head. Hmmm? He queried, "Who says pineapples can't be whatever color you want them to be?" So I gave it a go and love the result! The vibrant unexpected colors are perfect for representing how colorful and beautiful Hawaii is. The devastation from the fire on Maui is unimaginable. The whole world is thinking of them as they recover and rebuild.

Challenges

• A Place to Start: A/G.
  
• Can You Handle the Pressure: A/G.
  
• Four Seasons: A/G Summer.
  
• Simon Says Monday: Use your favorite technique.
  

Twofer...s

I recently posted a card with a double-frame (Picture Frames Die from Waffle Flower) and I wanted to show you how I used the same idea for making Christmas cards. It worked great and I love that it uses my frame and word dies, as well as snippets of Christmas pp, white cardstock, and metallic foil paper! QACAS! I am sharing this with my friends at the Snippets Playground.

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I'll leave you with this true-to-life saying that my friend Bobby found on FB:

I had a thought.

Then I had another thought.

Unfortunately, they ricocheted off each other

and now I can't find either of them!

😄😄😄

~~~

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!

Krafty Chicks ~ Stamp Act

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? Thank you for taking a break to click open my bloggeroo today! You deserve a break and a favorite beverage. And sure, I support having a little sweet, too, while you're at it.

Just as I was looking for some renewed schpark to light up my get-up-and-go in the new year, I was asked by the Krafty Chicks to be their Guest Designer for January. What an honor and what perfick timing!

The Krafty Chicks post challenges once a week on Thursdays and for Week 1, the prompt is "Stamp Act." Here is my card to inspire you:

Zany the zebra is part of a NBUS stamp set called "Savanne1" from Craft Emotions, simply stamped in black and white. The sediment is from Dylusions. The double-stitched die is from MFT. And, of course, Hammy brought the zebra to life by adding googly eyes.

Don't you wonder what mischief lies unseen in front of Zany? I'm sure there is a group of her zebra friends gathering in the distance, but what are they up to? Oh, the imagination stirs ~ or maybe the memories! Why, it reminds me of that time back in 1973 when a group of us girls drove into Los Angeles from the sub-Urbs and Cheryl suggested that we ...

Thank you, Krafty Chicks for asking me to guest design this month! You can find all the details and the linky tool on their blog and I look forward to seeing your stamped creations! 

I'm also playing in these challenges:

• Critter Crazy: A/G.
• Simon Says Monday: Something new.
  
• TIME OUT: New.

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Twofer

Another QACAS and NBUS design for you. I've had Tim's Mini Blueprints booze-themed stamp set for (cough) years and I finally broke the seal on that puppy. All of the blueprint images are fantastic! The sediment is from Tim's Big Talk collection. (Hammy scampered up my pant leg just as I was taking a sip, so pardon the spillage.)

Those of you who are eagle-eyed and sober will note that that wine opener would crush that bottle of wine if it was used. Well, you might find, as I did, that if you drink a little wine and then look at it again, the perspective problem goes away! Hic!

Challenges

• Card Concept: Fresh new year. My style is Clean and Simple.
  
• CAS Mix Up: Loose watercoloring.
  
• HLS CAS: A/G.
• Just Us Girls: Word Week ~ Beverage.
• Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: S is for Snarky.
  

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Kudos to the Postal Service

While I had a few cards returned unnecessarily and packages that took forever, I just had to share this positive PO experience. Below is a photo of a card I received from my bloggie friend Aileen in Australia:

Notice anything remarkable? There is NO postage stamp! I've been know to send cards off like that a few times myself, but they've always come back to me. Somehow the post office managed to get this beautiful Christmas card to my mailbox in America and that makes me smile!

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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! And thank you for your positive feedback on my last post regarding Verna and sending cards to seniors.

*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, Happy, Hopeful!

Hello Stamplings!

Happy New Year! I hope this finds you doing well and avoiding Omicron and I hope you enjoyed your holiday! I was so optimistic that 2021 would find us completely back to normal with good times and good health and no more stress and depression. Wrong. My heart goes out to you if you've had illness or death of a loved one this past year.

So now I am heaping even more optimism onto the back of 2022 ~ The Year of High Expectations! I hope it is strong enough to bring us to a place of sanity and a return of human kindness and common sense, which, in turn, will lead to an end to the pandemic and political infighting. Well, I don't know about that last bit, but a girl can dream.

And make you a card:

For the base, you'll see a layer of handmade paper, shot through with gold tinsel. Over the top is a platinum circle of stars which was a gift from a friend; I think it's made by Papertrey. The inner circle is adorned with a NBUS bottle of champagne (vad elsk?) from Cottage Cutz (which I paper-pieced in different appropopo colors of glossy paper) and a NBUS sediment from Hero Arts which was heat-embossed in gold.

Here's a better angle of the schparkliness and color!

Challenges

• Cardz 4 Galz: In with the new year/new stash.
  
• Double D: Lots of white.
  
• Krafty Chicks: AG.
  
• Simon Says Monday: Party
  
• Simon Says Wednesday: It's time to party.
  
• Watercooler Wednesday: Marsha's AG.

Thank you to ALL the wonderful card challenges in Blogland and their dedicated Design Teams who work to inspire us and schpark our creativity month-after-month!

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In other happy news, this is my 10th blogging anniversary! I actually published my first post in October of 2011, but it was just a coupla practice posts. I didn't really get my feet wet until January of 2012. It's a pretty big deal to have maintained a blog for ten years, especially in the era of Instagram and with all the changes Blogger has made over the years, not all of them good ones. 

The readers play a huge part in the longevity of a blog and I am so thankful for all of you! After all, without you leaving me wonderful comments, I'm not sure I would still be blogging. More importantly, many of your comments have developed into real friendships, both inside the computer and outside in the real world. We blog because we want to share our creations and have a diary of them ~ it's an incredible magical bonus when strong bonds and friendships also develop!

In celebration of my ten years of blogging, I'm hoping to do a sort of restart this year. This pandemic has taken some of the stuffing out of the ol' blog sofa, as it were, and I want to see if I can rekindle my joy of blogging, visiting, and commenting. Know what I mean? I also want to spread more joy around the world cuz the world could use more joy.

So in louie of a blogaversary give-away, here is my plan, complete with preamble:

If you've been a friend for a while now, you've heard me talk about my dear friend Verna. I became friends with Verna in 1978 when we both worked in the same small law firm. That's a long-time friendship. Verna is 97 now and confined to a bed after breaking her neck seven years ago in an accident with her walker and an automatic door. She is an inspiration to me in terms of her stoicism and her spunk. Mentally, she is sharp as a tack in spite of the pain her body is in.

I asked a few years ago if friends would send her cards and many of you do. The joy that Verna feels from getting these cards is hard to put into words. I stand on the porch and visit with her and she shows the cards to me through the window. And her face just lights up! Thank you for that gift for her!

Rubberstamps.com

In turn, I would like to offer that gift to a senior you may know. There are wonderful people who do annual card drives and I have enjoyed taking part in them and also donating cards for seniors in my own community, but I'd like to do more. Two years of off-again/on-again isolation has been hard for everyone, but it is especially hard for seniors.

So if you, or someone you know, would love to receive some old-fashioned love in card form, please use the Contact Me form on the right to let me know and I will get the details from you. (Using the form is more reliable because comments are often un-reply-able.) 

Thank you, everyone! Mwah! And RIP dear Betty White.😇

 

 Enjoy your day and Happy New Year! 
No, seriously, enjoy! Life is too short!

p.s. I was just searching for something on my blog and ran across an old post at the beginning of 2016 that I found both humorous and depressing in that I've not yet reached any of the goals I had high hopes for SIX years ago. Slap! Time doesn't speed up for old people. Old people slow down and resolutions stay the same!😄

For YOU, My Monkeys

Hello Stamplings!

To those of you celebrating today, Happy Father's Day! We will be going over to our son's later this afternoon. The twins have jobs for the summer now, but they will end their shifts in time to join us for dinner. I know. I can't believe they are 16 either! I'll try to remember to get a photo.

And speaking of trying to remember, I'm going make an effort to create with my flower images more often. I think I've told you before, I buy a lot of floral stamps, dies, and stencils, and when I pin, bookmark, or file someone's image to CASE later, ninety percent of the time it's a floral card. Yet, slap my biscuit, I rarely reach for flowers when I get an idea for a card; it's usually critters! (Possibly I'm being influenced by a certain hamster?)

So yesterday, I made TWO flower cards! Gome!

Onefer

Not only that, but it's a NBUS set! This sweet set is called Magnolia and it's by Craft Emotions. I'll be using the other beautiful images soon and coloring them in the more traditional pink hues, but it was fun painting this one in blue and yellow. I used my Ziggies and Hammy added just a light touch of winking so the blue and yellow didn't mix to make green. The sediment is from Verve and the frame is Pointed Rectangle Frames by poppystamps.

Challenges

• AAA Birthday: Flowers.
  
• Less is More: Pale blue and yellow.
  
• Perfectly CAS: One corner.
  
• The Flower Challenge: Clean and simple.

Twofer

This was really fun. It is also NBUS, this time by Crafter's Companion for Gemini. The package contains an embossing folder and stencils. You emboss first and then there are two stencils so you can place them over the embossing and color some or all of the dandelions. So there is wonderful texture from the e/f and the stencils make it very easy (although not perfect, lol) to blend color on the puff balls. I used my blending brushes and CP inks.

The sediment is from Tim Holtz's Snarky Small Talk booklet. I don't know how I've missed these, but better late than never. There are dozens of really funny sticker sediments, so prepare yourself for seeing a lot of them since they are right up my sarcastic alley! Especially now that I'm of a certain age where what little filter I used to have is starting to fray away completely. Oh, dear!

Challenges

• Just Us Girls: Color week: orange, poppy red, and hot pink.
  
• Let's Squash It!!: Nature meets watercoloring.
  
• Simon Says Stamp Monday: Beautiful blooms.
  
• Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: T is for texture.

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REMINDER: The June Twofer Card Challenge ends on the 24th, so there is still time to play! The prompt is 🌞SUNSHINE!🌞 so if you're making a sunny summer card, why not make two and join in? I'd love to see you there!

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Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy and keep safe! 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!)

Colorful Thursday!

Hello Stamplings!

How was your week? Did you see the Super Flower Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse? Easy for me to say. It was awe-mazing! 

In this country, we are whooshing headlong into a holiday weekend. I hope you stay safe out there on the roads if you go out adventuring. No matter what, enjoy this last weekend in May because that's June standing over there on the Tuesday calendar square!

I've missed a few of my favorite challenges recently, so I'm pickled tink to be able to join today with these cards.

Onefer

It all started with the current Color Hues challenge where the colors are purple and teal. Teal is one of my all-time favorite colors. Purple not so much, but they do look cool together, especially with a touch of green. This card features a NBUS stamp from Cottage Cutz called, "Chrysanthemum Flower November" which I colored with Ziggies and Hammy winked. The scalloped die is from PTI.

The above card has too much green for the Color Hues challenge so I am entering this card instead:

For this QACAS design, I used ancient Bissell paper for the card base and the inset panel is a scrap of Brusho background in purple and teal, with a hint of lemon, which I hope is okay. The die is "Garden Poppy Stitched Frame" from poppystamps and the sediment is from SSS. 

Challenges

• Addicted to Stamps and More: Make your mark. #1
  
• Color Hues: Purple and teal. #2
• Double D: Flower of the month of November: Chrysanthemum. #1

Twofer

And this card started out being for the Rudolph Days challenge which runs from the 25th to the last day of the month. It's a wonderful way to build your stash throughout the year. The design spark came from a scrap of rainbow foil I wanted to use up. I paired it with the black framed evergreen trees ("Sloping Hillside" from poppystamps) and I love the nighttime Northern Lights feel that happened.  

The Joy sediment die is from Winnie & Walter and although the photo doesn't show it, even the bling gems are rainbow-colored.

Challenges

• Christmas 24: Christmas night #034.
  
• Jingle Belles: Bling on the holidays.
  
• Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.
  
• Simon Says Stamp Monday: Frame it.
  
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Anything goes.

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The Hamster Wheel of Life

My friend Susan shared this quote with me and I wanted to share it with you. It was written by her friend Gerry Trentham:

"June last year was pushed to this year, this year it's pushed to next year, next year may never come, what never comes might show up tomorrow, and tomorrow is, of course, only an idea and never a reality until it is today and then it's too late to do anything about it other than that which you are already doing."

I couldn't have said it better!

~~~

So live in the moment and 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. I'm still having pain when I type, so it will be slow-going on the return visits for a while longer. It means a lot that you keep coming by and leaving me love even when I can't make it by your place. Mwah!

*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!)