Stencil Time and A New Dawn

Hello Stamplings,

Yesterday, thank goodness, was a great day of inspiration, calm, and peace here in America as a centuries-old transfer of power took place. It was a celebration that brought me to tears. I know many of you from around the world join me in feeling uplifted and thankful. 

I realize there is much disagreement on issues, but we need to compromise and communicate to find solutions for things that impact all of us. And I hope from now on our leaders and representatives from both parties will resist the pull of greed and the thirst for power by remembering they work for us, that they act like adults, treat everyone with respect, tell the truth, and practice the Golden Rule. After all, isn't that what they learned from their parents and what they teach their children? 

It will be okay. 

A little CAS mixed-media for you with this one, which, as you might know, is not that easy to do! Thanks to my friend Lolly generously sharing her skills on Zoom, I now dip my toes in ink and Gesso ... wait. What? Oh, heck, go ahead and use your toes if you want! Life is too short!

For this technique*, we were to tape off a border of our card and as you can see, I naturally picked the widest roll of masking tape I own, which left me with a teeny-tiny rectangle of workspace. We gessoed that space to add texture. Because it acts as an emboss-resist, we then blended distress inks through a stencil. My stencil was made by Tim Holtz. Or maybe Mario made it. (They don't put their initials on them, but in case they read my blog😆, I think they should.)

I finished my card with an vintage MFT butterfly, a simple timely popped-up sediment, and schplatters. Hammy winked the DI inks and you can't really see it, but the panel was adhered to a black card base.

Challenges

• A Place to Start: Anything goes.
  
• CAS Mix Up: Splatters. Stamping, stenciling, sponging, masking, schplattering.
  
• The House That Stamps Built: Anything goes.

* Videos:

Hero Arts video

Eileen Godwin video

Twofer

This QACAS birthday card uses an unmarked circle stencil and CP inks. I made several of these in various colors and Hammy went to town with the winking ... I can stop telling you that, right? You all know he's addicted now. I don't know what I'd do without him and it's super cool that his fur is a permanent shade of schparkle!

Challenges

• AAA Birthday: A stencil background.
  
• HLS Stencil: Anything goes.
  
• Uniko: Anything goes with a twist of stencil.

~~~

Addendum

On the far, far off-chance you thought that really was my wedding photo in the last post, this is the real one:

Many of you have seen it before. I didn't have toilet paper in my ears, but it does look like I had price tags on my headpiece. What can I say? That was the style, along with empire-waist "Juliet" wedding dresses. (I still remember how difficult it was sewing those puffy sleeves out of some kinda stiff shimmery fabric.) Just look at us! What children we were! You'd think people were still getting wed in 1971 as young as Romeo and Juliet were. I mean, we weren't, but that's how rumors get started.

~~~

I hope you get a chance to see and hear the United States youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman's recitation at the inauguration ceremony. She is only 22 years old and she'll knock your socks off! You can find it on YouTube here and the full text of her poem is available at various sites. What an inspiration!

...

The new dawn blooms as we free it,
For there is always light.

If only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

~~~

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

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!)

Paper Hugs and Poinsettias

Hello Stamplins!

I guess I'm feeling very southern today. How y'all doin'? A lot of Americans went hog wild over Memorial Day weekend and time will tell if that was a dumb idea. I can't take any chances, so it was just three more days in paradise for us. Not really, because we are having unseasonably boiling hot temps up to a hunnert and five degrees this week.😳Thankfully, it's spose to cool off by the weekend.

So my non-crafty item I'm grateful for is not a little one today: it's air conditioning! And my crafty item I'm grateful for is glitter paper!

My friend Trina sent me a thank you card recently which I blatantly copied CASEd for this card. The beautiful NBUS glitter paper, which I had to immediately purchase, is from Memory Box and the NBUS paper hug sediment is from The Stamp Market. I'm not sure where the sweet stem is from because I borrowed a die at the last Lake House retreat.

Challenges

• HLS Anything Goes With Dies.
• Mix It Up: Anything goes. (Optional twist: masking.)
• The House That Stamps Built

Twofer

This is a study in smooching with broken china. Ouch! The wreath is from PTI, the fussy-cut poinsettias are from Waltzingmouse. The border frame is Pointed Rectangle from Poppystamps. You can't see it, but Hammy winked the poinsettias and a schparkly gem was placed in the centers. The sediment is from GKW. It was stamped in black and clear-embossed.

Challenges 

• Christmas 24: Christmas flowers.
• Christmas Kickstart: Wreathed in smiles.
• Retro Rubber Tic Tac Toe. Diagonal bottom left to upper right: flowers, embossing, die cut or punch. Wreath 2017, poinsettias, 2010, and border 2017.
• Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.
• The Flower Challenge: Monochrome.

~~~

Nellie

I promised you more photos:

Here she is all unkempt, but still lovable. Nellie looks pretty cute, too! (We were having a pensive moment. If you look close, you can see my gray hair starting to show!)

And here she is bright white and shorn and looking alternately like a lamb or a puppy. Not bad considering she will be nine in July!

Dancing for a treat! (I need a Pull-It Surprise for taking that photo while dangling a treat!) According to the AKC regarding the Coton de Tulear breed: "... Amusing traits of these long-lived jesters include unique vocalizations and a knack for walking on their hind legs." We are so blessed to have rescued her. I have about eleventeen more photos and a recording the Mister made of her "talking" to him, but I'll spare you!

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* Please continue to stay in if possible and take care when you have to be out and about.

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 Rose Bud and a Bunny in a Birch Tree

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I hope you had a great week! It not only whooshed by, it brought May with it! Remember a time in the last century when May was way more sedentary and if she walked at all, it was more of a saunter? Then she joined the same gym March and April belong to (the one with the giant blow-up monkey in the sign) and the three of them now literally RACE through here like someone at the end of the year is giving away free stamps! It's too much! Slow down!

I've been really busy preparing for May company and travel, but I needed to participate in a coupla challenges.

Onefer

I hope you feel the intended quiet hush I envisioned when you look at this one-layer card. I watercolored an old rose bud stamp from a favorite company which is sadly out-of-business. The NBUS sediment is from the "Anemone" set by Flourishes. I used an e/f called "Stately" to provide an embossed frame.

The little guy wanted to help, of course, so he warmed up Stella and schparkled the bud and leaves.

Challenges

• Double D: Off to the races mood board. I was inspired by the roses.
• Just Add Ink: Just add sympathy.
• Less is More: OLC Buds or Petals.
• The House That Stamps Built: Repeat Impressions DCCM119- One-layer card.

Twofer

From serene to silly, here we have a 3D glittery bunny from a pack of baby stickers serenading us with his star castanets! He is lounging high up in a beautiful stand of stamped birch trees over an embossed birch background. The NBUS sediment is from "Full of Merriment" by Penny Black.

Yes, since you asked, he has just come from the office Christmas party. I know we've all been there, or at least I have, but fortunately it happened before the days of tweets and twitters, snappy chats, clap backs, and fanny packs. No, no, wait. Not fanny packs. Thank goodness they stayed back in the ol' days.

Challenges

• Christmas Kickstart: Christmas bunnies.
• The Paper Players: Sketch.
• TIME OUT: Playful.

~~~

Aside: The Mister is beside himself to find out that E.L. James (author of Fifty Shades of Gray) has come out with a new novel called "The Mister." Also, will he get a cut of the profits?

~~~

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 also want to let all of you in the Midwest and Eastern Canadian know that I am thinking of you and praying for you with all the rain and devastating flooding that's happening there.

*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!)

Pasted Butterflies and a Happy Little Elf

Hello Stamplings!

Another holiday under our belts ... literally! 🐷 Listen, here's my thinking. The world needs some of us round people for all the slim people to hide behind when the bad guys show up. You're welcome. I'm here to help.

Seriously, tho, we had a wonderful time ... a beautiful sunny day, a fun Easter egg hunt, and family and friends who gathered to enjoy a delicious meal and conversation. I hope you enjoyed your weekend, too, however you spent it!

Yesterday, I relaxed and got crafty in the Playhouse with Hammy.

Onefer

And look I pasted through a stencil! I haven't done that since last May when I was at Loll's craft retreat in Vancouver and I was instantly reminded how fun it is! I mixed Dreamweaver Pearlescent Embossing Paste with a bit of peachy Art Alchemy Sparks Butterfly Spells and passed it through a Stampendous butterfly stencil. The large schparkly butterfly was fussy-cut from a pretty piece of pp. The gold glitter-embossed sediment is from Concord & 9th.

Here is a photo taken at an angle so you can better see the shimmer and schparkle:

Even at that, the photo doesn't do justice to the raised dimension of the butterflies. Embossing paste is super fun and the results are hugely satisfying!

Challenges

• CAS on Friday: Butterflies
• CAS Stencil: Hosted by Barb: Embossing paste/gel.
• Less Is More: Subtle colors.
• The House That Stamps Built: DCC43 ~ Use a stencil.

Twofer

Sorry, I should have warned you to switch over to your darker sunglasses for this bright pink Christmas card! We begin with a textured card base embossed with Swiss dots*. The two pink frames are from Impression Obsession. The banner and sediment and striped pp are from PTI.

The elf from Hero Arts was cut once from white card and stamped and then cut again from the striped paper. Then the tunic and hat were paper-pieced from the striped paper. All the other areas of the elf were then colored with Ziggies and the elf was set back into the die cut. As a final touch, Hammy glittered the hat brim and puff ball with snow.

*Paper style mimics fabric of the same name. The design is said to have originated around 1750 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, which emerged as a textile center in the 15th century.

Challenges

• Cardz 4 Galz: Pretty papers.
• CAS Christmas Card Challenge: Hosted by Nance: Elf.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets!
• The Paper Players: Paper-Piecing.

~~~

Papa and the grandtwins and Duke went on one of their local hikes. As is traditional, Papa stopped at the local Donut Wheel to get everyone donuts before driving to the trailhead. After they hiked to the trail summit, they enjoyed their donuts and Papa made them smile for a photo.

You can see the remnants of their sugar donuts around their mouths ~ especially Henry's. (Can you imagine a teenage girl sitting there for a photo oblivious to sugar crumbs on her face?! 🤣) And speaking of oblivious, what really karacks me up is Duke. If you look closely, his nose is practically touching that chocolate donut left laying on the bench between the boys. Did he get it?

~~~

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!)

Twofer Card Challenge #6 ~ Trees

Hello Stamplings!

Goodness gracious me and bless my biscuits, these months are dropping over like outhouses on Halloween, 1-2-3-4-5-6- and half the eighteenth year of the first century of the third millennium is done, put to bed, lights out.

It makes a woman of my age mighty nervous, I don't mind telling you. So let's have all the fun we can then, shall we? To that end, it's time for this month's Twofer Card Challenge! Our prompt this month is TREES and these are my cards to inspire you:

The palm tree stamp I used for both cards is from my NBUS "Totally Trees" set by Stampin' Up.

Onefer

For my Thinking of You card, I embossed the three colors of paper with a waves die and then pieced them together to make them look like sand, sea, and sky. The sun is from Lil Inkers, the glossified Adirondike chair and sediment are from Technique Tuesday. The beach ball is a sticker.

(Looking at my card now, I realize that the size of my ocean wave is a bit ominous and if someone were sunning themselves in that chair they would get a very rude awakening in about one minute!)

Challenges

• Inkspirational: Power. I believe there is power in the sunshine and the seaside to relax and restore the body and mind. And to give you a sunburn, so be careful out there.
• SSS Work It Wednesday: Summer.
• The House That Stamps Built: Repeat Impressions DCC66: Summer vacation.

Twofer

Putting on his surgeon's mask, Hammy operated on the palm tree after noticing that the fronds would make a very dandy evergreen Christmas wreath! Right?! It was a fun and QACAS way to stretch the stamp, which is still useble as a palm tree.

Challenges

• CAS Christmas Card Challenge: Masculine.
• Stamping Sensations: June = anything goes.
• TIME OUT: Holidays (twist: one layer).

    

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I hope you'll get the opportunity to play along this month! The challenge is open until the end of day on June 24th. Remember you can simply use the same tree as a conventional tree on both your cards and just change up your design! You don't have to get all jiggy with it!

Please click over to the Twofer Card Challenge to see the amazing Twofer cards our talented Guest Designer Maria Rodriguez and the sensational ladies of the Design Team have made to inspire you!! Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support! Mwah!

~~~

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!)