Wrapped Up in Wreaths

Hello Stamplings!

On the Days of the Year calendar, today we are celebrating "Homemade Bread Day," "Baklava Day," and because then we need it, "Take a Hike Day!" Since we can't hike here atm because of the smoke, we'll just call it, "International Celebrate Carbs Day!"

But more important than any of those, today is our favorite son's birthday! Happy Birthday, Dan, and many, many more! And because I didn't acknowledge my favorite daughter-in-law's birthday on October 1, I'd like to do that now, too. Happy Birthday, Rachel, and many, many more! Your birthdays are even more cherished now!

Today is also reminder day over on the Twofer Card Challenge blog, so here you go with two more sets of designs to inspire you to play. In each case, I made one conventional wreath design and then I used my wreath in an unconventional way on my second design:

For these cards, the wreath I used for both designs is "Cascadia Wreath" by Memory Box. In case you think the camera played tricks, the colors of the card bases are honestly white and cream.

I thought we could all use our vivid imaginations and pretend those flowers are poinsettias, so my first design is a Christmas card, kept uber simple with white-one-white, pops of red, and a schplash of silver. The sediment is from The Ton. I'm entering this card in the TIME OUT photo inspiration challenge: red, white, gray.

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I'm pretty chuffed with how this turned out. It was one of those one-thing-leads-to-another card designs. I ended up using a perfume bottle clear stamp from The Alley Way Stamps for the pretty Ziggified vase. I've had it at least four years, but it was still NBUS cuz I've just never had occasion to make a card with a large perfume bottle. As I was looking through my schtuff, I thought the bottom of the perfume bottle would work as a vase, so I put on my surgical gown and operated on it to remove the atomizer dealiebob. 

The card base is die-cut from an MFT stitched rectangle out of beautiful schparkle paper from SU that was a gift from my friend Brenda. The NBUS sediment from Kaiser Craft is heat-embossed in silver and in Hammy's absence, I winked the vase all by myselves. Sorry I forgot to take a photo closeup to show you all the shimmer and sheen. I also forgot to add a shadow to ground my vase. Okay, let's just move on.

Challenges

• City Crafter: Friendship.
• Color Throwdown.
• Little Red Wagon: Remember when.

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For this Twofer set, I leaned towards rustic and used a wreath from Papertrey Ink called, "Cutaway Tags: Summer."

Making another Christmas card for the pile, I die-cut the wreath from a snippet of gold-embossed Bazzill paper and added another strip behind the wreath. Then I covered the sediment strip part of the die with paper that matched the card base, onto which I heat-embossed the sediment from PTI in gold. To finish it off, I flung gold schplatters all over it with Wild Abandon.

Challenges

• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets!
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: All that glitters is gold.
• Uniko: Celebrate. Optional twist: GOLD.

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For my second design, I deconstructed the wreath, using the center sediment strip and some of the flowers, which I colored with my Zigs and winked. The sediment is NBUS from the same set. I found the cool woodgrained background paper in the same stash where I found the paper I used on my first set of Twofer wreaths last week. It feels great to have used these cool patterned papers after years stuck in a drawer! 

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The Twofer Card Challenge is open until November 24th, so you still have time to put your thinking caps on and play along! I have to say, once I got into it, it was really fun thinking of two ways to use a wreath that weren't the same underlying design.

It's all win-win for you as you end up with two cards for your stash and it's all win-win for us as we benefit from how you inspire us!

 

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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!)

It's a Party!

Happy weekend greetings, Stamplings!

We have a busy weekend lined up, so I'll get right to my cards. I find the "lined up" expression humorous, as in: "All right, everybody, let's line up! Saturday, you go stand over here and then Sunday, you stand behind Saturday and don't pull her pigtails this time!"

Onefer

How about that for Miss QACAS stepping outside the box? That's a lotta texture and color and detailing for me and, boy, did Hammy have fun with all those glitters and sprinkles and winking! The cone is from SU, the sediment is from Paper Smooches, and the cupcake is from Serendipity Stamps.

I'm hosting the Inspired By All the Little Things challenge which runs for the next two weeks and which features my friend Cat Craig. Here is the photo I selected to inspire you this time:

Isn't that such a fun party cake in lovely spring colors loaded with so many little things to inspire you?! Cat and the Design Team have lots of beautiful interpretations of the photo to also inspire you! I hope you get a chance to play along!

Challenges

• Cards in Envy: It's Birthday Party Time!
• Die Cut Divas: Anything goes!
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets!

Twofer

The background on this little musical number was made by smooching spring-colored inks with a piece of acetate and then smooching the acetate onto the linen card. After wards, the whole thing was given a good splattering. I was splattered as a kid and it never hurt me, so I think it's okay. The NBUS scalloped die is from MFT and the words are from "Life is a Song" by Uniko, which was gifted to me by my friend Andrea. The clever ampersand is cut from the poppystamps die, "Elegant Musical Staff."

Looking at the card, you might think I was on the wodka when I stamped it all crookedy, but I meant to have the "music" and "you" offset a little so the "c" in music and the "y" in you could cuddle around the treble. I went to a lot of treble to get that just right.

Challenges

• CAS-ual Fridays: Forget your trebles.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Sparkle and shine.
• Uniko: Color challenge, option of Easter.

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Enjoy your weekend! 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!)

Fall is in the Air! Time to Celebrate WCMD!!

Hello, Stamplings!

I am popping in with a coupla fall makes before this brief season whooshes by altogether. It also happens to be the time when we celebrate World Card Making Day!!

(source unknown)

Wow! Really? A whole day to celebrate our hobby? What happens now? Do we have a parade in Times Square? Do we have a representative who will make the circuits of the television talk shows? Is there a contest? Does .... Wait. What? Nothing? 

Well, heck then, we'll just celebrate among ourselves. Pour out your favorite beverage and your favorite coloring medium, paper, stamps, and dies and I'll show you mine, if you show me yours! How fun that I'll know that you'll know that I'll know that wherever you are in the world, we are making a card at the same time! Here's to us!

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First up for me today is a card I made for this week's Inspired By All the Little Things challenge #67. It is my turn to be the hostess and I have invited my dear friend Bonnie Klass to be our Featured Designer! I hope you can join me and Bonnie and the very talented Design Team this week! 

I keyed on the creams, beiges, and metallics of the inspiration photo (below), as well as the lovely mums. I cut my Poppystamps "Delicate Mum" twice, once in a creamy gloss paper and once in copper in order to give it a shadow. I did the same with the "Enjoy" word die from Penny Black. They were both attached to a panel of pp from SU matted to a copper panel. It seemed a little unbalanced to me (takes one to know one!), so I added a thin copper border on the right side. The mini leaf die from Impression Obsession was triple cut and layered. 

Here is a closeup:

And here is the inspiration photo for you:

Challenges

• Pixie's Snippets Playground: anything goes, but use must your snippets
• Uniko: Autumn/Fall, optional twist: Halloween.

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Next I have a coupla Halloween tags for you. I want to support my friend Bev who is the Guest Designer for the current Tag You're It! challenge. Bev, who lives in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin wants winter to stay away as long as possible, so she made a darling summery tag with the hope that summer may linger:

Isn't that so cute?! How could you not want to play along?! I know lots and lots of you love a black/white/pop of color/ design to play with! Where I live, I'm so over summer, so I made Halloween tags using Bev's cute inspiration:

Both tags were cut from Lawn Fawn products: the die is "Tag You're It!" and the stamp is "Winter Gifts." The skeleton in the top tag is cut from a section of Washi tape and the R.I.P. is a portion of an old wooden stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs. On the second tag, the mummy is from SU and the Trick or Treat bag is from Stampendous. I drew the BOO, Boo.

Other Challenges

• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: A walk on the dark side.
• Stinkin' Inkers: Monster Mash.

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NBUS #12 Update

In other news, I have visited all 355 entries in my NBUS Challenge #12 and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed every creation you made! You all blow me away with your talent and your enthusiasm for using your new and sometimes forgotten schtuff!

I'm happy to report that I have received a text from Dr. Random and his Missus Org. They have safely checked into the WCMD Convention Hotel. Of course, because of the convention, there will be a delay in holding the NBUS drawing, but Doc was quick to remind me that it's not their fault I held my challenge so late in September this year.

Hammy is situated in the north floor walkup with all the entry information. He is ready to spring into action whenever the Orgs have a break. I'm just hoping he doesn't lose focus like he did last year, over-indulge in the locally grown donut liquor, and fall asleep in the Lost and Found bin! 

I'll keep you posted.

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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 to return the flavor!

(source unknown)

*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.

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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!

Babies, Easter, Christmas, Fourth of ... Wait. What?

Greetings, Stamplings!

Don't forget the April Boo-Boo Hop/NBUS Challenge #11 is coming soon!➠

Coming Saturday, April 1st!

Not only is spring in the air, but Easter is almost in the air, and not only that, there's a new baby in the air! Well, I mean, not right now. This baby girl isn't even born yet and, of course, one should never throw a newborn baby up in the air, for goodness sake. But after a few months, she'll love it! 

The new baby girl I'm talking about belongs to my friend Lesley Croghan and her husband Corey! Many of you know Lesley because of her own blog (Always Playing With Paper) and as the owner of several of the challenge blogs that we all participate in week-after-week. In order to celebrate the upcoming birth, the thoughtful Lori is holding a Welcome Little Miss Croghan Blog Hop on her blog. There are still a coupla days left if you'd like to join in!

I made this:

This beautiful NBUS "Bunny" image is from Stacy Stamps. I colored the image with my SU markers directly to the stamp and then stamped it on the cream card. I used my colored pencils to give the bunny a pink hue. The heat-embossed fussy-cut sediment is from Hero Arts, "Hey Dey Sentiments." The panel was attached to a burlap panel and I added a pink heart for punctuation.

Of course, Hammy insisted that Miss Bunny needed a bit of twinkle in her eye and shine on her nose! 

This was so cute and easy, I made a few extras for Easter cards.

Challenges/Hop

• Inspired by All the Little Things: Featuring the talented Nancy Penir and bunny photo.
• Uniko: Spring with an optional twist of Easter.
• Welcome Little Miss Croghan Blog Hop.

Twofer.

Speaking of Easter Christmas, who hasn't made very many Christmas cards in spite of the fact we are fast approaching the Fourth Month of the year already? That's right, you and me. Well, me, fershur. So I took a few minutes to play with Christmas:

Poinsettias are such a classic Christmas image and, for me, they never get old. I had a lot of fun watercoloring two cards using this poinsettia from Waltzingmouse Stamps with my KGT watercolor paints after heat-embossing them in white. The NBUS sediment is from Skipping Stones. You can't see it, but Hammy blinged the poinsettia with Stella.

In spite of using my MISTI, you can see that the sediment is WAAAY up under the skirt of the poinsettia. What happened was I put the first stamped image on the tool to stamp it, removed it, put the second one in and stamped it without even looking. Well, hellooooo?!! Seeing as how I used my old-fashioned acrylic block to stamp the poinsettia image with Versamark for the embossing, I didn't stamp the image prezackly the same way both times ... well, you get the picture. 

So there's a lesson for you: the MISTI is not the most incredible stamping tool invented if the operator is an idiot!

Challenges

• Jingle Belles: Bling on the holidays. 
• Make My Monday: White embossing.
• Merry Monday Christmas Challenge: Red, green, and white.
• Rudolph Days

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Reminder!!

My boo-boo card above is a smooth way to seque into this reminder! (I didn't plan it that way, but there you go!)

COMING SATURDAY!!

APRIL FOOL'S DAY HOP AND NBUS CHALLENGE #11
(Never-Before-Used-Schtuff)

The deets:

• The challenge will run from April 1 to April 11.
• Enter any new creation that:
• is made from something NBUS, or
• has a boo-boo on it, or
• BOTH!
• There will be no prizes other than: 
• The self-satisfied sense of well-being you'll feel having used some schtuff that you have ignored until now. 
• The self-effacing sense of amusement you'll feel having shared your big fat boo-boo with us! 
• The self-congratulatory sense of accomplishment you'll feel having done BOTH!!
• Because there will be no tangible prizes, there will be no other customary rules! I know you all know how to play well with others.

I can't wait to see what you share!! Mwah!

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

On a personal note, I want to again thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers for the Mister. He is continuing to improve by leaps and bounds! Well, okay, by small steps, but they feel like leaps and bounds compared to being flat on his back!

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:

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Mwah!

If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me

your email address so I can respond.  Thank you!

Wishing You A Beautiful Day!

Hi there!

How's it going? Did you have a lovely Valentine's Day? I didn't make a single Valentine this year except the thank you heart card I posted on Monday. I ended up giving that to the Mister as his Valentine, cuz he takes such good care of me!

And now I think it's nice to have a short break from major holidays and just have fun with Hammy making birthday cards and all-the-other-occasions cards to build up my stash and use my NBUS.

Today I have a 4fer for you, but it's a bit of a cheat since it's the same focus pocus and design for three of them.

I played with someone's Concord & 9th "You Are Enough" stamp set at the Lake House in October and fell in love with it so I ordered my own set. The set has this simple, yet striking, flower that looks fabulous in any color and with any sediment.

You could use it to make a one-layer card or add a little embossing and matting as I did with these.

Or you can dress it up with a pretty little frame.

Challenges

• CAS(E) this Sketch!
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Fantastic Florals.
• Uniko: Anything Goes with optional twist of Love.

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Speaking of flowers, look at this amazing view we see from the dining room table looking out at the Garden Art Wall. You can see how much those succulents have grown and with all the rain, the hardenbergia is spectacular this year!

On the other side of the wall to the right is the front yard where the hardenbergia is actually planted. About six feet from the fence is a crepe myrtle tree. Check out below how one vine of the hardenbergia reached up and over the six feet to the crepe myrtle and grew right up to the top of it!

And here are some sweet crocus bulbs blooming. I think they are crocus?

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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!
If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me
your email address so I can respond. Thank you!