Glittery Butterfly Glittery Home

Greetings, Stamplings!

Happy Sun Day! It just occurred to me that clouds are only so deep, right? So that means that no matter where you are (unless it's night), even if it's cloudy and you can't see it, the sun is still shining above you! 

We've had a busy few days with What Knot and Such and Such and you're in the middle of your weekend, so let's cut to the chase.

Wait a sec. You prolly want to know where the expression "cut to the chase" comes from, doncha? Well, when the film industry switched from silent films to talkies, there was a lot of unnecessary dialogue and people got bored. When film directors saw this happening, they would yell, "Let's cut to the chase," whereupon the dialogue ceased and the action (such as a car chase) would begin!

~~~

A Glittery Butter Fly

A lot of you may recognize the card base as being from a note card set designed and sold by Concord & 9th. I thought they would come in handy for QACAS cards for my stash. For this thinking-of-you design, I used one of the Concord & 9th cards to die cut the Memory Box Darla and Vivienne butterflies. I liberally glossed and winked them. The NBUS sediment is from the Waltzingmouse set, "Say It Loud."

Challenges

• Addicted to Stamps and More: Photo inspiration: color.
• Butterfly Challenge: Use glossy accents and/or slate blue. (You can just see a bit of slate blue color in the butterfly.)
• CAS on Sunday: Critters.

~~~

A Glittery Home

I have another new home card for you. Is 2017 the Year of the Move?

I wish you could see the schparkle and glitter on this card! The panel is an ancient paper that has speckles of glitter baked right into the paper. I have trouble using it. I usually take it out, fondle it, let Hammy rub his whiskery chin on it, and put it back. But no more hoarding, people! (That would be a funny sentence without the comma.)

The chalet roof, window, window box, and flowers are from a NBUS MFT Die-namics "Home Sweet Home" die which also has house sides and doors. The glittery ric rac zig zag paper is from DCWV. I white heat-embossed the "New" from "Everyday Sentiments" by Happy Little Stampers. The fun NBUS "home" die is from Winnie & Walter.

Challenges

• Double D Challenges: Ric Rac Zig Zag.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything goes.
• TIME OUT Challenges: Photo inspiration. Whimsy colors and patterns.
• Winnie & Walter 3rd Birthday Bash: Bright Colors Challenge With Lydia.

~~~

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

I Love a Pear and a Party!

Oh, hi! Don't you just love waking up on a Monday morning and starting a brand new week filled with who-knows-what fantastic adventures? And double-delight, it's also the start of a brand-new month! Let's hit it!

I can tell you my week is starting out great as I'm honored to be the Guest Designer for Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog! It's a pleasure to use Mary's stamps. They are deeply-etched red rubber and stamp like a dream! I know a lot of your prefer the clear stamps, but with a Misti or a Stamp-a-ma-jig, the process is EZPZ.

The dies are also fun and well made and that's what I am using to inspire you today. For this first card, I'm using an older pear die, which I thought I had used before because I've had it quite a while. (Slap!) However, I can't find it on my blog or Pinterest board, so I guess it's NBUS and that's cool because I'm on a NBUS mission.

It may look like I cut the pear from gold paper, but I dinnit. I smooched alcohol inks and blender onto glossy card so the whole thing is pearish and glossy. Yes, I know I've made that sound like a blended pear Marga Rita and now your mouth is salervating. Mine, too. The pear underwear is cut from a piece of watercolor smooching.

I used this pear for my color inspiration!

Back to the card, I'm using another NBUS Serendipity Stamps die for the sediment, die cut from the same sheet of blended glossy card. To make the Sweet word even sweeter and glossier, I layered on some Modpodge Dimensional Magic. The other bonusi are that I used some of my ribbon and pp (otherwise known as DSP to some of you) stashes!

I gave myself a pat on the back and now my arm hangs funny.

I hope you'll join in the challenge which lasts the entire month of February! The theme is Anything Goes, which we all love!

P.S. The 50% off stamp of the month for February is this awesome tandem bike stamp! You can order the stamp here.

~~~

I made a second card:

The NBUS corner balloon die was just released last month from Serendipity Stamps. Using my We R Memory Keepers fuse tool, I turned the die into a fun party shaker card. The paper (soft stone and hibiscus burst) and shaker sprinkles are from PTI. The party sediment is from Winnie & Walter. You might be able to spy the silver linings behind both the die openings and the party word die-cut.

Challenges

• Share Joy Challenge: See below, using both inspirations.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.
• The Paper Players: Tic-Tac-Toe by Jaydee. (Die-cuts, Pink, Girly.)
• Winnie & Walter: 2nd Birthday Bash! (I used Taheera's photo inspiration with all the soft gray [like my soft stone paper], pink and silver, and my rainbow shaker candies.)

~~~

It's not you, it's me. One more quick comment about Blogger. I have noticed my inbox notifications of your posts have dropped significantly, so I don't know when some of you have updated your blogs. I DO have a Google account, so I wasn't expecting this to happen, but apparently there is some monkey-business happening even if you already have a Google account. If you haven't heard from me for a while and suspect that I've been dropped from your followers, please let me know so I can come and refollow/ resubscribe. 

~~~

Head's up, a new 3-part item has been added to my GIVEAWAY page!

~~~

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 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!

2014 World Cardmaking Day!

Let's celebrate!!

Did you know we card artists have Our Own Day?!! In spite of modern technology and instant messaging and video chats and so many people thinking they don't have time to bother with sending cards in the mail any more, cardmaking is a maxibillion dollar industry and we have Our Own Day!! Just imagine if word of this spreads and people once again start to eagerly anticipate their daily mail delivery, hoping someone sent them a card?! It could resolutionize the world!

Here is the celebratory card I made:

That happiest of sunflowers was created with a NBUS die and stamp set by My Favorite Things and they are all glittered up with WOS. The pretty paper is by SU.

Challenges

• I was invited by my sweet and talented friend Lyndal to join in a wonderful day of celebration and prizes being hosted by the amazing Winnie & Walter. For this special event, you are not required to use W&W products, which is very cool because I haven't yet ordered any of their items on my wish list what with my NBUS Mountain and all. If you'd like to join in, you will find a link and a gallery for your beautiful cards on their site. Thank you to W&W!!  ETA: I didn't know there were going to be specific themes when the invite went up on Facebook, so since my card doesn't work for any of the themes and I don't have time to make another, I won't be entering, but I sure hope you can click over and get the directions and join in!
• Fusion Card Challenge fans will (hopefully) recognize that my card today was inspired by their current photo/sketch inspiration. It's been a while since I made a full fusion creation using both sides of the coin!
• Since lots of snippets of scraps went into my card, I'm delighted to have just gotten my foot in the door to join my playmates at Pixie's Snippets Playground before the gate closed!
• And over at Addicted to Stamps and More I'm joining another fall photo inspiration party!

  

Each of these challenge links will provide you with detailed information about the challenge rules, sponsors, and prizes.

As I mentioned in my last post, my future posts will be scheduled for a few weeks and I won't be able to play / link to challenges or visit as much as I normally do. I didn't mean to confuse you; I wasn't planning on doing this post, but I couldn't turn down Lyndal's invitation to celebrate WORLD CARDMAKING DAY!! I hope wherever you are, you are celebrating, too!

~~~

New Friends Corner

As promised, here are five more talented and inspiring card artists who have been waiting patiently to meet you! It is my extreme pleasure to introduce you to:

Ann Tuck of Cardmaking 101. Ann is a doting grandmother of six who has been blogging since 2012. She has been loving paper crafting for about four years and she enjoys playing in the challenges. Her enthusiasm for this hobby emanates from her blog and I know you'll love her very creative and happy cards!

Sam of The Crafting Garden. Sam has been blogging since 2007!!! You know how I get really becited about our friends who have been blogging for so long because it means there is SO much wisdom and inspiration available to all of us! I spent quite a good long while over at Sam's relaxing and enjoying myself completely and I know you will, too!

Cindy van Oorschot of Creating with Cindy. Cindy is taking a break now, but there is still plenty of card art inspiration for you to enjoy and we hope Cindy will be back to blogging soon!

Darcy Schroeder of Crafting With Darcy. Darcy has been blogging since January of 2013. She is a life-long crafter who has been scrapbooking and making cards for the last twenty plus years. Darcy is a published card designer and award-winner. You will find oodles of goodies and inspiration in the pages of Darcy's blog!

Ingrid Kristina V. of Ingrid's Crafts Corner. Ingrid has been blogging since January of this year. She is also a published card artist, designer, and challenge award winner. Her cards are always bright, colorful, and stunning. She is currently making the most amazing cards using Brushos, all under the watchful eyes of a one-year-old!

Thank you for joining, ladies, and welcome to the Playhouse!

~~~

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 leave a comment and/or 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 the pop-up box opens.
Click Jump to Comment Form; no more car pool tunnel!
Mwah!