A Sun Flower Thank You ~ CCIC, SSSSWC, and a Thanksgiving Crusade

Hello!  Hello!

 

You've whooshed all the way around to the end of the week without me and I hope your week was wonderful!  Mine was!  Grab a beverage and here we go.

 

My grend Cheryl, otherwise known as Myrtha, showered me with good times, fun, and affection.  Colorado was darned happy to see me because I brought the sunshine with me, which was so badly needed.  

 

Cheryl and her husband Rick recently moved into a stunningly beautiful home.  She is a naturally talented interior decorator.  Her downstairs powder room is in warm and rustic tones of, well, rust and warm sunshine.  By the wash basin lay printed paper napkins (towelettes?).  I slipped one into my suitcase to make my thank you card.

 

JIC there were a couple of challenges that matched my card, I checked out a few favorites.  I couldn't believe the timing of the current challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge which is "Sunflower Surprise."

This challenge is being sponsored by the incredible stamp company Clearly Besotted!

 

The always generous Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is celebrating Stamptember.  We are to use any product that Simon Says Stamp sells in the store.  (For my card, that's the paper and the enamel dots.)

 

And, lastly, today's card gives me the opportunity to join in for the first time this year with Susan Raihala's 2013 Thanksgiving Crusade on her sensational blog, Simplicity.  Susan is on a crusade to save Thanksgiving, which gets overshadowed every year by Halloween and Christmas. That's just wrong, right?

 

I hope you get a chance to join in all of these challenges!

 

~~~

 

So here's a photo of the paper kanapkin I kanicked from Cheryl:

and here's the card I made for her:

I used DIs to lightly sponge the card base.  I thought since I used distressed inks, I should also distress the edges of the napkin art.  I love that there are still several sections left of the paper napkin to use for other cards.  I also found a store that had several packages of glorious napkins on sale, so you'll see me using this technique again.  I didn't iron on the napkin, I simply applied it with double stick tape.  QACAS.

 

~~~

Here is a picture of me (Ethel) and Myrtha.  BTW, I must say a lot of you got a kick out of calling me Ethel.  You go right ahead.

Cheryl looks prezackly like she is.  A hoot!  The kind of person you would want to meet if you saw her across the room.  A lifelong friend.  Mwah, M! 

~~~

Not only was I happy to spend a few days with Myrtha, I also had the awesome pleasure of meeting a bloggie friend IRL!  I'm sure a lot of you are already fans of Kim S. of Joyful Creations With Kim.  Kim lives in the Denver area, too, so I was delighted when she was available to meet me and join us for lunch!  Kim wrote about our meeting on her blog, along with our picture:

She wrote such extremely nice things about me and I wholeheartedly send the same compliments back to her, double!  Kim has been a huge inspiration to me since I started this journey and it was a thrill to meet her.  If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing her card artistry, please make sure you click on her link!

 

~~~

 

Back home, the little squirrel I showed you recently came back today to distract me with his cuteness.  I think we should name him now, don't you?  He's definitely made himself at home here.  What do you suggest?

Um, Flat Stanley, obviously, but that's already taken ...  I couldn't get his head in the photo, because I was inside the Playhouse when I took these and that was as far as I could capture through the window.  After a nap, a snack he had obviously buried earlier in the grass.  Prolly one of my bulbs, the little imp.

~~~

From the silly to the sublime, new Gerbera daisies in brilliant fall colors are popping up:

~~~

 

I will do my best to stop in and visit you over the weekend to catch up on what you've been doing.  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! 

 

 

*Life Is Too Short!  

 

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Stamp:  Endless Creations D72

Inks:  Tom Holtz Distress Inks: mustard seed

  and rusty hinge

Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye