NBUS Challenge #1 Winners and Rap Up

Hello There!

I have a few thoughts to rap up my first NBUS Challenge, but already your eyeballs have drifted down the screen and your finger is twitching on the mouse, so I'll save them for after! 

Applause, applause, applesauce, applause, applause!! Congratulations to all the winners! Some of you may not even be aware that I added five more $25 gift certificates after the entries reached 100. So here are the TEN winners chosen by Mr. Random and Mrs. Dot Org! If the Orgs weren't in charge, I'd have prizes for all of you who entered!!

Colleen #55   

Petra #254     

Jill #162           

Alanna #90        

Di #242              

Susan B. #80  

Hettiecraft #53  

Marybeth #62  

KandA #190          

Carol L. #100     

• In addition, I am adding two surprise $25 gift certificates:

First, to 11-year-old Alli who was the youngest participant using her loving Aunt Carole's blog, This Small Corner of Texas! It's wonderful to see a young person engaging in the ancient art of card making!

#197

Second, to Mamie Reese as a representative of my "behind-the-scenes" readers who don't have blogs. Mamie has been a long-time supporter of my blog and we have become card pen pals. Here is the pretty NBUS card which she mailed to me:

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Thank you so very much to everyone who participated with your beautiful works of art!! I've made a Pinterest Board for NBUS #1 so it's easy for all of us to refer back to the gallery for inspiration. It goes without saying that the response was overwhelming and heartwarming and heartfilling! Mwah, mwah, mwah all over your smiling cute little faces!!

Winners, enjoy!! Please email me at darnell dot knauss at gmail dot com, to let me know your choice of the company where you would like to shop your $25 gift certificate! Yippie!!

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NBUS begets NBUS

So. Okay. I got about a third of the way through the entries and visiting your blogs to thank you for kindly joining in and it hit me that this challenge might be one of the stoopidest things I've ever done. 

Gasp!!  WHAT? What do you mean?

Well, I mean, think about it.

Why did I coin NBUS and start purposely numbering and using the acronym when blogging my cards?

Answer: Because I realized that I was buying lots of new schtuff after seeing other blogger's cards and then I was putting it away (too much to leave on the desk, oink!) and then forgetting about it. By challenging myself publicly, I started looking at and using my NBUS.

So, that's all good, I was making progress, but what's happened since I commented on 281 challenge entries and focused on the wonderful NBUS products you were using?

Answer:

It turns out that now I've bought loads more NBUS, thanks to you guys! Mt. NBUS is so high that the newest NBUS is covered in SNOW (not an acronym) and I've had to hire a miniature sherpa to help Hammy help me!

Not to worry, you've all convinced me that you love the idea of this challenge, so I will do another one when I reach 600 followers, if not before.

I think I will need to take a few days off from blogging pretty soon, however, so I can make mole hills out of that mountain and keep the NBUS from overtaking the BUS!

I also think it's time for a new acronym, one shared with me by my friend Redanne, who heard it used on TV:

SABLE =

Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

Yup. At my age I now have a SABLE of NBUS! But I love it, so what can I do? And I love finding out that I'm not alone with this tissue. Thank you for making me feel "normal!"

Okay, settle down. Nobody is buying that I am normal in any way! (Hammy, stop it, you'll choke.)

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Kindness Begets Kindness

I would also like to thank you for following my lead and taking an extra minute or two when you are surfing the waters of card blogs to leave the artist a meaningful comment. I see a lot more of that happening and it makes me very happy!

There are many serious or super busy bloggers who just want to post their work or who just want to make cards to inspire us to buy product and for them it's not about visiting and commenting. And that's fine. We don't judge. But there are even more bloggers who want to post their project and maybe market a product AND have you follow them and make friends. It's wonderful to see you taking that first step and then watch as it is resiprocated around the globule! 

I also see some of you are duplicating my "New Friends Corner" or similarly taking the time to introduce your new followers to your readers so that they might make new friends, too. It's like a handshake across the intertubes ... ice being broken ... conversations starting ...

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Finally, I also want to pacifically thank my many new followers who have recently joined! I will continue with my New Friends Corner introductions, five at a time, when I resume normal posting. I haven't forgotten you!

Enjoy your day, everybody! 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!

MWAH! 

  

 

*Life Is Too Short!

REMINDER ~ NBUS Challenge #1 Ends Soon

Hello My Friends!

Thank you so much to everyone who has so enthusiastically supported my very first NBUS Challenge!! This note is to remind you that the challenge will be closing at 12 noon PDT on Friday, June 27, 2014. If you need a time zone converter for your time zone, you can find one here.

To get to the original post where you will find the all-important rules, a list of the prizes, and the InLinkz button, click:

HERE

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You are the BEST FRIENDS EVER! Your response has filled my heart to overflowing! I will post the winners at 12 noon PDT on Sunday, June 29, 2014. 

I had no idea when I jokingly made up NBUS that it would actually become well-known in this acronym-filled Blogland stamping community! During this challenge, I realized that there are three other four-letter words you can make from these letters: 

SNUB = schtuff never used before.

BUNS = before-used-never schtuff. (Wait. What?!)

NUBS = never used before schtuff.

Had I know it would take off, I think I would have chosen NUBS which works and is a cute word. Then again, knowing how I get myself into trouble with words sometimes, the word nubs is prolly a slang expression in some countries for a part of the human or aminal anatomy! 

So NBUS it is and NBUS it shall remain! I hope you get a chance to join the challenge, if you haven't already!

Mwah!

June PTI Blog Hop Challenge ~ happy

Good Morning!

It's the 25th of the month and time for the June blog hop challenge featuring Papertrey Ink (PTI) over at Nichole's {capture the moment} blog. Using the photo and sketch inspiration provided, here is what I made: 

The specific ingredients are below. The banner had a light wash of color and I used my PTI inks to sponge in more color to follow the color recipe. I hope you can see the triangles both in the embossing and in the patterned vellum.

With or without a flash, it's very difficult for me to photograph vellum overlays when they are colored, so I found it was best to lay the card flat for the photo. (Of course it would have been better without a shadow of my big fat head.) This card makes me happy and I wanted to share it with you without making your eyeballs water. What kind of happy would that be?!

Here is the PTI photo, color, and sketch challenge inspiration that I followed:

Since I used a vellum overlay on my card, I am also entering it into the current Make It Monday: Vellum Overlay Challenge tutored by the talented Danielle. 

Short and sweet as I'm typing this Tuesday night to schedule for tomorrow. Thank you for all your good wishes regarding my eye appointment. It turned out I didn't need my eyes dilated until my next visit, but it was still a busy beehive kinda day. I'm skootching off to bed so my bunny feet will be fresh and springy for the hop!

(I'll be back with my New Friends Corner in my next post.)

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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 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!

Project Details
Paper	PTI white and aqua mist; Pink Paislee color wash banner which I sponged with PTI inks
Stamps	None
Ink	Orange zest, summer sunrise, berry sorbet, and hibiscus burst
Accessories	Die: PTI "One-Liners Happy Die" EF: Lifestyle Crafts "Linear"

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.
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Mwah!

Happy Birthday, Barb!

I hope you're having a terrific Tuesday!

I am just popping in with a birthday card I made for my friend Barb G of Barb's Studio Creations, Happy Birthday to yoooooo and many, many more!! I hope you enjoy your special day! If you don't know Barb, you should check out her blog where you will find gorgeous CAS card art!!

There is a party going on up in this card's head. From looking at it, you won't be surprised to hear that Hammy the hamster is back from his dallydiddly in Hollywood making those Sprint commercials. Ms. Thing was able to visit for the entire last week and I'm pretty sure she went home with a lot of blingadingadoo coz the little Hammy dude came home with little empty Hammy pockets! Which is fine with me, otherwise there would be no living with a Hamster Of Means, if you know what I mean. He is back up in my head where he belongs, he is newly humbled, and he went right to work making this foo-foo fabulous party card for Barb!

The DSP papers, ribbon, and sediment are all from Stampin' Up. The tag is from My Favorite Things "Tag You're It," the embossing powder is from Zing, and the embellies are from Mrs. Grossman, Mr. K. and my stash.

I am finally getting the opera tuna tea to play in the new The Challenge sketch challenge created by the multi-talented and energetic Lesley! Here is the sketch:

Another challenge owned by the busy Lesley is Seize the Birthday and I'm also entering my card there. The current challenge is "Anything Goes" with no toppings, so how easy is that? Make sure you pop over and enter those birthday cards you're making!

The links provided will take you to the challenges where you will find the information regarding rules, sponsors, and prizes.

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New Friends Corner

Helen F. of Handmade Cards by Helen. Helen has been blogging since 2009. Helen is from sunny Florida and now that she only works outside the home one day a week, she has lots of time to travel and make cards. In addition, Helen loves photography, gardening, and sewing. She makes happy CAS cards and you'll often find her playing in the Make it Monday PTI challenges!

Heather of Houses Built of Cards. Heather has been blogging since 2010. She is well-known in our community from her service on many design teams and she was a Stamping Royalty winner in 2014! In addition to making beautiful cards, she sells them to fund a ministry called Sister Connection which you can read more about on Heather's blog. She is a talented and giving card artist!

Kathe D. of Kathe's Adventures. Kathe has been blogging since 2009. You will enjoy your romp through Kathe's blog with her wonderful card art and warm writing style! She is an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator who enjoys entering challenges where her entries are often recognized!

Robin Johnston. Robin, I'm sorry but when I click on your name which is hyperlinked in the thumbnails, I get a Blogger 404 error. Please email me (address on my profile page) and let me know if you have a blog that I can mention!

Julia of Julia Sue's Stamping. Julia is another stamper who has been blogging since 2009! She is also a Stampin' Up demonstrator. You will love her cards and tutorials and the passion that she has for this incredible hobby. As a designer and award-winner, she has tons of inspiration waiting for you!

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

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I may not be on again for a couple of days. I am off to have my head eyes examined and for various reasons, it takes my eyes a long time to recover from dilation. I was an unruly pupil as a child and the pupils in my eyes act out in the same way! When I get home, they will go straight to the Naughty Chair!

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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 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:

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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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Mwah!

HURRY, THE CHALLENGE CLOSES AT NOON PDT ON FRIDAY!

June 6, 2014 - June 27, 2014
Thank you for your overwhelming support and enthusiasm!
Here

True Friends II

A Happy Monday Hello!

Aaaah, that's right, the start of a fresh new week with the aroma of new beginnings in the air!

If you hate your job, that prolly made you throw up a little bit in your mouth. Sorry. But, let's be Frank, you really do control your own attitude about the whole thing. Did you know that smiling takes less energy and burns more calories than frowning? And dentists have discovered that people who smile have stronger teeth which are more resistant to decay than the teeth of frowners, whose teeth never see the light of day!

You're welcome. I love doing Public Service Pronouncements.

On to my card which is very familiar with yesterday's card. 

This time I watercolored a scrap piece using SU reinkers and lots of water and just picking the paper up to let the drops go yither and hon. I mean hither and yon. There's a huge difference. One way involves ink drops on the floor, so I don't want to mislead you.

I think the rest is self-exploratory. The embossing folder is SU "square lattice." No NBUS on my card today! 

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I am entering this card in the Less Is More challenge where the theme is, appropriately "watercolour."

I'm also entering Simply Create To where the brief is to let the "sentiment be the highlight" of your card.

Please click on the links to find the challenge rules and information on sponsors and prizes!

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New Friends Corner

I am delighted to introduce you to five more new friends who have been patiently queuing up outside the Playhouse to meet you!

Anne of Stargroves. Anne has been blogging, serving on design teams, and winning awards in card artistry since 2008! She makes the most excellent CAS cards and I see her often in challenges that I enter. She lives in the UK and besides making cards, she enjoys quilting, and horse jump racing. You'll be happy to spend hours visiting her!

Karen Hasheck of Karen's Kreative Kards. Karen likes k letters like I do! Unlike me, Karen has been blogging since 2009 and has had hundreds of cards published! She holds cardmaking classes at her home in central Wisconsin USA and even started her own blog charity called Send a Smile 4 Kids! So there are two worthwhile sites for you to visit! On a personal note, I have to share that Karen has really made an effort to visit, follow, and comment on her fellow participants in my NBUS Challenge and she has gained over 20 followers from doing so! Thank you, Karen for being an enthusiastic sister blogger!

KT Fit Kitty of KT Designs. KT has been blogging since 2013. She is a design team member and award-winner whose card art has been published. She is the Queen of Challenges! KT makes such fun and happy cards, mostly with charming critters on them that will make you smile all over your face!  

Britt Casey. Thank you for following me, Britt! I have been unable to find a blog for you, but I think I have located you on Facebook and messaged you. If you have a blog that you would like me to mention, please let me know!

Theresa Krout of Inky Fingers. Theresa has been blogging since 2011, but only sporadically. She shares my love for organization! In addition to making wonderful cards, Theresa loves scrapbooking and her work as a home health aide keeps her busy. She is hoping to get her craft room back up and running and I know a visit and an encouraging comment from you will go a long way in making her feel welcome in this wonderful community.

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

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Addendum to Yesterday's Post:

I mentioned that I wasn't that keen on the ribbons on my card yesterday. A lot of you thought it was just great as it was, but I had to experiment. I liked reader Carole Pollard's suggestion that I try a white ribbon, so I did. Which do you like better, now that you see the before and after shots?

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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 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!

June 6, 2014 - June 27, 2014
Thank you for your overwhelming support and enthusiasm!
Here