I Love You More! Meet the New NBUS Riders! NBUS: #135

Hello! Hello!

Take a deep breath! Ah, the freshness of a brand-new Monday! There is nothing like it!

I needed to make some anniversary cards, three in fact. Just like graduations, June is a time for weddings and what follows weddings? Babies! Oh, well, that, too, but this time I was thinking of yearly anniversaries. With the success rate of divorces ... wait. What? It's sad, but true, so every anniversary is a cause of much celebrating!

I have had the idea of this card in my head for some time. It came together, but it was like pulling teeth. I always say I love it when a card practically makes itself (well, duh, who doesn't?), so it stands to reason that there will be times when a card will fight you all the way. Sometimes you give in and give up and sometimes, dagnabbit rabbit, you refuse!

Put on your shades! 

The sunset colors were made with my NBUS Tim Holtz DI markers scribbled on an acrylic block, spritzed, and then stamped onto watercolor paper. The couple is from one of my all-time favorite SU sets called "Summer by the Sea." To make the happy couple more noticeable against the riot of background color, I applied some hash marks to the image with a black outliner pen.

The "husband, wife ..." is also by SU and the "Happy Anniversary" is from the PTI set, "Think Big Favorites #24." The conversation bubbles are NBUS from the Amy Tangerine stamp collection. The hot button is from my stash.

Everything is as I imagined it would be except for the part where I schmudged the "MORE" which I hand-wrote on the card. It was fine. It even looked like a stamp made it. But could I leave well enough alone? Oh, no. No. I decided it needed a doodled box around it. But then I thought the box around it was a little bit crookedy, so I made the outline thicker in order to straighten it. And then one side was too thin so I made that thicker. So now my card said sweetly: "I heart U." "I heart U" black box. You know, like he had called her a bleep and the censors had put a black box over it. Really?

I came THIS close to throwing it out, but I had put too much into it, so I held my ground and just stamped "MORE" on a yellow scrap of paper and popped it up on the card. The "MORE" word was cut from a stamp in my NBUS Tim Holtz set "Playful Journey." Goodness, lots of different companies played together on this card!

I hear some of you asking the obvious question, where the heck is Hammy? Very a stoot of you! I wouldn't have had so much trouble making my card if Hammy had been here. Hollywood called and Hammy is now a star making Sprint commercials! They call him Tom and he has a mobster accent! Here's a YouTube video. I'm going to give him his 15 minutes of fame and then I want him BACK!

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I am entering my card into the current FUSION challenge. The colors are obvious and if you turn the sketch on it's side and bring the sides in to make it narrow, there is my layout. It's been a long time since I've done a  true fusion!

I'm also playing in the Mod Squad Challenge where the theme is "Happy Anniversary."

And I'm also linking to the current Time Out Challenge which is "summer" (w/o the option of flowers). I should have doodled a flower on the beach. My bad.

Make sure you click on the challenge links to find the details on rules, sponsors, and prizes. Even if you can't join in, you will find fantastic inspiration from the Guest Designers and Design Teams!

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NBUS Challenge #1 Reminder

I want to thank all of you who immediately sent me comments of support and then entered your card in the gallery of my first-ever NBUS Challenge! Talk about inspiration, there are some amazing entries!! I so appreciate your participation. After supporting numerous challenges and friends in the last couple of years, it's fun to have that love returned! The information on the NBUS Challenge can be found here. The Challenge is open until June 27, 2014. Please make sure you read the rules and paste this button on your blog post featuring your card entry. Thank you!

I would also like to remind you that I am the co-Guest Designer for the month of June at a new challenge that would love to have more participants!! Please do join me by linking your card to Words 2 Scrap By where the theme is "Oh, The Places You Will Go!"

Thank you, everyone! MWAH!

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New Friends Corner

It turns out the letters BUS in my acronym were appropriate as A TON of new friends have taken the N Bus right up to the Playhouse!! There are so many, in fact, that I'm going to introduce them to you in groups of five. I want you to click on the links and I think if there are too many it will become a job, and we don't want that now, do we?

Today, first and foremost, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the new friend who was responsible for the 500 milestone mark which precipitated the first NBUS Challenge! Her name is Simonne Clay and she has been writing her blog Semsee Crafts and making her award-winning cards since 2010. There is a ton of inspiration on her delightful blog, a lot of it whimsical, which is always a treat!

Joyce M. of Cards-by-the-Sea. Joyce has been blogging since 2011 and she is one of the most creative and prolific card artists I know. It isn't unusual to visit her and find an array of a half-dozen cards in one post! I have trained myself now to place my left hand under my chin to hold it up before I click to open her blog! I mean, seriously!

Mary Anne (MA54K) of Lakeside Stamping. Mary Anne has been blogging since 2009 and you know that means tons of goodies are there for you to scroll stroll through and enjoy! Mary Anne's blog is a happy, lighthearted place and her terrific cards are a reflection of that!

Jenny of My Paper Epiphany. Jenny has been blogging since 2011. Jenny is another prolific card artist who makes the most beautiful clean and simple (CAS) cards! She always nails the challenges she enters, so she has won many awards!

I'll finish today's introductions with Shery of One-Layer, CAS, and Mixed Media Cards. Shery has been blogging since 2012. She is an award-winner who serves on many Design Teams and she has also started up her own challenges, which you can find on the side bar of her blog. Whatever style of card art inspiration you are looking for, Shery's blog is the place to go!

Thank you so much for joining, ladies! Welcome to the Playhouse!

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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!

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Mwah!