The Doves of Christmas Past

Hi there! Happy Sunday Funday!

I hope you had a colossal Christmas and that lots of laughter is resounding throughout your house as the kids are enjoying their new toys, or from your craft room as you are enjoying your new toys! As you are mulling your wine and your thoughts about creative ideas, don't forget there will be a brand new NBUS Challenge starting here on Thursday to brrring in the new year!

Today I want to show you the fun I had with a NBUS Serendipity bird die I received in a gorgeous Christmas card from my friend Jeanne. Thank you so much, Jeanne, and thank you for sending it early because I had time to make a lot of Christmas cards with it! It's called a bird die, but it looked like a Christmas dove of peace, love, and joy to me!

Earlier this year, I made several glossy and inky backgrounds by applying Tim Holtz alcohol inks and blending solution to pieces of glossy card stock, a technique I learned from my friend Laurie. I intentionally left some of the background sheets with the inks clearly separated ala a stained glass look and I used one of those to cut out my bird die:

What I love is that even though you can clearly see I simply laid the die in the upper corner to get the maximum use of the sheet, the coloring "landed" in a perfectly beautiful way on the glossy bird!

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And then, well, naturally, I needed to use up all those jewellike snippity pieces, right? So I turned to the beautiful handmade crocheted circles I purchased last year from my friend Jessi to make a few remnant cards like this:

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Next I used a background sheet that I created using marbles. Papa is always telling the twins that Bama is losing her marbles. They used to look at him big-eyed with solemn concern. Now they look at him in that long-suffering way relatives look at one another and they droll, "Papa, you're a fine one to talk about losing marbles!"

The point is ... wait. What was the point? Ha. Ha. The point is, some of my marbles are in the Playhouse inside an old SU clear acrylic box. I add a few drops of various colors of reinkers to the box and then let Hammy slosh it around. Before too long, background papers are created from which I can cut beautiful things, like doves:

I do love these wine and sage Christmasish colors and the grungy design from the marbles. Raise your hand if you are dying to drop some wee dribbles of color onto that white card background to mimic the design on the bird.

I'll be honest, I felt the same way, but unfortunately, I didn't get that vision until after I'd stuck the bird on with release-defying pop-dots and I was too afraid to go off with Willy and Nilly and add splatter with the bird in place. Not to mention, I was also afraid it might end up looking like the bird had done doo-doo on the card, so I just left it alone.

Here is the LINK to the awesome Serendipity Stamps bird die.

Challenges

But, of course:

• Serendipity SSCB #38 Sparkle and Shine. My first time here I think! I hope there is enough shine on my glossy birds to qualify.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground. I've used a ton of wee tiny snippets bits.
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where "Anything Goes!"
• TIME OUT Challenges, with the brief is "Christmas is Love With all the Trimmings."

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New Friends Corner

I've got several new friends who have come to call at the Playhouse! I know you'll enjoy spending some time introducing yourselves and getting to know them as much as I have!

Patricia Rodriguez of Patsy's Scrapbooking. Patry has been blogging since 2013. Her layered and textured cards, smash books, projects, and scrapbook layouts are all sensational. She enters and wins challenges and her passion and enthusiasm for this hobby are clearly evident!

Neli. I have no further information.

Donna of Inky and Quirky. Donna is a brilliant mixed media artist. She has only been blogging since April of this year, but she is a multi-award winner and designer. She draws freehand, carves her own stamps, and is just what she calls herself: inky and quirky. I think you'll love her when you stop everything and take a minute to go and welcome her to this wonderful blogging community!

Willeke of Lotus Blooms Creative Blog. (I'm not sure of the translation.) Willeke has been blogging since September 2013. She is a design team member and challenge award winner. Her clean and simple cards will melt your heart!

Melissa of Sunshine HoneyBee. Melissa has been blogging since 2010. In addition to making excellent cards and tags and scrapbooking, Melissa loves calligraphy, photography, and croquet. Sorry, crochet. I like to check and see if you're paying attention every now and then. I know you'll love visiting Sunshine Honey Bee!

Amy Ottmers of AO Creations. Amy has only been blogging since July of this year! You know I would love for you to pop in to see her as soon as possible and give her a special welcome! It's so wonderful to see young and enthusiastic crafters wanting to carry on this hobby of making handmade cards and I know you'll enjoy Amy's creations!

*Urška* of Creative Callout. Urška is from Slovenia. She has been blogging since May 2012. Her cards are so pretty and so sweet. She is an artistic soul through and through, which is evident throughout her blog. You will find uplifting inspiration when you visit her!

Holly of KopyKat Creations. Holly has been blogging since 2010. She loves challenges, is an award-winner, and has been on many design teams with her amazing talent and exuberant attitude. As you can imagine, she has lots of wonderful inspiration waiting for you!

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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!

  

 

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Sorry for the cloudy day photography.