It's a Loose Moose

Hi there! Happy Saturday!

Wacha doing? Chilling on the weekend? Surfing around for card ideas? Catching up with friends? Googling yourself ...

Yesterday during my nursing lunch break, I went out to the Playhouse to read this week's challenge themes aloud to Hammy as he chased his tail. It's a thing we do. That's his way of thinking, remembering, connecting the dots, lining up the ones that jive with each other, eggsetra. When I got to the Christmas challenges and told him that Merry Monday's challenge was to use a moose, he squealed and did a somersault halt.

When Hammy squealed, that made me squeal, too, even though I didn't know why. It's funny how reactive we are, isn't it? Then we both looked at each other, startled by our squealing. Hammy quickly reminded me that we have had an orphan moose die-cut in our Bits Box since the last century. Well, hello! That made me squeal for reals.

And I made this with it:

I grabbed some pretty linen paper in both white and embossed cream. I cut the snowbank with a Paper Smooches "Borders" die. The adorable bit of moose ribbon that I've been dying to use is also ages old. The sediment, however, is NBUS! It is from Stamping All Day. The hooveprint shadows were hand-drawn. 

The rusted jingle bells and gold threaded twine made for a festive collar for the big guy. I bought them rusted like that. Seriously. I'm lazy like that.

I'm trying to picture how the conversation went between the store owner and the jingle-bell maker when the owner told him she would buy several hundred packages of jingle bells, but only if the manufacturer first left them out in the rain to get rusty before packaging them.

It makes me giggle to think of it, but, I mean, c'mon, you have to admit they're perfect for the moose bling so the gal knew what she was doing!

Challenges

• Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes.
• Colour Me ...! Striking.
• Less Is More: Masculine.
• Merry Monday Christmas Challenge: The Moose is Loose.

Today's Twofer

Recently I made a few thank you cards and one of them went to my friend Kylie who runs Happy Little Stampers (HLS) along with a few other challenges and companies. When Hammy and I saw that Simon was holding a watercolor challenge, we thought it would be a good time to post this:

I was trying to replicate the logo for HLS. HLS is a wonderful forum for crafters and I think you will enjoy joining in! Here is the logo if you're not familiar with it:

That was fun! I used my KGT paints. I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Wonderful Watercolor.

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New Friends Corner

Here are five more talented new friends for you to get to know!

Diane Marsh of Keep For Ever Cards. Diane has been blogging now and then since 2009. When life doesn't get in the way ~ which it occasionally does for all of us ~ Diane shares her beautiful cards lovingly made for family and friends. Diane will also inspire you with her conscientious use of her scraps!

Jan Clothier of Scrapbooking Stuff. Jan is from New Zealand and she has been blogging since March of 2013. She has been scrapbooking for about six years and making cards for a little over a year. Like so many of us, Jan enjoys entering challenges.  She has won many awards for her CAS cards which show her magnificent attention to detail.

Majo Wybranietz of Majo's Art. Majo has been blogging since 2010. She is a designer whose work has been oft-published and she is well-recognized for her challenge wins. Majo also shares with her readers tips and photo tutorials on new techniques. You will be inspired by Majo's talented card designs and altered art creations!

Janice Stone of Jan's Journey. Jan is brand new, having just started her blog in May! She is so thrilled to be on this wonderful new blogging journey and her enthusiasm is very contagious! I know it would mean the absolute world to her if you stopped in to say hi and introduce yourself. And while you are there, you can admire her fabulous cards!

Carole Burrage of Mother's Little Helper (TruCarMa on Splitcoast Stampers). Carole started blogging in - wow - 2007! She is one of the founders of our little community in Blogland and you better believe you will find a ton of inspiration at her place! And I don't just mean card inspiration. Once you read Carole's "About Me," you will be inspired by how she manages to juggle all the life balls that have landed in her basket!

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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 join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!

The kids and kidlets are coming over for lunch today, so we're looking forward to that as we are now in the sixth slow and boring week of recovery!

*Life is too short!

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