Pewter's Turn

Greetings! Happy Sunday Funday!

I've kept on with the theme of both metallics and Christmas in the Playhouse with today's card for you:

Another hard-to-photograph card because of all that yummy shine. I wanted to play in the Muse: Christmas Visions challenge where Guest Designer Stephanie Klauck made a pretty card for us. Hammy was feeling a bit rebellious so he didn't want to do a reindeer image and chose a vo candle stamp from The Rubbernecker Stamp Company. I started with a green wash using my KGT paints to mimic Stephanie's green background. I used the red because of the pop of red on the Muse inspiration and the yellow? I mean, you know, it had to be there.

I was planning to use my silver ep next, but it has gone bad. I didn't know it could do that, but when I used the heat gun, the powder went shiny for a split second in splotches and then even those immediately turned to matte. No worries, I also had a container of SU pewter which looks a lot like silver and melts like a dream. 

Okay, so what happened next was I realized that I needed to do two more things to pay homage to the Muse. I needed to introduce black somehow and I needed to use the same sediment because, after all, it was the "shine" that determined the choice of the candle stamp.

I cut out the painted image and held it up against black card. I thought it really brought out the picture, so I ran the black through my BS with my Lil' Inkers rectangle stitched die and matted that to red and then adhered it to the card base. In doing so, I reverse the color scheme of Stephanie's card, using more black and less green with my design.

The sediment was surgically created. I called in a team of doctoral geologists (led by my in-house geologist Dr. Mister) who specialize in sediment plastic surgery and reconstruction. After sedation, the "Sunshine" script word from PTI's "Hello Sunshine" was operated on. The capital S was removed, followed by the "hine." The two dissected ends were then successfully joined together on an acrylic block for the performance. After inking and delivery, I'm happy to report that recovering the original sediment was successful. The word "bright" from Avery Elle's set "Merry & Bright" was used unmolested in its original format. 

Here is Stephanie's beautiful Muse card! 

I'm also playing in the Jingle Belles challenge which is to "Banish the Blues" and in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge of "Anything Goes."

~~~

Look Again

I wasn't going to say anything more about what's going on with my health, but I had this situation ...

I think a lot of you more "experienced" ladies can relate to this. For several days I was noticing when I looked in the mirror that my skin was very dry and seemingly overnight I had developed a LOT of fine lines and wrinkles around my mouth. I started moisturizing three times a day to no avail.

Finally, about five days in, I noticed that the area seemed less dry. As I was still intently looking at the affected area, I put on my brand new glasses.

BAM! My wrinkles were back again!!

I just stood there and laughed. No point in crying, after all! So I don't have any more wrinkles and my skin is not getting any more drier because of my medication. But my vision is better because I got new glasses and now I can SEE all those fine lines and wrinkles that I wasn't able to see with my old glasses!

So the next time your grandma or one of your girlfriends makes a comment about how great her skin looks and all you see is a mess of wrinkles, don't assume she is delusional! She prolly just needs new glasses!

~~~

New Friends Corner

Please help me welcome these new friends which brings me up to date. If you haven't seen yourself introduced, it is because I couldn't find you just by your name or nickname and picture. (Or it was a case of operator error.) Please feel free to contact me to let me know. It's important to leave a comment and your blog name (if you have one) when you follow someone so they can find you to return the compliment. Also, if you are a new subscriber, thank you for that, but if you would like to be included in the New Friends Corner, you should also click the "Join This Site."

I want to warmly welcome:

Lia of Lia's Designs and so ... . Lia is from the Netherlands and started blogging in July 2011.  She is a challenge player and winner and a design team member. In addition to paper crafting, Lia enjoys scrapping, embroidery, reading, painting, and traveling in a motorhome. Lia is also a writer and a designer for several Dutch craft magazines, so you know her work is very beautiful and inspirational!

Cris G. of The Papabric Writer. Cristina is from Portugal and she only began blogging THIS MONTH! Cris has been a crafty gal her whole life. She became interested in paper crafting about three years ago and actually started playing in challenges and posting her cards on Flickr (Cris G: Pap-a-bric) in April of 2013. I'm delighted that she finally started a blog so that more of you can find her and enjoy her award-winning and breathtaking card art! Please take a few minutes to welcome Cris to Blogland!

Leanne of Lee Arts. Lee started blogging in 2010. The first years she didn't post often, but she has recently really gotten into her stride and been blogging more just this April and May. In that sense, she is a bit of a newbie and could use your encouragement as she juggles her love of making card art with being a wife, a mom of three, and a nurse. Whether stamped, folded, quilled, or shaped, Leanne's cards will impress you!

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

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* 

Happy Memorial Day on Monday! Thank you to all who serve our nation in the military and to their families who sacrifice so much!

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!

*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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Mwah!
If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me
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Platinum Snowflakes

Hi there!

I've a penchant for metals this week, didja notice? 

Don't you find penchant to be a funny-sounding word for what it means? It means the same as desire, but somehow desire holds much more promise. And then there is predilection, which also means the same thing, but somehow sounds like a felony. I can see it now on page three of the Tribune: Mr. Samuel P. Henbinevert was charged yesterday with three counts of predilection. A raiment will be held on Friday the 27th.

Today's card features a raiment of pearl pastels and sumptuous platinum:

While fun to make, this OLC was, by far, the hardest card I've ever photographed. Platinum and pastels are persnickity! This photo was the best of the 38 I took, but it doesn't do justice to the real life shiny appearance. The snowflakes are from Papertrey Ink's "Friendship Jar Fillers," embossed with liquid platinum from Ranger. The embossed sediment is also from PTI, but I don't have the name of the set.

I was inspired by this very awesome photo challenge for the Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop:

I picked up on the pastel watercolors. Instead of words, I used an overlay of snowflakes. This is an all-day event if you'd like to be quick like silver (keeping with my theme) and join in today!

I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which is anything goes and the "Clean and Simple" category at The Card Concept Sweet Tea (photo) challenge, which is lovely pastels and metallics.

And because I finally made a Christmas card, I'm also joining the Rudolph Days Challenge over at Scrappy Mo's. If you're helping me keep track, I'm minus 73 where I wanted to be in the finished Christmas card department for this year. It occurs to Hammy and me that perhaps we were a bit hasty in adopting out all our furry helpers. Smack!

~~~

Windows 10

I'm hoping this doesn't jinx something, but I have to tell you that upgrading to 10 was a breeze. The Mister said it was the easiest upgrade he's ever done. Like ten minutes easy. It went out and found drivers for all our schtuff and everything works, even our six-year-old printer! The photo process did change, but I quickly saw how to tell it where to file my downloads and from there I did edits like normal using Picasa. I'm guessing they got a lot of bugs out of the earlier versions which had people tearing their hair out. 

I wanted to share that good news ~ she says, ginfers crossed!

~~~

New Friends Corner

Once again, I'm delighted to introduce you to five new friends!

Emily Shroom of Pen and Paperie. Emily is from Australia and she has been blogging since 2012. Emily is a Tim enthusiast and does amazing art with his techniques and with digi stamps. She has a long and impressive list of challenges she enters and awards she has won. You'll find lovely inspiration throughout her blog!

Swapna Patel of The Dream Pages. Swapna is from India and she became active on her blog in 2015. Swapna has a huge range of artistic talent when it comes to paper crafting. You will notice that she, too, loves to enter challenges where she has been recognized many times. You will be inspired by everything Swapna makes, from stunning sponged one-layered cards to incredible 3D projects!

Shell of My Time. Shell is from New Zealand and she has been blogging since 2007! How had we not met before now? Shell has embraced my NBUS idea wholeheartedly, which I love. I also love how happy and colorful (and beautifully watercolored) her card art is and the way she shows you her process along the way!

Frau Nicole Vögeli of Frau Vögeli (Mrs. Birdie). Nicole has been blogging since June of 2015, so she'll soon be celebrating her first blog birthaversary! Congratulations, Nicole! You may already be familiar with Nicole, either on design teams, or as a guest designer, or as an award winner. If not, you are in for a treat as you discover her wonderfully crisp and clean card art!

Carol H. of Crafting By Carol. Carol started blogging in 2015 as a way to have a photo journal of her card art and to enter challenges. The mother of two daughters, Carol started out making Christmas cards ten years ago with a light box, brass stencils, and a stylus. Remember those days! That was a lot of work! About five years ago, Carol started checking out card blogs and joining in online classes. Her cards are really sensational and show the extensive talent Carol has honed over the years!

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

~~~

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!

*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 a pop-up box opens.
Click "Jump to Comment Form" and walla, no more car pool tunnel!
Mwah!
If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me
your email address so I can respond. Thank you!

Gold Beachiness

Greetings, stamplings!

There really is a Gold Beach. Well, come to think of it, there are prolly a lot of Gold Beaches in the world. The one I'm referring to is in the state of Oregon. We've enjoyed ourselves there many times. Our young son gathered up a lot of the beach in his swimwear and let me tell you, I didn't find any gold when I swept it out of the door of the camper!

If it were gold, I think it might look something like this:

A simple shaker made with circle dies and gold and coral sandals. All the dies are from Lil' Inkers. The gold-embossed NBUS sediment is from Technique Tuesday's "Summer" stamp set. The gold fragments are from a kit that Papertrey Ink sold a few years back. The day was overcoast (haha, my typos karack me up), but just as I was taking my pictures, the sun broke through the clouds, reflecting off the acetate. It's the little things.

If the card is standing upright, the gold looks like sand particles. Hopefully. Maybe. I also added a little bit of fine glitter.

It looks like I did something really spongey and artistic with the shaker background, but before you give me all kina kudos for it, let me admit that it is just a snippet of pretty sunset pp I've had in my stash since the last century. 

Challenges

• CAS Mix Up May Card Challenge: Heat Embossing +.
• The Paper Players: A Sketch from Laurie.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets!

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Schtuff 'n Such

Thank you to all of you who have asked how I'm doing in your comments. I'm feeling much better, but still wasting a big chunk of each afternoon napping, so I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you individually. And not only that, what happened was the Mister turned on the PC and walked away for a minute and Windows 10 was downloaded before he could click an emphatic NO. He's my IT guy and he's been busy, but it will get sorted in a few days. (I'm not as nimble and quick on these here other deVices.) I appreciate those of you who have remained constant the last many months as it's been one thing after tother. Mwah!

~~~

New Friends Corner

It gives me great joy to welcome these new friends and I'd like you to welcome them, too!

Michelle Gleeson of Stampin' Mojo. Michelle began blogging in August 2013. She is an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator who showcases the product beautifully with her pretty cards and she's on the Design Team for Pals Paper Arts. In addition to her cards, Michelle does a marvelous job of capturing her memories in Project Life posts!

K. Ritter of The Kitchen Table Crafter. Kathryn started her blog in 2008, but she only posted sporadically and then took a break from 2013 until a couple of months ago. Now she is posting often and entering challenges. You'll enjoy the read as well as the art! (BTW, she has a generous blog candy offer going on!)

Lynn B. of My Cards n Stuff. Lynn started blogging in 2010. She is a creative designer whose works of card art are often seen in challenge galleries. She also serves on design teams. I think her cards are so inspiring with their bright colors and happy images!

Esther of Siesta Scrap (see Esther scrap!). Esther is from New Zealand and she started her blog in 2009. She doesn't post very often, but when she does, her work is a treat for the eyes. You will find cards, tags, scrapbook layouts, and some truly sensational 3D art projects that you just have to see to believe!

Mouni Koneru of Craft Drama. Mounika has been blogging since June 2015. She is from Bangalore and a microbiologist by trade. Mounika has been paper crafting since 2013 and her beautiful and colorful cards have been rightly recognized in challenges. Her other hobbies include scrapbooking, fabric painting, recycling, and garment designing!  

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

~~~

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!

*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 a pop-up box opens.
Click "Jump to Comment Form" and walla, no more car pool tunnel!
Mwah!
If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me
your email address so I can respond. Thank you!

Pretty Pink Poppies

Hi there!

How's it going? Did your week whoosh by? Did you get a chance to uncover and set up the patio furniture? Change the filter on the air conditioner? Finish up your spring cleaning? Or did you put your prior itties in the proper order and get crafty instead?

I went with the ladder and got crafty! My ittie today is to remind you that there is still a fun challenge going on over at Tag You're It!, in which I am happily guest designing. I made you this mid-challenge tag:

I'm showcasing a NBUS "Perky Poppy" die from Memory Box. The e/f is "Poppy Field" by Darice and the snippet of DSP is vintage from SU. Using a Thinlits die from SU, I made the fishtail banners from the remaining snippet of e/f paper and a snippet of text DSP from my stash. A piece of twine and ombre heart Washi tape round out the ingredients.

Here is the challenge inspiration made for you by the uber-talented TYI Designer Jeanne Jachna:

There aren't many tags in the gallery yet. Jeanne has given you many ways you can go with your interpretation, so I hope you will be able to play with us before the challenge closes!

I'm also sharing my tag with my friends at Pixie's Snippets Playground where the only rule is you have to use your snippets!

~~~

The pretty pink posie paper and personable perky poppy still wanted to play, so Hammy and I prepared a couppla other popular polar opposite negative/positive cards. (If I had to pay $5 for every pee, that sentence would've cost me $105. That's your math for today. Don't come here looking for classes on English or your Grammar because you will be Miss Lead.)

The NBUS giant hugs is from Casual Fridays Stamps "Mwah" set.

Challenges

• AAA Cards: Inlaid Die Cutting.
• Addicted to Stamps and More: Clean and Simple.

Sediment is from Your Next Stamp. The border snippet is made from the reverse side of the floral paper. Go me for using pp!

Challenges

• City Crafter Challenge: Pretty Pink 'n Pastels.
• HLS May CAS Challenge: Inlaid Die Cutting.
• TIME OUT Challenges: May all your weeds be wildflowers.

~~~

Bloggie Friend (BF): You always make me laugh, Darnell. What makes you laugh?
Me:

~~~

New Friends Corner

I am pickled tink to welcome another five new friends today and I hope you will be able to visit them soon and introduce yourself!

Janet of Stamping with "MOO". Janet started her blog in 2007. In 2008 she discovered challenges. She posts intermittently as she works full-time and also enjoys hiking, biking, kayaking, hot-rodding, and motorcycling! It's wonderful that she enjoys so many hobbies and makes such delightful cards for our inspiration!

Glennis F. of Creating Cards. Glennis began blogging in 2010. Unlike me, Glennis is a woman of few words, but that's okay. Her wonderful gallery-style of blogging allows us to scroll along the page and see lots and lots of extraordinary cards. You'll also notice that she is regularly recognized by challenges for her beautiful designs!

Cara Gregory of Crafting Bunnies. Cara started blogging March 2015. Happy belated blog birthaversary, Cara! As her blog name suggests, Cara has two crafty bunnies ~ real critters, not imaginary like my Hammy! Cara started blogging in order to join in challenges and it's been a treat to get to know her and enjoy her delightful card art!

Lisa Tilson of My Card Trip. Lisa only started blogging in February of this year, so please make an extra special effort to click over and welcome Lisa to our wonderful community in Blogland! After making cards for years following in her mother's footsteps, Lisa started stalking blogs (especially Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner) and taking card classes to learn new techniques. Then, lucky for us, she started her own blog!

Heidi Stamps of My Little Stamping Blog. Heidi started blogging in 2014, but she has really gotten passionate about it this year. Her card art has received recognition in challenges and I think you will be delighted and inspired by her cards, which I find to be uplifting and cheerful! 

~~~

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!

*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 a pop-up box opens.
Click "Jump to Comment Form" and walla, no more car pool tunnel!
Mwah!
If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me
your email address so I can respond. Thank you!