Hammy's Birthday!

Hello and welcome to Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and you are becited to see what this fresh new week has in store for you! I have special company arriving tomorrow so this will be another awesome week in the Playhouse!

It started on Sunday when we celebrated Hammy's birthday! I thought you might enjoy this photo of the happy event:

Joining the celebration is Hammy's old girlfriend ... oh, sorry, that word gets people in trouble! I should say Hammy's former girlfriend/baby mama. You all remember Ms. Thing! Well, some of you won't remember her, but you can go back and meet her if you have time. The whole shebang is liberally awash with Stella, but natchrally, it doesn't show.

[Both stamps are NBUS: "Birthday Hamster" from Stampingbella and "Hamster" from Deep Red (thank you again, Sam!). The sediment is a sticker from SRM.]

Here is another photo of Hammy, this time with Freckles and Sofia.

Wait. What? Who is Sofia?

Well, Sofia is a lady mouse my friend Ros sent to me following my trip to England. It was lovingly and meticulously made and hand-stitched by Ros's 89-year-young Aunt! Thank you again, Ros!

So with the addition of little Cisco, The Real-Life Dog, we had a festivas time celebrating Hammy's birthday! In his famous words, "May all your cupcakes be crumby!"

Challenges

• ColourQ: Below.
• {PIN}spirational Challenge: Hammy!! (My first time here! How could I not play?!)
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Clean and simple.
• Virginia's View Challenge: Splatter.

~~~

New Friends Corner

Please join me in welcoming these lovely new friends to the Playhouse!

Gwendolyn of Desperate Housewife Craft. Gwendolyn is another blogger brand new to our community! She only started her blog in February of this year, but you may have already seen her exceptional work recognized in some of the challenges you enjoy. Originally from Singapore, Gwendolyn has lived in New Zealand, France, and now Germany. Retired from the corporate world, Gwendolyn is enjoying being at home with her children and exploring her creative side. In addition to her love of paper craft, she also loves to paint, crochet, and make soy candles. I know you will enjoy sharing Gwendolyn's journey!

Brenda of Floral Fantasies. Brenda started her blog in 2009! She really needs no introduction as she is a well-known and well-loved lady in Blogland! Even though Brenda suffers from MS, she creates the most extraordinary card art imaginable and she is a source of great inspiration to those of us with health challenges! (And I love her doggie profile photo which reminds me of our Salty who was with us for 16 years.)

Isabelle Siry of Izzy Scrap. Izzy is from France and she just started her blog in May of this year at the encouragement of her supportive husband and children. She has been scrapping since 2010, but she bought her very first stamping supplies about 20 years ago in order to make her own Christmas cards. I think a lot of card artists did that! In addition to paper craft, Izzy enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. I know when you pop in to welcome Izzy to our fantastic community, you will be enchanted and inspired by her beautiful work!

Cathy Cates of Cathy's Creative Corner. Cathy is from Adelaide, Australia and she also started blogging in 2009! In addition to paper craft, Cathy loves photography, quilting, beading, knitting, crocheting, and cross-stitch. She is one busy lady, so she hasn't been blogging as much this past year, but there is still plenty of beautiful card art and inspiration for you to enjoy on her blog!

Sam of Whispers Cards. Sam is from the UK and she has been blogging since 2010. Sam is a huge Penny Black devotee and you will see that represented throughout her blog as you scroll through and see how she makes those images sing. Adorable, colorful, cheerful, and expertly made are words that best describe Sam's delightful card art and I know you'll agree once you've seen them for yourself!

Thank you for joining, ladies, and welcome to the Playhouse! It's nice to have three bloggie experts and two bloggie newbies!

~~~

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!