Santa's Belt Buckle and Joyful Rusticity!

Hello Stamplings!

I've fallen down on being committed to making my Christmas cards. Thank goodness I didn't break a hip! But seriously, I know that if I don't get back on the scheduled train to the post office by the end of November, I'll be committed to the loony bin instead! You can avert your eyes if the sunshine around you prevents you from enjoying the sight of C cards, but you'll miss a coupla cute designs. 

Onefer

When I was at the Impress stamp store in Seattle I bought a few rolls of Washi tape and this one of Santa's belt was irresistible! A sediment from MFT and shazambam! I believe in the magic of making QACAS Christmas cards! The sunshine makes Santa's belt look tarnished, but PAH-leez! Bite your tongue if you think for one minute Mrs. Claus would allow her husband out of the house with a tarnished belt buckle! Trust me, it is pure gold and schparkly.

This even CASier design captures the gold a little better:

Challenges

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: AG with option of Washi tape.
• Sparkles Christmas Challenge: Santa.
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas Goes.

and card two:

• CAS(E) This Sketch

 

Twofer

This card was made specifically to participate in the last challenge of Merry Monday which calls for rustic Christmas cards. I sometimes confuse rustic with vintage, but I think rustic means lots of texture with an outdoorsy country feel. The corduroy texture paper makes a unique card background. The birch trees and cardinals are from a NBUS Mama Elephant die. The JOY is from Hero Arts.

You might wonder how I made those birch trees. About (cough) years ago my friend Gail sent me a few goodies and among them were a coupla sheets of soft fabric-like black and white paper with a raised pattern of flocked flowers and flourishes. Hammy, who has a great memory of the specialty papers I have, pointed me to these. It not only adds a texture you can feel, but it makes an interesting pattern on the trees.

I want to thank Lesley and Lori and the entire Merry Monday Design Team, past and present, for all their hard work bringing us Merry Monday Christmas challenges to kick us into gear all these years. You will be missed!

Challenges

• Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge: Rustic Christmas.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use those snippets!
• Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.
• The Merry Christmas Challenge: Anything goes.

~~~

Rachel

Several of you have inquired about how our lovely DIL Rachel is doing. With her permission, I can share that she is doing very well. She had a double mastectomy last month and will not need either chemo or radiation. She is still healing and will have her final surgery in September. She wants me to thank you all very much for your care and concern, and for your cards and prayers. We all feel incredibly blessed with the outcome and your friendship!

~~~

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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Timeless

Hello Stamplings!

Please see ETA below re Comment Notifications!

We are going to see the offsprigs for a belated Father's Day dinner later on and I've a million coupla things to do, so I'll get right to it today with this QACAS card to share ~

I love the late-afternoon sunshine on the warm colors. I had to wait until then because we started the first few days of summer with sizzling temps. It was 105F (40C) yesterday, ugh, but thankfully the temps are spose to drop ten degrees today.

Anysizzle, where was I? That pretty old-timey pen is fussy-cut from a piece of pp. The MFT frame is cut from another piece of pp. The sediment is from Hero Arts. Remember those? I kept all mine; to me they're, well, timeless. The schplattered background was made with Gelato sprays I made a few weeks ago for another card and found in Bob, my box of bits.

If you missed my post here where I described how I made Gelato spray, I'll tell you a real quick shortcut. When you're at Max's Frozen Dessert Stand, ask the lady who waits on you if she could put the drippings from the trays under the different cartons of Gelatos into cups for you. When you get home, everything will be all melty and perfect. Don't put them in the freezer. Line up several sheets of cardstock on plastic bags in the back yard or on the patio and then holler for your kids and the neighbor's kids. Let them fill up straws with the different colors and blow them all over your cardstock. Not only are they pretty, but they smell delishus! (The tiniest tots might eat the paper.)

Don't forget to put the dogs and cats and hamsters and fence lizards into a restricted area before you start. Ask me how I know. Oh, and also, you'll need to strip down the kids, hose them off, and do a load of laundry, but that ain't no thing when you get such pretty results. And bonus, you'll have a fun video to share with your closest relatives and, you know, the world.

Challenges

• CAS(E) This Sketch: below.
• Just Add Ink: Just add a window/frame.
• Less Is More: Use something from your "bits" box. I think my background is soft and subtle enough to be considered white. Or no?
• Retro Rubber: Tic Tac Toes. Diagonal: Romantic occasion (anniversary card), patterned paper, and gem/enamel shapes. My sediment is from 2005.
• TIME OUT: Warm.

~~~

The last few days I've been putting together the last of my June cards and getting halfway through July, so I thought I would show you a few more simple Penny Black Stickeroo makes. 

ETA re Comment Notifications:

I noticed this morning that once again I was NOT receiving comments in my email. So frustrating when we thought someone had found the solution. I went back into my Settings / Email and under comment notification, my email address had been removed!! I reentered it, click save settings and now it is working again. WTH? Do we now have to do the Settings fix every time we post? How could my email address have been removed when it was there and working yesterday and I haven't been to Settings since I saved them?!

Please let me know when you post if the fix is still working for you. If so, it must have been a glitch just for me and I hope that's the case! If not, we all need to get on the Blogger Help Forum and blast them with hundreds of complaints!!

~~~

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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Solution to Problem re Receiving Comments via Email

Hello Stamplings!

Great news for those of us who like to receive comments in our email inboxes! 

My friend Kathleen let me know that someone (not Blogger) on the Blogger forum came up with a solution:

1. Go to your dashboard.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Email.
4. Delete your email address and click on "Save Settings" in upper right.
5. Re-enter your email address and click "Save Settings" again.
6. You will then receive an email in your inbox from Blogger confirming that you want to subscribe. Click on the underlined word "Subscribe."

Hopefully that will work and we won't have to remember to leave ourselves a comment and check the box when we publish a post! Thank you, Kath!

Hugs,

p.s. Since I posted this I have already gotten a few comments and I'm happy to say they came in via my email inbox!!!

The Color Purple

Hello Stamplings!

There is a certain quiet that falls over Blogland this time of the year when the sun is warming up backyards and the days are longer. Those of you who live in regions with really nasty long winters become especially quiet as gardens and sports and vacations fill your calendar so you can squeeze in every last drop of summer! Which, by the way, starts tomorrow! Happy first day of summer to this side of the world!

For the rest of you, put another log on the fire and welcome!

Today I have a glass of wine for you ... in its very early stages:

This is a one-layer birthday card for a friend who knows how to savor a glass or two of wine now and then. I made it on the BC retreat during a fun class on working with colored pencils and gamsol. I learned a lot and can't wait to practice some more. The image is from an OOB company. The sediment is from PTI and the border is Washi.

In spite of how flat the image looks above, it is really quite schparkly. Hammy is back and taking lots of naps trying to recover from his weekend away, but he came to life when I waved the winking brush in front of him!

But blue grapes? Really? Yes, grape clusters can be all kinda cool colors.

Challenges

• Moving Along With the Times: Girls Birthday.
• Lost Coast Portal to Creativity: Round and Round.
• TIME OUT: Holiday (optional: one-layer).

I don't have any grape vines in the yard, although there was one along the fence when we first bought this house. The grapes were horrid and then they became fungified so they were pulled out. Now the purples I have are the statice (behind my card photo above) and several butterfly bushes.

This bush is just outside the Playhouse window so I'm distracted and enchanted often by the hummingbirds and the butterflies who love them. The ombre coloring of these blooms is incredible. 

Um, and what have we here?!

It's not always sunshine and lollipops in the garden as long as there are scoundrel squirrels! I'd like to know what neighbor is giving out the peanuts! Don't get me wrong, I love my squirrels and love seeing them find places around the yard to bury their peanuts for later, but I mean, not on the deck, dude!

~~~

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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Seeing Double

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are enjoying the weekend and for those of you where Father's Day is celebrated today, I wish you a wonderful day with your father or with happy memories of your father! Hammy has gone off for the day to be with his offspring and their families, while my little family will be celebrating next Sunday.

So that means I get to share a coupla cards with you!

Onfer

Oh, boy, this one was fun and super QACAS. I got these cool emboss resist toppers a while back from Taylored Expressions and this was the first outing for one of them. Using my Clarity brushes I swept on a base of Oxies in fossilized amber and peeled paint. I added a die cut tree which was a gift from my friend Donna during my trip to England two years ago. I can't believe it was two years ago next month!

Before I added the tree, I sprayed the base with gold and silver shimmer spray. (Hammy is going to be upset with me when he finds out I shimmered without him cuz he loves to run through the mist and get all schparkly. Ssshhh.)

Twofer

Donna gave me two of these sensational trees, so I made this design with the second one:

I used one of either Nancy's or Lolly's Magicals rejects from the ESCR retreat for the sky background and painted the grass with Twinkling H2Os. The tire swing is from "Set of Swings" by Memory Box. The whole card is schparkly with the shimmer of the silver matting finishing it off. Here is a closeup of the Magicals twinkle, although I'm not sure a closeup really does it justice either.

You have one more week to make your double TREE designs for the Twofer Card Challenge and I'd love to see your creations! This time we are seeing more unconventional designs, but remember you can just use your TREES as trees like I did here. 

Another Twofer

Otherwise known as our grandtwins Adam and Henry!

The boys are embarking on a camping adventure soon so they've been hiking locally to break in their new boots. A few days ago their Mom took the photo in the upper left while she was hiking behind them.

And then their Papa (the Mister) took them hiking on his own a couple of days after that and as he was walking behind them on the trail, he was struck by how often the brothers casually put their arms around each other so he took some photos, too. And then, of course, he had to get one posed photo in front of the sign!

I got all heart-warmed and teary-eyed when I saw the photo Rachel had taken because it reminded me of a favorite photo we took of Henry and Adam as wee toddlers holding hands on the way to the park. It took a while to find it on the computer, but I couldn't resist making this collage.

Henry on the left, Adam on the right.
 Isn't it spooky that the clothes colors are nearly the same?!

Don't get me wrong, as brothers they fight like cats and dogs some of the time, which makes the photos even more endearing!

~~~

Life is good. Hug your sibling if you can and 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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)

Encrusted Embellies

Hello Stamplings!

If you aren't into mixed media, you might be thinking, "Oh, dear, that is too bad. She's left her embellishments out in the rain and now they've all become encrusted." Or you might think I have some new medical condition and you're hoping it's not contagious!

I'm good, thank you, and I'm tickled to share some playthings with you from my recent holiday adventures:

Onefer

I should have taken a photo of my beautiful encrusted birds from the side so you can see the stunning texture and dementia from another angle. The colors and schparkle are really bedazzling IRL. This is a cool technique I played with during the ESCR get-together. It's not the kind of card you can send in the mail unless you want to ship it like a teacup made of the finest china and pay a small six figure ransom. Instead, my little friend Verna is sadly back in the hospital again so I will give it to her when I visit tomorrow.

Making encrusted embellies for your cards involves lots of layers of embossing powders and glitters and flakes of anything ranging from red pepper to snow. I mean, if you want. There are no limitations and if you can't get the pancake griddle out of your husband's sight, you can use your heat gun. For more information, Mr. U. Tube can help you or, better yet, you can visit Lolly and she'll explain it better than I can. 

Challenges

• CAS Mix Up: Layered embossing powders, stamping, and die-cutting.
• CAS(E) This Sketch.
• Less Is More: Friendship

Twofer

Here's a birthday card with an encrusted butterfly I made using the same technique:

And here's a closeup so you can see all the spectacular marbling:

Challenges

• Butterfly Challenge: The letter M. I have a butterfly, mint green, and marble effect.
• CAS on Friday: Embossing.
• Watercooler Wednesday: Gail's All About Occasions NOTE: They are having a DT call!

Finally, here is a photo of all the beautiful encrusted embellies we made at the retreat:

~~~

Editorial: Well That's a Fine Kettle of Fish

By now we all know about the Blogger issues with comment notifications no longer appearing in our inboxes, but has anyone noticed that we all now seem to be "no reply bloggers?" A "no-reply blogger" is a blogger who hasn't entered his/her email information in settings and that means their readers are unable to click on their underlined names in a comment to send an email reply in response to any questions.

I noticed this week that all of you who have left comments are now classified as "no reply bloggers" when I know some of you weren't before. I'm assuming this is another protection we have been given by Blogger thanks to GDPR even if we didn't request it. I know I shouldn't complain because it's a free service, but it would be so easy for them to send out a mass mailing to let us know when changes are made, why, and if we can override them.

Having said all that, my research is not scientific and I could be wrong. To test whether my suspicions are right or wrong, I would like to know what happens when you click on my name in any comment I leave on your blog. I'm way behind in my visits, so the next time I leave you a comment, when you click on my name a normal email box should open. I have set up my settings so that my email address should appear in the top line. Does it? Or on the address line does it say my name, followed by "noreply-comment@blogger.com" for my address?

I hope I'm wrong and my email address appears as it should. I'll feel like a silly old fool, but I'm okay with that. If it doesn't appear, then my (and your) settings have been circumvented!

Sorry for the rant, but I enjoy the social aspects of blogging as much as I do sharing my cards and I'll be very sad if the new rules impact us innocents and reduce or prevent us from being able to easily connect with each other as we've been able to do for many years.

~~~

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 wallah, no more car pool tunnel! Mwah! (p.s. If you ask me a question in your comment, please remember to leave me your email address so I can respond. Thank you!)