Hello Stamplings!
Today is Memorial Day in America. A day where we pause to honor the lives of the men and women who died while serving in the military and to acknowledge the sacrifices of the families they left behind.
I've made a poppy card thank you.
Rather than the symbolic red poppy color, I painted my poppies the colors of the state flower of California using both my Kois and DIs. I have seen card artists who can magically paint flowing backgrounds on their watercolor cards. It's not my usual sort of minimalist lean, but I always love it when other people do it, so I tried it.
I have to say I was pretty pickled tink with how I did. So much so, that I carried my card into the house from the Playhouse in order to show The Mister and, well, you can see what happened. I got halfway across the deck and an unkind seagull took a bathroom break all over my card!!
Can you believe it? No? Oh, all right, I'll be honest. I over-diluted some white acrylic paint and instead of practicing first on a piece of scratch paper, I let Hammy take a leaping jump onto the paint brush and ... oops. I decided to share anyway. Even though all accidents are not "happy" accidents, it's how we learn, so it's all good.
BTW, the NBUS image is "Charming" by Penny Black which I stamped in black and heat-embossed in clear before painting.
Challenges
- CAS Colours & Sketches: Colours.
- Mix It Up: Anything goes with option of mixed media.
Twofer
This adorable ageless beauty has graced the pages of this blog before. She is my Aunt Charlotte, immortalized by Art Impressions. I'm sure you can see the family resemblance especially in the chest area. Aunt Char was always slim in the hips while I took after the heavy-bottomed other side of the family. As a result of being both front- and end-loaded, I have no fear of tipping over. (Which tiddly Aunt Char has done on most holiday get-togethers.)
I started this card during Retreat free time in order to enter it in the Christmas Kickstart Challenge when I got home. The brief was "S is for Snarky Christmas," but sadly the doors have closed. Now I think most of you know what x-rated thoughts Aunt Char is referring to by "reindeer games," but in case you have young children (or a hamster) looking over your shoulder, I handdrew a pile of innocent-looking snowballs.
Challenges
- Just Add Ink: Just add Q-X-Y-Z. X is for just a teeny bit x-rated.
- Love to Craft: Anything goes.
- Rudolph Days: Anything goes Christmas.
~~~
Bonus Surprise
The lovely lady seen with me above is none other than Scrappy Mo, the hostess of Rudolph Days! Loll reminded me that Maureen lived very close to where we were renting a house in British Columbia and we were all delighted that she was available to join us for lunch one day. It was a pleasure meeting you in person, Maureen!
~~~
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!
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!)
69 comments:
Oh my gosh, Dolly ... I LOVE your poppy card. The flow of the watercolours is amazing. I have not been able to do that ... I need a lesson from you. Honestly, the well diluted white splatters are very artsy and perfect for your image. Great work! And I LOVE your Aunt Char. Although I seem to remember her standing on her head last time I saw her. :) Love, Lolly
Hi Darnell, Fab cards. I nearly fell for the seagull incident:) LOL
Lovely to be able to meet up with other crafting friends.
Hope you have a nice day. Sue
Beautiful poppy card! The white splatters don't look bad at all only after i read your post i noticed them !! I enjoy reading your posts darnell ,Thank you for bringing a smile 😄
Your poppy card is beautiful Darnell such vibrant colours ..it’s nice to see fun cards and your Christmas card made me smile I.m sure you and Sue had plentry o chat about
Anne x
Well, those watercoloured poppies look amazing Darnell, no wonder you had to show the Mister and I didn't believe for a moment that a seagull could do unthinkables on such a beauty!! Aunt Char looks quite a character...such fun xx
Two fabulous cards Darnell, I don't see any painted mistake on the first one, and no one could say that a seagull has a bathtroom break on it LOL :D This made me laugh soooo much!! :D You are always so humorous, thanks for it! :)
The second card is very fun too! I haven't an aunt as this, but it would be fun! LOL :D
Lovely photo of you and Maureen! :)
Hugs
I simply adore California Poppies and your card is beautiful Mrs K!
Not sure I'd like to be playing games with Aunt Charlotte - she is one scary dame!!! x
Such a beautiful poppy card Darnell and a great fun Christmas card too.
Sue xx
Happy memorial day to you and yours my friend... I've been missing awhile sorry. Beautiful cards once again and how lovely you got to meet up with your friend... You are looking good! Enjoy your week!
Your card is so stunning, Darnell!! The background looks amazing and I love the seagull...er, white splatters!! I think it adds a gorgeous touch!! So very happy accident :) And your Aunt Charlotte is just too cute for words and I laughed about her always tipping over on holidays!! Haha!! Beautiful cards, fun post and gorgeous picture, too!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)
Lisa
A Mermaid's Crafts
I love the white splatters on your Poppy card. I think it turned out great. A nice remembrance for today.
The AI card cracks me up. Good thinking on drawing the innocent snowballs.
What a great picture of you and Scrappy Mo. [Bunny]
Gorgeous poppy card! Love your Christmas card also
Have a great day!
Marilyn❤
Two great cards, Darnell. Love the poppy card (and the reason behind it) and I'm so sorry the challenge had closed before you could add that fabulously snarky number! Hugs to you, Jo x
Oh, my gosh Darnell! The poppy card is fantastic! This is your drawing? WAU!!! I can not recognise any accident with white colour. The card is perfect. I like you used a colour of California poppies.
Thank you for the story of aunt Charlotte and for the warning for children and hamsters :-) The card is simply the best! I like funny motiv.
Have a great week!
Hugs, Sonja
So beautiful Darnell is your Memorial card and the meaning behind it (we shall not forget) love the fun image too on your second card your so creative love the snowballs that you added great fun card how lovely to meet with Scrappymo sounds like you had a great day sending lots of love x
What gorgeous watercoloured poppies Darnell, and the watery background works beautifully too. I am looking out of my front window at some really pretty Californian poppies right now in a neighbour's garden, and the artsy splatters look fine as anything goes with splattering. I love your quirky lady aka Aunt Charlotte and laughed at the sentiment and the pile of p.. err.. snowballs..lol. How great that you managed to meet up with Mo whilst you were in BC too, a great photo of you both. x
Poppies are gorgeous. Just pop out from your gorgeous background.
Thank you so much for all you share, Darnell! From the reverent to the irreverent, it's all here and I love it. You are just so wonderful and so are your cards. The poppies even "poopy" are fantastic and the one with your Aunt is so funny! Glad you got to meet your friend in person, too. So fun! Hope you have a lovely day.
Well, I see that I'm not the only one who thinks the white splatters look amazing. I love the poppy card and your beautiful painterly background too!
Your California poppies are beautiful, Dolly, even with the seagull splatters! I kind of like the white splatters. Love seeing Aunt Char again and she got the sentiment bubble right side up this time. LOL! It was such a treat to meet Maurine and what a lovely picture of the two of you!
BTW, your washed background is beautiful! Aren't you glad to tried that?
Two totally fabbylicious cards from you today, love them both even though they are both so different. Your comment about the birdy bathroom break made me chuckle too! How marvellous to meet up with ScrappyMo too, TFS the pic - it's always so good to put a face to the name
Happy Memorial Day
Kathyk
So glad you got to meet Maureen and I know you had so much fun!
Love both of these fabulous cards
Lynn
I'm really here from the Rudolph Day challenge, but I jut love your poppy card, the background and the orange poppies.
Aunt Char made me laugh, as your cards often do. Kate x
More beautiful and fun entries to delight me on Memorial Day. I love and own those poppies and think the card is lovely despite the bird poop. Honestly, it enhances your design. I'm sure you Aunt would have been thrilled to be depicted this way, reindeer games or not. And since it resembles my body, especially the chest, I can, most certainly, relate to her.
Well Darnell I love both of those cards. I think the poppy design is gorgeous and you did get that fluid movement with colors on it perfectly. And, the white splotches just add elegance to the look. And, I had to chuckle at your last card with the reindeer games. And, the story behind that great lady image really cracked me up too. Thanks so much for sharing and brightening my day!
I like the white splotches (we should never point out the flaws).
It is always so nice to see you acquainting in person with a fellow cardmaker. Have a nice holiday. Barb
Always a fun visit, thank you, those cards are just wonderful, love the seagull encrusted one and the lovely lady wanting reindeer games. LOL.
Faith x
Darnell, I think you rocked that watercolor including the white spots. Fabulous card. IT's made my top 5 for you. Love Love Love it.
Your aunt is a hoot and I thought the snowballs were a stamp...so way to go.
Great that you got to meet another crafty friend. How Fun.
I am not sure what I Love more,Dolly...your stories about Aunt Char and seagulls or your gorgeous poppy card:-) Your artsy color wash was perfect, I thought! Thank you for sharing on this special Memorial Day. Love and Hugs...Nancy
Really cute photo of you and Mo too:-)
I love your color scheme of the first card. It looks so beautiful and I love the delicate color in the background. Wonderful watercolor and awesome card, Darnell. The second card is a huge load of good humor and I love your comment on the card and memories of Aunt Charlotte. I have not laughed like that for a long time :-)
Hugs,
BożenA
Beautiful puppies! I have never seen orange poppies in real life but I know that they are native to California so maybe one day I'll see them! Hope you're getting back in the groove of things now that your home from your trip take care.
You always manage to make me smile! Lovely poppy card and Hammy aimed so well with that paintbrush to the centre of that flower. Background and blending looks fine to me...why are we always so critical of our own work? Have agood week. Hugs xx
I think Hammy did a great job splattering the white on the card - I like it, big splats and all. Beautifully watercoloured poppies and a great yellow wash background! And your Aunt Charlotte made me laugh in her reindeer antlers and elf shoes.
Hello Darnell, how lovely to meet Maureen and it's a lovely photo of you both. I was sorry to have missed her when she was here in Inverness and didn't realise it's where I live.
Love your poppy card, beautifully coloured and Aunt Charlotte is a hoot,fab inmage, Kate x x
Hi Darnell,
Happy Rudolf Days.
Your cards as always are so brilliantly created.
Love them both especially the story of Aunty charlotte.
Isn't it so wonderful to always remember their sacrifice so that we can live in freedom.
They were all so brave.
Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.
Love that poppy, white splatters and all! xx
What a fabulous post, can't decide which I like best your cards or your humour but it is fabulous the way you combine them both.
Fantastic to see the photo of Mo and you of course.
Kath x
Fab cards Darnell. The new christmas Kickstart challenge is kids and I am sure they would love reindeer games ROFL. HUgz
How amazing you got to meet up with Maureen Auntie! I can imagine how sweet she is in person, as she is a lovely person on the blog. Your poppy card is beautiful and I didn't even notice the larger white spots, thought they were part of the design and when I read, I had to go back and have another look see. Still looks great to me and that background is really amazing! Your reindeer card of Aunt Charlotte cracks me up! So cute, so sassy, so perfect! Can't believe you hand drew those snow balls! They are fabulous! Hugs, Brenda
Are you sure that background for your poppies was a trial splatter. It looks amazing :)
And Aunt Charlotte, looks pretty crafty. What reindeer games is she going to be up to :)
Oh my, what pretty poppies! This is a delightful card Darnell. And your antler wearing lady is a hoot!
I love your golden poppies. I don't think the white spots look out of place at all. In fact, I think Hammy did just fine! Your Christmas card makes me smile. I seem to grow closer to that shape every year. Sometimes I think about exercising, but if I take a little nap when that happens, those evil thoughts usually go away.
Two fab cards -- love your artsy watercolor (a look I long to be able to do), and well those AI ladies are wonderful from the get-go, full of fun and sass! You made 'em marvelous....
Too fun at your "get together"! Awesome that you have such a great time with great people
I love your poppy card, it looks so artsy. I like the white splatters.
Love Aunt Char too xx
hahahaha! Always love a giggle and you always deliver! Two brilliant cards, both so different. Your poppy card is beautiful Darnell, love to see poppies in a different colour and your bird droppings look perfectly placed on it, that seagull knew exactly where to plop them! And the snarky second card is just so much fun, especially because of your write up! Have a wonderful day my friend, thanks for making me laugh this morning, Lisa xx
D'you know I thought the gentle white splattering on those glorious poppies (and background) was all part of the intentional design, Darnell ... it's artsy and dreamy and lovely. Had you not mentioned the seagull incident (or Hammy And The Paintbrush - doesn't that sound like the name of a group?), I would never have known it wasn't supposed to be just like it is. Gorgeous! Aunt Char is looking especially snazzy with her snowballs and antlers ... good to know you're so much more well balanced than she is, after all, 48 long is always a good figure!! LYAMYLALMA ... ETCT! Big hugs and bisous, Anita :)
Your poppy card is stunning Darnell, fabulous stamp, LOVE the water colouring,! Your Aunt Char sounds like a wonderful character, brilliant fun card.
xx
Love the cards, and so glad you got to meet Mo xoxo
Love the poppies - andI had to go and look to find the sea gull "accident". And to think you lamed it on poor Hammy. Wish I wasbave enough to try something "new" but I seem to stick to my oldies that I know work most of the time. The grumpy Aunt who wants to play games is a hoot. And who made the snowballs.
Both cards are fabulous, Darnell.
How great to meet a blogging friend!!!
Hugs, sweetie!!!
Well, first of all, I think it's fortuitous that the seagull came along when he did because he made your card all that much more awesome. Makes me want to stand out in the yard with my next card hoping for the same. Really, Darnell, it looks fantastic! Your Aunt Charlotte looks pretty great on a Christmas card. She's got the spirit! I know you had a fabulous time up north, and now you can add another crafty friend to your list of those you've had the pleasure of meeting!
X-rated is a unique and definitely quirky take on the challenge Darnell! It certainly suits that one of a kind image! Thanks for joining us at Just Add Ink this week. Kim
Your stories always give me such a good chuckle, but to blame the poor seagull?? LOL - too funny! The card turned out fabulous as did the hilarious Aunt Char card! LOVE seeing that pretty face of Maureen after playing in her Rudolph challenges for so long! What an amazing time you surely had, and I'm so happy that you were able to go! Welcome back home!
I do love your poppy card too but Yay for your X ( rated) card! So clever and such a fun and fabulous image too! Thanks for sharing with us at Just Add Ink this week.
You did a great job water coloring your poppy card, and I think the splatters of white are perfect! Great to see your Aunt Charlotte again! She looks great!!
Love, love, love the poppy card; and love seeing a different color!
I am horrible at 'loose' water coloring, but just love how this turned out!
Thank you for joining us at the Mix It Up Challenge!!
~Michele, DT
Your first card is stunning Darnell and the second one put a big smile on my face. Nice picture too!
Wow to your fabulous poppy card. The background is fabulous and looks terrific. Love the colours of the State of California and the 'splats' sure do enhance it ....LOL x Such a fun second card and so loved how you described Aunt Charlotte and yourself x
Thank you for sharing the photo of Maureeen....you sure all had a ball at the retreat x
Oh my goodness, Darnell! Your lady is hilarious. I have know a few people like her over the years and this image has captured all of them...quirky personalities and all!!!
Thanks for posting the photo. It was so great to meet all of you...what a great afternoon that was!
Thanks for taking part in the May Rudolph Days Challenge.
Your poppy card with the bird poop (er, I mean the white ink splattering) is absolutely BEAUTIFUL Darnell! Your coloring of the poppies and the background is fabulous and I think your white splattering turned out wonderful!! And Aunt Charlotte looks perfectly snarky in her festive elf suit...she would definitely have fit right in the snarky Christmas gallery!! I apologize for not having been around much lately and for completely missing this last Twofer challenge...life has been throwing some curveballs for my family and I just haven't had the time in my craft space lately that I wish I had. Hopefully things are calming down now and I can spend some more time getting inky and staying caught up on commenting! Sounds like you had a FABULOUS time at the craft retreat and hope some more pictures start surfacing soon! Take care. Hugs!! :0)
well done you! Your poppies are beautiful and your background is wonderful - if you hadn't mentioned the seagull poop I wouldn't even have noticed it wasn't just a splatter - love it sis! xx
Beauty and fun rolled into one post. I can just see those poppies dancing in the wind! As for Aunt Char, we are not thinking snowballs right now. It is more like tornadoes and hail balls! Both cards are fantastic!
I actually don't mind the white spots, Darnell. It adds to the mixed media portion of your lovely California poppy card. Now Aunt Char is a gal after my own heart. Always ready for games of any kind. ;)
I like both cards very much! Thanks for sharing the photo of Maureen!
Wonderful cards Darnell! Oh how I love Aunt Char - a harridon if ever there was one! And the seagull splatter made me 'eeurk' my bed time glass of water over the laptop screen here! It's a beautiful card anyhows!
And how well Mo looks - great photo of both of you! Happy days with good friends.
Love and hugs
Di xx
Fabulous fun image and sentiment on the Christmas card-had to think about the snowball reference though lol. Thank you for joining us at Love to Craft
Carol DT x
Absolutely beautiful poppy card love the colour and we have some that colour in our garden.Fabulous watercolour background and the splatters look perfect to me
Carol x
Oh how fun to meet Maureen! This is the first picture I've ever seen of her & it's so funny how our brains come up with what people look like! My brain got it totally wrong--haha! Sweet photo of you both! The poppy card is lovely & artistic--I don't see a boo boo!
Hmm - seagulls... I did take a second look but didn't see the cat-ass-trofee you referred to, then I read on. I hope Hammy was not reprimanded for doing as he was instructed, as I think it looks all ok, in fact, more than that, plain fabulous.
As for Aunt Char.... hmmm I don't blame her for stumbling during festivities, it's probably Hammy getting excited that made her stumble...
Blessings
Maxine
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