Hello, Hugs, and Joy!

Hello Stamplings!

We are running headlong through February as if our pants were on fire and here in California, we have temperatures to reflect that. With a roly-poly stature and a tendency to heat up at a moment's notice, I wish winter could have stayed around a bit longer. 

Bless you, please don't hate me if you're freezing where you are, wishing winter was long gone. It's always the way, isn't it? But, hey ho, weather's gonna do what weather's gonna do, so we might as well get comfy by stripping down or layering up and getting on with it!

Thus, I have the simpliest possible designs to share with you.

To start with, a twofer I made a while back to use up some pretty pp.

1.

The little square NBUS flowers for both cards are part of a set of dies called "Floral Squares" by Pinkfresh. I'm not sure who makes the hello. The stitched frame is from MFT. For this card, I added glossy accents to the petals for a stained glass effect, which Hammy loves to ice skate on.

Challenges

• Double D: Saying Hello.
• Simon Says Monday: Frame it.
• UnstampaBelles: Who am I? Someone who likes things to be neat and organized, who loves bright colors,  and who's always ready with a friendly smile and a welcoming hello.

2.

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for this design and I cut the MFT sediment from the same pp. QACAS at its finest.

Challenges

• CAS on Friday: Color challenge.
• Krafty Chicks: Clean and Simple.
• The Male Room: Use embossing. Men need hugs, too. Especially if they have booboos.
• Stinkin' Inkers: Make an impression.

       

    

 

Threefer

On a light gray card base I stamped a star galaxy and then heat-embossed it in clear. Can you make out that I masked an area with a star shape before stamping the galaxy? In the center of the empty star space, I white heat-embossed the "Joy" portion of a Christmas Joy stamp from Stampendous. In the corner, I stamped the remainder of the greeting. 

Here is a closeup where hopefully you can see that even the gray card base is embedded with tiny glitter. Not by me, by the manufacturer. 

Challenges

• AAA Cards: One corner with option of using older supplies.
• CAS Christmas Card: Joy.
• CAS(E) This Sketch!
• Simon Says Wednesday: Add a sentiment.

    

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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 whenever my nursing duties allow it.

A head's up. Sadly, the shady spammers have figured out a way to send their crap via the Contact Form some of us use on our side bars as a safe way to get in touch with each other.😠I've taken the form off my side bar here and off the Twofer Card Challenge side bar. If you need to get in touch with me, please see the information on my profile page. 

*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!)

The Illusive Five-Petaled Heart Flower

Hello Stamplings!

My goodness, didn't I just remark about starting a fresh new week? And then what happened was, I looked away to enjoy a hummingbird on the feeder and when I looked back, it was Monday again! Am I a groundhog now, or what's happening?!

Things are still super busy here with the Mister back at square one with his recovery, but I did manage to make a card:

Some of you may have seen this information on the Simon Says Stamp blog. Simon made this die and called it "Floral Burst Collage." What you may not know is that the artist Francine Milaux spent seventeen months on a remote island called Comoros (one of the Glorioso Islands) until she was able to get a photo of this rare flower with heart-shaped petals, from which she drew the image for the die. This rare flower is believed to be an unbanded lateral offshoot of a cape periwinkle flower and a clover, performed by a local Comoroi. Unfortunately, because this flower withers almost immediately after picking, no research has been done to substantiate this claim. 

Of course, none of that is true. I made the whole thing up because the petals on this flower are so awesome. Although it is true that Simon made the die and the name is correct. Don't hit me.

I die-cut the NBUS image and then used the negative of the cut as a stencil to blend ink in an ombré pattern across a textured linen panel. I took an unmarked tiny leaf from my large array of unmarked tiny leaves and added a few of them in ombré green. The swirly sediment is NBUS from PTI's "Scene It: Celebration Stamp Set." Hammy added PPP's schparkly clear jewels to the flower centers for just the right touch of glamour and glimmer.

Challenges

• CAS Mix Up Card Challenge: Stencil from die cut, plus stamping, plus ombré.
• Color Throwdown.
• Seize the Birthday: Show me your white space.
• TCP Tuesday February Challenge: Use a stencil.
• The Flower Challenge: Add leaves.
• TIME OUT: Inspired by Words (birthday).

Various Updates

⭐In my post here, I told you about 104-year-old Major Bill White who wanted to receive Valentine's Day cards. His family was hoping he would receive 104 of them. In fact, at last count he has received over 300,000 cards and packages from all over the world! Considering that today is Random Acts of Kindness Day, it restores your faith in humanity! Spread kindness. It's reciprocal.

⭐In my post here, I asked if any of you are getting a  message that blocked you from visiting other blogs. It quickly became apparent that the problem must be on my end. 

Normally, I ask the IT guy I'm sleeping with when I have problems like this, but at that point he was in no mood to discuss computer issues. Yesterday I was able to ask him and he quickly identified the problem as being a "new and enhanced" update to our security by our server Comcast / Xfinity.

Fortunately, after some sleuthing, he was able to figure out a way to disconnect this pain in my patootie and all is well again. (It would have been nice if they had put their own URL on their warning!) I am sorry to have jumped the gun and gotten everyone worried about their own computers.🙊

⭐There is only one week left to play in the current Twofer Card Challenge where the prompt is FRUIT! Design Team member Cat has more inspiration for you on her blog. We'd love to see your fruity concoctions in the gallery! Mwah!

Nellie's Nook

Nellie was sitting right next to me while I was taking my card photo so I snapped her picture, too.  ...

Now, honestly, isn't life a funny old thing? Some of you may remember that in 2018 at Loll's Eat Sleep Craft Repeat retreat in Vancouver we did "dirty pours" and this is one of the canvases I made then:

I thought at the time that it looked like a baby seal had emerged out of the pour, but I was wrong. It was a foretelling of a little white fluffy dog that would come into my life!! Her eyes are normally big round buttons of coal like on the canvas, except when she's looking into the sun. But isn't that spooky/cool?! 

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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!

*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!)

Simple Card and Other Schtuff

Hello Stamplings!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are feeling loved today and I especially hope you love yourself! Which you should do all the time!

My speed is on DASH today and lemme tell you, when I flipped it on, it was so rusty, I had to pump it a few times! I don't normally do anything faster than my favorite setting: SD! WTF! (Slow Down! Where's The Fire?!😂) 

But more on that later. First we'll do a card for those who stopped by just for a card:

I made this card a coupla days ago and I'm so glad I am getting it posted before the Less Is More challenge closes. The card is cut using an MFT "Stitched Rounded Rectangle" die. I made the sediment on my computer and I do feel like your giddy aunt having thought up the punny design. The ancient little stamps you see there are from Rubber Stamp Tapestry. Hammy really enjoyed winking the card symbols because they are tiny and he didn't have to work so hard going back and forth a thousand times like he does for my bigger images.

Challenges

• AAA Cards: CAS Game: Up to 1/3 + optional twist of hearts.
• Addicted to Stamps and More: AG.
• HLS February CAS Challenge: Positive. Lending a hand to help someone is a very positive selfless thing to do.
• Less Is More. Less (tiny and few). Congratulations on your 9th blogaversary with sincere thanks for all the amazing challenge briefs and DT inspiration over the years! This challenge is being generously sponsored by Uniko where Bev is celebrating her 8th blogaversary! Congratulations and thank you, too, Bev!

 

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Hold On!

My poor Mister had a major setback this week. I thought we were going to have to get an ambulance again to get him to the ER. Fortunately, the doctor prescribed some medications that knocked back the inflammation pressing on his nerves. He is an overachiever and when he was told to walk, he overdid it. They will do further imaging next week to make sure all is well.

I haven't been spending as much time on my computer, but what time I have spent has made me aware of some strange new thing Blogger is doing to disrupt Blogland. What's happening is that when I click on some of our favorite challenges in my Challenge tab or click on some of your post notifications in my email, I get this pop-up box:

(I've redacted the name of the blog)

And I've heard from a friend that it's happening to her when clicking on my blog. Naturally it is off-putting, if not downright scary, to see such a message. Sometimes when you click "Proceed Anyway," it takes you to the site and sometimes it won't let you go there no matter how many times you click it. Then you have to go to Goggle and type in the URL of the site to get around it. Please, child, ain't nobody got time for that!!

I know years ago there was a kaffuffle about how Blogger thought any blogs that had "too many" links were dangerous blogs. "Too many" being a subjective term; they never said how many too many was! Those of us who play in challenges are going to have a lot of links. And, of course, the challenges themselves have dozens of links from the entries who link up!! We might as well all close down our blogs and go to Instagram if they take away our ability to have links or access each other's blogs. Grrr.

I mean, I don't know, I'm just guessing this is the reason. I don't know what else to think. Is it happening to you? It's plain silly because my blog and the blogs I visit are certainly not blogs that have anything dangerous about them. I'm going to complain to Blogger (and it would be great if we all did that), but if you know of anything else I can be doing - or not doing - I would appreciate knowing what it is. And if I get any answers, I will follow-up this post with more information.

Thank you all!! Mwah! (By the way, I'm getting this message even on blogs that are https!)

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The Last Laugh

After all that we need a funny "Zits" cartoon drawn by Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott. It should all cheer us up that these two gentlemen have drawn a popular cartoon which shows the world just how hard it is to make a handmade greeting card!! Bravo Jim and Jerry and thank you!!

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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!

*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!)

Pairs of Pears Anyone?

Hello Stamplings!

Welcome to the fresh, clean, open slate of a Monday morning! Isn't it beciting to look forward to the possibilities of what this week will bring? I hope it's everything good for you!

We're plugging along here, cozy inside while gale-force winds are blowing outside so strongly that a panel of fence blew down near the Playhouse. Fortunately, I was able to help our neighbor prop it up until it can be fixed. On Friday, we will see the doctor for the first time since The Mister's surgery and get an x-ray to see how the back reconstruction looks. 🤞

In the meantime, it's Twofer Challenge Time again!

The prompt is pears? 

No, no, we give you a little more leeway than that. This month the prompt is 🍎🍐FRUIT 🍒🍇and the fruit of my Twofer is a Penny Black "Perfect Pear" stamp.

Onefer

I kept this square card design very QACAS (quick and clean and simple) by repeatedly stamping the image in charcoal ink using my MISTI. This stamp has wonderful shading built right in. I darked the shaded areas with a colored pencil and added some more freckles to the pear. A simple black card base and a hello sediment and wallah! I love how it looks like a black and white photograph or sketch.

Twofer

I stamped the image using a light beige ink to give it the no-line watercolor look and then I painted in with my Ziggies. I added outines to the branch and leaves with colored markers.

Because it is difficult to make two different designs when you use a very large image like this pear stamp, you have to think outside the ol' boxeroo. I love the look of this stamp as a whole delicious pear (below), but for a TCC design, I put on my big crafty paper panties and disected it. Gasp!

As you can see it was filled with golden juiciness and it schplattered all over everything! Don't be silly. Pears don't have golden juice, although they look like they might. No, the wonderful shimmery gold was Hammy's doing. I'm so glad he's back from Lost Wages, even if he is a bit tuckered out from all the fun he had!🂡🂡🂤🂧

Anywaze, I could have made two cards at that point, each using half of the pear, but I've done that look a few times, so this time I put the two halves back-to-back on a card base to make an unexpected design. I added a strip of Altenew gold Washi tape down the center to cover the seam and then gold heat-embossed the sediment. 

Wait. What? A Threefer?

I enjoy coloring this pear with my Ziggies for a no-line look, so I made another card. Hmmm. It might look like there is a weird line below the sediment, but it snot. You may have to click to enlarge to see that the sediment is stamped on a fishtail die cut. The frame is NBUS from Waffle Flower called, "Stitched Layers." The top of the banner needed a little sumpin sumpin, so I finished off the card with a twine bow.

Challenges

• Day of the Month Club: Send a friend a card.
• HLS Watercolor Challenge: Anything Goes. Optional: bling.
• Pixie's Snippets Playground: Use your snippets. I used snippets for the frame and the fishtail banner.
• Watercooler Wednesday: Heidi's Challenge~Anything Goes with a feminine twist.

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I hope you'll gather your fruit and come play in the February Twofer Card Challenge #24. The talented Design Team and our Guest Designer Sonja have exceptional inspiration waiting for you there!

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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 when I can!

*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!)