Hello Stamplings!
I had a tough time choosing a sunshine song lyric to start my post. I googled it and was amazed how many songs there are about sunshine. But that's a good thing, right?
It's already the 10th and that means time for the next Twofer Card Challenge! June is a wonderful time to choose 🌞SUNSHINE!🌞 as the prompt and here are my two cards to inspire you.
The sun die I chose as my prompt product is from Lil' Inkers. As you can see, I gave myself an extra personal challenge to see if I could also incorporate that awesome lighthouse die from Memory Box into both my designs. The lighthouse die came out in 2013 and the stitched sun dies are prolly the same vintage and I still love using them.
Onefer
This card design is all about die cuts and Hammy even used an old circle punch for the small suns to give them more girth around the middle. I thought as long as I was using some old-timey products, I would use some old-timey speech. Because when was the last time (only time?) you've used girth in a sentence? Maybe it will come back into favor because of Covid and how we all added to our girth as a means of self-soothing during the long isolation.
But I digest. The background is a piece of pp. The white slated die panel (Watercolor Stripes Cover Die from Altenew) was a gift from my friend Betty. I used pp for the large sun and for the lighthouse and there were yellow vellum stitched suns used as well. The vertical birthday sediment is from Stamps by Judith.
Challenges
- Make My Monday: Outdoor Fun.
- Retro Rubber: Summer Breeze.
- Seize the Birthday: Nautical
- Uniko: Anything Goes. Optional: use diecuts.
Twofer
The beautiful blue foil you see was actually the spark of both of my sunshine designs. The color just screams ocean and if you look closely, you can see there is a water bubble pattern in it, so everything took off from there. The e/f is called Branches, but I think the lines also look like waves, and the sediment is from Paper Smooches. Hammy added some glossification to the middle of the sun.
Challenges
- Little Red Wagon: Make it CAS.
- Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Create a scene.
- The Paper Players ~ Theme challenge from Ann: Signs of summer!
The Deets
You can use either a SUN or SUNRAYS.
I am looking forward to seeing your sunny designs! We are fortunate to have Veana and Daphne as our Guest Designers this month. Their sunny designs, and those of the talented Team, will be sure to inspire you over at the Twofer Card Challenge!
~~~
Fun With Letters
My sister Diana shared this fun brain teaser with me quite a while ago and I finally remembered to share it with you.
What's a nine-letter word you can turn into eight other words by simply removing one letter at a time?
STARTING
Remove the T = Staring
Remove the A = String
Remove the R = Sting
Remove the T = Sing
Remove the G = Sin
Remove the S = In
Remove the N = I
Of course, I had to take it one step further by starting to turn it into a story. It happened because I found myself staring out the garden window at a string that was out of place next to the butterfly bush. I stared at it for so long my eyes began to sting. As I sat there blinking to moisten them, I overheard my neighbor (the one with the collie who jumps on the fence) sing a song to her small daughter about the wages of sin. How odd, I thought, but I don't try to judge others too harshly when I'm in the process of eavesdropping. Wait. What? Eavesdropping? Not I.
I hope you have fun with your friends and family with this little brain teaser and enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy, and stay safe! 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!)
50 comments:
Wonderful inspiration for Twofer Card players, Darnell. I like your cards. Especially the blue one. Amazing background for the lighthouse. On the birthday card the suns are placed fabulous. It remains me on the poem of the Slovenian poet Tone Pavček:
It is not true that there is only one sun
and that only one heats.
There are so many suns on earth and in the sky,
that no one can counts them.
(it is mine translation - sorry Mr.Pavček)
Have a great day! And take care. Hugs, Sonja
I can see why you like these two dies so much Darnell, these two cards are fantastic.
Sue xx
Fabulous cards Darnell - love the pun on the white and blue one :) Great to see Hammy is earning his keep, and not gaining a large girth from inactivity!
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine
I was going to try to write a comment using your "starting" words, but when it came right down to it, I could only do the first two without getting stumped. Must need more coffee! I can practically hear the waves lapping on your sunny, light house-y cards! That lighthouse reminds me of the one up the beach here at Wind Point. It really does add that extra oomph to both of your cards. Your use of old-timey products makes me want to see if I can find my paper crimper (or did I toss it?...). That foil is amazing. It's gorgeous in color and really does remind me of the ocean. And I do love that embossing folder, too. Awesome cards, my dear friend. Hammy did a great job, too. Sending hugs and love your way. xo Bev
Love your cards and what you wrote! A fun way to start my morning!!
Gorgeous cards, Darnell xoxo
I'm loving all the sunshine on the first card, Dolly! The shadow behind the large one and extra girth of the small ones fills out the scene beautifully! Love that lighthouse too!
The crinkled foil works beautifully for a sunny sky to go with the white lighthouse! Love the wavy embossing! Great brain teaser!
Hi Darnell, I immediately thought of You Are My Sunshine.
Loving the cards.
You take care. Sue
I love both of your cards and they are awesome designs. And I was fully entertained by your STARTING phrase and the story you had accompany it. Thanks so much for the fun! Take care and I hope you are doing better every day healthwise.
Your talent, obviously, knows no bounds. Not one, but two fabulous and happy cards AND a clever puzzle with a credible story using all the correct words. I am so in awe of your brilliance. Just like the brilliance of your sunshine cards. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the ear worm...I'll be humming that song all day in my head.
I love sunshine so love your two sunny cards! Great use of die cuts!! I just ordered a hoodie from LLBean that looks just like your background on the first card (except it's horizontal stripes). Fabulous brain teaser and your story that goes with it.
I LOVE both of your cards, Darnell! The foil paper on the second card is stunning, and truly does give off an ocean vibe. I am so happy you played in my Signs of Summer challenge at The Paper Players this week!
You are a ray of sunshine every day as far as I see it! Love the varied colors on your large sun and the striped background! As for your second card...that background! WOW! So creative! And the sentiment matches too! It is always a pleasure to see your creations, Darnell! Thanks for being with us at The Paper Players! I sure hope things will get better soon so I can play along at Twofer! It isn't looking promising, but a girl has got to dream. HUGS!!!
Absolutely gorgeous cards Darnell I love the blue one!! lots of hugs Sue x
Your cards are stunning, as always Darnell! Enjoyed the brain teaser.
I'm a fan of lighthouse so your sunny cards make me happy! That shimmery ocean is fabulous. So is your story ;)
How clever to solve the puzzle and weave a story around the words Darnell and brilliant Twofers too..love the lighthouse and the pretty sun dies and the blue foil is the perfect backdrop on the second. A great choice for a summer theme. x
Sounds like a fun challenge. I really do plan to participate in this one. This month's theme brings to mind John Denver's song, "Sunshine on my shoulders." Remember that one? Thanks for sharing your beautiful cards--they've definitely inspired me.
Oh such terrific cards, and a wonderful idea to challenge yourself to use both items in each card. Brilliant shine, relaxing sand and waves -- ok, I'm relaxed now...
Great teaser, and even more special with the story!
Wow two beautiful cards Darnell as always they bring sunshine to my mind so realistic with the oceans 🌊 enjoy your weekend xx
Beautiful
What a wonderful sunshine twofer. You can't go wrong with die cuts, love them. your foil background to your lighthouse is quite inspirational and that embossing folder makes pretty amazing waves. Thanks for the fun with letters, I always like your little asides. Have a lovely weekend xx
Both cards are sunny, bright and beautiful, also VERY clever use of the lighthouse. Your word story is awesome, I'm not good at putting things together like that, so admire your talent, with everything actually.
Faith x
Two wonderful cards Darnell, beautifully designed and coloured, Kate x
I do so love paying you a visit, you deliver the whole package...information, comedy, art and even a story, all of which are BRILLIANT!! xx
May the sun shine bright on your wonderful lighthouse, Darnell. My attempt at a sunshine song. Not as good as Kentucky home but it works. ;) Wonderful twofers and fun brain teaser. I love those kind of things and if you hadn't supplied the answer I probably would be working on it for quite a while. Great idea to make a story out of it!
A double twofer, it seems! Two lighthouses, four suns ... Diecuts are always so versatile! Fabulous both the cards, and love especially the first one, with those sunny colours!! :D
Hugs!
Wow! Great twofer, and I love reading your stories! I’m going to go find a piece of string to start staring at! Hugs…
Being surrounded by the Great Lakes here in Michigan, I'm real partial to lighthouses, so even though the prompt is SUNSHINE this month, I'm in love with the lighthouses on both of your cards Darnell! I love the colorful PP you used for your lighthouse and sunshine on your 1st card...they really stand out against your wonderful die cut background! And the blue foil card is FABULOUS my friend...I love the way you glued (?) it down so that it looks wavy like the ocean! And it matches the waves with your embossed background too! And then that tiny little pop of sunshine just totally finishes off this card to perfection!! LOVE them both! And your brain teaser and matching story were great...my brain just never goes that far in depth, but doesn't mean I can't appreciate others that do!! Haha!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend my friend and that the back is healing up??!! Take care. Hugs. :0)
Love the blue foil! Amazing card and I bet it looks even more so IRL.
Thanks for the fun with letters - love your story!
Oh, that shading is GORGEOUS!! Thank you so much for joining us this week over at The Paper Players!
What a great prompt and who doesn't enjoy sunshine? Loving your cards especially the foiled one! hope you are doing okay my friend - Have a lovely weekend!
Wow these are some great cards Darnell. I’m so glad to see that you joined the Seize the birthday challenge
Great cards! I especially love the ocean background. Those water bubbles are the perfect touch....and so is the glossification Hammy added. Thanks for joining us at Little Red Wagon. P.S. I definitely added to my girth this past year. (;
2 great cards with those wonderful dies, Darnell! I absolutely love the ocean in the circle!
Congrats on your "a cut above" win on The Paper Players. The blue ocean is just wonderful! Cyber Hugs to you.
Super toffe kaart. Helemaal leuk. Leuk dat je meedoet met onze challenge bij Make My Monday challenge
Great card, love it. Thanks for joining us at Make My Monday challenge
XX
Claudia
DT Make My Monday challenge
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http://creativesketchygirls.blogspot.be/
https://girlzcreativecrafts.blogspot.com/
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Gorgoeus cards!
This is definitely a happy challenge, and you have two happy cards to represent it! How can you not be happy when looking at such a sun? Wonderful warm colors on your first card, and the background die gives the perfect opportunity for your vertical sentiment. The wavy blue foil on your second card makes a WOW ocean and, yes, the embossing does resemble waves. Love the Paper Smooches sentiment. Thanks for the story at the end, too. It takes me back to how my Mom would write a story and leave blanks throughout. She would write words for the blanks on paper slips and put them in a bowl. Then she read the story out loud and when we came to a blank my brother and I would take turns drawing words from the bowl. One story might have nouns, the next would be verbs. She was clever about the story and the words. It could be hilarious. We did a lot of things like that. Other times she would have a list of words and we would guess the definition. I'll never forget when she gave me the word "matrimony" and I guessed "hard work and slavery". Don't know where that came from, but she laughed and laughed and finally said I didn't realize how close to the truth I'd come. It was those days, you know, and she was a farm wife. Long comment, but I thought you might enjoy it. Hugs!
I love both cards and how you linked them. I really love the blue water effect..I am looking for a fish or a mermaid. I fail at these types of puzzles unless someone gives me the word to begin with, then maybe I will do ok and not croak. I see your blog through blogger so I think I am ok.
Gorgeous colours and a fantastic card. Thanks for playing at Uniko, hope to see you join in with future challenges too. Stay safe and keep crafting!
Loving your Twofer cards. Colorful and summery for sure. Also enjoyed your starting, and finishing a story. Always something to learn here.
Fabulous twofer with the sunshine and lighthouses, Darnell - just love them both!! Fun word teaser too - we should all go looking for those types of things and writing a story; keep our brains active!!
Your posts always add a ray of sunshine to my day Darnell, this time there's sunshine on the cards too! Always amazed at how different the designs are using the same elements, awesome cards (and thankyou for joining in at STB,) Cathy x
Both cards are lovely. The vibrancy of the suns and lighthouse speak loudly of summer. Thanks for sharing with us at Retro Rubber Challenge.
Hello my friend! I love both of your cards. The lighthouse is lovely. I do love the one with the sun, the blended or smooshed panel you used for the die-cuts is gorgeous, love that rich orange. Thanks for joining us at Retro Rubber this time. Claire DT
Sorry I'm a little late to the party Darnell, thought I'd already left a comment!
Two fab and sunny cards and so different despite the fact you used the same dies! Well that is the point I think, LOL.
Thanks for linking up at Uniko. :)
What a brilliant die cut scene, Darnell ... the heat and light from the suns reflect wonderfully on the lighthouse ... I can almost feel the warmth from here! Your blue foil ocean is fantastic ... another scene where I'm transported to lapping water, salty air and sunshine ... it's deliciously crisp and fresh! LYAMYLALMA! Big hugs and bisous, Anita :)
Two awesome cards and such a delight to see you in the Uniko gallery. I hope you are well and safe. Crafty Hugs Bev x
Two wonderful cards Darnell...you gave us a great theme this month with sunshine...just a little peek of sunshine can brighten a day for everyone I think...I liv5e seeing the sun's rays spread across the horizon in the mornings. And I love your little puzzle and story to boot...have a great weekend hugs Robyn
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