Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year!

Hello Stamplings!

I hope this finds you doing well and not being too frazzled by the preparation and anticipation of this season of celebration. I'm thankful for a wonderful hobby that provides relaxation when there are high levels of frustration. If I feel there is too much vexation, stimulation, and aggravation, then I'll resort to a libation, but not to the point of defenestration!

Sorry. I'll stop, seeing as how there are hundreds of words that end in 'ation,' which explains my fascination.

Onefer

I was fortunate to spend time with crafty friends in Portland in June. One of our techniques involved making some alcoholic backgrounds and then using the Alcohol Lift-Ink pad to stamp and remove ink from the background in the shape of the stamp. (The star on this card and the ornament below are from Stepping Stone Designs.) The results of my play session have been patiently waiting and it felt good to make them into cards.

Twofer (a) and (b)

After you use a stamp to lift off the alcoholic ink from your background, you can then press the stamp onto a blank card panel and get two cards for one! 👏 Cool! 

I didn't take a photo of the ornament alcohol background, but I did get a shot of the stamp-off above.

My Christmas cards were done, so I used the two Christmassy images to make 18th birthday cards for Adam and Henry who have one of those dreaded close-to-Christmas birthdays on the 20th. I like how they turned out, especially with Hammy's winkifying!

We went out to celebrate the milestone at their favorite steak restaurant ... 

... where they are very generous with their birthday cake servings! That's Adam on the left, Rachel, Dan, and Henry.

Until the new year ...

With apologies to the little Penny Black mouse who had tail surgery and turned into a hamster, Hammy and I wish you and your families good health over the holidays and in the new year! I send hugs if you need them and I hope wherever you are, you are safe, warm, and content.

Thank you for your visits to the Playhouse and your supportive comments throughout the past year. You keep me going! I hope to get back on track and return the flavor more often in the new year. 

💖 Mwah!

Christmas Joy

Hello Stamplings!

I've got a quick post, but a long ending, so if you can spare five minutes, grab a bev and relax with me from the Hustle and Bustle of this festive season. 

Onefer

This was a fun design to put together. The "Children Skating" are NBUS from Impression Obsession. They are so cute by themselves, but then I thought it might be even cuter to have them holding on to a sediment and the Joy die from Hero Arts worked great. 

Then I set the card across the room, as I always do, and Hammy and I conduct the internationally known Head-Cocker Test. You know, where you slowly cock your head to the right, back to the center, and then to the left. For this card, we liked the skaters holding up the JOY, but we agreed that they looked like they were floating in space. It was Hammy who suggested I cut the thinnest strip of the same shiny ivory paper to make a horizon line. Once I connected the j and y, that seemed to do the trick in a unique way.

Challenges

• Color Hues: Navy and cream.
  
• HLS Anything Goes With Dies.
  
• SSS Wednesday: Ice Cold.

Twofer

This card looks intentional, but twasn't. I used a panel of copper to emboss the NBUS folder from SSS called "Pine Bouquet." Actually, I took a day where I simply embossed a bunch of NBUS folders and set them aside for cards. 

On a different day, I inked the NBUS deer from Honey Bee's "Silent Night" set and heat-embossed her in clear. Then I painted her and her sweet birdie friend with my Ziggies. Hammy winked the wee bird, but he left it at that because he had just gotten into my chocolate almond toffee and could barely lift a paw, let alone a winker.

Both elements of the design sat in their respective places until the day the universal craft axis tilted on its score pad and they ended up on my desk at the same time where, by some miracle, I was able to put two and two together, as it were. Mwah! Love it when that happens!

Challenges

• Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything goes with a Christmas twist.
  
• Critter Crazy: Anything goes with a critter.
• Four Seasons: Winter.
  

That's it for cards, but I wanted to share this story I originally saw on Facebook. 

But, Madam!

A woman decided to give herself a big treat for her 70th birthday by staying overnight in a really nice hotel. When she checked out the next morning, the desk clerk handed her a bill for $250. She demanded to know why the charge was so high.

"I agree it's a nice hotel," she said, "but the rooms aren't worth $250 and I didn't even have breakfast!" The clerk told her that $250 was the 'standard rate,' and breakfast had been included had she wanted it.

The woman insisted on speaking to the Manager. The Manager appeared and, forewarned by the desk clerk, announced: "This hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference center which are available for use." "But I didn't use them," the woman declared.

"Well, they are here," replied the Manager, "and you could have used them."

The Manager went on to explain that she could also have seen one of the in-hotel shows for which they were so famous, reminding her that "we have the best entertainers from around the world performing here."

Frustrated, the woman cried, "But I didn't go to any of those shows!"

"Well," he said, unmoved, "We have them, and you could have." 

No matter what amenity the Manager mentioned, she replied, "But I didn't use it!" and the Manager countered with his standard response. 

After several minutes going back and forth, the woman took out her checkbook, wrote a check and handed it to the Manager. The Manager was surprised when he looked at the check. "But, Madam," he said, "this check is for only $50!"

"That's correct," she said, looking him straight in the eye, "I charged you $200 for sleeping with me."  "But I didn't!" he exclaimed. "Well, too bad," she said, "I was here, and you could have."

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leaving me some love!

*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!)

Sub Lime to Silly

Hello Stamplings!

And Merry Hallelujah! I've broken into the eggnog and thrum so you'll shear no more finings from me (hic) shtill after the blue beer! (Funny how just typing that made me feel giddy!)

I've got two cards today that show my range when it comes to cardmaking: sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't! I'll start with the elegant one before I have more eggnog!

This design features a NBUS "Delicate Poinsettias" die from poppystamps. These fine-lined dies are perfect for making QACAS cards using metallic paper. And I used another of the metal sediments from my stash. I'm trying harder to use my stash of all kinds. Some things are so ancient, I'm starting to get calls from the Smithsonian for donations.

I made this card primarily as a reminder card for you as Guest Designer over at The Flower Challenge #75 where the prompt is Christmas. This month's challenge is shortened and will close from December 15 through the month of January. We'd love to see your floral Christmas designs in the gallery to inspire others!

In addition, I'm playing at:

• Krafty Chicks: Christmas.
  
• Peace on Earth: Christmas.
  
• Snippets Playground: A/G using your snippets. I used snippets of green and red metallic paper to cut my poinsayschia.

Twofer

I mean, how could I resist this stamp and die set?

This NBUS set from The Rabbit Hole Designs is called "Hoggy Holidays." Hoggy Helena was so fun to color! She has a friend in the set and I can't wait to use her, too. The sediment is from Cottage Cutz. Indeed, tis the season for being piggy and wearing "buffet pants!" I've given in to my full pig moment and I don't care. Jan Uary, with her raised eyebrows, pursed lips, and cracked whip, will get me back on track. For now, pass the thruffles and thips!

Hammy gave Helena schparkle from top to bottom with his winker. Below is a closeup of the winking and her beautiful eye shadow. Pigs, as you may know, never did let go of the eye-shadow trend, thanks to the Queen of All Hogs, Miss Piggy. Rumor has it green is the most popular eye shadow among the sows because they are all oinking for a frog of their own. 

Look quickly please so Helena can let the ornament drop off her nose before she goes permanently croth-eyed!

Challenges

• Christmas Kickstart: If it's Christmassy, link it up!
  
• Simon Says Monday: Holiday cheer.
  
• Simon Says Wednesday: Add some schparkle!

~~~

Tip: When they tell you on the videos that you should warm up your heat gun for a minute or two before using it, don't do that with it resting near your Gemini or other item made of meltable material!

Being old and schtoopid doesn't help teether. Especially during egg nog theason! (The machine is fine, just cosmetic damage, or as we artists like to say, "an enhancement!")

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leaving me us some love!

*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!)

Guest Designing for The Flower Challenge!

Hello Stamplings!

Welcome to December! I hope you are doing well!

We are on the caboose end of 2022 and that's fine with me! A new year always reawakens my optimism that I'll accomplish all those things I didn't do in the year that just ended. (Thankfully, locomotives have more gusto than cabooses, so I'm looking forward to that, too!🤞)

It's always an honor to be asked by The Flower Challenge to be their Guest Designer, so I'm especially delighted to share this card with you:

No surprise that this month the challenge brief is Christmas! 

I'm not sure if hollies are flowers, but I made a second similar design:

Both my cards today use black watercolor paper and gold heat-embossed images from PTI's "Botanical Blocks IV." Each image was painted with Pearl Ex. The shimmer and shine are magnificent, but so hard to photograph. Hammy loved this technique, too, because he can schplatter to high heaven and the gold back-drops look fabulous on his fur! 

Please note that the challenge will only run until December 15 in order for the Design Team to have a bit of a rest and enjoy the holidays. Also, there will be no challenge in January. In spite of the short time-frame, I believe we can fill the gallery with our beautiful Christmas floral cards until there is standing room only!! That would be an awesome way to show the DT how much we appreciate their hard work all year long!

Thank you, Flower Challenge, for this opportunity to be your Guest Designer!

~~~

My sister Diana is an excellent photographer. She took the photo below which I think perfectly illustrates me in December! (We all agree that the card-making is a delight, but the administrative duties to get them out the door are not!)

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leaving me some love!

*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!)

Christmas All The Way

Hello Stamplings!

I'm here. Remember when I used to say the week had whooshed by ~ back when I was younger and posting every day or every other day? I can't believe I ever did that. Now, at this age, whole weekS are whooshing by and I just sit here, stunned.🌀 

Especially this time of year and especially since I'm having a flare up of Arthur Itis in my thumb/wrist. It's hard to make cards and type with only one hand, as many of you know.

But enough about me. How are you doing? I hope you are well and if not, I hope you (and your mojo) feel better soon.

Before Arthur came to roost, I had a bit of fun in the Playhouse!

Onefer

This sweet bunny is NBUS from the "Silent Night" stamp and die set from Honey Bee Stamps. He is stamped in black ink, clear-embossed, and given a silver fur coat with my Ziggies. 

The background is an embossed birch forest using a Darice embossing folder. It was embossed on glossy paper, made light blue with a prayer and CP stone blue ink. Oh, haha, I also used a brayer! I made a snowy hill so Bunny could sit and play with his big feet and tickle his toes while listening to the blue bird sing* Christmas carols.

*In this photo, the bird is singing the seldom-heard "Be Merry" song by the Christmas Minstrels, not to be confused with The New Christy Minstrels. It goes something like this: "Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry, Be Merry," and it's often accompanied by a cocktail with a cherry.

Challenges

• Let's Squash It!: Make a Christmas card.
• Little Red Wagon: Winter.
• The Paper Players: A color challenge.

Twofer

I made several embossed birch trees on glossy white paper, so for once I made a second card right then and there. Go, me! This time I used the Birch Trees die from Cottage Cutz over top of the embossed birch trees. I cut one layer in white gloss and one layer in black for a shadow and glued them together. Because I like b/w and red together and because I had used glossy white paper, I die-cut the sediment in red glossy paper. I used the same red for the outer borders, as well as for the little bird.

Actually, that little red glossy bird is part of another birch tree die I have. (No one needs this many, said no one ever.) This one is from Mama Elephant. I actually die-cut several of them and then spent prolly an hour placing them in different branches, here and there, always in odd numbers, as one does. 

One, three, five, seven? Okay, no more than that, Shirley? In the end, I climbed up out of the rabbit hole I was in and as you see (with invaluable assistance from Hammy), I settled on one solitary bird. We think one is more impactful somehow, because, you know, Art.

Challenges

• Can You Handle the Pressure?: A/G. No twist.
• Christmas Kickstart: Trees, trees, trees.
• Happy Little Stampers: Anything goes with dies.

____________________________________________________

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

©Rachel Wilhelm

I may not be back for a while, what with my thumb limitations, a long-weekend destination wedding to attend, company coming, Thanksgiving, and a load of Christmas cards yet to make ... ~ 🌀!

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leaving me some love! Happy Thanksgiving! I am blessed by ~ and I appreciate ~ the gift of your friendship and support!

Mwah!

*Life is too short!

Autumn /Characters

Hello Stamplings!

Happy November! I didn't think I would post any more autumn cards, but here I am! I hope you like it.

These images are from a favorite old set from 2012 called "Fall" from Technique Tuesday. I stamped the Autumn word using a Kaleidoscope ink pad and then smoothed the colors with a waterbrush. I colored the rake using gelly roll gold and silver metallic pens and attached the panel to a piece of gold and kraft pp. Hammy finished by winking on some schparkle. Here is a closeup:

I wanted to add some grass or leaves to ground the rake, but I gave away my tiny whatchacallit stamps. Looking around the playhouse I saw the Leafy Circle die From Simon Says ... die-cutting it from a piece of autumn-colored pp worked perfectly!

Challenges

• Double D: Thankful-Blessings-Grateful.
  
• Four Seasons: November Anything Goes Fall.
  
• Snippets Playground: Anything Goes Using Snippets. My leaves were cut from a pp snippet.

~~~

Part of the reason I wanted to do another fall card is because my friend Di at Snippets Playground is hosting a Halloween party, so I thought I would share some of my old Halloween costumes. Even if you're a long-term friend, you might get a kick out of seeing them again! We all need distractions and laughs these days!

I worked for a fun-loving law firm. In 2010, I borrowed some yard clothes from The Mister and went as a logger:

In 2011, I did Dolly Parton proud! (Looking at it now I think I look more like Mrs. Passmore, my 10th grade math teacher. She used to cross her arms over the tops of her bossoms and stick her hands in her armpits. What a character she was. And, yes, that was really her name!)

Speaking of grandmas, in 2012 I dressed as Kim Kardashian's grandmama!

You can see who she inherited her junk in the trunk from!

The things you can do with one oblong pillow!

Over the years, we have had a turnover of homeowners on our street so now we have lots of little trick-or-treaters again as kids our kid's age are now having their own kids. Hence I chose to go as a grandma again and I didn't even have to change my clothes!

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!* 

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse, being a follower, and leaving me some love! Now back to my regularly-scheduled Christmas card-making extra vaganza. I think there might be a cream for that.

*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!)