Smooching With Cling Wrap

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are all doing well and that my American friends had a warm and delicious Thanksgiving holiday weekend! We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the grandtwins again! (It's certainly time to be thankful for stretchy fabrics!) And now we only have 27 days until Christmas! You're welcome. Do you need some help getting up? 

This month our Group of Seven Cardmakers enjoyed smooching with cling wrap and alcoholic inks. It's been a few years since I've done this technique and it was inky and fun. You can find instructions, video links, and lots of excellent examples over on the website. Here are my results:

I decided to use some gloss acrylic sprays that I've had for a long time and never used before. One set is called Splash and the other set is by Dina Wakley. I used glossy paper, so it was doubly-glossy! Then it was fun figuring out how to make them into much-need Christmas cards in unexpected colors.

When you get a chance to try or re-try this technique, there is a link over on the Group of Seven site for you to share your results. We always love it when you show how we have inspired you!

 And speaking of Christmas cards, here are my completed cards, so far. 

They are mostly one or two layers to make it easier and more economical to mail. I only have another inch to go and I can start the not-as-fun part of finishing the insides and envelopes. (Didn't we decide that it would be okay to just send the front panels, like post cards? Hmmm, no, I guess they would be pretty messed up going through the mail machinery, huh? Never mind.) It feels good to have most of them done and to have made a huge dent this year in my stash of Christmas die-cuts and patterned paper! 

Taking a Break

It feels silly to let you know I will be taking a break when I haven't been blogging that much as it is! We've had a lot going on this year with traveling, visitors, and not feeling great, so things around here have gotten neglected. As energy allows, we are going to take care of some home and garden projects. Plus, Hammy always makes the rounds visiting his family over the holidays, so it's a good time to clean, paint, and purge the Playhouse.

I plan to keep NBUS active, however. I love that it keeps me connected and your fantastic gallery entries tell me how much you love being prompted to use your unused schtuff! I also love seeing what you snagged at holiday sales and/or got for Christmas!

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Enjoy your holidays, however you celebrate, and thank you for your friendship and support! Mwah from me and Hammy!🐹💕

Life is too short!

Fall Into Winter

Hello Stamplings!

I'm looking through welcome raindrops and hoping you are doing well. These raindrops would not be happy drops for those of you in the UK, Italy, and France where everyone is sick of the incessant rain and wind. My sympathy to all those who have experienced flooding and damage.❤

I'm straddling the holiday tables in the Playhouse these days. Usually I like to finish one holiday before I start another and if I'm honest, I think I need to go back to that way of designing. Or maybe I'll start a trend and next year everyone will be putting fall leaves on their Christmas trees! 

Fall

1. This photo should be in the dictionary under QACAS (quick and clean and simple). I used some beautiful rub-on leaves from Taperlogy and a sediment from PTI stamped in copper ink onto hammered card. This is my first time using these rub-ons and the color and detail of their images is amazing.

2. For this card, I used a fall leaf e/f and Hammy picked out a piece of schplattered pp for the background. The autumn sediment is from Technique Tuesday stamped with fall-colored inks. The leaves were cut from pp or from snippets from old smooching or alcohol inking in my stash. You know how alcohol always leads to smooching ... that's all I gonna say about that because you know what I mean.

3. This card is also uber QACAS, using the same pp and a found sediment strip from my stash. The leaves were die-cut using a friend's dies and pp from her stash!

Challenges

• Cardz 4 Galz: #3 Thank you, Thankful, or Thanksgiving.
  
• Four Seasons: #1 Fall.
  
• Paper Funday: #2 A/G optional: Grateful, Thankful, Thank you. 

   

Christmas

Another simple design, except for the hours it took for the layers of Glossy Accents to dry on the sediment! I think the snowflake circle die is from Hero Arts, but I can't find it at the mo. The joy die is definitely from Hero Arts and it's definitely cut from the same dark purple paper as the card base, even though the photo makes it look black. 

Challenges

• Color Hues: Light blue and purple.
  
• HLS Christmas: A/G with option of bah humbug.
  
• Peace on Earth: A/G Christmas with option of mood board.

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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! 

*Life is too short!

Bunny in the Pumpkins; Peace in the Poinsettias

Hello Stamplings!

And to my American friends, "Hello, Spooklings, and Happy Halloween!" In this country we cardmakers are in the Manic Months. (Possibly maniacal!) Whose idea was it to cram Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the space of only 56 days when there are 365 days in the year?! No wonder we see Christmas decorations in October! 

I'm starting today with a bunny in a bed of pumpkins. Say what now?

You heard me. The Alexandra Renke adorable bunny diecut came from a friend and he looks perfectly at home on an old, but well-loved, basket and pumpkins from Technique Tuesday. I painted them with my Ziggies, made a mask, and let Hammy skate around the background on his blending skates. He also winked the pumpkins and basket.

Challenges

• Double D: Pumpkins.
  
• Krafty Chicks: All occasions.
  
• SSS Wednesday: Anything goes.

Twofer

This card features another diecut which was a gift from a different friend. Aren't I the lucky lady? The poinsettia washi tape wreath is from Pink Fresh Studio. I used the SU Subtle e/f to add a, well, subtle texture to the background of this QACAS design. The triple-stacked peace sediment is a die from Winnie & Walter. The last layer was cut from a pretty aqua glitter paper:

Challenges 

• Just Us Girls: CAS week. Use just the center of your card.
  
• Peace on Earth: Christmas challenge.
  
• Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.

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The New Yorker 10/2023. Edited w/o permission. 

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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! The Mister and I are pretty much recovered from our bout with Covid. Our symptoms were very light, thanks to being up-to-date on our vaccines and getting on Paxlovid right away. Thank you for all your well wishes, which I know also helped!

*Life is too short!

Joy and Janis

Hello Stamplings!

How have you been? No matter which side of the world you are in, it's always exciting to welcome spring and fall! It's so great to be back in the Playhouse and needless to say, Hammy was happy to be out of the suitcase!

Onefer

A dear friend let me borrow the very large and very cool Joy and Noel word dies from Penny Black. They make such pretty QACAS cards. I cut the Joy from patterned paper and then Hammy suggested adding a snowflake from Simon Says, changing out the center star to draw the eyes in. I have to say, I may get these word dies for myself ... there are lots of fun options that come to mind for filling the large O in the die-cut words.

Challenges

• BYSH Cardmakers: Falling for the Holidays linky party!
  
• Penny Black Saturday: A/G with option of Halloween Bingo.
  
• Simply Clean & Simple: A/G with option of Autumn.

Twofer

Except for the Santa hat, all the ingredients in this recipe were made using dies and snippets I borrowed from friends. Well, the snippets weren't borrowed. My friends were happy to be rid of those! To make him look Christmassy, I added the tiny Santa hat from Memory Box to kitty's head. We couldn't find the little ball die for the top of the hat in the die envelope, but Hammy saved the day by finding a tiny flower die that worked even better!

(I am sorry that the cat from Simply Graphic looks like it is being electrocuted. His eyes did that because I used the flash.📸)

Before I left on my travels, Jo from The Christmas Kickstart Challenge called in to let me know she was doing a special tribute to our mutual friend Janis Woolwright, who sadly passed away in January this year. Every October, Janis ran her Cat Lovers Blog Hop, so Jo is holding this month's Kickstart challenge to remember Janis. Thank you for doing this, Jo! 

I'm happy to be joining the tribute and it would be lovely if you could play along, too! And, p.s., there are sponsors and prizes, so check it out!

Other Challenges

• Jingle Belles: Not a creature was stirring.
  
• Peace on Earth: Christmas.
  
• Snippets Playground: A/G using snippets. I used snippets for my kitty cat, Santa hat, and Merry Christmas sediment.

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Uh Oh.

And in other news, I flew home and came down with a cold two days later. Just to be sure it was only a cold, The Mister put on his scientist hat and did a Covid test. It was positive.😧We happened to have additional tests from a different company, so we ran the test again ... and again it was positive.😵‍💫

It has taken me a coupla days to write this post and last night the Mister had a sore throat and early cold symptoms. Sure enough, he took a test and he, too, has Covid. We aren't really surprised. Now we can commiserate together through what will hopefully be a short complication-free convalescence.🙏 

Take care out there and enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

*Life is too short!

You Are Loved!

Hello Stamplings!

How's October treating you? I love this time of year with the crisp evenings and cool mornings. I've been enjoying the company of a dear friend for the last week and the weather has been delightful! 

As we enjoyed lots of crafty time in the Playhouse, I noticed a challenge milestone happening in Blogland, so I made this card:

The toadstools are NBUS from The Greetery called, "BotaniCuts Toadstool Garden" stamp and die set. When I first saw this set, I had to have them and I spent many happy hours die-cutting and coloring dozens of the toadstools. And then, as one does, I hit a wall and, in spite of all the wonderful designs to be found online, I could not come up with a design that spoke to me. That changed last month when my talented friend Vicky Hayes made a fantastic card using the toadstools which inspired my design today! Thank you, Vicky!

The milestone challenge I'm talking about is happening at Just Us Girls (JUGS), where they are celebrating their 700th challenge! Congratulations JUGS! Challenges that have lasted that long amaze me! I appreciate the hard work and dedication of all the Design Team members over the years! Their 700th challenge falls during Color Week:

Other Challenges

• Alphabet Challenge: N is for Nature.
  
• Day of the Month Card Club: National Mushroom Day.
  
• Four Seasons: Anything Goes.

Twofer

This Christmas card was a collaboration with my visiting friend, which made it especially fun! We used the NBUS die called "Poinsettia Edger" from Creative Expressions. Some of you are familiar with my friend ... none other than the marvelous Anita in France! She has been taking a sabbatical from her blog, My Papercraft World and it's been such a delight having her come for a visit!

Anita says, "Bonjour" to everybody!

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! It may be a while before I'm here again because more company is arriving for several days. Fall weather is really the best time to travel. Well, I should say, "can be," with fingers crossed!

*Life is too short!