Go7: Elegant Writer Pens and S = Stencils

Hello Stamplings!

Lovely to see you! I like your hair today. Mine looks like it had a fright, but I might not have bothered to brush it. That reminds me of a saying a friend recently saw on a shirt: 

"It's a shock to realize I'm the same age as old people!" 

You might wonder why I'm here on a Sunday when I normally work the Monday shift. It's because my other fun playtime gig with the Group of Seven Cardmakers goes live on the 28th of every month and rather than do back-to-back posts, my Monday I.D.E.A.S. post is down below.🠷 (Grab your chair and your veberage, this is a longer one.)

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This month the Go7 played with Elegant Writers. They are calligraphy pens with magical qualities when the ink gets wet. 

1.

Note: You can buy Elegant Writers in just black or a pack of black, plus four colors. I stamped this image from Purple Onion in Vintage Photo DI and then I used the Elegant Writers to add touches of ink. Then I drew out those touches with water and a paintbrush. I love the soft colors that happen when you then blot the areas with a dry paper towel.

It's a bit hard to describe the magic, so the best thing is for you to click over to the Go7 blog and check out the videos and the stah-unning examples from the other ladies. I've had my pens for years, so I loved finally using them, but if I'm honest, I think the end result is not that different from other forms of watercolor appliances I have, like Ziggies and watercolor pencils.

Here are two more results:

2.

And for Christmas:

3.

The above stamp from the Colorado Craft Company is NBUS and I bought it in an actual brick 'n mortar stamp store on my recent trip to Portland. It was a blast being able to see the products and touch them! I also met two dear friends for the shopping adventure and for lunch afters!

Linda, me, Colleen

I.D.E.A.S. Week Five (S = Stencils)

4.

Because my I.D.E.A.S. stencil make was going to be included in this post, I used my black Elegant Writer pen to outline this floral stencil. You know, killing two rocks with one stick. (You understand I can't use the one about killing birds, so I had to make up my own.) 

After I outlined the stencil with the EW, I used a small paintbrush with water to draw the colors out from the black outlines. It was cool, but not really dramatic, so I whistled for my little helpers.

This turned out to be a good opportunity for Stanley to practice his spritzing alongside Hammy. After they got the panel quite wet, I laid a paper towel over the top, covered it with a large acrylic block and let it sit for several minutes. I like how the water and then the towel spread the ink and left small areas of the towel pattern on the card panel. You'll have to take my word for that last bit.

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Enjoy your week! 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 if you play with your stencils for this rare fifth week of I.D.E.A.S.! 📌

*Life is too short!

1.  Addicted to Stamps and More (Make Your Mark); SSS Wednesday (A/G).

2.  Alphabet Challenge (B is for Birds); Triple B (Birds).

3.  Christmas Cards All Year Round (Santa); Christmas Kickstart (Santa); Jingle Belles (The Man With the Bag); Rudolph Days April (A/G Christmas).

4.  Just Us Girls (A/G Stencil); Stencil Fun (Spring/Flowers).

Earth Day!

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you're having a good and plenty kind of day! Who remembers Good & Plenty licorice candy? I still love them and have loved them since my childhood in the 1890s. You'd think they would be stale, but no.

Onefer

Today is Earth Day ~ Yay! Last week Serena Dipity came by to visit the Playhouse and together we made a card to celebrate her. Mother Earth, not Serena.

It all started when I was flipping through my binder of die-cut shapes. No, wait a sec. It all started a coupla weeks ago when I noticed on the calendar that Earth Day was coming up on the 22nd, so that was in my subterranean conscience. So then Serena showed up just as I turned the page in my binder and right before my eyes was the above circle die cut from an old session of dribbling alcoholic inks onto Yupo paper. I looked over at Serena, she smiled knowingly, we both looked at Hammy and Stanley and together we all yelled, "Globe!"

Then, if you can believe it, the littl'n ran over to Mt. NBUS and nosed out the arms die from Alexandra Renke. I recently got it on super sale, wondering at the time when I might ever use it. (But, you know, super sale!) Then, not to be out-done, Hammy dove into my stash of sediments and found the perfect one.

So we had the bits, now we just needed a background and that was quickly sorted when I remembered I had some ancient pieces of cloudy blue sky vellum which I embossed with a ... ta-da ... cloud e/f!

You gotta love when Serena Dipity shows up!

Twofer

Here's another nature theme with a blue green color scheme. I made this card (cough) ago, but I can't find that I ever posted it. The background was made using the dirty pour technique during one of the fun Canadian crafty sessions I attended. The beautiful seahorse is from Katzelkraft and the Lavinia ocean flora stamp was a gift from a sweet friend. Hello friend.

I.D.E.A.S.

Both of these cards (and any of yours this week!) will fit the A = Anything Goes brief of I.D.E.A.S. I'm looking forward to playing with you and 📌ing your creations!

And to close ...

With the rain we've been getting, we are seeing bulbs come up for the first time in years. First the smattering of white irises and then as they were fading, we were treated with just one regal purple bloom! Thank you, Mother Earth! Every day should be your day!

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Enjoy your week! 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!
Challenges:
Onefer: Inspiration Station (photo of globe inspired me); Can You Handle the Pressure? (a/g); SSS Monday (It's up in the air).
Twofer: Addicted to Stamps and More (make your mark); Double D (water related).

April 15: E is for Embossing (Powder/Folder)

Hello Stamplings!

How's your little heart pumpin' today? My computer wants that to read: how's your little pumpkin heart today? I don't think science has figured out how to do that yet.

My heart was fine last week, but my head was in a vice.🤕 I had five consecutive days of migraines, but I've had two good days now, so whatever that was, it doesn't ever need to happen again! (And bless all of you who deal with this routinely.❤) In the between times, I turned to cards to keep my mind on something else. I have to say, having the I.D.E.A.S. schedule (see side bar) has given me focus and purpose. 

This week is all about embossing. Spring flowers are popping up here in yards and along country roads. In particular, wild California poppies are abundant because of all the rain we've had. So in tribute:

Onefer

This is a Penny Black stamp which I painted with Distress Oxides. It was my first time doing that and I like the chalky result, even after winking. If you look very closely you can see a bit of stenciling. That was young Stanley's work and I am proud of how he did and how smart Hammy was to choose one of my stencils with teeny tiny holes for Stan's first effort. I added the sediment from PTI and some soft DO blending around the edges.

And, after all that, because this is Week Three, I ran the panel through my Gemini with a Sissix 3D e/f. It's not something I would normally do, but I have to say, it gave the card a certain glow-up!

Twofer

Another poppy design, this one from PTI called Botanical Blocks III. I embossed it in platinum powder and painted it with my Ziggies before matting. The card was embossed with a Darice e/f. 

Hammy thinks I should start a new aaacronym: WBUCSI. It stands for, "winked, but you can't see it!" (I'm doing my best to start a trend of "senior speak" to make the kids try and figure out what we're saying for a change!😂)

Threefer with a Twist

I switched over from poppies to daisies:

This quick card features a NBUS 3D embossing folder from Altenew, called "Daisy Bed." The panel was matted with black and the die-cut sediment is from W&W. I painted the background with my Ziggies and then used a small bb to blend ink on the daisy centers (WBUCSI). 

The Twist

(Not my card. Read below.)

The same day I made my daisy card, I received the above beautiful daisy card in the mail from my friend Anita all the way from France! What are the chances?! The same-wave-length-coinkydink gave me goose-bumpers and I just had to share! Thank you, Anita!

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Enjoy your daisylicious week! 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! If you play with embossing this week, please let me know so I can visit you and pin your creation to my I.D.E.A.S. Board!

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

#1 = We Love Stamping (Spring)
#2 = The Flower Challenge (add layers); 
         Snippets Playground (The poppy panel of three layers and the sediment were all made from snippets.)
#3 = Can You Handle the Pressure (A/G); Beautiful Blossoms (Mood Board)

April 8: D is for Dies/Die Cuts

Hello Stamplings!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you are doing well! 

I'm running short of time, so I'll get right to my "D is for Dies" designs for Week Two of April's I.D.E.A.S.:

Onefer

My featured NBUS die this week is "Stained Glass Rose Circle Frame" by Memory Box. That's a mouthful, but it makes the best QACAS cards. It cuts like a dream and you're left with a beautiful rose wreath and a single swirly rose. The swirly rose in this design is inside the card.

I love the look of the pretty patterned paper I used. So simples. To add interest, I used the same paper to back my sediment and for the card base, I used a paper that Hammy has been hoarding. (He's so busy playing, teaching, and having fun with Stanley that I was able to sneak a piece!) It has a lovely corduroy look and feel. To jeuss that even more, I added score cards and pretty flat bling.

Twofer

Another QACAS card along the same lines using plain white card for the diecut and another awesome textured paper for the card base.

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And now a few photos to share of my adventures last week:

Lee, Diane, Diana, Darnell

I met up with my sister Diana and we went to visit our cousin Lee and his wife Diane. Lee is our cousin on our Dad's side and I've only met him and his wife once before, many years ago. It was very nice to see them again! 

Lee is 84 and a hoot. If we had grown up in the same area, we would have gotten into a lot of mischief. For example, notice that hat and hair you see in the closeup? That's fake hair! What's left of his hair is cut very short. He loves it when his barber shop gets a new barber and he can spring that hairdo on them!😄 (He only gets away with it for a minute because those twinkly eyes give him away!)

My sister and I both love trees and there were several cool areas along our drive for me to snap photos.

We also stopped at a tulip farm where our timing was perfect to see the incredibly beautiful tulip bloom this year! Thank you, sis, for a fun time!

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Enjoy your week! 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! I neglected the computer last week, but hopefully I will catch up with you soon.

*Life is too short!

Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More (Die Cut and/or Stencil); Memory Box Challenge (Birthday); Seize the Birthday (Spring Floral); and SSS Wednesday (Happy Birthday).

April 1: I is for Ink/Color Mediums 🫣

Hello Humin StamPlings!

I we Hop youre feeling gud. Happy Aprul FulsDay!! It's me and Stan on the Keybord today, haHa! Mom wasunt able to go on track and do today because she was buzzie for Easter and company here for some many days. 

Mom loves April Fuls Day and hated to mist it so we are fooling her! We even made a Card wifs paintY IKNs and water bowl!!! But we haf to wait for Mom to come out to fed us Before we could take a pikchur. I'm a gud helper, but I done know how to do it that. 

Mom will be reely sirprized and laff a lot even tho  we maked a mess!

😲😲😲

Oh, my, what can I say?! These two are going to keep me young! After I stopped laughing and cleaned up these two fur balls and the pools of water and paint all over the place, I could not get them to settle down for the photo! 

This was a great April Fool's Day surprise and Hammy and Stanley are just the sweetest to do a card and post for me to keep me on my I.D.E.A.S. track! (Of course, this means if your daughter or grandson or dog makes a card, you get to post it and play along, too!)

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Enjoy your week! 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! Now go pull a prank on someone you love!

*Life is too short!