A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!

January 27, 2025

Flowing Vine Collage

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you're doing well and you are fully back in the schwing of creativity with your new goodies from Santa! 

We had a lovely weekend belatedly celebrating our 54th weeding anniversary. Haha, was that a parapraxis? 

"A successful marriage is a matter of keeping the weeds out of the marital garden!" Darnell

Please let me know if you see that profundity needlepointed in a shop someday, so I can get authorship rights!©

Onefer and cousins:
The NBUS feature for this week's "Anything Goes" IDEAS is the "Flowing Vine Collage" by Simon Says Stamp. I used linen for the front panel and more of that delicious ribbed paper is peeking through. 

It seems like only yesterday, but this die is from 2016. That's okay ~ no shame. The important thing is that I used it and I had fun making cards with it, which my stash sorely needs:
The NBUS sediment used on the card on the right is from Penny Black's, "T for Transparent." I'm playing in Addicted to CAS.

And, lastly, I turned one of the die-cut vines into a stencil and made this one-layer panel:
After blending ink through the stencil, I made this one a Christmas card by next embossing the panel with the SSS, "Pine Bouquet" e/f. I popped up a NBUS die-cut sediment from Poppystamps called, "Lavish Merry Christmas." Helpful Hammy found me an antique piece of metallic aqua-green for the sediment backing that perfectly matched the CP Daydream ink I had used for blending!

I'm playing in Just Us Girls stencil challenge and Rudolph Days January challenge.

~~~

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! 

Besides making cards, my goodies from Santa included some new jig-saw puzzles. I love them, but I haven't done one since I started blogging.

To my good fortune, it turns out Hammy and Stanley love finding color-coordinated pieces! Our first play was a 1,000-piece puzzle with a picture of 101 pooping puppies, which we (and Nellie) found exceedingly amusing!

*Life is too short!





20 comments:

Jeanne said...

Beautiful cards, Darnell. Yay for using your stash so wonderfully. Love the butterflies in the first one. Happy Anniversary! So happy for you and the Mister to have kept the marital weeds at bay!

Karen said...

First, congratulations on your anniversary--always something to celebrate regardless of the date! Second, what a great way to showcase the versatility of the Flowing Vine Collage. I like them all, but especially your first one, and the beautiful "It's Your Day." card. Black and white are always a fave of mine.

wannabcre8tive said...

Your cards are gorgeous and I love the butterflies on the first one. I liked seeing them in the different colors. I got a chuckle out of the pooping puppies puzzle. Very funny. I love working puzzles, but I have no one that likes to work them with me so I don’t do that anymore. Have a great day and thanks for sharing your beautiful cards.

Aquarius said...

Love the cards you've made using that vine die - lots of variations possible with that tone. I enjoy making jigsaw puzzles too and the one you have is a fun image - who thinks them up I wonder??

designbydonna said...

That is a pretty die cut oval. I can see the multiple uses for it. Great idea to use it for a stencil. Happy belated anniversary. Love that saying. Someone should needle point it. My husband does 1000 piece puzzles. No help from me--they make me crazy.

Lynette said...

They are all so beautiful, Darnell! I do especially like the blue one, though. What a great die.

I Card Everyone said...

D, I love this die! What a fabulous place to perch a sentiment! Just look how clever you are to use it as a stencil with that wonderful embossing - sure looks like it was meant to be!
Winter = puzzle time for us! Your pooping puppy puzzle is hilarious!
=]

Liz said...

A beautiful collection of cards, Darnell. What a fabulous die to have in your collection.... I can't believe you've had it tucked up unused for so long! Happy 54th Anniversary to you and Kevin.
Liz xx

Donna said...

These are all stunning, I especially like the one with the butterflies. Congrats on 54 years!

Nan G said...

Love the cards!

Bonnie said...

Five brilliant cards from one NBUS die! Way to go, Dolly! Great additions to your stash! I love doing jigsaw puzzles. This one is very amusing and I'm sure Hammy and Stanley did some snickering!

HilaryJane said...

That die is great and what a lovely bunch of cards you made with. The options are endless. Well done for completing that jigsaw too. You must have spent a long time looking at those pooping dogs. How resilient you are xx

brandco2450@gmail.com said...

Happy Anniversary! Super post, terrific cards and
hilarious puzzle!

Julie B said...

Shame on you for neglecting that fab die in Mt Nebus but yay for getting inky and creative, a great set of cards for your stash. Congrats on the anniversary, after so long do you deserve time off for good behaviour? ;)

Bonnie Lynn said...

Gorgeous cards Darnell! That die is fabulous. Congratulations on your "weeding" anniversary and many more to come.

Leslie Miller said...

Beautiful cards to plump up your stash, Darnell! You made good use of that die, including using it as a stencil for a Christmas card. Fabulous butterflies to go with the fabulous sentiment, and I love the hug sentiment on the card in the group of three. I may have to buy a card table just so I can do a jig-saw puzzle. I love them. Your pooping dogs are definitely unique. Happy 54th anniversary. I'm all for keeping the weeds out.

Linda W. (ScrappinBari) said...

Glad you had a fun anniversary, Darnell & what a funny puzzle! I just bought two new ones - no pooping in sight - lol. Gorgeous cards too - love the linen for the vine window!!

Cheryl W. said...

I LOVE that die. I can see how versatile it is for all sorts of cards. Congrats on your anniversary. You must have been a match made in heaven, as the saying goes.

TK said...

Oh My! That die is wonderful and makes a beautiful card, but your use for it to be a stencil is also pretty amazing -- it goes perfectly with the embossing folder.
P.S. LOVE the pooping puppies, and the fact that someone gave you that puzzle for Christmas!

Susan said...

What a wonderful set of cards! Love all the variations you did with it. Especially the Christmas one with the layering over the embossing folder.