Gold Enough For You? I.D.E.A.S. (D = Die)

Hello, Stamplings!

I hope you are well, wherever you are! We've whooshed around the week again really, really fast! This is week two of March, which means the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar is D = Dies. We all have them, love them, and use them! 

Onefer

(The Association of Obstetrics and Retinal Health advises sunglasses. Sorry, that's Optometrists.)

As often happens with my designs, this one is simples and self-exploratory. But I thought I would share what schparked the steps involved in building my design for anyone who needs a boost out of their creative ennui. Sometimes we just don't know where to start. You know, like when cleaning closets.😶

I originally picked out a different NBUS die that I wanted to use for this week's I.D.E.A.S. Calendar, but when I saw The Flower Challenge, I sent the lads pawing through my NBUS flower dies instead and they surfaced with this perfect springtime "Layered Tulip Die" from Waffle Flower.

The brief at TFC is to "add circles."💡💡(That's me, thinking.) After two lightbulbs, I look at the hamsters with a raised eyebrow. It was Stanley who remembered that I have a stash of vellum paper with gold and silver circles. That schparked the idea of die-cutting the tulip from gold. And since I used a snippet of gold paper, I can pop over to the Snippets Playground! They recently celebrated their 500th challenge! Well done!

When I laid out the tulip pieces over the vellum with the gold circles, we all went into gold overload. Then I tried it on the silver circles and we loved how well they played with each other.

Next, I needed a sediment and I checked out my challenges list again. Just Us Girls also has die-cuts for their brief this week, with the additional requirement that it be a birthday card. Next, I went to Seize the Birthday to check out their latest challenge. They want designs with no stamping. To play in both challenges, I chose my old classic "celebrate" die. And wallah, done! 

You can take your sunglasses off now!😎

Twofer

This little number was QACAS and needs no walk-through. Well, I take that QACAS back. It's QAS, but not 'clean' by Clean and Simple standards because there is no white or clear space. So, hmmm, let's call it QABAS then, with a B for Busy! 

The NBUS items are both the "Snowflake Background" from Poppystamps and the sediment from SSS's set called, "Holiday Greetings Mix I." The background is a textured piece of green paper. I added more texture to it with a snowy e/f from Taylored Expressions called, "Snowfall."

Playing in:

• ABC Christmas: D is for die cuts.
  
• Addicted to Stamps and More: Christmas.
  
• Color Hues: Green and White.

~~~

Thank you to everyone who left wonderful and supportive comments on my last post about creative slumps and how we can help each other through the rudderless times.

I was delighted to see you enter your designs via the linky in order to inspire your bloggie friends! Thank you! 

You will find a linky tool below for this week's I.D.E.A.S. Calendar prompt. If you use a die on your card, please link it below. I love seeing what you create!

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!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Made with Love and Thoughts on Slumping

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are doing well! We have swooshed around to another Monday! What's that? Oh, yes, and another month! Welcome to March! Every time I type March, I think of Little Women and I wonder if young girls still read it.

I've only got a Onefer for you today because this is a very long free-the-boobs-and-go-potty-first post. 

This week's I.D.E.A.S. technique is I = Ink, which is any color medium. 

Over a teal card, I added a background panel which was smooched using Lindy Magicals powdered inks. It's very schparkly, I promise. 

The smooched panel was then heat-embossed in white e/p using my old and beloved En Français stamp from SU. Normally, you do your heat embossing first and then apply the ink (in various ways) because the embossed area works as a resist. I was going to add a link to a video, but the googler couldn't find anyone else who did it backwards.🤷‍♀️That can't be right, can it? Did moi come up with a new technique?😊

Anyway, over that, I layered the "Garden Poppy Stitched Frame" from Poppystamps and over that is a NBUS sediment from GKW, which the lads matched and matted for me.

🍿🍷🍪

Can We Talk About Slumps?

Like a lot of you, I started blogging after retirement and I've been blogging now for over a decade. In the natural course of things (read age), my post publications have dwindled over the years, especially since Covid. But slowing down is one thing and being in a downright slump is another.

Whether from stressing about politics, health issues, squirrels, or laziness, I've been feeling creatively slumped for some time now. And this year several friends have shared with me that they are also in a slump for the same reasons or for more serious reasons like the loss of loved ones or care-giving duties. 

Whatever the reason, nothing seems to schpark the old vibrant joy for creating, blogging, visiting, and commenting. Even so, we aren't quite ready to shut down our blogs ~ especially when we look over our shoulders and see all the product we still haven't used!😶

I even wrote a little ditty about it:

Are you, like me, feeling rather blah?

Not really down, but a lot less rah rah?

Do you feel sorta meh, like you're stuck in a fog?

Do cards still engage you, but not so your blog?

Do you still like to visit, but have nothing to say?

Do you wish you still felt like back in the day?

Where is your energy, your get-up-and-go?

Do you want to keep crafting and stop feeling low?

Do you think about quitting, even if rough,

but then look around and see all your stuff?

I'm happy to say I've got clues for your blues,

ideas to help you share stuff that you use!

Let's bring back our joy with friends by our side,

Go out with a smile on the crest of the tide!

 

I've been thinking about ways we could create a sort of friendship circle geared towards those of us who are feeling this way. A place to share what we are going through and, hopefully, be nudged back into all aspects of card-making and blogging while we still have the desire, if not the motivation.

But then I realized that I already have two such places where we can meet or get reacquainted with other women going through the same thing and who need companionship and ideas for inspiration and encouragement. (This is in addition, of course, to the many other wonderful groups and challenges in Blogland and throughout social media where there are talented teams working hard to provide inspiration for us!)

The first way is through my NBUS blog where I challenge you to use the schtuff you bought, but put away without using. I love having you share what you used and what you made with it. (Thank you to all of you who have consistently joined in the NBUS Challenge since June of 2014!)

I'm making using NBUS a priority again myself. My mind automatically wants to design with something it remembers from past use, but now I stop and choose something NBUS that works just as well, if not better.

And for those of you who aren't already using it, the second way is with my I.D.E.A.S. Calendar. It's a schedule I made up last year to force keep me on track and posting every Monday that I'm home. So starting today, I'm going to add a linky tool to the end of my Monday posts where you can share your I.D.E.A.S. creations!
 
The linky will go live on Mondays at 12:05 a.m. PST and close on Sundays at 11:55 p.m. PST. 

You can join me here any week of any month and any day of any week. There is no pressure to join every week and anyone can link. 

I hope the I.D.E.A.S. Calendar will help you get back in the groove this year. For me, using both I.D.E.A.S. and NBUS together, sometimes along with a sketch and/or color challenge, has helped me get off my mental ass and stop making excuses!🤯 

I look forward to visiting you and I'll enjoy seeing you visit each other!

Lastly, I have a few other ideas you might find useful if you're in a schlump. Rather than add them here and to make it easier for you to return to them, you can find them by clicking on the I.D.E.A.S. badge on the side bar. 🠊 🠊 🠊

It can't hurt to try. It's worth a shot. Use it or lose it. Snap out of it. Old friends are the best friends. Okay, okay, I'll stop. Off you go!

Mwah!

*Life is too short!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter