Masculine Card

 One of the cards we sometimes find difficult to make to share today although I don't suppose that fly fishing is exclusively a male pursuit ☺️.  Anyway I'd spotted the dies and realised they were just right to make a card for the man I had in mind.  I looked through some of my designer papers and came across this piece which I thought would be ideal as a backdrop to show off the wording and the silhouette fisherman.. I also used one of the slatted circular dies for some added interest. There are quite a few other 'fishy' dies in the set for future cards as well. Although the wording came together as one die, each letter cut out individually so I made a template for lining them up  by die cutting it with some scrap card and laying the 'waste' over the area where the words were to go and then I could carefully adhere the individual letters into the spaces, finally carefully removing the template once they were in place.  Hopefully this card will be well received.

Background - DP from a retired Stampin' Up collection so no longer available
Slatted Circle - die from Craft Addiction UK
Fisherman and Words - Die set from Globeland (Amazon)

Bee Happy

 I made this card a little while ago when I first acquired the slatted hexagon dies but somehow I've not posted until now.  I started by doing some partial stencilling using a hexagonal stencil and then die cut three of the smaller hexagons using all three dies for each and then backed them with some yellow card before arranging onto the card panel.  Two die cut bees and a simple sentiment complete this card.  

Hexagon Stencil - from Lavinia Stamps
Slatted Hexagon dies - from Craft Addiction UK
Bees - a die from Sizzix which I've had for some years, no idea if it's still available

New Baby

 For a change I decided to make a Baby card, mainly just to fill a gap in my box of cards because I like to keep a selection ready for various occasions.  I started with a piece of blue background paper from my stash and then die cut the cute panda with a blue bow.  The next decision was to bring out these octagonal dies for a change and finally I added a banner with the wording.

I hear we're heading for yet another heatwave ... just when I thought the temperatures had become more bearable 🙄

Octagonal Dies - Set from Daisy Mae which I've had for some years
Panda die - Spellbinders
Banner - Dies from Creative Expressions, also years old
Words - Dies from Crafter's Companion

Snippets Playground Challenge #510

 Time for another opportunity to use up a few  more of my Snippets on a card for the latest Playground challenge.  This time I've brought my favourite bunny out to play and he's sitting beneath a floral tree enjoying the sunshine and hopefully a cool breeze.  I started with a square Snippet of cream card slightly smaller than the card blank and cut out the tree aperture, backing it with another snippet from my box of papers.  This is a left over piece from one I printed a while ago onto some textured paper.  I then die cut the bunny twice from a scrap of the same cream card so that I could layer him up for a bit of stability.  Next I pulled out a snippet of some card which I'd treated to some inking and, again, this was really a left over scrap which many people would have binned. I'm sure.  From this I cut a series of small flowers and then used another die to cut a few random cream 'dots' for the flower centres.  A simple sentiment tag and that's another card made although not much of a dent made in my Snippets mountain 🤪

Picture of the smaller snippets

Sentiment - dies from Craft Addiction UK Tiny Tags
Bunny, Tree Aperture and Flowers - unbranded dies (Amazon, Temu)

Allsorts Challenge #827

 The theme for Allsorts Challenge #827 has been chosen this time by Liz, who would like to see cards which would be suitable to send to a child or as usual there is also the anything goes option.  The prizes will be stamps from Saturated Canary (more details on the Allsorts Blog post.

For my card this time I went first to my box containing useful bits and pieces, including die cuts and/or stamped and coloured images left over from previous projects or from a colouring session which is one of the things I sometimes do when I need to craft but don't quite know what I want to make.  It so happens there were quite a few chicken images, probably dating from when the stamp sets were first issued, maybe a couple of years ago.  To form the background I used a piece of green card slightly smaller than the card blank and die cut it with a variation on the current trend for using slatted dies.  This piece was then backed with a darker green polka dot piece of paper to show through the gaps.  I then tried various arrangements of the henhouse and chicks until I was pleased with the layout, added a die cut sentiment and called it finished.  There is plenty of space on the card to add a die cut age number when it's about to be sent to probably one of the great grandchildren.

Background slatted die - an unbranded one I've had for some time
Chicken, henhouse and sentiment - stamps/dies from Stampin' Up (long retired)

In the Garden

 I've made an ATC for the current Tag-Along (and ATCs) Challenge where 'In the Garden' is the theme. This elf is working away in the garden and watering some of the plants - guess the fairies and elves have been having a heatwave too ☺️.  Some stencilling in the background and a bit of masking along with the stamped elf, bee and foliage.  An ATC doesn't take too long to make so why don't you have a go using the theme or the 'anything goes' option - a jolly handy prize on offer for a lucky winner.

  All stamps by Lavinia, some old, some more recent
Stencil and mask - also Lavinia

Tag-along (and ATC) challenge July

 Time for a new challenge at Tag-along (and ATCs) and the theme is 'In the Garden' or there is always the 'anything goes' option. .  For my tag I started with some partial stencilling and then stamped the Chinese lanterns and some foliage, finally adding some more ink around the edges and painting the lanterns themselves using Distress Oxide ink.  Finally a little 'sticker' which I produced on the computer. Some stickles and white pen used as highlights here and there.

 Stamps all from Lavinia
Stencil - also Lavinia
Tag - using a Sizzix Tim Holtz die set (largest size die)
Word sticker - produced using MS Word