Rudolph Days October

 Time for another Rudolph Days card where we are encouraged to rise to the challenge for the last few days of each month (25th to the last day) - full details on the challenge blog.  I've chosen to use a set of poinsettia dies this time; die cut from some card which I'd coloured using Pixie pigment powders, spray starch and some clingfilm, all of which gives a lovely result.  I started with a square of seasonal paper to fit my card blank, followed by cutting a slatted circle into a piece of white card which was then cut with a slightly larger circular die with a tattered edge.  The poinsettia was assembled onto a small circle of scrap card - I used one of the greens which the leaves came from.  Doing it this way meant it was straightforward to just glue it in place on the almost completed card.  There are suitable words on the background paper so I decided no sentiment would be needed for this one.  

I'm sure Helen would love to see one of your Christmas card makes for this challenge so why not join in the fun.  Happy Rudolph Days!!

Slatted Circle Die - Craft Addiction UK
Tattered circle - unbranded die set
Poinsettia - Tim Holtz Sizzix die set Holiday Brush Strokes #3 - 666067

Allsorts Challenge #835

 The theme for the Allsorts Challenge this time is **Autumn** chosen by Brenda, or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes from Stamp Addicts and Simon Says - full details on the Allsorts blog post..  I've chosen to build up a scene using some of my Lavinia stamps starting with a 'smooshed' background before stamping the Acorn Dwelling, Branches and smaller acorns, adding in some Poppies and leaves.  Colouring was done using Distress Oxide inks with a little pencil work for shading.

Stamps - Autumn Abode, Berry Branch, Garden Poppy, Fairy Buttercup, Berry Leaves. Acorns

Not Just for Christmas

 A wreath isn't just for Christmas and I've made a floral birthday card to prove the point.  I started with a piece of white card slightly smaller than the card blank and used slatted circle dies to cut into the centre.   This was followed by cutting a wreath from some green card and various flowers in shades of blue.  Happily this circular sentiment fits nicely into the centre. A piece of patterned green paper was popped behind the slats.

Slatted circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Wreath and Flowers - dies also from CAUK
Sentiment die - from Amazon quite a while ago

Journaling Tag

 Spurred on by my recent post where I used a layered tag I had a little trawl around Amazon to see what different tag dies are around and there were in fact quite a few.  You can guess what happened next - my fingers strayed onto the 'Buy Now' button for this unbranded die set.  Making this tag wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd imagined, probably because I chose a fairly sturdy card for the base tag which is a sort of triptych but I had to do quite a bit of trimming of the pockets to enable the three layers to fold into the closed position.  It occurs to me that the die was probably designed to work with Designer paper rather than card and I did a quick trial with a few scraps and that seems to be the case.  Yes, I know I should have done the trial before the actual tag but I couldn't resist diving right in without thinking it through.

Anyway I now have another tag for the Tag-along (and ATC) challenge - my fourth one so that's it until the new theme is announced for next month.  The main tag and most of the inclusions in the pockets were made using the die set and bits and pieces of card from my snippets collection.  Stamps used were mostly from a selection of magazine freebies which I've had for a few years, along with a few 'bits' from my 'useful bits' pot.

The open tag showing the pockets (card used is very dark navy and the papers shades of blue and light grey) although it looks dark brown on my screen - sigh!

The closed tag

 

MAYJOYDIY Planner Folder Tag from Amazon
Stamps used - various magazine freebies
Gummiapan butterfly die

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Tagalong (and ATC) Challenge - also Snippets

 I'm back again with something else for the Tagalong (and ATC) challenge which has a theme of *Anything Autumn*.  I don't have much call for Halloween cards but as this falls within Autumn I thought I'd make an ATC using a stamp and die set which is several years old, and which, although being predominately for Christmas, does include a couple of Halloween elements.  I simply trimmed a snippet of cream card to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and stamped the little owl along with the words, adding a spider's web die cut (also from the same set).  Sponged the edges and added a little bit of visual texture for added interest and that's it - my single contribution towards Halloween this year..

The cream Snippet used was from the strip left over when I make my own card blanks and the web was cut from a small snippet of black card so I'm also dashing along to the Playground as well with this ATC. Hope I'm not too late for a warming cup of something to drink 😉

Stamp and die set from Stampin' Up  - Have a Hoot (long retired)

Anything Autumnal

Anything Autumnal is the theme for the current challenge for Tag-along (and ATCs) and as I found a stray leaf on my desk, left over from a couple of recent projects I thought I'd use it for a tag.  I remembered that a while ago I was gifted a couple of ready cut three-layer tags in plain white card so I smooshed them with some Distress Oxide inks in Autumn colours and over printed using some text stamps and found three in different scales so I could use the largest on the large tag and going to the smallest on the little one in the frame.  A little gilding wax was used to highlight the edges and then I adhered the die cut leaf.  A small piece of gold ribbon was stapled on to the top.

Tag - was a gift so no idea of the source of the die, sorry (see below)
Text - largest a stamp from Amazon, the other two were from different magazine gifts
Leaf - Artsy Leaves from Sizzix, Tim Holtz

Edit - I've been given the tag details which are - 

 Boundless Journal Locking Tag by Paula Pascual. MPL016. “Miss P Loves” range by Crafts-Too. 

Allsorts Challenge #834

 Time for another challenge at Allsorts and this time the theme has been chosen by Lynne who would like to see you use **Traditional Christmas Colours** or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Full details of the prizes you might win are on the Allsorts Challenge Post if you pop along to check it out and you can also see what inspiration is there from the rest of the team.

For my Design Team card I've chosen to use some die cut penguins on a background which has some circles die cut to give interest. A couple of years ago a generous blogging friend sent me some ready cut circular Christmas sentiments and I've use one of them to frame one of the penguins and added a few die cut snowflakes from my Christmas oddments box.  The design was then backed with a piece of designer paper which I'd printed from a download.

Background - paper design downloaded from Buddly Designs
Sentiment - gift from a friend some time ago
Peguins - unbranded set of dies from a couple of years ago
Circular dies - Radiating circles from Craft Addiction UK
Torn Edge Square - unbranded die from Amazon