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

Snippets Challenge #509

 I've just realised that I'd not made a card for the current Snippets Challenge.  No excuse really except that I'd been without a computer for a couple of days during the week and I'm afraid that being so out of touch really puts me all at 'sixes and sevens'.  Thankfully the update didn't take too long and it's all nicely back in place on my desk; also working more quickly which is great..   I did actually have to use some whole sheets of A4 card for this card because I've decided I will make my own card blanks for now and I also needed a couple of layers as well here.  All of the die cutting for this card was done using snippets of white card and I remembered to take a pic before throwing out the remnants.  

I started by die cutting the toadstools, colouring the caps with alcohol markers and then assembling them, popping the teeny tiny white dots back into the blank spaces.  This turned out to be very fiddly so I might have to rethink that procedure.  I lightly coloured the stems and some details on the little toadstool cottage. The next move was deciding how to design the layout and I settled for a slatted circle which was backed with a snippet of designer paper from my collection.  Tiny tags were used for the sentiment and a snippet of gold and white baker's twine used to attach them..

Picture of the scraps (snippets) left over after die cutting the toadstools and tags

Slatted Circle - Craft Addiction UK
Tiny Tags and Toadstools - Craft Addiction UK
Squares - Noble Pierced Square Nesting dies Creative Expressions

Rudolph Days Challenge

 The Rudolph Days challenge has caught me out yet again this month so it was a quick scramble to make a Christmas card before the end of month deadline.  I've chosen this time to make an eclipse style card using one of the slatted dies and an image from a pad of seasonal images which I've had for some years and is most likely now discontinued.  I selected two identical images and used one of the slatted dies to cut into the centre of one of them before layering them together for the effect.  A piece of toning card was used to cut a larger rectangle to back this and then it was adhered onto a 7" x 5" card blank.  A simple greeting was die cut and added and that's it - job done and my Rudolph Days card for June completed in no time.

Image from Lili of the Valley pad of seasonal images 
Greeting - dies from Britannia
Slatted dies - from Craft Addiction UK (squares)
Toning Card - Cherry Cobbler by Stampin' Up

Slatted Oval Background

 I got the idea for this card from watching a recent YouTube video by the talented Chrissie Stokes where she showed us a way of producing a slatted oval background without needing slatted dies (which I've not come across anyway).  This was achieved by using the largest of the square slatted dies (or the large circle would work as well)  and using the resulting piece to back a card design incorporating an oval cut out.  For my card I used an oval die with a floral design one one side where this actually cuts out the frame, which I was able to put back into the oval aperture before deciding what else to add.  I selected a dragonfly die which was cut from a piece of a Gelli print with a black layer for the body.  The sentiment was also cut from a scrap of the Gelli print.  Before it was assembled I decided to cut another layer of the oval frame to give the card a bit more dimension.  The dragonfly was brushed over with a glimmer pen for a bit of extra shine.  

Slatted squares die set - Craft Addiction UK
Oval Floral Frame - Gummiapan die from Easter Calendar 2025
Dragonfly - also Gummiapan die from Easter Calendar 2025
Sentiment - from Crafter's Companion (I've had this one a long time)

Allsorts Challenge #826

 Time for a new challenge at Allsorts and this time the theme has been chosen by Christine and it is either **The Beach** or the usual *Anything Goes*.  Prizes this time are from Grafton Crafts and you can see full details on the Allsorts Blog.

When I saw the theme this time I went straight to my collection of useful bits and pieces because I knew there were at least a couple of die cuts in there of some wooden posts, just waiting to be used and, as it happens I also came across a couple of seagulls and a handy clump of grass.  The seagulls and grass were already coloured and ready to go but the wooden posts were white so I set about colouring these with some Distress Oxide ink mixed with water. I then decided to go for a relatively CAS design using a couple of square dies and one of my slatted circles which I layered together, backing the circular area with a piece of a previously made Gelli print which is sea-coloured. Finally everything was adhered to a 6" square card - so far no sentiment has been added to the front of this card, which will probably be left blank because I find that people are often looking for cards in which they can write their own personal messages.

Slatted Circle Dies - from Craft Addictions UK
Wooden Posts and Gulls - dies from Gummiapan
Grass - from On the Horizon set Stampin' Up (long retired)

Inky Play

This card is the result of a bit of inky play and trying out the faux bleach or colour lift technique using a stencil and some water. First I smooshed some inks around onto a piece of white card which was slightly smaller than the card blank and once it was dry I used a damp sponge through the stencil in selected areas to lift some of the colour until I was happy with the result.  It was left to dry naturally although a heat gun could also be used if you are impatient (the results always seem to vary each time this technique is tried).  The stamped foliage was the final thing apart from a small die cut sentiment because I didn't want to cover up too much of the background.

Inks -Distress Oxides, Saltwater Taffy, Victorian Velvet and Wilted Violet
Stamp  and stencil - from Lavinia
Sentiment - a favourite free stamp, die from an ancient set of fancy dies by Sue Wilson 

Coffee Anyone?

I've made another drink related tag to take along to the Tag-along (and ATC) challenge. where the the theme is either Drinks or Anything Goes.  I don't have any small coffee or tea related stamps but a lovely blogging friend kindly stamped a few for me - thank you, you know who you are 😊.  This is quite a large tag so I was able to use one of my much larger set of stamps as a background.  I used a torn notebook die set to trim the edges of one of the smaller images I was sent and coloured and fussy cut the coffee cup from another to layer onto it, sponging the edges with brown ink.  The large tag was cut from an offcut (Snippet) of text printed paper.  Some toning baker's twine was used to tie through the hole in the tag and then everything was layered together.  I was inspired to come up with this design by the lovely prize this month.

Tag - Text printed paper from an old Prima pad, Tim Holtz tag die set with several sizes
Large Coffee Cup - from Caffeinated stamp set Aall & Create
Small Cup - from Tim Holtz small blueprint coffee cup stamp set
Torn Notebook Edges - unbranded die set