Darling Donkeys

 I'm doing my best to use up some of the oddments in my previously mentioned 'useful pot' and these donkeys were left over from a previous project - already stamped, coloured and fussy cut but. until now, unused.  Of course I had to produce other items to be able to make them into a card and so I proceed ad infinitum 😉.  I pulled out some snippets of blue 'sky' and green 'grass' paper and trimmed them to form a background; die cut some planks to form the large fence and then added a smaller picket fence and tree for added interest.  Finally decided on a pleasing arrangement and simply added a die cut sentiment - job done!!

Donkeys - from Darling Donkeys stamp set Stampin' Up (long retired)
Large fence - die set from Craft Addiction UK
Picket Fence and tree - from an old Sizzix die set, probably no longer available
Sentiment - dies from Crafters Companion

Tag-along (and ATC) Challenge

 First day of October already, which means the start of another challenge at Tag-along (and ATC) - this time with a theme of *AUTUMN* set by Brenda.  There are some great Design Team projects and a lovely tag-themed prize.  I've had to prod my Mojo back into action and have come up with an ATC using some die cut leaves which were left over from a previous project.  I took an ATC-sized piece of cream card and lightly stencilled a swirly design over it, added a little text stamping and sponged the edges.  Next move was to die cut a tattered notebook fragment from a piece of kraft card.  Another torn edge scrap was found in my 'useful bits pot' and I managed to stamp the word using a very ancient set of individual letter stamps.  The leaves were added and I made a tiny bow from a scrap of raffia and that's it - my offering for the ATC Autumn themed challenge.  There's a whole month for you to think about making a tag or an ATC and be in with a chance of winning the prize and/or being chosen as one of the top picks

Leaves - Artsy Leaves die set from Sizzix
Torn Notebook and torn Fragment - unbranded die sets
Letter Stamps - Hampton Art Studio G (from 2008)
Background stamping - magazine freebie stamps (quite old)

Snippets Challenge #516

I'm popping over to the Snippets Playground this morning to see what's afoot and taking my homework with me.

 Everything on this card, apart from the gold layer has come from my snippets collection and of course cutting the gold square has left me with snippets for another time.  I found a cream piece large enough to cut a slightly smaller square and then also cut the slatted rectangle from another snippet along with a gold backing piece.  The poppy was cut from a snippet of red and the barley was cut from cream and coloured, using Distress Oxide ink.  The vase used up a really small snippet of dark card with a metallic finish which I'd obviously coloured at some time for another project - this was a left over snippet. The finish doesn't really show up in the picture but it is there and I managed to die cut a centre for the poppy with pretty much all that remained of that piece.  The sentiment was snipped from a sheet which I'd printed a while ago which now has several 'holes' where I've been dipping into it to use on my cards.  A scattering of gems and there it is, homework completed for another fortnight.

Slatted Rectangle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Barley and Poppy - Gummiapan dies
Vase - die from a Sizzix die set which I've had for a while
Sentiment - composed using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge #833

 The theme for this Allsorts challenge has been chosen by Sarah and she would like to see **Woodland Critters* on your card or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  There will be two prizes of stamps from Lavinia as detailed on the Allsorts blog post. 

For my card this time I thought I would make something for my Christmas card collection and have included a couple of woodland deer, standing amongst some Christmas trees.  The aperture was die cut into a square of white card.  It does have a lamp post which I snipped off  because it wouldn't appear in a woodland scene, backed it with a piece of blue starry paper and also cut some tall trees using two shades of green.  The deer were cut from kraft card. These were three different die sets but they work well together.

Blue Background - printed from Artylicious Season's Greetings CD (many years old)
Aperture die - unbranded from a few years ago
Tall Trees and Deer - two unbranded die sets purchased last year
Sentiment - from a book of sentiment stickers (Clarity) from a few years back

Rudolph Days

 We seem to be heading for the end of September already which means that it's time for yet another Rudolph Days challenge which, throughout the year,  opens on the 25th of each month and runs to the end of the month.  My card this time features a robin, along with a shiny Christmas bauble.  I started with a square of white card into which I die cut some cut out circle detail and added the die cut robin perching on some winter greenery.  I then decided that it just needed something else so dug out a bauble die which I've had for many years and also managed to find a matching circle die so that I could cut a silver glitter background for it. The sentiment was stamped and a little bow added and that's it - my card for the current Rudolph Days challenge.  Happy Rudolph Days everyone 😊

Background Detail - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Robin - also a CAUK die - largest of a set of nine
Greenery - from a small set of seasonal dies from Crafter's Companion 
Bauble - a very old magazine gift die
Bow - die from Gummiapan

Jingle Bells

 Many people are now making their Christmas cards and now that I've started and have the Christmas stash handy I can't seem to stop making to use up some of the inevitable bits and pieces which get left over each time. I had a slatted rectangle already die cut and assembled so I trimmed a piece of seasonal backing paper to fit my card and added the rectangle; die cut some Christmas bells in silver card and added tiny red bows.  Using some scraps of red and green card I cut holly leaves and berries, finally producing the sentiment on the computer to fit a stitched rectangle die.  That's another fairly quick card for this year.

Background - Paper printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Slatted rectangle - die from Craft Addictions UK
Bells - unbranded die from last year
Tiny Bows - from a retired Stampin' Up die set (elephants)
Holly - a Joanna Sheen die set which I've had for many years
Sentiment - composed on the computer, stitched rectangle a retired SU die set

Flowers

 A floral card to share today using a pre-owned stamp acquired recently.  I stamped and coloured using Distress ink for a water colour effect. I found a suitable piece of background paper and then, aiming for a sort of vintage style I stamped some text onto a strip of paper which I then distressed using a variety of small stamps.  The main image was also distressed and one of the edges cut using a 'torn notebook' die.  Finally a scrap of another torn notebook paper and a sentiment were added.

Flowers - Aall & Create stamp
Text Strip - stamped using a Dictionary Page stamp from Stampin' Up (long retired)
Background - Designer paper from an old pad (Phill Martin)
Torn Notebook - unbranded die
Sentiment - from an ancient Tim Holtz set with matching die to cut