Daffodils

 I'm back again with more Spring flowers for the Tag-along and ATC challenge because, as usual, I cut and coloured too many flowers for my previous project and of course I have lots of the background strips to use as well.  This time I cut a tag using a punch which cuts a nice top shape and I also rounded the bottom corners as well to match.  I overstamped using a colour which would tone with the daffs; stamped and cut the word and added a stamped bird to the bottom corner.  The bottle to hold the flowers was coloured and then sparkled with a Wink of Stella pen although it's not easy to see the shimmer in the picture.  A toning ribbon was added.  I'm enjoying using these backgrounds and it's good to be using up some of my white left over strips of card in an interesting way.

Tag Top punch - from Stampin' up (probably retired)
Bottom Corners - rounded using an ancient X-cut punch
Daffodils - Gummiapan dies
Bird - a Lavinia small robin stamp
Bottle - Sizzix die from a set of three 666199 Freshly Picked
Beautiful Word - from Life is Beautiful Visible Image

Spring flowers

 Now that we are into March there is a new theme for the Tag-along and ATCs Challenge, very appropriately **Spring Flowers** or there is the *anything goes* option as usual.  I saw a video recently where someone had taken some strips of left over white card, taped them together and then prepared a sort of 'masterboard' by smooshing colour, stencilling and random stamping.  As I've gathered quite a number of strips when making my own card blanks I thought it would be a good idea to have a go and the resulting strips should be ideal for snipping into ATC blanks and small tags with ready prepared subtle backgrounds.

I've used one such piece for this ATC, trimmed to 1/4" smaller than the finished size, finally backing it with some toning green to make the finished ATC.  I cut a selection of Spring flowers, a tree trunk and some grass all from scraps of white card and set about colouring them using watercolour brush pens (Zig).  The twisty branch was cut from kraft and the fairy from black.  I typed the word 'Spring' into a text box using the computer and fussy cut.  I then spent some time moving the bits around until I was happy with the arrangement and then glued them in place. I have lots more of my inky strips left to make more Tags and/or ATCs - so much easier making a background on a larger surface rather than on fiddly small pieces.  I've added a link to the video below.

Spring Flowers - all dies from Gummiapan
Twisty Branch - also Gummiapan die
Tree Stump - from Playing in the Rain Stampin' Up (long retired)
Fairy - die from Craft Addiction UK Mini Fairy Garden set
Grass - die from Craft Addiction UK Hoppy Together set
Link to Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDS2q3ME4p0&t=15s

Allsorts Challenge #844

 The theme for the next Allsorts challenge has been chosen by Sarah and she would like to see a ribbon or bow on your card.  There is the anything goes option as usual.  The prize this time is a digital download (full details on the Allsorts post).  

A very tenuous link on my card this time but one of the 'hedgehugs' has a bow in her hair ☺️. The image is a download which I resized using My Craft Studio and then water coloured lightly using distress inks.  Die cut the image and a backing layer which I then matched up to a piece of designer paper from my stash.  I also embossed a narrow panel with hearts and added a little heart tag and tiny flower.  The Anniversary greeting was stamped and die cut.

Hedgehugs - downloaded image from Craft Addiction, drawn by Louise Dunne
Rectangle Dies - an old Tonic set
Heart Embossing - using a Cuttlebug embossing folder which I've had forever
Heart Tag - from mini tag set Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment - from a favourite magazine give away several years ago (die from Stampin' Up)

Rudolph Days, February 2026

 Happy Rudolph Days everyone.  Luckily I've saved a few Christmas cards which were surplus to requirements and this is one of them for the current challenge.  I've used two digital images, resized using My Craft Studio, then fussy cut and simply popped them onto a background which was die cut using some great circle dies which are so versatile.  I do like items which can be used to give many different looks.  A simple stamped greeting and some random snowflakes and that's it - my card to celebrate Rudolph Days this month.

Images - digital downloads designed and drawn by Louise Dunne for Craft Addiction UK
Circle dies - also from Craft Addiction UK
Snowflakes - just lying around on my desk

Snippets Playground Challenge # 526

 I'm afraid I've had to raid my file of unpublished cards to take along to the Playground for the current challenge because, believe it or not, I haven't managed to make any cards for a couple of weeks due to feeling decidedly 'under the weather'.  This is a floral offering which I made some time ago although I do know that it used up quite a good selection of coloured snippets. I started by die cutting a slatted circle into a fairly large white snippet to fit the card blank and backed this with a small snippet of green.  The flowers and leaves were all cut from various coloured snippets and the sentiment was snipped from a sheet which I'd composed and printed on the computer.

Sadly it appears that numbers of entries into this challenge (and I suspect some others too) are dwindling, so why not raid your snippets mountains to see if you can make something to use them up. Miss Di and Sarn work hard to keep the Playground active and deserve our support. Don't forget it's somewhere where the sun always shines.  ☺️☺️

Slatted Circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Floral Spray - unbranded die from Amazon
Sentiment - produced using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge #843

 It's my turn to choose the theme for the Allsorts Challenge this time and I would like to see embossing of some kind featuring on your projects.  Of course there is the usual 'anything goes' option as well.  Prizes this time are from Lisa Horton (full details on the Allsorts blog post.

 For my card I decided to go with dry embossing using an embossing folder which was a magazine gift from quite a few years ago.  I also thought it would be good to combine this with a variation on the eclipse technique as well, using a butterfly die.  I started with a panel of white card slightly smaller than my card blank and die cut the butterfly which I then taped back into the aperture using low tack tape, before running it through my machine using the embossing folder.  The next move was to cut four more butterflies using some scrap card, gluing them all together along with the embossed one.  The white embossed square was backed with a mauve square and the edges of the embossed butterfly sponged lightly with some toning ink before popping it back into the aperture and adding a die cut body.  The final touch was a sentiment and that's it - a clean and simple embossed effect on an eclipse card.

Embossing Folder - magazine gift from some years ago
Butterfly - Sizzix Detailed Butterflies 661182
Butterfly Body - from Craft Addiction UK butterfly die set
Sentiment - produced on the computer using MS Word

Peek-a-Boo

 A card to share today which is a bit of fun using a digital image, manipulated using My Craft Studio.  The idea was inspired by a You Tube video from Susan Hardy and also from a die set which I own.  Unfortunately I'm unable to print on my usual cardstock using my current printer and the lighter weight stock I have is a slightly different shade compared with that which I use for card blanks.  Hopefully the fact that there is some coloured paper between the layers helps to disguise the difference.  I printed the Jellybean image and the 'cake' quote onto an A4 piece of card arranging them so that I could later use a square die to frame the composition.  The sentiment tag and balloon were die cut, also the tiny bow and door handle, all added to complete the card.

Peek-a-Boo - part of a digital download from Craft Addiction UK designed by Louise Dunne
Sentiment Tag - also from CAUK
Balloon and Bow - from a retired Stampin' Up set (Elephants on Parade) I think
Door Handle - from a door die set with dogs, unbranded
Words - composed on the computer