Anniversary Cats

I had a smallish scrap of watercolour paper which had been coloured using various Pixie Powders and it was just enough to die cut a circle and a banner.  Next I found some pink card which matched nicely and from this I die cut the wording, a larger circle and then punched a small heart.  A scrap of black came into play for the entwined cats.  The pretty background paper was from a selection which came with a magazine some time ago.  Luckily this was separate from the actual magazine so it is of reasonable weight - such a shame that some magazines only give away papers within the pages and the paper just doesn't come up to standard really for using on cards.  This fairly quick anniversary card will fill a gap in my box of 'ready to send' cards and has used up a bit more of my scrap mountain!

Background - paper given free with magazine
Heart - punch from Stampin' Up
Circles - Sizzix dies stitched circles
Banner - Sue Wilson die
Words - Crafter's Companion dies
Cats - unbranded die

Freebies

I've certainly not been buying as many magazines with freebies recently, mainly because the reduction in our bus service means I don't get to the larger newsagents as frequently and the supermarket with magazines right next door to the fruit and veg which I used to frequent is 'out of bounds' to me.  However I went out of my way to get my hands on an issue of Diecutting Essentials which was giving away what I thought looked like a really good value set of dies with houses, skyscrapers, a circus and various trees, clouds and hills/grassy slopes.  I've only just got around to using some of them to build this little scene - a bit on the fiddly side because I decided to hand cut some yellow paper to pop behind the tiny windows and the row of houses was cut in a few colours so that I could trim some of them to make a multicoloured row.  I still have a selection of houses ready cut for another scene when the mood takes me.

Brick Pattern - embossing folder from Crafter's Companion
Scene - built using some of the dies in the magazine freebie die set
Grass at Base - Die-namics grass die
Sentiment - freebie from Netty's Cards resized to fit a punch from Stampin' Up

Two Challenges Covered

My card today should cover two challenges one of which is the Rudolph Days which is running a little later than normal and of course the Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippets fortnightly challenge.

The blog has been a bit neglected for a few days, partly due to the fact that while we had a short spell of slightly cooler weather I tried to catch up with some of the domestic tasks which had gone by the board when it was so very hot.  Now of course we have a return of the hot and humid conditions which isn't really good for so many people and of course plays havoc with gardens, crops in the fields and the wildlife.

Anyway back to the reason for this post which is to show the card which I made initially for the Snippets challenge and then realised that I was still in time to pop along to the Rudolph Days as well.  I started by embossing a piece of white card having first applied some ink to the actual embossing folder using a brayer.  I then found some snippets of kraft card to cut the two deer; some green for the grass; had a rummage around in the little containers littering my desk and found some spare leaves, berries and a stray flower before assembling everything together.  A seasonal greeting was added popped onto an odd red circle which I  also 'found'.  It is amazing just how many 'left overs' there are sitting around just waiting to be used.

If you follow the links above to visit the two blogs you will find plenty of Christmas inspiration and the chance of a prize on Rudolph Days and I defy anyone not to raise a smile when they see the super amusing card which Di has made for us this time using some of her snippets and the stamp set which is the prize on offer - she certainly sources some really inspiring and unusual items for us.

Background - embossing folder by Sizzix for Stampin' Up
Deer - Sizzix dies
Grass - Die-namics
Leaves etc - oddments which were littering my desk!
Sentiment - freebie from Netty's Cards resized and printed