Merry Mice

I'd more or less finished with Christmas cards for a while until I came across these merry mice - there are quite a few in the set and I've only used some of them.   They are quite small so a great way of using up some of my snippets of white card to stamp and die cut them and also some other snippets to make up the card.  Shame it isn't the week for visiting the Playground with a card but worth taking a look all the same to see what might be on offer in the grand seasonal draw if you make and enter a card using some of your snippets.

I started with stamping, colouring and die cutting the mice and some of their 'accessories' and shuffled them around a bit to see what scene I could  conjure up.  Settled on some of the mice putting Christmas lights onto the side of a 'shed', accompanied by their mouse snowman and a little tree.  Santa is on his way to visit flying across the sky.  The shed was made from a scrap of card stamped with a woodgrain effect with a scrap of white for the snow on the roof.  Oddments of white card were used for the snow on the ground and a snippet of blue pearl paper for the sky. Finally a frame was cut to surround the scene, again cut from a snippet of pearl white. I really must put away all the Christmas bits and pieces for the time being although I do have pictures of a few cards which you've not yet seen.

Frame - Sue Wilson Noble Pierced Squares die set
Shed - stamped with Stampin Up Wood grain stamp
Santa - die from a Crafter's Companion set
Mice and Accessories - from Merry Mice set of stamps and dies Hello Bluebird
Tree and Star - lying around on my desk waiting to be used

Seasonal Greetings

With very best Christmas Wishes to my followers and those who take the time to visit this blog and leave lovely comments.  Have a wonderful time and ...

  Here's to a Peaceful and Healthy year to come.  

A simple card, white on a gold layer.  Stamped and embossed in gold.  Stamp used is a very old wooden backed one (remember when all stamps were on wood blocks??) from Papermania.

Pixie Snippets #368

Today is the start of the final Playground Challenge for this year which also means that the very generous Di has lots of lovely prizes going into the seasonal draw this time.  I'm in awe of her organisational skills in running this and the current post gives very concise details of what you would need to do in order to be in for an opportunity to win something.  Do pop along to see the super card which she has made using Prize A.

My card for this time uses quite a lot of pretty tiny snippets of various colours for the components.  I started with a piece of wood-grain paper to use as a background then die cut two banners, embossing the white one with 'snow'.  The next thing was to cut two twiggy wreaths, one brown and one kraft, which I then decorated with a selection of die cut flowers and leaves.   The final thing was to cut the word along with its backing.  All the 'bits' were cut from snippets in my scrap piles - the base card and piece of background being the exception.  While I had the dies out I'd cut another two wreaths and more flowers and leaves which I've made into a quite different card which I will show you another day.

Wood-grain - from a pad purchased in The Works
Wreath and decoration - die set from Sizzix
Banners - Sizzix dies by Stampin' Up
Embossing Folder - Snow Falling from Stampin' Up
Joy word and backing - dies from Crafter's Companion

Winter Window

I met up recently with friends for coffee and of course plenty of crafty chat - this time we swapped Christmas cards with the usual questions about the various products used.  I have to admit I succumbed to temptation and ordered a really useful window die which has arrived really quickly and the package also included a little gift of a cat die which was a kind gesture.  I justify this purchase - if I need to - because the window can and will be used on cards throughout the year although for the moment I've made a Christmas card inspired by the one I received from my friend.

The window was die cut and then I found lots of snippets of card and cut out houses, trees etc to make a little scene, adding a silver star in the sky. I used some woodgrain paper as a background so that it looks a bit like a cabin in the woods. Naturally I had to have the cat reclining on the window sill and some floral decoration at the top (left overs from another card). I even cut the houses in yellow and painstakingly paper pieced the windows in - mad or what!! It is a shame I've already popped over to the Playground with my entry for the current challenge because this card would certainly fit the bill.  There is still time to enter if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a lovely prize - follow the link to see what is on offer.

Background - paper pad from The Works
Window - Grand Madison die by Poppy Stamps
Trees and houses - die set from Crafter's Companion
Cat - gift die which came with the window
Flowers and foliage - Sizzix dies (left overs from previous project)

Pixie Playground Challenge #367

Time to post a card for the current Playground challenge and it is yet another Christmas card - made entirely from various snippets of card apart from the blank card of course.  I've used a snow globe die which is a relatively recent purchase and built up a nativity scene inside using dies which came free with a magazine either last year or the year before, can't quite remember.  I used a snippet of printed paper for the sky and various shades of 'sandy' colours for scene - the tiny star was cut from a scrap of silver. 

Pixies Playground Challenge #366

Time again to post a card for the Playground challenge and this time it is a baby card which I made using up a selection of 'girly' snippets..  I started with a white card blank and added a fairly large snippet of pink patterned paper.  Snippets of two shades of pink were used to die cut the bunting, oval layers, elephant and the tiny hearts and flowers.  Some small alphabet stamps were used to add the word to the bunting.   Do pop along to see the cute and colourful card which Di has given us to showcase the current prize if your name is lucky enough to be drawn.

Ovals - Spellbinders dies
Elephant - Sweet Dixie die
Baby - Sizzix alphabet dies
Bunting - unbranded die
Flowers - punch from Stampin' Up

Another Crochet CAL Project

The last couple of weeks seem to have disappeared far too quickly and worst of all I'm not sure I've achieved a huge amount but that does happen from time to time and I try not to stress about it. Having completed my previous CAL project and made a couple of 'virus' shawls I decided to get going on another CAL (crochet along) and hopefully this one won't take me as long to finish as the first one.  However having made the first square - and there are two more of these to make - I'm not holding my breath!  The circular centre section of each of these is very attractive but proved a bit of a task to make and I struggled with the quadruple and sextuple trebles required on the outer rounds.  I know how to do them but found it very difficult to get them neat because the top of each of these stitches ends up very loose with a large loop so if anyone has any hints or tips on how to avoid this I'd be grateful.  I did the usual and watched a YouTube video and tried to do exactly as shown but was unable to achieve the neat finish shown in this video.  I imagine practice makes perfect but each of these was made and remade several times and they are far from perfect.  The 'blurb' about this CAL said it was suitable for an intermediate crocheter or an enthusiastic beginner and while I'm not exactly a beginner I thought 'enthusiastic' should cover it - now I'm not so sure so this piece might end up as a cushion cover and the yarn will be used to make something else although I don't really like to beaten so will persevere for a while.

Here is a photo of the first square - it hasn't been blocked yet and I've just realised I've not measured it to see if it is the recommended size. If it isn't to size I guess the final blanket might not go together when the various sections are made.  It is good to take on a challenge though ... or is it??

CAL pattern and yarn from Deramores - Mediterranean CAL project

Seasonal Snippets

Time to visit the Playground once again and this time I'm taking along a Christmas card on which I've used a selection of snippets.  I started by die cutting the tree and its backing from snippets of silver and blue card, followed by a  lighter blue circle with a slightly larger dark blue one - snippets again.  I used up the remaining snippets of silver and light blue to cut leaves and flowers to assemble into a little posy.  Background paper was an off cut from a paper pad from several years ago.  The poinsettias were brushed oiver swith Wink of Stella but I doubt that shows up in the picture as well as it does for real.  There is a clever guest designer in the Playground this time as well as a cute card from Di with the usual opportunity to go into a prize draw.  If you visit you will be able to see this and find a link to the guest designer so why not pop along.

Tree - die set from Tonic
Poinsettias - dies from Marianne - had them 'forever'
Foliage - from set of dies given free with recent magazine
Background - paper from Papermania I think

Seasonal Cards

I'm still ploughing on with a selection of Christmas cards and have come to realise what a lot of seasonal stamps and dies I actually have in my stash although I am quite short on suitable card and papers.  Luckily I have at least one very good CD with a wide selection of lovely designs but I think I need to go shopping for some green card because although I have heaps of snippets many of them are too small for some of the things I want to cut out.  I did manage to find a couple of shades of green for the die cut tree on this card and the background was printed onto some photo paper.  The white square was lying around just waiting to be used but I did run it through a snowy embossing folder., then added a slightly larger blue layer to tone with the background.  The tree decorations were die cut from tiny scraps of silver card.  Not much space for any wording on the front but this design speaks for itself really.

Tree and Decorations - die set from Tonic, freebie with recent magazine
Background - printed from Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD
Snowy Effect - Sizzix snow is falling embossing folder from Stampin' Up.

Another Crochet Project

I like to have some knitting and crochet on the go so that I can pick it up while watching TV - I have to admit this is so that I can hopefully stay awake to watch a whole programme!!  Trawling around the internet - as you do - I found this pattern for the oddly-named 'Virus' shawl which is triangular and there is also a square version to make a blanket. A shawl is really handy to wear around the shoulders to keep warm and nicer than a cardigan I think.  I chose a variegated yarn to make my shawl and here it is draped over my office chair.  I enjoyed  making this, mainly because there are four rows to the pattern which gives a bit more variety when working rather than repeating the same stitch and row ad infinitum.  I'm planning on making another one in a different colourway as a Christmas present so I will have to get a move on with that in between making cards and all the other things I like to do.

On a Roll

I'm on a roll with Christmas cards at the moment and this one is being taken along to the Playground for the latest Snippets challenge because I've used up some snippets and also made more snippets by cutting into a new sheet of card.  I was reminded that I have a set of dog dies when I saw the card posted by my friend Anne and I've done something similar in using my little Scottie dog to make a Christmas card.  I die cut the dog using a scrap of black card with a TINY piece of red for the bow around his neck and he is joined on his snowflake background by a small stamped and die cut tree.  I cut the main background to size from a new sheet of printed card which left me with enough to cut the oval and I also have more snippets for another card.  The red and white layers, sentiment and snowflake were all cut from oddments. 

It is well worth a visit to the Playground to see the fabulous butterfly card made by the lovely Di - what patience she must have!  As usual the prize for one lucky person will be the dies she used to produce her card.

Oval and square dies - Toni
Banner - Sizzix die from Stampin' Up
Snowflake - die from Docraft
Sentiment - Gemini die
Scottie - unbranded die set
Tree - stamp and die set from Studio Light

Pointy Bauble

When I was at the show last weekend and bought some stamps I also spotted some masks produced by the same company but unfortunately they had sold out of them by the time I decided to buy so I had to order the one I wanted.  It arrived today in the post so I've used it to make a CAS card and it is indeed very CAS - I'm still debating whether to add a seasonal sentiment although I think I probably won't put one on this card as the design speaks for itself.  I started by using the mask to emboss the shape onto a piece of white card and then lightly brushed over the aperture with some light brown ink before masking off the lower portion and repeat stamping some Christmas trees to set the scene.  I then selected stamps from a couple of different sets.

It is a really horrid day here with lots of strong wind and rain so ideal for staying indoors and making some cards.

Bauble Mask - from Cardi-o
Trees - Tiny trees stamp set from Clarity Stamps
Deer and Rabbit - from two different Cardi-o stamp sets

Winter Scene

I've made a couple of Christmas Cards today inspired by a recent visit to a Craft Show where I watched a demonstration showing ways of building up scenes from lots of different small stamps.  Of course this reminded me that I have quite a few stamp sets from this company but that doesn't mean that I wasn't tempted with another set of up to date designs.  I really should stay away from temptation!!  Anyway I found out my original stamp sets along with card and inks and set to work.  For this card I decided to pop the scene into  behind really) a die cut snow globe.  There were some masks on the stand but unfortunately they'd sold out by the time I went to buy a couple of them so I've had to improvise.  The scene was built up using  a torn paper mask and a combination of stamps old and new - new ones are the deer and rabbit.  I brushed the sky area with some blue ink and all the stamping was done with black Versafine ink.  Background is a piece of designer paper from Docraft which I've had lying around for some years.

Snow globe - die from Crealies
Stamps - From Card-io Combinations Collection and Christmas Companions (new set)
Greeting - stamp from Stampin' Up Contempo Christmas

PS - Dotty Jo kindly commented and said that this would fit in with the latest Christmas Kickstart challenge HERE.  Pop along to see some great woodland creatures cards.

Finally Completed!

Three years ago I decided to take part in a CAL (crochet along project) from Stylecraft and designed by Susan Pinner but partway through, and for various reasons, this was put aside.  However I have 'friends' who remind me of this from time to time by asking if it is finished so I went for it recently and made a determined effort to get it done and finally here is a photo to prove that it is indeed finished.  Probably if I'd realised at the start just how much work was involved I might not have been tempted but all in all  I've quite enjoyed the process.  I also learnt some new techniques including joining shapes by crocheting them together which I found quite fiddly at first but soon got the hang of it - plenty of practice on this design with the pentagons and hexagons to be joined.  Please don't ask me if I'm making another one!!  I do have quite a lot of the many coloured yarns left over so I will be using them up at some stage on possibly a smaller project.

Green Wellies

This chocolate Labrador in green wellies is scampering along to the Playground for challenge #363.  The lovely Di has made a really fun underwater scene card and there is a bumper prize for the lucky winner this time as well.  There is also the added bonus of a  video of the adorable Dudley enjoying his recent holiday - a blog well worth visiting.

For my card I've used up various snippets of paper and card starting with the last piece of patterned paper left in a pad I've had for ages and some reasonably sized pieces of pearl card in a creamy brown colour.  These were used to die cut an oval frame and the backing for the sentiment banner;  the final scrap was embossed and used as a layer behind the oval.  The dog was cut from a scrap of chocolate brown card and his red bandanna and green wellies from really tiny bits of card.  The tree was stamped onto an oval of cream card, as was the sentiment.  Finally some die cut birds were added to the tree cut from scraps of black.

Embossed Panel - Sheena embossing folder
Ovals - dies from Tonic
Tree - Sheltering tree stamp set Stamoin' Up
Birds - Memory Box dies
Banner - Creative Expressions dies
Labrador in Wellies -  from an Unbranded die set

Thanks Again

This is the other 'thanks' card which I mentioned recently and this one is for the Pixie Snippets challenge. It seems appropriate to mention that the 'thanks' word die was part of a set which I was lucky enough to win from there some time ago.  Always worth taking part because you never know when your name will pop up as a winner and it is a great opportunity to use up snippets.  This particular word has been lying around on my desk ever since the set arrived when I did my usual thing and did a test cut to see how the dies looked.   Luckily I had some other bits and pieces amongst my stash which could be brought together to make a complete card.  The embossed panel was a piece left over from another card, as was the tail end of a banner.  Fortunately I still had some scraps of the purple card from which to die cut three butterflies.  Backed everything with a larger snippet of designer paper and added a few stray gems with, of course, the original 'thanks' which sparked this card off in the first place.

Word dies -

fabulous phrases Concorde & 9th
Butterflies - freebie dies from magazine

Thanks

I'm filling a gap in my box of cards and this time I've made a couple of 'thanks' cards using mainly snippets and things lying around waiting to be used up although I despair of ever catching up with the mountain of debris - all of which is useful and CANNOT be thrown away!!  This time I've used a kraft card blank and some bits and pieces of cream pearl card for the die cutting along with some toning designer paper and a small scrap of brown for the word.  I started by edging the largest piece of cream using a scalloped edge die and trimming the designer paper to fit.  The next thing was another bit of the cream pearl to die cut the row of cats and finally the 'thanks' word was cut from a really small scrap of brown card.  All was layered together and that is one more for the card box.  The second 'thanks' card is quite different and I'll share that another day.  It is certainly a challenge using up all the miscellaneous bits but I do enjoy doing my best to avoid the cards looking as if they were made from oddments.

We've had some more lovely weather recently with plenty of sunshine but sadly this morning it is raining so a good excuse to disappear into the craft room and play.

Scalloped Edge - die from My Favourite Things
Thanks - die from set by Concorde & Ninth
Cats - Possibly from Magenta but packaging seems to have disappeared so not sure

Another Christmas Card for the Box

I've put together a Christmas card to go into my box for later in the year using up more of the miscellaneous bits and pieces lying around on my desk. The background paper was part of a sheet which I'd printed for another card and the two circles were 'waste' from cutting circular apertures (I have loads of these of various shapes) and of course they aren't really 'waste'.  The blue one I embossed with some snowflakes and then popped the Santa and deer die cut racing across the sky.  Finally I put together some vellum poinsettia flowers, also left overs.

Background - printed from Artylicious CD (I think)
Santa and reindeer - I think was a freebie die from last year

Snippets Playground #361

What is it they say about best laid plans?  I decided that I really didn't need to buy anything else in the way of stamps, dies and so on and was aiming just to top up on the consumables like paper and card only when absolutely necessary and when I'd used up most, if not all, of my scraps mountain.  Well we all know how difficult it is to resist a bargain or special offer and I'm afraid a reduced price offer tempted me into buying 'just one more die' which I've used on my card this time for the Snippets Playground challenge.  I did however raid my scraps and apart from the base card everything was cut from scrap pieces.  I started with the floral die and some white card - this die cuts into the card so I used a square first of all, afterwards deciding I'd prefer it framed within a circle so this was done with a scalloped circle die of suitable size.  The patterned background paper was part of a left over sheet which I'd printed using a CD and the sentiment with its background was one which was surplus to requirements on a recent project and was lying around on my desk.

As always Di has made a lovely card for inspiration this time and of course the items she used will be the prize for a lucky winner so it might be a good idea to follow the link and maybe take part in the challenge.

Background - printed from Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD
Scalloped Circle - Tattered Lace Pin Dot decorative circles dies
Flower - Clarity Fresh Cut die Daisy and Friends
Sentiment - Gemini Die

Christmas Rose

I've been unable to do any parchment cards since May which was when I had my first cataract surgery but now the second eye has been dealt with I decided to have a go.  It is still early days but my vision is so much better now although things should be even better once  time has elapsed and I can visit the optician to sort out a new prescription for my specs which I will still need to wear.  I decided to just to a small panel of Christmas roses using a Groovi plate and colouring with pencils from the back, adding a small amount of white work.  The panel was mounted onto some pink card and a toning Christmas design paper was used behind it with the addition of some die cut snowflakes. I feel that parchment work never has the impact in a photo as it does for real which is unfortunate.

Parchment Panel - Groovi Christmas plate designed by Tina
Design Paper - printed from Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD from years ago
Snowflakes - freebie dies and a Docraft one for the large snowflake
Colouring - Polychromos pencils

Clock Card

Filling some gaps in my box of cards and this time it is one suitable for a male.  I have lots of dies (too many I guess really) but I have been collecting them for some years so it does pay to go through the various storage boxes now and again, partly seeking inspiration and partly to remind myself of anything which may have been forgotten.  I knew I had this clock die but have to admit I had no idea which box it was in but luckily I managed to run it to ground.  I cut it from some heavy patterned paper (almost card weight) and then cut a larger circle from a different design in the same pad.  The hands were cut from a scrap of plain black card and the cogs from scraps of kraft card.  The old music design piece was sponged with distress ink to give it some age and a small spray of ivy leaves was die cut from a loose page from an old book which was falling to pieces (very useful to have book pages so wouldn't thrown them away).  The sentiment was a download sized in a graphics programme and punched out before layering onto a small cog.

Text design papers - Pad from Prima (scripts)
Music - a loose sheet from some ancient sheet music
Clock - die set from Marianne
Cogs - Bigz die from Sizzix
Sentiment - free download from Netty's Cards

Vintage Style

One of my recent cards left me with a spare die cut frame which I was determined to use so I've built up a card around this item using an off cut of patterned paper which just happens to have part of the design which just fits nicely into the frame..I actually decided to cut another two of the small frames so that they could be layered up to give it some dimension.  This in turn has left me with some small rectangular and square pieces which you can guess I probably won't be able to throw away!!  I've used a larger off cut from the same paper pad as a background and die cut a lace border in the matching lilac shade.  The sentiment was computer generated and punches used to cut out the shapes.
Now to decide what on earth can I make using a little collection of plain card squares and rectangles??

Background and image in frame - paper from Prima Nature Garden Pad
Frames - Card Creator 1 die from Paper Rose
Lace - Tim Holtz vintage lace die
Sentiment - punches from Stampin' Up

Pixie Snippets #360

Time to visit the Playground again with a card for the current challenge and as usual Di has made a brilliant snippets card using the prize which should come in really handy for using up some of the smallest pieces which we all save.

For my card I've used another piece of sparkle card which was coloured using alcohol inks - encouraged by Di of course who posted recently about this technique which I just had to try.  I had a piece left from my colouring session and found a large snippet of purple to go with it and some snippets of silver card for the oval frame, sentiment and butterflies.  I started by putting the sparkle piece into an embossing folder then just tickling the edges of the embossed butterflies with some silver gilding wax.  An oval was cut from the background purple piece of card before popping the embossed piece behind.  I felt it needed a frame so I die cut one from some scraps of silver card along with a few butterflies.  The sentiment was cut from the remaining piece of the purple card and the backing from some of the silver.  The card was then assembled and there you have it - a snippets card which not only fits this challenge but also just about does it for the Butterfly Challenge (only with the colour and the butterflies) but that should be enough to qualify I hope.

Oval panel - coloured using alcohol inks on Tim Holtz sparkle card
Oval frame - Oval die set from Tonic
Butterfly embossing - free embossing folder from some time ago
Butterflies - dies given away with magazine
Sentiment - dies from Tonic

...and Another Drop

While I had the alcohol inks out on my desk I decided to use them on some Yupo paper which I bought ages ago and which, to my shame, I'd never used for some reason.  I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of buying things maybe at a show, bringing them home and promptly forgetting to actually use them.  Anyway I did enjoy my recent dabble with the alcohol inks and in this case once the surface was dry I popped a stencil onto it and applied a little of the blending fluid using the felt applicator - this had the effect of lifting off some of the ink to leave a pattern.  My next move was to find some scraps of white pearl card, the largest of which was coloured with the same shades of alcohol ink before die cutting a large oval.  Smaller dies were used to cut a frame and an oval to back the stencilled piece before layering it all together.  I wanted to make a feature of the stencilled pattern so have simply added a die cut sentiment with its own backing.  A linear design was added to the base card before adhering the ovals into place for this CAS style of card.

Ovals - die set from Tonic
Sentiment - Gemini die
Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution used

A Drop of Alcohol

No, I've not been drinking it but have dragged my alcohol inks out from the depths of my stash, prompted by seeing the post HERE from Di (of Playground fame) who had been trying out some of the new Tim Holtz silver sparkle card which I believe was developed with alcohol inks in mind.  I treated myself to some of this card and it certainly does have a lovely surface appearance.  Luckily my inks hadn't evaporated, although I must say they've been in storage for a long time, and I coloured a piece of the sparkle using pinks and purples blended with blending fluid.  There is a link in Di's post to a good video on this topic, well worth watching.

I've made a card using the resulting piece behind a window style die.  First I cut a square of lilac card using a stitched square die before placing the window die in the centre and cutting it out.  I then repeated this with white pearl card so that I could mix and match.  The sparkle piece was trimmed to fit behind the 'window' in the lilac layer before placing the white frame into the centre.  This is much simpler to do than to describe!  A sentiment was stamped onto the bottom of a white card blank using my trusty Misti.  The next move was to die cut a flower in black to match the sentiment and contrast with the other colours.  I've been left with a white stitched square piece and a lilac window piece ready to make into a similar card.  There really is a super sparkly effect on the coloured card but sadly the picture doesn't do it justice.

Sparkly Layer - Silver sparkle card from Tim Holtz, alcohol inks used
Square Die - Noble pierced squares set from Sue Wilson Creative Expressions
Window - Card Creator 1 die from Paper Rose
Flowers - Tim Holtz for Sizzix - wild flowers
Sentiment - from freebie set of stamps given away with magazine

Snow Globe

The weather for this holiday weekend seems to be pretty good with blue skies and lots of sunshine so it does seem a bit weird to be showing you a wintry Christmas card!  The backing paper is from a sheet I remember printing to use for cards last Christmas but of course I've completely forgotten the source.  The snow globe was die cut using White pearlescent card and a  blue circle was cut to place at the back as sky with the addition of some snowy ground, various snowflakes, trees and a young deer to complete the scene.  A Christmas greeting was stamped onto a die cut label and two tiny sprigs of holly added.

Snow Globe - die set from Crealies
Trees and snowflakes and holly - cut from various seasonal die sets
Label - Sizzix die
Words - stamp from a Stampin' Up set
Deer - from a Sizzix die set

Owl Congratulations

I've made a 'congratulations' card to go into my card box and which would be suitable for maybe an anniversary, engagement or other happy occasion.  The image is a digital download which has been printed and the background paper was printed from a CD which I've had for many years.  Some swirls were stamped around to give it a bit of interest and to tone with the mat layer on the image.  A piece of white card was run through a heart embossing folder and brushed with matching ink.  A small heart was punched to add to the sentiment banner.

Image - download from Polkadoodles (Pink Gem)
Background paper - Artylicious CD, over stamped with swirls
Sentiment - stamp from a Stampin' Up set
Banner - Sue Wilson die set, stitched banners
Heart embossing - folder I've had for many years, probably no longer available

Snippets Challlenge #359

Apart from the card blank this card is made entirely using bits and pieces left over from a variety of other projects and which were lying around on my desk with the smaller items being 'saved' in little containers. This of course makes it a good card to take along to the Playground for the Snippets Challenge.  As usual there is a super card made by Di to show an interesting way of using what will be the prize this time around - why not pop along to take a look?

I started with the coloured wavy line borders and then looked for other bits which would tone with them.  The two circles were plain but I embossed the larger one and sponged with some ink, then added the die cut motor bike to the kraft circle.  The banner was already stamped with a sentiment but I also sponged the edges of that to match the other pieces. Next I went to a pad of script paper which I have and searched amongst the off-cuts which I keep in the back and found a suitable piece for the background..

Wavy Line Borders - Swirly Scribbles die set Stampin' Up
Embossed Circle - Industrial style folder by Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Kraft Circle - Stitched Circle die Sizzix
Banner - Stitched Banner dies Creative Expressions
Background - Script Paper Pad by Prima
Motor Bike - die from unknown source

Flowers

I thought it was about time I did some colouring so I stamped some flower images onto watercolour paper and coloured using Inktense pencils.  I also overstamped the background paper with flower heads using grey ink.  Next I cut the image using a stitched detail rectangular die and also cut another one in blue.  More scraps were used to die cut a fancy label for the sentiment which was produced on the computer.

Stamps - flowers from Polkadoodles

Fancy label  - die from Sue Wilson

Poppies

I've used a set of multi-layer poppy stamps to make this summery card.  I have to confess that I was again tempted by the 'free' stamps attached to a magazine.  I am partially successful in resisting at least some of these offers but this one caught my eye at a weak moment!!

The layered effect of the flower was achieved by inking the first (base) flower stamp and 'stamping off' onto scrap paper before using it on the card.  I only used one shade of red ink and one green.  The completed flower was die cut into a rectangle and layered up with some red card.  A splatter stamp was used on the main card and the sentiment added before assembling everything.  The trusty Misti comes in so handy for this kind of layered stamping - other brands of stamp platform are available!!

Poppy - Alt'new stamp set free with magazine
Splatters - stamp from French Foliage set Stampin' Up
Sentiment - Woodware stamp
Rectangle die - Spellbinders

Snippets Challenge # 358

Time to take another card along to the Playground and as usual there is a lovely card made by Di as inspiration and to showcase the prize on offer in the 'draw'.

I started with snippets of white and green card; some wood effect paper and a piece of lilac background paper.  One edge of the green card was die cut using a stitched scallop die and the white piece cut slightly smaller before stamping with foliage, flowers and bees using a set of stamps and dies given free with a recent magazine. (Yes you are right I WAS tempted this time because it was such a pretty and useful set!!).  The frame and sentiment were stamped onto one end of the woodgrain strip.  My next move was to stamp and die cut some of the flowers and butterflies before adding them to the panel.  everything was assembled to make this summery meadow card for the challenge.

All stamps and dies - a set given away with a recent magazine

Scalloped edge - die from My Favourite Things

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #16

This time around the Christmas Kickstart challenge is down to the Queen of 'Twofers' (the lovely Darnell) so of course you can guess what the idea is.  The theme is 'trees' but we are asked to produce two cards using the same stamp/die set or what have you but in different styles.  Take a look at their blog and you will see some examples for inspiration.

 For my first card I've stamped and cut out three trees from a Stampin' Up set of stamps from a few years ago.  I seem to recall that there was a matching punch but I've cut out my trees using scissors and added gold punched stars.  These have been layered onto a strip of red card with a scalloped white layer behind.  Background paper is from my stash and I die cut a greeting using white card.

For the second one I stamped and cut two trees; banners in white and red; two circles and a lace border.  The white banner was embossed with 'falling snow' dots and a greeting and tiny bird were stamped onto the white circle. Background paper was from my stash of last year's seasonal papers.

Here is a picture of the two cards together as is usual with twofer challenges.

Tree Stamps - Stampin' Up Festival of Trees (little bird from same set)

Sentiment - Contempo Christmas SU

Scallop edge die -My Favourite Things

Lace, Banners and Circles - Sizzix dies

Sentiment Die - Britannia

Dragonfly

I'm sharing a card today which is made using mainly bits and pieces of card which I found during a recent sort out.  I used some mauve pearl card trimmed to slightly smaller than the base.  This piece was die cut using a shaped die which leaves a stitched effect on the aperture rather than the cut out piece.  There is a circle die in the same set which also leaves the stitches detail on the frame and this was used to cut a circle from a piece of embossed purple card and some card coloured with inks was placed behind this.  These pieces were each only just about the right size so I had to be careful with the lining up.  The remaining scraps were used to die cut the two layer dragonfly and the words - finally I had just enough of the pearl card to die cut four fancy corners.

Stitched Effect dies - die set from The Works (also included the greeting dies)
Dragonfly die - also from The Works
Corners - die I've had for many years - Leabilities I believe

Cactus

I reckon this cactus should feel at home with the high temperatures today - ought not to complain but I'm not a fan of extreme heat I must say.  However I've managed to make a card this morning even though it seemed to take me forever with breaks to cool my sticky hands!  The stamp and die set I've used was one of my magazine freebies from quite a while ago and to my shame the pack hasn't been opened until today.  I stamped a cactus onto a piece of white card and coloured using watercolour markers before die cutting a banner shape.  The teacup, flower and heart tag were all part of the die set and these were cut using a few scraps.  I managed to find some suitable designer paper and a piece of pink card which I embossed before assembling things for the completed card.

Cactus and sentiment stamps - magazine freebies
Teacup, flower and heart tag - matching dies which came with the stamps
Designer paper and card - from my stash
Banner - Sue Wilson die

Snippets Playground # 357

If you follow the lovely Di on her Snippets Playground Challenge you will have heard lovely stories about her adorable dog called Dudley and the super card she has made this time is made using the prize which one lucky winner will be able to own.  This set of stamps could have been made just for Dudley - Happy Birthday Dudley - he is a year old tomorrow.

I was going through some boxes of miscellaneous papers in an effort to prune them down somewhat because there are far more than I will ever use, all collected over the years.  I found lots of snippets in the boxes too - mostly part sheets of images which I'd printed from various CD's and part sheets of matching (sometimes) backing paper so I decided to use one such find for my Snippets card this time.  The image and background paper are from a Joanna Sheen CD which from memory has mainly silhouette images although I can't remember the title and it must be buried deep in a cupboard because I've not used it for years.  The paper was trimmed to fit a card blank and the image mounted onto a snippet of black card.  I then used the remaining scraps of the paper ( fairly heavy pearlised cream) to stamp some flowers on the reverse - these were then punched out.  The sentiment was printed onto a snippet of cream pearl card and cut out with a banner die and finally a couple of fern leaves die cut from a tiny scrap of black.

Image and Background - Joanna Sheen CD from way back
Sentiment - freebie sentiment set of stamps
Large Flower - Flower Shop stamp and punch from Stampin' Up
Small Flowers - Petite Petals stamp and punch from Stampin' Up
Banner and leaves -  dies from Sue Wilson

Festive Things with Wings

Things with wings is the theme for this month on the Christmas Kickstart Challenge blog and this time I've used a seasonal CD to make my card.  I started by composing the picture within the software before separating all the elements onto an A4 sheet to print.  The background was trimmed to fit my card and all the other pieces were fussy cut with scissors before re-assembling the composition and sticking them into place.  I've not added a greeting because I felt it would detract from the scene and it is pretty obvious that this is another Christmas card to add to the pile.  There are some great ideas on their blog for inspiration so it is worth taking a look and maybe taking part.

Card composed using 'All Sewn Up for Christmas' CD from Dolly Dimples

Baby Elephant

My friend Anne recently posted a baby card using a super giraffe die - not the same giraffe as I have but quite similar.  You can see it on her blog.  My die came with an elephant one as well and I've CASE'd her card to make one in a similar design using the elephant instead of a giraffe but I have used some die cut bunting which is what a liked about her card.  I found some pretty floral paper, die cut the ovals, the bunting and of course the elephant which was cut in two shades of pink so that I  could mix and match the tiny pieces.  I now have another one in the reverse colours to use on another card at some point.  The border was punched and the words stamped onto the bunting using a set of tiny alphabet stamps.  Two small flowers were punched from scraps of the pink card.

Scalloped oval die - Tonic
Decorative Oval - Spellbinders die
Elephant -  Sweet Dixie die
Bunting - unbranded die

Another Male Card

Here is another of the male birthday cards which I need for this month - fairly quick and simple once I'd decided on an image to use.  Image was printed using Craft Artist, then die cut using an oval die with a larger oval layer behind.  I found some designer paper which picked out some of the colours within the picture and simply added a banner with a printed birthday message.

Image - Craft Artist Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
Ovals- Tonic dies
Banner - Creative Expressions die
Greeting - computer generated punched out using SU small oval

Pixie Snippets Playground #356

I need three male birthday cards this month for various family members and I'm taking this one along to the Playground because except for the base card it is made using snippets.  I started with a fairly large snippet of 'wood' paper for the background and cut a circle from a smaller piece in a toning colour.  This circle was backed with a a slightly bigger kraft circle.  The penny farthing was die cut from a scrap of black and I'd found a piece of card which had been coloured with inks and embossed - this has been lying around for ages just waiting for the right card.  The words were popped onto a die cut label in matching kraft card and then I decided that in keeping with the male theme it might be a good idea to use a 6" kraft card for the base.  I'd like to have used up more of my smaller snippets but I'm still struggling with  blurred vision until such time as I can have my second cataract surgery but at least I have a date now even if it is some six weeks away; followed of course by the recovery time.  I must apologise for maybe not commenting on some of your blogs as frequently as I should although I do try to visit and at least look at the pictures - reading the text on screen is a bit of a challenge as are many of the crafty things I like to do.😩

Penny Farthing - Memory Box die
Circles - Sizzix stitched circles die set
Greeting Label 0 Tim Holtz die, Sizzix

Baby Boy

I met up with some friends recently for coffee and a crafty chat and was reminded of some dies which I bought a while ago - two together in a pack.  There was an elephant which I used at the time and also a giraffe which until now hasn't seen the light of day but now he appears on two cards.  I made two similar cards because the die was cut using two colours of card so that I could mix and match the pieces.  The giraffes were popped onto some die cut circles, set to one side so that I could trim the motif down to be placed along the edge of the card.  Both cards have borders added for interest and a circular sentiment.

Circles - dies from Tattered Lace
Sentiment - from Netty's Cards
Giraffe - Sweet Dixie Toy Giraffe and Elephant
Floral Border - EK Success punch
Ric-rac border - die from Crafter's Companion
Papers - from my stash

Butterfly Challenge #124

  I spent lots of time yesterday searching for the 'HAPPY' die to use on the card for my great nephew but I was totally unable to find it so I had to change tack.  It is so annoying when that happens and not to be beaten I resumed the search this morning looking in various boxes where dies are stored.  I do have a small ice cream container in which I keep most of my word dies and this where I was sure I'd find the one I wanted.  Despite looking in there at least three times yesterday I didn't spot it.  Would you believe that as a last resort this morning I had yet another look and there it was - a smaller die than I'd remembered so I guess that's how I came to miss it.  Having at last located it I decided to make a card this morning using it.

The Butterfly Challenge is onto the letter 'H' with the usual colours/techniques to use in addition to a butterfly (or two).  Whilst having a bit of a tidy up after my search I came across this piece of background made a while ago and as it has a touch of green (Hunter's green) I've used it as the basis for my card.  The other colours asked for are hot pink and heliotrope (mauve/purple) and I've die cut some hexagons (another 'H' item and punched butterflies in the these colours.  The word die was used and a printed birthday word was added to complete the sentiment.  Tiny gems for the butterfly bodies and here we have my offering for the current Butterfly Challenge.

Background - Distress Oxide ink and Pixie powders
Hexagons - dies from Crafter's Companion Gemini
Large word - die given free with Crafter's Companion magazine a while back
Butterflies - punched with two sizes of punch from Stampin' Up

Scooter

One of my great nephews has a birthday next month and I remembered that this scooter die was given away with a magazine a little while ago.  There was also a set of stamps, one of which was of course for the scooter. The image was coloured using watercolour pens and then die cut.  My next move was to find some blue card and a piece of kraft card into which I cut a circular aperture.  A set of freebie stamps from an even older magazine was then brought into play to stamp a little scene.  Finally the greeting was stamped onto the top layer and the name  was die cut using separate letters from an alphabet set.  I don't think he is likely to see my blog so I thought it safe to share this today.

Scooter - stamped and die cut using freebie set given with magazine
Scene - stamped using another freebie set
Name - die cut using Sizzix alphabet sets (upper and lower case)

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #355

There is a super card in The Playground this time around with three adorable little pigs so I really must enter the challenge this time to be in with a chance to be the lucky person drawn out of 'the hat'. There seem to be lots of 'paper-cut' style dies around nowadays and I've used one such die on my card for the challenge. The die was cut into a snippet of black card and I found another snippet to pop behind which had been coloured with distress inks and having cut it to size I enhanced the colours a bit by brushing over lightly with more blue and green.  This little scene was then backed with a snippet of white before mounting it onto a larger design paper snippet and a larger snippet of black slightly smaller than the card blank.  Finally the words were stamped onto a tiny scrap of white.

Landscape - Paper Cut style die unbranded
Background Paper - printed from Artylicious Essence of Nature
Sentiment - from a Stampin' Up stamp set

Butterfly Challenge #123

As mentioned in my previous post I've used the second of my freebie dies to make a card for the latest Butterfly Challenge.  The letter on the wheel this time is G with a choice of three colours and three themes with the added choice of making a gatefold card.  I've chosen to go with Granny Smith and Gold for the colours and gems for one of the themes also the butterfly of course.  I chose some green pearl card which in reality looks very much like granny smith colour although it appears more turquoise here (sigh)!  The floral corner die was used to cut into one of the corners and then I backed it with some darker designer paper.  The oval decorative tag was cut from some gold card and backed with more of the green before cutting an oval to stamp the wording.  I originally decided to pop two butterflies onto yesterday's card but in the end settled for one so the 'spare'  has been added here along with a gem.

Corner Die - freebie corner from Diecutting magazine current issue
Oval - Sue Wilson fancy tag Zoe
Butterfly - Sizzix die
Sentiment - free stamp given with a magazine set

Butterfly Birthday

It is quite a while since I was tempted to buy a crafty magazine but I risked a quick look while I was shopping yesterday and just had to pick up the latest issue of Diecutting which had two very nice corner dies as a freebie, both of which will cut into the card and also have separate matching outline dies as well.  There is a pretty floral one in addition to the lattice one which I've used here by cutting it twice into opposite corners of a square of cream pearl card before backing it with some golden yellow designer paper.  I added a banner across the centre on which I've stamped the greeting, finally adding a butterfly and some gems. After this was made I remembered Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge but sadly my colours aren't right for this month's 'wheel' but as there is still time to enter I might make something for that before I tidy away the butterfly dies. It is pretty wet and windy here today and also chilly so I'm staying in the warmth of the craft room to play and take my mind off the weather.

Lattice Die - freebie given with current Diecutting magazine
Banner - Sue Wilson die
Butterfly - Tim Holtz Sizzix dies
Greeting - from a set of free sentiment stamps I've had for a while

Reindeer

I'd spotted a Christmas Card challenge earlier and as I had a die I wanted to try out, decided to make a card.  This  challenge was mentioned by two of my blog friends Rita and Valery but now the card is made I can't find a link to the challenge but I'm popping it on here anyway.  In hindsight and now I see the card on the screen I'm not too sure these creatures actually qualify as reindeer but high-ho at least I've made another Christmas card ready for later this year so nothing lost!!   At least is a change from my recent run of wedding themed cards.

I cut the die out using black card which was the right size for the card and backed it with a slightly lighter piece of snowflake print paper (left over from last year).  The snowflakes and greeting were die cut from pearl card and that's it - a fairly quick and simple card.

Main die - unbranded
Snowflakes - freebie die from magazine last year
Greeting - Tonic die
Background Paper - printed from Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD

Pixie Snippets challenge #354

I still had some snippets of cream and a slightly darker shade (sort of mushroom colour)of pearl card lying around on my desk as well as some of the dies I'd been using so at risk of boring you all I've used up pretty all the remnants and made another card quite similar to the one I took to the Playground for the previous challenge.  This is for an Anniversary and will go into my box of cards where I try to keep some for different occasions.  The cream card came in A3 size so there was a large enough piece to cut a square slightly smaller than the card blank and this was then embossed to give it some detail.  The panel and the hearts were all die cut using a mixture of the cream and darker shade of snippets with an oval die used onto which I stamped the sentiment in sepia.  I'm still living in a pretty blurred world so lining up the dies to cut out the intricate pieces has been a bit of a challenge but I got there in the end.  I've had my check up and all was fine so the wheels are in motion for the second eye to be dealt with - just a case of waiting patiently for the appointment to come through.

If you visit the playground you will see a lovely floral card with the usual excellent details of how Di made it - so helpful - and of course you will be able to guess what the prize is for one lucky entrant when the draw takes place.

Heart Dies - from Tonic
Panel - also Tonic dies
Oval - Creative Expressions die Austrian collection
Embossing - pin point A4 folder by Sue Wilson Creative Expressions