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Friday 24 December 2021

Christmas Greetings

 


Sending  the Very Best of Wishes for Christmas to All of My Followers and Blog Friends.  

It has certainly been a strange challenging couple of years so here's hoping for at least some improvement for the coming year.  Thank you all for taking the time to visit my blog and leave lovely comments, they are so appreciated.

Stay Safe and Well

Tuesday 14 December 2021

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #418

Just when I'd decided I had enough Christmas cards made and seasonal things were being packed away for a while along comes the Grand Christmas give-away challenge from Pixie's Crafty Workshop where as well as using snippets to make the card, the theme has to be either Christmas or New Year.  Luckily my snippets mountain is always ready to hand so I just needed to decide what else I needed to make my entry.  I do have lots (and lots) of patterned paper snippets so I gathered three different designs from the same set along with some matching red card pieces and of course some white as well.  The die I've used is a good one for using up bits and pieces so I started by cutting the largest piece of red card to fit a 5" x 7" card blank, then cut the frame part of the die using the white, and also a plain piece for a backing (glued these two together). Followed by carefully placing the die onto the patterned scraps to cut out the strips which I then  popped back into the apertures and glued them down.  The chevrons at the bottom were cut from a smaller snippet of the red card.  The final thing was to die cut the words from another scrap of white and some snowflakes from silver and white snippets and here it is - my Snippets entry for the Grand Christmas Draw with a selection of lovely prizes which are being revealed throughout the four weeks until Linky closes.  PLEASE do read the instructions carefully, they are very detailed but easy to understand.


Die - Spellbinders
Patterned Papers - from a retired Stampin' Up Set
Words - Britannia dies
Snowflakes - dies from various sources

Monday 13 December 2021

Allsorts Challenge #654

 There is another challenge over at the Allsorts Blog and they are asking for Wings and/or Tails so lots of choice amongst my crafty stash.  I decided to go for just tails with these quirky cats which I've stamped and coloured before layering up with  a kraft card border and a piece of wood design paper.  There is a great prize this time so why not find some of your own 'wings and/or tails' and have a go.


Stamp - Trilby Cats from Crafty Individuals
Sentiment - stamp and die from Sizzix
Background - wood paper pad from The Works

Friday 10 December 2021

For Oliver

 Well, I've written all of my Christmas cards and discovered that I have lots left over so I really must put the seasonal dies and stamps back into their boxes until next year - didn't realise I'd made quite as many and of course I did have a few left from last year, and so they mount up 😉😉. 

 I have a great grandson who will be one year old at the end of the month so thought I'd get ahead of the game and make a card for him.  While I was searching through my stash recently, searching for something in particular (as I'm sure we all do), I spotted a set of Forever Friends stamps which I've had for many years and I know they've not been used for a while so I made a mental note to use one of them for this card.  Struggled a bit to find some suitable background paper but managed to find something on an old CD and I've added some die cut bunting with his name on and a nice large figure one.  While I had the stamp set out I stamped and coloured two or three other images which I can use to make cards to pop into my box.


Image - from Forever Friends stamp set by Docraft - probably no longer available
Bunting - die from unknown source
Alphabet - dies from a set which came free with a magazine many years ago
Number - die from unknown source
Backing Paper - from Polkadoodles Pretty Tuff CD (also quite old)
Colouring - Polychromos pencils

Tuesday 7 December 2021

Garden Card

 A card showing a garden this morning - quite unlike the actual day outside which is very dark and  lashing with rain.  I made this for a friend's birthday recently and I know she's received it so it's ok to show it here. I started with a square of white card and brushed on some blue and green ink to set the scene, then I stamped all the other elements onto scraps of white card, coloured them and fussy cut before arranging them into a floral garden.  The sentiment was die cut twice and layered together to give it some dimension.


Garden Scene - stamps from Grace's Garden set Stampin' Up (retired)
Greeting - die from Birthday Chick set Stampin' Up (retired)

Saturday 4 December 2021

Allsorts Challenge

 I'm not sure if I've entered the Allsorts Challenge before but if so it was a very long time ago.  As the request this time is to use a die I thought I could make use of something from my vast collection accumulated over the years.  The word die I think was one which I was lucky to have won in another challenge last year and because of course it arrived in the New Year it has been tucked away safely just waiting to be brought out of hiding - first time of using for this one.  I started by die cutting a scalloped square in the Cherry Cobbler card before then taping the Merry and Bright word die in place to cut the greeting. A slightly smaller square of white card was cut as a backing.  Background paper is the last sheet of a collection from last year and as this is quite a busy design the simple die cut words seem to be just right for this simple and quite quick card.  Lots of lovely inspiration from the Design Team, well worth taking a look.


Word Die - from L'il Inker
Scalloped square - Tonic die
Background - paper from Stampin' Up - last season, so is retired

Friday 3 December 2021

Pixie Snippets Challenge #417

Some stamps just lend themselves so well to paper piecing an that in turn  makes them suitable to use for the Pixie Snippets Playground Challenge.  Everything here apart from the card blank has come from my snippets mountain.  I started by stamping the image onto a piece of white card and then stamped again onto scraps of patterned papers, just inking the parts I needed for each section.  These were then carefully fussy cut before sticking into place, also adding a couple of small circles punched from a scrap of silver glitter card.  Next I sorted out some slightly larger snippets so that I could cut some layers and a background.  This time there is a choice between two great prize bundles so well worth taking the opportunity of using up some of your own snippets to make a card for the challenge.


Stamp - Woodware Little Festive Branch
Dies - Phill Martin and Tonic

Thursday 25 November 2021

Time Flies

 Well I can hardly believe it, somehow almost a week has gone whizzing by and I've barely noticed it!!  I've been doing a variety of mainly crafty things so maybe that's what has contributed to the speed 🙄. Anyway I have another Christmas card to share, this time one using a large bauble stencil to emboss the card before using the same stencil as a mask so that I could build up a little inky scene for this CAS design which I don't think requires a sentiment.


Stencil and stamps - from Card-Io

Friday 19 November 2021

Paper Piecing

 I do like a bit of paper piecing and this is the technique used on today's card.  Image was stamped onto white card and then again onto three scraps of Designer Paper so that I could carefully cut out the three trees.  I then used another paper from the same pack as a background, adding a sentiment, ribbon, gold stars and some gold Glamour Dust to accent the icicles and snow.


Stamp - Woodware
Designer Papers - Stampin' Up (retired)

Wednesday 17 November 2021

Snowman

 Yes, it's another Christmas card, this time inspired by watching a recent demonstration on the craft shopping channel.  Rather than being tempted into buying the latest new sets of stamps I went to my box of those bought in previous years and have come up with a card similar to the one demonstrated. I prepared a mask for the snowman and a piece of torn paper for the snow-line, brushing some blue ink around the stamped snowman and into the area where I later stamped the tree.  Simply added some rabbits to keep him company.  Glitter and stickles have been applied but I'm not sure they show up in the picture.


 Snowman, bird and rabbits - stamps from Card-Io
Tree and Sentiment - stamps from Penny Black

Tuesday 16 November 2021

Can't Stop!!

 Can't seem to stop making cards for Christmas - each time I delve into the box of seasonal 'stuff' I'm inspired with another idea for a card.  I've noticed that there appears to be a trend towards pink this year - not too sure if I like this idea myself or not but I've gone along with it for today's card.  Nothing too pink here apart from the poinsettias which are die cut from some lovely shimmery vellum and some of the little berries in the background paper are also pink.



Sunday 14 November 2021

Using Up 'Bits and Pieces'

 Whenever I get into the craft room to make something I seem to get carried away and prepare too many 'bits and pieces' for the card I'm about to make and of course you will understand I can't bear to throw any of them away, however random they might be. Add them to the offcuts of card and paper which 'happen' and the mountain of Snippets just grows, week on week even though I do try my best to use them up.  This brings me to the latest Snippets Challenge and the card I've made, where everything has been selected from the treasure mountain apart from the base card and a piece of patterned paper from the remains of a Christmas paper pack from a past year.


The snow globe was die cut from a fairly large snippet of silver white pearl card, as was the snowy slope inside; the sky was aa scrap of patterned paper; Santa, reindeer and tiny tree were 'waste' from a die cut scene; Penguins with accessories were stamped and fussy cut; sentiment used up more small snippets of card and I just happened to find a couple of snowflakes in my box of treasures.

If you visit the Playground you will see there is a guest designer this time and she has made a fun card using up some of her own snippets and featuring the stamp and die set which is the prize for one lucky winner this time - worth having a go I'd say as I'm sure you will be able to find enough snippets in your stash to play along 😉

Thursday 11 November 2021

Butterfly Challenge #164

I've not taken part in the butterfly challenge recently (sorry) but as this is the last one of the year I've decided to play along.  The letter is 'W' and the card style is 'Windmill', see details below


 I've used the windmill idea along with colours of wheat, and wine as well as words (text papers) and of course there have to be some butterflies. Couldn't manage the wisteria colour. There are prizes to be won so worth popping along to see the inspiration from Mrs A and maybe have a go yourself.  See full details HERE.

My card



Tuesday 9 November 2021

Flying Santa

 Yes, it's another Christmas card to share today, this time using up more of my snippets to die cut a winter village and Santa flying across the sky with his sleigh.  I've used a selection of left over pieces of patterned paper along with black red and white pearl card snippets.



Friday 5 November 2021

Cat and Butterfly

 This card was inspired by a YouTube video made by the talented Eileen Godwin - Just Google her name and you will find her.  This is not a direct CASE because I've used different stamps and colours.  No sentiment added for the moment but there is plenty of 'white space' should I decide to add one although I think it might spoil the CAS effect and people often like to have a card with no words so that they can write what they like on the insert.


Stamps by Lavinia
Sakura glaze pens used for a pop of colour

Monday 1 November 2021

Pixie Snippets Challenge #415

 Time to call in at the Playground again for the latest challenge to use up some more of my snippets of card.  All of the cream card pieces came from my snippets collection but I did cut into a new sheet of the peachy pink pearl card and of course used a card blank.  I always have lots of cream and white snippets in varying sizes and do tend to save even the smallest bits!  The owl stamps used on this card came from a set intended for Halloween and/or Christmas but I've adapted them a bit to make this Anniversary card - the little heart dangling from the branch in fact stamps as a scary spider 😉.  I do like to extend the use of my stamps where I can to make something different.  Dies from various sources were used to build up the design.  Do pop along to see the lovely geometric card made by Di and also take a look at the really nice floral stamp which one lucky person will win.


Image - from Peek-a-Hoot set  Stampin' Up
Dies from Tonic, John Next Door, Stampin' Up and Daisy Mae
Embossing - folder which came free with a magazine

Friday 29 October 2021

Rabbits in Love

...or are they hares I wonder?  Seeing a card posted recently by my friend Anne inspired me to make yet another inky background so that I could make this Anniversary card.  This is a favourite stencil and as Anne mentioned, is good for Anniversaries or maybe engagements or weddings also.  I left it fairly plain, adding a simple sentiment,  3D hearts cut in non-shed glitter card  and just a few tiny gold pen dots which of course don't really show up in the picture.  Background was made using Distress Oxide inks and a gelli plate.



Thursday 28 October 2021

Silhouette Stamps

I enjoy working with silhouette stamps and this is a recent card which started from an inky background.  I normally use plain white or cream card for my inky play but decided to have a go using some coated card  (Original Clarity card which I've had for more years than I care to think about) using Distress Oxide inks. The results on coated card are slightly different from those using plain card and because the surface was very smooth I found that the stamping in black Versafine ink took much longer to dry so I had to be very careful not to smudge any of the images.  Stamps from a variety of sources were used to build up the scene and I stamped the sentiment onto a separate strip of toning card - this is a better match in real life than it appears to be on the screen., 


Background - Distress Oxide inks with Clarity original coated card
Stamps - from a variety of sources including Lavinia and Card-Io, also some freebies


Wednesday 27 October 2021

Dandelions

 I had this piece of card which was coloured during one of my inky play sessions and the colour made me think of dandelions so I decided to see what I could do to make it into a card.  A piece of patterned paper was die cut to form the hills and some dandelion clocks were stamped in green onto the background piece.  Next I used some dies to cut the flowers from cream card and added a banner for the sentiment. Something to brighten up what looks to be quite a dull day.


Dandelion Stamps and dies -  Stampin' Up
Hills - DSP from SU cut using a stitched hills die, MFT I think
Banner - die from Creative Expressions, freebie sentiment

Sunday 24 October 2021

Another One for Christmas

 I did something yesterday which I've not done for over 20 months - bought a craft magazine from the supermarket!!  I've not been anywhere  near such temptations in all that time but I had to visit their Phone Shop to sort out a problem with my mobile and walked past the magazine department on the way.  Thought I deserved a treat so a bought a copy of Die-Cutting Essentials which had this set of Santa dies as a 'free' gift.  When I got back home I just had to cut one out quickly and make a card.  It is quite a detailed die and works a treat; the 'Believe' word is also part of the set and to make it stand out a little bit I used the die to draw around onto a scrap of white card and fussy cut it to form a backing for the word.  So, that's another die set to add to my seasonal collection - might need a larger box to keep them in when I store them all away ready for next year 😉




Saturday 23 October 2021

Fun Penguins

 A couple of penguins here for another Christmas card, one is trying to be Rudolph!!  I used a piece of starry sky paper in the background and then die cut three rectangles which have stitched details on the edges.  Stamped a few stars on them before lining up onto the background and adding the two fun penguins and some Christmas trees on the centre one.  Some words and a scattering of glitzy snowflakes and that's it.  What appear to be black blobs in the sky are actually some iridescent stars which didn't photograph well!!


Penguins and Trees - Stampin' Up.

Wednesday 20 October 2021

Penned Flowers

 A floral card to share today using stamped and die cut flowers which have been water-coloured. I've used some of the matching DSP (designer series paper) - a small strip at the bottom and a larger piece above. The die cut oval was embossed.  When the card was put together I thought it needed just a little something else so I added a layered punched butterfly and a few toning gems.  The smaller butterfly was brushed over with Wink of Stella but sadly it doesn't show up in the picture.


Flowers - Penned Flowers, Stampin' Up
Butterfly - Punch from SU 
Oval - Tonic die, embossed using folder from Stampin' Up.

Monday 18 October 2021

Clean and Simple

 I have a card with white space (cream actually) to share today in the CAS style - really enjoyed making this as a break from Christmas cards.  Started by stencilling using two colours of ink but only making a partial image before stamping the various elements , finally adding a simple sentiment.

 We had lovely weather over the weekend but today is very grey and wet, not at all pleasant and I hear we may be in for a cold snap later in the week.  Never mind it is a good excuse to stay in and craft 😉


Stencil - Charming from Lavinia Stamps
Toadstools and Mice - Stamps from Lavinia
Sentiment - came with a set of freebie stamps from way back
Inks - Tumbled Glass and Spiced Marmalade Distress ink pads by Ranger

Sunday 17 October 2021

Snippets Challenge #414

 Time to take myself off to the Playground for the latest challenge.  A super prize on offer this time and a guest designer with no less than three cards to inspire us.  When I cut into any patterned paper I always save the left overs, where possible with the pad or pack containing the originals - you never know when you might need just a tiny bit more of a favourite one when using the last  whole piece 😉.  For my card this time I've used some strips of Christmas paper from a previous year (not sure how long ago) but managed to find four strips just wide enough to cut some banners.  I also used snippets to cut the sentiment strip and the glitzy snowflakes..  Also I had a larger  white snippet which I trimmed to size before embossing with falling snow EF.  I did have to cut into a new sheet of red card for the outer layer and of course used a card blank.


Banners - DSP from Stampin' Up (retired), banner die from Creative Expressions
Greeting - stamp from Contempo Christmas, also SU (retired)
Snowflakes - dies from Crafter's Companion, Small snippet glitter paper from SU
Embossing - Falling snow embossing folder also SU 

Saturday 16 October 2021

More Chicks

 I really enjoy making cards of all types but you may have guessed that one of my particular favourites is building up scenes and/or making fun cards which hopefully make the recipients smile.  I must have had a mad moment a while ago when stamping, colouring and die cutting because I have quite a collection of chicks and their associated 'accessories', so here is yet another card using some of them.  I started with a square of white slightly smaller than the card  blank and roughly inked some sky and grass using blending brushes before doing a few 'dry-runs' with the components until I was pleased with the arrangement so that I could glue them in place.  Looks as if they are having a party!!


Stamps and dies - Stampin' Up Hey Chick and Birthday Chick (retired)

Thursday 14 October 2021

Chicks

 Moved away from Christmas cards, at least for the time being, and I've made a fun birthday card with chicks.  I took a square of white card and stamped in grey with a woodgrain stamp before using a couple of circle dies and a punch to cut out the round windows.  I thought that the blue DSP would suit this card because it looks a bit like a chicken wire design.  The white layer was popped up with foam tape and then I used up a selection of chick images which I'd stamped, coloured and cut out a while ago and stored  ready for use when I wanted to make a fairly quick card.  It is a lovely sunny day at present and although a touch chilly outside the sun is shining through the window as I type and it feels quite warm.


Background - DSP from Boho Indigo Suite Stampin' Up (retired)
Woodgrain - large stamp from Stampin' Up (retired)
Stamps and Dies - from Hey Chick and Birthday Chick, Stampin' Up (retired)

Sunday 10 October 2021

Monochrome Christmas

 I've gone for the subtle monochrome look for this Christmas card, stamping in grey rather than black and using a grey pearlized card to die cut the extra trees.  I added some touches of glitter to the snow but it doesn't really show in the picture.


Background - DSP from Stampin' Up
Cabin and scene - stamps and dies from Peaceful Cabin set  by Stampin' Up


Friday 8 October 2021

Seasonal Owl

 Another Christmas card to share today, this time using a downloaded image which I've printed off before die-cutting into an oval.  The background paper was also part of the download and the little spray of flowers and foliage was made up from oddments left over from another project.  Greeting was stamped onto a spare die cut tag.

I've not been as active in the card department lately but haven't been idle as I've been busy making patchwork blocks to use up some of my fabric mountain which, like the paper mountain, never seems to diminish however much I use up 🙄


Image and background - Cuddly Buddly digital download
Foliage - dies from Sizzix and John Next Door (flowers)
Greeting - Contempo Christmas stamp set Stampin' Up (retired)

Monday 4 October 2021

Pixie's Playground Challenge #413

 Time for another challenge over in the Pixie's Snippets Playground and we have a great guest designer - none other than our Head Prefect SaRn who has come up with three lovely cards for inspiration and to showcase the super prize on offer this time.  For  my card I've made a DL design and apart from the card blank everything else was produced from snippets of one sort or another.  Mainly white card scraps for  stamping and a few coloured scraps for the die cuts.  I started with a scrap of card just smaller than the card blank and partially stencilled this to give a  little interest.  The snail was stamped, coloured and fussy cut and the leaves and toadstools were die cut from scraps.  The 'hello' tag was left over from some DSP which came with an online class and the greeting was produced on the computer.   Why not use up some of your snippets to be in with a chance of winning the lovely prize


Snail - from Stampin' Up stamp set
Toadstools ans flower - dies from Sizzix
Leaves - lying around in an oddments tray on my desk.

Wednesday 29 September 2021

Poinsettia

 A more traditional Christmas card to share today using a poinsettia die which I've had for a few years and also a set of foliage dies along with a fancy label die cut which was in my oddments box just waiting to be used.


Foliage dies - Sizzix, Tim Holtz winter foliage
Poinsettia - Creative Expressions die by Sue Wilson, from several years back
Fancy Label - I think cut using a Tonic die (from oddments box)

Sunday 26 September 2021

A Fun Card

I think these quirky sheep are fun for a light-hearted card.  I masked and lightly inked the background , stamping some grass and flowers before adding all the other elements to make a happy scene with the sun shining.  Colouring on the sheep done with alcohol pens.



Tuesday 21 September 2021

Tall Trees

 I decided to have a bit of inky play and have come up with a card which I thought might be good for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas in the usual way but would appreciate a card anyway.  I've been debating with myself whether to add a sentiment or not - maybe something like 'Winter Wishes' but will give that a bit of thought.  I cut a piece of card to the right size to fit the card blank and then added colour with Distress Oxide inks as well as finally using some Distress ink.  Once this was thoroughly dry I built up the scene by sponging in the 'ground' and then stamping the trees and deer.  A circle mask was used to sponge the halo around the trees.  I must say that my fingers were an interesting colour once I'd finished 😉


Trees - stamp by Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous
Deer - stamps from Card-Io
Text over-stamping - freebie stamp from magazine set Phill Martin

Sunday 19 September 2021

Pixie's Playground Challenge #412

 I came across a snippet of left over card which had been coloured using Pixie Powders and as it was quite delicate in colour I thought it would be ideal to use as a backdrop to this dancing lady.  I used a die to cut it into a circle and lightly stencilled using some lilac ink, followed by random stamping in light grey with some music.  The lady was stamped onto a snippet of white card and coloured using a water brush with some of the same lilac ink. The toning lilac circle was also cut from a snippet of card but I must admit that the butterfly background was most of  a whole piece from a pack of 6" square papers.  As soon as I'd decided what to do with the coloured piece of card I thought this would be ideal for Challenge #412 in the Pixie Snippets Playground.  Finally the sentiment was stamped onto the remaining small snippet of the 'pixied' card and fussy cut.


Dancing Lady - stamp from Beautiful You set Stampin' Up (retired)
Circle - Cross stitch circles dies from Daisy Mae


Friday 17 September 2021

Santa

Yes, I'm still making Christmas cards and for this one I've used a lovely die set which has lots of small components to make either a gnome or Santa - you can see which I've chosen this time.  I added a tree with star and arranged everything onto a stitched circle die cut with a scattering of snowflakes.  The sentiment was stamped and fussy cut.


 Santa and Parcels - Karen Burniston die set
Tree and Star - Sizzix dies
Circle - Cross stitch nesting circles Daisy Mae dies

Wednesday 15 September 2021

Home for Christmas


I have another of my scenic Christmas cards to share today even though with the sun shining it certainly doesn't look very Christmassy outside.  Mind you it was very foggy earlier on this morning  - very Autumnal and the evenings are drawing in too as this year just whizzes by.  The snows-cape was die cut and the houses, car and trees were stamped, coloured using alcohol pens and die cut.  The sentiment was taken from a book of stickers.


Sky - DSP from Stampin' Up
Houses, trees etc - also Stampin' Up Coming Home set (retired)
Words - sticker book by Clarity

Monday 13 September 2021

Flowers for a Change

 I decided to make a floral card as a break from the Christmas flurry of late.  The flowers have been stamped (two-step style) and die cut before arranging them onto an embossed and inked oval, backed with die cut shapes and a piece of patterned paper from my oddments box.


Dies and stamps from Colour and Contour set Stampin' Up

Saturday 11 September 2021

Class in the Post

 I treated myself to another class in the post from the lovely Jenny - see her blog HERE.  I've made up the three cards and will probably put the gift box together later on.  Two of the cards were only A6 size so I've adapted them slightly to make them a bit larger. Obviously we can't always purchase every new stamp and die set, tempting though they are, so having a class like this is an opportunity to use some lovely Stampin' Up products without adding even more products to the crafty stash.  That's another three cards for the Christmas box.




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Friday 10 September 2021

Penguin Fun

 Can't seem to get away from making Christmas cards and of course the tidy up hasn't really happened either 😉😉.  A couple of penguins at play in the snow today.



Tuesday 7 September 2021

Side-tracked!!

I decided to have a bit of a tidy up and to take a break from making Christmas cards, at least for a short while, but you know how it is.  I kept coming across bits and pieces which I'd maybe die cut and not used, papers and card just crying out to be used up and also stamps and/or dies which I'd taken out to use because there were ideas buzzing around in my head.  The result is that I now have a few more Christmas cards to pop into my box and the desk remains in a state of 'Christmas Chaos'.  Too hot for tidying today as the heatwave seems to have returned - any excuse 

The die used on these two cards was one which I won in one of the grand Christmas prize draws on Pixie's Playground Challenge - must have been about three years ago I think and I'm ashamed to say when it arrived (just after Christmas) I put it away ready to use for the following year's cards but somehow that didn't happen.  Shame really because it is a super one to use and quite fun - at least it has had two airings so far this year.  It would be a good one to use for 'batch-baking' although that is something I very rarely do.   More little white 'dots' saved from the first one (see my previous post) 🤣



  Noel Die - from L'il Inkers
Papers and Card - ,mostly from my large snippets box

Sunday 5 September 2021

Snippets Playground Challenge #411

 There is another challenge this time in the Playground for Ruby's Memory - read all about it by following the link and maybe have a go to be in with a chance of winning some great Halloween goodies.  I imagine pretty well every card maker will have a supply of 'snippets' to use - we can't bear to throw out even the smallest pieces!!  For my card I've cut into a sheet of design paper for the main background and used a card blank but everything else came from my snippets mountain, even down to the tiny dots used as flower centres.  I have some dies which cut out rows of tiny holes around shapes and I save all the tiny dots  and store them in small zip-lock style polybags - sad or what but it is a sort of compulsion which some of you will understand😉😉.  I promise you these are the smallest pieces which I 'save'!!The white circle was embossed with 'falling snow' before adding the wreath and the tiny flowers.  Snippet of a different patterned paper was placed behind the circle and I've added a die cut bow and star.  No greeting on the outside of this card because it says 'Christmas' I think.


Wreath - die from Tonic (just the leaves)
Flowers - Tiny flowers dies from John Next Door
Bow and Star - dies from a magazine freebie set (not recent)
Embossing - Falling Snow folder from Stampin' Up 

Friday 3 September 2021

Deer in the Woods

 Yet another card for my Christmas collection, again using a variety of dies from different suppliers.  I started with a square cut to fit the card blank (blue layer) then a smaller frame in light cream pearl card using two different dies.  Next was a piece of paper printed from a favourite CD which I don't think is available any more but has been so useful over the years.  I then cut the trees and the two deer, stamped a greeting and die cut into a label shape before assembling everything together layer by layer onto a kraft card blank.


Frame - dies from Tonic and Creative Expressions
Trees - an unbranded die purchased last year I think
Deer - Sizzix die set
Background - printed from Season's Greetings CD Artylicious
Greeting - from Contempo Christmas Stampin' Up (retired)

Wednesday 1 September 2021

A Different Scene

 While the snow globe die set was on my desk I fished out yet another of my magazine freebie die sets and made a  scene for another Christmas card.  Different colours, different scene, variety is the spice of life! Time now to tidy up and put a few things away before taking out items to use for my next project. No ideas going round in my head at present but hopefully something will come to mind.


Snow Globe - Crealies die set
Scene - magazine freebie set from Christmas 2019
Words - stamp from the same freebie set
Sleigh in the Sky - stamp- from an A4 Christmas stamp set, again a freebie


Monday 30 August 2021

Peace on Earth

Working my way through my seasonal crafty stash and this time I've tried combining a large snow globe die with a magazine freebie set from 2018.  I wasn't quite sure how they would work together so I had a sort of dummy run using some odd pieces of card and paper to try out a few ideas and I finally decided that I needed a circular die as well which would fit behind the aperture in the globe (which cuts only one layer) so the various layers of the scene were die cut from three separate circles before being layered up onto a grey whole circle (the sky).  This was finally assembled using a mixture of thin foam pads and glue to account for the different thickness.  The words were stamped and embossed in silver.  I'm so pleased that the idea which I had in my head actually worked out and I think there could be a few variations being made using other small die sets within the snow globe.


Snow Globe - die from Crealies a few years ago
Nativity Scene - freebie die set from magazine Christmas 2018

Saturday 28 August 2021

He'll Never Get Through That Door!!

 Following blogs and watching crafty videos can have consequences on the bank balance and this was the case here when I spotted this gingerbread house die set which I thought would be fun for Christmas and maybe even for other occasions if made in non seasonal colours.  Large enough to pop a little gift or a few chocolates inside but not too large that it uses loads of card to make it.  I cut out the gingerbread man with the intention of tying him to the top with ribbon but somehow that didn't work too well so I quickly glued him to stand beside the front door - immediately realising that he is larger than said door.  Never mind, we are allowed a bit of crafty licence I think. Each year I say that I don't need any more Christmas crafting stash but usually something or other is just too tempting.  I get the feeling that there should perhaps be a crafters' version of 'parental control' on our computers so that we are unable to visit sites which tempt us to buy even more 'stuff' 😉😉 - what do you think??  I'm not sure the designers and retailers would agree somehow.

Apologies for the poor photograph, not yet quite got to grips with the camera on my tablet.  I was so used to the old one but, like everything else, this seems to have become more high tech and complicated. A case of 'if in doubt read the instructions' I think rather than just 'winging it'. See edit below - third photo is the original not so good one!!





EDIT - I've taken two more photos using my camera this time - can't seem to delete the original though!!

Spellbinders Gingerbread House die set
Holly - dies from Joanna Sheen