Snippets Playground Challenge #470

 For most of the year there isn't a particular theme for the Playground Challenge apart from the fact that we are encouraged to use up some of our snippets for whatever we take along each time, also showing either a photo of said snippets or explaining what we've used.  This time there is as usual a very generous prize on offer and a theme of *ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS*.  I must admit I'm more or less 'Christmassed Out' so it was lovely to make something different and of course to see what others come up with as well.  Certainly no shortage of snippets here because the pile never seems to diminish despite doing my best to use something from the 'mountain' before even thinking of cutting into whole pieces of card or paper 😉.  

The sunset die was still out on my desk along with a remaining snippet of the Pixie Powder background I used previously and in fact while making the first card the idea for this second one floated into my head. Again apart from using a ready made card blank everything else here came from my snippets collection - The coloured background snippet already mentioned; a piece of cream card trimmed to fit the card; really quite small snippets of black, kraft and brown for the cats, birds and tree.  Why not see what you can make for this challenge and pop along to the Playground with it.  Di and Sarn work tirelessly to keep this challenge going so it would be lovely for them to receive lots of lovely entries to show just how much their efforts are appreciated by us all 😊

 Birds - die set from Memory Box
Cats - die set from Impression Obsession
Sunset and tree - unbranded dies

Merry Christmas!

 It had to be done - Bunny has donned his Santa hat and popped along to help me send very good wishes to my loyal crafty friends and followers.  The fact that so many of you take time to comment means a lot to me.  

Peace and Joy throughout the World - now wouldn't that be wonderful

Blossom

 Hooray, a non-Christmas card 😊.  In my continuing quest to use up at least some of my accumulated snippets I pulled out a remnant of card which had been coloured using Pixie powders and decided to use it to back a die cut aperture of what I think is probably a sunset or even a sunrise.  Speaking of which the sky here was almost that colour at sunrise this morning, beautiful sight..  Anyway, back to the card - the next question was what to add to this for interest so I took out a couple of die sets and cut a branch and a selection of blossoms all cut using really small snippets.  A birthday sentiment was stamped and here we have a birthday card, relatively clean and simple.

Branch and Blossom - from two different Sizzix die sets
Sunset/Sunrise - unbranded die

A Jolly Snowman

I still have a few Christmas cards to share although I'm going to try and concentrate on more general cards as I don't think I need any more seasonal ones at present.  I just had to have a play with this jolly snowman, a die which sort of fell into my basket recently even though I didn't desperately need any more dies 😉.  He is popped onto a split background, the top part of which has been embossed with a snow effect.  The fur on his hat, the sentiment and the edge of the larger oval have all been treated to some Glamour Dust to give some sparkle.  Colouring was done using alcohol pens.

PS: I've just remembered I meant to take this one along to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge  #81where anything Christmassy is called for

 Oval dies - Tonic
Embossing Folder - an old Sheena Douglass one, no longer available
Snowman, Tree and HO, HO HO - unbranded dies

Ribbon Technique

 I've done my homework for the Snippets Playground latest challenge and apart from the card blank everything else used came from my Snippets collections.  I thought I'd try a twisted ribbon effect I'd spotted recently which looks quite effective although as it turns out was quite straightforward to achieve (thanks to YouTube).  I trimmed a snippet of white card into a strip to fit the height of my card blank and also cut some half inch strips of DSP in two designs for the 'ribbons' and set about gluing them in place  before cutting another strip of card in a toning green to back the border strip. I do like a technique which looks clever but isn't difficult to do 😉.  A snowman was stamped onto another white snippet, coloured and then cut out with an oval die.  This was backed with a red layer slightly larger.  A computer sentiment die cut into a banner shape and that's it - my Snippets homework completed and all from Snippets.  As usual some great prizes for a lucky winner at the end of the fortnight.

Papers for 'Ribbon' - Snippets of a retired Stampin' Up Christmas range
Snowman - stamp from a magazine gift set
Colouring - Polychromos pencils
Oval dies - Tonic
Sentiment - produced in Craft Artist on the computer

Playing I Spy

 The theme for the latest Allsorts Challenge is **I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'B'** and after a bit of thought I decided to go along with B for BOOKS and also BIRTHDAY.  I started by die cutting and colouring the books followed by a bit of head scratching as to how I was going to put them onto a card, finally coming up with the idea of cutting a table to hold the open book.  I then cut an aperture in a square of card to fit my card and backed that with a piece of cream card on which I'd stamped a dictionary page which I thought was an appropriate background. The frame was popped up with foam tape and the table partially hidden behind.  Just a stamped a birthday greeting and that's it - my offering for the Allsorts challenge this week.  I imagine that if all these books were piled onto the table it might collapse under the weight 🤣🤣

Stitched effect Aperture - die from Paper Roses
Table - die from Gummiapan
Books - unbranded dies
Background - Dictionary page stamp from Stampin' Up (retired)

Snowy Scene

 Whilst I do enjoy making more elaborate cards, I find that many people much prefer to have cards which are flatter and therefore more economical to send through the post so I do try to make a mixture of both.  Looking through my stock I realised that many of mine are more suited for hand delivery so I've decided to go for some 'flatter' ones.  I've not added any words to this CAS one because there are people who don't celebrate Christmas as such but would still like to receive a card and this one speaks for itself 😉.

Curvy Die - unbranded
Background - printed from Artylicious Season's Greetings CD

CAS for the Playground

 I'm later than usual for the Playground challenge but the days seem to have speeded up recently - or maybe I've become slower 🤣.  Anyway here's my homework for this week and this card was inspired by the CAS style employed by Chrissie.  As mentioned by Di I am indeed a follower (subscriber) of her YouTube channel and tune in for my daily 'fix', her videos are so watchable and informative.

 As usual everything apart from the card blank  came from my Snippets mountain.  The background was an offcut left over from another card, always plenty of white snippets around and the deer were cut from snippets of kraft card.  I cut a square frame using dies with a stitched effect and used another square snippet which I embossed using a small E/F with a winter scene.  Deer were die cut and a sentiment produced on the computer and that's another Christmas card for the box.  The theme for the current Allsorts challenge is **stitching, real or faux** so I'm popping over there with this card as well.

Background - paper printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Square Frame - Noble stitched squares Creative Expressions
Winter Scene - embossing folder from Crafter's Companion
Deer and Sentiment Tab - dies from two retired Stampin' Up sets

Trees

 This card was inspired by seeing some made by the talented Jo Rice who is a designer for Lavinia stamps.  I've more or less CASE'd hers but using different colours of ink. I think this design would also suit other occasions with appropriate sentiments added.

Tree stamps  - Lavinia
Inks - Distress Oxides in three shades, also Versafine Clair for stamping
Sentiment - stamp from a magazine giveaway set which I've had for a long time 

Great Minds ...

 They say that great minds think alike and if you look HERE you will see what I mean 😉.  I was very fortunate to receive some ready assembled Santa heads recently and I decided to put one of them onto a card.  I decided on a DL layout with the addition of the decorative Ho, Ho, Ho which I die cut in silver to match one of the layers of the background.  The pearlised layer was embossed using a snowfall E/F which I managed to extend so that if fitted the DL shape seamlessly.  A quick and easy result without having to fiddle with tiny die cut pieces.

Santa - From Etsy - Gift from a generous friend
Ho, Ho, Ho die - unbranded
Snowfall Embossing - E/F from Sheena Douglass (no longer available)

Santa Cats

I was planning to have a little break from making Christmas cards when I heard that I'd been lucky enough to win a prize in the special Cat Lovers Christmas challenge and sure enough a package arrived through my letter box containing a stamp set from Inkylicious who were one of the generous sponsors.  Of course I just had to have a play and have actually made two cards using these fun stamps - just love the twist on the words which I didn't  spot until I'd stamped it 😉.  The first one was made using a piece of watercolour card from my pile of 'inky play' pieces which I think was done with either Pixie Powders or Brushos.  For the second I started with a blank piece of smooth white card and blended purple ink after first masking off the moon..  Two slightly different effects but using the same stamps.  I eventually managed to get a snowy effect on the branches after trying several white pens, none of which seem to work particularly well.  I had to resort to using a Posca pen but would have really preferred something with a much finer nib.  I think I might add a little sparkle with some Glamour dust - not quite decided yet 😉.

The stamp was used 'as is' for the first card but I extended the branches for the second with a bit of repeat stamping

Time Flies!

 This week just seems to have flown by even more quickly than usual and with not much being achieved by yours truly 🙄.  Luckily I have a card which was made in the previous week and which is just right for the current Allsorts Challenge where the theme is ** Christmas Time **.  Quite a simple card but a happy one with these little penguins dancing in the snow.  Where would we be without our die cutting machines and dies I wonder - just a stamped greeting added.

EDIT:  I've just had a lovely comment from Dotty Jo pointing out that the unusual colour scheme of this card would qualify it for entry into the Christmas Kickstart challenge this time so the penguins are dancing over there to join in along with the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

Penguins and background - unbranded dies
Sentiment - from a retired Stampin' Up Christmas stamp set

Snippets Playground

 There's a new challenge in the Playground and inspiration from Sarn in the form of two super ATC's - of course there is also a lovely prize to be won by one lucky winner at the end of the two weeks.  Just follow the rules - there aren't too many - use some of your Snippets and enter a project.  Simples 🤣.

I have to admit to using a whole piece of designer paper on this card, but it was a 6" x6" piece so not much left over.  Other than that, and of course a card blank, everything else on this card came from my Snippets mountain.  An aperture was cut into a square of card which was trimmed to be slightly smaller than the DSP and the butterflies had been die cut from snippets some time ago and were languishing in the pot on my desk which holds all sorts of treasures, mostly surplus to requirements on past projects but they do eventually get used.  A computer sentiment was die cut and layered onto another matching snippet and that's it my Snippets card for this challenge.

Background - DSP from Stampin' Up Butterflies range (retired I think)
Butterflies - Brushstrokes Butterflies die set from Sizzix (Tim Holtz)

Santa's Sleigh

 Santa's sleigh appears to have been hijacked by everyone's favourite bunny 🤣.  I was hunting around for items to pop into this lovely sleigh and I die cut a parcel and a candy cane, then had a rummage in the oddments pot on my desk and came up with a left over Christmas tree and a bit of greenery.  Who should also be in there but bunny so I thought 'why not' and here he is playing at being a Santa's little helper.  I've used some of my favourite design paper and a die cut skyline scene; finally adding a fun greeting.  This one was cut once in red and again in gold so that I could carefully trim the baubles to layer on top.  So that's another Christmas card to add to my collection - don't seem to be able to stop making them as ideas pop into my head each time I trawl through my box of seasonal crafty items.

Background - printed from Season's Greetings CD Artylicious
Skyline - die from Memory Box
Sleigh - Gilded Sleigh die from Memory Box
Parcel, tree and candy cane - Sizzix dies
Bunny and Ho Ho Ho - unbranded 

CAS Christmas

 As I seem to be on a roll making seasonal cards I thought I'd take this one along for the November challenge at Stamping Sensations where the theme is ** Get Ready for Christmas**.  The little winter village scene is a triple layered image using three matching stamps in different colours.  It was stamped onto a snippet of white card and popped behind an aperture which was then surrounded by the die cut sentiment.  Lovely prize this time so good luck to all who enter.

Village scene - stamps from retired Stampin' Up set Classic Cloche
Sentiment - die cuts received from a generous friend last Christmas

Ho Ho Ho

 I've been lucky enough to have some happy post to open two days running - firstly I won a prize in a recent Allsorts Challenge and yesterday an envelope arrived from a generous friend who'd decided to share some mirri card die cuts with me.  As we seem to be hurtling towards December I thought I'd use one of them to make a Christmas card - well what else would you do with 'Ho Ho HO' die cuts 🤣🤣.  I went through my box of Christmas-themed items and right at the bottom came across the Santa die which I've had for some time and I know for a fact he certainly didn't get used last year which should tell me that maybe I have too much 'schtuff'.  Found a left over tree in the little oddments pot on my desk and set about assembling the card using a piece of patterned paper as a background.  Snippets were used to cut the white circle which I embossed with falling snow, then cut a narrow border circle because it appeared a little flat.  I decided the words could maybe have a backing layer so I cut one freehand from some matching red card.

Background - printed using a download from Buddly Crafts
Santa - from a set of three by Tonic, probably discontinued
Tree - from a Tim oltz Sizzix die set
Snow Effect - discontinued embossing folder from Creative Expressions

Seasonal Candles

 I've just realised nothing  has been posted on here since Monday and have to admit that it has taken me almost that length of time to complete this card (obviously a few domestic jobs done as well).  I loved the look of these candle dies but had no idea just how challenging it would be to use them.  There are dies for three candles in the set and two of them have pieces which look very similar.  I decided to start out cutting the layers using scraps of card just to get an idea of how they went together and eventually I think I've fathomed it out - took a while 🙄.  I have lots of snippets of pearl card in various shades of white and cream and thought that I could use a selection of these shades to give the candles a little more interest - hopefully my plan has worked.  Another thing I decided to do was to use different greens and reds in my Distress Oxide inks to colour a couple of pieces of card to give a mottled effect before cutting out the foliage and berries although the mistletoe berries were cut from tiny scraps of cream pearl card.  Finally I had all the components so I found some background paper from a long retired Christmas collection; printed a sentiment and that's it.  I certainly wouldn't earn much of a living from this lark, given the length of time some of my cards take to make 🤣 but the important thing is that making them gives me pleasure - and keeps me out of mischief.

Background - DSP from a retired Stampin' Up Christmas collection
Sentiment - computer generated, printed then die cut using a SU die (also retired I think)
Candles - Candle Shop Colorize die set designed by Tim Holtz
Foliage - dies designed by Tim Holtz

Snippets Challenge # 466

 A Christmas scene today for the Snippets Challenge and apart from the card blank everything else has come from my snippets mountain.  Having said that, I realise that the trees were die cut by a friend but I'm pretty certain she will have used some of her snippets for them 😉.  I used a snippet of patterned paper trimmed to fit for the sky area and another fairly large white snippet for the snowy landscape.  Smaller white snippets were used for the sledge, bunny and teddy, also the trim for the Santa hat - the tiniest red snippet came in handy for cutting the hat but of course the other items have been coloured using alcohol pens or Distress Oxide inks.  The sledge runners have a touch of Wink of Stella which doesn't show in the picture.

Time for you to sort through your own snippets to make something for the challenge - as usual a good prize on offer to one lucky winner

Sky - paper printed using Artylicious Season's Greetings CD - an old favourite of mine
Snowscape - cut using a Memory Box die
Trees - Fluffy Trees from Gummiapan - die cut by a generous friend
Sledge, Bunny and Santa Hat - dies from Gummiapan
Bunny - unbranded die 

Embossing

 The theme for the latest Allsorts Challenge is **Embossing - Heat and/or Dry** and for my card I've gone with dry embossing.  I started with a square of white card to fit my card blank and used a stitched square cutting die to emboss a square into the centre.  Next I cut another smaller square of white card which was embossed with a snowfall embossing folder and glued into the centre.  Finally a two layer poinsettia was die cut and adhered and that's it a CAS Christmas card which I don't think needs a sentiment on the outside but will have words on the insert.  Lots of lovely inspiration from the Design Team which might encourage you to sort through your embossing folders and join in this week.

Stitched Square - die from Creative Expressions Noble Stitched Squares
Embossing - snowfall embossing folder from Sheena Douglass - no longer available
Poinsettia - from Sizzix Seasonal Sketch set

Tall Card

 A bit of a change today with a DL card made in a grungy style - I do like to mix it up a bit with what I make - variety is the spice of life 😉😉.  I've used one of the floral stamped images sent to me by a generous friend and have added my own touch to it with some Distress oxide ink smooshed around and with a few extra stamped splodges.  While I had the inks out I also smooshed some onto another piece of card so that I could cut the smaller extra pieces which I've used to add a bit of interest to the layout.  There was a bit of stencilling added to the base card and the same inks were used for this and also for colouring the petals of the flower using a water brush.  

Flower - stamp by Carabelle
Splodges - stamp from French Foliage set by Stampin' Up (retired)
Distress Oxide - Broken China, Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet

Crazy Cats

 I've come up with an idea for a card using a couple of the Crazy Cats which I stamped, coloured and fussy cut recently - I still have a couple of dogs ready to go as well when I can think of another layout for them.  I used a brick wall embossing folder for a background, adding a window with shutters.  Next move was to cut out the large 'happy' word and a smaller 'birthday' - assembled everything and that's it, job done.  I do really like these quirky pets 😉

Cats - Tim Holts stamp set mini Crazy Cats and Dogs
Large Word - die from Crafter's Companion
Small Word - Britannia dies
Window and Shutters - Gummiapan dies
Brick Wall - Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up

A quick Card

 This card was quite quick to make once I'd stamped, coloured and fussy cut the dog. Searching for something recently I came across my set of Crazy Dog and Cat stamps which I've had for many years.  They'd not seen ink for such a long time so I stamped a few of them and had a nice quiet afternoon colouring and fussy cutting.  Once they were done I had to think of how I could use them and my first idea was to use a die cut background with just a single dog and a sentiment.  I then remembered that a kind friend had included some die cut bones as an extra with some others she sent,  so one of these was coloured and used as well.  I could make other very similar cards using the rest of my dogs and cats but I really don't like making more than one card the same so my brain is ticking over now working out what else I can use to make something different.  My die cut background was backed with a snippet of patterned paper and the sentiment was one which I produced on the computer.

Background die - maker unknown, sorry
Dog - from Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs
Bone - die cut using a Gummiapan die (courtesy of a friend)
Sentiment - produced in Word

Playground Challenge # 465

 Well I'm making a quick dash over to the Snippets Playground this morning with my homework - and why a quick dash?  That's because it is raining pretty steadily for the second day in a row.  I just hope there is plenty of hot chocolate on offer 😉😉.  Apart from having used a card blank, everything else on this card came from my various snippets collections.  Started with a large snippet of patterned paper trimmed to fit the card, then sorted out small pieces of white, yellow, greens and mauves to cut the other elements.  The sentiment was stamped using purple ink and the final addition was a scattering of matching pearls.  As usual there is a lovely prize on offer for one lucky person so why not use up some of your snippets to be in with a chance of winning 😊.

Trying Techniques

 Trying different techniques is often the way to go if ideas are lacking and I enjoy watching card making videos on YouTube where a wide variety can be found.  I particularly like seeing videos presented by Chrissie Stokes and of course the offerings from Lavinia are well worth a watch (many others are also available).  Anyway today's card was inspired by a recent video from Chrissie who, in turn, had been watching Lou Collins using this technique.  I've used a stamp which was with a recent Indigo Blu boxed magazine kit, stamped onto some watercolour card and heat embossed with white before adding quite a bit of water and a selection of Distress Oxide inks, drying and re-applying until I was happy.  I started with some random splodges (technical term) and then added more localised colour to the flowers and leaves, finally adding some darker ink to the background areas.  If you watch the videos from either Chrissie or Lou there are lots of hints and tips.  The final touch was just a simple sentiment produced in Word, and if you don't know how easy it is to produce light lettering on a dark background just watch one of the videos and all will be revealed. 

Stamp - from Indigo Blu magazine kit
Distress Oxide - Walnut Stain, Rusty Hinge, Iced Spruce, Cracked Pistachio
Embossing - Wow Opaque white

Outing for the Pets

 These pets are out early to post their Christmas cards.  The design came about because I wanted to use the lovely German Postbox die cut which I'd received from a friend.  Coloured it using alcohol pens and then racked my brains for ways it could be incorporated into a card design.  I eventually came up with the idea of the pets and a few robins for good measure.  You will see I've  again used the tree die as a background but with some different DSP for the sky.  Sorted out some suitable snippets of card, die cut and assembled the dog and cat; stamped, coloured and die cut the robins and embossed a piece of curvy white card with some 'snow'.  I really enjoy dreaming up this sort of design and then playing around with the components to build the card which will hopefully make someone smile at Christmas.  Mixing items from various stamp/die sets is a fun thing to do but I'm always careful to return them to their 'home' when the work is finished 😉

Background - Aspen Tree die from Stampin' Up
Robins - from Quite Curvy stamp/die set also Stampin' Up (retired)
Cat and Dog - dies from Globeland (Amazon)
German Post Box - die from Charlie and Paulchen (courtesy of a generous friend)

Christmas Kickstart Challenge

 It is a very special Kickstart challenge this month and you can read all about it on their blog HERE

You will probably have gathered that the theme is **CATS** as well as Christmas of course and for my card I've chosen some wintry trees and added black cats and a few flying birds - fairly simple but at least it is in keeping with the theme.  I've used some snowflake background paper to showcase the trees.

Trees - die from Stampin' Up
Cats - dies set from Impression Obsession (years old)
Flying birds - dies from Gummiapan

Two Challenges

 Don't you just love 'two for the price of one' and this is happening here with one card for two current challenges.  One is the Snippets Playground and the other is Allsorts..  As usual anything goes for the Snippets challenge as long as snippets have been used and Allsorts theme is autumn leaves.

For this card I searched my 'inky play' snippets collection and found enough of a piece which had been coloured using a selection of Oxide inks in autumn colours so some distressed leaves were cut from this piece (those are my Snippets).  I then had to cut into a new piece of cream card to make a layer to fit the card blank and used a leafy cut out border die, placing another inky piece of card behind the aperture.  This was left over from a shaving foam playtime so another Snippet.  The Autumn leaves are covered for the Allsorts challenge with the die cuts and the colours chosen.  The leaves have been edged with some gilding wax but that doesn't really show up in the picture.

If you want proof of 'great  minds thinking alike' it is worth popping along to this blog where the talented Sarn has used the self same autumn leaf dies with some clever background work.

Leafy Border - unbranded die
Leaves - Tim Holtz Leafy Fragments

White Christmas

 I have another white on white card to share today, made using items I've had for some years along with a couple of die cut trees which were gifted to me recently.  I simply cut a square aperture in a piece of white card, backed it with an embossed falling snow design before adding the die cut 'snowflake' word and the trees.  Glamour dust was added to the 3D elements for a bit of sparkle.

Snowflake - die from Sheena Douglass - no longer available
Embossing Folder - also from Sheena and again, no longer available
Trees - Gummiapan 'Fluffy Trees' courtesy of a generous friend

Allsorts Challenge #747

 There is a *four-legged friends* theme for the Allsorts challenge this time and I've made a Christmas card using some stamped die cuts which were gifted to me by a kind friend last Christmas.  I did use some of them last year but came across a few unused ones when trying to bring a bit of order to the chaos which is my craft room.  I coloured the images using alcohol pens, found a piece of Christmas background paper and put everything together fore this fairly quick card which I reckon fits the Allsorts theme.

Background - Christmas download pack from Buddly Crafts
Everything else was from MFT Happy Pawlidays stamp and die set

Seaside Theme

 This card was made a couple of weeks ago but I thought I should publish it before we really get into winter.  We've had some torrential rain but this morning the sun is shining again.

I've used  stamps and a selection of die-cuts, some of which were gifted to me and some I've cut using my own dies.  I started with a piece of white card which was coloured using blue and yellow shades of Distress Oxide before stamping and heat embossing the waves over the top.  Wooden posts, gulls and lifebelt were all cut using white card and then coloured with watercolour pens.  Once the scene was assembled, I added a sentiment and layered it all together.

Waves - stamp from Inkylicious, heat embossed with white
Gulls, Posts and Lifebelt - Gummiapan dies
Rocks, Gate, Grass and Flying Birds - stamps and dies from various Stampin' Up sets

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #78

 The current theme for the Christmas Kickstart challenge is ** Chillin' with my Snowmies ** and for  my card I've stamped some snowmen having fun.  I stamped him three times so that it looked as if three snowmie pals were turning cartwheels in the snow.  Image coloured using coloured pencils and layered onto some red glitter card with a background of seasonal design paper.  A simple stamped greeting and that's about it.  There is still a bit of time to make your own card for this challenge so why not see what you can come up with 😉.

Snowmen - from a retired Stampin' Up set Spirited Snowmen
Background - paper downloaded from Buddly Crafts
Colouring - Polychromos pencils

White Snippets

 I think I have more white snippets than any other colours, closely followed probably by cream and I've used some of the white ones for my latest card for the Playground Challenge, making a white on white card.  I used a ready made card blank but everything else was a snippet - of varying sizes and I needed a fair few smaller ones for the layered petals.  A die set which came free with a magazine has  been used here but what I'd not realised was the number of times I needed to cut the small one to get enough petals to layer over just two of the flowers. I trimmed a white square to be slightly smaller than the card and then cut out the centre motif leaving an aperture.  I also ran this through the machine again with an embossing mat to give it a bit more definition.  A smaller snippet was embossed with a 'birthday' embossing folder which I've had for many years and this piece was layered behind the aperture using thin foam pads.

It was at this point I realised that the second die in the set was all in one piece to cut the words (which I didn't actually use for this card) and individual petals/leaves and the smaller flowers.  There was only one of each size which meant that I needed to cut this TWELVE times to build up just two of the larger flowers.  As you can guess I have lots of words and smaller bits left over - all carefully saved to use at some time.😀.  Eventually, once everything was assembled I added some Glamour Dust to the centres of the tiny flowers and also added a little die cut bee, also with Glamour Dust.

There are a couple of weeks to enter into this challenge with a great prize at the end for one lucky person chosen at random so why not try to use up some of your snippets - I'm sure you have plenty 😉

Here is  an image of just some of the left overs from the marathon die cutting of these petals

Die Set - by Memory Box, given away with a Die cutting magazine
Bee - die from a Tonic die set
Birthday Layer - embossing folder by Cuttlebug from years ago

Another Way

 I've come up with another way of using the stamped daisy image for a fairly CAS card.  This time I coloured the image using Zig watercolour pens and then die cut a small circle from a spare flower head and added it spotlight style using foam pads.  The card blank has had some texture added using  a scoreboard and a white die cut sentiment was the finishing touch.  I find it so interesting working out different ways of using the self same image.

The white  card used is all the same shade IRL but the card blank has a linen texture which I guess is why they look different in the picture.

Flower Stamp - daisy by Carabelle

Flower Card

 I recently received some stamped floral images from a generous friend - thanks so much, you know who you are 😍.  For this card I started by masking off the petals of the flower and then 'smooshed' it through a couple of colours of Distress Oxide ink before adding some over stamping.  This was then layered onto a toning rectangle and made into a CAS card with just a touch of stencilling on the background and a simple computer sentiment.  Now to think of different ways to use this same image 😉.

Flower - stamp from Aall & Create
Text and Splodge stamps from a long retired Stampin' Up set (French Foliage)
Oxide Colours - Wilted Violet and Iced Spruce
Stencil - an old one from Sheena

EDIT: the flower stamp is from Carabelle, apologies if you've been misled 🙄

Die Cuts

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is the usual **anything goes** or **use die cuts** and I've decided to go along the die cuts route with this simple card..  There are great prizes for lucky winners who will be announced towards the end of the month I think.  I started by cutting the background die from a piece of white card (saving all the little 'waste' circles, naturally).  Backed this with some attractive DSP, the scraps of which were used to die cut the bottom layer of the dragonflies.  Some silver gilding wax was added to them and a matching ready-made sentiment added along with tiny flowers punched from the remaining scraps of the DSP, plus of course, one of the tiny saved circles 😉

Dragonflies - dies from Gummiapan
Background - unbranded die from Amazon

Hot Weather

 I must admit that the current heatwave doesn't really suit me and not much crafting has been done so here's a card to share today which was made a while ago but didn't make it onto my blog at the time  The brick wall effect was stencilled the the window and word die cut. 

 Window and Greeting - dies from Gummiapan
Bricks - stencil cut using a Greetery die (courtesy of a friend)

Biker Bunnies

Something which I think might make you smile today.  These die cuts landed on my doormat recently, courtesy of a friend who thought I'd enjoy using them so of course I had to set my brain working of ways in which they could be incorporated into a card layout.  They were coloured using watercolour pens and I added a few components and here they are - biker bunnies, mark one 🤣.  Sadly the blue background hasn't fared well in the picture - it's a much better match in real life, sigh!!

 Rectangles - dies from Stampin' Up
Tree and fence - dies from a Sizzix set which I've had a long time
Birds - Memory Box dies, also from way back

Christmas Angel

 I have a Christmas card to share today, quite a simple one using a die cut angel which arrived in the post along with some other interesting and exciting die cuts, giving me lots of fun things to play with. They will certainly keep my brain active in working out ways they can be used with things I already have.  I started by coating the angel die cut with glue and covering it with Glamour Dust which is a very fine twinkly glitter which I've had for many years - the pot always seems to come out for some of my Christmas cards 😉. (the effect doesn't really show in the picture).  I found a small piece of snowflake paper which I popped behind an aperture cut into white card, added a scalloped surround and decided that was it done.  I don't think this one needs any words although I did consider perhaps adding a twinkly snowflake to one of the corners before deciding on CAS for this one.

Scallop die - a magazine gift from 2017
Angel - Doodled Wire Angel from Gummiapan
DSP - Stampin' Up (retired)

Snippets Playground Challenge #462

 There is a new challenge in the Playground for the coming fortnight and, as usual, a super prize on offer. My card this time is fairly simple so only a small number of snippets used - just a piece of card which had been inked using various Distress Oxides and some snippets of white for stamping the flower image, parts of which were fussy cut and layered up to give some dimension.  Various texture stamps have been used to over stamp the coloured piece for interest. The card blank was stamped with a wide border before assembling the rest of the components.

Snippets used - not much left😉 

 Border Stamp - unknown origin, possibly a magazine free gift
Flower Stamp - from Aall & Create
Texture stamps - miscellaneous from my stash
Sentiment - word stickers which came with a magazine gift (Indigo Blue)

Relaxing in the Park

 These two bunnies are spending a quiet time sitting on a park bench and enjoying a pleasant summer's day.  I did enjoy putting this together.

Background DSP and Rectangle dies - from Stampin' Up
Tiny Birds - Memory Box dies
All the rest of the dies are unbranded 

CAS Grunge

 This sounds like a contradiction in terms and I suppose it is really but this card was inspired by seeing something made by the talented Sarn HERE using  her favourite flower stamp of the moment.  I can see why she likes this stamp and I was tempted to see if I could add it to my collection.  I was so pleased to find that it arrived here very quickly so I just had to play..  I stamped it onto a tag, adding some stencilling both on the tag and a little on the base card.  Image was coloured using Distress Oxide ink.  A computer sentiment and that's it - a great way to spend what has turned out to be a wet and dreary morning outside.Thank you Sarn for the inspiration 😊.

Flower Stamp - from Aall & Create
Tag - die set from Sizzix
Stencil - also from A & C - had it for ages
Sentiment - computer generated

Fractured

 There are quite a few cards going the rounds in blogland made in this style which is called either 'fractured' or 'shutter' card so of course I had to give it a try. Some of them use just one background DSP but I decided to have a try using two toning papers..   One thing I discovered is that some paper trimmers seem to be better for cutting the narrow strips of card - naturally I don't have one of that type 🙄🙄.  This style of card is a good way of using patterned papers and would make good masculine cards as they aren't too 'fussy' - the cards I mean, not the men 🤣.  I think this could be adapted to almost any size of card.  Most of the ones I've seen are quite small but this one is a 7" x 5".

Papers - magazine give-aways from two different publications
Stamps - Leaf from Forever Fern, Sentiment from Delicate Daisies (Stampin' Up)
Die cut flower - unbranded die
Vase - from Boho Indigo set Stampin' Up (retired)

Allsorts Challenge #743

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is 🦋 butterflies 🦋.  For this card I've used a die which came as a magazine freebie back in 2018  along with a butterfly die which I've had for probably even longer.  I used the decorative circle to cut an aperture into a piece of white card which was then layered onto a piece which had been coloured using Pixie powders with shaving foam.  I do tend to try these various techniques and then have the results hanging around while I decide just how they are going to be used.  There was enough of the coloured piece left to cut the bottom layer of the butterfly and more of the white was used for the top layer and the sentiment..

Circular die - a magazine freebie from 2018
Butterfly - Sizzix dies
Sentiment - from a retired Stampin' Up set (Hey Birthday Chick)

Guess Who is Here?

 A good guess, yes bunny has appeared on yet another card.  I was going through a box containing a selection of magazine freebies - stamps and dies mainly - which I've collected over the years and I cane across this die set from way back in 2017 and it's one which I've not actually used until now 🙄.  As soon as I spotted it I thought it would combine with Bunny in some way.  I have seen images of bunnies on swings but I don't have a swing die so I put my brain in gear and had a ponder, thinking through some of my die sets to see if I could improvise and managed to come up with a cunning plan using a die from a wall bracket set and a slender flower stem for the 'ropes'.   Success and without needing to buy a swing die 😊.  Such a shame that this die set had lain unused for so long as there are some cute little animals also in the set so you may well be seeing it used again before too long.  I do find that looking through my stash from time to time often gives me ideas, so well worth the time taken.

Bunny - my favourite unbranded die
Swing - constructed from two flower stems and a Gummiapan wall bracket die
Aperture and scalloped surround - free die set from a 2017 magazine give away
Background - snippet of New Horizons DSP from Stampin' Up

CAS Floral

 A fairly clean and simple floral card to share today.  The background behind the circle is part of an unsuccessful attempt at die cutting an intricate design - I managed to salvage a small undamaged piece. The flowers are two-step stamping and then were die cut.  This is not at all what I had planned but at least it didn't end up in the bin although it was a close thing 😂.

Snippets Playground Challenge #461

 Time for another challenge in the Playground and, guess what, Bunny has friends 😉..  When thinking of ways to use the bunny die I've often considered using two of the die cuts on a card but when seated side by side it seems to me as if one is rather ignoring the other which doesn't appear to be particularly friendly.  Imagine how I pleased I was when I spotted a set of two bunny dies which came as a more friendly pair. You've guessed it, I couldn't resist so I've used them to make an Anniversary card for the challenge.  I decided this could also be for an engagement or wedding so have added a 'congratulations' sentiment. I had to cut into some pink and cream pearl card for the larger layers but snippets were used for the bunnies, bows, small hearts and the gate on which they are sitting.  A bit of light stencilling was added to the cream layer within the large heart.

Pink Square and Heart Layer - Tonic dies
Gate and tiny bows - from a couple of Stampin' Up die sets
Small hearts - used a punch also from SU
Bunny Pair - unbranded die set from Amazon ( slightly smaller than original Bunny)
Sentiment Banner - Creative Expressions die

Snippets used to die cut small elements of the card