Christmas Candle

 First of all I'd like to wish all my Blogging Friends and Followers a wonderful Christmas and the very best wishes for the coming year.

I'm also taking this card along to the Snippets Playground where there's a great party going on with a bowl of punch and the usual fun and games.  Apart from the card blank everything else came from my various Snippets collections.  A few larger pieces for the background and then some small bits and pieces for the candle, foliage and the sentiment.  Sorry no pictures of the snippets this time as most of them were really tiny so they went into the bin.  The white layer was embossed with a snowy effect.  Quite a lot of layers to the candle so it was quite tricky to assemble - got there in the end though.  Don't forget there are bumper mystery box prizes to be won so why not use up some of your Snippets and see what you can make.

Embossing Folder - an 'oldie' from Sheena Douglass (no longer available)
Candle and Foliage - dies all from Tim Holtz
Sentiment - Die from a magazine freebie set (quite recent)

Allsorts Challenge # 812/3

 I was invited recently to be part of the Design Team for the Allsorts Challenge and this is my first 'designer'  post. The challenge will run for two weeks with prizes from Oakwood  and full details can be seen on the Allsorts blog.  

The theme, chosen by Sarah, is **Use Dies** or of course, as always, there is the option of *Anything Goes*.  For my card I cut a panel slightly smaller than the card blank and lightly stencilled an area using Distress Oxide ink.  The white die was used twice and naturally I saved all of the little 'fall-out' circles.  The flower was also cut using white card and then gold embossed.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut, with a larger die being used as a backing layer.  Finally a few of the little dots were coloured with a gold pen and added for extra interest.

Stencil - from Lavinia
White circles die - from Tattered Lace (several years old)
Flower - from Tim Holtz Wildflowers #2
Sentiment Panel - from a retired Snowflake Stampin' Up set

Winter Themed Challenges

 There are two stamping challenges both with a Winter Theme so I'm popping along to We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations with this card.  There great prizes from Aall & Create for both of these.

My card is loosely based on a tutorial which I saw on YouTube from, I think, one of the Lavinia designers but I'm afraid I can't find it again to give proper credit.  I really should make a note of things which I use as inspiration.  I clearly need more practice with the water colouring of the background and I also 'borrowed' an idea from Jo Rice to stamp and fussy cut the two robins as they didn't really stand out sufficiently from the background in my original attempt.  The important thing is that I really enjoyed making this card and will try harder another time.  Practice makes perfect as they say 😉

Stamps - Lavinia designs
Christmas Word - from a set of magazine gift stamps
Inks - Versafine Claire and Distress Oxides
Colouring - watercolour pencils

Allsorts Challenge for This Week

 The All sorts challenge this week is to **Use Lots of White* or of course there's always the *Anything goes* option.  I'm a fan of white on white cards although the one I've made here also has touches of silver. There are three prizes of great stamps from Aall & Create and don't forget to make a note of the changes coming to this challenge.   Read all about it by following the link.

This is yet another Christmas card but I think now I've made all that I need in that area and quite possibly have a goodly number to put by for next year - can't stop making once I get started 😉 but must put the seasonal things away for a while.  The main part of this card is white on white with some sparkly silver used as a background and a backing for the sentiment.  The white layer has been die cut which left a curvy piece of 'ground' which I then decided to emboss with a snowy effect.  Sentiment was stamped and layered onto silver and that was job done - quite quick and easy really and certainly lots of white.

Die - unbranded
Embossing Folder - a discontinued one from Sheena Douglass (had it for years)
Sentiment - from a set of Seasonal stamps which were a magazine gift (also an oldie)

Snippets Playground Challenge #495

 Time to visit the Snippets Playground with my card for the first of the two December challenges where there are to be four prizes of bumper mystery parcels for the lucky winners.  Definitely time to rummage through your piles of snippets to see just what you can make with them.

For my card I've used a sentiment  die which I believe was won from Snippets a couple of years back and paired it with a Gnome/Santa die which I've had in my collection for even longer.  The sentiment was layered up on a couple of white squares, one of which has been embossed with a snowfall embossing folder.  I did have to cut into a whole piece of white card and also of the red for the background but of course I have quite large snippets left for future projects.  I also remembered to take a picture of some of the smaller snippets left over from die cutting the squares. sentiment and Santa.

Sentiment - die from Memory Box
Santa/Gnome - die from Simon Says Stamp
Embossing Folder - from Sheena Douglass a while ago, no longer available

Allsorts Challenge #810

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge has been chosen by Lynne and is *It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas* or of course there is the usual Anything Goes option.  For my card I've used dies from a set of four characters which come with a choice of headgear and specs which are mostly interchangeable for some fun results.  These two were put together and then I decided to pop them onto some torn edge die cuts along with a sentiment..

Santa and Snowman - from Tim Holtz Cool Yule die set
Rectangles - from Sizzix (TH) Stacked Deckle set
Sentiment - from a magazine give-away Christmas stamp set (a few years back)

Allsorts Challenge # 809

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is **Winter Flora and Fauna** or of course there is the *Anything Goes* option - lovely prize from Aall & Create.  For my card I've chosen to use a Stickeroo which I've adhered to a stitched rectangle cut slightly larger.  Some background printed onto pearl finish paper mounted onto a larger square of gold.  That takes care of the fauna and for the flora I've used a layered die and added a simple printed  and punched sentiment.

Background - printed from Artylicious Season's Greetings CD probably discontinued
Image - Penny Black Stickeroo from Buddly Crafts
Poinsettia - dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix Seasonal Sketch
Sentiment - free download from Netty's Cards resized to fit a punch 

Snippets Challenge #494

Having a bit of a change from making Christmas cards so these birds are flying along to the Playground for the latest Snippets challenge which as usual has a lovely prize for a lucky winner picked at random.  I had some snippets of white card  suitable for cutting a couple of pierced squares and an even smaller snippet of black card for the birds.  I've actually remembered to include a picture of the left overs too.  I smooshed some ink onto one of the squares  and added a bit of visual texture using a circle stamp.  The birds on a gingko branch were then die cut and placed over the detailed area.  A simple stamped sentiment and that's it - quick card for the challenge.

Circle stamp - from Crafty Roo
Birds - one of a set of dies from Amazon
Squares - dies from Noble Pierced squares Creative Expressions

Current Allsorts Challenge

 The theme for this week's Allsorts Challenge is **Ribbon or Twine** or the usual *Anything Goes* with of course a lovely prize on offer.  Despite the fact that I have a huge selection of ribbons in my stash, I've chosen to use twine for this card.  I started by die cutting a fairly large tag and rummaged in my box of 'useful bits' and pulled out a couple of pieces of tissue paper on which I'd previously stamped some numbers and an old style typewriter using stamps from a couple of different magazine give-away sets. The pieces were adhered to the tag using Mod Podge, followed by some stencilling, inking and over stamping to add some visual texture.  Twine was used to wrap around the actual tag as well as being threaded through the top.  A die cut bee was coloured lightly with some toning ink and the wings brushed with Wink of Stella.  The design paper in the background came from an ancient 12" paper pad.

Tag - die set from Sizzix (Tim Holtz)
Numbers - stamp from Phill Martin magazine give-away a few years back
Typewriter - stamp from a more recent Stamping Magazine (Lou Collins designs)
Bee - die from Gummiapan
Words - sticker sheet also a magazine give-away (Indigo Blue I think)
Designer Paper - from a Tim Holtz 12" pad of kraft resist designs - years old!

Rudolph Days November

 This part of each month always seems to come around so quickly and this time of course it means that the Big Day is getting ever closer.  My card for the Rudolph Days October challenge was chosen as one of the top picks which means I'm invited to be a Guest Designer for this month.  I've used an image from a set of dies which I couldn't resist as they really amused me with four different seasonal characters all wearing spectacles although of course they can be used without.  I've also added some foliage and berries and popped Rudolph onto a couple of 'torn edge' rectangles, backed with some toning design paper.

Rectangle dies - Sizzix
Foliage - Sizzix
Rudolph - from Cool Yule die set Sizzix (Tim Holtz)

Stamping Sensations November

 The theme for this month at Stamping Sensations is **Anything Goes** with an option of **Magical**.  I'm not sure my card is magical but as it's all stamped it should be OK for the anything goes theme. I started by inking my circular Gelli plate with Distress inks, spattered on some water droplets and then 'stamped' it onto a piece of white card.  The large floral stamp was used twice followed by some grasses and tiny leaves and finally a butterfly.  The flowers were coloured to tone with the background and then some highlights added using a gold gel pen..

Stamps - from Lavinia (butterfly from a magazine freebie set I think) 

Allsorts Challenge #807

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is **Anything Goes** with an optional **Food and Drink**.  I have actually used a teacup on my card but as you see it's been put to a different use to hold some flowers.  I'm not sure if it fits the food and drink theme but at least it's ok for anything goes - tea is something I never drink anyway. The teacup, flowers and sentiment were stamped, coloured and fussy cut before adhering them to the background which was made by smooshing Distress Oxide inks and over stamping with some other stamps to give it a bit of visual texture.

There are some great cards from the Design Team for inspiration and welcome to Helen who is a new recruit to the team.

Stamps - all from Crafty Roo   

Postage Stamp

 This card was made a little while ago but has remained on file for some reason rather than being posted here. I used an image from a pad of LOTV images which I've had for ages; trimmed it to a square and over printed with some post related little images.  A square 'postage stamp' die which I've had for many years was brought of hiding and used to cut a white layer, followed by a purple layer cut with a square die.  Background paper was printed from a downloaded collection.

Image from Lily of the Valley
Stamp Die - an old Spellbinders set
Background - downloaded papers from Buddly Crafts

Snippets Challenge #493

 There's a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground where I'm sure you probably know that's where we are positively encouraged to use up some of our snippets rather than cutting into whole pieces of new card or paper.  There's always a super prize for one lucky entrant each fortnight as well so why don't you search through your own snippets and have a go 😀.  This time I've used my usual card blank and I also had to cut into a new piece of card for a layer slightly smaller but of course this leaves me with a sizeable snippet for other projects.  The wonky tree was stamped onto this piece of card and then stamped again onto a selection of quite small snippets of various green paper so that I could fussy cut the sections to paper piece onto the image.  As these pieces were so small I trimmed them over the waste paper bin so I'm afraid I couldn't take a picture of them this time - they really were tiny 😉. The sentiment was stamped at the bottom and some small gold stars added - these were leftovers from a previous card. I always save any die cuts, however small because they always come in useful at some time.  Finally I decided a border was needed and luckily I found a large green snippet for this and of course 'gutted' or cut out a square from the centre before using it here - no one would know once the card is assembled.

Stamps - from Crafty Roo at sale price
Stars - from a Sizzix Seasonal die set

Christmas

 Yes, *Christmas* is the theme this week for the Allsorts Challenge or of course there's always the *Anything Goes* option.  I've had another play with some of my stamps and come up with another seasonal scene featuring a pretty tree being admired by a couple of hares.  I've not added a sentiment because I think the occasion is fairly obvious.  Stamping was done using Versafine Clair Nocturne with a touch of blue for the stars.  Baubles on the tree were coloured using a glittery gel pen and the snowscape achieved using torn paper and some Distress ink.  There was a final touch of glitter added using a glue pen but of course, as usual, doesn't show in the pic.  Brilliant prizes from Lavinia stamps too.

Stamps - from Lavinia Stamps

Time Flies

 This week has just flown by and I realise I've not posted since Monday so here is a card to share which was made a while ago when I was trying to use up some small tall card blanks which I've had for ages.  I used a stamp which I bought in a sale - stamped, coloured and fussy cut.  A polyplate was used with Distress Oxide inks to make a background panel and a die cut sentiment added.

Flower - stamps purchased in Crafty Roo sale a while ago
Background - Fall Away polyplate from Crafty Roo, stock item
Hello - die from Gummiapan 

Allsorts Challenge #805

 The current challenge at Allsorts is seasonal **Magic of the Season** with the usual option of anything goes - a lovely prize too.  For my bit of magic I turned to Lavinia stamps to build up a wintry scene and used a stag and some trees stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.  Winter branches were added to partially frame the scene, stamping with black and then with white which was embossed.  There are some subtle glittery highlights on the snowy ground but they don't show up well in the picture. 

Stamps - all from Lavinia
Inks - Versafine Clair Nocturne and Elements Violet Chalk

Quick and Easy

 It's good to make quick and easy cards now and then as a break from the more intricate ones and this one was made using a Stickeroo image, a random die cut which was on my desk and also some background paper and simple sentiment.

Image - from sheet of Penny Black Stickeroos
Die Cut - unbranded die
Background - from a Phill Martin paper pad
Sentiment - die cut using a Stampin' Up Stitched rectangle die

Inspired

 I was inspired to make today's card when I saw one posted by Di which she made to showcase the current Snippets Playground Challenge - you can see her card HERE. I used a similar method with the die cuts.  As soon as I saw her card I was immediately reminded that I had three smaller dies which I've had for some years but I must say that I'd never thought of using them for a Christmas card.  Thanks Di for the idea 😊.  

Forest Dies - sorry no idea of the source of these 
Sentiment and Snowflakes - from two long retired Stampin' Up sets
Background - printed on pearl paper using Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD (also from years back)

Allsorts Challenge #804

 The current challenge at Allsorts is **Cute and/or Cuddly**  with as always the option of *Anything Goes* - lovely prizes too.  I had a couple of die cut gifts left from my previous card so I set about cutting a few more and a Christmas tree - and cute/cuddly??   Well for this card I thought it was about time that our favourite Bunny came out to play so here he is making a special delivery of Christmas gifts.  Cream card used again rather than white and I've added a scattering of gold stars.  Cute or what 😊

Sentiment and Bunny - unbranded dies
Gifts - from Santa's Helper die set Sizzix
Tree and Stars - from another older Sizzix die set

Snippets Playground Challenge #492

 I'm off to visit the Playground to see if there's still anyone left in the conkers game and also to take along my homework for the current challenge.  This started out with an idea for a Christmas card but in the end I couldn't find a seasonal sentiment which looked 'right' so I ended up adding the 'Hugs' one which I felt was appropriate and fitted better.  You would have thought with the number of stamps I have there'd have been a fairly small simple Christmas one but sadly not.  Doing one on the computer was a thought but I have no cream card which will go through the printer 🙄.  Anyway, back to the card - I die cut a series of parcels using cream and gold pearl mirri and assembled them - also die cut the two teddies in cream (the larger one was layered for a bit of dimension).  I then did my usual thing of trying a few different arrangements until I was happy and then glued everything in place.  The final thing was to cut and glue the sentiment into the available space.  I suppose this card would be OK for Christmas but could probably suit almost any occasion involving piles of presents 😊.

Teddies - Dies from Gummiapan
Parcels - Dies from Sizzix Santa's Helper set
Squares - Noble Pierced Squares Creative Expressions

PS - now I've posted the pic I remembered I added an extra layer of gold to frame the design

Rudolph Days Challenge

 Well it soon came around to October Rudolph Days and Santa has arrived on his motor bike 😀.  I started by die cutting the pieces from card of various colours to build up the figure of the biker Santa with his sack of toys.  Good thing that I enjoy assembling these often fiddly die cut figures 🤣  Next I die cut a blue circle and a slightly larger white one to back it, placing them onto a piece of DSP left over from another project. Happy Rudolph Days everyone - the challenge runs from today to the end of the month so there's still time to join in.

Background - DSP from Stampin' Up (retired)
Circles - dies from a John Next Door Set
Santa - unbranded die from Amazon

Patterned Papers

 The theme for the latest Allsorts Challenge is **Patterned Papers** or of course the usual *Anything Goes* and there are some great prizes.  I have to say that I use far fewer patterned papers for my cards these days although that's not because I don't have any, despite having given away quite a lot in an effort to 'clear the decks' a little.  For this floral card I turned to a stamp set which had some double-sided matching design papers, selecting a floral paper for the background and then using the reverse of the design to cut a narrow strip to pop over the top.  The flower was stamped onto a piece of white card and cut out using a die from  the matching die set.  The sentiment was on my desk, left from a previous project but I believe it came from another floral set made by the same company.  The tiny butterflies were also on my desk in a little pot of 'useful bits'.

Stamps - Penned Petals from Stampin' Up with matching DSP and die set (retired)
Sentiment - from another SU stamp set

Floral

 I decided to make a floral card as a change from the autumn leaves.  I started out with mainly cream scraps of card which I used to die cut a circle and some flowers and leaves which were then coloured using Distress inks.  Found a scrap of green to back the circle and then popped everything onto a cream linen card blank.  The sentiment was computer generated using Office 365.

Flower Dies - Modern Floristry from Tim Holtz

Magical

 The theme for Allsorts challenge #802 is *anything goes* or *magical. myths and/or legends* and very appropriately prizes of beautiful Lavinia stamps.  My card has a fairy featured so I guess it covers the theme.  I used a round Gelli plate with some Distress inks to start off a background and then used a mask so that I could add the details of the hills, foliage and of course the fairy and goose. My next decision was to use a die to cut out this circle.  Some stencilling and second generation stamping has been added to the background for added interest.

Stencil - from Lavinia
Stamps - combination of Lavinia and Card-Io stamps

Snippets Challenge #491

 Whenever I set out to make a card I always try to include something from my Snippets mountain - I know I've said it before but somehow this collection never seems to diminish despite my best efforts.  Anyway this one is to take along to the Snippets Playground where I understand there's a conker match in progress and some hot drinks available.

Apart from the base card everything here came from my Snippets collection starting with part of a sheet of snowflake paper which was printed onto some pearl paper for another project.  I also have quite a lot of pearlised card snippets in various shades of white, ivory or cream so I decided to use some of the different shades to make a start on die cutting this elaborate 'Colorize' snowman using a die which I won in a challenge last year and had only used once previously.  These dies are quite elaborate with many layers and some concentration is required to get it all assembled.  I decided to focus on each colour and work methodically from the bottom up as it were - it's incredibly easy to lose some of the tiny pieces if you blunder in and cut them all at once.  No need to ask me how I know this 🤣 and I seem to recall that when I made the first one last year the die was put away with thoughts of 'never again'.  However, I'm pleased I tried again this year because I actually enjoyed making this one even if it did take me quite a long time - certainly not one for batch making.  Once he was assembled I decided the card needed something else so I cut some 'snow' to ground him and added a die cut tree from another set of dies - I didn't think it needed a sentiment.  Lots of snippets used and being in methodical mode I remembered to save them for a photo.

A great prize to be won this time so why not dig out some of your snippets and have a go

Background - Printed from Seasons Greetings CD Artylicious (possibly discontinued)
Snowman - Tim Holtz Colorize Snowman dies
Tree - set of unbranded dies

We Love Stamping

 The theme for the We Love Stamping Challenge for October is **Autumn** or of course *Anything Goes* and it so happens that the theme for Stamping Sensations is - you guessed it - **Anything Goes** or *Autumn Colours*.  I've decided to take my card along to both challenges this time as it seems to fit the criteria and there's a limit to the number of Autumnal cards I need in my box.

I started with a square of white stamping card and a circle mask so that I could put a faint line of ink to guide me in placing the leaf stamps for which I used a selection of yellows, greens and brown with a touch of orange for the berries.  I then decided to pop the little owl in amongst the leaves and he was coloured using pencils before being masked so that I could add a light dusting of yellow in and around the wreath with a some orange concentrated on the leafy area.  The final touch was to add some purple to highlight the edges (more Halloween than Autumn I guess, but - hey - artistic licence 😉).  As usual with this style of card I dithered over adding a sentiment but have left it blank for now.

The usual opportunity to maybe win a prize at the end of the  month

Stamping - All using Lavinia stamps
Inking - Distress Ink and Versafine Clair
Colouring - Polychromos pencils

Allsorts Challenge #801

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is **Falling Leaves** or of course the usual *Anything Goes* and there are great prizes too as well as Design Team inspiration if you follow the link.  For my card this time I've splodged various Autumn colours onto some scraps of cream card before die cutting the leaves, adding a little gilding in places.  The base card is also cream, topped with a cream square and a die cut circular motif  using kraft card with three of the leaves added.  A few of the smaller 'fall-out' circles were also gilded and scattered around and a die cut 'Hello' in the centre.  Sadly the gold doesn't show up too well in the picture 🙄

 Circle Motif - unbranded die from Amazon
Hello - die from Gummiapan
Leaves - Leaf Fragments dies designed by Tim Holtz

Autumn Themes

 There seem to be lots of Autumn themed challenges around at the moment so I brought out some of my leafy dies to see what I could come up with.  In actual fact I wouldn't call this an Autumnal card because it's just a CAS one using a single leaf die with a scrap (snippet) of card out of my bits box.  It was only a small piece and I think it was probably coloured using Pixie Powders, some of which include mica for a bit of glimmer.  I cut a square of card to fit the card blank and used a cutting die to emboss, followed by cutting a couple of frames using two smaller sized dies from the set.  One of the fall-out circles was embossed with an embossing folder and the leaf simply added to the centre.  I still have quite a few leaf dies to play with so hopefully there will be some more suitably coloured cards to follow, watch this space 😉

Circles - Pierced circle dies from Creative Expressions 
Embossing Folder - from my collection but not named on the actual folder
Leaf - from Tim Holtz Sizzix Artsy Leaves die set

Butterflies

 I'm sure there have been fewer butterflies around this year which is sad but I've brought out a set of dies so that butterflies can adorn this card.  I started by splodging Distress Oxide inks onto some scraps of cream card so that they could dry and be ready for die cutting.  I then cut a square of the same cream card to layer onto a kraft card blank,  adding a few splodges of DOX and allowing to dry before using a couple of stencils to add some partial detail.  A final touch was a few spatters of ink in the colours used for the butterflies which were die cut and layered to be arranged on the background along with a simple sentiment.  Just a reminder of Summer now that Autumn seems to be here - each season has beauty but in different ways.  

I spotted that today is World Card Making Day - what a lovely excuse to stay in and craft (as if we needed an excuse) 😊.

Butterflies - Die set from Tim Holtz  Brushstroke Butterflies
Stencils - from Lavinia and AAll & Create
Sentiment - generated on the computer using Word

Allsorts Challenge #800

 Another card for the special 800th Allsorts Challenge where the theme is **Anything Goes**.  This card is a stamped one using my own version of a polyplate which was inked with some Distress inks and  lightly spritzed with water before 'stamping' it onto a piece of white card to make a background panel.  I then stamped the floral/leafy image and added a simple sentiment to this CAS card.  Various polyplates are available from Crafty Roo but this one was one I made by cutting down an A5 sheet of what must be some form of clear stamping material which was purchased some time ago from John Next Door before I ventured into using genuine gelli plates.  I think both items have a place although they do behave slightly differently with inks - just need to experiment AKA play 🤣

Leafy Stamp - from Autumn Leaves set purchased in Crafty Roo's sale

Snippets Playground Challenge #490

 I'm off to visit the Playground again with my current Snippets make and this time it's a Christmas card which as it happens was inspired by  a design from Pete Hughes of Sizzix - see Sarn's post HERE.  Great minds think alike they say. Mine uses one of his ideas for constructing a reindeer from die cut shapes and I've chosen to just use a head and shoulders view within a die cut circular frame.  I started by cutting the pieces and building up the reindeer before deciding just what form the card would take.  Having decided on going  relatively CAS I cut out two matching frames using a stitched detail die and a smaller plain circle die.  These were  layered together adding a backing of a blue circle with a pattern of die cut holes to represent falling snow.  Once assembled the circle was simply glued to a white square and the sentiment added.  I actually remembered to take a photo of the small snippets left over.  As usual everything on this card came from my snippets collection apart from the card blank.  

Reindeer - constructed using Infinite Doodles #1 from Sizzix
Snow Effect - Infinite Doodles #2
Stitched Circle - Sizzix Stitched Circle die set
Sentiment - Unbranded die
.

Taking a Break

 No, it's not me taking a break - Santa and one of his reindeer are having a little rest while they prepare for their busy schedule later this year 😊.  It's the 800th challenge at Allsorts this week, certainly something worth celebrating and there is the straightforward theme of **Anything Goes** along with a bumper selection of prizes.  There's lots of super inspiration from the Design Team and Guest Designer Sarn so why not pop along and take a look.

I started this card by printing a  background from my favourite seasonal CD which I've had for over 15 years, using some pearl paper  I then die cut the two little 'people' , the icicles and the starry frame, colouring was done using Copic alcohol pens.  I dithered about adding a sentiment and finally decided that it wasn't necessary as the scene speaks for itself.

Background - printed from Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD (probably no longer available)
Icicle die - unbranded
Star Frame, Santa and Reindeer - Gummiapan dies 

September Rudolph Days Challenge

 Amazing just how quickly these Rudolph Days seem to come around.  There are some lovely cards for inspiration including one from guest designer Brenda who has made a beautiful one using Lavinia stamps.  For my card this month I've used some dies which came as a freebie with the current Die Cutting magazine - couldn't resist because I've always fancied having dies to cut ice skating boots but somehow never got around to buying any.  I've combined the skates with a wreath die set which has been in my Christmas box for many years.  A combination of blue and white pearl card was used along with some kraft and a plain blue circle which was embossed using a snowfall embossing folder.  I used a die to cut the bows for the laces rather than use ribbon as suggested in the magazine

Wreath - Sizzix die from several years ago
Embossing Folder - from Sheena Douglass (no longer available)
Boots and 'Joy' - from die set which came free with the magazine
Bows - Gummiapan die

Quirky Flowers

 I've been playing this morning with some die cut shapes to see if I could make some flowers and these odd looking ones are my first effort.  I'd like to try some animals or characters but not sure I can be quite that imaginative.  I do look at YouTube videos by Deb Hallett who builds up some great ones  which must require lots of patience.  I didn't really want to copy what she's made although I don't think she has done flowers in this way.  Having made a couple of passable flowers the next thing was to decide just how to use them and I've gone for a stamped and stencilled grungy background within a framed circle.  This was fun but it took me most of the  morning 😉.

Stencil - Lavinia
Stamps - Globleland (Amazon)
Die Cutting - Abstract Elements from Sizzix (Tim Holtz)

Allsorts Challenge # 799

 For the Allsorts Challenge this week Liz has asked us for **Get Well or Sympathy Cards** - always handy to have one or two of these ready to hand if needed.  Of course there is, as always, the *Anything Goes* option.  I decided to make a Get Well card in the CAS style so I cut a panel of white card to fit onto a square card and started by stamping the sentiment and a background image using  grey Versafine ink.  I then die cut some butterflies in the same white card and these were painted using some glimmer watercolours which I've had for many years although I realise they'd not been used for a while.  I die cut a slightly larger square from light grey card to tone with the stamping.  Assembled the card, adding some tiny blue gems and that's it - a CAS Get Well card for the challenge.

Background Stamp - one of a set of mixed stamps from Amazon
Butterflies - Memory Box
Sentiment - from my favourite set of magazine freebie sentiment stamps (years old) 

Stamping Sensations Challenge

 I spotted a mid month reminder this morning for the current Stamping Sensations challenge where the theme is *Animal Magic* or of course *anything goes*.  It so happens I was having a bit of a tidy up of my workspace and had come across these three fun hippos which were stamped, coloured with alcohol pens and fussy cut quite a while ago and I'd   already decided it was about time they danced their way onto a card - so here they are.  I also found the little cat and the tiny tufts of grass at the bottom of a container of 'bits' - handy or what?  I cut a panel to fit a 7" x 5" card and adhered some 'sky' printed paper and a die cut strip of green for the 'grass'.  A simple birthday greeting and that's a few more of my oddments used - always satisfying to see these being made into something which, hopefully, will give pleasure to the recipient of the finished card.  There are animal themed prizes from A & C for the lucky winners at the end of the month.

Hippo Stamps - from Stampin' Up (retired)
 Kitty - also from SU (retired)
Tufts of Grass - dies possibly also SU but cut ages ago and 'saved'
Die to Cut Grassy Edging - from MFT possibly no longer available

Birthday Fishes!!

 No, the title isn't a typo because **Something Fishy** is the theme for the latest challenge at Allsorts and this one nearly had me stumped because despite my vast array of crafty goodies I discovered that I'm sadly lacking in anything fishy.  That is until I remembered that at some time in the past there had been a fish themed die set given away as a magazine freebie although to be honest I wasn't sure I still had it and I know for a fact that the packet was never opened (you guessed - not a favourite theme of mine 😉).  However, I delved deep and found the set which actually dates from 2017 and this is the first time the dies have been used - the magazine is long gone.  I used the fishbowl die to cut an aperture into a square of white card  which I backed with a scrap of green pearl paper and layered onto some green pearl card.  The bowl was cut using silver card and was then inserted into the aperture.  I selected some of the smaller dies to cut out so that they could appear to be swimming around in the bowl, adding an extra bit of weed and a starfish to the bottom corner of the card.  The fun sentiment dies were also included in the set which was actually good value.  There are some lovely Lavinia stamps as prizes this month and don't forget if you don't have anything fishy there's always the *anything goes* option.

Dies were a magazine freebie set dating from 2017 and the packet had not been opened until today🤣

Snippets Playground #489

 Time to pop into the playground to see what's afoot today - I hear there might be cake and a drop of bubbly 😊.  I've raided my ever growing Snippets collection to make a Christmas card this time although I did actually have to break into a whole piece of white card to fit my card blank but of course there was some left to join the rest of my Snippets for another time.  I started by cutting the large words with their backing from red and white Snippets so that I could place them to work out where I needed to cut out the Star Frame aperture.  A snippet of blue snowy printed paper was placed behind said aperture and I've added a row of tiny trees (cut from a snippet of green which was in my 'inky play' snippets pile.  Finally I die cut a little house to add to the scene and decided to call it a day, apart from cutting another of the starry frames to make that one a double layer.  Some great prizes as always so why not raid your Snippets collection and make a card.  

Greeting - dies by Julie Hickey
Star Frame and Trees - dies from Gummiapan
House - unknown but I've had the dies for a long time (come out each year for Christmas)

Landscape Scene

 A bit of 'thinking outside the box' today to show that stamp sets don't always have to be used for their original purpose.  I've used what started  out as a seascape set, with the addition of other stamps and a die cut, to come up with an inland landscape design.  I started with the sky sky and then added the 'sea' and 'sand' using two shades of green, adding some grass.  I then took some trees from a different stamp set and also a flight of birds.  Final touch was to add the die cut reeds and grasses along with a sentiment.

Main stamping - Ocean Front stamp set Stampin' Up (retired)
Trees and Birds - from other SU stamp sets (retired)
The die cut reeds were hanging around on my desk waiting to be used

Autumn Colours

 The theme for the latest Allsorts Challenge is **Autumn Colours**  or, as always **Anything Goes** so as it seems to be perfect crafting weather today (AKA damp and dreary) I set about making a card using some of my Lavinia stamp collection.  It so happens that the prizes this time are also Lavinia stamps which is great.  I started by smooshing various yellow and orange Distress inks onto some watercolour paper (300 gsm) and once dry I cut out a circle and set about building a colourful scene in various browns - decided against using any black this time.  Once I'd decided that 'enough is enough' I then stencilled a diagonal sweep across the base card and simply glued the circle in place.  No sentiment just in case the recipient decides to frame this card, in which case a sentiment would be superfluous 😉.  Very therapeutic working with these beautiful stamps in such lovely warm colours.

Stamps - all Lavinia designs
Stencil - also a Lavinia design
Inks - Distress Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Marigold and Spiced Marmalade
          Versafine Sepia and Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves and Golden Meadow

Inspiration

 Inspiration is all around us and sometimes when I'm trying to decide what technique to use for my next card I turn to the Group of Seven Cardmakers where there is a wealth of ideas to be found along with tutorials and links to videos.  For today's card I've used a colouring technique using a Speedball Elegant Writer and if you look HERE you will find full details and examples by the various members of this talented group.

This is my first time trying this pen and it was fascinating to see just how the colour changed as I added water, blotting with kitchen paper along the way.  I started by stamping the flower using second generation Versafine Clair Twilight ink which I thought would be less harsh than using black. I'm looking forward to trying this pen on a selection of different paper or card to see what variations are possible.  For this one I used some watercolour paper.

 Stamp - Sketch Flower from Crafty Roo, fussy cut
Colouring - Speedball Elegant Writer 1.3 mm pen
Texture Background - unbranded die

Stamping Sensations September Challenge

 The theme for this month's challenge at Stamping Sensations is **Anything Goes** or **Animal Magic**  and my card is certainly in the first category and with a stretch of the imagination might be covered by the second.  I made an inky background with Distress Oxide inks and overstamped with the some word stamps and the diamond pattern.  The bird was stamped directly onto the background and then the little bird stamped again onto some white card and fussy cut with scissors.  A simple computer sentiment was added.  Some great prizes as usual this month for the lucky name pulled out of the hat.

Stamps - all from Crafty Roo

Twofer

 I don't  normally make more than one of any card design but this one really lent itself to being done as a 'twofer' because it required two pieces of double sided designer paper to be die cut for the infills.  I started with a Snippet of white card and cut the cover plate die twice before finding some suitable DSP to cut again for the infills which were alternated on each card.  Next thing was to find some toning plain card snippets for the backing layer.  A small snippet was used for the stamped sentiment and the whole panel was popped onto a 5" x 7" card blank, which left a space at the bottom.  Rather than trim the card down to suit the panel size I decided to leave it as it was and had just enough of the two background colours to die cut three little matching flowers for each card.

This is a twofer in more ways than one because I made it for the Snippets Playground challenge *use snippets* and also for the latest Allsorts challenge **add a sentiment**.  Sorry no photo of the snippets this time - I used practically every last shred of the coloured card and the tiny bits left weren't worth taking a pic so they went into the bin.  There are the usual great prizes from each challenge so why not have a rummage and see what you can come up with.

Coverplate Die - unbranded
Papers used - DSP from Butterflies set Stampin' Up (retired)
Sentiment - From Stampn' Up Daisies stamps and dies
Flowers - Spellbinders die set which was a magazine freebie