Counting Down

 If you are counting down you will realise that it's just a month now to Christmas and of course this means that it is time for the Rudolph Days challenge.  An opportunity to join in from today until the end of this month.  For my card this time I've used a digital image which I downloaded and resized - available in coloured and/or uncoloured and this time I've used the coloured version.  I found a piece of red patterned paper and then cut a torn edge square slightly smaller; this was embossed for added interest..  I then made a frame using a couple of circle dies and added a circular die cut sentiment and popping Nutmeg and friend behind the aperture.

Image - from Craft Addiction UK, hand drawn by Louise Dunne, available to download
Circle Sentiment - unbranded die (from Temu)
Square and Circle - unbranded dies
Embossing Folder - unbranded (from Temu)
Background Paper - from my snippets collection

Snippets Playground Challenge #520

 I've made another Christmas card  and I'm headed over to the Snippets Playground to see what fun and games might be going on today.  I've used dies from a variety of different sets, some of which I've had for ages and some a little more recently acquired.  I had to cut into a new sheet of white card to cut a layer slightly smaller than my card blank.  I then used a curved die to cut through it and lightly brushed the top part with some blue Distress ink before sticking the pieces back together to form a background for my scene.  All of the elements were cut from pieces found in my Snippets collection, which as I've said before, seems to grow larger rather than diminishing but I do try hard to use them up on every possible occasion.  There is a lovely prize on offer for the person who is lucky in the draw at the end of the fortnight.

Stitched Curve Die - from Lawn Fawn 
Robin - from a set by Craft Addiction
Remaining dies came from various sets some old, some newer
Sentiment - from a long retired Stampin' Up Christmas stamp set.

Allsorts Challenge #837

 The theme for the latest Allsorts challenge has  been chosen by Helen and we would like to see cards where the sentiment is the main feature.  Prizes this time are from Sweet Poppy - full details in the Allsorts blog post where you can also see the cards made by the Design Team members.  There is also the usual alternative theme of anything goes.

I've chosen to make another Christmas card, this time using a large die cut sentiment in red, layered onto gold card from Tonic which has a subtle sheen.  The white square was cut using a torn edge die, then embossed before being backed with matching red square.  Two robins have been die cut and coloured using alcohol pens.

Red card - Cherry Cobbler from Stampin' Up
Gold - from Tonic
Large Sentiment - from Julie Hickey
Robins - from Craft Addiction UK
Torn Edge Die - from Amazon
Embossing Folder - Falling Snow from Stampin' Up (long retired)

Snippets Challenge #519

 Time to skip along to the Snippets Playground for their latest challenge although I reckon I'll be needing raincoat and wellies on this dark and wet morning.  I have a fun card this time and everything here used bits and pieces from my Snippets collection apart from the piece of patterned paper which came from a part-used pad which I've had for some time and of course the blank card although making my own blanks leaves me with a very useful Snippet strip of card each time.  These strips came in handy for me to cut the door and door frame panels and I thought the woodgrain paper looked good as the wall.  The dogs were die cut from some white snippets, coloured using alcohol pens with pencils for shading, and the door handle from gold.  Sentiment was composed on the computer, sized to fit a rectangle stitched die.  Not the most imaginative of card designs but I thought it was fun and fits the Snippet brief 😉

Patterned Paper - a pad from The Works from some years ago
Main Die Set - unbranded
Sentiment - computer generated, die from Stampin' Up Stitched Rectangles (retired)

Allsorts Challenge #836

 The theme for the Allsorts Challenge this time has been chosen by Christine, who would like to see a selection of **Christmas Projects** or you could go with the *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes this time of stamps and dies - full details on the Allsorts post.

For my DT card this time I've used a Funky snowman which was stamped, coloured and fussy cut.  I started with a piece of patterned paper slightly smaller than the card blank, then die cut a red tattered circle and a smaller white one.  The white circle was stamped in grey using a lovely large snowflake stamp.  The sentiment was stamped over this in black and then I just popped the snowman in place.

Background - paper printed from a download from Buddly Crafts
Circles - unbranded dies from Amazon
Snowflake and Sentiment - stamps by Crafty Roo (sadly no longer trading)
Snowman - stamp from a set by Funky Fossil

Texture at Tag-along

 The theme for the Tag-along (and ATC) challenge this month is **Texture** which gives us lots of scope.  There is also the *anything goes* option as usual and another great prize for a lucky winner. 

I started by die cutting a large tag in cream card, which I then over stamped with some text; adding a bit of floral stamping at the bottom using Versamark and some Distress embossing powder which is years old but still gives a fairly rough texture when heated.  Next I used a stencil (again one I've had for many years) along with some gold glitter embossing paste.   A little stencilling was then added for extra interest.  The focal element is a die cut flower using scraps of card from my box of 'inky play' pieces and finally three strips of narrow border which also have embossed texture on them.  These were cut from the same inky card as the flower stem.  A scrap of gold textured ribbon and that's it - a tag for the challenge.

Tag - die set of various sizes from Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Background Text - Dictionary page stamp from Stampin' Up (long retired)
Floral Stamp - from a very old Stampers Anonymous set, Nature's Discovery
Gold Lettering - Classic Words stencil Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 (years old )
Flower - Wild Flower Stems #2 Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Border Strips - unbranded die set 

Agapanthus

 A floral card to share today and the layout is based on one of the ones which the lovely Jules has generously provided for us on her blog (Always With a Heart).  I started by smooshing some ink onto a piece of white card and, once dry, stamped the flowers onto it with a purple ink pad.  This panel was backed with a slightly larger piece of purple card.  There was enough of the inky card to cut out two butterflies which were sparkled with some Wink of Stella.  Two toning pieces of patterned paper were trimmed to size and added along with three narrow die cut scalloped strips.  The sentiment was die cut using the same colours.

Flowers - Agapanthus stamp by Stampendous (a gift from a generous friend)
Butterflies - dies from Memory Box
Sentiment - dies from Crafters Companion
Border strips - from an unbranded set of mixed borders 

Snippets Playground Challenge # 518

 I'm dashing over to the Snippets Playground to hand in my homework for the latest challenge. This card was made a little while ago when I'd been trying to  use up some stamped, coloured and die cut/fussy cut elements which had been left from previous projects.  These chicks had all been stamped onto snippets of white card.  I then used two of the sizes in the slatted square die set and cut them into snippets of kraft card, backed with squares of darker snippets.  The sentiment was also cut from another snippet of the same dark card.  Everything was then assembled onto a kraft card blank and that's it - my Snippets homework.  We certainly need our warm coats plus scarves and gloves when we go out to play and the paddling pool has been stored away for now - unless of course we get some seriously chilly conditions when it might be transformed into an ice rink, if that's permitted by 'elf and safety' 🤣🤣

Chicks and Sentiment - stamps and/or dies from long retired Stampin' Up sets
Slatted Squares - Craft Addiction UK

Rudolph Days October

 Time for another Rudolph Days card where we are encouraged to rise to the challenge for the last few days of each month (25th to the last day) - full details on the challenge blog.  I've chosen to use a set of poinsettia dies this time; die cut from some card which I'd coloured using Pixie pigment powders, spray starch and some clingfilm, all of which gives a lovely result.  I started with a square of seasonal paper to fit my card blank, followed by cutting a slatted circle into a piece of white card which was then cut with a slightly larger circular die with a tattered edge.  The poinsettia was assembled onto a small circle of scrap card - I used one of the greens which the leaves came from.  Doing it this way meant it was straightforward to just glue it in place on the almost completed card.  There are suitable words on the background paper so I decided no sentiment would be needed for this one.  

I'm sure Helen would love to see one of your Christmas card makes for this challenge so why not join in the fun.  Happy Rudolph Days!!

Slatted Circle Die - Craft Addiction UK
Tattered circle - unbranded die set
Poinsettia - Tim Holtz Sizzix die set Holiday Brush Strokes #3 - 666067

Allsorts Challenge #835

 The theme for the Allsorts Challenge this time is **Autumn** chosen by Brenda, or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes from Stamp Addicts and Simon Says - full details on the Allsorts blog post..  I've chosen to build up a scene using some of my Lavinia stamps starting with a 'smooshed' background before stamping the Acorn Dwelling, Branches and smaller acorns, adding in some Poppies and leaves.  Colouring was done using Distress Oxide inks with a little pencil work for shading.

Stamps - Autumn Abode, Berry Branch, Garden Poppy, Fairy Buttercup, Berry Leaves. Acorns

Not Just for Christmas

 A wreath isn't just for Christmas and I've made a floral birthday card to prove the point.  I started with a piece of white card slightly smaller than the card blank and used slatted circle dies to cut into the centre.   This was followed by cutting a wreath from some green card and various flowers in shades of blue.  Happily this circular sentiment fits nicely into the centre. A piece of patterned green paper was popped behind the slats.

Slatted circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Wreath and Flowers - dies also from CAUK
Sentiment die - from Amazon quite a while ago

Journaling Tag

 Spurred on by my recent post where I used a layered tag I had a little trawl around Amazon to see what different tag dies are around and there were in fact quite a few.  You can guess what happened next - my fingers strayed onto the 'Buy Now' button for this unbranded die set.  Making this tag wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd imagined, probably because I chose a fairly sturdy card for the base tag which is a sort of triptych but I had to do quite a bit of trimming of the pockets to enable the three layers to fold into the closed position.  It occurs to me that the die was probably designed to work with Designer paper rather than card and I did a quick trial with a few scraps and that seems to be the case.  Yes, I know I should have done the trial before the actual tag but I couldn't resist diving right in without thinking it through.

Anyway I now have another tag for the Tag-along (and ATC) challenge - my fourth one so that's it until the new theme is announced for next month.  The main tag and most of the inclusions in the pockets were made using the die set and bits and pieces of card from my snippets collection.  Stamps used were mostly from a selection of magazine freebies which I've had for a few years, along with a few 'bits' from my 'useful bits' pot.

The open tag showing the pockets (card used is very dark navy and the papers shades of blue and light grey) although it looks dark brown on my screen - sigh!

The closed tag

 

MAYJOYDIY Planner Folder Tag from Amazon
Stamps used - various magazine freebies
Gummiapan butterfly die

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Tagalong (and ATC) Challenge - also Snippets

 I'm back again with something else for the Tagalong (and ATC) challenge which has a theme of *Anything Autumn*.  I don't have much call for Halloween cards but as this falls within Autumn I thought I'd make an ATC using a stamp and die set which is several years old, and which, although being predominately for Christmas, does include a couple of Halloween elements.  I simply trimmed a snippet of cream card to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and stamped the little owl along with the words, adding a spider's web die cut (also from the same set).  Sponged the edges and added a little bit of visual texture for added interest and that's it - my single contribution towards Halloween this year..

The cream Snippet used was from the strip left over when I make my own card blanks and the web was cut from a small snippet of black card so I'm also dashing along to the Playground as well with this ATC. Hope I'm not too late for a warming cup of something to drink 😉

Stamp and die set from Stampin' Up  - Have a Hoot (long retired)

Anything Autumnal

Anything Autumnal is the theme for the current challenge for Tag-along (and ATCs) and as I found a stray leaf on my desk, left over from a couple of recent projects I thought I'd use it for a tag.  I remembered that a while ago I was gifted a couple of ready cut three-layer tags in plain white card so I smooshed them with some Distress Oxide inks in Autumn colours and over printed using some text stamps and found three in different scales so I could use the largest on the large tag and going to the smallest on the little one in the frame.  A little gilding wax was used to highlight the edges and then I adhered the die cut leaf.  A small piece of gold ribbon was stapled on to the top.

Tag - was a gift so no idea of the source of the die, sorry (see below)
Text - largest a stamp from Amazon, the other two were from different magazine gifts
Leaf - Artsy Leaves from Sizzix, Tim Holtz

Edit - I've been given the tag details which are - 

 Boundless Journal Locking Tag by Paula Pascual. MPL016. “Miss P Loves” range by Crafts-Too. 

Allsorts Challenge #834

 Time for another challenge at Allsorts and this time the theme has been chosen by Lynne who would like to see you use **Traditional Christmas Colours** or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Full details of the prizes you might win are on the Allsorts Challenge Post if you pop along to check it out and you can also see what inspiration is there from the rest of the team.

For my Design Team card I've chosen to use some die cut penguins on a background which has some circles die cut to give interest. A couple of years ago a generous blogging friend sent me some ready cut circular Christmas sentiments and I've use one of them to frame one of the penguins and added a few die cut snowflakes from my Christmas oddments box.  The design was then backed with a piece of designer paper which I'd printed from a download.

Background - paper design downloaded from Buddly Designs
Sentiment - gift from a friend some time ago
Peguins - unbranded set of dies from a couple of years ago
Circular dies - Radiating circles from Craft Addiction UK
Torn Edge Square - unbranded die from Amazon

Darling Donkeys

 I'm doing my best to use up some of the oddments in my previously mentioned 'useful pot' and these donkeys were left over from a previous project - already stamped, coloured and fussy cut but. until now, unused.  Of course I had to produce other items to be able to make them into a card and so I proceed ad infinitum 😉.  I pulled out some snippets of blue 'sky' and green 'grass' paper and trimmed them to form a background; die cut some planks to form the large fence and then added a smaller picket fence and tree for added interest.  Finally decided on a pleasing arrangement and simply added a die cut sentiment - job done!!

Donkeys - from Darling Donkeys stamp set Stampin' Up (long retired)
Large fence - die set from Craft Addiction UK
Picket Fence and tree - from an old Sizzix die set, probably no longer available
Sentiment - dies from Crafters Companion

Tag-along (and ATC) Challenge

 First day of October already, which means the start of another challenge at Tag-along (and ATC) - this time with a theme of *AUTUMN* set by Brenda.  There are some great Design Team projects and a lovely tag-themed prize.  I've had to prod my Mojo back into action and have come up with an ATC using some die cut leaves which were left over from a previous project.  I took an ATC-sized piece of cream card and lightly stencilled a swirly design over it, added a little text stamping and sponged the edges.  Next move was to die cut a tattered notebook fragment from a piece of kraft card.  Another torn edge scrap was found in my 'useful bits pot' and I managed to stamp the word using a very ancient set of individual letter stamps.  The leaves were added and I made a tiny bow from a scrap of raffia and that's it - my offering for the ATC Autumn themed challenge.  There's a whole month for you to think about making a tag or an ATC and be in with a chance of winning the prize and/or being chosen as one of the top picks

Leaves - Artsy Leaves die set from Sizzix
Torn Notebook and torn Fragment - unbranded die sets
Letter Stamps - Hampton Art Studio G (from 2008)
Background stamping - magazine freebie stamps (quite old)

Snippets Challenge #516

I'm popping over to the Snippets Playground this morning to see what's afoot and taking my homework with me.

 Everything on this card, apart from the gold layer has come from my snippets collection and of course cutting the gold square has left me with snippets for another time.  I found a cream piece large enough to cut a slightly smaller square and then also cut the slatted rectangle from another snippet along with a gold backing piece.  The poppy was cut from a snippet of red and the barley was cut from cream and coloured, using Distress Oxide ink.  The vase used up a really small snippet of dark card with a metallic finish which I'd obviously coloured at some time for another project - this was a left over snippet. The finish doesn't really show up in the picture but it is there and I managed to die cut a centre for the poppy with pretty much all that remained of that piece.  The sentiment was snipped from a sheet which I'd printed a while ago which now has several 'holes' where I've been dipping into it to use on my cards.  A scattering of gems and there it is, homework completed for another fortnight.

Slatted Rectangle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Barley and Poppy - Gummiapan dies
Vase - die from a Sizzix die set which I've had for a while
Sentiment - composed using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge #833

 The theme for this Allsorts challenge has been chosen by Sarah and she would like to see **Woodland Critters* on your card or of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  There will be two prizes of stamps from Lavinia as detailed on the Allsorts blog post. 

For my card this time I thought I would make something for my Christmas card collection and have included a couple of woodland deer, standing amongst some Christmas trees.  The aperture was die cut into a square of white card.  It does have a lamp post which I snipped off  because it wouldn't appear in a woodland scene, backed it with a piece of blue starry paper and also cut some tall trees using two shades of green.  The deer were cut from kraft card. These were three different die sets but they work well together.

Blue Background - printed from Artylicious Season's Greetings CD (many years old)
Aperture die - unbranded from a few years ago
Tall Trees and Deer - two unbranded die sets purchased last year
Sentiment - from a book of sentiment stickers (Clarity) from a few years back

Rudolph Days

 We seem to be heading for the end of September already which means that it's time for yet another Rudolph Days challenge which, throughout the year,  opens on the 25th of each month and runs to the end of the month.  My card this time features a robin, along with a shiny Christmas bauble.  I started with a square of white card into which I die cut some cut out circle detail and added the die cut robin perching on some winter greenery.  I then decided that it just needed something else so dug out a bauble die which I've had for many years and also managed to find a matching circle die so that I could cut a silver glitter background for it. The sentiment was stamped and a little bow added and that's it - my card for the current Rudolph Days challenge.  Happy Rudolph Days everyone 😊

Background Detail - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Robin - also a CAUK die - largest of a set of nine
Greenery - from a small set of seasonal dies from Crafter's Companion 
Bauble - a very old magazine gift die
Bow - die from Gummiapan

Jingle Bells

 Many people are now making their Christmas cards and now that I've started and have the Christmas stash handy I can't seem to stop making to use up some of the inevitable bits and pieces which get left over each time. I had a slatted rectangle already die cut and assembled so I trimmed a piece of seasonal backing paper to fit my card and added the rectangle; die cut some Christmas bells in silver card and added tiny red bows.  Using some scraps of red and green card I cut holly leaves and berries, finally producing the sentiment on the computer to fit a stitched rectangle die.  That's another fairly quick card for this year.

Background - Paper printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Slatted rectangle - die from Craft Addictions UK
Bells - unbranded die from last year
Tiny Bows - from a retired Stampin' Up die set (elephants)
Holly - a Joanna Sheen die set which I've had for many years
Sentiment - composed on the computer, stitched rectangle a retired SU die set

Flowers

 A floral card to share today using a pre-owned stamp acquired recently.  I stamped and coloured using Distress ink for a water colour effect. I found a suitable piece of background paper and then, aiming for a sort of vintage style I stamped some text onto a strip of paper which I then distressed using a variety of small stamps.  The main image was also distressed and one of the edges cut using a 'torn notebook' die.  Finally a scrap of another torn notebook paper and a sentiment were added.

Flowers - Aall & Create stamp
Text Strip - stamped using a Dictionary Page stamp from Stampin' Up (long retired)
Background - Designer paper from an old pad (Phill Martin)
Torn Notebook - unbranded die
Sentiment - from an ancient Tim Holtz set with matching die to cut

Birthday Birds

 There were three crazy birds loitering on my desk, left over from a project made some time ago and as they were all ready to go I decided to gather a few more bits and pieces to make them into a card.  I started by cutting a scalloped circle aperture into a square of card, then backed it with a matching piece of embossed texture for a bit of added interest.  Now for something for the birds to perch on and I remembered I had a set of dies which cuts narrow strips in various styles, so one of these strips was glued across the width of the card as a handy place for the birds to rest.  Finally I added a fairly large die cut sentiment to tone with the colour on one of the birds.

Scalloped Circle Die - a very old set from Tattered Lace
Embossing Detail - E/F from Amazon
Crazy Birds - Unbranded stamps and dies
Birthday Sentiment and Patterned Strip - Unbranded dies

Birthday Frog

 This birthday frog is hopping along to the Playground for the current Snippets Challenge.  Apart from the card blank and the slightly smaller white square everything else here came from my never-decreasing Snippets collection.  The frog and lily pad were stamped onto white snippets and coloured using alcohol pens with a little pencil work for shading.  The backing circles were die cut from white and yellow snippets; the bullrushes from more white snippets (coloured with alcohol pens) and the little tag labels cut from even smaller white snippets.  Why not delve into your own snippets collections - you must have some surely - and make a card for this challenge. There's a great prize for the lucky winner.

Frog and Lilypad - unbranded set of stamps with dies
Bullrushes - from a retired Stampin' Up die set
Slatted Circle and Labels - dies from Craft Addiction UK

Christmas Friends

The cute reindeer I used recently on a card has a new friend so I couldn't resist combining them for yet another Christmas card.  Both images are pre-coloured digi stamps, resized  and then fussy cut so that I could use them together.  Once the fussy cutting was done this was a fairly quick and easy card.

 Background paper - download from Buddly Crafts
Friends - downloads from Craft Addiction UK, designed and drawn by Louise Dunne

Allsorts Challenge #832

 It's my turn to chose the theme for the current Allsorts Challenge and as we head into Autumn I thought that **Leaves/Trees* would be an appropriate choice along with the usual *Anything Goes* option.  There is an assortment of prizes from the Allsorts prize box for the lucky winners.

For my DT card I've used some fun leaf dies cut from card which I'd coloured using some Pixie Powders and a few scraps of gold card.  The completed leaves were adhered to some slatted rectangle die cuts using cream card backed by rectangles of the coloured red card.  These were, in turn, mounted onto a square of cream card embossed using a leaf vein pattern.  Final addition was a computer sentiment.

Slatted rectangles - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Embossing Folder - Leaf vein pattern, I think from Crafter's Companion (no name on folder)
Sentiment - produced using MS Word
Leaves - Artsy Leaves Tim Holtz for Sizzix

Prize this time

Christmas Cards

 Getting reacquainted with my Christmas crafty stash has seen me making a few seasonal cards.  Each year as Christmas makes start to appear online there are always new items to add to the stash and although I do try not to add too much, there's always something or other which tempts me.  I was drawn to a couple of digi stamps which became available recently and for this card I've used a cute reindeer image which came as a pre-coloured version and an outline image as well.  I resized the outline image and coloured it using alcohol pens with the addition of a little coloured pencil work for shading.  Some snowflake and other papers were used and I simply added a small sentiment and a die cut snowflake from my useful oddments pot.  Together with some cards left over from last year and the ones I've been making, the collection is growing nicely.

Digi Image - from Craft Addiction UK, designed and drawn by Louise Dunne
Colouring - Copic pens and Coloursoft pencils
Snowflake Paper - printed from a Buddly Crafts download collection
Other Papers - from my Snippets collection
Sentiment - from a printed sheet which I've had for many years, source forgotten
White snowflake - die from Crafter's Companion (quite a few years old) 

More Wings

 I have another tag to share on the theme of 'Things with Wings' for the challenge at Tag-along (and ATCs)

This is a larger tag using some die cuts which were already made and in my 'useful pot'.  I cut a piece of light blue card to fit the tag and stamped a beehive scene in sepia, sponging the edges to match.  I then added the pot of honey, honeycomb and bees..  The words were from the stamp set with the beehive. The final touch was a toning piece of ribbon for the top of the tag.

Beehive Scene - from an  Chocolate Baroque stamp set from many years ago

Die Cuts - all from a Craft Addiction UK set
Tag - set of tag dies from Sizzix in several sizes (largest used)

Small Gift Tag

I've made a quick and easy small gift tag for the latest challenge on the Tag-along (and ATC) blog. The theme this time is 'Things with Wings' and I've mostly used bits and pieces which were on my desk in a container where I keep oddments ready to use.  I started by die cutting a small tag from a scrap of white card and then added a Christmas tree and snowflake along with a fussy cut digital image which came ready coloured so this was indeed a very quick project.  The little duck is dressed in his Santa hat, ready for the festivities

Tag - unbranded die
Tree - left over from last Christmas (one of my many tree dies)
Duck - Digital download from Craft Addiction UK, drawn by Louise Dunne

Another Christmas Card

 Having started to look at some of my seasonal stash I've made another Christmas card to add to my collection.  This time I've used a fancy circular background die along with a Santa die which I remember buying last year and I know he was only used once so I thought it was time he had a second airing.  A bit fiddly to put together but I do like him.  I feel that the Ho-Ho-Ho would have been better with a shadow backing (which this die doesn't have) but I think another time I will try to cut a suitable one.  Once the Santa was assembled this was quite a quick card to put together.

 Circle Background - die set from Craft Addiction UK
 Ho-Ho-Ho - unbranded die
Santa - also unbranded

Snippets Challenge # 514

 Time to pop along to the Snippets Playground to hand in my homework for the latest challenge and to see what refreshments are available - hopefully something warming because the temperatures have dropped somewhat now we are getting some much needed rain.

I decided to make a Christmas card this time and as well as using up some snippets I'm also using items from my stash rather than purchasing a die which has been tempting me for a while - one which cuts the word 'JOY' all in one piece.  With this in mind I remembered that several years ago I'd bought a set of quite large alphabet dies and, to my shame, they've not been out of their hiding place for such a long time so out they came and this card is the result.  Everything used here, apart from the card blank and the blue square, was made from snippets.  I started with the white snippet which remained after making my card blank and stamped, coloured and die cut the gnomes.  I also die cut a few snowflakes.  The white background was trimmed from a larger snippet and embossed with a falling snow embossing folder.  Finally I die cut the three letters from a snippet of blue pearlised card. Quite a bit of work involved here but I'm pleased with the result and pleased with myself for resisting yet another crafty purchase ☺️

Embossing Folder - Falling Snow from Stampin' Up (long retired)
Gnomes - Friendly Gnomes from Stampin' Up (retired)
Alphabet - Unbranded dies from probably around 8 or 9 years back
Snowflakes - dies from Crafter's Companion (also years old)

Allsorts Challenge # 831

 Time for a new Allsorts challenge and this time the theme, chosen by Donna, is **Birthdays** or of course the usual *Anything Goes* option.  I would think that birthday cards are the ones we make the most so why not share some of your makes to be in the running for the prizes this time.  Full details on the Allsorts blog post as usual.

For my Design Team card this time I've chosen to make a masculine card - often said to be the most difficult to make.  I used a downloaded image and combined it with a selection of toning papers from my stash and a simple sentiment.  It's just occurred to me that the camera might need some explanation for a younger recipient who has probably only encountered photos being taken using a mobile phone 🤣🤣

Image - Lili of the Valley downloaded printable image
Papers - Toning selection from my stash, trimmed to fit a 5" x 7" card
Sentiment - produced using Microsoft Word

Rudolph Days

 It's time to visit the Rudolph Days challenge for the month of August and there are a few days left to the end of the month.  I have a stamped card to share this time, making one more to add to my growing pile of Seasonal cards.  I started by smooshing a square of white card through some Distress Oxide ink and stamped a couple of small snowflake stamps before adding the much larger one in the bottom corner.  All of the details of the large snowflake were coloured using some twinkly watercolour colour paint.  Final addition was the sentiment which was part of the stamp set. This is a 15cm card..

Happy Rudolph Days everyone☺️

Snowflake Stamp Set - from Crafty Roo (sadly no longer trading)
Shimmer paint - Set purchased from The Works many years ago  and still going strong
Stamping - used Versafine Clair Twilight
Smooshing - Distress Oxide Faded Jeans

Ship in a Bottle

 A stamped card to share with you today.  I started with a sticker stencil and added ink to form the bottle, then stamped and masked the boat before adding the little passenger. Some grasses were stamped to give a little background interest.  Image was coloured using pencils.  Final addition was a little tag which was die cut.

Stamps - Lavinia
Sticker stencil - also Lavinia
Tag - from Craft Addiction UK
Colouring - Polychromos pencils
Inking - Elements inks and Versafine Clair Nocturne

Snippets Playground Challenge #513

 Time to pop over to the Playground with my homework for the current challenge.  This card was made a while ago so apologies that there is no picture of the snippets this time. This card was made for my DIL who loves anything elephant related and I do try to find something different for her card each time her birthday comes around. Everything was made using snippets except the green layer and card blank.  I started by cutting the slatted die into a snippet of white card and backed it with the green.  The elephants, mouse and balloon were stamped and coloured using alcohol pens before die cutting. The sentiment was stamped and die cut from another snippet.  BTW, she loved the card 😊

Slatted Die - Unbranded one which I've had for quite a long time
Elephants, mouse and Balloon - Stampin' Up (retired) Elephant Parade
Sentiment - from Stampin' Up set (retired) Art Gallery

Birds and Bees for Allsorts

 The theme for  Allsorts challenge #830, chosen by Ellie, is ** I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B** or, as usual, there is the *anything goes option*.  There are two prizes of coordinating stamps and dies - more details can be found on the Allsorts Blog.  Time to get thinking of what you can make to be in with a chance.

For my DT card this time I actually ended up with two , both of which match  the theme - one with Birds and another with bees.  For the bird card I made my version of a tutorial from Sharon Goold which took my fancy and I was quite pleased with the result. although I can't claim credit for the design. It is more or less self explanatory but I added some detail within the moon using part of an ink blot stencil

Stamps - all  Lavinia
Stencil - ink blots by Marianne Designs
Sentiment - produced using MS Word
Background - Distress and Elements ink pads
Wire - hand drawn using black fine liner pen

For my second card I turned to die cutting and made this 'Bee Happy' card using some slatted hexagon dies and some of the dies from a honey bee set.  The background paper was from my stash and the sentiment was a stamp which was part of a magazine give-away from several years ago.

Background - printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Sentiment - stamp, part of a magazine gift from several years back
Dies - Slatted Hexagons from Craft Addiction UK
Bee Dies - Honey Bee die set also from Craft Addiction UK

Travelling Alarm Clock

I've made another tag for the current Tag-along (and ATCs) Challenge where the theme is **Travel**. I've die cut a fairly large tag which was then smooshed with Distress Oxide inks and over-stamped using stamps from a couple of sets which I've had in my stash since probably somewhere around the early2010's.  The Steampunk 'alarm clock' was stamped and embossed, fussy cut and coloured using pencils with some gold paint on the face, bells and key.  The stamped words came from the same set of stamps.

Tag - Largest one from set by Tim Holtz, Sizzix
Clock and Words - Steampunkery stamp set Chocolate Baroque Glenda Waterworth Design
Background stamping - Punky Romance stamps Chocolate Baroque Glenda Waterworth Design
Colouring - Inktense pencils and Kuretake gold glimmer paint
Distress Oxide inks in various shades of cream and brown

Dancing Mice

 I've been playing with more of my Lavinia stamps - such fun and I often don't know exactly what I'm going to end up with.  I started by stamping the pile of books slightly to the left of my square mat because I wanted to add the sentiment towards the right hand side.  I covered the books with masking fluid and once dry I put the circular sticker mask aperture in place so that I could add some colour for the background and also stamp the mice, bells and foliage.  Once I was happy with the result I removed the mask, and also the masking fluid from the books which I then coloured using Inktense pencils and some gold pen to decorate the spines.  Final thing was to stamp the sentiment 

Stamps - Lavinia designs
Sentiment - Wiry Words from Creative Designs (a very old set)

Butterflies

 I have a butterfly card to share with you today and I've used some slatted rectangle dies along with three different sizes of butterfly..  I had a session recently when I coloured a few A4 sheets of card using different mixtures of my Pixie powders with some spray starch, followed by covering the area with scrunched cling film and leaving it to dry naturally.  The leaving to dry bit was the hardest for me because I'm always impatient to see how the colours have turned out 🤣. I used all three of the slatted rectangle dies to cut into a piece of white card and then backed the whole thing with a slightly larger piece of Designer parchment paper which toned nicely with the butterflies which I'd cut from one of my Pixie powder  backgrounds, adding some gilding wax.  The sentiment was cut from white card and gilded also. 

Parchment paper - from Clarity stamps Indian Summer designer collection
Slatted and Butterfly dies - from Craft Addictions UK
Sentiment - from a long retired Stampin' Up set (Hey Chick)

Snippets Challenge #512

 Quite a lot of different snippets used on this card, albeit mostly quite small and I did remember to save most of them for a picture so I'm popping over to the Playground to see what's still available in the breakfast club and to show my card.

I started by cutting the candles in white card and it's handy that there is one plain one which can be used to back the more detailed ones.  I decided to colour the flames all in yellow and each patterned candle in a different colour using alcohol pens.  I then rummaged amongst my coloured snippets to find pieces to use for cutting more plain ones so that each candle could be layered up with a toning backing.  I couldn't really face popping all the tiny coloured 'waste' back into the spaces although I did rescue the very tiny snippets which I coloured orange and popped into the flames 😉.  I then found slightly larger snippets of white and purple on which to mount the candles, adding a birthday sentiment which was also cut from snippets.  I made my own card blank which left me with a strip of white card to add to my snippet mountain.  I have to say I'm slightly puzzled by what appears to be a puff of smoke or something similar with this die set - no idea really what that would be used for here.

These are some of my snippets, enough probably for another set of candles ☺️so they won't be thrown out.

Candle Dies - from Amazon unbranded
Rectangle - dies from a set by John Next Door which I've had for some time
Sentiment - dies from Crafters Companion

Travel

I'm back again, this time with a tag for the current Tag-Along (and ATCs) Challenge.  I've been a bit stuck with the theme which is *Travel* so I've been casting my mind back over stamps which I've had for many years to see if there was anything which would be suitable.  One or two possibilities turned out to be far too large to fit nicely onto a tag and in fact the one I've used here is a bit on the large side so I've ended up cutting the tag 'by hand' using a guillotine and punching out a hole for the ribbon.  I started by smooshing some ink onto the blank tag, then stamping and masking the hot air balloon before doing some random stamping as a background.  Once this was done I carefully removed the masking fluid and coloured the image using pencils.  This fun set of stamps includes several steampunk style images and a selection of suitable 'travel' words, some of which I stamped and cut out with scissors to adhere to the tag..  I know I've had these stamps for a long time, there is no date on the packaging but I've worked out that I think they probably date back some twelve years or so.

It may be that you have stamps or dies which suit the theme (or there is the anything goes option) so why not have a go at either a tag or an ATC (or both) - the challenge lasts until the end of the month. 

Balloon - from Steampunkery stamp set designed by Glenda Waterworth, Chocolate Baroque
Background Stamps - various magazine freebie stamp sets
Colouring - Derwent Inktense pencils and water brush

Allsorts Challenge #829

The theme for Allsorts Challenge #829 has been chosen by Helen who would like to see something featuring **Animals** or as usual there is the *Anything Goes* option.  There will be two prizes of Lavinia stamps, full details on the Allsorts blog. 

For my card this time I've chosen to use Lavinia stamps, a mix of old and new to build up this scene. I started by stamping the fairy pathway and the teapot which I then masked before sponging some inks for background colour..  At this point I stamped the hare, birds and the foliage, followed by more ink sponging to ground the scene and frame the whole design.  Finally the masking was carefully removed from the teapot which was coloured using pencils.

Stamping - all by Lavinia
Colouring - Inktense pencils and water brush
Inks - Versafine Clair, Elements and Distress

Tag-along (and ATCs)

 The theme for the month of August on the Tag-along (and ATCs) blog is **Travel** and no doubt many people are doing just that.  However it was a wonderful excuse for me to bring out a die which I just couldn't resist at the time but hasn't actually been used for quite a long time.  The two happy bunnies are certainly on their travels and I stamped a little scene on this ATC using a long-retired set of stamps (well a couple of them).  I also added some flying birds and a couple perched in the tree.  Final addition was a 'sticker' which I produced on the computer to suit the image.  Making my own so called 'stickers' means that I can choose whatever word or words which I feel are appropriate

Bunnies - unbranded die from a few years ago
Roadway and Tree - from Stampin' Up Sheltering Tree stamp set (long retired)
Birds - stamps from Card-I-o
'Sticker' - produced using MS Word

Chess

 I needed a card for my brother's birthday recently and came up with this design because the dies reminded me of an occasion many, many years ago when we were both still living at home.  He had decided to take up chess but absolutely refused to teach me how to play because with my quirky sense of humour I called the pawns 'prawns' which I'm afraid annoyed rather than amused him .  Funny how odd incidents from so long ago sometimes pop into my head - anyway he did like the card even though he didn't really stick with the chess.  In case you can't read it, the quote says 'when you see a good move, look for a better one'  and this was printed directly onto a piece of card using the computer.

 Chequerboard die - unbranded from Amazon
Chess pieces - also from Amazon
Quote - printed using MS Word, as was the birthday greeting

Eau de Parfum

A little while back I was lucky enough to win some great stamps and a stencil  from The Snippets Playground challenge and I made this card although at the moment it is awaiting a sentiment.  I started by stamping the clock stamp onto a square of white card using a light coloured ink and I also added some stencilling down the left hand side and in the bottom right corner; finally popping the two little hares into the left corner.  The perfume bottle and flowers were stamped onto a smaller piece of card and coloured using Inktense pencils.  Both of the pieces were then mounted onto some  grey card to tone with the stamping and stencilling. A shine was added to the bottle using Glossy Accents..  I will probably add a sentiment when I know who is to receive this card.  I can see lots of possibilities for these stamps, particularly the clock set so a happy dance here for my lucky win.

Stamps all from Aall & Create 
Stencil - also A & C

Rudolph Days Already??

Can it really be time for the Rudolph Days challenge and I guess the answer is yes so here is my card which was inspired by seeing one fairly recently from the lovely Di of Snippets Playground fame who does a great job of enabling other crafters to acquire new stash 🤣.  This little deer was so cute I just couldn't resist.  I also had inspiration here from Susan Hardy for  a way of using the circle die for a quick card.  I die cut the circle into a piece of white card and then used a smaller plain circle to cut out the aperture which I backed with a snippet of printed paper from my Christmas collection.  I then die cut the deer and a couple of tiny Christmas trees.  The nose on the deer was brushed with Wink of Stella for a bit of shine and a simple sentiment was added to what was a quick and easy card for the Rudolph challenge this time.  Happy Rudolph Days everyone ☺️

Circle die - Craft Addiction UK
Deer - die from Amazon
Trees - from a long retired Stampin' Up Christmas set
Snippet of Paper - printed from Craftylicious Season's Greetings CD from many years ago