Allsorts Challenge #854

 It's my turn to choose a theme for the Allsorts Challenge and I thought that **At the Seaside** would be appropriate and of course, if you don't fancy that, then there's always the *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes this time are from Stamp Addicts - full details on the Allsorts blog post..  For my DT card I've pulled out a long retired set from Stampin' Up and also dies from my stash along with some  white cut wooden posts which were sent to me a couple of years ago by a kind friend. 

I started with a white card blank and cut a stitched frame slightly smaller to fit.  This was backed using a piece of suitable paper from my oddments box.  The tall grasses were stamped onto this layer, as were the birds and the sentiment. I then coloured the wooden posts using Distress inks; die cut and coloured the seagulls and the light fence  before assembling the scene.

Frame - die from Craft Addiction UK
Wooden Posts and Seagulls - dies from Gummiapan
Fence - die from a long retired Stampin' Up set Ocean Front
Grasses - unbranded stamps from Amazon
Birds - stamp from a Card-Io set
Sentiment - from a long retired SU stamp set New Horizons

Stencil Fun

 I recently spotted that there was a stamp and stencil cover gift on an issue of Creative Stamping and decided that I should treat myself.  I do my grocery shopping online these days and so don't get to see the latest magazines sitting on the shelves to tempt me but I'm so pleased that I spotted this one was around.  I duly ordered it online and I can see I'm going to have lots of fun using this great gift set.  I started with this design which is similar to one of the ones within the magazine and it's far from perfect but, hey, it's hand crafted 🤣🤣.  The suggestion was to leave the 'squares' stencil in place to stamp the images but I found this just didn't work for me which was frustrating but I persevered and set about masking off each section with Post-it notes before stamping each one separately.  I very nearly gave up the whole idea because to be honest it was far too hot in my craft room to be fiddling about with this. I certainly needed a lie down in a darkened room to recover before eventually assembling it into a finished card.  There are already other ideas going around in my head and you will be seeing more cards using this super set of stamps and stencils in due course.  It's boring going on about the weather but it really is too hot to be tinkering about with masks, ink and stamps - sorry 🥵

Stamps and Stencils - cover gift from Creative Stamping #162
Sentiment - from Art Gallery Stampin' Up set (long retired)
Background - printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Wavy Edge square die - unbranded set from Amazon

Snippets Challenge # 536

 Time to hand in my homework for another Snippets Playground challenge and this time I have a masculine birthday card to share.  This card started with an A4 piece of cream card and a purchased  6" kraft card blank  I pulled out a selection of random stamps, mainly from magazine gift collections which I've gathered over the years.  I just kept stamping them here and there until I'd filled the entire sheet to my satisfaction and then smooshed a bit of Distress ink around.  Once happy with the result, I cut a panel to fit onto the card blank, which of course has left me with a fair sized Snippet to keep for future projects.  Now it was time to make a start on building up a design for the card using up some of my actual Snippets of card and remnants of pieces from a large script paper pad which I've had for many years and I still treasure every last scrap.

actual Snippets used were the strip behind the die cut man, a piece for the man. the two tiny 'flags' and also a strip for the horizontal layer which was backed with a snippet of kraft card..  This was a card I really enjoyed making and I will probably repeat the technique of using some of my vast collection of suitable stamps to make more backgrounds.  Of course I still have a good supply of suitable snippets to use to build up more card designs 😉. 

.Background - selection of random stamps, mainly from past magazine gift collections
Text Snippets - from an ancient Prima scrips paper pad
Silhouette Man - unbranded die
Little 'flags' - punch from Stampin' Up (long retired)

Colours

 The theme for the latest Tag-along and ATC challenge is **your favourite colour** which I have to admit is a bit of a difficult one for me because there are so many lovely colours all around us that I find it difficult to settle on one which I'd prefer above all others.  I think a lot depends on the occasion or situation but one colour which I always think of as being cheerful and happy is perhaps a nice sunny yellow so that's what I've chosen as the background for this ATC.  The small card was trimmed from a snippet which was in my box of inky play backgrounds and I've simply added a couple of die cuts to make this, adding a small label which I produced on the computer.  Just a bit of fun really but I guess it fits the theme.

Frame - an unbranded die from a set of three in different sizes
Cat - die from a 'mixed bag' of random unbranded dies which I purchased a couple of years back
Label - produced using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge # 853

 The theme for the Allsorts challenge this time is **Stencil/s** chosen by Donna and of course there's the usual *anything goes* option.  There will be stencils featuring as prizes too and you can read full details on the Allsorts blog post.  For my DT card I've used a stencil of multiple circles to produce a Bokeh effect background and, not wanting to cover too much of it, I cut a frame and a simple sentiment, finally adding a small layered butterfly which was hanging around in my pot of 'useful bits' and happened to be the right colour.  The design was then matted onto two more toning layers.

Square Frame - die from Craft Addiction UK
Deckle Edge Dies - unbranded set from Amazon
Scalloped Die - from a Tonic set which I've had for many years
Butterfly - I think came from a Stampin' Up tutorial kit, again from a few years back
Bokeh - You Tube video by Susan Hardy, fairly recent
Sentiment - unbranded dies

Postage Theme

 I've had a play with my postage style die and this is the result using a selection of small stamps which I've had for a very long time.  I decided to go down the monochrome route here which I feel suits the images..

Postage die - unbranded from Amazon - I think (had it a while)
Stamps - from Chocolate Baroque designed by Glenda Waterworth 
Birthday Sentiment - from a recent Craft Addiction UK stamp set

Rudolph Days June 26

 Here we are at the Rudolph Days challenge and it's definitely flaming June with extremely high temperatures.  Never mind here's my Christmas card which might put you into a cooler frame of mind.  I've used a digital image which I resized so that I could group them together to look as if Daddy Rudolph has two younger family members to help him in his work.  I die cut a decorative window frame offset into the piece of white card and then popped the image into the frame.  The simple addition of a die cut tree and stamped sentiment complete the composition.  Happy Rudolph Days everyone - shame we can't go outside and roll in the snow 🤣🤣

Image - digital download from Craft Addiction UK (several variations in the set)
Frame Die - also from CAUK
Tree - unbranded die
Sentiment - from a long retired Stampin. Up set
Deckle Square - unbranded die from Amazon
Background - piece of seasonal paper from my oddments stash

Snippets Playground Challenge # 535

 I think I may be first through the Playground gates this morning because I just couldn't wait to try a new slant on an old technique.  Miss Di had spotted this 'game changer' way of making Eclipse style cards and showed us a wonderful example, also sharing links to a video.  This looked so interesting that I just had  to give it a try and this is my version using circles instead of narrow strips of 'Snippet' card.  The cream background is a fairly large snippet and of course the nine circles needed were also cut from my cream snippets.  A quite large stamp has been used, for the first time as it happens, because I was somewhat taken aback at just how large the stamps were in this set so they've not really been used as often as intended so it was great to have an opportunity to make use of this one.  There's a slight change in the way things happen the Snippets challenge as regards prizes - read all about it and catch up with news of Dudley's exploits as usual - always my first port of call on a Sunday morning 😉.

Coffee Time Stamp - Aall & Create # 642 which I've had for quite a while
Sentiment - computer generated

Tag-along

 Well, two posts in one day because I have another tag to share with the Tag-along and ATC challenge where the theme this time is to incorporate text within the project.  I started by cutting the tag from a very old paper pad which has a selection of black and white text pages - quite thin paper so I glued it onto a matching white tag before then cutting another one using red card.  This red one was offset slightly to give the appearance of a swinging tag.  A small black sentiment outline die was used, folded in half and glued to the top pf the tag rather than threading a ribbon through.  The birds on the  branch and also the ones on the wire were die cut from black card and glued in place.  A few small 'splodge' stamps were used on the background for added interest.  I think this one might well end up being used as a card topper, probably for a masculine card.

Tag Die - an unbranded one from Amazon
White Tag -  text paper pad by Papermania from many years ago
Bird dies - also unbranded ones which I've had for some time

Allsorts Challenge #852

 The theme for the Allsorts challenge this time has been chosen by Ellie and it is **Blooms and/or Bees** with of course the *anything goes* option.  Prize this time is from Buddly Crafts and you can see more details on the Allsorts post..  

I was reminded recently of an idea using circles so decided to re-visit the technique for my card this time.  I'm not sure if it has an actual title but I think of it as 'swirly circles'.  Circles in three colours and of different sizes are required and they are cut in half and laid out to form this design.  I then die cut and coloured some flowers and a couple of bees, adding a sentiment and that's my card finished.  

Flowers and Bees - die sets from Craft Addiction UK
Circles - cut from some pieces of  long retired Stampin Up design papers

Ruffles at Home

 I have a cute dog card to share today - just couldn't resist the latest set of stamps designed by Louise Dunne.  I had to build him a kennel though, using a bit of ingenuity and dies from various sets in my stash. No doubt I could have purchased a kennel die set but before going in search of one I stopped to cast my mind through dies which I already have to see if I could come up with any ideas.  I stamped, coloured and die cut Ruffles, masking off the party hat he was wearing.  I then did the same with the bones, dog bowl and paw prints, finally die cutting some grasses and the various bits and pieces to build the kennel.

Ruffles - from Ruffles and Crumpet stamp/die set Craft Addiction UK
Bones, paw prints and dog bowl - from above set
DIY kennel using dies from various sets in my collection
Grass - die from a long retired Stampin' Up set
Background - cut out circle die from CAUK
Sentiment Stamp also CAUK

Using Things Up

 I had three die cuts left over from the set used on my previous card and decided to incorporate them into another card right away rather than let them lie around unused.  I die cut a stitched frame, an owl in flight and a backing piece to fit within the frame.  This was smooshed with  Chipped Sapphire Distress ink to give the appearance of a night sky. The tree, fence and crescent moon were coloured using Distress inks and a water brush - Wink of Stella was added to the moon.  The owl die cut was layered up to give it some perspective (coloured using alcohol pens).  Once the framed scene was complete it was backed with a piece of green card and a sentiment was added.  This design was inspired by a recent You Tube video from Chris Stokes

Tree, fence and moon - part of die cut set using Aall & Create Roadway Vistas #78
Owl - die from owl set by Craft Addiction UK (mixture of sizes and designs)
Frame - dies also from CAUK
Sentiment - wiry words, a very old stamp set from Creative Design

Happy Mail

 A lovely friend sent me some happy mail recently which included a wonderful die cut frame set.  Of course I couldn't wait to have a play with them and built up a little scene with yet another perch for our favourite bunny.  I did a bit of smooshing on the white background piece and coloured the tree and fence which had been cut using white card.  I then die cut bunny and a couple of tiny flowers, adding a stamped sentiment.  A big thank you to my friend, ( you know who you are) - making this certainly made me smile 😊😊

Frame, tree and fence - Aall & Create die set #78 Roadway Vistas
Bunny - my unbranded favourite bunny
Flowers - dies from Gummiapan

Two Challenges

 This is a very small item for two challenges - an AT Coin featuring text and made using Snippets.  I'm taking it along to the Tag-along and ATC challenge and also, because it has used no less than three Snippets, I'm calling in at the Playground on the way.  

For anyone who doesn't know, an Artist Trading Coin is a small piece of Art a whole 2.5 inches across and they are usually swapped with others who make and collect them.  I'm sure you probably know that the Snippets Playground is where we share any pieces of work which have been made using at least one Snippet (usually small scraps left over from other projects and which we just can't bear to throw in the bin) 😉.

I cut the circle from a white Snippet, added some text in the background, followed by a bit of stencil work.  I then stamped and fussy cut a flower which I over stamped with smaller text, adding a tiny label.  That's it - a teeny weeny project for the Tag-along theme of 'add some text' which was also made entirely from Snippets where the theme is always 'use Snippets'.

Stencil - from my stash, not marked with a name
Flower - from Floral stamp set by Craft Addiction UK
Text on Flower - long retired Stampin' Up stamp from French Foliage
Background text - very old ATC stamp set from Chocolate Baroque (Artylicious)

Allsorts Challenge #851

 The theme for the latest Allsorts Challenge is **Anything Goes in the Garden** with prizes coming from Oakwood.  Full details can be seen on the Allsorts post.  For my DT card this time I decided to make a tag for a change and I started by adding texture paste through a stencil over part of the space and, once dry, I added some watered down ink to add a bit of colour. The tag itself was cut from a piece of printed kraft card from a pad I've had for a long time. I then rooted about amongst my oddments and pulled out a scrap of torn paper and a few random die cuts which I arranged to make up a pleasing composition.

Tag - kraft card from a Tim Holtz pad
Leafy dies - from a Tim Holtz die set
Bow - die from Gummiapan
Bird and Film Strip - unbranded dies
No name on the stencil

Add Text

 There's a new theme this month for the latest Tag-along and ATC challenge and they would like to see us add text in some form to our projects.  It can be a simple sentiment or maybe some text used as an element of a background - lots of scope.  A lovely prize at the end of the month as well and you can enter up to four times.  My first entry is an ATC for which I trimmed a piece of inky background to size and then over stamped with some text and a few splodges.  I then die cut the 'Hello' word and the cat.  The title label was prepared on the computer and trimmed with scissors.

Background Text and Splodges - very old stamps from Stampin' Up French Foliage set
Cat - designed by Tim Holtz
Hello - die which came free with a magazine some time ago
Inky Background from my stash of odd bits and pieces
Label - composed using MS Word

Hello Bunny

 I often try to come up with ideas of places where everyone's favourite bunny might sit and thought this scenario might be a bit of a change for him ☺️.  Everything on this card has come from my oddments box and the dies used are all unbranded.  Once I had the idea it was a quick card to make for a bit of fun.

Party Bears

 I've used a digital download image for this card and opted for the pre-coloured version although it also comes uncoloured as well.  I found a nice toning piece of patterned paper and a strip of embossed card which has been lying around for ages just waiting for the right card..  Some little tags were added for the sentiment and to give extra interest.

Image - Downloaded from Craft Addiction UK, designed by Louise Dunne
Tags - also from CAUK
Everything else from my stash of bits and pieces (AKA Snippets)

Snippets Challenge # 533

 I'm heading off to visit the Playground in the hopes that the paddling pool has been refilled with cool water.  It's certainly turned into a scorcher this week and strange to realise that only just over a week ago I was still wearing a woolly jumper as an extra top layer to keep me warm indoors.  Anyway Sarn has started off another Snippets challenge with a fabulous prize so I will take my homework along as well to hand in. 

 Apart from a 5" x 7" card blank, everything on this card was selected from my Snippets 'mountain'.  I pulled out a left over white layer, slightly smaller than the card and this was stencilled in a stone wall pattern.  I then die cut the two slatted arched windows using smaller white snippets and backed them with blue snippets.  A snippet strip of blue was die cut using a wood-grain panel to act as a long kind of window box.  Furball, the rabbit was snipped out of a sheet which I'd printed for a previous project and hadn't used them all.  The image was water-coloured and fussy cut so that he could sit on the ledge between the two windows.  The flowers were die cut from really small white snippets, as was the embossed sentiment. The  tiny butterflies were die cut from the remnants of the blue card and have been painted with Wink of Stella.  There you have it - my Snippets scene for the current challenge. 

Slatted Dies - Arched dies from Craft Addiction UK
Window Ledge - from Fence Post die set also CAUK
Furball - digital download design by Louise Dunne again also CAUK
Sentiment - again CAUK die from Birthday Tags set
Flowers and Butterflies - dies from Gummiapan
Stencil - unbranded

Rudolph Days May

 It seems a bit odd to be posting a Christmas card on what is probably the hottest day so far this year but we are into the Rudolph Days Challenge for May.  This is an opportunity to make and share Christmas cards and of course it helps to build up a stock of cards through the year in an effort to avoid a last minute scramble in December.  For this one I've used a cute duck in a Santa hat - it's a digital image which I've printed and fussy cut, popping him onto a slatted circle with a circular die cut sentiment.  Some very old scalloped circle dies were brought of retirement to add interest.  Happy Rudolph Days everyone!! 

Duck - digital download from Craft Addiction UK, designed by Louise Dunne
Slatted Circle - die from CAUK
Sentiment - unbranded die
Scalloped Circles - very old Spellbinders dies
Background - printed using a download from Buddly Crafts
Square dies - very old set from Tonic 

Allsorts Challenge #850

There's a special event over at the Allsorts Challenge blog where they are celebrating their 17th birthday with extra prizes and and until the end of the month Aall & Create are offering a 15% discount on purchases. What's not to like??   Full details can be seen on the Allsorts blog post..  The theme is *anything goes* and for my Design Team card I thought that a birthday card would seem to be appropriate. I've made a CAS card with a fairly prominent birthday sentiment.  A slatted rectangle die was used to cut into a white square and A strip of colour was added behind it to tone with the 'inky play' card from which the leaves and sentiment shadow were cut.  The leaf veins and words were die cut from some scraps of card coloured gold with gilding flakes.

W'e'd love to see what you make to help us celebrate this special birthday event.

Slatted Rectangle - die from Craft Addiction UK
Leaves - Artsy Leaves die, Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Birthday - unbranded dies from Amazon

Get Well Bouquet

 Some 9 or 10 years ago an embossing folder which was a magazine gift went viral and was followed by more in the same style. I've used one of them as a backdrop to a bouquet made using some lovely floral stamps and dies. Once the flowers were stamped, coloured and die cut it was a quick card to make and I decided to make it a 'Get Well' card using a sentiment from a favourite magazine gift of sentiment stamps which I've had, and been using, for many years.

Embossing Folder - from series by Apple Blossom but possibly no longer available Flowers - Designed by Susan Hardy available from Craft Addiction UK Sentiment - from a magazine gift set from many years ago Sentiment Label - from a die set by Creative Expressions Greek Island Collection

Another DIY Lattice Card

 I've still held off buying any of the latest lattice dies and  I've used a different, and very ancient, die from my stash.  This time it's framed by a circle and I've added butterflies and a stamped and die cut sentiment.  I seem to recall that this particular lattice die and its matching embossing folder (which I never managed to get hold of) were both extremely popular when they appeared and crafters were almost 'queueing around the black' to acquire one or both of these items.

Circle Die - from Noble Pierced Circles set Creative Expressions
Lattice - Cover Plate die  Tied Together from Couture Creations
Sentiment - from Craft Addiction UK flower stamps/dies by Susan Hardy
Butterflies - also from CAUK 

Paper Piecing

 I was having a sort out of some of my snippets of patterned papers, wondering if I should discard some of the smaller pieces but I just couldn't bring myself to put them into the recycling box.  Instead I've used a couple of them to make this card using a stamp which I've had for some time although I have to confess it's not been used recently.  I stamped it onto a die cut square of white card and again onto the two pieces of patterned paper so that I could neatly fussy cut the two dogs.  For a bit of added interest I did some over stamping onto the background before sticking them into place, where according to the packaging they are 'waiting for their next adventure'.  A fun card which I enjoyed putting together and making good use of some scraps.

Stamp - from Crafty Individuals, sadly no longer trading
Background Stamping - Selection of stamps from magazine giveaways
Sentiment - Tiny tag from Craft Addiction UK set

Snippets Playground Challenge #532

 I'm off to visit the Snippets Playground to see what's afoot - not quite warm enough for the paddling pool but no doubt the breakfast club is doing well.  Time for another challenge with the usual lovely prize.  Everything on today's card, apart from the card blank and the pink card layer, has been made using bits and pieces from my Snippet mountain.  I'm polishing my halo too because - at least for the time being - I've resisted purchasing any of the latest release from Craft Addiction UK which included some really tempting lattice style dies.  I put my thinking cap on and tried to work out ways of achieving similar effects by using what I already have in my well stocked stash of dies.  I came up with some ideas and then started a search for at least one lattice  die which I knew must be lurking somewhere.  Well I didn't find anything with a straightforward lattice but managed to pull out a couple of slightly more elaborate ones which haven't been used for many years and I've actually come up with a couple of cards and this is one using an arch shape.

I trimmed a snippet of white card to be slightly smaller than the pink layer and used an arch die to make a frame (cut twice and glued together to give it a bit of strength).  I then die cut the lattice die from another snippet of white and placed it behind the resulting aperture, slipping a small snippet of pink paper behind to show through. The white frame was popped back into the aperture. Next move was to stamp, colour and die cut Buttons the mouse using another white snippet, finally stamping and die cutting the sentiment.  Phew - quite a selection of small white snippets used and I nearly forgot to mention that I used a brick stencil to add a little colour to the surround of the archway..  

The card I made using the other lattice die is a circle design for a different look and I will be blogging that one fairly soon.

Arch Die - from Graces Garden stamp/die set Stampin' Up (long retired)
Lattice Die - Ornate Trellis Crafters Companion (years old)
Mouse - Buttons stamp/die set Craft Addiction UK Louise Dunne design
Stencil - from an unbranded set of stencils  

Allsorts Challenge # 849

 The theme for this Allsorts Challenge has been chosen by Liz who would like to see some monochrome projects (shades of one colour) or there is the usual 'anything goes' option.  The prize is a stencil and stamps from Creative Expressions - full details on the Allsorts post.

For my Design Team card this time I've I've made a DL card in shades of  lilac starting with some smooshed ink down the centre of the background and then stamping to add some visual texture.  I then cut a panel for the main image of cone flowers in a loose watercolour technique.  Final addition was a die cut sentiment to tone.

Background - unbranded stamp from Amazon
Main Image - Cone Flowers from Paper Artsy, designed by Alison Bomber
Sentiment - dies also unbranded from Amazon

There's an exciting challenge coming up for the fortnight after this because it's our 17th Birthday with lots of prizes, so something to look forward to.  Hope you will come along to help us celebrate.

Tag-along Challenge

The theme for the May challenge at Tag-along & ATCs is to add some pink so I started by smooshing some pink ink onto my die cut tag and then overstamped in a different shade of pink with some visual texture from a background stamp.  I then selected a different background stamp to over stamp onto a snippet of the remaining smooshed card and fussy cut the small hexagons to add to the design.  The quotation was added, followed by a die cut bird and a piece of pink ribbon.  That's it my tag with a touch of pink.

Background stamps - large numbers and hexagons both from Crafty Roo
Quotation - from Tim Holtz Attic Treasures CMS123 stamp set
Bird - unbranded die set

Mid Week Share

 I have a card to share today using another of the cute designs drawn by Louise Dunne.  This little mouse is called Buttons and the images were stamped, coloured and die cut.  I started with a white panel to fit the card blank and this was dry embossed using a very ancient A4 embossing folder.  I then die cut the two slatted rectangle panels and backed them with some blue to tone with the flowers.  The sentiment is part of  a different CAUK set. stamp set.  Images were coloured using ink pads pressed onto a ceramic tile, picked up with a damp paintbrush for a watercolour effect.

Embossing - A4 embossing folder probably from Crafter's Companion but years old
Slatted rectangles - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Stamps - set also from CAUK designed by Louise Dunne

Furball

 I've used this cute Furball image to make a card for one of my great grandchildren who is three years old today.  It's a digital download which I resized, printed and fussy cut.  The background was made by cutting out the circle designs and then backed the panel with some pink polka dot paper.  Simply added the number and sentiment alongside the image.

Furball - digital download from Craft Addiction UK drawn by Louise Dunne
Background circles - die set from CAUK
Sentiment and Age Number - birthday tags die set from CAUK

Snippets Playground Challenge #531

 Time for another challenge in the Pixie Snippets Playground and this time I've taken inspiration from Both Di and also Sarn who used some of their snippets to inspire us all.  Lovely interesting prize as usual and one of the items is also featured on my card.

I went first to my box of larger snippets and came up with a piece of yellow and one of ivory, both of which only needed a slight trim to fit onto a 5" x 7" card blank.  I next worked out the position of the various elements before die cutting the slatted arch, leaving an aperture.. There are three arches in the set and this is the largest of them.  The two layers were glued in place and the slatted arch popped back into the aperture.  More smaller snippets were then used to die cut the flowers, bunny and stool, then finally there was just enough of the yellow card to cut the small sentiment.  Flowers were cut from some ivory card and coloured using ink pads to lay a little ink onto a white ceramic  tile, picking it up with a water brush.  The popular bunny and stool die set is part of the prize this time although I've had mine for a few years but have never before had him actually seated on his stool - can't believe I've had the stool for such a long time and never used it 🤪  

Thank you Di and Sarn for inspiring me to bring bunny out to play 'underneath the arches' 🤣🤣

Slatted Arch - die set from Craft Addiction UK (set of 3, 9 dies in all)
Flowers - also from CAUK
Bunny and Stool - unbranded dies which I've had for several years (Amazon)
Sentiment - from Hey Chick stamp/die set Stampin' Up (long retired)

Rudolph Days Challenge

 Can it really be time for the April Rudolph Days challenge already - where did that month go ?  Fortunately I still have one or two Christmas cards on file so I can share one of them today, although I should make a start on getting a few more made through the year to avoid a rush in December.  For this one I printed off two identical digital images and used slatted circle dies to make an eclipse feature which I then backed with a red scalloped circle and added a circular sentiment, also with a scalloped circle.  The background was a square of patterned paper and a strip of a toning green for added interest.

Happy Rudolph Days everyone!!  Still a few days left if you have a card to share this month.

Penguins - digital download from Craft Addiction UK drawn by Louise Dunne
Background - papers from a downloaded Buddly Crafts collection
Scalloped Dies - from an ancient Spellbinders set
Slatted Circles - die set from Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment - from my box of useful oddments

Allsorts Challenge # 848

 Time for a new theme at Allsorts Challenge and this one has been chosen by Christine, who would like to see *Shaped Cards* (anything but rectangular or square).  There is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes this time are from Aall & Create - full details on the Allsorts blog post..  For my Design Team post I've chosen to make a circular card incorporating a wreath with various die cut  flowers and a sentiment. The wreath was die cut twice using different shades of green and the extra leaves were cut from a scrap of inky card from my 'useful bits' collection.  Flowers were die cut from various pieces of coloured card., also from the 'useful bits'. Finally the sentiment and tiny butterflies used up the remaining scrap of the inky purple piece.

Scalloped Circle - die from Tattered Lace which I've had for years
Plain Circle - die from Creative Expressions Noble Pierced circles (also quite old)
Wreath - die from Craft Addiction UK
Flowers and Extra Leaves - dies from Crafts Too (John Next Door)
Sentiment - dies by Crafter's Companion
Butterflies - tiny die from Gummiapan 

I made another Tag

 Following the 'birds, blooms, butterflies'  theme for the current Tag-along and ATC challenge I had a rootle through some of my older stamps and came across a set of bird themed stamps dating back to 2009 when Chocolate Baroque was known as Elusive Images.  Another piece of my inky-play background has been used with the addition of a little stencilling and background stamping. (think I've used up most of that at last!). I then stamped the small bird and the words.  Final touch was a stamped and die cut feather from another set which has also been in my stash for a really long time. Some colour was added to the bird using  pencils.  There's still some time left before this challenge closes if you feel like having a go - there's a really handy prize.

Bird and Words - Curly Birds/Fly Away by Elusive Images from 2009 (probably no longer available)
Feather - Stamp and die set Four Feathers from Stampin' Up (long retired)

Snippets Playground challenge #530

 The sun is shining this morning so I'm skipping off to the Snippets Playground to hand in my homework and hopefully there will still be some cups of hot chocolate around because it's still none too warm 
outside.  I started with a snippet of cream card trimmed to slightly smaller than the card blank and die cut the frame.  This left me with a smaller square snippet which I coloured by smooshing some ink to colour it before popping it back into the aperture, adhering both to the card.  More cream snippets were used to die cut the flowers and the decorative circle.  This die doesn't entirely cut out from the piece of card so I used a plain, slightly larger circle die to cut it free.  The flowers were coloured and assembled before arranging onto the fancy circle, adding a few leaves which came from my trusty 'useful bits' container.  Final touch was a small tag with an embossed sentiment.  There's the usual generous prize on offer for the lucky person who is randomly selected to win so why not use up some of your snippets to be in with a chance.

                                         

Square Frame - Stich Craft Fusion Frames die from Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment Tag - Mini Birthday Tags Collection also from CAUK
Decorative Circle - die from Irresistible Blooms die set Stampin' Up (long retired)
Plain Circle - die from Crafts Too circle set
Flowers - Magazine Giveaway from Die Cutting Essentials 

Tag and ATC Challenge

 It's mid-month reminder time from the Tag-along Challenge and this time I have an ATC to share. which has  the *butterfly* and *flower* part of the theme. I trimmed another piece of my inky background strips to the correct size and stamped the floral image and word.  Next I delved into my box of useful bits and pieces where I found the small white slatted circle and a stray butterfly which was die cut from a scrap of inky card which had been coloured a while ago using Pixie Powders.  A little silver gilding wax was added as well as a touch of Wink of Stella

Knapweed Stamps - from Aall & Create
Butterfly and Circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK

Allsorts Challenge #847

 The theme for the Allsorts challenge is **In the Garden** or the option of *Anything Goes*.  This was chosen by Gail and the prizes are from Lavinia Stamps - full details on the Allsorts post where you will also see the inspiration from the Design Team.

For my card I've turned to a die set which has been in my stash for some years and I've used it to build up a garden scene.  I started by smooshing some colour onto a piece of white card to give the appearance of sky and grass followed by die cutting the gateway, foliage and flowers.  I then used different dies to cut the bird, cats and watering can.  The three tiny butterflies were from my box of saved bits and pieces.  The sentiment was stamped within the archway.

Gate, Flowers and Foliage - Garden Gateway die set from Stampin' Up (long retired)
Cats - dies from Impression Obsession (also very old)
Watering Can - from an unbranded die set
Bird - from a Joanna Sheen Bird Feeder die set (very old)
Butterflies - 'waste' from a border die (Crafter's Companion)

Daffodils

 A quick CAS card to cheer up a dull foggy morning although I must say we've had a couple of really quite warm sunny days this week.  I've used one of the smaller stitched detail frame dies here and also a slatted square which was placed behind the aperture and the whole thing layered onto a piece of green patterned paper.  The daffodils were die cut using snippets of white card, coloured using watercolour pens.  The sentiment is from a selection gifted to me by a kind friend.  I used it 'as is' rather than foiling which is their original use.

Frame Die - from Craft Addiction UK
Square Slatted Die - also from CAUK
Sentiment - foilable sentiments by Julie Hickey
Daffodils - unbranded die from Temu last year

Good Crafting Weather!

Wet and windy here today, albeit with a few glimpses of sunshine in between the showers but it does mean that it's perfect crafting weather.  I have another entry into the Tag-along and ATC challenge and this time it's a tag. I started with a piece of a Geli print, made some time ago and used one of the dies from a triptych set to cut it, then the slightly larger die to cut a piece of brown card.  To this I added a brick wall die cut in cream, a dragonfly cut out from a scrap of card which had been coloured using Pixie powders and some die cut flowers which I coloured to tone.  Finally the flowers had some gold centres to match with the die cut bow.  There is a nice shimmer on the flower petals and the flowers cover the 'blooms' part of the current challenge theme.

Tag - dies from unbranded triptych die set
Bow - die from Gummiapan
Bricks and Flowers - unbranded die set from Temu
Dragonfly - Elegant Dragonfly die set from Craft Addiction UK (smallest one used)

Happy Easter

 I don't normally make Easter cards and have never really had much in the way of Easter crafting items in my stash but I have to confess that in a weak moment I succumbed - couldn't resist the Hoppy Bunnies die set.  Of course once I'd got my sticky mitts on them I just had to make a couple of cards which I'm sharing today to wish Happy Easter to all of my bloggy friends and the people who visit my blog leaving lovely comments.  Would you believe it was only a few days ago that I realised that it was actually Easter this weekend - caught me out by being so early this year 🤣🤣.  Bunnies aren't just for Easter and I'm sure the dies will get used through the year, either as a group or trimmed down somewhat which is what happened here. There are actually seven bunnies in a row, the grass, carrots, eggs and the sentiment complete with shadow.

Slatted Circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Bunnies etc - also all from CAUK
Crate - an unbranded die
Torn Edge dies - also unbranded from Amazon
Cut out circle detail on second card -  die from CAUK

A Bookmark to Share

 There is a new theme this month for the Tag-along and ATC challenge, set by Brenda who would like to see **Blooms - Butterflies - Birds** with a choice of either one, two or all three as the fancy takes you and if this doesn't suit, then there is always the *Anything Goes* option.  You can choose to make an ATC, a Tag or a Bookmark so there are many possibilities open to you with a super prize at the end of the month for a lucky winner.

I thought for a change I'd make a bookmark and as luck would have it I had some already inked and decorated strips of card to hand.  These white strips are left over when I cut into an A4 sheet of card to make my approximately 6" square cards.  I taped four of them together using low tack tape on the back before getting into a session of smooshing colour, random stamping and stencilling to form an attractive overall background effect.  Once dry the tape was removed and I'm left with four long narrow strips which are ideal for trimming into ATCs, tags or bookmarks.  For this project I used a punch to shape the top and another punch to round the bottom corners - a piece of ribbon or tassel will be added eventually.  I then selected some stamps to add the flowers at the bottom, a quotation (which includes birds) and a couple of butterflies in between.  All stamping was done using Versafine Claire Twilight and the smooshing was Distress Oxides in various colours.

Quotation - from a  magazine give away set dated 2016
Butterflies - stamps from Visible Image Wings of Change (a recent win from Snippets)
Flowers - also from the magazine stamp set dated 2016
Punches used - top a very ancient from Stampin' Up and X-cut for the bottom corners

Snippets Challenge # 529

 I'm off to the Snippets Playground to hand in my homework for the current challenge and as usual have made my own card blank and then used a selection of Snippets to build up the design.  I started with a fairly large snippet of white card which I embossed with a brick wall design, then a smaller white snippet to cut out the slatted arch which was backed with yet another white snippet which had been smooshed with some yellow ink.  The flowers were die cut from an even smaller white snippet and coloured using watercolour and a fine paintbrush. Rocky the dog is a digital download and was fussy cut from a sheet which I'd printed.  He was also coloured using ink pressed onto a ceramic tile from an inkpad and applied with a paintbrush (slightly watered down).  I do hope Rocky doesn't intend burying his bone amongst the flowers 🤣.  The final touch is a die cut sentiment using snippets of white and some purple to tone with the flower heads.

Brick Wall Effect - embossing folder from Stampin' Up (long retired
Slatted Arch - unbranded die
Flowers - dies from Gummiapan
Rocky - digital download from Craft Addiction UK hand drawn by Louise Dunne
Sentiment - unbranded die set from Temu

Allsorts Challenge Blog # 846

 Time for a new theme at Allsorts and this time it has been chosen by Brenda who would like to see your Springtime projects.  As usual there is also the Anything Goes option.  We have a guest designer alongside the usual team and prizes are from Buddly Crafts.

For my card this time I decided to do a bit of a mixed media design incorporating a hare as these creatures are seen around in the Spring.  I started by building up some background interest using Distress Oxide inks, some random stamping and also used some texture paste with a stencil. This detail shows up much more clearly when seen in real life as the texture paste I used is slightly translucent.  The hare was stamped onto a piece of cream card, coloured and I then used a rectangular die to cut him out, leaving just his ears protruding over the edge; finally using a distressed notebook die to trim off one side.  I then die cut a small torn notebook piece to add to the design and this was stamped with some light text.  As a final touch I stamped the word 'Nature' onto a scrap of card and fussy cut.

.Hare - stamp from Indigo Blu mixed media magazine box set #11
Random text stamping - also from Indigo Blu magazine sets
Stencil - from Gummiapan
Distressed Notebook dies - unbranded
Nature word - from a really ancient Chocolate Baroque stamp set

Furball

 Yes, that's the name of the latest digital download designed and hand drawn by Louise Dunne who keeps coming up with such adorable characters.  They come in uncoloured as well as coloured versions  and this one has been fussy cut from an A4 sheet of coloured bunnies.  He's sitting on a large birthday greeting and keeping an eye on the pretty silver-winged bees buzzing around him.

Birthday - unbranded die which I've had for a few years from Amazon I think
Furball - available as a digital download from Craft Addiction UK
Bees - from a die set also from Craft Addiction UK with several bees, honeycomb and honeypot

Rudolph Days Challenge - March

 I found it difficult to stop making Christmas cards at the end of last year so I have a few in hand, one of which I'm taking along to the Rudolph Days challenge for this month.  I've used some pieces of patterned paper as a background and resized and printed the reindeer and duck which were downloaded from Craft Addiction UK.  The little gnome was one which had been left over from another project and was just sitting on my desk waiting to be used.  The downloads were ready coloured, if I remember rightly but they are also available as uncoloured images.  The gnome was stamped, coloured by me and fussy cut.

Happy Rudolph Days everyone

Reindeer and Duck - designs  hand drawn by Louise Dunne for CAUK
Gnome - from a retired Stampin' Up set from a couple of years ago

Garden Theme

 It's another lovely day here and my thoughts are turning towards the garden, which is where I should really be making a start but instead I've been clearing my desk a little and using up some of the flowers which I did cut recently and which weren't all used at the time.  This time I did more die cutting and cut out a wheelbarrow and watering can.  Also a die was used to cut the detail into the background layer. I started by cutting the layer to fit my 5 x 7 card and cut out the patterned area, backing it with a slightly larger piece of green to tone with the leaves on the flowers.  The wheelbarrow was cut from some snippets of dark grey card which came from one of my bits boxes and had some sort of glimmer finish applied sometime in the past - no idea what was used but I thought it looked metallic, so suited the purpose nicely.  The watering can and sentiment were cut from some really small snippets.  At least now I've finally used up the surplus snowdrops and crocus die cuts while it's still Spring.

Background - cut using a die from a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die set
Wheelbarrow and Watering Can - unbranded dies which I've had for a while
Sentiment - an unbranded die from Temu

Snippets Playground Challenge #528

 I'm skipping along to the Snippets Playground on this lovely sunny day to hand in my homework for the challenge.  For my card this time I pulled out some white snippets and also some pearl pieces in a lovely shade of blue although I'm not sure the pearlescent finish will actually show up on the screen.  I started with a white snippet which needed a slight trim to fit the onto the card blank and I used the slatted arch die to cut the aperture in the centre.  I used yet another snippet, this time a piece of a geli print to use as a background to show through the slats.  Some light stencilling was added diagonally across the white layer for added interest and this was then adhered to the card blank using some quite thin foam strips.  The arched shape was then dropped into the aperture and the die cut birds put in place.  I felt that this card needed something a bit more than a single sentiment so I composed one on the computer and printed it in a toning blue rather than introducing black.  Some great items in the prize as always so why not search through your Snippets and have a go 😉

 

Stencil - from Lavinia Stamps
Arch - a single die which is unbranded (from Temu)
Birds - also unbranded dies from Temu
Sentiment - composed using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge # 845

Time for a new theme on the Allsorts challenge and this one is **Things with Wings**, chosen by Lynn and of course there is the usual *Anything Goes* option.  Prizes this time are from Taylored Expressions and you can see full details on the Allsorts blog post. 

For my DT card I've featured a couple of owls with a bit of painless 'surgery' on the die cuts to layer them for added interest. and I also die cut the trees and the frame.  The background is a piece of paper which has probably been in my box of random pieces just waiting to be used as appropriate.  The sentiment was produced on the computer and printed in a toning shade of brown.

Trees - an unbranded die which I've had for quite a long time, source unknown
Frame - die from Craft Addiction UK
Owls - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment - produced using MS Word and die cut using a retired Stampin' Up die