Coffee Lover

I have an ATC to share today and I'm taking it along to the Tag-along and ATC Challenge under the *anything goes* category.  I know lots of people like owls and also coffee so I've combined the two here. I started by trimming a ready made background to the correct size and then stamped the owl image and the wording using Versafine Clair and some clear embossing powder.  Not much more to be said about this small piece of art really but if you fancy entering the challenge take a look - the theme is **Spring Flowers** so along with the anything goes option there's lots of scope.

Background - ready printed from Aall & Create
Owl and words - Funky Fossil Coffee Lovers stamp set

Snippets Playground Challenge # 527

 Time for another new challenge in the Snippets Playground with some lovely prizes for a lucky winner. I'm not sure that the fussy cut images really count as Snippets because they were from a download and of course I had to use a whole piece of card in the printer but the background, parcels and tag were all cut from Snippets.  For the background I trimmed a large snippet to slightly smaller than the card blank before cutting a circular aperture using a tattered edge die, followed by cutting another tattered circle off centre from the fall out circle.  Next move was to emboss the larger circle (the one with the small aperture).  I then added thin foam strips to the back of the backing piece and adhered it to the base card, finally dropping the small and embossed pieces back into the recess which adds interest to the white on white background layer..  I then fussy cut the two pre-coloured  characters and die cut some parcels using toning snippets of card.  A little tag, decorated with a tiny punched flower and there it is - my offering for the latest Snippets Playground challenge.

Embossing - folder which was a magazine gift from several years back
Circle dies - an unbranded set from Amazon
Parcels and Tag - from Tiny Tag set of dies Craft Addiction UK
Characters - Jellybean and Pipkin coloured downloads from Craft Addiction UK
Tiny Flower - punch from Stampin' Up (long retired)

Daffodils

 I'm back again with more Spring flowers for the Tag-along and ATC challenge because, as usual, I cut and coloured too many flowers for my previous project and of course I have lots of the background strips to use as well.  This time I cut a tag using a punch which cuts a nice top shape and I also rounded the bottom corners as well to match.  I overstamped using a colour which would tone with the daffs; stamped and cut the word and added a stamped bird to the bottom corner.  The bottle to hold the flowers was coloured and then sparkled with a Wink of Stella pen although it's not easy to see the shimmer in the picture.  A toning ribbon was added.  I'm enjoying using these backgrounds and it's good to be using up some of my white left over strips of card in an interesting way.

Tag Top punch - from Stampin' up (probably retired)
Bottom Corners - rounded using an ancient X-cut punch
Daffodils - Gummiapan dies
Bird - a Lavinia small robin stamp
Bottle - Sizzix die from a set of three 666199 Freshly Picked
Beautiful Word - from Life is Beautiful Visible Image

Spring flowers

 Now that we are into March there is a new theme for the Tag-along and ATCs Challenge, very appropriately **Spring Flowers** or there is the *anything goes* option as usual.  I saw a video recently where someone had taken some strips of left over white card, taped them together and then prepared a sort of 'masterboard' by smooshing colour, stencilling and random stamping.  As I've gathered quite a number of strips when making my own card blanks I thought it would be a good idea to have a go and the resulting strips should be ideal for snipping into ATC blanks and small tags with ready prepared subtle backgrounds.

I've used one such piece for this ATC, trimmed to 1/4" smaller than the finished size, finally backing it with some toning green to make the finished ATC.  I cut a selection of Spring flowers, a tree trunk and some grass all from scraps of white card and set about colouring them using watercolour brush pens (Zig).  The twisty branch was cut from kraft and the fairy from black.  I typed the word 'Spring' into a text box using the computer and fussy cut.  I then spent some time moving the bits around until I was happy with the arrangement and then glued them in place. I have lots more of my inky strips left to make more Tags and/or ATCs - so much easier making a background on a larger surface rather than on fiddly small pieces.  I've added a link to the video below.

Spring Flowers - all dies from Gummiapan
Twisty Branch - also Gummiapan die
Tree Stump - from Playing in the Rain Stampin' Up (long retired)
Fairy - die from Craft Addiction UK Mini Fairy Garden set
Grass - die from Craft Addiction UK Hoppy Together set
Link to Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDS2q3ME4p0&t=15s

Allsorts Challenge #844

 The theme for the next Allsorts challenge has been chosen by Sarah and she would like to see a ribbon or bow on your card.  There is the anything goes option as usual.  The prize this time is a digital download (full details on the Allsorts post).  

A very tenuous link on my card this time but one of the 'hedgehugs' has a bow in her hair ☺️. The image is a download which I resized using My Craft Studio and then water coloured lightly using distress inks.  Die cut the image and a backing layer which I then matched up to a piece of designer paper from my stash.  I also embossed a narrow panel with hearts and added a little heart tag and tiny flower.  The Anniversary greeting was stamped and die cut.

Hedgehugs - downloaded image from Craft Addiction, drawn by Louise Dunne
Rectangle Dies - an old Tonic set
Heart Embossing - using a Cuttlebug embossing folder which I've had forever
Heart Tag - from mini tag set Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment - from a favourite magazine give away several years ago (die from Stampin' Up)

Rudolph Days, February 2026

 Happy Rudolph Days everyone.  Luckily I've saved a few Christmas cards which were surplus to requirements and this is one of them for the current challenge.  I've used two digital images, resized using My Craft Studio, then fussy cut and simply popped them onto a background which was die cut using some great circle dies which are so versatile.  I do like items which can be used to give many different looks.  A simple stamped greeting and some random snowflakes and that's it - my card to celebrate Rudolph Days this month.

Images - digital downloads designed and drawn by Louise Dunne for Craft Addiction UK
Circle dies - also from Craft Addiction UK
Snowflakes - just lying around on my desk

Snippets Playground Challenge # 526

 I'm afraid I've had to raid my file of unpublished cards to take along to the Playground for the current challenge because, believe it or not, I haven't managed to make any cards for a couple of weeks due to feeling decidedly 'under the weather'.  This is a floral offering which I made some time ago although I do know that it used up quite a good selection of coloured snippets. I started by die cutting a slatted circle into a fairly large white snippet to fit the card blank and backed this with a small snippet of green.  The flowers and leaves were all cut from various coloured snippets and the sentiment was snipped from a sheet which I'd composed and printed on the computer.

Sadly it appears that numbers of entries into this challenge (and I suspect some others too) are dwindling, so why not raid your snippets mountains to see if you can make something to use them up. Miss Di and Sarn work hard to keep the Playground active and deserve our support. Don't forget it's somewhere where the sun always shines.  ☺️☺️

Slatted Circle - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Floral Spray - unbranded die from Amazon
Sentiment - produced using MS Word

Allsorts Challenge #843

 It's my turn to choose the theme for the Allsorts Challenge this time and I would like to see embossing of some kind featuring on your projects.  Of course there is the usual 'anything goes' option as well.  Prizes this time are from Lisa Horton (full details on the Allsorts blog post.

 For my card I decided to go with dry embossing using an embossing folder which was a magazine gift from quite a few years ago.  I also thought it would be good to combine this with a variation on the eclipse technique as well, using a butterfly die.  I started with a panel of white card slightly smaller than my card blank and die cut the butterfly which I then taped back into the aperture using low tack tape, before running it through my machine using the embossing folder.  The next move was to cut four more butterflies using some scrap card, gluing them all together along with the embossed one.  The white embossed square was backed with a mauve square and the edges of the embossed butterfly sponged lightly with some toning ink before popping it back into the aperture and adding a die cut body.  The final touch was a sentiment and that's it - a clean and simple embossed effect on an eclipse card.

Embossing Folder - magazine gift from some years ago
Butterfly - Sizzix Detailed Butterflies 661182
Butterfly Body - from Craft Addiction UK butterfly die set
Sentiment - produced on the computer using MS Word

Peek-a-Boo

 A card to share today which is a bit of fun using a digital image, manipulated using My Craft Studio.  The idea was inspired by a You Tube video from Susan Hardy and also from a die set which I own.  Unfortunately I'm unable to print on my usual cardstock using my current printer and the lighter weight stock I have is a slightly different shade compared with that which I use for card blanks.  Hopefully the fact that there is some coloured paper between the layers helps to disguise the difference.  I printed the Jellybean image and the 'cake' quote onto an A4 piece of card arranging them so that I could later use a square die to frame the composition.  The sentiment tag and balloon were die cut, also the tiny bow and door handle, all added to complete the card.

Peek-a-Boo - part of a digital download from Craft Addiction UK designed by Louise Dunne
Sentiment Tag - also from CAUK
Balloon and Bow - from a retired Stampin' Up set (Elephants on Parade) I think
Door Handle - from a door die set with dogs, unbranded
Words - composed on the computer

Snippets Playground Challenge # 525

 It seems to be yet another damp and dreary day so I'm off to the Snippets Playground where 'the sun always shines' and my goodness we could certainly do with some brighter (and dryer) days.  Of course I'm taking my homework and will hopefully meet up with friends for a hot chocolate and possibly a cheeky biscuit. The image on this card is a coloured one which I printed using a download of several variations on the same theme and, of necessity, obviously required a whole sheet of A4 to be popped into the printer.  I did, however, print more than one image so I still have the rest ready to use.  Everything else on the card came from my various Snippets collections and the embossed panel was one which I must have made ages ago but happened to tone nicely with the larger Snippet of patterned paper. The pink pearl piece was cut from yet another Snippet as were the various little tags and the teeny flower.  

Patterned Paper - printed from a Buddly Crafts download
Embossed Panel - from the Snippets collection made a long time ago
Tiny Tags - dies from Craft Addiction UK
Main Image - printed from download collection (CAUK) drawn by Louise Dunne (Jellybean)

Allsorts Challenge #842

 The theme for this challenge is **Create your own Background** chosen by Donna and there is the usual option of *Anything Goes*.  Prizes are from Aall & Create (full details and challenge rules can be seen on the Allsorts blog post).  For my Design Team card I started by smooshing two colours of Distress Oxide ink  (Spiced Marmalade and Peacock Feathers)onto a piece of water colour paper and then overstamping in a third colour (Tea Dye)using a border stamp.  This was followed by more stamping using some text stamps and other details using a Fallen Leaves Versafine Claire ink.  I also added some detail using a text stencil.  The flower was die cut from a piece of matching brown card.

Die Cut Flower - Sizzix Wildflower Stems #2
Border Stamp - a very old one which is possibly no longer available
Text and Hares - A & C stamps Tracy Evans Miniatures
Wildflower Word - Tracey Evans Wildflower stamp set
Art Quote and Text Stencil - from Indigo Blu magazine #15 kit

Rudolph Days January

 Time for a Rudolph Days Challenge and for my card I've used a coloured digital image, printed onto white card which I then die cut and backed onto a slightly larger red piece.  The background was printed from a download of papers and added a narrow strip of a toning paper, a die cut snowflake and simple greeting.

Happy Rudolph Days everyone.  Why not take this opportunity to make a card ready for next Christmas?

Backing Papers - download of Christmas Papers from Buddly Crafts
Gnomes - Digital Image from Craft Addiction UK, drawn by Louise Dunne

Another ATC

 I'm back again visiting the Tag-along and ATC Challenge and this time my ATC is based loosely on the theme which is **Love and Romance** although if it doesn't fit I guess it can be another *Anything goes* I tend to forget how much I enjoy making these small pieces of art and they are a great way of using some of the smaller stamps which are often part of a larger set.  I started again with a piece of the printed background card trimmed to the correct size and over stamped with a hint of text and some coffee rings.  The sack of beans and coffee cup were stamped and fussy cut, as were the words I added as a final touch.  After all, who doesn't love coffee time??

Coffee Cup and Sack - stamps from an unbranded set (Amazon)
Coffee Time Stamp - from the same set
Love Word - from my collection of sentiment stamps, mainly from magazine gifts over years
Background stamping - Random stamps from my collection
Background card - from Aall & Create Spectrum Splash

Tag-along and ATC Challenge

 I've made a quick 'anything goes' ATC for the current Tag-along and ATC. Challenge.  I started by trimming a snippet of printed card to slightly smaller than the ATC size and stamped and embossed the cat and words.  This was then mounted onto a black ATC 2.5 by 3.5 inches and called it finished.  Not much more to say about this one - I did say in was quick ☺️.  A great prize on offer which will be handy for the winner to use in future challenges.

Card -  Spectrum Splash designed by Autour De Mwa for Aall & Create (a recent prize win)
Stamps - from Funky Fossil What Meow? set

Snippets Challenge #524

 Time to dodge the rain and dash off to the Playground for the current challenge where, as you may know, we are encouraged to use our Snippets in creative ways.  I started by making making my square card blank from a new piece of A4 white card which always leaves me with a very useful strip to use for die cutting or stamping onto for sentiments and the like.  I found a square of white in my Snippets collection which was slightly smaller than the (just under 6") square card and this was dry embossed before adhering in in place.  I was a lucky winner of  one of the bumper Christmas prizes recently and I've used some of the dies to make this card before I pack them away ready for the end of the year.  I die cut the wording and shadow using Snippets in shades of blue, followed by quite a selection of small, coloured Snippets to build up the two snowmen.  I then decided to cut two slatted circles in white  with blue patterned paper backgrounds to use as baubles to carry the snowmen, adding die cut stars at the top of each.  These dies were certainly handy for using up quite a few Snippets.

Embossing Folder - Unbranded snowflakes/stars (from Amazon)
Slatted Circles - from Craft Addiction UK
Stars - from a set of 'Punched Hole' protector dies unbranded (Amazon)
Snowmen - Die set by X-cut
Sentiment - dies from Creative Expressions (Lisa Horton)

 

Allsorts Challenge # 840

The theme for this Allsorts challenge has been chosen by Ellie and is  one which many of us seem to find a bit difficult at times **For Boys or Men** and there is the usual *Anything goes* option.  Prizes are from Sweet Poppy (more details in the Allsorts blog post) .

For my DT card I've made one which I think would be suitable for a man, starting with a piece of designer paper onto which I stamped and heat embossed the blueprint-style drawing of a steam locomotive.   I then added a little random stamping for added interest as well as using a stencil to apply some texture paste.  Having considered a few options I decided to add the stamped words rather than the usual birthday sentiment.  I actually stamped these twice because when I looked at them the first time I thought I'd mis-stamped them and it wasn't until I did a second stamping I realised that they were deliberately a bit blurred, presumably for effect 😉. 

Designer Paper - Sentimentally Yours Urban Textures (Phill Martin)
Locomotive - stamp from Creative Expressions Vintage Treasures (many years old)
Words - Visible Image Cheshire Cat Stamp set (current)
Stencil - Visible Image, Off the Grid (also current)
Background Overstamping - unbranded Text Stamp (Amazon) 

Snippets Playground # 523

 Time to visit the Snippets Playground to hand in  my homework for the current challenge and I've chosen to make a card featuring dragonflies.  I found a snippet of white card which, with a little trimming was just the right size to fit my card blank.  Next I had a rummage amongst my collection of inky and embossed snippets where luckily I came across a nice embossed piece and some inky background left over from a 'play' session and used this to die cut the dragonflies.  I also added a touch of sparkle to the wings using a Wink of Stella pen.  The sentiment was produced on the computer to complete this CAS card.

Embossing - EF I've had for a long time (not marked so no idea of the make, sorry)
Dragonflies - die set from Craft Addiction UK
Sentiment - produced using Microsoft Word

Allsorts Challenge # 840

 The theme for the Allsorts challenge #840 is **Winter Animals** or the usual *anything goes* option is available.  Prizes are from Visible Image and you can see details on the Allsorts blog post.  For my Design Team card this time I'm sharing one of the Christmas cards which I have made in readiness for the end of the year - always good to be a few steps ahead if possible.  I cut a square of white card using a torn edge die and stamped some snowflakes to use as a background for the penguin which was printed using a download and then fussy cut.  The sentiment came with the snowflake stamp set.  I then found a piece of snowflake patterned paper in my oddments box to finish off the card.

Torn edge dies - a set from Amazon unbranded
Snowflakes - stamp set from Crafty Roo (no longer trading)
Penguin - designed and drawn by Louise Dunne, a download from Craft Addiction UK