Allsorts Challenge # 824

 Big celebrations at Allsorts Challenge this time because it is our 16th Birthday and the theme is *Anything Goes* or you might like to celebrate with us and make a Birthday card.  There are multiple prizes this time as well - details below.  Some for winners in the UK and some for entrants from 'across the pond'.  Full details can be seen on the Allsorts Blog post.

All & Create - several prizes 
Lawn Fawn - 25$ store voucher
Colorado Craft Company - three stamps
Gina K Designs - 25$ store voucher (Worldwide)

For my Design Team card I've chosen to make a birthday card and have stamped the image onto cream card as a change from using white which can sometimes be a bit stark.  Colouring was done using Inktense pencils with a water brush and the image was cut out using a square die with  pierced detail  - a  slightly larger square was used  to back it.  I added a small simple sentiment.  

Stamp - From a Coffee Themed set by A & C
Square Dies - Noble Pierced Squares from Creative Expressions (Sue Wilson)

Eclipse Style

 I've spotted a few different ways of using the popular slatted dies and one way seems to be using them to make eclipse style cards using two identical stamps or images - also spotted one which used plain black behind an image which had black as part of the design and I imagine this would also work if the slatted cut out was backed with whatever colour happened to be predominant in the picture.  Anyway I decided to have a go using my heart slatted dies with two images from an ancient pad of assorted designs because fortunately there were two or three of each  still remaining.  I centred the dies onto one image and cut them , adhering the resulting 'frame' onto the duplicate (uncut) one making sure it was lined up correctly..  Once the glue was dry I used a square die to cut out the whole thing, backing that with a slightly larger green square.  At this point I decided the slatted heart needed a bit of dimension so used the three dies together to cut another heart in white card so that I could glue it behind the patterned one before popping it carefully back into the aperture..  A die cut sentiment was added - job done!!

Image - from pad of images by Lily of the Valley dated 2014
Slatted Heart Dies - Craft Addiction UK
Square Dies - Pierced Noble Squares, Creative Expressions
Die Cut Sentiment - Britannia Dies 

...and Another Pair

 This time I have a pair of Artist Trading Coins to share, the making of which was triggered this morning by a number of things leading on from my usual Sunday morning visit to the Snippets Playground. Firstly I saw that Di had been busy making ATCs which you can see  HERE and on Sarn's post she'd used a long retired embossing die which I knew I had in my stash.  There was a Snippet of Gelli print on my desk which I thought would be sufficient to cut two 2.5 inch circles which is the size of the Coins - turned out I could only cut one full size and the other 1/4 inch smaller but that's fine as I glued it to a cream circle of the correct size.  I had a rummage in a box of dies and found the butterfly one I was looking for and with it was a similar one which cut and embossed a series of buttons so I thought 'why not?' and went ahead cutting the butterflies and buttons I needed along with a couple of little bows to go with the buttons because a song title had sprung to mind as soon as I saw the buttons 😉.  I decided to add some silhouette stamped foliage to one circle and some rows of stamped stitchery to the other before adhering the other components.  I turned to the computer to produce my own tiny text labels for one of the coins and that's an enjoyable Sunday morning done and dusted.

My original intention was to make a pair of AT Coins using the butterflies but that changed when I came across the button die although they do share the same Snippet of Gelli print background.  I'm popping along to  Tag-along (and ATC) Challenge blog where the theme for their very first challenge is 'Anything Goes'.  

Foliage Stamp - from a magazine gift set  dated 2015
Stitchery Stamp - from a magazine gift dated 2017
Butterfly and Button Dies - long retired Stampin' Up
Bow Dies - Gummiapan

A Pair of ATCs

 I have a pair of ATCs to share today for the new Tag-Along and ATC challenge which is just over half way through the first month.  It's amazing just how much detail can be incorporated in a small space and if you've not tried making these little pieces of art I'd certainly recommend having a go - you might be pleasantly surprised.  If you decide to go along with making tags, they can of course be larger, although there's nothing to say they can't be pretty small as well 😉. 

 For this pair I used a couple of images from a paper handkerchief - the packet was actually purchased not for blowing noses but because I'd thought the images would be ideal for ATCs or perhaps card toppers..  I carefully separated the layers of the tissue and used Mod Podge to apply the fashionistas to blank card (2.5 x 3.5 inches). The first one had some die cut 'sequins' and a bit of gilding added and the second  had some background text stamped carefully to add a bit of extra interest.  The words on both were produced on the computer and cut into little labels.

Images torn from tissue handkerchief, applied using Mod Podge
Words produced using Microsoft Word
Background Text stamp was a magazine freebie from a while back

Love a Duck!!

 There were a few ducks loitering on my desk, left over from a previous card so I brought out some of my snippets to cut a few more components to turn them into a card for the Playground challenge # 506.  I started with a fairly large snippet of patterned paper and added touches of green ink to turn it into more of a scene.  Dies from various sets were then used to cut items from some of my Snippets and there is a picture of a few of the left overs. As usual, apart from a card blank, everything else here came from my Snippets mountain.

In my head I rather imagined these ducks were maybe learning to fly by jumping off the bridge with the option of a safe landing into the water 🤣🤣.

                                                       

Ducks and Bulrushes - unbranded dies
Bridge, Tree trunk and Clouds - from Playing in the Rain Stampin' Up (retired)
Ripples in Water - die from Gummiapan Easter Calendar exclusive set

Why not have a rummage in your own Snippets collections to make a card for the challenge -

lovely prizes for the lucky winner

While we're talking challenges, I hope that the Playground management won't mind if I remind you that the next Allsorts challenge is a special Birthday Event with some great prizes to be won.

Allsorts Challenge # 823

The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge has been chosen by Lynne and is **Paper Piecing** with as usual the option of *Anything Goes*.  Prize this time  is  a voucher to spend at Personal Impressions. They stock a wide range of crafty goodies.

I really like this style of paper piecing and ended up making two cards because I was unable to choose between the two stamp sets which I pulled out as  being suitable for this technique..  In both cases the images were stamped onto the backgrounds and then again onto some Gelli prints using archival ink.  The Gelli print ones were carefully fussy cut using scissors and then adhered (paper pieced) in place to match parts of the stamping.

Acorn and Sentiment - Blueprint Sketch style stamp from Stampers Anonymous
Flowers - Abstract Florals by Stampers Anonymous collection
Sentiment - computer generated
Background on Second card - from a Prima paper pad (not recent)

Tag Along

 I have another project to share for the new Tag Along and ATC challenge which launched recently.  This time I've made a tag from a piece of corrugated pizza box which a kind friend let me have.  These were brand new pieces so no greasy remnants of cheese or tomato and they have nice fine corrugations.  I started by cutting the tag shape and then carefully peeled away some of the top layer to reveal the inside layer in places.  Distress Oxide was smooshed on and then a background texture stamp used to add some interest.  I then found scraps of cream card and stamped the chevrons, flowers, leaves and the word before cutting everything out with scissors ready to assemble into what I hope is a pleasing composition.  I'm quite enjoying this foray into making tags and ATCs as a change from the usual greetings cards.  Why not have a go yourselves - you might just discover a whole new interest.  After all variety is the spice of life, or so 'they' say 😂😂

Stamps - all from various Crafty Roo sets (sadly no longer trading)