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

Small Dwellings

I fancied a dabble with some stamping so, inspired by a video,  I sorted out some suitable stamps and a piece of water colour paper, trimmed to fit onto a DL card and came up with this.  The first thing I did was inked up my DL Gelli plate and pulled this background print then it was fairly straightforward to add the various stamps to build up the design.  The 'sticker' was one which I produced on the computer and glued in place.  Some sparkle was added here and there but sadly it doesn't show on the picture.  I do so enjoy building up inky scenes such as this.

Stamps - all Lavinia designs
'Sticker' - produced using MS Word and trimmed with scissors.

Snippets Challenge #511

 Time for another challenge in the Snippets Playground and as usual a lovely prize for the lucky person whose name is drawn at the end.  This card was made a short while ago so no photograph of the snippets this time but rest assured I reached for snippets to die cut the slatted squares and also the donkey was stamped onto a snippet before being fussy cut.  The blue layer also came from the snippets collection although the card blank was a purchased one and I needed to use a whole piece of a thinner white card so that I could print the words before trimming it down to fit nicely.  Sadly my current printer just refuses to take anything but the thinnest of card.  I've had the donkey stamp set for a few years but they are such fun and quite versatile.

Donkey - Darling Donkeys stamp set Stampin' Up (retired)
Slatted squares - Craft Addiction UK
Words - composed by me and printed using MS Word