Celebration in the playground!

Hello, crafting friends!

 

There's a new challenge starting in The Snippets Playground today - and it's a special one: Miss Di has been mistress of the playground for 12 jolly years! To celebrate her amazing milestone, Head Prefect Sarn would like to see us submit homework using snippets as usual but with an extra theme this time of Celebration.

 

Well that's easy - who better to celebrate than Miss Di herself and how better to celebrate than with a card made just with dies?! We all know that Miss loves the colour pink so I had a rummage through my pink snippets folder and brought out a new die, Woven Cane from The Greetery. I don't know what got into me getting this folder as I'm not blessed with a great deal of patience and of course it needed all the little bits poking out, not to mention trimming to size as it's designed for an American A2 card size - AND I couldn't find any double sided adhesive sheets so had to use glue!! I do love the look of it in pale pink layered over a darker pink though and am already thinking of other colour combinations :)

 

Then came more die cutting and a bit of punching! I'd saved a piece of gold foil gift wrap from Christmas which I glued to a snippet of white card. From this gold piece, I cut the letters to spell 'celebrate' using The Greetery's Slim Alphabet dies and some stars using a retired Stampin' Up punch. I punched more stars out of a dark pink snippet, as well as a die cut 'you', and finally cut a stitched label out of another white snippet. Once everything was cut, I arranged everything on the label and attached it to the background with dimensional pads.

 

I added one more touch: a jade green enamel heart, as a disruptor colour, but also as a nod to our lovely Jules who ran the playground before Di, and who always incorporates a heart in her designs!

 

Here are the snippets I used this time - gold foil gift wrap, a spoilt card base, pink snippets :)

CHALLENGES

I'm off to the Snippets Playground with some champagne and my homework; I'm also dropping in on Darnell at the NBUS Challange as my Greetery die is Never Before Used Schtuff.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

There are so many bugs going around at the moment and I'm sad to say my Dogmobile has succumbed! I tried to start it last week and there was a lot of coughing and spluttering but not a great deal of action, so it had to be sent off to the garage to be fitted with a new battery! But MUCH worse is this little poorly pudding:

 

Poor Lulu has cut one of her pads. She keeps telling me she's PERFECTLY okay and is there any chance of going out hunting rabbits? But I'm afraid she has to be rested and the paw bandaged for protection. She can go out for very short walks, but only on soft grass, and must be kept on lead so she doesn't rampage about. It's been a week so far and it's probably going to take at least another week to heal. She hates being left at home when I walk Eva but I am playing games and doing loads of training with her so she doesn't go completely crazy.

 

Hope your 2024 has kicked off better than ours!

 

Sending hugs,

Wreathed in festive florals

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's Thursday and the Tic Tac Challenge invites you to come and play with our new board! Devised by Betty this week,  there are plenty of options...

 

... including suggestions to enable us to crack on with those festive cards! I've chosen the middle row Wreath/Free/Enamel Dots to create mine.

 

I started this card by offsetting Funky Fossil's Holly Wreath stencil on a card panel and sponging reds and greens into it. I added a snippet of DSP  to the bottom, trimmed it to size with my guillotine and then went in search of a focal point.

 

I've been adding to my Embossing folder collection just lately and have found a few retired Stampin' Up beauties that I've really enjoyed playing with. The florals on this card come from a set of two called Floral Affection. I embossed the large floral on an offcut of pink card and again on a snippet of red card, added detail with markers and cut them out. The pine branches and holly leaves were found in the snippets box, left over from other projects. The sentiment is a retired Uniko's stamp combined with a die cut from Avery Elle. To finish, I attached the panel to a card front and added enamel dots to the flower centres. 

Right! Now it's your turn! Here's how to play along: Choose a row or column or one of the diagonals and create a card using the inspiration suggestions. Do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe challenge site to check out the samples the team has made for your enjoyment! You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you can use it to share your own card with us. We can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I used lots of left overs for this card (snippets of DSP, pink red and blue card offcuts, left over pine branch die cuts and holly leaf cut outs) so I'm skipping over to the Snippets Playground with this card in my satchel; I'm also joining in at Peace on Earth where there are wreaths everywhere on the mood board! I used an embossing folder to create my flowers so I'm also linking up with Can you Handle the Pressure where Anything Goes ( with optional twist of Spooky); also Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything Stenciled Goes.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Here's a heartwarming story for the dog lovers among you: Yesterday, I took the golden girls on a walk in the countryside. Both dogs have great recall so they run off lead, sniffing in the hedges, chasing things in the undergrowth. If they lag behind too long, I just call them and they catch up. Well yesterday Lulu didn't come back when I called and I realised there was something wrong. Eva and I walked back to find that Lulu had managed to get the wrong side of a fence. She was trying to get to us but was running up and down the fence looking for the way back, giving frantic little barks. Eva went into Big Sister mode and ran alongside her on our side of the fence, obviously trying to help her find the way. In the end, I found the gap under the fence in a very overgrown thicket with a ditch (delightful!) but I was so pleased to see how the girls interacted with one another.

Sending hugs,

A cup of warm wishes

Hello, crafting friends!

Happy Thursday and welcome to another fun challenge at Tic Tac Toe! As usual, we aim to inspire you with a Tic Tac Toe board - this week brought to you by Felicita :)

I've chosen the bottom row - Rust/Any Colour/Gold Foil and/or Glitter - to make a versatile, no-stamping card that could be used for any occasion.

The main image is the Cup of Love stencil from Funky Fossil which I positioned off the edge of the card base. I masked the top off while I inked the rust cup and saucer, then masked off the cup to gently ink a neutral ink into the top part of the stencil.

Once the masks were removed, I used a gold pencil to accentuate the swirls and a pink coloured pencil for the hearts. To  finish the card, I sponged in a 'ground', attached a sentiment die cut from gold foil and added gold stickle dots for a touch of glitter.

Okay, so now it's your turn! Which row or column will you choose from this week's board - or how about one of the diagonals?! Do pop over to the Tic Tac Toe challenge site to admire the inspiration brought to you by the team. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you'll be able to use it to upload your own creation. I can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Tristan's All Occasions challenge at Watercooler Wednesay :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

We've been hanging out with this little dynamo recently:

I feel I should gently point out to the leaders of the world that if it's renewable energy you're after, puppies could be the answer!!

Sending hugs,

Thanks and leaves

Hello, crafting friends!

Welcome back to your usual bundle of Tuesday fun courtesy of CAS Colours and Sketches. It's a new month and Jenny is taking over hosting duties, and the first colour palette she has chosen is a beauty:

I don't own a single one of these colours so I've gone for the closest match I had. I mention that because if you don't have those colours, please don't feel you can't join in - just go for a close match and if you don't have suitable inks, take a look at your markers and/or card stock.

I decided the paler greish blue-green reminded me of eucalyptus leaves so I brought out my Beautiful Branches stamp set by Concord & 9th. The branch  is a lovely curved shape and I used the round leaf image to stamp foliage all the way up it, adding shading with a coloured pencil in the very dark greyish green. The card panel was trimmed to  size with a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodle.

I  thought a die cut sentiment would look great as a pop of pink but found that it looked a little disconnected from the leaf image. To link it more closely, I scored some lines using my score board and that did the trick.

So now it's your turn! There's lots of inspiration from my teamies over at the CAS colours and Sketches website so do hop over and take a look. At the bottom of the post, you'll  find the Linky Tool which will enable you to share your own creation. Have fun!

CHALLENGES

The theme at Stamping Sensations this month is Stamp of the Moment and I've used Beautiful Branches,  a stamp set that is rarely off my desk! I'm also linking up with Chocolate Baroque where Anything Goes this month (with Celebrations as an optional theme.)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I heard a very silly joke about eucalyptus leaves once and I feel that this is the moment to share it with you:

Q: What did the Koala Bears say after their manicure?

A: "Eucalyptus!"

*shuffles off sheepishly to get coat*

Sending hugs,

Floating up with birthday wishes

Hello, crafting friends!

Happy Thursday and welcome to a large helping of fabulous inspiration courtesy of the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge! Here's this week's board:

I could have gone with any of the rows OR columns this week but in the end I opted for the left-hand column Stencil//Any Color Ink/Birthdayy. I did borrow the balloon idea as well because I really wanted to give my new Balloon Bash stencil from Uniko a whirl!

I started by stencilling the round balloon on a card panel using pink and green inks and used a grey pencil to doodle in some strings and a white pencil to add some 'shine'. The panel was then trimmed with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle. 

I added a die cut birthday sentiment from Avery Elle's A Tag For All and embellished with tiny die cut hearts from the Dinky Die House by X Cut. The panel was attached to a grey card base.

I had so much fun making this card and now it's your turn! You'll find lots of gorgeous inspiration from the rest of the X Team at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge site. You'll also find the Linky Tool so that you can link up your own creation. The winner will have the opportunity to guest with us :)

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything Goes; I'm also playing along with Time Out Challenge where they want to see coloured card bases with an optional twist of adding embellishments - I hope my die cut hearts count :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It just happens to be International Dog Day today *laughs gently*. Of course it is International Dog Day EVERY day in our house and my beautiful girl knows it :)

We have taken a selfie to mark the occasion and we may have a rousing game of 'Hunt the Dried Sprat' in the garden later!

Sending hugs,

Sorry I messed up

Hello, crafting friends!

There's been lots of mucky fun going on here, not just in the craft square metre but out on walks with Eva too. I've always said that I'm influenced by nature and today you'll be able to see just how much!

This card started with a little golden labrador, cut out with the Dog Builder punch by Stampin' Up. I coloured my pup with alcohol markers, gave him some features, and set him playing on some grass I sponged on the bottom of a card base. I foolishly added a dirty puddle and some mud to the scene, using Snow Front, also from Stampin' Up, and as you can see...

... he jumped in and got himself all covered in mud! He said he was sorry but I think it was a case of 'sorry, not sorry' because he'd always wanted to be a chocolate lab! Aaargh, stand back, I think he's going to shake himself!!

The splash of mud was created with Funky Fossil's Splatters stencil and I've had the idea in my mind ever since I saw THIS amazing card by the lovely Pat. To finish, I stamped the word 'sorry' and added a die cut 'oops' to go with it. I think it worked pretty well!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Perfectly CAS where the theme is Splash on a CAS design that uses only 1/3 of a card.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Of course Eva the beautiful princess would NEVER jump in a muddy puddle like this! Or would she...?

What you may not know is that Princess Eva has an alter ego called Miss Mucky McGrub!

Sending hugs,

Birthday sunshine and flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

When you need to make a card right now, a sketch is a great starting point - and Julie has come up with a great one for this week's CAS Colours and Sketches challenge!

I love how versatile this is. You can use it as it is, or flip it as I've done and moved the oval up a bit!

The oval shape on my card was achieved by trimming a panel with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle and cutting an oval aperture in it with a nesting die. I masked off the edges of the card base underneath the aperture and sponged yellow ink into the Sunny Day stencil by Clearly Besotted.

The aperture was just the right size for the birthday wishes sentiment from Avery Elle's A Tag For All. I glued that in place and then embellished the oval with leaves and flowers from Stampin' Up's Wreath Builder die set. TIP: I filled the hole in the centres of my blue flowers with the centres of some yellow ones I also cut. This is a fiddly task but I found that placing the flower onto a glue dot, then adding the centre made life easier. You can then peel the whole flower off the backing paper and apply it wherever you want it.

Are you ready to join us with your take on this sketch? As always, there's lots of wonderful inspiration from the CS&S team at the blog, and our lovely Guest Designer Valérie, and you can link up your entry there too. Don't forget to keep your  design clean and simple with plenty of space. I can't wait to see what you make!

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

This card was chosen as the Emerald winner at Color My Heart Color Dare!

CHALLENGES

I took colour inspiration from Color My Heart Color Dare's tic tac toe challenge, choosing the column on the right: Avocado, Canary and Bluebird; there's a Birthdays theme at Addicted to Stamps and More this fortnight, so I'm playing along there; I'm also joining in with the Anything Goes theme at Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge; and the Anything Goes option at Seize The Birthday.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I  don't know what on earth I'm doing making such a springlike card! In reality, Arctic winds are flinging flurries of bitter little snowflakes against the windows and every time I leave the house I say "I'm going out, I may be some time." In another life, we might have cheered each other up with coffee get togethers or a cosy games evening. Le sigh. I have decked my house out with potted daffodils instead. Go away winter! Only spring now!

Sending hugs,

Let it Shine!

Hello, crafting friends!

I have another exciting announcement to make! I've been keeping this one under my chapeau for a few months but today I can finally say that I am proud to have been invited to join the fabulous design team at Addicted To CAS - woohooo! If you've been following my blog you'll know that I AM pretty much addicted to the clean and simple style of crafting so this makes me very happy :)

Our first challenge of the year is one you are going to love - Embossing (heat embossing, dry or both) Here's what I came up with:

I adore the branch from MFT's Grateful stamp set and like stamping it as the background to a sentiment. Today though, I heat embossed it in gold directly onto a thick card base. The sentiment is die cut from black card stock, using a new-to-me Avery Elle die called A Tag For All. I pressed it into a Versamark pad and embossed with clear embossing powder for a delicious shine!

While I had the embossing stuff out, I smeared some Versamark over a snippet of red card stock and embossed that with clear embossing powder too before cutting out tiny circles to use as berries.

Do get your embossing folders/powders/boards out and join us! Click here for a whole lot of wonderful inspiration from hostess Barb and the rest of the team, as well as a stunner from Guest Designer Trina. You can use the Linky to enter your card too.

CHALLENGES

Since the sediment (it's infectious Darnell, but in a good way!!) is Never Before Used Schtuff, I'm linking up at January's NBUS challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It's great news on the dog walking front - we have frost! (Only a slight frost but a frost nevertheless!)

There has been so much rain recently that the pups and I have all come back dripping with mud after every outing. Every day I've found myself singing that song from Oh What a Lovely War that goes: 'Up to your waist in water, up to your eyes in slush, using the kind of language that makes the sergeant blush'! Frost means the ground hardens and the mud stays where it's supposed be and I'll definitely take that! 

Sending hugs,