Bags of snippets

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Yesterday evening my sister took me out to dinner and I wanted to bring along a little thank you. I found quite a big off-cut of SU designer paper, which must have been around for quite some time, so I used it to make a little treat bag to fit a mascara I knew she had been wanting to try. There was just enough of the paper to get a thank you card out of it too.

Here's the bag and the card together. It was so quick to make them using just die cuts and no stamping.

THE BAG

I used my Simply Scored to create a simple bag shape. (For those that are interested, the paper was trimmed to 6.5" square, then vertical scores made at 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6". The paper was turned 45 degrees clockwise and scored at 1.5".) I assembled the bag using strong red tape, popped the mascara inside and secured the top with a tiny enamel bulldog clip tied up with coordinating twine. I made a label from a scrap of vellum, cut with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle, and decorated with some leaves that were in my snippets box.

 

THE CARD

It was a tight squeeze, but I was able to trim the left-over bit of paper with another of the stitched rectangle dies. The same die was used to cut out a piece of green card from my snippets folder. I fussy cut the bottom of the designer paper along the scallop design, layered it over the green card and attached it to a card front. This was topped with a scrap of vellum cut with a stitched circle die by Waffleflower, and a sentiment die cut from a black snippet. Simple!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking these projects up at The Snippets Playground where Miss Di and Head Prefect Sarn are preparing for Jubilee celebrations; The Sisterhood of Crafters want to see Bag projects so I'm joining in there too. I'm sharing the card at Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge where Anything Goes, and at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is Die Cuts and/or Stencils.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My sister and I dined at a posh restaurant where there was a 9 course 'tasting menu', and a waiter whose accent became more and more French as the evening wore on. There was even an 'amuse bouche' which made us go a bit giddy! 'Well, that certainly amused MY bouche!' we declared at regular intervals and giggled like silly school girls.

My sister had told the staff beforehand that it was my birthday and, at the end of the meal, this plate was brought out! Those little sweetmeats are handmade white chocolate fudge and passion fruit jellies - and oh my goodness they were delicious!

It was a lovely evening but I can tell you that staggering about in high heels used muscles that I had obviously forgotten I had!!

Sending hugs,

Sunshine in the city

Hello, crafting friends!

The unexpected sunshine we had recently really raised everyone's spirits so I decided to use it as a motif on a thank you card I needed.

I reached for the Sunny Day stencil by Clearly Besotted and positioned it over a thick card base, masking off the sides so that it would create the illusion of a panel. After sponging yellow ink into it, I removed the masks. The cityscape is another stencil from Clearlyy Besotted called The Tale of Two Cities. It's a layering stencil - I clear embossed the windows, then positioned the corresponding buildings stencil over the top and sponged blue into it. I love the effect! 

I fussy cut my cityscape and glued it onto the sunshine background. To finish the card, I added a yellow tag with the word 'thank' stamped onto it and added a die cut 'you' that I coloured ombré style with blue alcohol markers. 

CHALLENGES

I haven't managed to play along at Colour Hues lately so I'm getting in early this time! The colour combo is Blue and Yellow -  always a spring favourite! I'm also joining in at the Allsorts challenge where Lynn wants to see Yellow on our creations, so I have obliged with plenty of sunshine! The theme at Addicted To Stamps and More is Dies and/or Stencils, so I shall link up there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Eva has made a new friend, a little black dog with a curly tail called Coda. She is a 7 month old pup who was abandoned on the street in a cardboard box with her siblings when they were tiny (thankfully all have now found homes.) When we first met Coda she was terrified. She barked hysterically at us, telling us to keep our distance, and ran and hid in the hedges when we approached. Gradually though, over the last couple of months, she has realised that not only are we not a threat but that Eva is brilliant fun! The difference between shaking, barking, scared Coda and enthusiastic, running-to-greet-us and playing-with-Eva Coda makes me SO happy.

I don't have photos of the girls playing to show you yet but I can show you a photo of a young lady worn out from frolicking with her young friend!

Sending hugs,

Tartan thanks

Hello, crafting friends!

I'm still pinching myself about joining the design team at CAS Colours and Sketches but we are starting our year of fabulous challenges today so I guess it's all true! We're kicking off with a fabulous colour challenge:

While I was making this 'moving house at Christmas card', it crossed my mind that the clapperboard stamp in WPlus9's New Home could be used to make plaid, so that's what I've done with these colours!

I trimmed a panel with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle, masked off the bottom on the diagonal and sponged Pool Party ink over the top part. Then, using my stamping platform, I stamped fine lines in Cherry Cobbler using the Clapperboard stamp, and thicker lines in Bermuda Bay using a stamp from Uniko's useful Background Builders Classics.

Once I'd stamped my background I attached the panel to a card base and topped it with a large die cut sentiment - Bitty Thank You from Concord & 9th. This was cut from Cherry Cobbler card stock and heat embossed before being glued to the plaid.

What do these colours make you think of? Have a look at all the inspiring cards on the CAS Colors and Sketches site and link your card there too!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Allsorts where Ellie is also easing us in with an Anything Goes challenge; I'm also joining in at DiesRUs where Anything Goes (as long as it features a die of a brand the store carries.)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Making this card suddenly reminded me of a pair of pyjamas one of my boys used to wear as a child. I remember him coming downstairs to open his Christmas stocking looking like one of the Darling boys from Peter Pan!

He's quite a lot bigger now of course but still an absolute sweetheart!

Sending hugs,