Snippety splits!

Hello crafting pals!

I've been busy using up some of the left over snippets and am feeling quite smug! Here's what I made today:

You may recognise some of the essentials from this card (scroll down past challenge image) but it's taken on quite a different look hasn't it?! I'd stamped and fussy cut far too many of those pretty flowers (from Stampin' Up's Soft Spring) and it would have been a shame to waste them. I even rescued a ruined card base, sticking an off-cut of Pink Pirouette card stock to the front.

Do you like the split in the front? I was inspired As You See It, where the latest challenge is called Split Decision and this is the sketch:

I flipped the sketch, angled the horizontal element a little and took the split part of the title literally, stamping an old Clearly Besotted sentiment in the gap. The edges were finished off with a scored line.

The best part of using all those snippets, of course, is that I'll be able to skip over to Pixie's Snippet Playground where I'll be able to say hello to the playmates and Miss after a long time away. Will bring Eva with me - nothing in the Rools about whether we're allowed big floofy puppers with us and Eva wants to just CHECK to see if anyone has any snax she can share and also say a gentle hello to Dudley!

Thanks for rootling about here today and I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs,

Faster than the speed of purple lightning!

Hello crafting pals!

Today I took card making to new levels! Yes, it's EXTREME paper crafting for only the most daring of inksters! My bloggy pal LeAnne introduced me to a new challenge, As You See It, which was responsible for the most enjoyable ten minutes of my day with this fabulous speed challenge:

I wasn't going to pass this one up! I had a little think, got all my supplies out, and mounted my stamps as suggested - and this one-layer card is the outcome:

I stamped this flower outline from Stampin' Up's Soft Spring on either side of the card front, using Basic Grey ink. The image has a coordinating solid stamp so it's quick and easy to 'colour in' the flowers - I used Highland Heather. The beautiful sentiment is from Concorde and 9th's Beautiful Branches and I will never tire of it!

Doing that took 2 minutes - I'm serious, TWO MINUTES! But I admit, it was looking a little flat. So...

... I took a blender pen and some Gorgeous Grape ink and scribbled in a bit of detail. This is a very 'artsy' stamp so I didn't need to be particularly careful. After that, I added a sprinkling of gems and hey presto, the card was done!

So how long did it take?

Six minutes and 15 seconds - well under the 10 minutes of the challenge! Apparently they don't usually do speed challenges at As You See It, but I wish they did because that was FUN!

I shall also enter this card into the Passion for Purple challenge over at The Rainbow Card Challenge where they're looking for purple cards.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
It's been a nice, gentle, warm summer so far here in the heart of England, but today there was a heavy-handed reminder that rain is A Thing! I took the dogs out for a long walk this morning and when we got home, we were all soaked. The dogs have double coats (which is why they enjoy a swim in snowy weather!) but my 'shower proof' raincoat and trousers might just as well have been made of paper! Even my underwear was drenched! Great crafting weather though...

Thanks for joining me today - and thank you for chatting with me in the comments and for keeping me company while I craft. I really appreciate it :) See you soon!

A soft spring birthday

Hello crafting friends!

One of the things I love about card challenges is that as you go round visiting everyone, you come across new challenges! The Colour Throwdown is another one I remember playing along with when I used to craft and blog and it's lovely to find it again :)

The colours this week are gorgeous - green, yellow, pink and lavender. Come and see what I made:

I loved making this card! When I replaced my sold-off Stampin' Up ink pads a few weeks ago, I qualified for some freebies and was able to get a hostess set called Soft Spring that I'd been admiring. I made a little bouquet out of the flowers and laid it on a background made from some strips of card stock.

Soft Spring is a two step stamping set so I was able to stamped the outlines in Pear Pizzazz and then 'colour in' the flowers with the solid stamps using Highland Heather and So Saffron inks. The flowers were fussy cut, which is something I love doing, but I'm sure there are similar stamp sets on the market that have coordinating dies!

I used a simple 'Happy Birthday' from Altenew's Birthday Greetings and finished the card by stapling a length of purple bakers twine to the flower stems and tying it into a bow.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
My daughter has found a flat in London and will be moving in next weekend. She doesn't let the grass grow under her feet that one! We've been chatting about the things she could do in the city, and I've been reminiscing as I lived there for 16 years. One of the places I've recommended is Columbia Road Market. It's a flower market and I used to go there to gaze at the astonishing displays of flowers, many of which I'd never seen before in my life!

Thanks for dropping by today. See you soon!