Grumpy Penguins - Snippets Reminder

Hello and welcome

Happy Boxing Day to you. I hope you enjoyed Christmas Day.

I love these Katzelkraft 'Grumpy Penguins' stamps and had fun using them on some Christmas cards. I had some long strips of white card left over from creating my own card blanks, so I stamped and coloured several penguins at once, then cut them all out to add to cards.

I just love that 'Bah Humbug' (need to get a stamp saying that!) expression on the penguin's face.

CLICK on the photo for a close-up view!

Snowflake snippets

LEFT HAND CARD

I die-cut a snippet of white card with a Heffy Doodles "Stitched Rectangles" die and brushed Pool Party ink through an Aall & Create Stencil (Broken Circles #67) then ran it through my Big Shot inside an old Stampin' Up Snowy embossing folder. Next, I stamped, coloured and fussy-cut the penguin and adhered him to the card front with foam pads - did the same with the Ho Ho Ho sentiment. Glued on a snowflake snippet to finish!

RIGHT HAND CARD

I brushed Pool Party ink through my new Funky Fossil "Pebbles" stencil, direct to the card front. Next, I stamped, coloured and fussy-cut the penguin, adhering him to the card front with foam pads. The sentiment was stamped onto a snippet of white card then cut out and stuck to the card front with foam pads. Finally, I used three die-cut snowflakes from snippets, using dies from The Works.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Grumpy Penguins

Hello and welcome to my last post before Christmas

I wish all my blog friends, both old and new, a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a terrific NEW YEAR. 

Please know that I am very grateful for your visits. As I have not been out and about as much as normal during the pandemic, your virtual company has meant even more to me than normal. THANK YOU.

I made a few Christmas cards with the "daddy" penguin of the Katzelkraft 'Grumpy Penguins' family. 

He's so grumpy looking that I just HAD to find a sentiment with the word JOLLY in it, just to be ironic.

I spent some time just stamping, colouring and cutting out the penguins first. 

Next, I stamped and stencilled some backgrounds onto the card front. Each penguin was then stuck to the card with foam pads.

Backgrounds ready
for a penguin!

The stencil I used is Pebble Paths by Funky Fossil. I think it's going to be a firm favourite. 

The stamp I used to ground the penguin is from the Asia Marquet Stamp Set "Be Different" by IndigoBlu. A very useful little stamp it is too - and one that could easily be overlooked! The sentiment is so old, I can't remember who it's by, sorry!

Thanks again for your visit.

I wish you peace and joy.

In the Pink!

Hi Girls

I'm back with a festive card - in non-traditional colours. 

In truth, I made this for Miss Di as she just LOVES PINK (and I happen to know she likes this snowy tree image too!)

Remember Di has a four-week challenge going on in the Snippets Playground at the moment, with LOTS of prizes available. See HERE for further details.

SPECIAL Snippets Christmas/New Year Challenge #418

Hello Snippets Playmates!

Oh, you're in for a treat at Miss Di's Pixies' Snippets Playground as she's running a FOUR WEEK challenge and adding lots of prize posts for you to play for throughout those weeks. Be warned though . . . your snippets project must be on a CHRISTMAS AND/OR NEW YEAR THEME 

To put your name into the hat for a prize you must enter a project via Mr Linky on the Challenge #418 blog post. You can say "Yes Please" to as many prizes as you like during the 4 weeks - more details on Di's blog HERE.

I've made the Christmas money wallet pictured below. It's a great way to use up some of your larger snippets at this time of year!

The whole wallet is made from snippets!

To make the wallet: 
I used a larger snippet of SU Certainly Celery cardstock measuring 7" x 8".

With the 8" edge abutting the top of my scoreboard, I scored at 3.25" and 6.5".

After that, it was just a case of creasing all the score lines and decorating the flaps, then adding red liner tape to stick down the left and right hand edges of the small flap to make a pocket for the money to sit inside. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

For the decoration I stamped the outside (largest) flap with a huge PaperArtsy JOFY image. I stamped the image again onto a snippet of yellow card then cut them out just the stars to stick over the top of original image. I also used a white Gelly Roll pen to colour the circles and to outline the words. You can't really see it, but inside the front flap is a snippet of white card that I embossed with a snowflake EF. I also opted to use a corner rounder punch on the front flap!

As Head Prefect, I'm giving you a little recap:

• Remember DI'S SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR PRIZE DRAW CHALLENGE runs for FOUR WEEKS

• There's a CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR THEME.

• You MUST mention what snippets you've used AND link back to the Snippets Playground in your post.

• You have until 11am on 8th January 2022 to add your entry to the challenge HERE and once you've done that, you can say "YES" to as many of the prizes on the relevant posts as you like.

Meantime, the Treehouse is looking VERY festive - fairy lights have been hung, the Christmas Tree is decorated and the Christmas Hits are blaring out. Shin up the rope ladder and come find me - I've got plenty of mince pies, sausage rolls and mulled wine to go round!  Hic! I've also added a comfy chair for Miss Di to kick back and relax in with a box of wine and her straw!!!! Dudley has his snug fleecy dog basket next to Di's chair, so I can chuck T.R.E.A.T.S his way!

Allsorts Challenge - Week 654

Hello and welcome!

It's 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning, which means there's a new Allsorts Challenge waiting for you HERE. Pop over to see what my talented team mates have been up to and get details on how to enter.

This week, my team mate Ellie has chosen the theme of WINGS and/or TAILS (my Swiffallow has BOTH!).

Here's my DT card:

To make this card: I started by stamping the bird in navy blue ink on a snippet of white card. I then die-cut the focal image and a snippet of navy blue card using Wonky Rectangles. On the left side of my card front, I brushed green ink through a leafy Lavinia stencil before adhering the focal point to it. Finally I inked up the sentiment in both blue and green ink to pull it all together.

Snippets Playground - Challenge 417 (Ruby's Memory)

Good morning Girls!

I've done my homework and made a snippets card to share with you today!

I stamped portions of the large Penny Black 'Tigress' stamp onto a snippet of white card, then used a water brush and some SU Calypso Coral ink to colour the flowers.

I added the SU sentiment, then used a snippet of Calypso Coral card to mount the image. This was then adhered to the centre of a 5" x 7" card to leave lots of nice white space.

5" x 7" card

I'm skipping over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with a bulging satchel of contraband. Come and find me up in the Treehouse where I'll be doing more, err, HOMEWORK of course! Not causing mischief AT ALL - HONEST! And don't worry, even though Linby fell out of the Treehouse last week, after drinking some of my, "enhanced" Hot Chocolate - she had a soft landing in a huge pile of leaves and is unhurt!

Wishing you a happy and creative day.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 652

Good morning Blog Friends

It's 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning, which means there's a new Allsorts Challenge waiting for you to play along with.

Check out the Allsorts blog HERE to see what my talented team mates have been up to, and see details of this week's prizes and how to enter.

This week, Brenda has chosen the easy peasy theme of USE A HAND STAMPED OR DIGITAL IMAGE - giving you loads of opportunity to join in.

Here's my DT card:

Materials used

To make this card:

I stamped the flower head in SU Rose Red and used the same ink (with a water brush) to colour in the petals. SU Chocolate Chip brown ink was used with a waterbrush on the flower centre. The stem was stamped and coloured in SU Lucky Limeade and the sentiment was stamped in SU Chocolate Chip ink.

The splatters were created by tapping the Rose Red ink pad on an acrylic block and rolling a wet fan brush across it to pick up the ink. I held the brush above the image and tapped it all over the main panel before matting it onto a matching piece of card.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 651

Hello and welcome!

It's 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning, which means there's a new Allsorts Challenge waiting for you to play along with. 

This week, Brenda has chosen the theme of ONE FOR THE GIRLS - so she wants to see pretty, feminine, girly makes please.

Here's my DT card:

The materials used to make the card.

To make this card: I started by stamping the Carabelle "Woman with Birds - La Femme aux Oiseaux" image in dark blue ink onto a white piece of card. Once that was dry, I placed a stencil on top and brushed various distress inks through it. I punched out three flowers and brushed pink ink around the petal edges, shaped them and glued them to the card, then added rhinestone centres.

Snippets Playground - Challenge 414

Hello and welcome!

I've had a blast in the Snippets Playground Treehouse over the last fortnight, making you all mugfuls of hot chocolate with marshmallow toppings. We ran out of marshmallows at one point but a fellow playmate kindly bought up another truckload! One night, during "Homework Club", a couple of playmates bought along the Kahlua and the Baileys, which REALLY helped our homework flow. [Hic!]

Anyway, for my homework this week, I'm sharing a new home card which I really enjoyed making.

All the white elements on the card front are snippets, which means I can skip over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND and catch up with my fellow Playmates in the Treehouse where there's always fun and games to be had! All you have to do is scale the ladder and join in the mischief with me!

The card and envelope

A close-up of the layers

Card details:

I matted a previously made gelli print onto navy cardstock and attached it to the card front. I stamped the houses onto the gelli print in navy ink and grounded them using a tiny (retired) Lavinia foliage stamp. Next I stamped the houses twice more in navy ink onto white card snippets and cut them out with scissors. 

I went around the white edges of the houses with a dark grey Tombow pen, then used light and dark grey Tombow pens to add a little depth to the images. They were then stuck to the card front using foam pads for both layers. I layered the sentiment in the same way.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 646

Hello and welcome!

Another Saturday morning has arrived - which means it's time for another ALLSORTS CHALLENGE. 

Brenda has chosen the theme for this week's challenge, which is: ANYTHING AUTUMN - see HERE for further details. 

I have TWO cards to share with you:

CARD 1

A6 sized card

To make this card: I first stamped the Katzelkraft Windy Day image onto the card front, then stamped it again onto the green designer paper. I carefully cut out the girl's coat and umbrella and paper pieced them. I used Tombow pens for the hair, scarf, leggings and grounding. A matching piece of paper was added to the left hand side of the card. The whole thing was finished off with a Uniko "Simply Said" sentiment.

CARD 2

This card uses the Lavinia Spotty Toadstools stamps
which you have a chance to win if you enter the challenge.

For the above card: I used the following Lavinia Stamps - Spotty Toadstool stamps; Slender Mushrooms; Fairy Web and a little foliage stamp (retired). I also  brushed brown ink through the Laurel Stencil avoiding the toadstool heads. The toadstools were stamped first, then the mushrooms, foliage & web. The upside down toadstool was coloured in and the sentiment was added. Everything was then matted and layered onto an A6-sized card which I'd punched out the right hand edge.

You can see my talented team mates' examples HERE 

Allsorts Challenge - Week 645

Hello & welcome!

It's 8am on Saturday, which means it's time for a new ALLSORTS CHALLENGE. 

I'm delighted to reveal that I've joined the Allsorts Design Team for a while and this is my inaugural post as a team member!

It's Lolo's turn to host the challenge and she's chosen EMBELLISH IT as the theme - which leaves you plenty of scope to add all manner of bits and bobs to your projects! 

I made a little pocket wallet and filled it with paper treasures. I embellished the front of the wallet as well as the bookmark that was inserted into one of the pockets.

So, why not head over to the ALLSORTS Challenge HERE to see further details on how to enter. You can also gaze in wonder at the lovely creations made by my talented team mates!

The folded & embellished pocket project

The finished project

Close up of the paper treasures
that were inserted into the pockets!

To create this project:

I followed instructions from HERE.

I took a thin A4 sheet of white card and used a brayer to randomly apply acrylic paints across it on both sides. Once dry, I stuck some tiny pieces of newspaper to it with Mod Podge. Then added a little bit of stamping as well as scraping Gesso through a tiny dots stencil. The sheet was then folded up and red liner taper was used to stick the bottom edge together. Die cut embellishments were then added to the front.

While the main pocket wallet was drying, I made the enclosures by merrily brayering paint and adding stamping to more snippets of white card. I heat embossed  images with clear EP and also doodled with a white gel pen. Added  snippets of black card for the matting. I even used some ribbon on the bookmark! 

Double Fold Back Cards

Hello and welcome!

I have a couple of shaped cards to share with you today.

I first saw this folded card on Sandy's blog HERE and bookmarked it to have a play with. I followed the link she gave to Splitcoast Stampers HERE, and proceeded to make the cards below. 

One is decorated with die cuts, the other is decorated using stamping.

Card One

The card all folded up with a wrap to keep it closed.

A birds-eye view of the whole card

Card Two

Written out measurements and instructions are included in my previous post HERE.

I wish you lots of creativity. Have a good day.

Golden Wedding Anniversary

Hi there!

Today's card is for my neighbours' 50th Wedding Anniversary. As it was a special occasion, I made them a special card. I used a lovely floral embossing folder on some gold mirror card, and die cut the numbers from the same card so it all matched.

This view shows the shape & dimension

Another view - more from the front.

A change is as good as a rest!

Welcome to this week's blog post.

Instead of a card, I have a few doodles to show you. The process of drawing them is very therapeutic and helps take your mind off things. 

All were drawn with Sakura pens, then shaded with an HB pencil and a paper stump. However, any fine nibbed pen will do and you can use your finger to smudge the pencil shading if you don't have a paper stump to hand.

Trying out a new swirly Tangle
in my notebook.

More tangling - looks a bit like a tattoo!

A doodled "stack"
(you can search Pinterest to learn how to stack)

Have a wonderfully creative day.

Tic Tac Toe Challenge 126

Hi Friends
Despite having a lack of mojo at present, I got my backside into gear having been inspired to play along with the current TIC TAC TOE CHALLENGE (No. 126). 

I saw the challenge details on the very talented Vicky Hayes' blog HERE. She's a new DT member for Tic Tac Toe.

For this card, I chose the TOP ROW (Red, Bookworm, Sentiment).

I simply stamped the Rubber Romance "Julia Loves to Read" image and picked a sentiment to go with it, then heat embossed them both in clear EP. Julia's dress and matching handbag were coloured with a red ProMarker and I used a light grey ProMarker to ground her! 

Lavinia Fairy Silhouette

Hi there

Today's base card measures 3.5" x 5.5" and was created from a larger snippet of Mango Melody SU cardstock.

The fairy was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink over a background created by spraying various Dylusions ink sprays over another snippet of white card. Additionally, I used a white Posca pen to add "stars" in the sky. I left room for a sentiment to be added to the bottom at a later date.

Inky ATCs

Hi there - thanks for dropping by.

Today I have a couple of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) to share with you.

They both started off with backgrounds made by spraying Vibrant Turquoise and Fresh Lime Dylusions ink sprays onto white card.

After the inky background was dry, I added stamping, then used a brush to add Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges (and a little bit through the middle) of the ATC. 
I used a white Posca pen to draw around the star as well as a couple of stuck on snippets for extra detail. I added splatters with the same pen.

This ATC is much more CAS - consisting of the ink sprayed background and minimal stamping. 

The grungy circles are by Carabelle and the block sentiment is by Uniko.

Got this ATC idea from Kathy K's post HERE

LOVE all that white space!

INKY Artist Trading Cards

Hi there

I recently had loads of fun making some Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and thought I'd share them with you today. Apologies in advance to my regular ATC swap partner (Kathy K) as some of these will no doubt find their way to her. 

I started by spraying various colours of Dylusions ink sprays onto white cardstock. Once the sprayed backgrounds were dry, I added all sorts of things over the top:

• pastes, paints and inks were pushed through stencils;

• a white Posca pen was used to highlight and splatter with;

• sponge daubers added ink around edges, as well as "dabbed on" circles;

• I did a lot of stamping and heat embossing;

• dimension was added to a couple of the ATCs by stamping and heat embossing butterflies and sentiments which were fussy cut and glued on.

Come and see the results:

Click on the photo to see more detail

I hope you liked looking at this colourful collection of 2½" x 3½" mini works of art!

Thanks for dropping by.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

You're Wonderful!

Hi there!

Today I'm  sharing a card I made for a good friend who is simply wonderful!

MATERIALS:

• Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles die cuts
• Aall & Create Flowers - stamped directly onto the wonky rectangle, and again onto another white snippet of card, coloured with Wild Honey distress inks then fussy cut out and added to the card with foam pads for dimension.
• Splatters from SU's Gorgeous Grunge set using the Wild Honey distress inks.
• Sentiment from a long-retired SU stamp set, stamped in Versafine Clair Twilight ink.

Blue Spheres

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing a card that I'm hoping will be suitable for the male of the species. I find masculine cards more difficult to create, but this one came together pretty quickly using just two stencils and a sentiment stamp.

The gorgeous dimensional spheres stencil is by Funky Fossil. 

I brushed Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink (DOI) through the stencil, followed by Faded Jeans DOI around the edges of each sphere. I die-cut some circles and used them to mask off the spheres before adding the stencilled squares to the background in a darker blue ink.

This photo shows truer colours than the first photo.

Thanks for dropping by and for any comment you choose to leave.

HAPPY CRAFTING

That's torn it!

Hey there! Thanks for dropping by.

I've another masculine card to show you today, using papers that were already out on my desk from THIS CARD.

The lovely large leafy stamp came free from a recent Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine. I stamped the sentiment and leaves in brown ink in keeping with the earthy tones.

I cut the blue piece of card and both pieces of patterned paper to the same size as each other, then tore the papers at an angle (ensuring you could see the white tear). Next, I glued the stripey paper onto the blue piece of card, then the script paper on top of that and trimmed off the top excess. 

HAPPY CRAFTING

Masculine Birthday Card

Hey!

Today I'm sharing a masculine birthday card with you.

I usually find it difficult to make cards for men, but this one came together quite quickly using some earthy toned papers and a little die cutting. 

I used a snippet of white card for the base - scored and folded it in half, then scored the card front in half and folded it back on itself. Being a snippet, it was an odd size, so I had to make an envelope for it too! Folded up it measures 4" x 4.5".

Wondering where I'm going to write on it? It'll be on the nice white back!

Double Fold Easel Card

Today I'm sharing a "Double Fold Easel Card" which I made after seeing a video tutorial on You Tube HERE.

My version is below:

                                                                    

MEASUREMENTS

You need two sheets of A4 card, and using the following measurements, you can make TWO cards from them.

White base card: 11" x 4", scored at 5.5"
Coloured card: 3.75" x 10.25", scored at 2.5" & 5"
2 pieces of patterned paper: one measuring 3.5" x 5" and the other 3.5" x 2.25"

Showing the patterned paper added
to the coloured piece of card.

Showing the whole base card prior to decoration.

And here's my two all decorated:

Good use of two pieces of A4 card and some white snippets, eh?

  

It's straightforward to make and perfect for a special card, so why not give it a go?

HAPPY CRAFTING

One Layer Card - Blue butterfly

Hi and thanks for dropping by!

Today's card is only one layer and was quick and simple to make, using only 3 Visible Image stamps and 2 ink pads!

I used two grunge stamps in the medium blue ink, then stamped the butterfly over the top in a dark blue ink. 

I may add a sentiment at a later date.

HAPPY CRAFTING

Birthday Cake

Hi there,

I have a 5" square card to share with you today . . . full of birthday cake! Yummy!

Showing the sparkly pen on the cake cases
and the glossy accents on the plate.

I stamped the trio of cakes image twice so I could colour and fussy cut a couple of the cakes in order to decoupage them. 

I added glossy accents to the plate and a glittery pen on the cake cases for extra interest.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Contemporary Anniversary Card

Hi there creative friends!

I have a contemporary anniversary card to share with you today.

Made with a snippet of SU patterned paper; stamps from Winnie & Walter's "Big, Bold & Happy" set and a tiny SU heart stamp.

Gelli Print Butterfly card

Hey there!

I have a 6" square card to share with you today, which uses up snippets of dark blue card and a lighter blue gelli print.

Thanks for dropping by and for any comment you care to leave.

Another hug card

Here's another hug for you . . . just in case you need one today.

It's a very similar card to THIS ONE . . . but in a different colour scheme, and it was one layer before I added the three flowers!