Sunday Snippets - Bunny is back!

Here's wishing you a LOVELY CHRISTMAS.

Not only is it Sunday morning and time for a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND  - but its CHRISTMAS EVE too! Are you excited? I know I am!

Miss Di and Dudley are in charge of the Playground for the next fortnight - and this time around there is a THEME for you to comply with!

The theme is ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS - so we don't want to see anything festive on your snippet makes at all! As it's the last challenge of the year, Di has a super prize on offer. Run off and find out what I'm talking about . . . HERE.

My 3" x 6.25" custom made card.

Snippets used.

To comply with the non-Christmas theme - my homework features a birthday card. I got "Bunny" back out and gave him a (PaperArtsy) window to sit in. I cut into a whole sheet of 6"x6" brick patterned paper, but mounted it onto packaging snippets. The Bunny and sentiment are also die-cut from packaging snippets and the flowers were stamped a couple of times onto a gelli print snippet then cut out with scissors and stuck on. I added a bit of brown watercolouring to the left hand side of the window to give it some depth.

I know you're all busy with Christmas, but when you get a chance to play with your snippety craft stuff, hop along to enter the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND and have some fun. Di, Dudley and I have plenty of mince pies and a lethal rum punch on the go! Plus some sausage rolls etc. Come and find us up in the treehouse. You can also read about the Nativity Play/Panto/Fiasco!

Bird on a branch scrapling

Hi Friends 

I so enjoy getting out my gelli plate and making prints that I have quite a lot of them to hand from recent sessions. Then I go and use a little bit of one and end up with even more snippets in my collection!!!

For the above card, I die cut a leafy branch from a dark blue gelli print then stamped the bird onto a snippet of an orangey print. I added a bit of colour to the bird's beak, wing and crown then cut him out with scissors.

The card blank is a white “scrapling” left over from cutting my own card blanks from A4 card. I decided to use it in the landscape orientation for a change. The branch was glued directly to the card. The bird was added on top with a foam pad for a little dimension. I custom-made an envelope to fit the odd-sized card.

DETAILS: 

• The bird comes from an Aall & Create stamp set called "Strange Birds" and is still only £4.80 HERE (no affiliation). 
• The lovely leafy sprig was snipped out of a die-cut circle ("Circle of Leaves" by Simon Says Stamp) - recently gifted to me by a lovely friend. 
• The nice bold sentiment is part of the PaperArtsy ESN37 set by Sara Naumann.

Snowy Snippets!

Hi Playmates!

I'm always happy when I'm using up snippets! Here, I've used a gelli print snippet, as well as some SU Pool Party card. Hmm, just looking at this photo makes me think I need to run off and add a gem in the centre of that snowflake . . . best go and do that before I forget!

Showing the Pool Party snippet I used for the snowflake.

Di has published RESULTS from her previous challenge, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire the top picks and discover who won the prize. 

There's still time to add your name to the cast list of the Nativity Play - details on the Snippets Playground post - some major parts are still vacant!

NB: Di's next Playground Challenge - starting on Christmas Eve - will have a theme of ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS! So please enter any snippets card you like, as long as it has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas! Non-compliant entries won't be eligible for the draw and may be deleted - and you really don't want to miss the chance of her prize - trust me!

Have a gelli good Christmas!

I have some Christmas cards to share with you today. Well, it is that time of year, after all!

I took a dark blue gelli print and cut it into 3.5" squares. The prints were liberally splattered with a white Posca pen and left to dry. Next, I stamped some Christmas images by Sara Naumann (PaperArtsy) over the top using VersaMark ink, sprinkled them with white embossing powder and heat set them. Once I had flattened the paper back out again, I mounted each piece onto navy blue card and then on to a card front. I used up 2 snowflake snippets on a couple of the cards. 

All 4 cards are made from one gelli print.
Cards measure 4.75" x 4.75"

A closer look!

Splattered, heat embossed and a snowflake snippet added.

And there we have it, a grungy, splattered set of Christmas cards all ready for next year!

Leafy snippets

I'm sharing a 6" square card with you today. Apart from the card base, everything else is a snippet!

6" x 6" card full of snippets

Some of the snippets I used.

   

An angled shot!

Materials:

• White snippets (die-cut with stitched square dies from The Works)
• Gelli print snippets for the central square; die-cut leafy sprig (Pink & Main Leafy Dies 1) and the edge embellishments.
• "Sarn Candi" created by punching out 2 small circles from the pink gelli print, shaping them and adding them to the tiny edge strips with a foam pad.

This week's ALLSORTS CHALLENGE theme is STITCHING - REAL OR FAUX. As this card uses stitched square dies I'm able to enter - although there is always the "anything goes" option.

The beautiful Pink & Main leaf die set was recently given to me by a wonderful friend. Mwah!

Sunday Snippets!

Hi Playmates

There's a new challenge to join in with at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with Yours Truly in charge for the next fortnight. Why not use up some snippets and come over to play?

For my homework I'm sharing two ATCs made with my fave flower stamp. All the pieces of card are snippets.

Two Artist Trading Cards (2.5" x 3.5" each)

Hope to see you over in the Snippets Playground. We're a friendly bunch, so come and play. Plus there's a nice prize up for grabs if you follow the rules.

Adventures in Gelli Printing (2)

Hi Friends

Following on from last Wednesday's gelli printing adventures, today, I'm sharing more cards and an ATC using the golden circle print (shown further down this post). I chopped the gelli print circle into pieces, ensuring some of the circle was visible on each piece. 

I then set about adding stamping and die cuts over the top, then matting and layering to make 3 greetings cards and an ATC. 

It takes an AGE for stamping to dry if it goes over the top of an acrylic painted print . . . so to speed things up, I usually stamp with Versafine Clair black ink, then heat emboss with clear embossing powder. 

MATERIALS:

• Gelli print
• Stamps by Woodware (art nouveau birthday sentiment), Inkylicious (silhouette flowers), Visible Image (grungy numbers), Aall & Create (row of crosses) and PaperArtsy (myth quote)
• Matted and layered using Stampin' Up! card and a bit of packaging.

I used the golden circle gelli print shown below. The circle was created with bright orange paint, but I pulled the print after brayering a thin layer of translucent gold paint on top. The gold acrylic paint I used is Abstract by Sennelier (Iridescent Gold #028) available in pouches from Hobbycraft in the UK for around £4 (it will last you ages).

Close up of the embossing on the ATC:

Just look at the gloss on that embossing!

So there you go - a double whammy. First I had all the fun of creating gelli prints, then I got the opportunity to be creative all over again by turning them into cards and ATCs (and an envelope shown at the bottom of my previous post HERE).

And finally . . . I was inspired to cut-up my gelli printed circles and make cards this way after seeing THIS BLOG POST by Tricia Morris via Pinterest. No point keep pinning stuff to your boards if you never USE them is there? LOL!

Snippets Challenge 29th Oct - 11th Nov

Hi Playmates

Well autumn is truly upon us and it's lovely to have it in full flow after a late start.

We're starting to gather wood for the Snippets Playground Bonfire Night on 5th November (next Sunday eek!), but once again, out of respect for our pets, there will not be any whizzbangs! Just the bonfire, jacket potatoes, pumpkin soup and some buttered rolls to keep us playmates warm!

A6 sized card using up snippets of black card and a gelli print

Snippet used for bird die.

I mounted a gelli print snippet measuring 1" x 3.5" onto a black snippet strip measuring a quarter inch larger all round. Then I die cut the bird from a further black snippet. Glued everything together and attached to the card front after stamping a very small text/ledger stamp by Gummiapan along the left hand edge. Decided it would make a good masculine card, so I added a Happy Birthday sentiment too.

Miss Di is in charge of the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight - so skip over there to find out what lovely prize she is offering, as well as all the details on how to enter. 

Adventures in Gelli Printing (1)

Hi Friends

Tried out my 6" round gel plate for the first time the other day, and got my 8" x 10" plate out while I was at it! Want to see what I got up to? This post is a bit photo heavy, so you might want to grab a cuppa!

Here are the cards first:

2 x greetings cards and an ATC

Materials:

• A few gel prints made with acrylic paints, leaves and a brayer.
• Bird silhouette die by The Works.
• Leafy circle die "Circle of Leaves" by Simon Says Stamp (recently given to me by a very kind friend).
• Leafy sprig on the ATC - part of a leaf die by Pink & Main called "Leafy Dies 1" (recently given to me by the same very kind friend - don't you just love happy mail?!)

Here are two masculine cards made with the blue circle gelli print:

Apologies for the ATC turning up again in this photo!

Here are the gel prints I made beforehand. 

• Today's cards come from the 6" blue circle and the 8"x10" orange/pink print. I'll show you the cards made with the top golden circle in another post. 

The orange/pink leafy die on the ATC comes from middle print shown below:

Here's an envelope I made with the bottom gel print shown in the above picture. It's so pretty IRL:

It's VERY easy to get carried away making lots of prints and then you find yourself wondering what to do with them all - so I thought I'd share a few ideas here. 

Please come back next Wednesday for another post on my gelli printing adventures!

Sunday Snippets!

Hi Playmates!

Today I have a CAS butterfly card to share with you. 

After all the stormy weather this week there are precious few butterflies fluttering around now! However, I stamped some onto a gel print snippet, then cut them out and glued them to the card front. I also heat embossed the sentiment with gold EP. 

5" square card

Attempting to show the shine of the heat embossing!

The sentiment and butterflies are from separate Visible Image stamp sets.

Di has published RESULTS from the previous challenge, so please put your wellingtons on and puddle-jump over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire the top picks and discover who won the prize.

Snippets Challenge: 15-28 October

Hi Playmates!

It's Sunday morning and time for a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with yours truly in charge for the next fortnight.

Here's my homework:

ATC measuring 2.5" x 3."5"

The wonderfully arty trees are by Chocolate Baroque and were kindly sent to me by a lovely blog friend (mwah!).

To make the ATC, I took a white snippet that was slightly smaller than 2.5" x 3.5" and added a bit of stencilling to the background, along with some grounding for the trees image. The trees were coloured, cut out and glued on. I chose a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker which I coloured with the same green ink, chopped up and glued to the ATC. I doodled a border around each word to make them stand out a bit more.

Finally I mounted the white snippet onto a grey piece of card measuring the correct ATC size!

As stated at the beginning of this post, I shall be running amok in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight - so skip on over to find out what lovely prize is on offer, and get all the details on how to enter. Good luck!

Autumn Leaves for Allsorts!

Hi Friends!

I have an autumnal card for you today, just right for adding to the ALLSORTS CHALLENGE (#748) this week!

A6 sized card

The above card started out like this:

Home made texture paste added!

. . .  because I was messing about with some texture/modelling paste I made with talc, PVA glue and white acrylic paint (although you could add ANY colour of acrylic paint to the talc and glue)! Anyway, I scraped the homemade paste* through a pretty stencil and left it to dry.

Next, I added a variety of Distress Oxide inks, which was NOT very successful colour-wise. So I got a baby wipe out in a vain attempt to mop up some of the mess, but a happy accident occurred and I liked what the baby wipe did to the overall colour.  Then I sprayed some water onto the card front so that the Oxides reacted with it! Once dry I stamped some splatters over the top. See below:

Distress Oxides, baby wipe &
water + some ink splatters!

Wondered what to do with the card front after that - but as luck would have it, I'd used some autumnal colours on a recent gel print, so I die-cut some leaves from it, plus a branch for the leaves to hang from and glued them on. I also added the word "moments" using first, second and third generation stamping.

Die cuts and words added.

However, the leaves looked a bit lost on the card front . . . so, to remedy that, I decided to add a brown shadow using the same Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink I'd used for the words. The shadows really help the leaves to pop. Success!

Finished result (with the shadow added).

Unless you're a card maker, you would never know how much work went into this would you?!

Please take a look at my lovely blogpal VAL'S leafy card for another idea on using these dies.

*There are a number of YT videos on making your own paste, but I most liked Chrissie Stokes's version. However, I didn't measure anything, I just put a dollop of glue and some acrylic paint into a pot and added talc until I was happy with the consistency!!! I kept the remaining paste in a small jar that would otherwise have gone out into my recycling bin! Making your own paste is WAY cheaper than buying it already done for you and is LOADS of fun. Plus it smells nice and so will your craft room afterwards!

Snippets Playground Challenge 1st - 14th October

Hi Playmates

It's Sunday morning and time for a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with Miss Di in charge for the next fortnight.

Here's my homework: 

MATERIALS:

1. Die cut birthday sentiment: from a set of PP Craft dies (white snippet)
2. Die cut flower: Kindly sent to me by a lovely blog friend (thanks!)
3. Gelli print snippet made with acrylic paints; brayer; bubblewrap; Aall & Create reverse text stamp
4. Purple mount trimmed snippet

Now it's your turn to use up some of your own snippets so you can come and play in the Snippets Playground. Remember to leave a comment if you wish to be in the prize draw. You have until 14th October to get your homework in on time!

Happy crafting.

Snippets Playground Challenge: 17th - 30th September

Hi Playmates!

I'm hosting the new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight, so why not reduce your mountain of snippets and make something so that you can play along?

Here are some snippety cards made with my favourite flower stamp set (Aall & Create set #986 called 'The Good' by Tracy Evans). I decided to use up some white strips left over from cutting my own card bases.

The card sizes vary a little, but all measure approx 3" x 6".
Main image mounted onto a snippet of SU Pool Party card stock (centre card),
with the cards either side using up packaging for the mats!

DL and A6 sized cards.
Snippets used: black and white pieces of card and an inked up piece using an embossing folder,
plus some green patterned SU papers - all trimmed to fit.

The focal points of the above 5 cards started out life like this:

9 white snippet strips - uninspiring or what?!

Here are the 9 strips all stamped up.
The top 4 strips will be used to fussy cut flowers
for later use (like those seen to the right of them).
The bottom 5 strips are the ones I used to make the 5 cards shown in this post.

    

Congrats if you made it to the end of this longer post! 

I wish you a very happy day.

Sarn on Sunday!

Hi Playmates!

I have published RESULTS from the previous challenge, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire the top picks and discover which lucky playmate won the prize.

Meanwhile, here's a card full of collage for you to feast your eyes on!

Card measures 3¼" x 4¾"

The entire card is made from snippets of left over card and paper from other projects, all glued into place on the card front, including a leafy die-cut that was waiting to be used up.

The paddling pool has been a very popular hang out in the Snippets Playground during the UK heatwave this week, plus I've been adding extra ice to the Treehouse cocktails. It's all good!

Wishing you a very happy day. 

Flowery Thanks OLC

Hello lovely readers!

Today I have a One Layer Card (OLC) for you.

Card measures 5" x 5"

The pretty flower and surrounding foliage is from the multi-step stamp set 'Beautiful Day' by Altenew. 

The sentiment is from an Art Deco set by Woodware.

Snippets Playground Challenge: 3rd - 16th September

Hi Playmates

It's Sunday morning and time for a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND where Miss Di is in charge for the next fortnight - shiny whistle at the ready in her attempt to keep us all under control!!!

My homework is a very positive ATC:

ATC measuring 2½" x 3 ½" made entirely from snippets.

The white snippet was stamped, coloured and mounted onto a piece of packaging.

The fox is part of Aall & Create’s 'Up Up & Away' stamp (set #467) and I watercoloured him using Distress Oxide inks. I think the sentiment was part of a magazine cover gift. I distressed the white edges with a Tim Holtz tool.

That's all from me today folks! Keep on using up those pretty snippets of yours, then come and play in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND.

Flowery Thanks

Hi there!

Thanks for dropping by today. I have a one layer card to share, simply stencilled down the left hand side, then stamped with the flower and sentiment. I used Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide to paint the flower with, as well as for inking through the stencil.

Wishing you a very happy day - hope you find the time to do something you enjoy.

Too Kind OLC

Hi Friends

I have a one layer card (OLC) for you today. 

My lovely blog friend Vicky often masks off her card fronts before inking and stamping, so I took a leaf out of her book and had a go at it myself! I was very pleased with the results (thanks Vicky!).

A6 size card

1. As mentioned above, I used low tack masking tape all along the card front edges.
2. I stamped a very large Carabelle stamp into the unmasked area in light brown ink.
3. Using a make-up brush, I brushed light brown ink from the left hand corner upwards and outwards.
4. Used a 3-step Stampin' Up! set of flowers called 'Too Kind', I stamped the green stems first, then the 2-step flower heads.

New Snippets Playground Challenge 20th Aug to 2nd Sept

Hi Playmates

There's a new challenge to join in with over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with yours truly in charge for the next fortnight. Why not use up some snippets and come over to play?

I've been playing with some jelly. Oops, no, I mean I've been playing with my gelli PLATE! (Not sure that sounds much better really!!!).

In any case, I made a gelli print which I stamped all over, intending to make it into a pocket! Unfortunately, I was a bit too enthusiastic with my scissors, which meant I couldn't fold the pocket up properly. So, I salvaged what I could of the print and (so far) I've made a few ATCs with it:

The 2¼" x 3¼" gelli print snippet has been stamped, then 
a leafy stencil was used with DOX inks for a focal point.
The Tim Holtz sticker was brushed with ink, then glued on.
All mounted onto a snippet of Alpen box packaging!

I stamped circles and a few splatters over the
Alpen box packaging "kraft" card, then added a
small snippet of the salvaged gelli print to the left and
some punched flowers to the right.
Flat back gems were glued to the flower centres.

A tiny snippet of the same salvaged gelli print is at the
bottom left of this ATC. The whole ATC front (from packaging) was covered
with a coloured book page snippet which had been gessoed first.
Writing and leaf sprig added freehand.

Just a couple of bits of the salvaged gelli print snippets.

That's all from me today folks! Keep on using up those pretty snippets of yours, then come and play in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND.

Di has a snippets card to share with you HERE along with the latest Pupdate on Dudley's antics.

Bunny's outing

Hi Gang!

I was lucky enough to be gifted this lovely bunny die by a wonderful friend of mine (thank you, you know who you are!).  The little bunny die hopped through my letterbox and onto my craft desk and I've been playing with him ever since.

I've two cards to share with you:

The first is a birthday card - with bunny sitting on top of the straight edged lettering (an idea from my crafty and kindhearted friend . . . although I misinterpreted her suggestion!).  

The bunny and brown matting layer are both from
Alpen Bar packaging. Stamped word background by Gummiapan.
Tip: before you lob your packets into the recycling bin, check
to see if there is a fab "kraft card" colour on the other side!

The second card has bunny sitting on a stamped tree branch sending you some bunny hugs and happy thoughts. 

Those of you who know me well, know that I love a bit of positivity, and I often send out happy and positive thoughts into the universe. As I'm not religious, it's my equivalent of a prayer I suppose!

Leaves are an old SU stamp & were watercoloured.
Bunny was cut from packaging (Alpen Bars box).
He's stuck to the card with foam pads, with ears & feet glued.
Sentiment is from Altenew "Beautiful Day" set.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Happy crafting.

A new stamp set! Yippee!

Hi Friends

I already have so many lovely flower stamps, but I fell in love with this Aall & Create set by the talented Tracy Evans ('The Good' #986) and just had to have it!

It arrived yesterday and I IMMEDIATELY set to work! Made 4 cards in quick succession  and I'm sure I'll make many more with this lovely set.

5" square card base.

Orange dye ink was brushed through a small bubbles stencil first, then the flowers were stamped over the top with Versafine Onyx black. The flower petals and circles were painted with yellow and orange dye inks. I also stamped one of the small quotes from the set. Finishing touches were the Julie Hickey Glossies and a hand drawn wiggly line border.

Here's another version with purple bubbles stencilled on and flower petals painted pink and another stamp to ground the image.

5" square card. Sentiment to be added at later date!

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

MORE Christmas in July at the Snippets Playground!

Hi Playmates

It's Sunday morning and time for a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with yours truly in charge for the next fortnight. Please remember there is a CHRISTMAS THEME for this particular Playground challenge.

Just to prove that bunnies aren't only for Easter - I have a card using the popular "bunny" die which was kindly gifted to me by a good friend (thanks, you know who you are). 

5½ square base card

The snippets I used. It didn't matter that
the kraft card (which is actually packaging)
wasn't quite big enough for the die as I only
wanted the insert bits!

The details:

1. First, I added the grungy Christmas stamp direct to the base card, a little over to the right hand side. (The stamp is from Aall & Create set #371 'Deep Focus'. Nothing to do with Christmas really!)
2. Next I die cut all the snippets and watercoloured the bunny with Distress Oxide inks.
3. I glued the presents pile together on the card front (snipping off the top bow first along with the innards of the top box) then drew the top present stripes in then added colour by watercolouring them with Distress Inks. 
4. The bunny was then seated on top of the pile! He has some foam pads under the main body and head, but his ears and feet have been glued down.
5. Added grounding beneath the presents.
6. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black. The sentiment is from Colorado Crafts Big & Bold Warmest Wishes set.