Artistic Flowers

Hi there Playmates!

RESULTS from the previous challenge have been posted, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire the top picks and discover which lucky playmate won the prize. There's still nearly a week left to play in the current challenge if you haven't already done so.

For my homework, I have a floral card to share with you:

A6 card

Details:

• Gummiapan flower stamp (a gift from a lovely friend). Stamped once with a bent stem and again with a straight stem. Then masked off before adding the background stamping.
• Background stamps: Aall & Create #905 Elemental Notes and Aall & Create #47.
• Flowers stamped in VFC Onyx Black ink & coloured with Inktense pencils and a water brush.
• Background stamped in SU Tip Top Taupe ink.
• Snippets = everything added to the card front.

Entering the following challenges:

1. ALLSORTS CHALLENGE 854 - Seaside theme/anything goes. I’m entering under the anything goes option.
2. WE LOVE STAMPING - July Challenge with a Summertime/anything goes. Hoping the flowers are summery enough for the theme.

Summer Coneflower

Hi there!

I simply LOVE this Aall & Create “Roadway Vistas” die set and have been playing around with mixed media on the main panel.

First of all, I glued on some old paper snippets, then dry brushed over them with white gesso. Next I brushed on various Distress Inks, followed by scraping modelling paste through a dotty stencil. I added more ink once the modelling paste was dry. Flicked some watered down orange and buff titanium acrylic paint splatters on.

Then it was a question of deciding how to embellish the lumpy, bumpy surface! So I found some printed PaperArtsy tissue paper and wetted round the edge of some text, pulled it out of the sheet and glued to the panel. I stamped, coloured and cut out the PaperArtsy coneflower so I could glue it on. Finally I added a little shading and grounded the flower. Added the whole thing to a 5” x 7” Kraft card.

5x7 sized Kraft card

Details:

• Aall & Create “Roadway Vistas” die set
• PaperArtsy tissue paper
• PaperArtsy “Coneflowers Edition” stamp set EAB49 
• Distress Inks; Inktense pencils; modelling paste through dotty stencil; Sakura Brush pen to ground flower with; shading done with a Stabilo All pencil and a water brush.
• Snippet strips of paper used as a first layer on the substrate - although you can barely see them unless you look up close at the panel IRL!!!

Taking this card over to the WE LOVE STAMPING July Challenge where the theme is SUMMERTIME. As coneflowers are summer flowers, it fits the bill.

Sunday Snippets - Butterfly Bookmark

Hi Playmates!

Di has published RESULTS from the previous challenge, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire her top picks and discover which lucky playmate won the prize. There's still nearly a week left to play in the current challenge if you haven't already done so.

I have been playing with the DI-110 Clip Pop die set that I bought using the Allsorts' birthday discount last month. It’s a lot more versatile than it appears at first sight and there are lots of examples of what can be done with it on the Aall & Create website. For my homework, I made a bookmark. 

Bookmark

Snippets

Materials:

• Aall & Create Clip Pop DI-110 Dies
• Visible Image 'Wings of Change' butterflies, coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils & a waterbrush, then fussy cut. They were adhered to the bookmark with glue and foam pads.
• Snippets of white and black card. The (originally white) squares were inked with Distress Inks in Antique Linen; Vintage Photo and Pumice Stone.

I'm entering the bookmark (pretty close to the wire) into the TAG-ALONG & ATCs June Challenge, where the theme is to ADD SOME TEXT.  My butterflies have asemic writing on them, which I hope counts under the theme, but if not, there's always the Anything Goes option. 

It’s NEARLY Rudolph Day!

Hi there!

It’s Rudolph Day tomorrow . . . but as I often post on a Wednesday, my penguin ATC is a day early! 

Instead, I’m entering this ATC into one of my favourite challenges - TAG ALONG & ATCs - where they want to see you ADD SOME TEXT to your tag, ATC or bookmark. 

My ATC has text stamped faintly in the background and the word “penguin” in the orange/green bit of the image.

ATC

Details:

• Snippets of white and SU Island Indigo to create the ATC base 
• MFT Stitched Snowflakes for the two smaller flakes; unknown make for the largest snowflake.
• Script stamp (stamped in SU Pool Party ink) is from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous set THMM123.
• Penguin is by AALL & Create - Set #604

Garden Faerie

Hi there!

I took advantage of the ALLSORTS birthday discount (last month), and treated myself to a couple of AALL & Create dies. This one is Roadway Vistas Set #78. 

Here's the first thing I made with it . . . but no doubt there will be lots more as it's a pretty versatile die set. 

MATERIALS:

• AALL & Create Roadway Vistas die used for the frame and centre panel.
• IndigoBlu Garden Faerie stamped onto copy paper, fussy cut and stuck onto the main panel. Extra stamping and cutting for a second pair of wings. The wings have Wink of Stella painted on.
• Distress Oxides: Shabby Shutters; Iced Spruce and Peacock Feathers for all inking and stencilling of the background.
• Derwent Inktense pencils used to colour the faerie. 
• Versafine Onyx Black used with the circles stamps from Funky Fossil's Tall Grass stamp set. Sprinkled with clear EP and heat set. 

I was undecided whether to add a cardboard stand to the back of this, or mount it onto a card front. In the end, I chose the card option - see below. I added some more bubbles to the card to coordinate!

As the focal stamp is called "Garden Faerie" - I thought I'd enter the current ALLSORTS CHALLENGE #851 where Brenda has chosen the theme of ANYTHING FROM THE GARDEN. Brenda has fairies playing at the bottom of her wonderful garden . . . so am hoping this will comply with the theme . . . but if that’s stretching things too far, it can always be entered under the Anything Goes option.

Delighted to have been a Top 7 Pick with this fairy card over at Allsorts:

Sunday Snippets - Masculine Card

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. There's still nearly a week left to play in Di's current challenge if you haven't already done so.

For my homework I created a masculine card for a friend of mine who has a good sense of humour.

A6 sized card

Details:

• Stamped circles by Aall & Create
• Bird & sentiment from the "So Weird" stamp set by Whimsy Stamps
• Black snippets of card for matting and layering
• Cardboard packaging behind main panel
• White snippet for focal bird panel
• Tip Top Taupe ink by SU, plus VFC Onyx Black.

Delicate Wings ATC

I have a little butterfly ATC to share with you today. This means I can join in with one of my favourite challenges TAG-ALONG (& ATCs) - where the theme for this month is BLOSSOMS, BUTTERFLIES & BIRDS (you can choose any, or all, of those to put on your tag, ATC or bookmark). 

There's a lovely prize on offer if you join in.  

ATC

Materials:

• Butterfly - one of two featured on Aall & Create stamp set #826 "Delicate Wings". 
• The butterfly was stamped with VFC Onyx Black ink and heat embossed with clear EP. Coloured with SU Wisteria Wonder ink & a waterbrush.
• Memory Box "Zippy Dots" stencil brushed with SU Island Indigo ink.

Mini Moo Cards

Hi there!

I had not heard of Mini Moo cards until I ventured over to see what The Little Things Challenge was all about. 

In the Permitted Projects section of The Little Things Challenge, Mini Moo cards are said to measure 28mm x 70mm (1.1” x 2.75”) and were originally tiny business cards . . . but crafters have adopted them!

SO . . . I went ahead and made one, using up a few smaller snippets in the process.

My first Mini Moo card

Materials:

• White snippet of card measuring 28mm x 70mm
• Striped Washi tape by Funky Fossil.
• Unbranded flower die from Amazon, coloured with a pink Posca pen and Shabby Shutters DI.
• Grungy “flourish” word from the Spread A Little Happiness set (#628) by Aall & Create

I had so much fun making the first Mini Moo that pretty soon there were THREE!!! 

Are you wondering what I will do with such tiny things? Well, as I'm primarily a card maker, I mounted the original panel onto card snippets and glued them to card fronts . . . wanna see?

Here you go:

The Mini Moos were mounted onto card snippets and
added A6-sized cards. Sorry about the bad lighting -
taken in the evening under artificial light.

They could also be used as small tags if you punched a hole in the top and added twine; or put into the pockets of your junk journal, or even a teeny tiny bookmark!

Sunday Snippets - Dragonfly Tag

Hi Playmates!

There's a new challenge to play along with over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND hosted by Miss Di for the next fortnight.

For my homework I made a tag using a die set I was delighted to win at the Tag Along & ATC Challenge recently.

The finished tag

Below is a photo of the inner piece of the tag before I mounted it onto the outer piece and added the dragonfly and sentiment. 

Believe it or not, the inner piece was WHITE before I brushed it with three different Distress Oxide inks, added some stencilling; some white modelling paste (which turned a bit green as I was too impatient to wait for the inks to dry) and some white splatters (using watered down white acrylic paint). 

Then it was just a case of stamping and die-cutting the dragonfly and colouring it with Posca pens. I used the same Posca pens to colour a few of the modelling paste squares and added some dots. Then I glued everything together, punched a hole and added the twine before stamping and distressing the edges of the sentiment and glueing it in place. The sentiment IS on straight - it’s the modelling paste squares that are a bit wonky!

MATERIALS:

• DIES: “Taggletastic" tag die set #30 by Aall & Create (white snippet used for inner piece); 
• “Dragonfly” stamp and die set by Hazel Eaton for Studio Light (part of a Dragonfly Dreams suite) (stamped onto a white snippet).
• STENCILS: Funky Fossil “Grid” stencil (with modelling paste scraped through it); “Geometric Floral” stencil by Funky Fossil and “Flower Power #8” stencil by Uniko, both brushed with darker green Distress Oxide ink.
• SENTIMENT from the "Tall Grass" set by Funky Fossil (stamped onto a snippet of SU Tip Top Taupe card leftover from cutting the outer tag.)
• Posca pens and Distress Oxide inks for all COLOURING.

I would like to enter this tag into the following challenges:

1. ALLSORTS CHALLENGE #845 under the theme of Things With Wings;
2. WE LOVE STAMPING March Challenge under Wildlife theme/Anything Goes
3. TAG ALONG & ATCs March Challenge under Anything Goes

You've got mail!

Hi there!

I made another little ATC so I could make a final entry into the current TAG ALONG & ATCs CHALLENGE for February - which ends in 5 days time, so get your skates on if you want to play along!

ATC

As the ATC hasn't got any numbers on it, I'll be entering under the Anything Goes option. Great prize on offer. 

Details:

• White snippet of card trimmed to 2.5" x 3.5" with a corner rounder punch used on opposite corners.
• Stencilled the background with AALL & CREATE's Florastella stencil. 
• Tore a gelli print snippet and glued it to the ATC front in opposite corners, then added an unknown script stamp (possibly by IndigoBlu) over the top.
• Die-cut the bundle of envelopes from white card and carefully coloured in the envelopes at the back of the bundle, along with the ribbon. The unbranded envelope die was a gift so I don't have the details, although it was possibly from Amazon or Temu. 

January Rudolph Day - Christmas Penguin

Hi there!

Okay, so Rudolph Day was yesterday . . . but you have until the end of the month to join in with the challenge HERE.

On this card, I used a torn piece of paper with a blender brush and light blue ink to create the snowscape. Then I brushed the same blue ink through a few stencils. The penguin is a snippet that I coloured and cut out a little while back, and the "Christmas" word and "25th" stamps are from a new stamp set I acquired from Hobby Art, who recently stopped trading. As a final touch I added Washi tape to the left hand edge. 

C6 sized card

MATERIALS:

• Funky Fossil Washi Tape at the left hand edge.
• "Christmas" word and "25th" by Hobby Art from their "Christmas Post" stamp set. I coloured the sentiment in with blue Tombow marker pens.
• Geometric Flowers stencil by Funky Fossil and an unknown make for the swirly stencil.
• Torn paper used as a mask to create the snowscape with light blue ink and a brush.
• AALL & Create Penguin from set #604, stamped onto a white SNIPPET and coloured in with watercolour pencils. The penguin was cut out and glued to the card front.

Christmas Snippets!

Hi Lovely Reader!

Thanks for dropping by at this busy time of year.

As previously mentioned, I have started making next year's Christmas cards, so I stamped up a few white card snippets and coloured them in. Then I cut them out and set about making some festive cards. 

Stamped up snippets.

Coloured and cut out images.

Cards made with a few of the snippets.
I still have the remaining images to use up.

I was going to enter one of the red and green gonk cards into the We Love Stamping December Challenge . . . until I realised that I had no idea of the gonk stamp details (a requirement for copyright purposes). I thought the set might have been by Lisa Horton for Creative Expressions, but it's several years old and I cannot locate it anywhere, so that's that plan scuppered!

Sunday Snippets - Crafty Roo Stamp

Hi Playmates!

Di has published RESULTS from the previous challenge, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire her top picks and discover which lucky playmate won the prize. There's still nearly a week left to play in the current challenge if you haven't already done so.

For my homework this week, I thought I’d make a card with an NBUS Crafty Roo stamp to showcase one of the stamps that also happens to be available as part of the prize in the current Snippets Playground Challenge. 

A6 sized card

Attempting to show you the glossy wings!

Card and matching envelope.

Materials used:

• Inks: DI - Mustard Seed & Spiced Marmalade for the honeycomb. SU - Pool Party & Night of Navy for the circles. Versafine Onyx Black for everything! Ink pads were dabbed onto an acrylic block and picked up with a waterbrush to paint the card.
• Stamps: Main stamp with honeycomb and circles is by Crafty Roo; the small bee is from the Julie Hickey “Sunflower Bee” set - plus I used the matching die for the bee; the “Flourish” word is from AALL & Create set #628 “Spread a little Happiness”.
• Other materials: Foam pads to attach the die-cut bees (all the bees are snippets);  "Sea Breeze" Nuvo Jewel Drops (added to the bee wings).

Blue Birthday Flowers

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing a one layer birthday card with you.

A6 sized card.

Details:

• Lovely large background stamp by Crafty Individuals (ref CI-514), stamped in SU Pool Party ink.
• Flowers from Aall & Create's Flower Smudge set No. 985, stamped in SU Island Indigo ink. Please note that I have cut the flower stamp into pieces to better suit my needs - it does not look like this when you buy it!
• Flowers grounded with a small grungy stamp designed by Asia Marquet for IndigoBlu. 
• Sentiment by Stampin' Up!

Foxy!

The current ALLSORTS CHALLENGE #833 has a theme of WOODLAND CRITTERS (or anything goes) so I made this ATC.

I'm also entering this ATC into the TAG-ALONG & ATCs October challenge. The current theme is ANYTHING AUTUMN, but I'm entering this under the anything goes option. I was the lucky winner of the September Tag-Along & ATCs challenge, so watch this space for a couple of tags using my lovely prize!

2.5" x 3.5" ATC

Details:

• Penny Black sentiment (probably long-retired!)
• Aall & Create fox from the 'Up Up & Away' stamp (set #467), coloured with Distress Inks and a waterbrush.
• Torn piece of paper used as a mask to create hill with green ink, then various distress inks were dotted on.
• White & gold snippets of card cut to size to make standard ATC.

Sunday Snippets - 21st September

Hi Playmates!

Di has published RESULTS from the previous challenge, so please hop over to the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND to admire her top picks and discover which lucky playmate won the prize. There's still nearly a week left to play in the current challenge if you haven't already done so.

For my snippets homework I have a floral card to share. 

Landscape A6 card

Details:

• Aall & Create flower border stamp designed by Tracy Evans. (I cut this large border stamp down in size to suit my needs better.)
• Woodware Sentiment from a fishing set they made years ago. 
• Kuretake "Starry Colors" gold watercolour paints used on the hexagons. 
• Kitsch Flamingo & Picked Raspberry Distress Inks to colour the flower.
• The flower was stamped for a second time onto a snippet of white card, coloured and cut out. It was then added to the card front with foam pads and a dot of glue at the top of the stem. 

Chicken Wings anyone?

I hardly ever make sets of ATCs, but wanted to play with my Artemio chickens - a stamp set that I've had for a long time and yet they rarely see ink! The Artemio stamps were called something like Pico - but are long retired  

So, to remedy that, here's a trio of chicken ATCs - which I hope make you smile.

I'm making this my third entry into the Tag-Along & ATCs September challenge where the optional theme is THINGS WITH WINGS (or anything goes).

Details: 

• All three ATCs were created from snippets of white card, left over from making my own card blanks. Each one has been edged with a gold Sakura Pen-Touch calligraphy pen.
• TOP LEFT ATC: Artemio chickens; Funky Fossil Protea flower stencil (tops of the stencil petals used to create "grass"); Uniko Nature's Treasures stencil for the leaves; "buddies" word from Aall & Create's "Strange Birds" set #464. 
• TOP RIGHT ATC: Artemio chicken; top & bottom stamping from a cut-down stamp by Aall & Create. Sentiment from Aall & Create's "Strange Birds" set #464. 
• BOTTOM ATC: Artemio Chicken (stamped twice and decoupaged); Visible Image "Ink Swirls" stencil for the background, brushed with blue and green Distress Inks. The sentiment is old and I cannot remember where it came from - but was possibly a magazine freebie along with  some feather stamps!

Sunday Snippets - 14th September

Hi Playmates!

I'm hosting a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND. This is a great opportunity for you to use up some of your snippets, then come over to the Playground for a 'show and tell'.

Miss Di is feeling better, but still has some healing to do. She's been safely ensconced in a comfy chair in the Staff Room with Dudley dancing attendance! 

For my homework this week I made a card showing how one of the prize stamps can be used - as I have the same stamp in my own collection:

Card measures 5" square

Details:

• Crafty Roo "Embrace the simple things" sentiment stamp (no longer available unless you win the challenge prize!).
• AALL & Create #67 "Broken Circles" stencil.
• SU splatter stamp from the retired "Gorgeous Grunge" set.
• Florileges Design "newsprint" stamp (dabbed on here and there!).
• Snippets: the daisy and its centre. The daisy die is by Marianne Designs. The flower centre is waste fall out from cutting with other dies!

Crossing Bridges!

I've made an ATC using a much-loved and very old (2005) wooden Penny Black stamp.

My wooden stamps now live in a drawer out of sight and out of mind(!), whereas they used to be proudly displayed on shelving and were more accessible! However, Lesley G has been playing with her wooden stamps and she inspired me to play with mine - cheers Lesley!

ATC (2.5" x 3.5")

Details:

• "Crossing Bridges" stamp by Penny Black (3206J)
• Sentiment made up from two different stamp sets, masked with Washi tape & then inked up. The "Amazing" word is by Aall & Create and the other part possibly comes from a Studio Light set, but it has been cut off from a larger stamp and I can't remember the details.
• Everything was stamped with SU Chocolate Chip ink and coloured in with watercolour pencils and a waterbrush.
• A gold Sakura Pen Touch Calligraphy pen was added around the outside edges of the ATC (yes Di, that pen is still going strong!).

I would like to enter this ATC into the following challenges:

1. Allsorts - Challenge 829 where the theme is ANIMALS (or AG). (Ends 29th August)
2. Tag-Along & ATCs - August challenge, where the theme is TRAVEL (or AG). I don't have many travel stamps, so I had to think outside the box - bear with me - the stamp is called "Crossing Bridges" and I thought that might count(?) . . . plus the little mouse is travelling across the branch . . . so that might count? Anyway, if that's too obscure, it can always be entered under the Anything Goes option! (Ends 28th August)
3. We Love Stamping - August challenge, where the theme is FLOWERS (or AG). The mouse is holding a flower and there are blooms either end of the branch "tightrope!". (Ends 3rd Sept)

Sunday Snippets - Smooshing!

Hi Playmates!

There's a new challenge to play along with over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND hosted by Miss Di for the next fortnight so please come and join in the fun and games!

Mixed week of weather IRL - but ALWAYS sunny in the Playground where we've been having fun SMOOSHING and stamping during art class!

Here's my smooshed homework:

A6 sized card

Started with a 2.75" x 4.25" snippet - smooshed with ink.

Same snippet - with the Aall & Create stamp added.

Details:

• Started with a white snippet measuring 2.75" x 4.25" 
• Vintage Photo Distress Ink was tapped onto non-stick sheet, spritzed with water and smooshed onto the white snippet using a small piece of acetate.
• I used one of the stamps from the Aall & Create stamp set #905 set to stamp over the top of the ink.
• The smooshed & stamped snippet was mounted onto a black snippet measuring 3" x 4.5", then adhered to the card front.
• Finally, a Sizzix butterfly (created from snippets) was glued in place as the focal point.