Happy Birthday Dudley!

Hi there Playmates

I've a hand-drawn card for you today in honour of Playground Pup Dudley - whose birthday is today!

The little dog was drawn on a white snippet, then mounted onto other snippets of card and designer paper. The sentiment is a stamp by Uniko.

5½" x 5½" card base

Unfortunately, I can't say the little dog was my own design . . . I copied him from a card photo I found on Pinterest by Susan Raihala. The dog's name is Newton and he's a discontinued stamp by Hero Arts.

The card picture I copied from

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE DUDLEY DOG!

Anyone for some cake?

Hi Gang

I decided to play along with the current ALLSORTS CHALLENGE 737 where Brenda has added a mood board for inspiration. I picked the colour pink and the cake stand from the mood board and made the card shown below:

An A6 sized card

Details:

• Cake stand = wooden stamp by Stampendous called Tiers of Treats
• Pink ink = Distress Oxide Kitsch Flamingo (heat embossed with clear EP)
• Sentiment = a very old photopolymer stamps, possibly by Woodware!
• Daisy die = Leane Creatief.
• Daisy gem = by Julie Hickey
• Main image mounted onto fake "kraft card" that is really packaging!

Week 736 at Allsorts - Embossing

I hadn't played with my embossing folders for quite some time, so when I saw that the optional theme at Allsorts this week was EMBOSSING . . . I thought I'd get my folders out and dust them off!

The one I most fancied playing with was a cute Sizzix bird folder. Take a look at the picture below to see what I made.

The card measures 4" x 4¾"

The materials I used to emboss a white snippet of card.

I had a go at inking the debossed side of the folder in green ink, then running it through my Big Shot with a snippet of white card inside. 

LOVED the result so I mounted it onto a larger white snippet then fixed that to some fake "Kraft card" (which is really recycled packaging) with foam pads. Trimmed an A6 card down to measure ¼" larger all round, which of course means the card is an odd size, so I'll have to custom-make an envelope to fit!

New Snippets Playground Challenge: 25th June to 8th July

Hi Playmates

I simply adore this  cute little bunny from the Aall & Create stamp set "Up, Up & Away" (#467). You could easily miss him as the stamp set's artwork obscures his face!

He's quite tiny, so I was able to stamp him onto a couple of very small white snippets in order to colour then cut him out with scissors. Full disclosure . . . I used a black pen with a very fine nib to give him a smile as well as adding the inside ear bit that I've coloured pink!

ATC - made entirely with snippets of card and designer paper.
Added a sticker sentiment.

And now for a second piece of homework using the same bunny stamp with additional pen work as detailed above!

A6 card using the circle snippets shown in the following photo.
Finished off with an Aall & Create sentiment (can't remember which set!)

The snippets pile that the card & ATC came from.
No, your eyes do not deceive you . . . you may have already
seen this photo - because I made a few projects from the pile!

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?

Anyone fancy some neurographic art?

Neuro what whaaaat????

I'd never heard of neurographic art until I stumbled across a drawing on Pinterest that intrigued me!

I promise that you don't need ANY artistic skills to create the drawing below. 

Don't believe me? I knew you wouldn't, so I'm going to break it down so you can see just how easy it is to do!

1. I drew 3 (rough) circles on the page with a black fineliner pen and shaded each using a pencil and a paper stub (but you could use your fingers to smear the pencil lead instead of the paper stub). If you want perfect circles, you could use a circle die or stencil to create them.
2. Next I SCRIBBLED all over the place with a black fineliner pen!
3. Then it was just a case of rounding off the corners at every intersection and filling them in. Oh, and I added a few little dots along the lines, but that's just the doodler in me being fancy - it's not necessary!

After the first go (above) I decided to GO BIG! See below for a journal page I created in my larger Dylusions art journal:

I had already created the page background with Distress Oxide inks and was wondering what to do with it. Same process as before: drew spheres, coloured them in, scribbled over everything, then rounded the intersections off (and added a few dots along some of the lines).

I prefer the first monochrome one, but I'm happy enough with this coloured version. I'll definitely be doing some more and with different colour schemes.

Want to physically SEE how it's done? Well HERE is a 4 min You Tube video showing the process. It's EASY, it's RELAXING and I urge you to have a go - bet you surprise yourself with the results. I know I did!

Sunday Snippets!

Hi Playmates

I've been tearing (around) again! 

The likely cause is that I have been learning about junk journaling over the last few months and have been ripping and tearing up all sorts of things to make ephemera. It's very satisfying!

What's more, I found I could apply some of my newly acquired junk journal knowledge to card making. Tearing up those last snippets of patterned paper is a GREAT way to add some interest and definition. As I've left the torn edges white on a white card blank, they're not so noticeable in the photo, but you can see them easily in real life! I could have inked the edges, but I preferred to keep them plain in this instance.

Torn patterned paper at the edge of the card front
and at the bottom of the topper.

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

New Snippets Playground Challenge - 28th May to 10th June

Hi Playmates

I wanted to make a birthday card for a young-at-heart but newly-minted octogenarian! She loves her flowers, so it had to be a pretty flower on the card front!

• To create the background I brushed Kitsch Flamingo Distress Ink through a stencil, then stamped and grounded the flower.
• The flower was coloured using a waterbrush with Distress Inks. 
• The numbers and hash sign were die-cut from snippets.
• The stamp is DAISY by Ana Bondu for Carabelle Stamps.
• The stencil is by Studio Light one of their BJ numbers, but I can't remember which one!

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 of your snippets on a project, then come over to play?

I would also like to enter this card into the current ALLSORTS Challenge #730 where they want to see you use a stencil (or choose the anything goes option!).

Sending Hugs

Hi Friends 

Here’s a very CAS card made from snippets.

All the coloured snippets on the card were made by running a brayer over a few white snippets using Seedless Preserves and a little Walnut Stain DOX inks which gave a nice mottled look. Next I simply stamped a sentiment onto a white snippet and die cut it with a stitched rectangle die. This was mounted onto a larger stitched rectangle that was die cut from the brayered snippet. I punched out three flowers to embellish the sentiment and decided not add anything more. 

I’d like to enter this into the current Allsorts challenge (Week 729) where they are celebrating their 14th birthday. Congrats to Brenda and her DT for doing a great job week in week out. 

Sunday Snippets!

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:

A shaped card made for someone special. I cut and stamped all the panels to make a grungy background, then added a large silhouette flower stamp by Bee Crafty. I die-cut the circles, leaves and sentiment from SNIPPETS and added them to the card via a little hinge made from die-cut circles. This shaped card stands up easily but folds flat for posting.

Details on how to make this card shape are in my TUTORIAL page at the top of this blog HERE.

I'm running amok in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight - so grab your satchel and skip on over to find out what lovely prize is on offer, as well as all the details on how to enter. 

Sarn on Sunday!

Hi Playmates

There's a new challenge ready and waiting for you over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with Miss Di in charge for the next fortnight.

Here's my homework:

Dinky little gift cards measuring approx 2.5" square - made from long thin white snippets.

Some of the snippets used to decorate with.

After all the eggcitement(!) of Easter and the game of Tag . . . I think I'll have a little quiet time up in the Treehouse. There are still a few Hot Cross Buns left over . . . I'll toast them to make them seem fresher, then add lashings of butter! YUMMY! 

Easter in the Snippets Playground.

Hi Playmates

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL.

It's Sunday morning and we're halfway through the current challenge at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND. Last week's game of Tag was great fun, but I'm worn out now, chasing round after you all! Hope you have your best Easter bonnet on for the Parade later!

My latest homework is a friendship card, made for someone special who I thought needed a hug - so I sent her a paper one, as I couldn't give her one in person:

Card measures 4½" x 4½"

The snippets used to create the above card.

Card details:

• Lawn Fawn GIANT "Friend" die - cut four times (once from patterned paper and thrice more from white card snippets). All four sentiments were glued together to create a dimensional stack, then added to the card front. I was careful to retain the "fall out" from the patterned paper die cut so that it could be stuck back in place. 
• Ancient (but adored) flower punch for the 3 flowers.
• Craftwork Cards "Card Candi" for the flower centres.

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

PS: Did you see that I'm having a little Easter giveaway HERE? Please feel free to enter.

Sarn on Sunday!

Hi Gang!

I recently swapped some Happy Mail with a lovely blog buddy (thank you so much, you know who you are!).

The following ATC is the first thing I made, using just half of a pretty sunflower that was in the Happy Mail.

All I had to do was stamp a grungy background onto a snippet of white card for the ATC base, then add the sunflower (coloured with Promarkers). The Small Talk sticker finished it off. I also inked around the ATC edges with a black ink pad.

First sunflower ATC measuring 2.5" x 3.5"

I was so pleased with the first sunflower ATC that I made another, with a very similar background and the other half of the original flower - although they were made on different days! 

2nd Sunflower ATC measuring 2.5" x 3.5"

If you're curious to know what I received in the swap, here it is in all its glory! That little lot will keep me occupied for quite a while! 

All the wonderful items received from my blog buddy .

Over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND there's a new challenge to enter, with yours truly in charge for the next fortnight. Why not use up some of your snippets then come and play? You can even join in with the game of Tag that's going on!

Sarn on Sunday!

Hi Playmates

I have a card full of hearts for today's homework (plus an extra piece of homework at the end of this post!).

5" x 5" card base

Showing the matching card and envelope

My white snippets - some liberally
applied with Paper Artsy Magenta Infusions.

1. I cut an A4 piece of 300 gsm white card to measure 10" x 5", then scored and folded it in half to make a 5" x 5" card base.
2. I had been messing about with Magenta PaperArtsy Infusions powder - testing it out on a few white snippets (see above photo). One of the experimental 4" square snippets was mounted onto a 4¼" square of black card, which was in turn stuck to the card front with double sided tape.
3. Inspired by Asia Marquet's video, I had a go at doodling my own lovehearts, which I cut out and stuck to the card front with foam pads.
4. I put a sentiment on the inside, leaving the card front to speak for itself!
5. A matching envelope was made by adding another of the Infusions snippet strips and a heart to the envelope front.

And while I was at it, I made another anniversary card using up one of the other pink snippets shown in the picture above, along with a heart that was punched from a black snippet of card and another doodled heart. On this card, I added extra doodling around the border and a Clearly Besotted anniversary sentiment to the card front.

Miss Di has posted the Results of Challenge 448 HERE and there's still nearly a week to go for the current SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND CHALLENGE where the prize on offer is two sets of dies.

OLC Sympathy Card

Hi Friends

Today's make is a one layer sympathy card. Thankfully it wasn't required at the time I made it, but I have since had need of it! Sigh!

5" x 5" card.

The background stamp (from Stampin' Up!'s "Work of Art" set) was inked up with DOX Speckled Egg and stamped three times without re-inking in between. I used VFC Twilight ink for the Stampin' Up! flower and the Clearly Besotted sentiment.

A windy day!

Hi Friends

Today's card features a very windy day where the poor girl's umbrella has blown inside out! Been there, done that! LOL!

The card details:

1. I dabbed "Peacock Feathers" DOX ink onto a "Petals" embossing folder and spritzed it with water, then laid my piece of card on top to pick up the inky goodness! Once removed from the folder, I dabbed at the card to remove some of the ink so it wasn't too heavy.
2. The Windy Day image (by Katzelkraft) was stamped with VFC Twilight ink, as was the SU sentiment. 
3. To colour the image, I used a waterbrush and the following DOX inks: Peacock Feathers (coat & umbrella); Uncharted Mariner (coat shading); Spiced Marmalade (stockings & scarf) and Iced Spruce (hair).

Sarn on Sunday!

Hi Playmates

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

Here's my homework:

A6 card

The pile of snippets I made the card from.
Some were added inside the card!

It's been a chilly week in the UK, so Di and I have been busy in the Playground Treehouse - making copious mugs of hot chocolate for everyone. Extra marshmallows ARE available, plus, if you "nod me the wink" I'll see what kind of moonshine is hiding in my satchel to give you an extra boost! LOL! x

Grumpy Penguin Christmas Cards

Hi Friends

Sorry, but I have a bit of a Christmas fest going on in this blog post, so you'd best grab a nice mug of hot chocolate and settle in!

These Christmas cards were made with the wonderful Katzelkraft "Grumpy Penguins" stamp set. 

I'm entering the single card (below) to the CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS challenge where they have a snippets theme going on this month. However, if you look further down this post, there are even MORE penguin cards using up those ever-increasing snippets!

A6 card for the CCC Challenge with the penguin snippet added,
together with snowflake snippets.

To create my cards, I first gathered together a few of my MANY white snippet strips (left over from cutting my own card bases). Then I stamped a load of penguins on them.

White snippets ready for colouring & fussy cutting

All coloured and cut out ready to go on cards.

Once that was done, I made a few inky backgrounds then glued the penguins and snowflakes on top.

Only the penguins are snippets on this trio of cards.

A6 card showing penguins & snowflake snippets.

Had LOADS of fun making these, and I still have a few penguins left to add to more cards when the mood is upon me!

Sunday Snippets

Hello Playmates

I've a really grungy layered ATC to share with you today!

ATC measuring 2½" x 3½"

The snippets I picked out to use.

I used the gelli print flower and one of the purple pieces shown in the above photo, plus a couple of white snippets that aren’t pictured.

I cut one of the purple snippets so that it was slightly larger than the 2¼" x 3¼" white snippet that I used for all the stamping  and stencilling. Another white snippet measuring 2½" x 3½" was used for the ATC base.

Materials:

• Distress Oxide inks in Speckled Egg and Wilted Violet colours were used for the background stamping and stencilling.
• Versafine Clair Nocturne ink for the grungy stamps and script.
• The circles and die-cut flower were outlined with a black pen.
• Glossy Accents was used on the circle just below the sentiment.
• Finished off with a Tim Holtz "Small Talk" Ideology sticker.

As you can see, there are still plenty of purple snippets left to use up! *Sigh*

The results of the big prize draw have been posted in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND - run along to find out who won it and see who's been showcased! If you're early enough on Sunday morning, we have toasted crumpets and copious amounts of tea or coffee available, not to mention the odd Pain au Chocolat in the Sunday Morning Breakfast Club! 

Holly Card for 2 Challenges

Hi Friends

I know it seems like a long time since Christmas, but I've made a Christmas card from snippets - which I'm going to enter into 2 challenges.

5" square card - Aall & Create stamp, Magnolia Holly stamp
& Sizzix berry die (part of a foliage set).
The sentiment is by Inkylicious.

Stamped up white snippet - I'd already
started cutting out the Magnolia Holly leaves
before remembering to take a photo!

All cut-out and ready to stick to cards.

Small pink snippet for the berries.

I made 4 cards all very similar to the one pictured, with just variations in the layout. That's 4 ready for this coming Christmas! Yippee! 

Challenges entered:

• Christmas Craft Creations Challenge (Snippets theme)
• Mo's Rudolph Day Challenge (Christmas theme) 

Sunday Snippets - Miss Di's Blogoversary

Hi Playmates

Come and have a cup of tea with me! I have a little gift bag full of good wishes and some tea to share, plus I'll break out the biscuits if you've been VERY good!

EDITED TO ADD A VIDEO LINK HERE on how to score and fold this little bag. 

In the video, she uses 6" x 6" paper, but I made a larger version using an 8" x 8" piece of paper and scored as follows:

• when the the triangle was abutted to the LEFT EDGE of the scoreboard, I scored at ⅞" 
• when the the triangle was abutted to the TOP of the scoreboard, I scored at 3¾ and 7⅝"
• the blue piece for the little tag measures 3¼" x 2¾", the white piece measures 3" x 2½"

The gift bag together with the contents
ready to be inserted into the pockets.

The filled gift bag.

Just 2 of the snippets added
to the gift bag.

SNIPPETS USED:

White and turquoise snippets used to create the mounted circles for each side of the gift bag.

White and turquoise snippets used on the square tag.

The bottom of a shop-bought birthday card used to die-cut the foliage - one sprig for each side of the gift bag.

I'm hosting a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND, where Di and I are celebrating the Snippets Playground's 11th Blogoversary! Yes, Di has been running the Playground for 11 years and I take my hat off to her as I've only been co-hosting for less than a year! It's a lot of fun being Di's partner in crime . . . or is she mine? It's hard to tell! LOL! Either way, as it's a special occasion, we are, once again, offering another FAB prize. Run along and find out the details HERE but put those scissors down first. NEVER run with scissors in your hand (or mouth!).

Orange & Blue Mixed Media Square

Hi there  - thanks for coming over to see what I've been up to! 

Today I'm sharing a mixed media square which  started off as a plain white piece of 300gsm card. Now it's been glammed up with paper strips, acrylic paint, stamps, stencils, embossed tissue paper and a paper butterfly cut from some patterned paper. I love the contrasting orange and blue colours!

All the details of how this was made are on my MIXED MEDIA PAGE in a tab at the top of this blog.

Here's hoping 2023 is a good year. I wish you all the best.  

Sunday Snippets, Super Prize & Sarntangling!

Here's wishing you a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

I'm skipping along to the Snippets Playground to hand in my homework to Miss Di who is hosting a new challenge WITH THE THEME of "Anything BUT Christmas". There is a SUPER DUPER PRIZE up for grabs - CHECK IT OUT HERE then come and play!

My homework is a "Sarntangled" card I made in Art Class:

The snippets used are the central white, pink and black squares, which were cut from slightly larger snippets of card. I have matching "Rose Red" cardstock and ink pad by Stampin Up, so I was able to co-ordinate the splash of colour.

MERRY CHRISTMAS one and all

I wish you a VERY Merry Christmas 
and a Happy New Year.

Your cyber friendship means the world to me and I thank you for all your visits and comments. 

Sunday Snippets (Results)

Hi there playmates!

It's results week at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND so after you've finished your visit here, please feel free to skip over there to find out who won the prize and who Di picked to showcase. You’ll also find out more details about Di’s theme for her next Playground Challenge starting on Christmas Day  

For my homework, I die-cut some branches from packaging (see second picture), as well as some leaves from a gelli print snippet, plus some tiny birds from a black snippet of card.

I added some Washi tape across the bottom (and on the inside too).

An A6-sized card.

Showing the branches I die-cut from packaging.

Only a week to go until Santa gets here! Hoping he has overlooked my Playground misdemeanours and has put me on the "good" list! Fingers crossed!

I will be doing further blog posts before the 25th, but just in case this turns out to be your last visit to my blog prior to Christmas Day, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting and wish you much love, laughter and happiness this Christmas and into the New Year. xxx

Sunday Snippets!

Hi Playmates

Wow it's been a freezing and chilly old week hasn't it? No snow at the time of writing this blog post, but the hard frost looks so white and pretty.

Here's my homework for today: 

5" square card

1. I brushed Navy Blue ink through my latest stencil acquisition (MASKBJ04 by Studio Light), then added some random dotty stamping using various grungy stamps.
2. The focal flower was die-cut from a snippet of watercolour paper that I'd used Brushos on (see photo below). 
3. Finished off with a Uniko sentiment using Navy Blue ink and second gen stamping onto a small white snippet which was then cut out with scissors and glued to the card front.

The snippet of watercolour paper
I used

Can you believe there's only two weeks to go until the Big Day! Time sure is slipping by! 

If you want to come and play at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND there's a new challenge just waiting for your homework submission HERE! We have sausage rolls, mince pies, toasted crumpets, tea, coffee and hot toddies up in the Treehouse for you, whenever you've finished playing.