Now he is SIX!

Hi Playmates!

I'm hosting a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight. So take a look at your pile of snippets (I KNOW you have some), make something with them, then come and play!

It's Dudley's birthday tomorrow - so I made him a card (as I normally do!). A very CAS card - he doesn't like too much fuss, being a boy! Plus I have lots of doggy treats for him in my satchel - but don't tell Miss Di!

4.75" square base card

Snippets used

Materials:

1. Paint stripe stamp from a long-retired Stampin' Up! (SU) set stamped on the card 3 times without re-inking, using SU Misty Moonlight ink.
2. Happy Birthday die by Gummiapan, cut from snippets.
3. Letters to spell out Dudley's name using upper and lower case Memory Box 'Typewriter' dies (sets 98366 & 98367) die cut from white snippets, then brushed with Misty Moonlight ink (having placed each letter back in the white snippet negative to facilitate the inking).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE DUDLEY DOG!

Guest Designing at Allsorts Challenge - Week 789

I am delighted to be joining the Design Team at Allsorts as their guest this week. 

The theme for Week 789 is USE CIRCLES (or you can choose to enter under the Anything Goes option).

Here's my card:

Card base = 5.5" square

While I had the dies out, I made two similar cards, switching the colours of the sentiment over.

Here is a photo of both cards.

Snippets used and you can see the
tiny die in the bottom left of the photo!

Details:

• DIES: Poppy Stamps "Happy Birthday Poe"; stitched circles by The Works (retired); Gummiapan Scooter.
• CARD SNIPPETS of white, SU Bermuda Bay and Basic Black.

Sarn's Snippets Homework

Hi Playmates!

This week my homework comprises a card made with a "doctored" AALL & Create stamp set (#896). You can see how I took scissors to the stamps in the picture below the card! For me, the smaller hearts work better. The elongated versions were just too big! 

I stamped the background with a Herringbone stamp from Stampin' Up's "Gallery Grunge" in brown ink, then added a little stencilling to the mix by brushing light green ink through a "Moroccan" stencil by That Special Touch. The heart was stamped once onto the white panel, then again on a white snippet which was cut out and added to the card front with foam pads.

Top row shows my cut down stamp images.
Bottom row shows the original stamp details from the carrier sheet!

Miss Di is in charge of the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight - so why not skip over there to find out what lovely prize she is offering, as well as all the details on how to enter?

Blooms card for Allsorts Week 786

This week at the Allsorts Challenge, they want to see BLOOMS, BEES & BUTTERFLIES. 

I made this little one layer card which is suitable for the "blooms" element!

The Details:

• Tip Top Taupe ink brushed through the two Funky Fossil stencils "Scallop Corner" at the edges and  "Country Diary" in the centre.
• AALL & Create Flowers from Tracy Evan's Stamp Set #70. Coloured with Rose Red SU ink pad and a waterbrush.
• Sakura Gelli 08 Pen used for petal highlights.
• Ordinary HB pencil used with a paper stump to create shadows
• I think the sentiment is also by AALL & Create, but can't remember which set!

Inky ATC Fun!

Yesterday afternoon, I had fun making a few ATCs using snippets and getting inky hands!

4 x ATCs made entirely from snippets

Want to see the process? If so, take a look at the following photo's:

First, I squished a couple of Distress Ink pads onto a
non-stick craft sheet, spritzed them with water and
dragged a stencil through the wet ink.

I dabbed the inky stencil onto white snippets. 

Once the ink was dry, I brushed Black Soot 
Ink through the mini squares stencil.

Guillotined the snippets into 2¼" x 3¼" pieces so that I could
stick them to 2½" x 3½" mats once I'd finished embellishing them.

A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the craft room! I should like to say thank you to a fellow blog pal who kindly sent me the heat embossed elements that were added to the "Bee Happy" ATC. All other die cut embellishments are my own. 

If you've never made an ATC, what's stopping you? The small size is great fun to play around with. The ONLY rule is that the finished size must be 2½" x 3½". Other than that, anything goes. If you have no-one to swap with, I'd be happy to swap an ATC with you on a one-off basis if you let me know in a comment below. Otherwise, I often add them as a topper to an A6 card front.

ALLSORTS CHALLENGE 784

It's Saturday morning and time for another ALLSORTS CHALLENGE where I am delighted to be their Guest Designer this week. 

This week's theme is FLOWERS GALORE (or you can, of course, choose the Anything Goes option). 

I think you'll agree that this pop up box card has flowers galore! 

A pretty boxful of flowers for someone's birthday.

Folds flat for posting.

The die cut snippets,
plus the final versions coloured and glued together.

Materials:

• Decorative papers from Craft O'Clock's Warm Breeze pad to decorate the pop up box flaps etc.
• Martha Stewart edge punch used on 3 of the box flaps.
• Tim Holtz Modern Floristry dies by Sizzix to fill the inside of the card.
• White and green snippets of card for die cutting. The die cuts were subsequently brushed with a variety of dye inks to colour them. I used the negative pieces to reinsert the flowers for ease of holding them in place while brushing with ink.
• The sentiment uses long-retired oval punches and birthday words, all by Stampin' Up!

I hope you will come and join in at the Allsorts Challenge. There is a lovely prize to be won.

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

In my satchel this week, I have some cheese and crackers, plus a fair few bottles of wine to share out! Lets have a cheese and wine party up in the treehouse! I'm sure Dudley will put on his waiter's bandanna. Di and I will be your hostesses with the mostest!

Here's my homework:

My card was inspired by Pauline's lovely card which made me get out the unbranded triptych die I received at Christmas.

White snippets for the die cut flowers.

The white panels were liberally decorated with multiple inks and a variety of stencils. I overdid it and they looked terrible! To remedy the situation, I painted over the top of the stencilling with an opaque blue acrylic paint, then stamped over the paint with Ranger Archival ink. Happy with the panels at this point, I glued on the white die cut foliage. The panels were then matted onto SU Island Indigo card adhered to the triptych card base. The sentiment was stamped then die cut with a Heffy Doodle stitched rectangle die.

So, why not take a look at your snippets pile, pull a few bits out and see what you can make? Then come over to play in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND - there's a lovely prize on offer - or you can just play for fun. 

Pussycat card

I saw on Alice's blog that it is the 100th Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge. The challenge is now run by Fiki, but was originally run by my friend, the late Sue (Ike). Cannot believe it's over 2 years since she died. I'm sure she's running a cat sanctuary in the sky!

5.5" x 5.5" card

Card Details:

• 5.5" square card blank.
• Flower stamp: #986 set by AALL & Create
• Penny Black cat stamp from an old clear stamp set - details unknown.
• Sentiment - very old - can't remember its details.
• Images coloured with watercolour pencils & a waterbrush. Same used for splatters.
• White snippet used for stamping, mounted onto a purple snippet of card.

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

In my satchel this week, I have my big skipping rope so we can skip in and out of it while singing rhymes! It also contains my homework.

I have really enjoyed playing with this AALL & Create 'Om Dee' stamp set with the witty accompanying sentiments.

This time, I stamped Dee twice . . . once straight onto the white square snippet, and again on an even smaller white snippet, so that I could cut her out and add her over the top of the diamond flooring I gave her to exercise on!

I stamped the sentiment top left and added the scissor-cut Dee over the top using foam pads for dimension. Before gluing the image panel to its pink mount, I roughed up the edges - just because I could!

Materials:

1. Snippets: White pieces of card for central panel, plus extra to stamp Dee on again; pink panel (recycled from a shop-bought birthday card);
2. Stamps: AALL & Create's 'Om Dee' stamp set #764 for figure and words; very old grungy diamonds stamp for flooring (details long forgotten!);
   
3. Tools: Edges roughened with a Tim Holtz distressing tool.

I'm hosting a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight. So why not take a look at your pile of snippets (I KNOW you have some), make something with them, then come and play!

For another card example I made using the 'Om Dee' stamp set, see HERE.

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

It's nearly St George's Day and in my satchel this week, I have some illicit hooch to stash around the Treehouse - out of sight of Miss Di - ready for a little St George's Day celebration. Di says she'll get the flags out and will be making some of her famous punch (but you can be sure I'll pep it up a bit!) Shhh!

Meantime, I've been busy tearing up my homework! LOL! Well - I tore out a page from the little book I mentioned over on this previous post . . . then tore the edges of a couple of smaller snippets of card that matched the colour scheme. Stamped just one word to finish. 

Suitable for a new baby card?

The card along with the snippets left over from tearing each side.

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.

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

After all the fun and games with Easter Egg hunts last week, this Sunday, my satchel contains a Yoga mat and block ready for some stretching and relaxation in the School Gym! Come and join me for a peaceful interlude in your busy life!

My homework reflects my Zen-like state - with this DL sized card. 

Omm!

THE DETAILS:

• Snippets of white card and SU Pool Party card used for all elements stuck to the card front.
• "Om Dee" stamp by Aall & Create. Words from the same set - all heat embossed.
• Dee was coloured and grounded using various Distress Inks. A white gel pen was used to add dots to her clothing and a line down her eyelids! 
• Blue Distress Ink was brushed through a Ciao Bella stencil for the "wallpaper" background.
• Main image was die cut with a Heffy Doodle stitched rectangle die, then added to a snippet of Pool Party card. I used a very old Martha Stewart border punch along the bottom edge.

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

What's in Sarn's Satchel for Easter?

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope you have plenty of chocolate treats - but if not - please feel free to enjoy the packet of Smarties' Mini Eggs shown below - as they are virtual, they are calorie-free! 

As you can see, I've been busy making pockets to fill with Easter treats - my satchel is bulging with them so please help yourself! I learned how to make these from Wendy (Spanish Crafter) via her You Tube video HERE.

Two filled & decorated pockets

The contents and a closer look at the front & back of the tags

If chocolate is not your thing - I have some calorie-free Jelly Baby Chicks for you instead!

Here's another pocket . . . filled with Jelly Baby Chicks
and a couple of bunny die cuts!

I used a whole sheet of 12" x 12" designer paper for each pocket (as I needed WIDE pockets to fit the contents into). However, ALL the tags and embellishments were made from snippets.

Showing how the little credit card sized pieces 
slot into the tag base.

The original snippets.
I later die cut 2 more tag bases from
snippets of Island Indigo card & used them instead.

The tag die set I used - think it will be very useful!

I'm hosting a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND for the next fortnight. So please have a rummage in your pile of snippets (I KNOW you have some) - make something with them, then come and play! There's a lovely prize on offer, or you can just play for fun. 

There'll be an Easter Egg Hunt all around the Playground grounds later this afternoon - so get your bonnets on and your baskets out!

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

In my satchel this week, Ive got a new skipping rope and some white chalk to mark out hopscotch numbers. Anyone want to play?

I've also bought my homework along, as follows:

5" x 5" card - everything on the card front is a snippet.

Some of my snippets.

Close up of the layers.

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.

Songbird for Allsorts!

Here's a card I made for the current ALLSORTS CHALLENGE (Week 772) where Ellie has chosen the theme of Feathers and/or Fur (or there is always the anything goes option).

 4.5" x 5.5" Custom made card to fit the
main panel and matting.

As you can see . . . I went for the feathers theme and chose two new stamps to play with. The grungy flower is part of a set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous "Botanic Collage CMS447". 

The Song Bird words and the bird image were heat embossed (see photo below) and are both from the PaperArtsy Hot Pick stamp set HP1005 which I bought from my local craft shop after admiring the set for YEARS! I grounded the bird with a very useful little stamp from an IndigoBlu set, but I forget which set!

I am NOT affiliated to the the links given - I just wanted to show you all the stamps in these two lovely sets.

Attempting to show you the
glossy heat embossing!

Thank you for visiting. I wish you a wonderful day.

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates

In my satchel this week I've a bunch of daffodils to brighten up the treehouse, and this card to make you smile, (not to mention the packet of chocolate biscuits and an extra bag of marshmallows for your mugs of hot chocolate!).

I simply stencilled a background and used snippets of white and navy blue card for the sentiment. The sentiment is a mix of stamp sets. I know the "smiles" word is by Printworks (long gone), and I think the words in the first line are from a Uniko set, but I could be mistaken!

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

What's in Sarn's Satchel this Sunday?

Hi Playmates!

For the next fortnight, you'll find me up in the Treehouse, hosting the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND CHALLENGE #475. Why not use up some of your snippets and come over to play?

In my satchel this week, I have yet another flower card to show you.

1. This time, I made a "smooshed" background by spritzing some left over Distress Oxide ink with water and mopping it up with a small piece of acetate, then dabbing the acetate onto a white card snippet (sounds more complicated than it is!)
2. Once it was dry I stamped the Uniko gerberas onto the smooshed card, surrounding them with Aall & Create words in 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation stamping. 
3. Had to cut into a whole piece of navy card to mount the inky panel, but that just means I've got a large navy blue snippet to play with another day!
4. Once mounted, the panel measured 3¾" x 6¼", so I custom made a card blank to fit it, as well as an envelope. 

Art Journal Journey!

This is a photo heavy post, so you may wish to grab a cuppa!

Today, I thought I'd share the different incarnations of an art journal page I painted recently. It went through several repaints until I was happy!

The FINISHED page looks like this:

To start with, I painted over the top of a very busy blue background on a page in my art journal that needed finishing off.

1. Painted three orange ovals for flower heads.

2. Next, I added green leaves and stems and some orange paintbrush dabs top left & bottom right.

3. Hated the leaves & stems at this point, but carried
on regardless and started adding the black background.

4. Decided to outline the flowers, leaves & stems
& add black stamen dots -
which made everything look WORSE! Aaargh!

5. Decided MORE black & white blocks of colour
would be a good idea! I also painted out the
black outlines, lost a few leaves and thinned the stalks down.

6. Wasn't happy with the look of the flower heads,
so repainted them in orange with a pink swirl
and left everything to dry.

7. Once dry, I used a white Posca pen to add swirls and dots.
At last . . . I was HAPPY with my page!
You can still see a little bit of the original blue page behind the stripes!

The point of me sharing these photo's with you is to show that, even when an art journal page goes horribly wrong - as I thought mine had at Photo 4 particularly - if you carry on adding paint, it can sometimes work out!

Alternatively, you can always paint over the whole page in opaque paint, then go and lie down in a darkened room while it dries and you have a rethink! LOL !

Sarn's Snippets!

Hi Playmates!

There's a new challenge over at the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND with Yours Truly in charge for the next fortnight.

Here's my homework - which started life as an ATC, but morphed (like a butterfly from a chrysalis) into a full-blown A6-sized card!

The ATC that turned into the focal point of a card!

The snippets that made the original ATC!

THE DETAILS:

• SU Island Indigo snippet, trimmed to 2½" x 3½". White ink was added around the edges then heat embossed with clear EP (mainly because that was the ONLY way I could get the white ink to stay visible!). In case you're wondering, I was using the Stamps By Me Cotton White ink pad. I am NOT having a lot of success with it and wouldn't recommend buying it, but getting white ink to show up is ALWAYS difficult!
• A snippet from an inky/painty master board was trimmed to 2¼" x 3¼". I added more white ink heat embossing around the edges, then glued it to the Island Indigo piece.
• Butterflies were stamped onto a white snippet then cut out with scissors and adhered to the ATC with foam pads.
• A sentiment was added at the bottom of the greetings card.

So, why not take a look at your snippets pile, pull a few bits out and see what you can make? Then come over to play in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND - there's a lovely prize on offer - or you can just play for fun.

Sunday Snippets!

Hi Playmates!

I have a card for you today, using a floral image called Poppy Bloom by Hobby Art. I love this image and should use it more often! 

My thanks to Jules for the info on the stamp name & maker - which I had forgotten at the original time of posting this blog page. 😘

THE DETAILS:

• First, I trimmed a larger white snippet to fit the card front, then stamped the floral image on to it.
• The flowers were watercoloured. Once the image was dry, I added some Signo glittery pen lines (not showing up in the photo of course!)
• The Visible Image sentiment (from their very useful Birthday Wishes set) was stamped below the main image.
• Next I cut into a fresh A4 sheet of SU Rich Razzleberry to make a mount for the central panel.
• Glued it all together and added it to the card front. 

Over in the SNIPPETS PLAYGROUND, I have published RESULTS from my previous challenge, so please hop over to admire the top picks and discover which 2 lucky playmates won the prize bundles.

Sarn's Snippets!

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 - so skip over there to find out what lovely prize she is offering, and get all the details on how to enter. We're back to normal - no theme this time - just make anything you like with your snippets.

I have not one, but TWO pieces of homework to share with you today! The first is a little 3" x 3" card and the other piece, further down the post, is an ATC. They both use cute and quirky little birds from my recently acquired Aall & Create stamp set: #464 "Strange Birds".

Aall & Create bird stamped onto a gelli print snippet then cut out
and glued on to the flower stem.

Green snippet used for the flower stems.

Next up is the ATC:

ATC measuring 2.5" x 3.5"

The ATC was created with blue and orange snippets, trimmed to the usual ATC size. I simply brushed Black Soot DI through a stencil to create a leafy branch. The bird was stamped onto a gelli print snippet, then I added a bit of detailing with black and white pens. I cut the bird out with scissors and glued him onto the stencilled branch!

I added the sentiment from the same stamp set, then brushed the edges of the blue piece of card with Black Soot DI before mounting it onto the orange snippet.

MATERIALS:

• Funky Fossil stencil 'Meadow Flowers' for the leafy branches.
• Aall & Create 'Strange Birds' #464 stamp set
• Blue and orange snippets by Stampin' Up! & beak coloured with a blue pen.
  
• Bird stamped onto a gelli print snippet

See HERE for another card I made with the same set!