We've had some much longed for rain these past few days - too much in some parts of the country needless to say. At least it's easier to sleep at night.
Anyhow, let's get straight on with the picks - which Katrina (our Guest Designer) and I chose jointly. It always delights me when other people choose the same picks as I would. And huge thanks to Katrina for all her work in commenting on all entries as well as choosing a selection of possible picks:
What a fun card this is, made by Lynne in NI. Such a cute bear and wonderful use of lots of snippets. Love the layout too!
Jane W brought this card to share with us - so elegant and the host of fluttering butterflies are really lovely. Clever idea to punch them out of patterned paper!
We had one new Playmate:
Welcome to the Playground Jill! And what a great card too - I do love the background, clever work. Girls - do please hop over to Jill's blog to say hello to her, she has been blogging for not much longer than a month and I bet every one of us can recall the thrill of finding comments on our posts! So far I haven't found a followers button - if you read this Jill, it's easy to set one up.
That's our picks from Challenge 407 in the Playground, we had 39 entries in total. Now for the prize draw which is a Leonie Pujol 'In a Spin' die plus a great set of alphabet stamps in both upper and lower case and a few additional sentiments - kindly donated by Katrina. And the winner is:
Congratulations Janice! i know you're a whizz at die cutting and am sure you'll have great fun using your prize - which will be sent directly to you from Katrina, who lives here in the UK.
Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so it can be can be copied and pasted for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course. Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.
Remember folks, there's still almost one more week to run on the current Ruby's Memory Challenge #408 which you can find HERE.
The prize is a really beautiful 'Peaceful Roses Mini' stamp set by Gina K . Very kindly donated by our lovely blogging buddy Brenda Lawrence.
We had a bit of a close squeak the other day when I decided to do some more detailed checking up on our Dorset holiday, scheduled for the end of Summer. Long story cut short - the lovely sloping beach within walking distance of the cottage is closed to dogs during the Summer months. It's one of the few beaches in the area where you don't have to scramble down cliff paths and across rocks as well as having the added bonus of a very nice traditional pub overlooking the beach where you can sit and watch the sun go down. We have no issues at all with a dog free beach and fully understand the reasons - but wouldn't it have been nice for the cottage description to have mentioned that teeny, tiny detail?
As it was, we were beginning to have some doubts as we're not totally convinced we're out of the woods yet with COVID. So,with an underlying sense of relief, we've moved the holiday to next Autumn (yup, 2022) at no financial loss. Phew - that was a close call. Imagine tootling down to the beach and suddenly being faced with a totally unexpected 'No dogs' sign! Poor Dudley would probably not know any different, but just suppose he got a sparkle in his eye at the smell of the sea and we had to walk away. I for one would have been bitterly disappointed and know for sure that Len would be the same.
Speaking of Dudley - we've managed to trim his claws without too much of a fight! The secret is to ditch the old style clippers and use a design which has a (safely protected) little guillotine when you squeeze the handles. They act so fast with none of the pressure of the other ones which squeezed onto his claws. Hooray for an improved design, which I can manage on my own!
Stay cool/dry warm in this changeable weather - and also keep safe!
Love from Parsnip, myself and the usual happy 'high-five' and woof from Dudley.
Wonderful picks, and congrats to the winners -- the cards are terrific!
ReplyDeleteSure glad you learned of the "no dog" rule, and even happier that you were able to change plans. Plans are always changing here, COVID is definitely ramping back up with the newest variant, so I definitely understand. Take care!
Great picks by you and Katrina. Congrats to Janice.
ReplyDeleteWaving "hello" to the newbie Jill.
Hugs, Sarn xxx
Thank you very much!!! Excited to enter card blog world!!
DeleteFabulous picks as always and congrats to Janice!
ReplyDeleteHugs and cuddles to Dudley!
Great picks and congratulations to the winner. Probably a wise move to postpone your holiday yet again - Covid is still lurking unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteFantastic pics - they all look great.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you found out about the beach and managed to move it. To 2022? otherwise only a few months to 2021 to wait anyway.
L x
Thanks for choosing my card as one of your top picks! Congrats to the others and to Janice too!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd say that's a wise move to postpone your holiday, disappointing all the same. It's as well you discovered Dudley wouldn't be welcome on the beach!!!
Congratulations, y'all. Really nice snippets cards. [Bunny]
ReplyDeleteGood idea to postpone your holiday to a time when the beach is open to dogs. My Tessa would definitely be distressed if she saw a beach and couldn't run on it! I was supposed to go to Scotland with a friend in September 2020, we postponed it to this September (2021), and then, like you, felt we weren't out of the woods yet, and postponed it again to September 2022!
ReplyDeleteWell done to Janice and thanks for including me in the picks - two challenges running now, too. Which makes me feel guilty I'm not going to be joining in this time but I've had other projects to work on and now I'm off to visit Mum for a few days, so no crafting time this week.
ReplyDeleteGlad you managed to rescue your holiday, I can just picture the frustration of a dog close enough to the sea to smell it yet not allowed a run on the beach
Wonderful picks and congrats to the winner. Good clippers make a world of difference to clipper and clipee. Glad you found a good pair. Hugz
ReplyDeleteOh thank you SO much for the mention! It really does mean a lot and give me a little boost of encouragement as I navigate card blog world!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the follower button suggestion..I will look around to get that added soon!!
Great picks and congratulations to Janice for winning this time. A shame to postpone your holiday but would have been such a disappointment not to be able to go on the local beach with Dudley..as you say Di fancy not actually dropping that information in so that you would have know before booking. x
ReplyDeleteOh what great picks! Totally adore the Christmas card! So glad you found out about the beach & could reschedule without loosing anything! Hubby is going to cancel his Sept trip across country. Just too many unvaccinated people & we don't even want a mild case! How great to find better clippers for Dudley!
ReplyDeleteGreat picks and congrats to the winner!
ReplyDeleteLia xx
What fabulous picks Di and many congratulations to Janice xx
ReplyDeleteSome lovely picks Di, such clever crafters!
ReplyDeleteSo pleased to see I am the lucky winner, a big thank you to Katrina and yourself. I will definitely enjoy using both of the prizes. I have emailed you my details.
Janice x
Big congratulations to the winner and top picks! Wow, those cards are all so beautiful, and I love the way Jane W used patterned paper to punch those tiny butterflies. My go-to is always solid colored snippets but now I need to start looking at my scrap stash in a different way.
ReplyDeleteGood decision on postponing your holiday Di. I'm sure you'd be too worried about the risk to really enjoy yourself at this point.
I have the guillotine style nail clippers for Toby as well, and they were a great switch from the old style. It's also easier on my hands.
Gorgeous picks! Congratulations to Janice! Take care. Hugs my friend xxxxx
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Janis, and thanks to Diane for another fun challenge. I just LOVE seeing all the creative ways y'all use up your snippets.
ReplyDelete