Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #417 - Ruby's Memory

Hello again - thanks for calling by! It's time for another snippets challenge dedicated to sweet Ruby's Memory, in aid of the centre who originally rescued her, and this is our eighth one.

The prizes for this challenge have kindly been donated by two different Playmates! So there are two chances to win a prize as we'll be celebrating having donated £200 to the rescue centre once this challenge closes. Also the Playground toy box is overflowing with prizes here right now and I can't get the lid on properly! That should be a hint that we'll have a Grand Christmas/New Year Draw again this year ☺ 

From Linby we have Prize A:

Creative Expressions 'For you' edger die, Apple Blossom 'Flourish Clover' die and a set of Crafters Companion stamps called 'Craft Words'

And from a playmate who wishes to remain anonymous we have Prize B:

Tattered Lace Border Collection 'Floral' set embossing folders, Tattered Lace 'Blossoms' set of dies, Joanna Sheen Signature dies 'Holly Swag', Clear Stamp Boutique 'Just for You Vase and Flowers' set of stamps and a Hobby Art really sweet little Christmas Bear stamp.

 

What generous donations from two lovely people. Thank you both so much!

I'm afraid that I won't split or mix around the bundles. It might be that you already have something that's included in a bundle but please don't let that put you off playing. I'm sure that the donors will be just the same as me when I say feel free to pass anything onto a crafting friend - at your end.

Remember to always say if you're playing for the prize on offer - and this time please also say 'Prize A', 'Prize B' or 'Either'.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 11th December. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day - and the Grand Christmas Draw will begin!

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list. And I won't be splitting the prize of course.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

Dudley gave us a good few 'moments' this past week. On Thursday, he took a real dislike to the British Gas engineer who came to do the annual boiler service. In the end we had to 'gate' him in the craft room with me. To be honest, the guy was rather weird and never even asked if he could go upstairs to check the radiators - he just did it ... which set Dudley off again in protest! Only once the guy had gone did we realise what the issue had been. He was working in the garage where our boiler is housed and Dudley's store of food, treats and a little army of as yet unused toys are also housed in there! Once freed, he shot down into the garage to do a full inspection and audit!

Lots of love from Dudley Dog and of course me,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #413 - results

 

Now for the picks from our previous challenge. Many thanks to Sarn, our Head Prefect and creator of much mischief as well as lovely cards, for being our Guest Designer.

And here we go:

It's always great to see really clever ways to use up snippets - especially those longish strips we all seem to accumulate! Sandra H brought the above card to share and it's a lovely example of how to make the most of your snippety strips.

Wowser, what a wonderful selection of Halloween treat bags, shared with us by Carol L. Mind you, sharing via a blog post doesn't taste as yummy as in person! No doubt there will be Halloween treats in the Playground Treehouse though.! Really lovely to see you back playing with us Carol!

What a card, made by Jane W! Tons of snippets used and the detail is stunning. I thought the 'berries' were clear 'dewdrop' gems but Jane actually used clear liquid pearls - really effective as well.

 

Sharrie joined us for the first time from her new blog, bringing this lovely card - all the colours I love as well!

I accidentally didn't introduce you to Samantha, a new Playmate from Challenge 412 - and this is really pretty card she shared:

Come back and play soon! 

That's our joint picks from Challenge #413 in the Playground, we had 46 entries in total and one new Playmate. Now for the prize draw which is a Stampin' Up 'Vertical Sentiments' set of stamps - from Sarn. And the winner is:

Kathy K

Congratulations Kathy! Knowing your style of crafting, you're sure to use your prize to its full advantage!

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 #414 which you can find HERE. The prize is an Echo Park 'Candy Cane Christmas' set of dies plus a Neat & Tangled 'Medallion Flower Builder' set of dies, kindly donated by Kathy A who is also our Guest Designer.

We tried out the Mangar Elk 'rescue/rising cushion' the other day - with Len on the floor as guinea pig just in case there were any issues. It works a treat, although Dudley wasn't too sure about it when the air pump was running. 'What sort of dragon-like beastie is that then?'. Naturally, we both hope it's never needed but it sure beats a wait of several hours for help to arrive! 

Here's Dudley catching a few extra ZZZZzzzz'z on our bed before I made it the other day. And yup, that's the latest 'Stinky Monkey' beside him (still not as loved as previous ones) - plus his very first very grubby now 'rustle and squeak hedgie' puppy toy from Sarn, over three years ago - which he still loves and often uses as a pillow! 

He looks so sweet and innocent - but trust me, there's mischief brewing as soon as he's awake! Folk have mentioned that perhaps his name ought to be 'Tinker' - well, that's always been one of his nicknames from almost the word go! So you were right in suggesting it.☺

And, for your entertainment, here's Dudley 'spinning for a treat' - a little ritual after he's done a 'poop' each day. His record is seven spins in one go! The 'lunge' at the end is because Len always pops the treat on a unit beside my desk for me to give to him. And if I'm not fast enough he (Dudley) hops up and down like a demented Easter Bunny! If you have the sound on, he's panting a bit as he just did a few racing laps of the garden (zoomies, to celebrate a successful toilet mission) he then charged indoors and raced up the stairs, two at a time to my craft room, where he knew I'd be waiting to give him a treat.

Sorry, I just can't 'crack' uploading the video onto Blogger - here's a link to it on YouTube, it's also on Facebook:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsl-A5-rrI

Love from myself and the usual happy 'high-five and woof' from Dudley,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #414 - Ruby's Memory

Hello again - thanks for calling by! It's time for another snippets challenge dedicated to sweet Ruby's Memory, in aid of the centre who originally rescued her, and this is our seventh one.

The prize for this challenge has been kindly offered by Kathy Asper - who is also in the spotlight as a guest designer for this fortnight as well. First. lets take a peek at the three lovely cards Kathy made:

 

I love all three of these cards - each one showing how well snippets work on die cuts for Christmas cards. To find out how Kathy made them, do hop over to her blog HERE.

 

And, Kathy has generously donated two sets of dies - both make up a single prize which won't be split. The prize will also be posted directly to the winner by Kathy:

 

The prize is an Echo Park 'Candy Cane Christmas' set of dies plus a Neat & Tangled 'Medallion Flower Builder' set of dies. Just perfect to play with before Christmas!

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 30th October. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list. And I won't be splitting the prize of course.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

 

Dudley has been in disgrace here, for only as long as it took for his sweet little face to melt our hearts. So, all of one minute probably. Len was cutting the grass in the back garden and Dudley spotted a neighbouring cat lurking underneath a bush on Dudley's patch no less! He made one frantic dash, the cat soared over the tall fence like a rocket and Dudley returned with his head hung low absolutely covered in sticky seed heads, bits of grass cuttings and also muddy paws.

 

'I only wanted to introduce myself' he moaned - as he was brushed to within an inch of his life and then had his paws and tummy given a good wash. 

 

A few of you will have already seen this as I posted it on Facebook - once we stopped laughing (discretely of course). One of our neighbours commented and asked was it one of theirs (it was). She saw the funny side when I said that Dudley only really saw the tail end properly. ☺ 

However, Dudley redeemed himself in the early hours of Friday morning when he was out in the garden for a final toilet trip before bedtime. He suddenly stopped mooching around and alerted Len to this little creature underneath the arbour:

A baby hedgehog, being held in Len's cupped 'gardening gloved' hands and probably the size of an orange. Light as a feather as well, so we need to watch out for it and, if it returns to feed again, weigh it in case it needs to be taken to a local hedgehog rescue place. I know it seems a shame to take a hedgehog away from its Mum and possibly its siblings. However, it's already fairly independent and without expert help it just wouldn't survive hibernation if it weighs under 500 grammes. Watch this space and let's all hope for the best.

Thank you from Len for all your Birthday wishes! And yup, he did love his Birthday card I made for him, posted on here on Friday 15th October.

Lots of love from Dudley Dog and of course me,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #411 - results

As I said last week, Autumn is certainly on the way here and temperatures are dropping slowly, but steadily. And more Christmas cards are appearing in the Playground as well. I'm just so pleased I resolved not to kill myself by making dozens of them this year. However, I will still be sending hand made cards to my crafting friends, close family and a few other close friends.

We had some really beautiful floral entries into Challenge #411 and Sarn (my brilliant Head Prefect and also Head Mischief Maker) and I picked several mutual favourites which happened to have a floral theme, I've stayed with that for all of our picks. Several of your cards were also entered into the Allsorts Challenge blog in memory of our much missed friend Kath - so it seems extra fitting for some of them to feature here. I know that Brenda of Allsorts was delighted at the love and care people put into their entries. Kath certainly was, and always will be, a much loved lady.

Sarn and I both absolutely agreed that one entry in particular was worthy of a 'Gold Star':

We both think that Vinita's card is absolutely glorious! Such vibrant colours, all individually water coloured so perfectly - using lots of scraps of white card, and then colouring them. Just stunning. Do feel free to collect a *Gold Star* badge from the RH sidebar Vinita for your own blog, if you so wish of course.

 

 

This card really is so lovely, made by Lynne and beautifully paper pieced. Such wonderful colours and really a stunning card. The gorgeous 'frame' uses a set of dies by Clearly Besotted - such a clever idea. Hint, watch this space girls!

 

Vicky always makes her wonderful cards look almost effortlessly elegant, but it's a real skill - and this card is a perfect illustration of that. Just a little detail such as adding a blue centre to the flower to pull the card together is a perfect finishing touch. 

 

Now, this image might look like a flower - but just peek a bit closer. It's a 'lion flower'! The sweet little guy has the face of a teddy with the tail and the mane of a lion.☺ The mane reminds me so much of a multi-coloured flower and I was fooled at first - what an adorable card!  Made by Lynne in NI (Ruby's Mum) - who always produces such gorgeous cards.

And here's one I kept up my sleeve when SaRn and I were discussing our mutual picks:

Yay! It's a snippets card, made for Kath's Allsorts Challenge, by our own Head Prefect - SaRn of Stamping for Pleasure! It's absolutely gorgeous and Kath would have loved it so, so much Sarn. Perfection!

 

I've already thanked Sarn last week on here, but you have no idea how much she helped out after my 'tumbling act'. It was a huge relief to have her immediately phone me as soon as she knew and then step in and take over the reins whilst I got over the whole event. Mind you, I did follow on behind her commenting, later on so I could see all the entries properly, and make up my own list of picks - and some of the mischief plotting that was going on did make me chortle at times! Many thanks once again Sarn, that was a real lesson in life!

 

And finally, we had one new Playmate joining us for the first time:

Let's welcome Denise (Bryant) - with this fabulous Halloween card. You totally 'get' what the snippets challenge is all about Denise, lovely work!

That's our picks from Challenge #411 and we had 44 entries (going back up again - hooray!) in total.

Now for the prize draw, which is a bumper selection of Halloween goodies - jointly donated by Heather Mills and myself. Many thanks once again Heather! And the winner is:

Greta

 

Congratulations Greta! It seems like ages since you last won a prize - and I'll do my best to make sure this arrives in time for you to have a little play before Halloween. ☺

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 a good prompt for me and 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 Challenge #412 which you can find HERE. The prize is an Altenew 'Poured Acrylic' paper pack and a Lawn Fawn 'Giant Happy Birthday to You' die.

Challenge #411 was in aid of Ruby's Memory and I just sent off a further donation to USPCA, the rescue charity who saved Ruby and gave her the chance of the wonderful life she had with Lynne and Greg. That means, thanks to your generous prize donations, and the addition of Gift Aid tax relief onto my donations in lieu of buying prizes, we've raised £150 for USPCA so far - and still plenty more prizes to go as well! 

The September Rudolph Days challenge started on 25th and runs until the end of the month - over at ScrappyMo's HERE.

We had our flu vaccinations on Thursday - I won't bore you with details of the queuing fiasco but let's say the organisation left a lot to be desired. Next year, if the organisation looks to be basically inviting folk to 'join in a scrum' then we'll book into a local pharmacy (in the UK for example, Boots and Lloyds offer the service) with properly timed 20 minute appointments. Not everyone knows you can do this and that all the NHS conditions still apply (such as free jabs for certain age group and conditions) and they also notify your GP after you have your jab.

 

And, drum roll - tomorrow is 27th September, exactly three years from the day we collected Dudley and our lives changed forever. Happy 'Gotcha Day' sweet boy and thank you for all the love and joy you brought with you - gosh, you look so very tiny there:

 

Photo was taken very soon after we got Dudley back home on his 'gotcha day' - not a very long journey but he was bewildered, stressed and exhausted. So he did what puppies do best, curled up in his new bed with a blanket 'scented with his Mum and siblings aroma' that the breeder thoughtfully gave to all the puppies .................. and had a 'snoozelet', before even thinking about exploring his new home! We both remember it so well, Len ended up sleeping most of the night downstairs on a sofa - with a very homesick little puppy on his chest, covered in the soothing blanket - listening to his 'new Dad's' heart beating.

Love from Parsnip, myself and the usual happy 'high-five' and woof from Dudley.

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #411 - Ruby's Memory

Hello again - thanks for calling by! It's time for another snippets challenge dedicated to dear sweet Ruby's Memory, in aid of the centre who originally rescued her, and this is our sixth one.

The prize for this challenge has been kindly offered by Heather Mills with a few extras added by yours truly:

 

This super selection contains all things Halloween - stickers, purple sparkly ribbon, spooky embellishments, alphabet stickers, Halloween coloured sequins, sparkle dust, washi tape, Echo Park 'I love Halloween' paper pad, Taylored Expressions 'Boo to You' sentiments stamp set and a 'Sweet November Hazel & Webster' stamp. Oopsie, I left the sequins and sparkle dust out of the top photo - and also forgot to cover up the price of the cute little stamp.

It will reach the winner in plenty of time for Halloween I promise.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 18th September. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list. And I won't be splitting the prize of course.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

 

Huge apologies being so behind with commenting on Challenge #410. Also, I haven't yet managed to package and post the three 'Oddball Bunny' stamp prizes either. I'll email the winners once they're on the way.

All because I took a bit of a tumble one evening earlier this week, which ended up hours later in us having to have an ambulance call out to get me back up off the floor using an amazing inflatable seat thingy as well as to check me over. Oh the shame of it! Agonising shoulder pains as well as dodgy legs do not make one a floor gymnast - and certainly not able to hoist oneself back up from a flat floor, or even take the pain of being hauled up, trust me we tried! It's shaken both of us up and the rest of the week has just flown by. Even having a shower had me almost trembling in fear that it might happen again, although I know it was just my own clumsiness getting up from a sofa awkwardly. Hey ho - getting older ain't for wimps, we've now ordered the same inflating seat thingy 'just in case'. Thankfully am just a bit battered and bruised although for some reason still not firing on all cylinders mentally - not much new there then.

Have a good week! And be careful when standing up ☺

Lots of love from us all - Parsnip, Dudley and of course me, 

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #408 - results

Kath

Many of you are now already aware that Kath, of My Plain and Simple blog, passed away last Sunday. Kath was one of our Playmates, a very good friend to so many of us, with a particularly dry sense of humour and a really kind heart  She was extremely talented and made such beautiful cards. Thoughts are with her family, as well as with Brenda of Floral Fantasies who was such a true friend during those final few weeks. Dearest Kath, gone but not forgotten - we will miss you so very much. RIP our dear friend.

Let's move gently onto the picks:

I think this is so adorable! A perfectly designed and executed Christmas card, made by Val, using lots of beautifully co-ordinating paper snippets and such sweet images!

This wonderful card, made by Helen F, is worthy of a photo of the inside of the card as well:

Isn't is great?! Super use of plenty of snippets and I can just imagine the delight on the recipient's face upon opening it!

 

 

This is a really a sweet card, made by Becca. Such a lovely layout and a perfect reminder of another way to use up your snippet strips to create a really interesting background. Love it!

And finally, we had one new Playmate joining us for the first time:

Let's welcome Dottie - who brought this lovely card to share with us. Hedgehogs always are such fun on cards and this little guy is so cute! Come back and play with us soon please Dottie!

That's my picks from Challenge 408 in the Playground and I've stuck to the three picks limit. We had 41 entries (hooray!) and one new Playmate.

Now for the prize draw, which is a 'Peaceful Roses Mini' stamp set by Gina K, kindly donated for Ruby's Memory  Challenge by by Brenda (Lawrence). Thank you once again Brenda!  And the winner is:

 Karen (Letchworth)

Congratulations Karen! Not so long since you won a previous prize - so extra well done. I'm sure you will come back to share a lovely card using your prize.

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.

Brenda lives in the USA and will post your prize directly to you once I let her have your address. Do bear in mind that she recovering from a fractured knee (ouch!) and will probably need to rely on one of her sons to post the prize. Just looked at your blog and am pleased to see it's getting better Brenda - don't overdo things though!

Remember folks, there's still almost one more week to run on the current Challenge 409 which you can find HERE. The prize is a Stamping Bella 'Oddball Easter Bunny' stamp - and there are three on offer - so you have a better chance than usual to be a winner!

Challenge #408 was in aid of Ruby's Memory and I just sent off a further donation to USPCA, the rescue charity who saved Ruby and gave her the chance of the wonderful life she had with Lynne and Greg.

We've had to hide Dudley's absolutely gross Stinky Monkey for good - it's a health hazard - to him and also to us! It's still in the house in a secret place and so far Dudley hasn't worked out exactly where it is. However, I have a little suspicion he could be on track as he never ever goes into the shower room yet I've found the door nudged open twice lately. It's hidden in a cupboard behind some cleaning stuff! Now and then, when he's otherwise occupied, I rub the brand new Stinky Monkey with the old one, not too much - just enough to hopefully transfer a bit of pong aroma. It does seem to be slowly working although not as much as the previous one which went absolutely everywhere with him. I feel like a mother who has taken her baby's dummy away!

Dudley continues to be such a little sweetheart. I did try to capture him on a little video clip doing his sighing, moaning and groaning when he gets enclosed with me during grocery deliveries. Trust Dudley, he wasn't going through his repertoire of sounds very well so I'll have another try when the next delivery comes.

Here's a photo of the little chap cupped in Len's hands the day we went to first meet him - aged just under six weeks old. He was teething (his baby teeth) hence the tear stains under his eyes. Speaking of eyes - aren't they gorgeous and almost wise, even at that young age. His black button nose was still patchy pink as well! 

He's just this minute, as I'm typing this, hurtled in from the garden having done several circuits of 'zoomies' - bringing in a load of grass etc. needless to say! Little tinker!

 

Love from Parsnip, myself and the usual happy 'high-five' and woof from Dudley.