Mia is now a teenager

Grand daughter Mia recently celebrated her 13th Birthday. Her main interest is still ballet, so a die set I bought a while ago had it's first outing:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- snippets of lightly patterned lemon, pink and blue card - found tucked in the back of a Me to You 'Spring Chic' paper pack

- the lemon paper was trimmed to very slightly smaller than the card front and glued in place

- the ballet tunic with tutu was die cut from pink paper using a Marianne Creatables LR0467 set of 'ballet' dies - I then used a ball ended tool to add the embossing rather than get the Cuttlebug sout as well as the Altenew Mini die cutting machine I was using

- the hanger and little bow were cut from blue paper using the same set of dies as the ballet tunic and dress

- the sentiment was die cut from more of the blue paper using Joanna Sheen's 'Retro Happy Birthday' die

- stuck the sentiment in place first and then added the hanger, tunic, bow and tutu above at an angle

- a sprinkling of sequins and finally a row of clear gems across the waistline and one on the little bow to add more 'bling'

As it was a first outing for the ballet set of dies, I'm entering this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #19 HERE.

 

 

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #389

Dudley had his annual vaccination booster on Tuesday just gone - as well as his annual MOT. He hardly squeaked and was a bit quieter during the car journeys as well. Still huffing like a steam train a lot of the time but the yodelling only began when the car stopped at either end of the journey. Baby steps, baby steps.

Then, it was Len's Birthday on Thursday  and of course Dudley had to have a card made for him to give to his 'Best Buddy' - it's my snippets card for this fortnight: 

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style opening

- white card from which I die cut the frame - the die is from the Avery Elle 'Postage Stamp Elle-ments' set

- snippet of yellow patterned paper found tucked into the back of a Memory Keepers paper pad, a magazine freebie eons ago, die cut at just an eighth of an inch larger, on all four sides, than the opening in the white frame

- then adhered the patterned paper to the back of the frame, using a glue pen

- glued the whole panel to the card front

- used  snippets of white card to stamp a load of little images, using the Misti, Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink pad and Lawn Fawn's 'Be Hap-pea' set of stamps

- then stamped the sentiment and 'pea tendrils' using the same set of stamps and a Brilliance 'Pearlescent Ivy' ink pad

- coloured the images using Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils

- die cut all the little pieces using the matching set of dies - there's even one to cut the slit across the centre of the pea pod - also fussy cut the word 'birthday' and carefully popped them into an upturned lid from a little plastic box lest they made a bid for freedom! 

- then it was just a matter of positioning everything and adhering it to the card front using a glue pen

- finished!

Len loved the card although I had to point out the subtlety of the little faces in the peas - from the left, yours truly, Len in the middle (although his specs are rimless in real life) and Dudley poking his nose over the pea pod on the right ☺

The trickiest part was adding the stamped features to the faces and also the words in the speech bubbles - having said that, even with my usual 'cackhandedness', they worked perfectly straight away. I did sort of follow the layout of a card I spotted online - but there are umpteen ways to use the set of stamps. I only had a short window of time in which to make the card so I wasn't overly adventurous for a first play.

Also, I have a couple of new toys in my 'armoury' here which I think will make layering loads easier, especially when trying to line up patterned papers. I generally make A2 sized cards these days and during a browsing session I came across some Waffle Flower dies to die cut plain rectangles. There are two sets and I went a bit mad and got both - not cheap, but a really great way to always get perfectly cut rectangles for layering. I used one of the dies to cut the background for today's snippets card and found it so easy to align the pattern. My alignment is straight but not perfectly centred within the frame, that came about when I added the patterned paper rectangle to the back of the frame - the paper itself is lined up spot on thanks to the die, until Dumbo here gets it slightly adrift when glueing it in place! The sets are called 'A2 Layering Die' and 'Additional A2 Layers'. So, from the 5.5" x 4.25" size downwards - each set has 16 dies - going down in literally 16th's of an inch if you combine both sets. Certainly a non-essential addition for card making - but my OCD is 'happy as Larry' with them! I've spotted that they also make other shapes and sizes but for now I'll stick with the ones I have.

Anyhow, here's the prize for this fortnight - which has been waiting patiently in the toy box to be offered for absolutely ages:

Yup, it's a set of Lawn Fawn's 'Be Hap-pea' stamps with matching dies. I love how many different little faces there are - and so easy to stamp as well!

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 31st 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 as the Lawn Fawn stamps and dies were having their first outing, I can enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #19. 

In other news, not a lot is going on needless to say. 

The hedgehogs are still visiting, although less often so they must be getting ready for hibernation.

Whilst at the vet's I asked about seasonal doggy gastroenteritis - and it's around again this Autumn. So Len has changed Dudley's walk routes to avoid the more popular areas for the time being until we get a real cold snap - which will also kill off the last of the ticks as apparently they're out and about still. That's a mild and damp Autumn for you.

Lastly, with the country slipping back into lock down all over the place, I've made an appointment to have my hair chopped on Tuesday just in case Hampshire follows suit. The salon has loads of protective measures in place - but I'll still be glad when the appointment is over!  I think I need a good three inches lopped off and can't face a further six months or so.

Lots of love from us all - Parsnip, Dudley and of course me. Stay safe!

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #387 - results

Right now, I think the least said about COVID the better. Although it's all very worrying and most certainly not something to be taken lightly, as seems to be happening in some quarters.

It's been a busy week and I'm frantically typing this on Saturday afternoon so let's dive straight in with my picks from the previous challenge:

Our first pick is a *Gold Star* pick and it's wonderful! Great use of snippets and perfect in every way:

Susan S made this brilliant Christmas card - her colouring of the adorable image is absolutely fabulous and every single thing about it is so pleasing on the eye - I love it. Do collect your *Gold Star* badge from the right hand side bar if you would like it Susan! 

And my three other picks for this fortnight are:

Susan B made this lovely card, using only scraps/snippets from her UFO box. Wonderful background, topped with such pretty hollyhocks. And I do so love the current trend of adding a stamped sentiment on a strip of Vellum. 

 

I chose this card, made by Shannon (Shartl) for several reasons. First of all it's so pretty, then it's long and slim (another current trend) and last, but not least, it's a really great reminder that punched shapes are a super way to use up snippets. Before I had a die cutting machine, I amassed a large collection of punches .......... which I rarely think to use these days - shame on me!

And last, but not least:

This is a really eye catching Halloween card, made by Becca. Such a vibrant background, plenty of snippets used and it has everything going for it. Love how Becca added the Memory Box Fleur de Lis row to the fence - very imaginative and it also allowed her to comply with the Memory Box challenge for Halloween! That's called thinking outside the box.

We also had two new Playmates:

Deezy

Sarina

Welcome to the Playground ladies - hope to see you playing along with us in future challenges.

We had 52 entries in total. Which is really heartening - thank you everyone who came to play!

Now for the prize draw, which is a My Favourite Things (MFT) die called 'Stitched Ric Rac' and a Hunkydory Moonstone Combo sentiment die and stamps set called 'Essential Words - Celebrate'.Clarity Stamp 'Word sticker collection'.

And the winner is:

Jeanne H

Congratulations Jeanne, I think you've only ever had one Playground win (in a Christmas draw) so this is well overdue. Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so I can copy and paste for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course and I'll do my best to post your prize ASAP this coming week. 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 another week to run on Challenge #388 HERE. The prize is a Cheery Lynn die called 'Santa's Laundry'. In answer to a couple of you who asked, the die is one complete die which also almost cuts out the collar, cuffs, hat trim etc. So you can either leave the outfit as it is in just one colour or also cut it out in white as 'fur' and then just snip across the ends of the slits and glue the fur trim in place on top of the complete die cut. 

Dudley is so in love with our Post Lady! To the point that if she's doing her rounds whilst he's out for a walk, he's up on his hind legs demanding to go and say 'hello'.

It's Dudley's annual vaccinations and check up this coming week - all to be done following distancing rules and wearing masks (us, not Dudley!). More yodelling no doubt!

Love from Parsnip, a happy 'high-five' and woof from Dudley - and of course hugs as always from me. Stay safe, wear those masks - and keep on crafting. 

Hope and Chances charity kit - August 2020

The August 2020 Hope and Chances charity kit has been languishing on my desk for ages - I finally knuckled down and made it yesterday:

Everything was cut, or die cut, ready to assemble. All it needed was glue, red line tape (my choice to layer as well as to adhere the flowers for its strength), a ball ended tool to shape the leaves and flowers (after I'd coloured them using my long neglected Aqua Markers and a water brush) and finally some sparkly gems in the flower centres.

The top paper has Happy Birthday printed on it, in different fonts.

A fun card to make!

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #388

Wow, that week just flew past! The biggest event was taking Dudley for his full grooming session. As usual - yup, I had to slide him along the floor of the store when we got there. Coming out HE almost had me sliding along the floor! He looks absolutely gorgeous and is so soft and white. As always, he was a bit unsettled by the whole experience but the girls say he did behave himself. Basically, he just isn't keen on being messed around with - despite me grooming him every evening. He still sits up like a little hare ready for a boxing match as soon as I begin the session!

As things have been all a bit upside down, I haven't managed to make a new snippets card so I'm showing you one from a few years ago - which also includes part of this fortnight's prize:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- a snippet of snowflake backing paper from the LOTV 'Frosty Christmas' paper pad

- the hillsides were die cut using a plain curved die from the Spellbinders 'A2 Curved Borders One' set, with Stickles 'Crystal Ice' along the edge

- the trees were die cut using a Marianne die (LR0136), snippets of white card covered with self-adhesive film which was peeled off after die cutting and sprinkled with Cosmic Shimmer 'Diamond Sprinkles'

- snippets of red and white card (plus a little scrap of white and red patterned paper for the long johns!) and the 'Santa's Laundry' die by Cheery Lynn, Then I attached the washing line to each of the trees and topped them with a Josy Rose silver star nail head

- the sentiment was die cut twice and layered, using a Crafts-Too 'Merry Christmas die'

This card actually featured a few prizes back in 2014. As I said, this time only one item from the card is a prize as I did begin to collect stuff for the Grand Christmas Draw, which I have definitely decided against - for this year at least. Now seems a good time to offer my first Christmas themed prize as many people are beginning to make their Christmas cards - now that we're into Autumn.

And, here are the prizes for this fortnight:

First of all, as I used on my card, it's a Cheery Lynn die called 'Santa's Laundry'. I was reminded that I had the die in the Toybox when I spotted a great Halloween card, made by Connie using Cheery Lynn's Witches Laundry die HERE.

And as Halloween isn't too far off, there's this as well:

Tara, of Seven Hills Crafts, kindly enclosed something extra for the Toybox with a recent order. It's a 6" x 6" paper pad by My Mind's Eye called 'Something Wicked'. What's extra nice is that the papers are double sided, and many have glittered accents as well.

I love Seven Hills Crafts, they're based in the UK and are one of the few stockists of most American craft brands. And Tara has been a blogging friend almost right from when this blog first began - a while before she and Rick her husband took over the business in January 2014.

I won't be splitting the prize - if you win and don't want one of the items I will still send you both, then do feel free to give it to a friend, once you receive it.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 17th 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.

Remember the football sized hedgehog? He's only gone and  only fallen asleep twice more on top of a feeding dish! So, we've had to abandon the covers for now as he really shouldn't be thinking about hibernating out in the open - even if he is underneath an upturned shelter. Thankfully, he's got the message now and seems to have retreated into the undergrowth and a nice leafy nest.

Dudley is such a little sweetie, he's curious of course but always leaves animals and birds well alone.

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

'Stacked Merry'

I've been catching up on a bit of Christmas card making and tried out a NBUS 'Stacked Merry' die by MFT, from their September 2020 release. I made four cards in a 'batch baking' session - two of each colour way:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening

- white card from which I die cut the frame - the die is from the Avery Elle 'Postage Stamp Elle-ments' set

- piece of plaid patterned LOTV paper from the 'Classic Christmas' paper pad, trimmed to just an eighth of an inch larger, on all four sides, than the opening in the white frame

- then adhered the LOTV paper to the back of the frame, using very narrow red line tape. The best way to do this is to align the top edge first and adhere it before then carefully removing the backing from the other three sides - if you try to do it in one go the odds are that it won't be straight (or as straight as you can get it!)

- glued the whole panel to the card front

- die cut the MFT 'Stacked Merry' from white card and glued it in place using a Zig glue pen

- die cut holly leaves and berries from plain green and red paper snippets, which were tucked in the back of the same LOTV 'Classic Christmas' paper pad. The die set I used is Poppystamps' 'Stitched Holly Leaves and Berries'

- glued those on place, again using a Zig glue pen

The background could be a little too busy for the leaves and berries to show up very well - but I had fun making them anyhow!

And as the MFT 'Stacked Merry' was having it's first outing, I can enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #19.

Rudolph Days - September 2020

This is one monthly challenge I'd really hate to miss - it's Rudolph Days over at ScrappyMo's. And here's my entry. Made in double quick time as it's September's Hope and Chances charity kit:

It's self-explanatory really. The kit came with absolutely everything included, apart from glue and thin sticky pads!

Just realised I still haven't made up August's kit yet - it got buried under a pile of stuff on my desk, and only surfaced last week when I had a good tidy up!