Ten minute card

Whilst rootling through the box of last year's 'received' Christmas cards, kept to upcycle, I came across one card front with a beautifully made sentiment topper that's been longing for a little makeover. This was the end result of literally ten minutes work:

The trickiest part was removing the sentiment topper from the plain gold card front. Little tip, in order to avoid bending or creasing the topper (which was on a large sticky pad), I placed the card face down on my cutting mat and then gently prised the card away from the topper. That way, the card front which I was discarding could be bent whilst the sentiment topper was held down flat. I learned that trick a while back, the hard way :)

I used:

- 6" x 6" square cream card blank

- a trimmed slightly smaller gold 'flittered' backing sheet from First Edition's 6" x 6" paper pad called 'Gilded Winter'. I love this pad (bought from Hobbycraft recently) as it's 64 sheets, with a lovely mix of papers, some foiled, some glittered, some double sided and some sort of glazed

- the sentiment I already wrote about - I left the existing large sticky pad on the back and just added some narrow strips the same depth on all four sides. Also moved the teeny bow as it was at a bit of an angle and not centred properly, just by a gnat's whisker and re-stuck it using Glossy Accents

Job done, super fast as already said.

Di
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13th Birthday card

Not sure if it's just me, but I struggle with cards for chaps - especially when they hit their teens. Cute LOTV and such are out, yet images that are too manly don't seem right either. So, I turned to Pinterest for ideas and came up with my version of a card I spotted over there:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- backing paper from a We R Memory Keepers paper stack called 'Travel Light', free with Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine ages ago

- the plain card all came from the snippets folder and first I cut a yellow band to go right across the card, backed with a deep plum colour

- the large star(s) were die cut from deep plum and green snippets using MFT Die-namics 'Stars' set

- the white numbers are from my lovely pal Sarn who keeps me supplied with 'Olivia' font die cut numbers (thankfully!)

- the word 'Hooray' was die cut with a die from Penny Black's 'Hooray' set, in green and deep plum and then layered slightly offset to give a shadow effect. The good old 'Stick-it' adhesive sheets came in handy too

- three little green stars, cut with the smallest die from the stars set

The colours are much stronger in real life, needless to say :)

Di
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Christmas rocker card

The latest challenge over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge is 'If you want to get ahead, get a hat'. It's the 200th week that Hazel has been running the challenge - wahoo!!

At first I intended using a NBUS stamp but then I turned to the box of last year's received shop-bought cards and found one which was perfect to upcycle.

I'd spotted that Elizabeth had made some lovely rocker cards recently, so after an online search I'd already bought some bigger circular dies (the largest one is 14cm/5.5" diameter), then yesterday just sat and worked out how to make a card. It really is easy-peasy lemon-squeezy but such a fun result :)

I used:

- SU 'Cherry Cobbler' card stock, die cut into a circle using the largest (14cm) die from the Tonic Studios 'Circle Layering Die Set'. Then scored right across the centre at 7cm, using the Hougie Board

- then dropped down a couple of sizes in the die set and cut out the adorable penguins

- cut a further circle in toning paper the same size as the image to cover the back of the image and stuck it down

- used a bit of eyeballing to line up the image onto the rocker base and drew a line across the centre of the back of the image

- spread a thin layer of Collall glue onto the bottom half of the back of the image and, using the line I'd drawn used that as a guide to stick the image onto the rocker section

- then added teeny little googly eyes to each penguin, which wobble to and fro as the card rocks, snigger

- final touch, a Kanban sentiment banner at the top of the card

The in-house critic was muchly impressed, and of course immediately suggested Christmas rocker cards for the little girlies in Germany. I was already ahead of him there as it was why Elizabeth had been playing making these initially!

And my opinion of the Tonic dies? Brilliant! There are 14 dies in the set, they go up in pretty small steps from 2.3cm to 14cm. They come on their own magnetic sheet in a nice little plastic packet which has fitted into one of my die folders perfectly. And, as I have no immediate intention of changing my beloved Cuttlebug, they are well within the cutting plate size. They cut beautifully too, I bought mine from Amazon UK here.

I've only made this one card so far, but am wondering if it would pay to be really careful if you add extras such as gems, die cuts etc. - just in case it ends up too weighted at one side or another so wouldn't sit properly. Mine does but then what I did add is pretty much balanced out.

Edit: And too funny - when I'd written this post I hopped back to Elizabeth's blog to link to her cards and found a lot of what I've written here about which dies to use, balance issues etc. Shame that I didn't think to check first and save a load of time; but a few blog posts slipped past when we were getting ready for the bathroom workers :(

And of course, this card is also for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra, where it's always anything goes'

Di
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An observation about current blog problems

I found this website just a day or so ago, when searching to find possible reasons why a blogging friend was having trouble commenting on my blog. I think it's very jumbled up wording on the explanation I've linked to - in fact that whole website/blog isn't easy  reading but my guess is that it's written by techies so we should make allowances. What it does highlight is - who knows how many of you are having problems and thinking it's the blog owner's settings that are at fault?

No one is 'at fault' - but I don't use Captcha/word verification - yet it was jumping in and causing issues for my friend. Naturally I thought it was at my end and checked all my settings, carried out my own tests and so on.

But, it turns out that dear old Blogger have been tinkering yet again - trying to halt spam and in the process they've caused yet more problems. As a programmer (way back in the dark ages) we were in deep doggy do-do's if we didn't test, test and test again the potential impact of any IT upgrades. I know of two of you who have taken on board what the website points out and have found it cured commenting problems.

In a nutshell, if you try and comment without being logged into Blogger, you will probably get Captcha/word verification popping up and halting you in your tracks as it would deem you to be anonymous and therefore a likely spammer. Likewise, it will also possibly happen if you don't allow cookies or scripts. Sigh, I know :(

It seems, from what I've read, that it isn't the fault of the person who owns the blog you are visiting - neither in truth is it your fault! It's just dear old Blogger bumbling along with untested upgrades - causing us grief yet again. So do check out your own settings and security parameters if you're having problems.

Ha, watch this space - if the Playground and yours truly disappear in the little 'poof' of smoke then you know that my words have been 'heard' :)

Meanwhile - I was busy yesterday making the most of a peaceful day but I do know the Playground has been very busy (I heard shrieks and squeals earlier so am on the hunt for hidden Halloween masks etc.) and will be catching up on commenting today, I hope. Always supposing Mr Blogger plays ball of course!


Di
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Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 148

If you're in the UK, don't forget to change your clocks - 'Fall' so it's back an hour. That means an extra hour in bed this morning but it gets dark earlier this evening of course, so my snippets card today is bright and cheerful - put your sun shades on!

I used:

- A6 cream card blank, tent style

- yellow backing card from the snippets folder plus various rust, orange and yellow snippet strips I'd been hoarding. Using a Lawn Fawn's 'Stitched Scalloped Borders' die I cut lots of strips from the snippets and layered then onto the yellow backing card - having first covered part of the front of the yellow card with double sided adhesive paper

- kept the top scalloped strip deeper and popped a snippet of patterned paper from Kaisercraft's 'Sweet Pea' Collection underneath it before sticking it down and then trimming the whole panel to fit onto an A6 card front

- die cut a couple of feathers with another snippet of the same patterned paper using the Memory Box die called 'Wild Feathers', stuck them onto the card and popped a teeny bow on top of them, tied using embroidery thread

- the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called 'Truly Appreciated', stamped using Brilliance 'Coffee Bean' ink pad. As I often do now, I chopped what was originally one straight line of a sentiment in half to use - shame the photo makes it look as if the card is shaped like a barrel :)

Straight into this week's picks - and what a hard job I had just picking three to show:

I picked this card, made by Jean, because I just loved how the sunflower theme and colours were carried right through the card, including the backing card and the little flowers on the LOTV sentiment. Perfect!

How lovely this card is, made by Sharon. Of course it's perfect for the Playground and how very clever to combine a LOTV stamped and coloured image with a Memory Box tree die. Bet that made you look twice - really super idea Sharon!

Aw, I just had to include this little cutie - made by Sue J. Isn't that reindeer adorable - plus great use of snippets.

And we have one new playmate this week:

Isn't this a perfect Autumn card - made by Jackie Trinder! Love this card Jackie and really hope you come back to play again soon.

I could have gone on and on showing your lovely cards and makes girls - but after typing this I want to enjoy the fact that we have no workmen banging about the house over the weekend, even if it means doing some ironing and watching afternoon TV :)

Onto the winner of last week's prize which was the Stamping Bella 'Charlie Sits By The Chimney' stamp. I did have a bit of a giggle when quite a few most of you ran away in horror at the thought of colouring in such a finely detailed stamp - but if I can manage then I'm sure anyone could. So, only eight of you positively said 'Yes' to being in with a chance to win - and eventually after umpteen false runs,  Mr Random chose:

 Lucy

Well done Lucy - and by coincidence number 45 is one of Lucy's snippets card for this week, featured the Stamping Bella Uptown Girls, so this stamp will be well loved I'm sure :) I have your address Lucy and will post the stamp off to you ASAP!

And of course this coming week's prize is linked to my snippets card - we already had the feathers as a prize so now it's the Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Scalloped Borders' die set which has three border dies:

I used the largest of the dies on my card today BTW.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 1st November and will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please say 'Yes please' (or similar) in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize.

Mr Linky is below - please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Have a great week! And do remember, to join in with Rudolph Day over at Sarn's!
   
Di (and the usual happy wave from Parsnip of course)
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Rudolph Day - October 2014

Crumbs, it's the penultimate Rudolph Day of the year over at Sarn's - how did that happen so soon? Here's my two cards, both identical:

I used:

- A6 cream linen card blank

- SU 'Cherry Cobbler' card stock for the 'frame'

- a further A6 cream linen card blank chopped in half and then trimmed down. I then flipped it to use the smooth reverse of the piece of card as there would be a sentiment stamped

- Christmas washi tape - from a pack of three complementing rolls bought in Hobbycraft a few weeks ago

- after laying down the bottom strips I stamped the sentiment using a stamp from SU's ''Good Greetings' set and SU's 'Mossy Meadow' ink pad

- that made adding the top strip of washi place much easier to align/space

- final touch, an already altered Wild Orchid Crafts poinsettia. Made a load of these way back in November 2011 which you can see here. I'd taken out the garish yellow centres, painted the orangey (shudder) red parts with Anita's Glaze and then dunked them into red glitter which changed them to a much richer red. Once dried they had Papermania sparkly gold brads popped into the centres

So that's my October Rudolph Day offering for Sarn - remember it runs until the end of the month so you could always combine it with your snippets entries :)

Di
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The 'Frozen' craze

Over in Germany, two little girls are absolutely crackers about the film 'Frozen' and anything remotely linked. Their Birthday gifts from us are 'Frozen' related - and I also sent a box full of 'Frozen' themed disposable party plates, cups, napkins, cake toppers, party bags etc. to cover both their Birthday parties - they are only a couple of weeks apart. At least Mum can just whisk the disposable stuff into a bin bag after each of the parties :)

At aged seven (a week ago today), Mia is absolutely enthralled with Elsa which meant that making this card was a no-brainer - Elsa would be in charge:

I used:

- 8" x 8" square white tent style card blank

- pale blue snowflake backing card from the Christmas box of card stock - it's probably KanBan. Used a Martha Stewart PATP corner snowflake punch just to add interest to the bottom corners and popped aurora borealis gems in the centres

- the image of Elsa came from the internet, there are loads to be found with no copyright issues, including Disney ones such as this one - just Google and be amazed! Printed it onto photographic card, trimmed to size and added a few small aurora borealis gems to the image (as you do) 

- the striped and spotted organza ribbons came from my ribbon box and I tied a silver snowflake charm to the bow using silver cord

- at three corners added a punched snowflake (from a snippet of white card which had been covered with self adhesive sparkly film) and topped them with aurora borealis gems

- Sarn to the rescue, I used a die cut number 7 she sent me a while back and popped it onto a punched circle of navy card which I just edged using a silver calligraphy pen

- the 'Birthday Wishes' sentiment is by Craftwork Cards, popped onto a punched oval of navy card

- the little alphabetic squares that I used to spell out MIA are also by Craftwork Cards and I just popped them onto 1" squares of navy card before adding some small Aurora Borealis gems

Although the in-house critic gave this a huge thumbs up - I suspect he doesn't realise that it's always so much harder to make a card to a specific theme, especially including some personalisation. But, he did refer to me as a 'Fairy Godmother' later on when I was clearing up the mess from making this card, so maybe he knows there was a bit of magic used :)

The feedback from Mia? She absolutely loved this card - nice to know it was a hit :)

Di
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A smiley snail

I love SU's 'Easy Events' set of stamps and turned to them when spotting that the current challenge over at Less is More is 'Little Creatures' - as there was one little cutie of a stamp as yet unused, bless his little smiley face:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank

- die cut a circle from the bottom right corner of the card

- embossed the front of the card using the 'Rosa' Anna Griffin embossing folder, a gift from Mo some while ago and I love it

- then I stamped the little snail with sentiment onto a snippet of white card, coloured him with Whispers pens and added clear Wink of Stella to his shell

- before popping the image in place realised it looked a bit bland so just drew a turquoise circle round the inside of the die I'd used for the card's body to form more of a frame

- finally, chomped the bottom left corner off the card

A super fast card featuring a slow little snail :)

Di
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Thank you Vicky!

The lovely Vicky Hayes of SU sent my Stampers Six Club goodies last week, along with the most gorgeous little kit to assemble. This isn't my idea, I just followed Vicky's instructions and made it up in a couple of minutes, but what a super way to use the Curvy Keepsake Box die to make a little Halloween Pumpkin Treat:

It was already carefully striped, just lying flat with the other little embellishements included plus an instruction sheet. And Vicky even enclosed two Ferrero Rocher chocolates to pop inside :) My favourites!

So cute. Thank you Vicky!

I made the most of yesterday's peace and quiet by catching up with other little jobs - but will be round to comment on the Playground ASAP I promise.

Di
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Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 147

I've been pretty much locked in the craft room this past week - the excuse it that I'm within earshot and partial sight of what currently going on with the en-suite. It's looking good, although over running a day or two so we're not out of the woods yet :( And, as always with us, there have been some issues along the way - sigh.

For my snippets card I had time to sit and colour in quite a detailed image (in fact I did two cards exactly the same) - and it's another Christmas card to link in with this coming week's prize. No point in winning Christmas goodies when it's too late to play with them before Christmas is there?!

Anyhow, this is one of the two identical cards I made:

I'm sorry the photo looks a bit washed out, it's richer in real life, but this is the best I can do to pick up the slight twinkle of the Stella pen on the fur trim/ruffles. Tee, hee - even then you have to press your nose right up against the screen to possibly see the twinkle :)

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- patterned papers (including the spotty snippet) came from the Milton & Co. 'Christmas' paper stack

- the green backing card I used came from the snippets folder, but I know from checking my little card swatch that it's SU's 'Lucky Limeade'

- the image was stamped using a NBUS stamp I've had for quite a while, bought with part of a very generous Stamping Bella gift voucher sent to me by a lovely blogger friend (you know who you are, mwah!). The Uptown Girls stamp is called 'Charlie Waits By The Chimney' - I craved this stamp for ages and have been dithering for just as long over using it for the first time as it's very detailed - but oh so fun and funky! In the end I used Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and touches of Sansodor blending solution plus clear 'Wink of Stella' on the white trim/ruffles. After trimming the image down to size I punched each corner with a Woodware fancy corner punch

- the sentiment is from SU's 'Good Greetings' stamp set, stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black'. There were loads of quite appropriate greetings to choose from, I picked this one 'cos a few more cocktails and Charlie will be singing 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' with gay abandon - only hope she doesn't topple down the chimney :)

Galloping rapidly on, here are my three picks for this week - out of some wonderful entries -  all of you girls never cease to amaze me:

I gasped when I spotted this card on my blog dashboard and rushed over to encourage Laurie to link into the Playground - isn't it just fabulous?!

I know, it's a pink card - made by Cornelia. You all know that I adore pink - but what also caught my eye here, along with the great use of snippets, is the gold embossing down part of the trees. I haven't seen that before and it really is so effective - you can check out how over at Cornelia's blog.

And last but not least, this card made by Sue P gave me a much needed laugh! I just love all the snippety bits (can't work out if Sue made the sunburst background with snippets or whether it's a single sheet but isn't it just great?!). And, Sue tells how she made those black records on her blog. Great card!

And we have three new playmates as well:

Wow! This would have been amongst my weekly picks if Neets (Anita) wasn't already being featured to welcome her. A perfect example of what the smallest of snippets can do!

Sammy has been peeping through the Playground fence at us for ages - and finally came to play bringing this fab card. What wonderful colouring as well as great use of snippets - how brave to also colour the background behind the LOTV image.

I love this card, brought to show by Vinita - who skipped back later in the week too. On her blog Vinita says she extended die cut for this - clever idea!

Welcome ladies - do please come back and play soon. Things are underway I suspect for a bonfire in the Playground 'cos Parsnip found a half made Guy Fawkes hidden behind the bike shed. Makes a change from sweetie papers I suppose :)

Do please pop over and say 'Hello' if you can - and here's hoping you both come back to play often!

Onto the winner of last week's prize, that gorgeous 'Dazzling Snowflake' die plus the 'Stick-it' sheets for intricate dies. Oooer, this was such a popular prize 'cos 21 of you squealed 'Yes please' and many added more than one card into the Playground. According to Mr Random the winner is:

Carol L

Well done Carol! I have an address for you, to be on the safe side would you please drop me an email (di_wray@hotmail.com) confirming you haven't moved and I'll post the die plus the Stick-it sheets off to you this week.

And, no surprise, this coming weeks prize is:

Your very own 'Charlie Waits By The Chimney' stamp. When mine arrived here, direct from Stamping Bella in the USA, I immediately ordered one for the Playground as well - thankfully Dies to Die For here in the UK also stock it! It's a good size too at approx. 4" x 4" and really is a joy to colour.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 25th October and will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please say 'Yes please' (or similar) in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize.

Mr Linky is below - please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Have a great week! And do remember, this coming Saturday is the 25th of the month and Rudolph Day over at Sarn's! I'm already planning the two card to make here :)

And here's a stroke of luck, over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge it's 'Use something forgotten or never used'. This lovely stamp certainly hadn't been forgotten but it was a first outing and I've had it for a long while now.  And I'm also linking into Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for October where it's always 'Anything Goes'.
  
Di (and the usual happy wave from Parsnip of course)
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Jingle Belles Challenge - Pink Christmas

There's a special challenge going on over at Jingle Belles, and it would be great if some of you could also join in. It only runs until Wednesday 22nd October but for every single entry - which must be made using a noticeable amount of pink as it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month - the ladies who run the challenge will be donating $4 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. What an incredibly generous thing for them to do!

Hettie (aka Sam) gave some of us a prod to join in and this is my offering - which I absolutely loved making of course, due to being just a teeny bit partial to pink:

I used:

- 6" square white scalloped card, tent style

- pink backing card, bottom corners rounded

- then a layer of gently patterned pink paper from a Milton & Co. 'Christmas' paper stack, bottom corners rounded

- then dug out three different pink snippets of card and covered them with double sided adhesive paper (not the intricate die stuff though as it was the fronts I wanted to play about with). Then cut one large and two small trees using Dee's Distinctively dies called 'Stacking Trees'

- the trees literally come in layers so I peeled off the covering from the front of the largest tree to reveal the sticky clear film and then covered each piece in Stampendous 'Shaved Ice' Frantage which is very similar to gilding flakes

- the two small trees were given similar treatment but using Cosmic Shimmer 'Diamond Sprinkles'

- each tree was then assembled onto the card, large one first then a small pink one followed by  another small pink one which I left the bottom layer off. That's the beauty of these dies, you can reduce the heights to suit - used sticky pads for the trees which were layered over the largest one of course

- the sentiment is LOTV from their 'Christmas Circular Sentiments' set, stamped in Memento 'Gray Flannel' onto a snippet of pink card and die cut with a round Nestie. Then I cut a slightly darker snippet of pink card (covered with double sided adhesive)  with a Classic Scalloped Circle Nestie and dunked it into Cosmic Shimmer 'Diamond Sprinkles' before sticking it onto the card with sticky pads

- using a teensy snippet of leftover pale pink card, already covered with sticky on the back, I added some more sticky film to the front and  die cut a Memory Box 'Star of Wonder' - again dunking it into Cosmic Shimmer 'Diamond Sprinkles'

- final touches, two Aurora Borealis gems, one in the centre of the star and a small one on the star on the greeting

Oh how this sparkles in real life! And I have to confess that I've wanted to make a card with pink Christmas trees on ever since I was sent one a couple of years ago by a lovely blogging friend - I bet you know who you are :)

Di
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Happy Birthday Len!

Made this card for Len's Birthday, which was a feat in itself as I couldn't lock myself away as usual - so the number of times this card was very hurriedly hidden during the making did mean a few smudges :(

I used:

- 7" x 7" square white card blank

- black backing card

- greeny-yellow background was made using various TH Distress Inks, Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tools and Clarity Coated/Silk card stock

- then I stamped the 'abstract' 'swipe, using a stamp from SU's 'Work of Art' set and Adirondack 'Purple Twilight' ink

- all the other stamps come from a pre-loved Indigo Blue stamp set called 'Loud Music' with the headphones stamped and then fussy cut round before being popped on with small sticky pads

- final touch - purple Josy Rose nail heads at each corner 

Happy Birthday Len! Mwah :)

Di
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'Nativity Play' cards

Whipped up four very similar Christmas cards for the box here, LOTV 'Nativity Play' Art Pad to the rescue:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blanks

- four different images from the LOTV 'Nativity Play' Art Pad, die cut with a round Spellbinders Nestie

- looking for something to back the circles with, I realised that a die from the Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Morrocan Motifs' set looked a bit like a lacy 'stable' behind the circles - cut out from SU's 'Smoky Slate' card stock

- the sentiments were stamped using Memento 'Paris Dusk' ink and SU 'Smoky Slate' card stock - and punched out using SU's 'Modern Label' punch

So that's my entry for this week's challenge over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge which is 'Something round' (the image) as well as Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for October which is 'Always anything goes'

I do so love these LOTV Nativity Play images, my very favourite one is the little angel on the top left card, dangling from the piece of rope having a 'chat' with a 'shepherd' - love her spindly legs and huge socks :)

I need to play catch up with the Playground - will do so ASAP I promise :)

Di
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Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 146

Really trotting into Autumn here, so I don't feel too bad that this week's snippets card is a Christmas one:

I used:

- 6" x 6" white square card blank

- smaller snippet of silver holographic card for a border

- a slightly smaller square of white card which was then die cut using a Memory Box die called 'Dazzling Snowflake'. Before doing the die cutting I adhered a piece of 'Stick-It adhesive sheet for intricate die cuts' on the reverse side of the card. After die cutting and encouraging the little die cut pieces out (in truth they had mostly parted company with the die anyhow), it was just a matter of peeling off the backing behind the die cut before sticking it onto a smaller piece of card which had been covered with a snippet of sparkly holographic silver film

- I then very recklessly bravely stamped the sentiment without the aid of a safety net, using a silver ink pad and a sentiment from the Personal Impressions 'Many Greetings' set

Debated about adding a centre gem but thought the die works beautifully just as it is :)

If you're wondering what this 'Stick-It' adhesive is, I posted on the blog about it earlier in the week HERE.

Onto this week's picks, three again girls, to keep my Saturday morning time at the laptop down, But, as always, you all brought some amazing work - you can check last week's links/thumbnails if you haven't already done so of course:

x

I picked this card, made by Eve, for the ingenuity - using hexagons to make such a realistic football! Very clever stuff.

 

I wanted to be sure you see these clever little rocker cards, made by Elizabeth. Plenty of snippets used and I think they make super little Christmas cards that have the added interest of movement, a die cut circle folded in half and away you go!

And I really love these Artist Trading Blocks, made by Kathy T - such beautiful Gelli Plate backgrounds and I love the images!

Although I'm only showing and linking to three picks, some others which I really think you should check out are Sam (aka Hettie) who made a beautiful album, Sue J made a stunning Autumn scarecrow card, and Carol L gave a brilliant hint on making leaves which look very realistic using a crimper!

And we also have one new Playmate:

Do please try to hop over and say a big 'Hello' to Jane Willis, who brought us this lovely butterfly card to show. Hope you come back again soon Jane :)

Onto the the winner of the House Mouse stamps sets, kindly donated by Ann.
This really made me laugh, am sure you remember me saying that I keep a note of peeps who said yes please and just repeat running Mr Random until he selects a person who has said they wanted this prize. It took me five goes to get a name to come up who wanted the House Mouse stamps - and it's our newest playmate:

Jane Willis

Beginners luck strikes again! Well done Jane - can you please let me have your address and I'll pop the stamps in the post to you ASAP. My email is di_wray@hotmail.com.

The prize for this coming week might just interest a few of you:

It's a Memory Box 'Dazzling Snowflake' die of your very own, just like I used for my snippets card - what's different about this die of course is that it's the negative of the die cut that you use. Plus, one pack of  five 'Stick-It' sheets (large size, which are about the old foolscap size - any typists remember foolscap?). I find these sheets invaluable for intricate dies - especially ones like the 'Dazzling Snowflake' which does have a slight tendency to sort of 'dome' upwards very slightly when it's been die cut. This stuff cured that perfectly - I can't imagine trying to do it properly with glue..

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 18th October and will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please say 'Yes please' (or similar) in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Feel free to say if you're only interested in either the die or the 'Stick-It' sheets.

Mr Linky is below - please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Have a great week! Tomorrow will see the tilers arrive so things are moving along at a good pace here.Not without some stressful moments of course - sigh.
 
Di (and the usual happy wave from Parsnip of course)
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