Lili Of The Valley free Worldwide postage

I know a few of you girlies love Lili Of The Valley (LOTV) products, I just got this email from them:

It's Worldwide postage too :) This is their website link.

And no, I don't get paid for pointing anyone in their direction - shame though :(

Di
x

Less is More - Week 221 - include a tag

Over at Less is More, this week's challenge is to 'include a tag'. For once, inspiration struck almost immediately - although it took me a couple of days to get round to making this card:

I used:

- A6 white card blank, tent style

- a panel of white card, embossed using Cuttlebug's 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder and glued onto the card front using Collall All Purpose glue

- a snippet of white card, stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and an Elzybells stamp called 'Rose bunch'

- coloured the image using Whispers markers plus a very light grey Pro marker for the shadows

- then die cut the image using a die from the Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangles' set

- stamped the tag using a tag stamp and wording from Elzybells 'Mini Tag Set'

- trimmed round the tag with small scissors then punched a hole in the top of the tag using Fiskars smallest hole punch

- threaded some thin twine through the top of the tag, carefully poked a couple of holes either side of the knot in the ribbon bow on image and tied the tag in place

- added the finished panel to the card with thin sticky pads for more dimension

I like the fact that the tag swings rather than being stuck down :)

And shame on me, that was a first outing for the discontinued 'Rose bunch' stamp by Elzybells.

Di
x

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Stamping

This fortnight's challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania is 'Stamping' - even just a stamped sentiment will do. We just ask that you use a manual die-cutting/embossing machine and also let us know which product(s) you used. The sponsor is Crafty Individuals, who are giving away two of their fabulous stamps, wahoo!

For my DT card I incorporated stamping, of both a sentiment and images, embossing and die cutting:

I used:

- 6" square white card blank

- a snippet of 'Desert Storm' Neenah card (this is a gnat's whisker from being identical to SU's 'Crumb Cake' BTW), embossed using an ancient Quickutz embossing folder called 'Flowers' and then adhered to the card

- next I die cut three layers using Spellbinders dies from the 'A2 Distressed Rectangles' set to form a frame, in which the sizes decrease from the outside in

- I adhered the green SU 'Mossy Meadow' frame straight onto the backing but then popped the other two layers (SU 'Hello Honey' and the orange layer which came from the Echo Park 'Hello Summer' paper pad, using thin sticky pads. I'd already stamped a few feathers round the orange frame, which was destined for the top layer, using SU's 'Mossy Meadow'

- the stamps I used are from SU's fabulous 'Four Feathers' set - stamped onto Neenah 'Desert Storm' using SU's 'Hello Honey', Tangelo Twist' and 'Mossy Meadow' ink pads

- they were then die cut using the matching dies before being popped into the frame with the quills crossed to form a point where I could then tie some twine in a bow

- the sentiment is from the Hero Arts 'Truly  Appreciated' set, stamped using SU 'Mossy Meadow' and then die cut with one of the smaller 'Distressed Rectangles' dies. The die set comes with frames which all fit nicely inside one another - plus two longer dies which are just perfect for sentiments, one quite long and the one I used here

So, it's a nice easy theme over at Cuttlebug Mania this week - why not come and play?

Di
x

Rudolph Day - April 2015

It's Rudolph Day again girls - and we're almost into May, so why not make a Christmas card (or a few) and pop over to Scrappy Mo's where you can join in the fun, get a start on your Christmas cards AND be in with a chance of winning a gorgeous Memory Box die. I made two the same of this one:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- Christmas Red paper as the first layer - this was such a bargain too. Down near where Julia of WOYWW lives there's a wonderful craft shop called Kraft Crazy, run by the lovely Tracy. When I've been to the shop my first priority is to stock up on plain A4 sized card stock - much of which is just 20p per sheet and it's also great quality :)

- I used snippets and a couple of almost full sheets of paper from the Marianne Design 'Merry Little Christmas' paper pad for all the patterned paper on this card

- first I shuffled all the papers and snippets until found a combination which I like and first of all added a square of the reindeer border paper to the backing layer of plain red

- next stamped, using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and the word 'Noel' from Woodware's 'Huge Noel' stamp set, onto plain white card stock and at that point also added the extra little sentiment from the same set (me not as daft as I look!)

- then stamped the large letters I wanted onto various snippets of paper from the paper pad and cut them out. Little tip, I use very small Fiskars embroidery scissors for fussy cutting (kept just for this purpose) - plus, if you look at the letters themselves, a couple had fully 'enclosed' areas to snip out (in the bauble and also the letter 'e'. I learnt (the hard way, some time ago) that it's best not to try and poke a hole to start off by using the point of your scissors or (say) a pokey tool - that's a sure way to crinkle the paper or even slip to one side and cut where you don't mean to :( Instead I use a hole punch (the size might be a full 'file punch' size or maybe a smaller diameter one) just to punch a neat circle as a starting point and then trim from there outwards

- stuck the letters onto the whole word then trimmed it to size and backed it with more red card stock before I glued it onto the assembled card. This is where Collall All Purpose glue wins hands down for me as it gives you some 'wiggle' time - especially when dealing with a background which has straight printed lines of script!

Two more for the box here - and you can play until late on Thursday over at Rudolph Day - why not combine your snippets card with a Christmas card?

Di
x

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 174

Well, that week zipped past at double speed! Possibly due to us having some sunshine and trying to make the most of it.

Let's crack straight on with my snippets card for this week:

I used:

- 4.5" x 6" cut to size white card blank

- a snippet of white card stock, embossed using Cuttlebug's fabulous embossing folder called 'Pinking Stitch'. I first spotted this folder over at Darnell's I think :)

- then I stamped the sentiment for fear of ruining the card when it was all done - used Memento 'London Fog' ink and a sentiment stamp from SU's 'Sincere Salutations' set (sadly discontinued)

- little snippets of card stock in two shades of yellow and one of green were then used to die cut the daffodils using Joanna Sheen's Signature die called 'Daffodils'

- then I added the entire green die cut to the card, snipped off the paler yellow flower heads and bud and just glued them carefully on top. Finally I snipped out the two 'trumpets' from the slightly darker yellow and added that as a third layer which gives some nice dimension. I think maybe I could have gone for a deeper yellow, although the difference is more obvious in real life (as is often the case with taking photos of cards, sigh)

- lastly I just added a little line of shadow/grounding underneath the daffodils using a light grey Pro marker

Bit late now for this year but I think this design (with a different sentiment) would make a good Easter card.

So, onto this week's picks:

Jane came up with this great card, perfect for Scrabble enthusiasts! I love it - and was even more tickled yesterday when I hopped over to copy this image from Jane's blog and read a comment that Liz C is looking for Scrabble tiles to print!

I made this 90th Birthday card a long while ago - the details can be found HERE - but the point of showing it is really the Scrabble tiles spelling out 'Nanny':

Downloaded the Scrabble tiles from the internet but didn't keep a note of where I found them. However, I just did a search and found what could be just the thing HERE - right down to the wooden effect.  I printed these tiles onto glossy photographic paper - way back in 2010! Hope this is useful girls!

And speaking of Liz C, this card above is one of my picks this week. I love the simplicity of the design (very Less is More) and so clever to make the background by die cutting cloud shapes out of blue card stock and then mounting it on top of white!

I'm focussing a bit on 'clever' this week - and there's a little detail on this great card made by Andrea (KandA) that certainly falls into that category. See the word 'star'? Well, those letters are from the leftovers of a Memory Box 'Grand Merry Christmas' die cut - what a bit of 'thinking outside the box'!

Darnell never fails to come up with a clever idea does she? Firstly I do love this snippets card - and the icing on the cake is how Darnell has shaped the top of the card to follow the curve of the embossed washing line. I like this idea - a LOT.

Now here's not only a gorgeous card, but also a really neat little trick - brought to the Playground by Greta. See those butterflies - I was so intrigued to know if they were pre-made ones but nope, Greta finished them off perfectly by wrapping hemp cord around the bodies with the ends used for antennae. How clever is that for creating a very realistic butterfly then?

I do so love this wonderful scene, created by Laurie. Really clever to create such an amazing scene, with so much depth, out of snippets and a variety of dies.

 

And finally, I wanted to show you this beautiful Wedding Anniversary card (and what looks like black is in fact silver), made by Pat. It's just perfection and great use of snippets too - the clever part for me is how Pat combined all those pretty dies to create such a gorgeous card.

Oh you girls really are all so very clever - I learn something new several times a week from you.

And now for the draw for the Woodware 'Bubble Bloom - Carol' stamp set - plus, a packet of white Card Candi. Our winner is:

Alison C

Alison nipped in at almost the last minute - which goes to show that it's never too late if the Playground gates are still open :) Alison is one of our newer playmates, so, well done on your first win! Can you please let me have your address so I can post your stamp set and the card candi off to you (di_wray@hotmail.com)

And of course this coming week's prize, as often happens, is linked to my own snippets card:

Yup, it's a 'Pinking Stitch' embossing folder (plus it comes with a narrow straight row patterned embossing folder) - and a Joanna Sheen 'Daffodils' Signature die.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 2nd May. The gates 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. As there are two items, you might only be interested in one of them (you may already have the embossing folder for example). If so then do say so in a comment and I'd do a second draw for the other item if you win - but, both items are up for grabs as one prize.

Mr Linky is below - do please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)
 
Do remember that it's Rudolph Day right now over at Scrappy Mo's!  It runs until Thursday 30th April and is a great way to get a little head start on those Christmas cards..

Di, and of course, Parsnip!
x

Lace and a butterfly card

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank

- snippet of raspberry coloured card stock for the backing layer

- a snippet of 'Cath Kidston style' (well, to me at least!) wrapping paper, bought from a local supermarket and leftover from wrapping a gift ages ago. Little tip, I mounted the square of patterned paper onto white card stock with adhesive sheet first of all, and then trimmed it to the size square I wanted 'cos the paper on its own is shiny, not very thick and it's easy to crease - I also thought that glue might show through

- a snippet of white card stock for the 'lace', punched using a Martha Stewart 'Deep Edger Doily Lace' punch then mounted onto the backing and trimmed to width with scissors before being added to the main card blank. It's much easier to do this than  to try and measure and position a strip accurately after the backing is stuck onto the card

- die cut the double layered butterfly using pink and raspberry snippets with Memory Box dies ('Isabella' and 'Pippi') and popped them onto the 'lace' band

- didn't even add a sentiment

Told you it was simple :)

Di
x

F is for........................

Over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Card Challenge the current theme is 'Something beginning with F'.

So, folks, I present to you - Flying Father Christmas and Fearless Furry Fido with Fairy lights in a Flurry of Frosty snow with a Foiled sentiment - snigger :)

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank, tent style

- a layer of SU's 'Real Red' card stock from the snippets folder

- a snippet of white card stock, embossed using Darice's 'Snowflake Background' embossing folder

- the front of a 2014 Christmas card from the up cycling box. The card was circular with a straight piece at the spine and a very narrow straight piece along the bottom edge. It was just a case of finding the right sized circular die in the Tonic Studios 'Circle Layering' die set. I totally love this set of dies, there are 14 in total ranging from the largest at 14cm in diameter down to the smallest at 2.5cm in diameter - plus they come in a durable plastic package with their own magnetic sheet as well

- final touch was just a red, foiled with gold, sentiment topper - which I'm sure dates back to when Lakeland Limited sold a few craft supplies!

And this card is also for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Card Challenge Extra for April, where it's always 'Anything goes'.

And I just realised that it's right in line with the current challenge over at Merry Monday #125 - Use a cat or a dog. Wahoo, three challenges with one card!

Di
x

Less is More - Week 220 - 'Up, up and away!'

The current theme of 'Up, up and away' over at Less is More has loads of potential this week. I hauled out ordinary balloon stamps, hot air balloon stamps and dies, birds, butterflies, insects - you name it, I checked it out! Then I remembered a 'never before used' stamp - about four years old I think - and this was the result:

I used:

- 6" x 4" white card blank, tent style

- LOTV rubber stamp called 'Blowing Bubbles', stamped using Memento 'London Fog' ink pad and coloured using Pro markers

- the sentiment is also LOTV, from their ever so useful set called 'General Greetings - Small', stamped using Memento 'London Fog'. I did remember to stamp the sentiment before spending time colouring :)

- rounded the bottom left corner using We Are Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

- I did this card as a one layer card (how that would have scared me at one time before playing in Less is More) - and of course the Pro markers bled through the card a bit. I just cut a slightly smaller panel of white card, rounded one corner in keeping with the card front and stuck it inside the front

Simples! I like the idea of the bubbles blowing up, up and away, as a change from all the other things I first had in mind :)

Di
x

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 173

Time for another weekly round up in the Snippets Playground - and a huge thank you to everyone who came along and played this week!

Straight into my snippets card:

I used:

- white DL card stock

- a snippet of black card for the backing layer

- snippets of Wild Rose Studio's 'Vintage Rose' paper with a band of minty green ribbon hiding the join, then a little know tied over the ribbon to one side

- image is from Woodware's 'Bubble Bloom - Carol' stamp set, and an unashamed steal from Kath's fabulous card which she showed HERE the other week. Stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink then coloured with minty green and pink Pro Markers before being trimmed to size

- then, as Kath did, I topped each 'flower' with Craftwork Cards Card Candi using teeny sticky pads to pop them on with. I used white candi and coloured each one with the same pink Pro marker - my rationale for colouring flowers on the actual card beforehand with pink was to be sure that no white peeped out from under the candi. although the stamp is made with candi in mind of course :)

- added the completed image to the card using thin sticky pads

- stamped the sentiment from the same Woodware set using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' again then punched it out using SU's 'Extra Large Oval'

- punched SU's 'Modern Label' from a snippet of black card, chopped it apart down the centre and then added it to the card using extra strong sticky tape

- finally, popped the sentiment oval on using thin sticky pads

Now for this last week's picks, with the usual difficulty in not showing every single one here. My back is playing up right now so I'll have to keep the picks to a minimum (thankfully I'd already written the bones of this blog post earlier in the week):

I just fell in love with this beautiful vintage Christmas card, made by Mo. So many beautiful elements and a stunning design!

Again, I think that this card made by Diane H has a lovely vintage feel to it. What made me choose this was (quite apart from it being such a lovely card) - the dogwood roses have been die cut from crepe paper. Such a great idea!

And, sticking with lots of layers and a vintage flavour, how about this card made by Jackie T? Just beautiful!

I adore this tri-fold card, made by Sue. Wonderful way to use of lots of snippets :)

This lovely card was made by Jean - and beautifully explained on her blog. How clever to shape the sentiment to follow the curve of the music notes die too :)

Sorry but I need to move on before seizing up - and do the draw for last week's prize, the 'Baby' die set - and the winner is:

Diane H

Congratulations Diane!  Gotta be your week, first being a pick and also your very first prize win in the Playground too. Can you please send me an email with your address and I'll post the die set off to you this week (di_wray@hotmail.com).

Here's this coming week's prize:

Of course, it's a Woodware 'Bubble Bloom - Carol' stamp set - plus, a packet of white Card Candi so you can make the flowers any colour you wish :)

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 25th April. The gates 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 - do please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Last, but not least I have some sad news about our friend Sandra (Hawes) of Nanagramps Craft Designs . Earlier this week, on 15th April, her beloved husband Dennis passed away. He had been ill since January, which explains why Sandra hadn't been commenting as much as she always did - and any posts appearing on her blog right now are ones already scheduled for her DT work. I know you'll all be thinking of Sandra and wanting to send your support at this difficult time. By now she should have received these, with love from all of us in the Playground:

Di and of course, Parsnip!
x  

Merry Monday #154 {Let's Get Vintage!}

Oh my heart sank a bit when I saw that this week's challenge over at Merry Monday is 'Vintage'. I do have one or two things vintage such as the lovely 'Snowy Postcard' stamp by Stampendous but didn't want to do a repeat of using it just now.

Then I flicked through some 'traditional' paper pads, idly wondering if I could use the wonderful Santa image from Bo Bunny's 'Father Christmas' collection in some way as it seems such a waste sitting there in one corner of the sheet of paper. Then, I flicked through the MME 'All is Bright' paper pad - result! One of the designs is so vintage - with a blank frame to one side and with some careful measuring and trimming this is what transpired:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square Kraft card blank

- the vintage sheet of paper from MME's 'All is Bright' paper pad, just trimmed slightly and added to the card front

- the Santa came from (as already said) Bo Bunny's 'Father Christmas' collection - trimmed to fit perfectly inside the frame on the backing paper and adhered using Collall All Purpose glue

- I then played round with washi tape and also other possible embellishments, but in the end decided that it would be such a shame to over-egg that gorgeous and beautifully designed backing paper, so I didn't add anything other than the Santa image in the end:)

I feel quite cheeky entering this into Merry Monday - but will do so anyhow. And whilst at it, of course I made another one exactly the same!

Gotta laugh, my in-house critic spotted them and after a looooong pause said 'They look a bit sort of distressed, like they've been round the block a few times'.

So at least I got the look OK :)

Di
x

The tent - Part 2

This is Lord Baden-Powell, 'dans le jardin' earlier, playing with 'pop up' tent and trying to work out how to take the thing back down. Seconds to flip it open - and an hour plus to fold it back down, snigger :) I made sure he could do it single handed as I won't always be at archery to help.

Sadly I got chased away once BP realised I was taking photos - spoilsport! But I did hear him sigh 'Wonder if I should've ordered a smaller one?' at one stage in the wrestling match. Snort!

Sorry for the teaser post earlier - I must have hit publish and was then called away for roll call :) And now it's time for 'taps' - 'dib, dib, dib' :)

The 'beast' is actually back in its bag but am convinced it's straining to break free! Beginning to hate that thing :(

Di
x

The tent - again!

Sheltering Tree - Take One

Recently I bought SU's 'Sheltering Tree' stamp set - and at the weekend I found time to have a little play:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- snippet of SU's 'Smoky Slate' card stock, cut just slightly smaller than the card and then run through the Cuttlebug with Die'Sire's 'Swirl Corner' embossing folder

- a snippet of 'Annabelle's Meadow' paper from Wild Rose Studio's paper pack

- the image was made up using stamps from SU's 'Sheltering Tree' set and mostly Tim Holtz Distress Markers. Using the brilliant Fiskars 'Compact Stamp Press', first I stamped the grass using 'Mowed Lawn', next the tree trunk and branches using 'Gathered Twigs' - followed by the blossom using firstly 'Victorian Velvet' and then 'Picked Raspberry'

- I then added the swing by colouring the stamp using a Whispers Black marker - the jury is still out on this one to be honest as I think the swing looks much too chunky. It could be the marker I used (maybe an ink pad would be better) - or I pressed too firmly on the stamp press. OR, it's just made that way :( I need to have a play with ink pads when time allows - failing that it would be easy enough just to draw a swing using a fine liner

- the sentiment also comes with the set, stamped using Memento 'London Fog'

- finally I die cut the image using a Lil'Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die and just stuck the whole card together using Collall All Purpose Glue

Job done - and I think this card would be fine as a sympathy card or to wish someone well who is under the weather. I still need to work on that swing stamp though!

Di
x

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Buttons

We have another fun challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania this fortnight, called 'Cute as a button'. Loads of scope there peeps, I'm sure everyone has at least one spare button hanging around! Just so long as you use a manual die cutting/embossing machine that's fine, and also do remember to say which embossing, die cutting products you used.

Our sponsor this fortnight is Ooh La La Creations - and there are some gorgeous goodies in their store, including charms, embellishments, bling, CDs and of course some absolutely fabulous buttons!

So this is the card I made, using my trusty Cuttlebug - it all started with the 'buttons' embossing folder I used, and the card just evolved round that:

I used:

- 6" x 6" square scalloped white card blank (Craftwork Cards)

- sandy coloured backing card, which was a bit of a find. I totally love 'Crumb Cake' by Stampin' Up but the other day I found, in my box of card kept especially for stamping and colouring, some Neenah 'Desert Storm' card - which is a perfect match

- the image is a pre-coloured LOTV one from way back when, but I see it's still included in their current 'Toddlers' Art Pad. I just trimmed a whisker from each side and rounded the corners with a Woodware punch

- mounted the image onto a 'Desert Storm' square, die cut using a die from the Spellbinders 'Scalloped Squares' set

- the patterned paper came from Dovecraft's 'Back to Basics II' paper pack

- as already said, the white panel on the lower part of the card was really my starting point when I designed the card. I've used this embossing folder (Boofle tri-boss embossing folder 'Mixed Buttons' just once back in 2013 and was determined to give it an outing

- then I mounted the patterned paper and the embossed panel onto a square of 'Desert Storm' card - rounded the bottom corners before doing any sticking down

- that gave me a nice firm backing which I could pop a piece of beige ribbon on, to hide the join between the patterned card and the embossed panel, then just knotted a snippet of the same beige ribbon round the ribbon band

- added the image on its scalloped backing using thin sticky pads

- the sentiment was stamped using Memento 'Paris Dusk' ink and a sentiment from the Lawn Fawn 'Sew Lovely' stamp set - I think this set is worth it for that sentiment alone! Hand cut the 'banner' and a slightly larger backing one from 'Desert Storm'. Again the sentiment was added to the card using thin sticky pads

- final touch, a beige button threaded with blue embroidery thread - stuck on using the hot glue gun

Your turn to play now - as I said, everyone must have a button to hand. I was just lucky that I had the embossing folder - and it was happy to come out and be used :)

Di
x

The tent

My guess is that most of you will have picked up that Len is a keen wannabe Robin Hood archer. He's actually getting to be very good, but with that comes an increase in the amount of gear he needs. The latest purchase, bought with full day 'shoots' in mind, is a tent. Not just any old tent, but one of those mahoosive 'sleeps three' pop up ones:

 

It's somewhere for him to store stuff out in the archery field while he shoots - plus has the bonus of shelter when if it rains. I could even be tempted to trot along for the day with a folding chair and a decent book :)

This is what it looked like when it arrived:

 

Yeah, right! So - someone looked at this huge disc and decided he needed to know how to put the thing up, and probably much more importantly how to get it back down and back into the bag.

I was called from the craft room 'Di, have you got a moment please' so duly trotted in the direction of said voice. OMG, OMG - the tent was already out of the bag and half up in our lounge!! It was champing at the bit to spring fully open whilst Len - eyes popping and a sheepish grin on his face - was wrestling to keep it under control. Trust me, there was no way that beastie would have fully opened without wrecking a few things!

Once I stopped laughing, I suggested it could be a better idea to open it up in the garden. The reply? 'I wanted to keep it nice and clean'. Err, so what happens in a field? I was so concerned about an impending disaster I didn't even think to run for the camera and catch a shot of Len in his predicament! :)

Anyhow, it took two of us to manhandle the 'beast' (still straining to fully open) through the house and out into the back garden. Once safely outside we allowed it to spring into life and then it sat there looking huge and very triumphantly at us. Have to say, I was still shaking with laughter - and then it got better.

Having checked the thing, out it was time to pack it away again - a bit like knitting with spaghetti really :( The instructions which are on fabric attached inside the circular bag it comes in are useless!! It's all a knack of gathering the ribs together along the top and then doing some nifty twisting movements. We have since found a few really helpful videos on line but it took two of us what seemed like forever to put the wretched thing away.

The following day, at archery, Len told his pals about the saga - and they're still laughing about him even contemplating trying it out in the lounge :) But, he does feel vindicated as I subsequently found a comment (left on a very helpful video) by a chap who DID put his pop up tent fully up in the lounge - and then couldn't get it to fold back down again :)

Life would be very dull without my resident 'comedian cum crazy have a go at anything' chap getting into mischief! :) And his archery pals have promised to show him how it's done next Sunday at the St George's Day shoot - I might just go along for the fun.

Di 

x

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 172

And another week just flew past, probably due to it being a lovely, long Easter weekend. And we've had some fabulous sunshine in the Playground, although today (Saturday) it's raining cats and dogs :(

My snippets card this week was triggered off by a really sweet die set I spotted on a blog not that long ago. I really should make a note of just where I see these goodies as am sure it was a playmate who 'enabled' my purchase, once again!

This is my version:

Front view

Back view

I used:

- SU's 'Wisteria Wonder' card stock - cut to 12" x 4.5" initially. So do be aware that you will need 12" long card stock, our UK A4 isn't long enough :(

- then I scored and snipped the card, using my Hougie Board and just some sharp scissors

- then the 'step shape' was stuck together as per the tutorial mentioned above - I used the ultra strong red line sticky tape, with care as it's very unforgiving if you get it wrong!

- after that was done, I cut a selection of one and three eighths squares of paper from snippets tucked in the back of a Tatty Teddy paper pad called 'Spring Chic' - ahem, I had to rethink that one after the next step!

- then took the new die set called 'Baby' by Little B and cut out a selection of white die cuts from snippets, plus a little bit of 'Wisteria Wonder' for some extra infill on the balloon which is on the back of the block step card

- and then I gawped at the block step card and had a funny turn. The dies, albeit really small, mostly are too big for a square of one and three eighths of an inch - grrrrrrrr

- but, undaunted, out came more snippets and this time I cut two panels which would cover four squares in one go (each one of the pieces measures two and seven eighths of an inch) so I could use two of the larger die cuts. Bingo!

- next all the paper squares were stuck on using Collall All Purpose glue, and the die cuts were added as per the revised plan

- the top of each 'step' is also covered in patterned paper and I popped flowers on top of those - just punched (using SU's 'Petite Petals' punch) from a snippet of the main spotty green background colour and slightly shaped on a foam pad using a round ended shaping tool

- then added a circle of 'Wisteria Wonder' in the centre of each flower, punched using an ordinary office file hole punch

- final touch, so the stork could see where he's going, I added an eye using a black fine liner (did it in pencil first to be sure he looked ok)

So, out of the jaws of disaster I think I snatched victory - so long as purists don't insist that the blocks really should all have equal sized squares on 'em!

OK, onto this week's picks now:

I just love this clean and simple card, made by Anita (Neets) - and it's a great example of how just a couple of little snippets can go a long way.

And there again, you can use lots of snippets and come up with this wonderful bird house - made and lovingly decorated by Vinita. Lots of instructions how to do this over at Vinita's blog too.

Lynn (Jimlynn) can always be relied upon to give us a smile - such a cheeky card, love the sentiment and the snippet of hay patterned paper down one side :)

Lucy makes the most beautiful cards and her colouring is just stunning - how could I not pick this little sweetie? Lucy is (very deservedly) Guest Designer over at 'I ♥ Promarkers' - well done chick!

This card, made by Pat, just leapt out at me this week. It's absolutely beautiful and such a perfect Golden Wedding design. I love it!

And last, but not least, Carole brought us this lovely sunny card to show. And, as Carole says, she also has enough leftovers from the die cut chevron border to make a card in reverse colours too :)

We had two new playmates this week:

Scrapcat whizzed in during the week waving this adorable gift bag.

And, right at the last minute, April dashed in with this cute card.

Welcome to the Playground - and I hope you come back and play again soon!

And now for the winner of the Art Stamps 'Owls':

Jenny H

Well done Jenny! I've just hopped over to your blog and know that you love owls, and that you've used the 'tree bark' embossing folder to cut out a hole for an owl previously - bet that's where I got the idea :) So I can already see these owl stamps having a good workout :) Can you please let me have your address - I know you won back in week 130 but I can't find your email letting me have your snail mail address. (di_wray@hotmail.com) I'll post your prize off this week!

OK ladies, you might already have guessed what this coming week's prize is:

Yup, it's a die set exactly the same as the one I used today - 'Baby', made by Little B. The set comes in its own magnetic folder (some of the dies could easily be lost otherwise) - I've placed my little dies underneath the flap on the set - I think they're out on display purely until bought. They all cut beautifully with no release paper or such needed to remove the cut out dies as well :)

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 18th April. The gates 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 - do please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Di and of course, Parsnip!
x