Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 222

Happy Easter everyone - and I do hope that those of you who should have changed your clocks overnight remembered to do so. We had glorious weather here on Good Friday - and since then it's been rain all the way, and predicted to remain that way over the whole holiday weekend. Such a shame :(

Meanwhile, I want to know who set fire to the tree house whilst toasting hot cross buns! This was quickly followed by a Vesuvius-like eruption of hot melted chocolate - which I'm still scrubbing off the walls and also off Parsnip. I just knew that making Easter eggs using those old moulds I had from years ago was a silly idea :(

Once things calmed down and Parsnip stopped screaming like a very silly little white (snigger) mottled brown bear of no intelligence at all - I set to and made my snippets card for this week:

I used:

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

- next I used a Frantic Stamper 'Thanks Card Band' die to cut out the word 'Thanks'. What's great about this die is that the word mostly is cut away but the card remains attached at the top and bottom of the letters - really neat

- then covered the top and bottom sections of the card blank with a snippet of what I think is one of SU's designer papers. I'd used part of the reverse of the paper and was left with the snippet and a large design that really I'd even thought about throwing away - wash my mouth out with soap! I deliberately left a white border round both the pieces of DP

- then I backed the cutaway 'Thanks' with a snippet of (according to my SU swatch) 'Blackberry Bliss' card stock - just glued at the top and bottom behind the word. I suspect that 'Rich Razzleberry' was the plain card meant to go with the DP, but I'm fresh out of that

- and to finish off (neat freak) I backed the inside of the card front with a full sized panel of white card to hide the band of 'Blackberry Bliss'

Have to admit, I'm quite tickled with the result and it's a great way to use up quite bold papers.

I chose to back my plain white 'Thanks' using the coloured card stock immediately behind the word. Other options would be to just leave the word as it is (it's quite sturdy enough) and perhaps colour it with Pro markers if you don't intend doing anything extra inside the card to make it show up more, use coloured card of course, add a contrasting strip to the inside (back half) of the card lined up with the word or perhaps back the word with acetate - the list goes on :) It's a really fun die!

Onto the weekly 'peek at the picks' as usual - let's have some Easter/Spring ones first:

Not only did Chris bring this card to the Playground, she also sent it to me as a thank you for her recent prize win (and managed to use a die, an image and also a sheet of the paper from the win). It's absolutely gorgeous and really beautifully made - I love it! And the branches and , flowers and leaves are all snippets too.

Carole brought this really fresh looking Easter card to share with us , such pretty colours and a really sweet image too - as well as a recent photo of baby Thomas:

Hasn't he grown in just six weeks? And what a darling little chap he is!

This is such a clever design, brought to show by Krisha. I love how the stamped, coloured then fussy cut tulips sit within the white frame on the beautifully toning background paper snippet, which then extends to form the outer frame. Brilliant!

Alison had been playing with snippets and circle dies - this is one of three great ideas over at her blog - go HERE to find out more. I love this idea and will be having a play as soon as possible. The beauty of these designs is that you can make them for male or female recipients, just by changing the papers you use. Strong and bold for a chap - pretty and soft for a lady :) That's the traditional theory anyhow - these days it's often the other way round in real life!

Sonia always brings really lovely work to share with us, and this is no exception is it?!

My final pick of the week is this card, made by Jane W. It just cracked me up - the sentiment goes perfectly with the look on the penguin's face - it looks as if it's on the 'lemons diet'. That's the one where you have fourteen lemons for breakfast and, by the time your mouth unpuckers, it's time for breakfast the following day :)

We had five new Playmates this week as well as a total of 66 entries - no doubt sneaking hot cross buns and choklit into the Playground at the same time! Let's say 'Hi' to our new Playmates:

Francesca brought this fabulous Magnolia card to share - so much beautiful detail!

I love the sheer joy that truly does spill out of these journal pages - fabulous colours! Brought to us by Rachel.

Tanvi made three gorgeous letter racks and this is the one she entered into the Playground this week, do go and take a closer look at the side views on her blog HERE. Really great!

I love this 'vintage' Christmas card, brought to share with us by Marianne. It appeals to my 'neat freak' side - yet still has a vintage look!

And finally, Margaret M hopped into the Playground with this really pretty snippets card to share with us -and a clever way to use the ribbon and bow too!

Hope to see you again really soon! 

There's also some news to share - I think a lot of you will already know about this but just in case you don't. The lady who made this fabulous card ......

...... is headed over to England in July! It's our fun-loving Playmate Darnell of course (ha, I wonder if England is actually ready for her?!). She will be moving around the country a bit and one purpose of her visit is to spend a weekend at the 'Happy Little Stampers' Retreat in Swindon (which was fully booked up some while ago) - as well as meeting as many of us bloggers/Playmates as possible. I think Darnell's itinerary is pretty much set now, so it's safe to let you know that she would love to meet any of us on her travels:

Darnell's first port of call (that's appropriate!) is Southampton (Grand Harbour Hotel) and there is a get together (aka soirée - snigger) planned for Tuesday 19th July. I'll be there, aided and abetted by Parsnip (if the choklit is all cleaned up from his fur), along with a few other notorious Playmates/bloggers.

After that, Darnell plans to spend time in various parts of the UK (Salisbury, Somerset, Bristol, Manchester area (Knutsford I think), then the Swindon Retreat itself with lovely folk such as the Less is More gals, Kathy K and others - followed by a short time in London (Pimlico area) before she heads back home on Wednesday 3rd August.

If you want more details I think it's best for you to contact Darnell directly (her email link is in her blog profile). If you get stuck (I can never get those email links to work on my Linux operating system!) then feel free to contact me and I'll forward any emails onto Darnell. Even if you're unsure about arriving on your own - don't be! You're a lovely little band of crafters and will soon find that everyone will be welcomed with open arms. Exciting (and probably slightly scatty) times ahead!

Time now for the prize draw for the Woodware stamps 'Boxed Daisies Trio' and Cone Flower'. And our winner is:

Diane H

Ha! It was actually around last Easter when Diane won, so this is certainly due! I still have your address from then Diane and will post the stamps off to you this coming week - well done. 

Now here's this coming week's prize(s):

Of course, it's a die the same as the one I used for my snippets card today - a Frantic Stamper 'Thanks Card Band' die. Not a massive prize but hopefully it's a little bit unusual and something you'd like to win.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 2nd April. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

A maximum of ONE entry and 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.

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 :)

Di and, of course, Parsnip!
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