Having a play with alcohol inks

I cleared the desk, put on an apron and disposable gloves, had kitchen roll on standby in case, got Len to entertain Dudley and out came the alcohol inks yesterday when it was raining 'Dudleys and Kittys'.

And this was the result:

I ditched one as it came out like mud - my fault entirely. But this is a heads up that if you've seen Jennifer McGuire's recent video on creating backgrounds using alcohol inks and Tim Holtz 'Sparkle' card I can confirm that it's huge fun! I added some silver mixative to the torquoise piece BTW, although it wasn't really needed as the sparkle on its own is so lovely. The array of colours that Jennifer has to choose from is much wider than mine needless to say. And, as ever, pieces like this don't look really finished until they're tweaked/trimmed and popped in a frame or such. And there are three pieces there, a pink one in the middle at the back which has more colour variations than really shows in the photo.

Jennifer used some gorgeous 'frame' dies by Simon Says Stamp that I'm too scared to order for fear of being stung by UK Customs. So, I'm going to attempt to use some pretty frames and some floral dies I have already. There's going to be a join where the floral die cut inside the frame will touch the frame itself but it's worth a try!

I've searched most companies that we stock here in the UK for similar dies and found just one die that almost fits the bill but nothing as pretty and delicate as the SSS ones. No doubt it will only be a matter of time though :)

Just out of interest - has anyone here had experience of SSS goodies being sent to the UK? I'm sure I bought some years ago and not only was I stung for import duty but our Customs had the temerity to even include the cost of postage from the US in their calculations. So I've not fallen into that trap again, although it's a real shame that SSS doesn't have an outlet or franchise in the UK - they would make a fortune!

I'm still trying to catch up on Playground commenting so please bear with me!

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #356 - results

What a week! We've almost melted here, by day and night, despite having six fans running strategically placed around the house - basically they've just pushed the hot air around a bit most of the time.Dudley has coped in his own little way - we have a cool mat for him and he tends to seek out tiled floors to lie on a lot of the time. We've been sorely tempted to join him! Today is Saturday and thankfully the temperature has dropped a bit.

More about the little chap later, but let's first do the real Playground business starting with this fortnight's picks, and there are four as I really couldn't whittle it down to three:

I absolutely love this card, made by Elizabeth! It's so elegant and everything is so beautifully placed and balanced. The baubles are snippets of alcohol ink pieces - so rich with the gold. Plus, I fell in love with the sentiment die and just had to run off and buy one, which I used on my Rudolph Days card - published on Thursday. Do hop over to Elizabeth's blog for a look at the inside of the card!

I know, another Christmas card - in this heat! I just love how Jackie T used strips of snippets for the background and how cleverly she used the sentiment die as well. Reflecting it in the sweet little reindeer she added. Jackie, and a couple of others of you won this NOEL Antlers die at Christmas here in the Playground - so here's a great idea for a way to use it!

Mary Anne had been missing in action for a while but I'm so glad she's back again playing with us. What a great card and another super way to use up snippets. It's called the starburst or sunburst technique and is so satisfying to do. The basic part of it is to slice strips/rectangles of paper diagonally so you can build up the background - and the Mary Anne's placement and balance is just so perfect! Topping it with the flowers and a sentiment panel is a great idea too!

Andrea (aka KandA) came to play with this great card. I loved it at first sight - and then I realised just what she'd done! The front gnome is set into an aperture in the front of the card - and his pals are lined up inside, waiting to surprise you when you flip the card open! It's not for me to show but for you to go and see, very clever work, HERE!  

We also had a new Playmate:

Lucy Patrick - and what a wonderfully Summery card as well!

We had 52 entries, including Lucy - brilliant!

Time now for the prize draw which is for an Impression Obsession 'Kite' set of dies and a 'Your Next Stamp' set of two 'Cloud' dies, and the winner is:

Claire

Well done Claire! I know it's about two years since you very first came to play with us - and a quick check tells me that this just might be your very first win? So sorry it's been a long wait! I blame the random number thingy! Please send me your address, with your full name at the top as well so I can copy and paste or just write straight from the email onto the envelope - for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course and I'll post your prize once I hear from you. Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost another week to run on Challenge #357 - you can find it HERE. The prize is a Clearly Besotted 'Puppy Love' set of stamps with matching dies.

First of all, with the heat I haven't been too good at commenting on your entries for Challenge 357, but will catch up ASAP. I've been watching comments for anyone having linking problems though and have sorted a couple out.

Of course, it was Dudley's 1st Birthday on Monday gone - although I doubt if he realised it was anything special. Apart from his pressies and cards - plus another lovely pressie and card from his favourite Auntie SaRn (who is equally as bonkers as we are!). One of his pressies from us is a floppy 'dog toy' bear called 'Benjamin Bear' - and Benjamin has really long legs and arms and is actually rather large for a little chap like Dudley - but he adores him! So funny to see him carrying Benjamin around the house then lovingly giving him a good wash.

I did manage to take some photos during the week - the 'other' dog in three of them is actually a door stop that Dudley isn't allowed to play with but now and then he stops and has a little chat with 'Woody' - named by Len!

 

Ooopsie, got caught showing interest in a pooch that's out of bounds!

I'm only here to ask if you're also finding it hot Woody - but you don't reply. See if the 'hoomans' buy that one!

I rest my case M'lud - he was hot and so I gave his ears a good wash, and now he's cooler and less likely to cause trouble

And after all that licking and washing of a rather unresponsive dog - I lay down on some tiles to cool off - who cares if a 'hooman' needing a wee has to step over me - I'm bushed, and fed up with this heat!

We also bought Dudley a 'doggie treat' Birthday cake - as yet unopened as he had a bit of a tummy upset on Tuesday after we gave him his worming and flea treatments. Not had that happen previously so it might just have been the hot weather. I'll take a photo of him with 'the cake' when we open it up - but if I do that now, he'll want some for sure!

Me, Di, had a docs appointment on Tuesday and the preventative meds are already doing their job and after four weeks had brought the uric acid levels down really dramatically, to almost half what they were. So, am now on an increased dose to reduce it further - taking it slowly and hoping that by increasing the dose gradually it will help to avert any major flares. How I long for a Marmite toastie - but they seem to be off limits for now, it's been months on end!

Love from Parsnip, Dudley - and of course me,

Rudolph Days Challenge - July 2019

So here we  are in a heatwave - making Christmas cards! And of course. they're for a challenge I don't like to miss - it's ScrappyMo's Rudolph Days challenge, which you can find HERE.

And this is my entry:

I used:

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

- piece of red mirri card, which is an eighth of an inch smaller on all sides (ie. 5.25" x 4"), glued onto the card front

- then I did the image panels using a really lovely stencil which a very sweet friend recently sent to me - it's by Kaisercraft and is called 'Flourish Tree'

- used white card stock, trimmed to 5" x 3.75" and placed the tree stencil onto the panel using purple tape - leaving room for a sentiment at the bottom of the panel

- used a Brilliance Dewdrop ink pad (Pearlescent Ivy) and an Inkylicious 'mini smoothie' foam pad to add the ink through the stencil 

- next I die cut the sentiment using a Tonic Studios 'Mini Moments Merry Christmas' die and Stick-It backed gold mirri card

- popped the sentiment in place and then ran the panel through the Cuttlebug again just using the die cutting plates but without the die - to adhere the sentiment properly to the panel (works a treat!)

- then glued the image panel on top of the red mirri card panel

- finishing touches are hot fix Josy Rose nail heads, gold stars and red round ones for 'berries' - and to pick up the red of the mirri card frame

Not a great photo - had to turn the card slightly to one side to pick up the mirri card shine, plus the camera was fighting bright sunshine so it's slightly out of focus.

Whilst at it I made four cards all the same. There were a good few bits and pieces to get out to make this card so (to me) it made sense to make four. 

The stencil is so lovely, thank you again my lovely friend! And, I spotted the sentiment die over at Elizabeth's blog the other week - and instantly knew I had to have it! So many people are to blame/thank for my ever-increasing craft stash.

It's sweltering here in Hampshire - thank goodness we got Dudley a puppy cut the other week!

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #357

At last - we have rain here. It sort of was half-hearted yesterday but this morning (Saturday) it tipped it down! So the water butts should have at least filled up a bit. But, more sunshine is forecast for later in the week.

And here's my snippets card for this coming fortnight:

I used:

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

- snippets of striped patterned paper from a real favourite paper pad of mine,  Lawn Fawn's 'Really Rainbow', cut to size and kept to one side for now

- piece of white card, also a snippet, which would form the 'image layer of the card - I deliberately cut it to the same height as the card itself, but just a bit narrower to emphasise the dimension when it was added using fun foam

- then stamped a selection of images from the Clearly Besotted set of stamps called 'Puppy Love' and coloured them using Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils and Sansodor Blending Solution

- used the matching die set to cut out the images and set them aside whilst I pondered the sentiments in the set

- once I had the design sorted out in my mind stuck a strip of striped paper across the top and the bottom of the image panel then stamped the sentiments using stamps Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- next backed the whole panel with a snippet of white fun foam and adhered it to the card front

- also die cut a The Works 'Candle Number' from a snippet of yellow paper in the same paper pad, three times and layered them together for dimension before sticking it in place and adding a little tickle of clear 'Wink of Stella'

- added the die cuts (little doggies and a bone and ball - Dudley has a red rubber bone) using thin sticky pads

The Works are out of stock of those lovely candle dies - another shop where it pays to buy something when you see it as their lines change quite rapidly.

I know the card is very 'busy' but I wanted to try out all three of the little doggies, plus most of the other stamps - being a big kid as usual!

Tomorrow is Dudley's First Birthday - so of course this card is for him! I know we've had a few Clearly Besotted prizes lately but I just can't help myself - and this set in particular is just so Dudley, I even tickled their ears with a bit of peach. Although I bet it will be discontinued before long to make way for new designs.

The prize this fortnight is:

Of course it's a Clearly Besotted 'Puppy Love' set of stamps with matching dies.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 3rd August. 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.

So, Dudley will be one year old on Monday 22nd July - although we didn't meet him until he was six weeks old and he didn't come home with us until 27th September. How time has flown, and who could dream that he would bring so much happiness and laughter. As well as some anxious moments needless to say.

His coat is already growing in nicely and yesterday I even had to give around his eyes a little trim. He'll 'blow coat' again at about 18 months old so until then, and perhaps even afterwards, he's going to keep a puppy cut. He certainly has a mind of his own at times. When I went to lift him onto the table to be trimmed he obviously realised it wasn't gonna be more playtime and, I have no idea how he does it, his feet seemed to be almost glued to the spot. ☺

No photos this week of him but no doubt we'll take some tomorrow. Of course he has a little Birthday cake shaped treat waiting for him, a new game where he has to flip some tubes to get at treats or some of his dry food - and of course yet another new cuddly toy, called Benjamin Bear. I arrived home last week with wrapping paper, tissue paper and a spare card in case I didn't manage to make the Clearly Besotted one in time. Len just rolled his eyes and said 'Only you Di, only you'! More eye-rolling when I explained that the shop bought card wouldn't go to waste as it can be from Spike the Hedgehog and family!

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

Oh deer - I think I over dosed on deer!

A while ago, in one of the Facebook 'craft de-cluttering' groups I'm in, I spotted a bargain load of Nordic themed Christmas papers for sale. And, one design with little deer across really stood out - as the memory of a deer die I bought late in 2018 came to mind.

And this is what I ended up making - times 12! Mostly because I wanted to make the most of some of the sheets of paper along with the die I'd remembered - and (being truthful) am realistic enough to know that I'd be unlikely to repeat the same design if I didn't battle on and make a big batch first time round:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" off-white card blanks, side opening for a change. I chose the off-white as it was less stark against the backing paper

- the 'slightly Nordic' paper (it's quite heavy duty although I have no idea of the make), trimmed slightly smaller than the card front and glued in place

- an oval shape die cut using a Spellbinders die and more of the off-white card stock

- lots of snippets of very slightly metallic deep rusty red card stock, backed with 'Stick-It' and then die cut using a deer from the MFT 'Deer Love' set of dies

- peeled the backing off and adhered the die cut deer to the oval panel, then ran it through the Cuttlebug to make sure it was well stuck down

- then just filled in the eye with a black fine liner pen and also drew his black nose. There are tiny little dies in the set to use for the nose and eye, but by this time I was flagging .............. just a tad

- decided not to add a sentiment

- glued the oval panel onto the card front (all 12 of them) - and then went and lay down under the desk with Dudley for a rest!

Still, it bumped up my target a bit - now have 55 cards in the Christmas card box. Very unlikely I'll get away with not having to resort to some shop bought cards this year - although a friend did just point out that when she did the same, folk were wondering what they'd done not to be sent a hand made card. Ooopsie! My hope is to be able to send hand made cards to crafting friends and some close friends/relatives only - and shop bought ones to the rest, but we'll see how things go.

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #355 - results

And it's still roasting hot where we live - I suspect Dudley is very glad to have much less coat right now! Although, it's already growing back and he looks so cute - just like a certain white fluffy bear I know.

Once again - huge difficulties choosing just three of your lovely entries - but here goes with this fortnight's picks:

Susan S came back to play after being absent for a while - and I just adore this card. Mermaids are so popular right now and this is a real beauty. Wonderful colouring and such a lovely design as well.

Janis made a mini album for her son's 30th Birthday - celebrating '30 cats in 30 years'. What a wonderful result (you have to go and check it out on Janis's blog HERE for the full impact) - and tons of snippets used as well. Brilliant!

Sue T made this absolutely beautiful card - it really is absolute perfection, as well as being really elegant and also using plenty of snippets. Someone is going to be so thrilled to receive this card at Christmas!

I had to sit on my hands to stop myself from running off and buying the dies that Sue used but I already have a few poinsettia die sets as well as holly, greenery, 'swirly' and Christmas sentiment dies that I can combine - she says frantically trying to convince herself! But, this set really is a beauty!

I recently gathered all my unused stamps and dies together and they almost fill a deep A4 Really Useful Box - so I'm on a self-imposed ban on buying any new stuff in the next few months.

We also had a new Playmate:

This super card was made by Gilby, who is our Liz's great nephew. Starting early at nine years old - I bet his Dad was delighted!

54 entries, including Gilby. Well done everyone!

Time now for the prize draw which is for a Clearly Besotted  'Perfect Pigs' stamp set along with a matching set of 'Perfect Pig' dies, and the winner is:

Alice (scrAPamondo)

Well done Alice - all the more so as I just checked out your comment and you really were so keen to win this set of stamps and dies! So, a really happy result - the first number chosen belonged to someone who was just playing for fun so it was even luckier for you! Please send me your address, with your full name at the top as well so I can copy and paste or just write straight from the email onto the envelope - for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course and I'll post your prize once I hear from you. Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost another week to run on Challenge #356 - you can find it HERE. The prize is an Impression Obsession 'Kite' set of dies and a 'Your Next Stamp' set of two 'Cloud' dies.

No new photos of Dudley - and right now he's fast asleep under my desk so it isn't fair to disturb him. He's taken to quietly sliding into that space, it's a big corner desk so he's nicely tucked in there. Sometimes I don't even know he's there, other times all I feel is a silky brush from him as he quietly makes his way in - Len and I often refer to him as 'Stealth' as he just glides around so quietly - unless he's having a mad half hour of 'The Zoomies'!

The preventative meds are still doing their job (fingers crossed) and it's now almost four weeks - blood tests yet again for me on Tuesday followed by an appointment with my GP a week later to see how things are going. It's likely the dosage will be 'upped' as he's starting off low to try and avoid any major flare ups. Too right as well! Would rather it was slow and steady than go through that lot again :)

Love from Parsnip, Dudley - and of course me,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #356

Oh boy - it's still hot down here in Hampshire! We really could do with just a little bit of rain to clear the air as it's so humid and heavy right now.

Anyhow here's my snippets card for this coming week:

I used

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

- snippet of slightly smaller piece of light blue card, an eighth of an inch smaller on each side

- backed the light blue card with white fun foam, again cut a bit smaller than the blue card, and adhered it to the card front using Collall All Purpose Glue - just to lift it up a little bit

- then rummaged through the snippets folder for some scraps and die cut the clouds using white card and MFT's 'Cloud' Trio' set of dies

- then die cut the kites, lines, tails and little stabilising 'bows' from snippets of red, green, yellow, red and white and carefully popped them into an upturned lid I keep on the desk - through (bitter) experience. I used a lovely die set made by Impression Obsessions called 'Kite' - what else?! 

- then added the lines and clouds to the background using a glue pen - allowing some parts to hang over the edge - which I then snipped off from the back to be sure of a straight and clean cut

- still building the scene - I then added the main part of each kite - using thin snippets of sticky pad to add dimension, then added the little bows using a glue pen (this time I didn't use the 'sectioned' part of the die cutting set but that would be fun to try (say) using pretty patterned papers for a girls card)

- next I needed a few words so I used an MFT set of 'Label Maker Sentiment' stamps and the Misti with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink for stamping. The Misti comes in so handy when stamping very solid stamps like these as I find, even with a newish ink pad, it does take more than one go to get a nice clean black finish

- then I just carefully fussy cut the words, you can actually buy a set  of matching MFT dies but I truly think they would be more trouble than they're worth - a nice sharp pair of medium sized scissors and decent light and they were done in no time at all

- then used red line sticky tape to adhere the words where I wanted them - all done!   

I couldn't find the MFT word stamps in the UK (I've had mine for a while now), but Uniko do some lovely sets - I have one which a sweet crafter bought for me a while ago and, like all Uniko products, it's great! I didn't use my Uniko set on the card as my blank spaces weren't right, next time I'll plan ahead more! Thanks again Sue! x

The prize this fortnight is:

An Impression Obsession 'Kite' set of dies and a 'Your Next Stamp' set of two 'Cloud' dies. Again, I couldn't find the MFT 'Cloud Trio' set of dies for the prize but the Your Next Stamp set is every bit as good IMHO. And I used two cloud sizes almost identical to the prize ones when I made my card. As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 20th July. 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 playing only for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list.

Dudley will be one year old on 22nd July and I'd forgotten just how much joy a doggie would bring to us - and how much work as well! He's so enchanting, you can't help but love him even when he's being a little pickle! Much to my quiet delight I took him for a walk during the week whilst Len was out - he behaved beautifully (after getting over the shock that after some months it was Mama taking him out!). We did about three quarters of a mile on one of his favourite routes, which might not sound much to many of you but was a huge step forward for yours truly.

On the subject of Dudley, we took him to the groomers on Thursday as his adult coat had begun to 'blow' over the past few weeks (basically changing from puppy coat to adult coat which generally begins at around one year old, and can take up to six months) so keeping on top of his tangles was almost impossible. Within half an hour of a full groom at home, making sure he was free of tangles, they came straight back. Basically, it wasn't a good situation for Dudley - deep mats can cause health problems and are also quite painful either to be removed or even before they're removed as they can cut off the blood supply. So, right now, Dudley looks like a little shorn sheep with a lovely plume of a tail and his wonderful long silky ears left untouched. His dear little face looks just as it did as a puppy - although of course the top knot has gone. I always thought he would look cute with a teddy bear/puppy cut - and no doubt he will .... as soon as it grows back just a bit! As for Dudley, he's absolutely fine needless to say, and also much cooler! Although, I think he feels it's just a bit undignified to have his 'crown jewels' exposed as they are at the moment - so he's taken to wearing dark glasses when he goes out for a walk. 

Here he is, taken yesterday, waiting at the top of the stairs for Len to return from archery:

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

Less is More #398 - one layer and spots

It's absolutely ages since I joined in with many of the challenges I used to play in (when I had more time), and one of those is Less is More.

I have a big Really Useful Box, stuffed full of unused items such as stamps, dies and stencils (or NBUS as Darnell would say). Some are to be used for my Snippets Playground challenge samples, and some are items I either bought just for me, or have been sent by lovely friends.

This card is a mixture, the stamp set is a one off that I fell in love with and bought last year - there was only one in stock, and it doesn't seem to be available here in the UK right now. However, the stencil has a duplicate in the Toy Box and that will be on offer, sometime fairly soon.

So - the theme is one layer over at Less is More #398 - and you also have to include spots. This is my offering:

I used:

- 6" x 6" white card blank (in fairness, Hobbycraft's card blanks are a teensy bit smaller even though they quite cheekily sell them as 6" x 6" (the envelopes are 6" x 6" though) and I usually trim them down slightly to 5.75" x 5.75" - as I did in this case

- the stamp set I used is such a fun one - it's by Your Next Stamps and is called 'One in a Chameleon'. Really great images and also some very cheesy sentiments as well. Also I especially like that the images lines are lovely and thick, which makes them perfect for masking

- stamped the chameleon and one of the flowers onto a piece of Woodware Magi-film, using Ranger Archival ink (wasn't sure whether Memento would possibly smear when I was fussy cutting the images so played safe) - and then spent ages carefully fussy cutting out the two masks

- then stamped the chameleon and the flower onto the card front, using the Misti of course

- popped the masks onto the images on the card front and then adhered the stencil in place using some low tack tape before stencilling the green spots using an Altenew 'Feeling Dotty' stencil, SU's 'Wild Wasabi' ink pad and a Clarity stencil brush

- removed the stencil and the two little masks then coloured in the flower and the chameleon using Whispers brush pens

- then added the two sentiments (using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink) with the help of the Misti and some clear acetate with grid lines on for the initial alignment - and naturally also did a check before 'going for it'!

- final touch, a coating of Glossy Accents on the eyes - and I also checked that the Glossy Accents wouldn't react with the pupil of the chameleon by trying it on a snippet of card first - me not always as daft as me looks!

Finished! As I said, this is such a fun set of stamps and it's ages since I did any masking so am quietly pleased with the result. I did Google to look for ideas to colour in the chameleon and came across some images where folk had used the colours of the rainbow - which I admit I unashamedly followed and then I thought I'd do the same when colouring the flower). And I do love his little 'two-fingered salute ☺

It also struck me that, as it's a celebration of World/Gay Pride at the moment, it's quite appropriate.