Sunday 30 August 2020

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #384 - results

 
Right now as I'm typing this on Saturday, the day before publication, we seem to have plunged into Autumn temperatures with a vengeance! Talk about going from one extreme to the other. We're at the point at which the central heating will automatically kick in if it drops a degree or so cooler - in August for goodness sakes!

Our return trip to the garage went off smoothly, and this time Dudley was much more settled during the car journeys, thankfully. I'd been contemplating wearing ear defenders but decided it wasn't wise whilst driving.☺
  
Let's move straight into this fortnight's picks:

Charlotte always makes such gorgeous cards, and this fabulous rainbow card is a prime example - using loads and loads of very narrow snippet strips. Do go and have a peek HERE - Charlotte has a really great video on her blog, showing how she made this card which is so well worth watching. She has such a gentle lilt to her voice - always so soothing to listen to.

What a struggle I had copying Becca's card from Flickr! But it's much too pretty not to share and uses quite a few snippets beautifully - love the design and lovely colours as well. I particularly like the current trend for long slim cards and this is a perfect example of making the most of the shape with three little focal point circles.

The pretty cream and tangerine background paper reminds me so much of the little Laura Ashley prints from way back in the 1980's. In my 'previous life' I made a duvet set for a single guest room as well as curtains and a roller blind from a Laura Ashley design print almost identical - albeit leaning slightly more towards rust rather than peach. Then I decided it would be nice to wallpaper the room to match. It was in a loft area of the house we lived in and the side walls were curved so it made sense to take the paper right across the ceiling as well. Not easy and probably sounds revolting these days but I was so very proud of the end result. It doubled as my sewing room and I never got tired of it.

Vicky recently won the Spellbinders 'Kaleidoscope' dies prize and I absolutely love how she used it for this CAS and very elegant card. The set of dies included the large element plus three smaller dies and it's one of the smaller hexagons that Vicky used here - what a lovely result!

I know I usually try to stick to three picks, but this time I just couldn't reduce the numbers below four - so you have this adorable card, made by Heather, to finish with. The card is such a lovely design and the absolute icing on the cake, apart from the amazing colouring, HAS to be the wonderful paper pieced umbrella that the three little friends are sheltering under. Such a clever touch and it really pulls the whole card together perfectly!
 
So, that's my picks and I do hope they've given you some inspiration for ways in which you can use up some of your own snippets. I always look for imaginative ways to use snippets when choosing the fortnightly picks. Of course a snippet to stamp a sentiment on qualifies folk to enter - but I do love to see clever ideas for using up those pesky little scraps which seem to breed overnight. They're the one thing we all have in our craft supplies for sure!

We had 39 entries in total, and no new Playmates this time. Bit of a dip in numbers.
 
Now for the prize draw, which is for a bumper prize of a Sweet Dixie set of 'Daisies' dies from Viv - and a Joanna Sheen 'Diamond Lattice' stencil plus a set of Clarity Stamps 'Christmas and Congratulations' sentiment stickers from me. And the winner is:

Congratulations Val! I know from the style of your card making that you'll get a lot of fun out of using your prize. Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so I can copy and paste for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course and I'll do my best to post your prize ASAP this coming week. Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost another week to run on Challenge #385 - you can find it HERE. The prize is a Memory Box 'Cream Puff Heart' die and an Avery Elle 'And then' set of sentiment stamps.
 
Sorry that the font size varies throughout this post, it's not your eyes playing tricks I promise. It's probably linked to me using a 'Playground Results' template dating from before the switch to the new blogger interface, sigh. I've looked at the HTML and to be honest would need more time to tinker around and get rid of the size variations than I have right now. Once you mess about with HTML it's a whole different ball game - and I used to be a programmer way back in the days of steam driven computers so do have a bit of a head start. Look as if I'll be starting from scratch next time!

A bit of stuff about the Playground Challenge now. Firstly, you may have noticed that many blog challenges seem to have fewer entries right now. Perhaps the COVID situation is getting people down, I know my own enthusiasm for card making and also blogging is suffering. So, I'm hoping the slip in numbers of snippets entries is just a reflection of of what's going on elsewhere rather than the Playground sliding down towards its 'sell by date' As an example, today as I type it's Saturday 27th August late afternoon - and the last entry was on Thursday (thanks for that info. Mr Linky). Sigh.

That, and the colder weather, also set me thinking about Christmas and the annual bumper 'holiday' draw I've run for the past few years. It's a huge amount of work and I'm most unlikely to run it in future. This year seems as good a time as any to call a halt, unless there's some sort of miracle, which is as likely as pink flying pigs to be honest. Of course, knowing me I'll find some way of us having a very much scaled down Christmas/New Year Playground celebration - just not a whole load of prizes on an almost daily basis for two weeks which is so labour intensive. Making samples, writing and scheduling blog posts plus even wrapping and posting all the prizes seemed to take forever.

On a more upbeat note, little bit of Dudley news. He has offered his paw for treats for a long while while now - I've just taught him to give me a 'high-five' too. So adorable!  

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




22 comments:

  1. Brilliant picks as always and what a lovely surprise to see my name as a winner. Will send my address, thanks. I do hope the Playground isn't nearing its 'sell by' date but sadly blogging does seem to be declining with Facebook being used such a lot. Must say I'm not a big fan of FB, far too many random people wanting to be 'friends' so I for one don't 'do' Facebook.

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  2. Lovely picks Di.

    I think Blogger may have something to do with lower numbers, as well as the current world situation etc. Not everyone likes the new style Blog version and I think notifications have been messed up too.

    Anyway . .. I've boosted numbers by joining in myself (first time in ages!)

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  3. Fabulous cards - congratulations to all those showcased
    Di, I have not been entering as i am packing up the house, ready for a move and a downsize, so it's been packing paper, not patterned paper that I have been staring at - hopefully I will fine time to blog and pop an entry in this week...
    Stay safe
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  4. Congrats to Val on her win and great picks Di. I have looked at Charlotte's video and it's a really good way of using up those snippets. I hope you're not getting to "sell by date" :( . I think it's a combination of the time of year and the situation we are in at the moment. I know I'm out working in the garden or doing more things in the summer and don't get so much time to craft. As far as your Christmas draw goes, it must be a huge amount of work for you, I don't know how you do it, and I'm sure everyone is grateful for what you have done and will fully understand your reason for stopping. Have a good week x

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  5. I hope you are only experiencing a slight hiccup in proceedings, I should hate for your fab challenge to stop. My problem is that I can only enter once and, with the challenge being two weekly, I sometimes forget if I've already entered and sometimes end up not entering at all - my bad!

    All the best and a big High Five back at Dudders too! Happy Sunday

    Kathyk

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  6. Fabulous picks Di and congratulations to Val too.

    I think a lot of people have been enjoying the glorious weather (okay, except for this week) and haven't been sitting inside cardmaking. I know I've not done as much crafting over the last few weeks as we've been getting ready for our delayed holiday. Fully understand about the Christmas challenges - that must have been a mammoth task for you.

    Stay safe, Kath x

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  7. Hi Di! I always do a little *gasp* when I see my card highlighted! :-) Thank you so very much for the honor!! And congrats to the other picks, well deserved, and Val. :-) Of course I would be so very sad if you stopped the playground, but I would also understand if you make that decision. I do think it's just the circumstances of the time that has the entries down a little. And I agree with Lynn about the Christmas/New Year celebration! I don't know how you manage it to begin with! lol Anywho - I'm playing again this new challenge & will comment ver there. Have a beautiful day!! (And I am so sorry that once again, I am causing you trouble because of Flickr!! Argh!!!)

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  8. Many congratulations Val enjoy your win fabulous array of cards so well deserved to be showcased xx

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  9. I LOVE the puppy card and butterfly pic! WOW! And congrats Val! I LOVE AUTUMN weather! Totally jealous of you Di!

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  10. Lovely picks again Di, and congrats to everyone. Please don't be disheartened, I'm sure the entries is a blip.....I haven't had much time for blogging or crafting, but I'm hoping to sneak into the playground later.
    I'm all for cutting down on workload, so would definitely understand the christmas challenge. We all have to take stock sometimes. Take care and high fives to you, Len, and Dudley xxx

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  11. I'm so proud my card was show-cased alongside Charlotte's, Becca's and Heather's, and congratulations to Val on her fab win too!

    Blogland in the summer is usually a lot emptier I used to find and then tends to pick up again as people start ramping up their Christmas crafting. This year's virus situation is probably causing a lot of apathy too as people are feeling anxious and unable to settle. One more thing that may have affected numbers: When I changed to 'new Blogger' I stopped getting email updates from The Playground so I missed my reminders to join in. Maybe that has affected others?

    As for the Christmas draw, I am astonished that you have been able to fit that in around the festive season! I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we have really appreciated your hard work and the opportunity to win such amazing prizes, but would be happy to hear that you are putting your health first and taking things a bit easier over Christmas this year!

    Dudley's high fives must be the cutest high fives around :)

    Hugs, Vicky xx

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  12. Congratulations, everyone. Lovely creations.

    Congratulations to Dudley for learning the high 5. [Bunny]

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  13. Thank you so much for picking my card, and for your very kind words! Congratulations to the other picks and the winner as well. I am planning to play along with the current challenge as well, although I'm not meant to be crafting as much because I have an issue with my wrist at the moment. I hope I'll have a chance to play along soon. I always so enjoy this challenge. Fingers crossed the numbers will pick up again.

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  14. Oh, Di, there can't be a "sell by date" for your Playground. It's too much fun! For some reason I had forgotten to visit but I'm trying to do it weekly to show my support for you and your blog. High 5 to you and Dudley. Congrats to all the winners' beautiful cards.

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  15. Fabulous picks Di, here there are always new ideas! Thanks for your efforts.
    Hope that all the players will return early.
    I smiled reading about Dudley giving high five to you :D
    I'm sure he will want learn others plays in change of same yummy treats! ;)
    Hugs

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  16. ...Forgot to say Congrats to the winner! :)

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  17. I love blogs and blog challenges. I appreciate the amount of time and work that goes into them and am grateful for prizes given by sponsors or by private individuals. I don't really like fb for challenges cos there just isn't the interaction you get on a blog. It seems a lot of fb people aren't actually aware of blogland. Maybe we should recruit some of them LOL. I understand about the xmas giveaway. It has always amazed me the time and prizes you have given. It's a lot, in so many ways. I will be back at Christmas, big celebration or not. Just grateful you are helping me conquer scrap mountain. Thanks for everything you do. Congrats t the winner and top picks. Fab snippets cards. Hugz

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  18. Congratulations to Val and the top picks! Such wonderful cards! The playground has reached its sell by date! Its too much fun! I will try and do better with my entering and blogging, its my exhaustion that gets in the way. Sigh! Yay! High five to Dudley, bless him, how clever! Take care and stay safe my friend xxx

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  19. Fabulous picks, all so beautiful and fun!! Not sure elsewhere, but here in Michigan lots of people have been vacationing by traveling in their cars and/or camping. So many people working from home now seems to give them much more freedom to move about so maybe that is part of the decline in entries plus having the kiddies home for such a long time. I have been gone all summer myself and haven't been able to create as normal other then my DT work. Hang in there as I am sure it will improve...and thanks for all you do!!

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  20. Congrats to the winners. There were some pretty amazing entries! And, Di, I've struggled with the new Blogger, too, and hate what happens with fonts. I hope they get the bugs worked out soon. Also, I hope that the Playground numbers pick up soon. I do think that COVID is partly to blame. It seems to be causing havoc across the board. That said, please do take care of yourself. If you feel like cutting back this Christmas, please do that. We love you and will hang around the playground whenever it is open. But also understand if you make changes.

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  21. What great picks--so inspiring! Sorry about the weather. We've been way too hot this summer, but got a 2 day break which we've so enjoyed. Can't believe what you've done for Christmas--time to stop, for sure, my friend! Sending big virtual hugs & a pat on the head for Dudley!

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This is a public blog. Those leaving a comment on any post on this blog or entering a piece of artwork into a linky do so in the knowledge that their name and blog link are visible to all who visit this blog and in so doing have published their own personal details and consented to my use of that personal information should they be selected as a winner or to accredit work.