Wednesday 17 November 2021

March of the gnomes - end result

Last week I posted about assembling 20 little Simon Says Stamp gnomes HERE. The little lady gnomes were kindly die cut and sent to me by Karen L all the way from the USA, along with some spare card so I could use my little 'gnome chap' die to make companions for them. Using my Altenew mini die cutting machine I ended up with a little army of 20 gnomes - eight lady and chap pairs and four lone ladies. And here's a peek at some of the finished cards:

I used:

- white card blanks - four @ 5.5" x 4.25" and eight @ 4" x 4" 

- die cutting the chaps then assembling the gnomes took forever, Karen must have the patience of a saint. The little chaps aren't too bad but the ladies are more painstaking to assemble. I cut the chaps from the spare snippets of card Karen had sent - so that the pairs would co-ordinate yet not have the same outfits (just by swopping the hats and lower body colours)

- all the gnomes were assembled using a glue pen and the little noses were all coloured with a Dusky Pink Pro marker - and the beards were flicked with a Warm Grey Pro marker

- quite rightly, Karen hadn't included any teeny bows for the little ladies' braids - so I rummaged through my own dies and found a bow from Marianne Creatables LR0467 set of 'ballet' dies which suited perfectly. Some of the snippets were too tiny even for that so a further rummage turned up a teeny bow shaped die from an Impression Obsessions set of dies called 'Kite' - result!

- backgrounds were trimmed down from three different scenes in the KanBan 'Christmas Wobblers' pack of pre-printed backgrounds - so that I could make 12 cards, four of each using each scene background, just wearing different colour combinations

- glued the backgrounds to the card fronts

- added the gnomes using thin sticky pads

- finally, added Craftwork Cards pre-printed and die cut sentiments to eight of the cards - the backgrounds are made using glossy card (as shown in some relection from my daylight lamp - sorry!) so I had to avoid stamping the sentiments

- finished!

I did love making these cards - they certainly took me quite a while in several sessions, just as and when I felt the inclination. A massive thank you to Karen - you're a star my friend!

I'm entering the current Allsorts Challenge #650 - where the current theme is 'Christmas'. Hooray, for once I made the deadline - I miss entering this challenge so often as I'm quite a slow thinker/crafter

Speaking of challenges, a little reminder folks that the Christmas Snippets challenge is still running over at Christmas Kickstart, where it's my turn to be 'Jo's Christmas Elf' for the month. Why not join in? So far a lot of you already have played - Jo is kinder than me though and you can actually play up to three times, with a maximum of seven other challenge entries each time you enter a Christmas snippets make. This is now another one of my favourite challenges.



28 comments:

  1. I love these gnomes. They are so cute. Your cards turned out great. They definitely take some time. [Bunny]

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  2. Wonderful little gnomes, gents & ladies... I love that she kindly sent snippets for you to use your die with, what a blessing! They're adorable, Di! (and Karen!)

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  3. Beautiful X-mas cards!
    Wish you a joyful week :)

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  4. Hi Miss Di, a superb set of cards with your cheeky gnomes, can't say I've seen them before they are super cute. Reminds me of when I sat with my scrap pile and an Owl set that I love, might have to dig the die back out to use some more scraps up... Have a wonderful week... Megan

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  5. You've made brilliant use of your gnome die cuts. You are right it certainly needs time - and patience - to assemble some die cuts but really well worth the effort in my opinion. Once the pieces are cut they can be assembled in comfort (using a lap tray for instance) while the sometimes boring TV rumbles on 😉

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  6. Absolutely fabulous Di! Do we get to see all of them eventually? xx

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  7. Wow Di l just love your gnomes nicely assembled l love your cards xx

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  8. I loved these gnomes the first time I saw them here and I still love them. Might have to go on a gnome hunt for these. Fantastic cards Di.

    Sue xx

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  9. Super cute gnome scenes, you did a wonderful job with them. I giggled when I read you made it to a challenge before it closes. Story of my crafty life. Sometimes the problem is too many ideas and can't decide. Adorable cards.

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  10. I love all your sweet gnome cards Di, fiddly but well worth persevering as they all look fabulous. x

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  11. I love these! They are awesomely cute cards - definitely worth all the work. What a nice friend Karen. Take care. Bug hugs. xxxxxxx

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  12. Isn't it interesting how different things look just by changing the colours? I love these gnomes and well done for finding such tiny bow dies in your stash, they are perfect. Love the idea of pre done backgrounds too. I am actually just finishing a card for your Kickstarter challenge, better get on with it xx

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  13. Such fun cards, colourful and wonderful Di.
    Faith x

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  14. Such fun cards Di, adorable gnomes, love all the colours and papers. I too am slow and too often miss challenge deadlines.xxx

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  15. Awwww - great to see the lovely gnomes making their way onto your fab cards. Time consuming but worth it. Great backgrounds too.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  16. Gorgeous cards Di and love the little chaps. I have been Needle Felting Gnomes to sell at Craft Fairs. Hugs, Carol S.xxx

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  17. oh they are all fabulous and look so cute. Lovely to see you at Allsorts challenge too (although I can't actually see your entry in the gallery! Must need new glasses lol).
    L x

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  18. Hello my friend . . . I'm hopping back with my Allsorts DT hat on to say thanks for joining in at Allsorts this week - I really do adore these gnomes!

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  19. I'm a little late arriving Di, such has been my week.

    From here on Gnomes will always be "chap's"!! And in this case well travelled ones as well, I love the fact you hame gone so colourful, it showcases them so well and identifies the chaps from the ladies.

    Lovely to see you at Allsorts Christmas challenge this week, thanks you much. You are welcome any time.

    B x

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  20. I love gnomes and these are so very cute! You can change them and play with them on cards 'all the way'!
    Lia xx

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  21. Those are my favorite gnome dies and I love what you've done with them all! It's time consuming but well worth the effort when the results are so cute! WTG!

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  22. After getting that sneak peek of the gnome parade in a previous post, it's so fun to see a few of the completed cards. These are going to bring a lot of smiles to the recipients and will really stand out among the usual holiday designs. Love how you used the scraps to make coordinating outfits for the gnome couples (very smart and fashionable), and used backgrounds from your paper collection. I'd been a little concerned that all those tiny bits and intricate gluing would give you problems with your shoulder but it looks like you wrestled those gnome pieces into shape perfectly!
    Now I need to get busy with my own gnomes and get a few of them on a card or two for Christmas as well. You've definitely inspired and motivated me!

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  23. These cards turned out fab, congrats on your win at Allsorts!

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  24. These gnomes are adorable Di and I love that you found a kite bow for the braids! Fabulous cards.
    It's lovely to see you being a guesting elf over at Jo's Kickstart challenge. I love this challenge too but am rubbish at making the deadline - I think we all have this problem!!
    Have a lovely weekend! Vicky x

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  25. Adorable gnomes, Di! They are adorable and I love that you tracked down a little bow for their hairdos! Thanks for pointing people in the direction of CKC too, Jo x

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  26. I'm not really into gnomes, but oh my goodness--these are awfully cute!

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