Wednesday 23 March 2022

Card for the Allsorts Challenge - and a new gadget

First of all, my goal is to enter as many Allsorts Challenges as possible, still bearing in mind that Christmas cards are also a priority - besides the Snippets Playground of course! It's been so heartwarming to read all your lovely comments about Sarn and I joining forces to run the Playground - happy times ahead!

The current challenge over at Allsorts Challenge #668 is 'Feminine' - and flowers sprang to mind here:

I used:

- A6 white linen card blank, side opening

- piece of the same white linen card to die cut the frame with flowers - called 'Tatty Layers - Lily Rose Panel' by Lisa Horton. The frame can be used without the flowers as a backing for images etc. I know it was one of you lovely Playmates who pointed me in the direction of the Lisa Horton frames with flowers - thank you!

- then glued the frame, with the flower outlines attached, onto the card front, using a fine glue pen

- stamped the sentiment using the Misti, my 'new gadget' - see below, Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Live Life' set of stamps. Sadly, despite being properly stored, the stamps have a slightly yellow hue and are also becoming rather pliable. They're many years old and owe me nothing but I'd be sad if they do become unusable

- and then, as it so often does, the 'red mist of crafting madness' descended upon me and Dopey here decided to infill all the die cut flowers - piece by flipping teeny, tiny piece!

- used one piece of paper from the fabulous Craft Consortium 'Ink Drops - Vivid' set of papers - mostly pink shades on one side and mostly yellows and a touch of green on the reverse, just to add a bit of a varying shades element

- die cut and then pieced each little perisher in place - using a fine glue pen

- 24 hours later - no kidding - it was finally done! Possibly one of the most fiddly things I've ever tackled. The frame just as it is, or with only the inclusion of the die cut floral outlines, is far better for one's sanity, trust me!

I did show the result to Dudley and it was fascinating to see his reaction. His eyes flicked from one side to the other and up and down, repeatedly - taking in every little detail. I suspect he could actually detect stress vibes coming from the card -  he had been party to a few choice words whilst trying to sleep at my feet during much of the process! If he could talk human talk I bet he would say 'Bonkers, Mama, totally bonkers!'.

And the 'new gadget' shown in the main photo above is something that's interested me for a while, since seeing brief glimpses of Jennifer McGuire using one in her more recent videos. As I have arthritis in practically every moving part of my body (apart from my tongue - which does its best to compensate!) - even using the Misti when making a batch of several cards at once gives me wrist ache. So I hunted all over the place and eventually found this:

Ignore the pot of gilding wax, used to prop the tool on its side for a better look (mind you, it's an absolutely gorgeous tone of gold!). Basically the new gadget is a 'Stamping Pressure Tool' - if you're interested in the link then just drop me an email, it took me a lot of searching to find this exact product - with a few blind alleys on the way. It was much cheaper than the one or two branded pressure tools I came across - so long as you can wait for 10 days or so  for it to arrive. It's 3" in diameter and comes with a black self-adhesive felt pad to attach to the base. You then just rub it over the lid of the Misti for a nice even print. And I already love it!

By the way, I've never played 'table top air hockey' but the tool basically seems to be a replacement 'pusher' - someone obviously was quite switched on!

I'd also like to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #36  for March HERE. The set of dies and the 'Pressure Stamping Tool' were both having a first outing.

If you need me, I can be found wandering around the shrubbery at the local 'Funny Farm'! Gently muttering 'Never again, teeny, tiny die cuts, never again'.



26 comments:

  1. Gorgeous! Lovely die, and the colors that you pieced in are certainly very pretty too. I've seen the tool and interested, but haven't done any searching yet BUT...

    ReplyDelete
  2. How lovely yo have you join us again Di and isn't it a pretty card. A perfect CAS example from which I should take particular note as I love seeing the style but struggle to pull it off.

    That new gismo looks interesting, I can see how with the wider head and compact handle it might be easier to use compared with the long handle brushes I use. I often sit and look in wonder at some of the crafting products available now compared to when started crafting many years ago, the hours for instance sitting cutting out decoupage and trying to line up stamps.

    Thanks so much for joining us again Di, as I told Sarn I am going to try and pop up to the treehouse one of these days.

    B x

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful card Di - worth every naughty word!! ;). I too have one of those (cheaper) gadgets and swear by it, and I don't have arthritis!
    Blessings
    Maxine

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a gorgeous card Di. Definitely worth the struggle you had! And you used one of my fave sentiment stamps too.

    If I find you wandering around the shrubbery I’ll gently take your arm and lead you back indoors and make you a cuppa.

    Your new gadget is similar to the Baron I use to rub the paper before I pull a gelli print. Glad you’ve found something to help which will make card making a less painful experience.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love this card and the finished result is worth the hassle (and sundry bad words) I'm sure. Your latest gadget looks like a very handy one and I just had to smile at your 'arthritis of the tongue' comment - that can't be a 'thing' surely 🤣🤣

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful card Di and l love that die l have something very similar they produce gorgeous cards love the colours too and the layout and sentiment, made me 😂 with regards to your arthritis everywhere but for your tongue 👅 it can be really painful 😖 enjoy your day xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. A lovely card Di and I'm pleased you've found new 'toy' to play with!
    Kath x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gorgeous paper piecing Di, a fantastic card.

    Sue xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. A pretty floral design. Thank you for sharing with us at Allsorts challenge this week.
    Lorraine

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your post had me chuckling over my coffee this morning as I read through! A beautiful card and a beautiful job of paper piecing, little pieces and all! I too love the Lisa Horton line of goodies, have your seen her 3D embossing folders, on my, they are superbly beautiful! I invested in the pressure tool a while back and have to say it's been a handy little thing, well worth the money!! I think it's great that Sarn is now going to help take off some of the pressure of running a challenge blog, being co-owner of a few myself I certainly know how that is!! Have a wonderful day!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diane!

      Yes, I already used the Mistletoe Slim EF with die on here and still have the gorgeous Slimline Poinsettia EF with die to play with yet! Have a lovely day too!

      Di xx

      Delete
  11. Hi Di this is a gorgeous card. I love it. Take care. Hugs Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a gorgeous elegant card Di and I love the way you have infilled the flowers using the pretty papers and that die is a beauty...well worth the trouble you took. That gadget is a great idea for getting even pressure on a stamp and will keep that in mind for the future. x

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this card and I have that die too, I think it might have been me that you had the conversation with re Lisa Horton dies. I was pleased with them because they fit A6 cards nicely. I now have my eye on her new embossing folders and dies, plus her stencil layering system, but I might just have to resist as I do have enough stuff! I am just the same when it comes to inlaying die cuts. I often find myself spending such a long time doing it and then wondering why, but you do get a much classier look to the finished card, as so beautifully demonstrated by you with this one. I have been looking at those tools too. So glad you have found one that you like xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes indeed - it was you Hilary! I'm happy with the LH Slimline embossing folders and matching dies and recently used the Mistletoe one. However, if you are tempted by the LH Christmas Sentiments and the large die to cut them with - my advice would be to give them a miss. The stamps are obviously not made from good material, so fragile I didn't dare peel the huge die away from the backing sheet and used it still stuck in place - and the die is just too wide for my Cuttlebug and Gemini Junior and also inaccurate.Very cheaply made and disappointing - and the font also looks uninspiring. A good idea, but I suspect made overseas cheaply. xx

      Delete
    2. Sorry, i meant the huge stamp of multiple sentiments couldn't be peeled from the backing sheet! x

      Delete
  14. FABULOUS way to deploy your NBUS it is too! Thanks so much for sharing it with us at NBUS this month

    Kathyk
    NBUS Guest DT member for March

    ReplyDelete
  15. That's a beautiful die cut. And thanks for the info on your new gadget!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well, your time and effort was well worth it Di, that really is a sensational example of paper pieced perfection!! x

    ReplyDelete
  17. So glad you persisted as it's a gorgeous card! I'm amazed at your patience for doing all that paper piecing! Thank goodness Dudley showed suitable appreciation by giving it a good look!

    ReplyDelete
  18. A perfect inlay on your fabulous card, You have had really a lot of patience with all those pieces! Well done for your new tool, surely it will be useful to have no pain with stamping in the Misti!
    Hugs (and cuddles to Dudley)!

    ReplyDelete
  19. A really lovely card, Di. Super well done even if it was fiddley. Looks like a great tool.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bless you Di, I know EXACTLY what you mean by 'the red mist of crafting madness' and it made me laugh out loud! I do hope you have since taken a look at the card and realised what a work of art you have created. I have tried to do die infills but even the larger dies have me turning the air blue! See you at the funny farm!! Hugs, Vicky xx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Beautiful and fabulous card!
    Thank you for sharing at Allsorts;-))m

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is a wonderful work of heart, Di, and I'm glad to hear you and Sarn are joining forces. It'll be a hoot for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Gorgeous die--really love the look of the frame! I've done some of that teeny, tiny paper piecing. It does give such a beautiful look, but I doubt I'll do it again as I've taken Dudley's comment to heart--haha! I've been interested in a tool like that, but my hands, so far, are not where arthritis is a problem for me. Going to check out Terese's video (Altenew DT) of how she made her own.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much if you take the time to comment!

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.