Sunday Snippets and Rudolph Days challenge

I rustled up a snippets card the other day - for the current Rudolph Days Challenge HERE, as well as for my Sunday Snippets post:

And here are the snippets I started off with:

It's a pity the camera hasn't really picked up the sparkle in the stars and dots on the patterned paper

I used:

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

- snippet of red patterned paper from a very old Fizzy Moon paper pad called 'Festive Fun' - it was the very last of the decent designs in the pad so the rest went into the bin! Shock, horror, so ruthless

- the snippet of patterned paper was just big enough for me to die cut it for a background, using dies from the Spellbinders 'Hemstitch Rectangles Venise Lace' set of dies

- glued the die cut background onto the card front

- then used a snippet of iridescent white card to die cut the Poppystamps 'Snowflake Corner Frame' 

- also used the Memory Box 'Joy Posh Script' set of two dies to cut the sentiment - the backing using a snippet of vellum and the top layer using a snippet of the iridescent white card 

- glued the snowflakes frame and the sentiment to the card front

- final touch, added some sparkly diamantes to the centre of each snowflake

I'd like to add this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #49 HERE. The 'Snowflake Corner Frame' and the 'Joy' sentiment dies were having their first outing.

We have a new Challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE - with a lovely prize. Sarn is in charge this fortnight - but I'll be keeping a close eye on things in case it becomes too riotous! I know ALL about the contents of her satchel - and it ain't homework in there either!

Dudley Pupdate: It only seems five minutes since I wrote his last news, and nothing much has changed. We did have a mini Tsunami when he had his bath earlier in the week, but that's nothing new. The secret is for me to immediately wrap Dudley up in one of his bath towels like a Burrito and pat as much of the water away as possible before letting him go scatty running around and shaking himself dry.  Then comes the crazy 'break dancing' as he's given a blow dry!

I did laugh on Friday - Len was busy in the back garden whilst we were expecting a delivery. So he told Dudley to 'stay on security guard duty' in his favourite place, at the top of the stairs, to watch the front door. The next time I looked at Dudley he was flat on his back with everything on display (albeit within his fluffy coat I'm glad to say), head to one side, paws flopped half in the air - snoring for England! 💤 So much for listening to instructions! As Len said, typical security guard really. On the other hand - if a leaf dares to rustle past the front door he's up like a shot - so we were in safe hands/paws really. 😃

Hope you all have a lovely week - we're on countdown to the Coronation now. Let's hope the sun shines! Or at the very least, it doesn't rain. However, the British won't let that spoil things - it's in our genes to complain about the weather ..... yet make the best of it when we have to. Today, Saturday, is beautiful here, it's sunny and quite warm.  If we have this next Saturday it would be perfect. 

Birthday card for a special Buddy

I made this card for someone very special:

I used:

- a white DL card

- white card stock for the stencilled panel

- a lovely  iCraft stencil 8527 that I won a while ago over at Allsorts - coloured using TH Distress Oxides and an assortment of 'small detailed' blending brushes rather like pencils with soft ends (bought from Amazon) - they compliment the 'make-up style blending brushes we're mostly using so well

- trimmed the panel down and layered it onto a snippet of yellow card before then gluing it to the card front

- used more yellow card snippets and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad to stamp the sentiment, using a set of The Greetery stamps called 'Opposites Attrract'

- then die cut the two parts of the sentiment using a The Greetery 'Opposites Attract' die for the word 'happy' and a die from their 'Opposites Attract Script' set of dies

- layered the sentiment die cuts onto two further die cut layers then glued them onto the card front

All done! My first serious venture into stencilling as well. Unlike most sensible folk I did a high dive into the deep end, as per usual, and chose to do something more intricate. ☺ Happy Birthday sweet friend if you happen to pop in and see this post!

I'd like to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #49 HERE. The stencil, the small sized blending brushes and the sentiment stamps and dies were all out for a first play!

Sarn has posted the results of Challenge #451 over in the Snippets Playground HERE. As always, we had some really great entries - so lovely how those snippets just keep on multiplying.

Dudley Pupdate: Nothing much to report, although he's loving the Springtime walks - once he's been coaxed into his harness and has his collar on. He's a funny little guy, if he just doesn't feel like going for a walk he lies down on his side and sticks one leg up in the air for a tummy tickle instead! The weird thing is that it's the only time he does 'raise his leg' - he still squats like a puppy for a wee!

He currently looks like a ball of fluff - most likely heading for a bath early this coming week, little does he know!

It's Mo's Rudolph Days Challenge beginning on Tuesday 25th remember! And there's still one week of the current Snippets Challenge to go. See you in the Playground.

Bunny is going on holiday

'cos he's tired out and demanding a rest from all this fancy posing stuff - so this is the last card with him on for now. No doubt, he'll pop up again at some point but meanwhile:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" tent style card blank, cut from 'Syntegro White Linen Silkweave' textured card

- assorted sizes of snippets of the same white card for the image panel and all the little die cuts

- cut the following die cuts: the flowery border/grass strip using the Charlie & Paulchen die called 'Flower and grass border', unbranded sitting bunny, window opening panes by The Greetery called 'Fresh Air Window Frame' and finally, all from Gummiapan, a nest and a couple of chicks from the 'rooster, hen and chickens' set plus three eggs from the 'Easter Branches' set

 - once again lots of little die cuts to colour in using Distress Oxide ink pads and a water brush

- then used a large ball ended embossing tool to slightly round/shape the bunny, nest, eggs and chicks to add some dimension

- rubbed some Ranger 'Micro Distress Glaze' onto each of the 'rounded' pieces

- the image panel was trimmed to 5" x 3.75"

- then die cut the window into the image panel using a die from The Greetery 'Fresh Air Window Frame' set and backed it with a snippet of yellow patterned paper (the camera is telling fibs and showing it as almost green!)

 - stuck the flower & grass border onto the front panel using red line tape across the bottom section and a glue pen for the blades of grass

- used a die from The Greetery's 'Brick Layer' set of dies to cut a stencil from 125 microns Mylar and stenciled the brick pattern in one corner of the window, using a mix of Distress Oxide inks on my glass mat, all mixed up with a squirt of water 

- glued the arched open windows in place using a glue pen

- built up the rest of the little scene using some teensy pieces of thin foam pad behind the nest, chicks and bunny. The eggs had already been stuck to the back of the nest using red line tape prior to me touching the Micro Distress Glaze BTW

- adhered the front panel onto the card front, using strips of narrow foam tape to raise it up a bit

- finally, using a pencil, I added the eye and little nose to the bunny's face

Didn't add a sentiment this time, it would have knocked the layout to pot.

I'd like to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #49 - the floral grassy border, nest and eggs, window and shutters plus the 'brick work' stencil were all having their first outing.

Dudley Pupdate: We've had such a mix of weather this past week - Dudley just loves to roll around on his back on the 'easy maintenance' grass in the back garden when it's sunny. I sat out with him for a while a couple of times and when I was then fussing him and stroking his back Len said - 'you DO know that he's probably been rolling on a worm?' Very nice trick Dudley. Been a few 'zoomies' of course - Spring is in the air even though it's teasing us a bit this year.

Hop, hop, hop - he's back again!

The Easter bunny is back yet again - to wish you all a very Happy Easter:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" tent style card blank, cut from 'Syntegro White Linen Silkweave' textured card

- assorted sizes of snippets of the same white card for the image panel and all the little die cuts (not worth taking a photo)

- cut the following die cuts: grass strip using an MFT die called 'Grassy Fields', unbranded sitting bunny, Charlie & Paulchen 'wheel barrow', plus the following Gummiapan dies: 'small tulips', 'tiny daffodils'  plus a hen and chick from the 'rooster, hen and chickens' set

 - once again lots of little die cuts to colour in using Distress Oxide ink pads and a water brush

- then used a large ball ended embossing tool to slightly round/shape the bunny, barrow, the flower heads, Mama and her chick to add some dimension

- rubbed some Ranger 'Micro Distress Glaze' onto each of the die cut and coloured pieces

- the image panel was die cut using a Lil'Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die

- stamped the Easter sentiment into the top right corner of the panel using a stamp from the Clearly Besotted 'Say What?' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- die cut the bottom edge and sides of the grass strip using the same 'stitched rectangle die for continuity - a small detail but worthwhile - then stuck it onto the front panel using red line tape across the bottom section and a glue pen for the blades of grass

- built up the little scene using a glue pen, red line tape, tweezers, pokey tool and some teensy pieces of thin foam pad behind the wheel barrow, bunny, flower heads and  Mama hen plus her baby. The flowers had already been stuck to the back of the wheelbarrow using red line tape

- adhered the front panel onto the card front, using strips of narrow foam tape to raise it up a bit

- finally, using a pencil, I added the eye and little nose to the bunny's face

I'd like to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #49 - the wheelbarrow, tulips, hen and chick dies were all having their first outing.

At last, after endless driving rain we had some wonderfully sunny and dry days in Hampshire! Hooray, we certainly feel all the better for it. It's good that the decent weather arrived in time for the kiddies Easter break from school as well. 

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley is absolutely loving the sunshine - he keeps wanting to go into the garden just to stand and sniff the sweet Spring air, play chase the ball for a while and then do a few celebratory zoomies around the garden! We have our very own Spring lamb! Ahem, although we now know that rain is forecast for the coming week, I spoke too soon. Sigh.

The results of challenge #450 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Remember, Sarn is halfway through her current Snippets challenge - HERE. 

Hope you're having a pleasant Easter - those who gave up chocolate for Lent will be no doubt having a little feast! We just have some of the small 'hard icing coated' Easter eggs to share here (Dudley has his own doggy choccy drops) - ooer, plus an Easter egg which a sweet little friend brought here a a gift, well in advance of the day! IF Len hasn't scoffed it on the quiet of course.

 /) /)
 (-.-)
0_(“)(“)

It's that Easter Bunny again!

Here's my Sunday snippets card - all using white linen snippets to start off with:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" side opening card blank, cut from 'Syntegro White Linen Silkweave' textured card

- assorted sizes of snippets of the same white card for the image panel and all the little die cuts (not worth taking a photo)

- cut the following die cuts: unbranded sitting bunny with the stool he came with plus the following Gummiapan dies:  a vase from the 'set of vases', three 'Easter branches', and daffodils from the 'tiny daffodils' set of dies. Also, the bow for the bunny - from an unbranded set of seven different bows 

 - so, there I was once again with a lot of little die cuts to colour in - and out came the Distress Oxide ink pads and water brush. Even coloured the little green buds all ready to burst forth!

- after colouring all the pieces, I then used VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and a small Indigo Blu stamp appropriately called 'Crackle' to add some interest to the stool. In order to be sure to position the stool so that it was all covered in the 'crackle' in one go, I popped the stamp onto my glass mat, then inked it facing up before positioning the ready 'die cut and coloured' stool on top - then pressed down with a large acrylic block - perfect!

- then used a large ball ended embossing tool to slightly round/shape the bunny and his bow tie, along with the vase and the flower heads, just to add some dimension

- rubbed some Ranger 'Micro Distress Glaze' onto each of the die cut and coloured pieces - word of caution, be sure to keep it away from the back of the pieces as you handle them otherwise sticking them down might prove tricky - ask me how I know this

- the image panel started out on a bigger snippet of white linen card - and to 'ground' the image I stenciled what might pass for a rug onto the bottom edge of the panel - using 'Lost Shadow' Distress Oxide and a stencil I'd cut myself using a die from the Memory Box 'Baptisia' set of dies

- stamped the Easter sentiment into the top right corner of the panel using a stamp from the Clearly Besotted 'Say What?' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- glued the front panel onto the card front, using strips of narrow foam tape to raise it up a bit

- built up the little scene using a glue pen, red line tape, tweezers, pokey tool and some teensy pieces of thin foam pad behind the vase, daffodil heads and the bunny. The flowers and Spring branches had already been stuck to the back of the vase using red line tape

- finally, using a pencil, I added the eye and little nose to the bunny's face

Cutting my own stencil was inspired by Chrissie Stokes of course. After a false start with 250 microns Mylar, I switched to 125 microns which cuts like a dream - even coping beautifully with the very tricky die I used on this card. In real life, the colours are stronger than in the photo - and there is a third daffodil hiding somewhere in my craft room - it did a runner just before I assembled the card and I certainly wasn't going to go through the whole process of making a replacement.

I'd like to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #49 - the stool, bunny bow, vase and Spring contents dies were all having their first outing. Oh, and the 'stencil making' was a first too!

I actually have two more 'Easter Bunny' cards to one side here. One is fully made and 'waiting in the 'wings' - a bit of the die cutting is done for the final one, but having been one degree under for a few days during the week I'll wait and see how things go.

I've been having problems with some of my blog commenting lately - when using Firefox it was often, but not always, only allowing me to comment as 'Anonymous'. I've been into Privacy and security in Firefox on my laptop and have changed a pop-up setting to allow them - it seems that the latest Firefox update made this an option and not the default. It's little things like that lurking to trip us up. So do keep an eye on your browser settings. BTW - Blogger works much better on Chrome (both Google products). Quelle surprise!

Dudley Pupdate: It's been a quieter week than usual here but Dudley has never been far away from my side - keeping watch and offering cuddles of course. 

Dudley is such a joy. His morning 'treat hunt' is so funny. He adores 'calcium bones wrapped in dried chicken by Pawsleys or similar. We're not up at the crack of dawn all/showered washed, dressed and on parade at our age (yay, I actually felt right saying that and not explaining to builders why 8am is not on our radar these days!). 

Once breakfast is over and he's 'ready' for the day, Len makes us a second cuppa - mug of coffee for him and one of peppermint tea for me. And that's when Dudley knows it's 'treat time'. No matter where we conceal or hide it - that boy is on the hunt. The only way we can confuse him is to handle the treat between ourselves - and then he's a bit confused. Hands, smell, WHO? HE always wins - and in pretty short time as well.

Sarn has a new Snippets Challenge up and running in the Snippets Playground! Do have a look at her lovely snippets homework and join in with the fun - HERE. Nice selection in the prize pot as well!