Sunday Snippets - 'O' Little Town'

I've had the 'double sided die' I used today for at least three years - a present from Santa. It's always looked far too complicated - until I took the time earlier this week to watch a video on how to use it - then away I went, and it's actually pretty easy as the die does most of the work:

I used: 

- 8'25" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening (meaning it's .25" wider than a standard DL card - purely to leave a little space at either side of the image panel) - and the envelope will still just fit - yay!

- die cut the double sided die - Gemini's 'O' Little Town' in one pass using a snippet of Tonic satin effect 'Black Velvet' card for the main layer and a piece of Tonic satin effect 'Soft Amethyst' card for the other die cut layer - both pieces of card had been backed with 'Stick-it' pieces

- cut a further piece of card, just slightly smaller than the main black die cut, from Tonic pearlescent 'Blue Cashmere' card

- then layered it all together - easy peasy, with a bit of care

- next, I die cut the sentiment from snippets of the black and amethyst card - using a two part die set by Reverse Confetti called 'Layered Peace', glued together using a glue pen

- finally, added the image panel to the card front using very narrow foam tape for a bit of a 'lift'

and just glued the sentiment underneath, using a glue pen. Finished!

If you're tempted by the double sided dies, made by Crafters Companion, they are used in the electiric die cutting Gemini machines, using a pair of the special pale green plates - with a clear plate at the bottom and another clear one on the very top of the sandwich. I have no idea if they are in any way compatible with other die cutting machines - much less what the sandwich plates would be! I've said previously that I actually use my green plates all the time for any normal die cutting in the Gemini - they certainly have helped to prevent warping and saved me a lot of angst.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge #820 HERE - under the 'Anything Goes' Option

Rudolph Days Challenge for March 2025 HERE

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #72 HERE - the double sided die was having a first outing - and not before time either! Both the Amethyst and the Cashmere card packs were new to me, new colours in the range I'd never tried before.e 

And, a cheeky second entry into Christmas Kickstart #96 over HERE, where the theme is a Christmas colour palette that's 'not the norm' ..... I think this one fits the bill nicely!

Dudley Pupdate: Been a funny and very busy week here for Dudley. Len is the proud owner of yet another set of dog grooming clippers (we could set up a shop here with the ones he doesn't like). Thankfully, these have been declared the best ever - but I suspect that, as of Monday, Dudley would differ on that one - and his upset Mama most certainly would differ! I now have a really 'newborn lamb with a bark' as a pet - he's been shorn, including his beautiful long ears! Granted they were very prone to becomiong matted but the solution is a bit drastic to say the least! I keep whispering to Dudley that it will all soon grow back, and indeed it will. And he will look just like any self-respecting Havanese ought to!

Wednesday saw our friend and close neighbour Kim come round with Tilly the Corgi for a Pupdate with Dudley. The weather was SO kind to us and we sat in the garden in beautiful sunshine having tea and bikkies whilst the dogs played together. In the end, Dudley went to Len for a cuddle when it all became too much - we're talking at least two plus hours of running around. It's only since Len clipped him right down that it's come back to me how fine boned he is. He slept like a little log that night! We do plan to do it all over again very soon.

Then, Dudley's grand finale of the week, on Friday, was his annual trip to the vet for his MOT and innoculation. He came through with flying colours and perfect teeth (always a huge relief here) and Emily the vet is his new best human friend. She's one of the few vets we've met who really know a lot about the breed as well as their natures - and she loved him, and Dudley loved her too! 

We have a new Challenge #503 being run by our lovely Sarn, over HERE. No doubt, there will be delicious goodies on offer in the treehouse, Sarn is now asking for a chalk board for 'today's specials'!! WHAT is she plotting, I ask myself? Soup and a roll from the microwave are one thing - but a whole menu is quite worrying! Mark my words - it'll be a dishwasher next!!

Finally, do remember that for many of us, UK in particular, the clocks have gone forward by an hour. One hour less to sleep - sigh. 

Love from myself and Dudley, 

Sunday Snippets - Sympathy cards

Not so long ago I had the heartbreaking task of making a Sympathy card for the widow of a much loved neighbour - we four have been friends for over 30 years, which is quite some time. I really struggled with our own grief and decided earlier this week that it isn't impersonal to have a few Sympathy cards to hand after all. And so I made a set of three cards - all following similar processes, just with different images and card sizes/orientations:

Here's the three I made!

I used:

- 4.75" x 4.75" plain white card blank, side opening, The other two cards are USA A2 size, in different orientations, both side opening as well

- the images are all from the Penny Black Stickeroos sheet called 'Timeless', stuck onto snippets of  card ages ago and this time they were trimmed right to the edge before running a black TomBow brush pen around all four sides

- fun time next! Linby aka our Lynn, got me fired up to try out some new sentiments - ready stamped and die cut. The best part is that the sentiment itself can be foiled, in my case I used my laminator and spent a couple of hours doing a whole batch of them to have on standby. The sentiment pieces are by Julie Hickey from the 'Assorted Sentiments #2 Die Cut Foilables' set (116 in the set!). I did push the boat out and bought 'WOW' Fab foil in Glitter Gold and Silver. I do not recommend the glitter gold as the end results can look rather 'bitty' due to the different tones of gold - just my opinion though - you might love it, as I thought I would! In fairness, I do have some reservations - one or two of the sentiment pieces were badly printed, some quality control issues there perhaps plus some other minor things. Overall, I'm very pleased and huge thanks to Lynn for once again being an enabler! Needless to say, both the silver foiling and the silver mirror card look black in the above photos! Usual story

- so, I foiled some appropriate sentiments in silver and just glued them onto the images - it DOES make sense to foil a batch of sentiments in one go - unless your laminator is sitting there ready and waiting, 24/7of course

- then glued the images onto slightly larger snippets of white card before backing them with slightly larger snippets of silver mirror card

- all that was left was to add each image panel onto the relevant card blank, using narrow sticky foam strips ...... finished!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: 

- Allsorts Challenge # 819 HERE -  under 'Anything Goes'

- Darnell's NBUS Challenge #72 HERE - the Julie Hickey Foilables sentiments and also the 'WOW' Fab Foil were out to have a first play  

Dudley Pupdate: Excitement here - mid-week could see Dudley on a real pupdate here with his beloved Tilly. Tilly's Mum Kim is possibly bringing her round for a pupdate and, earlier on Friday afternoon I was talking to him, as per usual and said 'Do you know that Tilly is coming around for a pupdate?' I kid you not - at that point he'd been sitting quietly beside me doing quality control on the dicing of his fresh veggies as part of his evening meal - but he literally stood up, raised his ears and stared straight down our garden as if to say, 'I KNOW where she lives and sleeps Mama, we already have a direct line!' He sure cracks me up! Whatever else, the week also holds a clip, bath and annual vet visit for Dudley! Little does he know as yet. 👀

Remember, the results from Sarn's Challenge #501 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE.

Do come and play with us in the Playground - the Spring clean-up has been completed (Sarn is a slave driver when the wind is behind her sails but it looks wonderful) and everything is ready to roll! It's the second week of Challenge #502, so do please come and  and play if you haven't already done so. 

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - 'Wonky' Christmas tree

It's a Christmas Snippets card from me today - using a NBUS stamp set that cost me all of £1, along with some snippets of my most treasured LOTV papers :

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, tent style

- snippet of textured 'black velvet' card. measuring 5.25" x 4" - set aside for now

- snippet of the same white card as the card blank, measuring 5" x 3.75" - onto which I stamped the image and sentiments using stamps from an un-named Crafty Roo set bought ages ago - along with a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad  

- faffed around for ages thinking the images hadn't stamped correctly - until I realised that the sentiments are deliberately meant to look sort of shaded and broken. Also, there were a couple of stray dots of ink on the card around the tree - caught me again! It's part of the design so I just held the stamp up to the light and added the missing ones in, using a Stabilo black fine line pen

- once happy with the main panel, I set to with a selection of small snippets from LOTV's 'Krafty Christmas' paper pad to stamp a variety of layers for the paper piecing stage

- started at the bottom by trimming a piece at a time, running a black TomBow brush marker round the edge and then glueing it in place with a Zig glue pen until the tree was completed 

- then glued the black velvet card backing and the image panel together

- finally, added the whole panel to the card front using thin strips of foam tape - done!

I've 'earmarked' the card for a male friend come Christmas as it does have a more masculine look to it due to the colours I used.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges

- Allsorts Challenge #819 HERE under the 'Anything Goes' theme. 

- Darnell's NBUS Challenge #72 HERE - the Crafty Roo stamp set was having a first outing 

- Christmas Kickstart Challenge #96 HERE - 'Not the norm' - not red, gold or green but non-traditional colours

Dudley Pupdate: Our neighbour and good friend Kim called by the other afternoon on her way home from walking Tilly, the sweetest corgi ever! Dudley dashed out to say hello and then Tilly batted her eyelashes at him ........ one closer look by Dudley and suddenly true love landed! 💓🐶💓 They had so much fun playing at zoomies on the front lawn - we could have started up our own wind farm as their tail were wagging hard enough to almost drop off! They've met previously of course, but somehow this meeting seemed to be 'the one' for him, as well as Tilly! So cute! 

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Hope to see you on the swings - Sarn and I are waiting for you to come and play as well - we've been having some sunnier days recently and are looking for volunteers to join in with the general Spring tidy sessions! Can't afford to pay you but Dudley is happy to offer his services as a cuddly toy!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Large Iris card

I was sent some happy mail recently by a lovely friend, many thanks again - you know who you are! I wanted to dive in and use one of the stamps right away - fetch your sunshades folks if things are a bit too bright for you:

 

I used:

- 7" x 5" 'Pale Ivory' linen card blank, side opening

- a snippet of 'Pale Ivory' linen card measuring 3.75" x 5.75" for the embossed background - which I embossed using a NBUS Penny Black embossing folder called 'noted'

- a snippet of 'black velvet' card stock to back the embossed layer as a frame, measuring 4" x 6" - then glued both layers together and set them to one side

- used the iris stamp from the newly gifted Oakwood 'Joys of Spring - Snowdrop and Iris' set of stamps plus a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad to stamp the entire flower and stem onto another snippet of 'Pale Ivory' linen card and carefully trimmed right around the image using small scissors

- then used the same stamp to pick out three distinct parts (main part of the flower, deeper centre and the green stem) using the same 'Nocturne' ink pad and a single sheet of paper from the Honey Bee Stamps 'Team Tie Dye' paper pad 

- ran a black TomBow brush pen right around all the pieces, patterned ones as well as the plain one

- trimmed the flower and stem parts and glued them onto the previously stamped image using a glue pen

- glued the completed flower onto the backing layer of 'black border with embossed script' - and once again the camera plays tricks, the embossing is really clear in real life!

- then, used a pre-lettered and ready die cut sentiment from a Lou Collins Epheremera 'Words and Letters' pack of sheets, NBUS as well - gently coloured it using a soft brush and swipe of Distress Oxide 'crackling campfire' onto the Tonic glass mat that I always work on. Spritzed the Distress 'swipe' with water to tone down the density before picking it up with the soft brush and gently colouring the sentiment

- the iris stem obviously stood proud of the embossed layer so I used small pieces of thin foam tqpe pads to build a 'bridge over the stem' on the back of the sentiment before then popping it onto the card

- finally, added the finished panel to the card blank using thin foam tape strips - finished!

Normally I stamp straight onto a panel or the card front when paper piecing - but figured out that the embossing was going to cause issues if I didn't add the flower as one entity with a flat backing ......... and I wanted to use the embossing folder, so there! It did add to the process - didn't think that one through beforehand though.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge # 72 - HERE. The flower stamp, embossing folder plus the pre-printed and die cut sentiment were all waiting for an outing - a happy trio 

Allsorts Challenge #818 - HERE  The current challenge is CAS but I think I'd better add this in under 'Anything Goes' as it is pretty much in your face!

Dudley Pupdate: This afternoon, Saturday, Dudley pulled such a cute trick before he went into the back garden to help Len with replenishing the bird seed etc. The hedgies are already stirring and coming looking for food, so that means extra work keeping them clean and fed/watered. Dudley stood right at the top of the stairs really to go outside, and all you could see was Honka Duck in Dudley's mouth - with a pair of bright eyes peering over the top. Len and I were talking about something else at the same time as Dudley was waiting and it was just as if he was at Wimbledon! Duck in mouth and head swivelling from side to side as he looked up at us! Just a little vignette - but a really sweet moment, sometimes small things can be the most precious.

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #500 are now published HERE.  

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground - we're back to our usual routine after so many mystery prizes and special giveaways.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - Sympathy card

It's been a tough week, and I'm badly behind with commenting on Challenge 500 - I'll be with you ASAP! What a fabulous turnout - huge thanks for all your entries and really lovely comments! Here's my snippets card:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" linen 'Pale Ivory' card blank, side opening

- a layer of the same 'Pale Ivory' card (a snippet), die cut using a Spellbinders die from their 'Venise Lace' set of rectangle dies - shame on me, a first outing for them as I filed them into a magnetic storage folder and just kept bypassing them! They are pretty subtle

- stamped the 'With Sympathy' onto the bottom left hand corner of the card, using VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and a stamp from 'Clearly Besotted's' 'Say What?' stamp set - sadly CB are no longer trading

- then used a die set by Charlie & Paulchen called 'Rambling Rose' or similar to cut the main stem and leaves, the pot and flowers - all from Papermilldirect card swatches ..... which I think count as snippets as well!

- much like Gummiapan, with some careful trimming, the main die really lent itself to then die cutting just the plant pot, carefully trimming some snips along the top and adding it to the pale green main die cut using a glue pen

- added the main stem with pot in situ to the front panel using Stix2 Micro Dots - perfect for such an intricate die cut

- added a sprinkling of die cut flowers, from a pink pearlescent sample - glued in place using a glue pen. I didn't add tiny pearls to the flower centres to keep it simpler

- final touch was to add the panel to the card front using very narrow foam tape for a bit of a 'lift'

I remembered to take a photo of my snippets as well! One tip IF you do think it's a neat way to get your paws on a very wide selection of cards samples, not free though - they are a generous size at 4.5" x 3". However, the company name and card/colour details are on the front of the samples. Many of the samples are double sided so you can just use the reverse, but the single sided pearlised is printed on the front which is limiting and a few of the glitter cards samples as well. They were sitting in a basket here and I knew I wasn't in the market for buying even more card just now so it's a fun way to use a few of them up. Don't hold your breath - at over 290 samples, it could take a while! 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge #818 HERE - under the 'Anything Goes' Option.

Darnell's NBUS Challenge # 72 HERE - both the Charlie & Paulchen and the Spellbinders sets of dies came out to play for the first time 

Dudley Pupdate: We're having some sunnier days right now and, unusually for him, Dudley has been pretty excited whenever it's time for walkies. Usually, he looks on walks as 'OK', but a bit of a nuisance as Honky can't go along too! Perhaps, when I go along on the Purple Peril with the 'boys' we should pop Honky in the wee basket thing on the front of the scooter for Dudley's reassurance! Crazy or what? Friday was a particularly lovely day and I was about to send out a search party as Len and he were away for so long! I would have made them a packed lunch ............ had I known in advance! When it was time for bed, Dudley was already sprawled on his back across our bed giving it the big Zzzzzzzz's - almost impossible to wake him uo enough to gently lift or move him over!!  

We have a new Challenge #501 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE. As always, Sarn has a lovely selection of items in the themed prize bundle! And no doubt, there will be delicious goodies on offer in the treehouse! 

Love from myself and Dudley,