Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #409

Once again, quite mixed weather here - it's pleasantly warm but not unbearably hot. Plus we've had some pretty spectacular downpours, along with hailstones at times. I always remember my Mum telling me that when she and my Dad lived in India, it wasn't unknown for them to have hailstones the size of mothballs! To clarify for anyone who might misunderstand - mothball were used in the 'olden days' to basically keep moths out of clothing and linen - about the size of a large marble and they ponged of some sort of camphor. My granny always had that faint whiff of mothballs about her when wearing her 'Sunday best' for an outing. She was almost Victorian in many ways - always, but always, wore a severe black hat to go out, even to the corner shop .......... as well as to the beach! Little black lace-up boots or shoes, thick stockings, hat pin holding hat firmly in place and more often than not a black tailored coat. Memories - I do so wish I could have bottled some of my granny's soft cuddles and her sweetness.

Anyhow, that's away from why you're here. I posted my snippets card on this blog back in April. It's an Easter card but the timing wasn't right for folk to receive the prize in time to use if for Easter, so I bypassed offering the prizes I had waiting - but here it is now:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" rose pink card blank, side opening

- piece of patterned paper from a DecoTime paper pad, the papers are slightly 'flittered' and do catch the light very prettily 

- trimmed the patterned paper and glued it to the card front

- stamped the image using the Misti, Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and the Stamping Bella 'Oddball Easter Bunny' stamp

- coloured the bunny with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, picking up some of the colours from the backing paper

- stamped the sentiment using a sweet little stamp from 'Stamping All Day', the Misti and Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- popped the image onto a snippet of olive green card, same as in the backing paper and then glued the panel onto the card front - finished

I used just the one snippet on my card, for the backing behind the image.

And here's the prize(s) on offer - not one but three chances to win one of these stamps:

It's a Stamping Bella 'Oddball Easter Bunny' stamp. I used very similar colours for my card, just veering towards peach rather than pink for the bunny's cute little 'romper suit'. I thought, if I offer it now, you have plenty of time between now and next Easter - plus, truth be told, I slipped a bit behind with making a snippets card. Sigh. Shame on me really as I only make one proper snippets card for the playground every six weeks at the moment, thanks to Guest Designers and also Ruby's Challenge of course. However, it's a great stamp and I do love the Stamping Bella Oddball range of stamps - always make me smile.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 21st August. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Remember - there are three chances as I have three stamps here! Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

 

Gentle reminder. Can I please ask that you do put a link to the Playground challenge in your blog post when you enter a snippets make into the challenge. If you don't do that, then I don't include you in the prize draw. It would also help me a lot if you could mention, even generally, what snippet or snippets you used. I don't need the full details but sometimes I do struggle to work out what snippet(s) were used. And if I'm totally lost then, again, no entry into the draw. I'm aware that this challenge is pretty easy going and also that some folk do throw their cards made for other challenges in for a chance to be a winner. So please do at least acknowledge that it's a card using snippets and also link into the challenge on your blog post. I know that most of you already do this and I thank you kindly. ☺

 

Dudley is such a sweetie, I went to bed really early the other evening and twice woke up in the night to find him on the bed, wide awake and 'sat sitting' - staring anxiously at me! Am such a night owl he probably was worried I was unwell. 

We bit the bullet and weighed him the other day - phew, he's not as heavy as we thought - we must be getting weaker as we grow older! He could lose 500g or so but that's not a lot in the great scheme of things. That can be done before his Autumn annual check up with 'Auntie Georgina the Vet'.

Stay safe and be kind. 

  

Lots of love from us all - Parsnip, Dudley and of course me,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 184

And it's a quick snippets card from me this week - the weather has been much to nice to stay cooped up indoors:

I used:

- 6" x 6" scalloped edge square white card blank, tent style

- snippets of raspberry Core'dinations card for the backing layer and a snippet of Papermania patterned paper from the 'Blueberry Pie' Capsule Collection. The raspberry layer round the image was die cut using a Spellbinders 'Scalloped Circle' die

- the image ('Bubble Bella' by Stamping Bella) was stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and coloured using Whispers markers. Then I stamped and fussy cut the bath from a snippet of pink spotty paper from the Wild Rose Studio 'Wintry Christmas' paper pack before die cutting the image using a Spellbinders plain circle die

- added some dewdrops in mixed shades of aqua for the bubbles, using Glossy Accents to adhere them firmly and just tickled the little puddle of bath water on the floor with Glossy Accents too

- the sentiment is also by 'Stamping Bella' called 'take time for yourself', stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and then die cut using a die from the Spellbinders 'Nested Pennant' set

- finishing touch, one raspberry pink dewdrop at one end of the pennant

These were some of the very first 'Stamping Bella stamps' I ever bought, well before the much more detailed Uptown Girls appeared on the scene - but IMHO the older versions really are much easier to colour :)

Onto this week's picks now:

I love the pure elegance of this card, made by Bonnie, along with the combination of black, white and gold - it's just beautiful!

And at the other end of the spectrum, how about this for adding lovely embellishments? Made by Hazel, it's a fabulous door hanger - I know two little girls in Germany who would love one of these apiece!

These first two picks are poles apart in style and the amount of embellishment - but I wanted to show you just how well you can make a snippets item with either a little or a lot. Of course, it takes talent as well - something I know every single one of you has!

Laurie doesn't always make it into the Playground, but when she does - oh boy! I just adore this quilt style card - absolutely beautiful and a wonderful way to use up snippets too.

I just have to include this great card, made by Jane, showing how to make your very own slices of watermelon without a specific die for the purpose - including the seeds!

Meg brought this adorable House Mouse card to share, isn't the snoozing mouse just so, so cute? I love all the layers and how the colours all go together so beautifully!

And, to wish a belated Happy 4th of July to all our Playmates across 'the pond' - I'd like to share this really great card, made by Lynn:

Parsnip the Bear is now yelling for a fancy hat and flag of his own! :)


I'm sure this next card is from a new Playmate, I've searched back and don't think she's played here before:

Isn't it a fun card, brought to us by Susan of Eden Land Designs. Great use of snippets!

Lovely to see you playing with us and do please come and join in again soon - the girls are partial to sherbet dabs I should add :)

And, it's time for the draw for the 'Trellis Corner' die and the Marianne Christmas Tree die:

Kath (Handmade by Kath)

Now, from her comment it turns out that Kath was only playing for the 'Corner Trellis' die - I have your address here Kath and will post the die off to you this week, congratulations!

So, that left the Marianne 'Tree' die - and the winner of that is:

Valerija

I know it's your first Playground win Valerija, so well done! Can you please drop me an email with your address and I'll post the die off to you this week. di_wray@hotmail.com

The prize to be won this coming week is your own Stamping Bella 'Bubble Bella' stamp, plus a packet of the flat bottomed domed 'Aqua Mix Dewdrops' to add your own bubbles if you wish :)

Oddly enough I bought this stamp not that long ago for the Playground toy box, but now it seem to have disappeared from the internet, and isn't even shown in Stamping Bella's shop. They have an Uptown Girl one quite similar, but, as I said, much more detailed on the colouring side of things! Also. if you do enter for the prize and like the 'dewdrops', I have loads of colours and, if you say so, would be happy to include a mixed bag of them if you win :) They range from clear through all colours of the rainbow and do make pretty accents on cards. As I said, just let me know if you're interested, I didn't set up a whole larger mixed bagful in case there was no interest - me not totally daft!

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 11th July. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Do remember that you should also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

I know it's a smallish prize this week, blame the fact that the sun is shining and I didn't want to make anything too complicated :)

Mr Linky is below - do please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Di and of course, Parsnip!
x

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 147

I've been pretty much locked in the craft room this past week - the excuse it that I'm within earshot and partial sight of what currently going on with the en-suite. It's looking good, although over running a day or two so we're not out of the woods yet :( And, as always with us, there have been some issues along the way - sigh.

For my snippets card I had time to sit and colour in quite a detailed image (in fact I did two cards exactly the same) - and it's another Christmas card to link in with this coming week's prize. No point in winning Christmas goodies when it's too late to play with them before Christmas is there?!

Anyhow, this is one of the two identical cards I made:

I'm sorry the photo looks a bit washed out, it's richer in real life, but this is the best I can do to pick up the slight twinkle of the Stella pen on the fur trim/ruffles. Tee, hee - even then you have to press your nose right up against the screen to possibly see the twinkle :)

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- patterned papers (including the spotty snippet) came from the Milton & Co. 'Christmas' paper stack

- the green backing card I used came from the snippets folder, but I know from checking my little card swatch that it's SU's 'Lucky Limeade'

- the image was stamped using a NBUS stamp I've had for quite a while, bought with part of a very generous Stamping Bella gift voucher sent to me by a lovely blogger friend (you know who you are, mwah!). The Uptown Girls stamp is called 'Charlie Waits By The Chimney' - I craved this stamp for ages and have been dithering for just as long over using it for the first time as it's very detailed - but oh so fun and funky! In the end I used Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and touches of Sansodor blending solution plus clear 'Wink of Stella' on the white trim/ruffles. After trimming the image down to size I punched each corner with a Woodware fancy corner punch

- the sentiment is from SU's 'Good Greetings' stamp set, stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black'. There were loads of quite appropriate greetings to choose from, I picked this one 'cos a few more cocktails and Charlie will be singing 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' with gay abandon - only hope she doesn't topple down the chimney :)

Galloping rapidly on, here are my three picks for this week - out of some wonderful entries -  all of you girls never cease to amaze me:

I gasped when I spotted this card on my blog dashboard and rushed over to encourage Laurie to link into the Playground - isn't it just fabulous?!

I know, it's a pink card - made by Cornelia. You all know that I adore pink - but what also caught my eye here, along with the great use of snippets, is the gold embossing down part of the trees. I haven't seen that before and it really is so effective - you can check out how over at Cornelia's blog.

And last but not least, this card made by Sue P gave me a much needed laugh! I just love all the snippety bits (can't work out if Sue made the sunburst background with snippets or whether it's a single sheet but isn't it just great?!). And, Sue tells how she made those black records on her blog. Great card!

And we have three new playmates as well:

Wow! This would have been amongst my weekly picks if Neets (Anita) wasn't already being featured to welcome her. A perfect example of what the smallest of snippets can do!

Sammy has been peeping through the Playground fence at us for ages - and finally came to play bringing this fab card. What wonderful colouring as well as great use of snippets - how brave to also colour the background behind the LOTV image.

I love this card, brought to show by Vinita - who skipped back later in the week too. On her blog Vinita says she extended die cut for this - clever idea!

Welcome ladies - do please come back and play soon. Things are underway I suspect for a bonfire in the Playground 'cos Parsnip found a half made Guy Fawkes hidden behind the bike shed. Makes a change from sweetie papers I suppose :)

Do please pop over and say 'Hello' if you can - and here's hoping you both come back to play often!

Onto the winner of last week's prize, that gorgeous 'Dazzling Snowflake' die plus the 'Stick-it' sheets for intricate dies. Oooer, this was such a popular prize 'cos 21 of you squealed 'Yes please' and many added more than one card into the Playground. According to Mr Random the winner is:

Carol L

Well done Carol! I have an address for you, to be on the safe side would you please drop me an email (di_wray@hotmail.com) confirming you haven't moved and I'll post the die plus the Stick-it sheets off to you this week.

And, no surprise, this coming weeks prize is:

Your very own 'Charlie Waits By The Chimney' stamp. When mine arrived here, direct from Stamping Bella in the USA, I immediately ordered one for the Playground as well - thankfully Dies to Die For here in the UK also stock it! It's a good size too at approx. 4" x 4" and really is a joy to colour.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 25th October and will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please say 'Yes please' (or similar) in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize.

Mr Linky is below - please let me know if you have any problems linking, it's easy for me to sort out so don't struggle on alone :)

Have a great week! And do remember, this coming Saturday is the 25th of the month and Rudolph Day over at Sarn's! I'm already planning the two card to make here :)

And here's a stroke of luck, over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge it's 'Use something forgotten or never used'. This lovely stamp certainly hadn't been forgotten but it was a first outing and I've had it for a long while now.  And I'm also linking into Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for October where it's always 'Anything Goes'.
  
Di (and the usual happy wave from Parsnip of course)
x

Relax

The eagle (or Pixie) has landed and by  the time this posts we should be just about awake after arriving at our destination mid-morning yesterday. And this is how I hope to spend the day (forget the bikini though - don't want to frighten the local population into running for the hills!):

I used:

- A6 cream card blank

-image by Mo Manning from Stamping Bella called 'Little Umbrella', coloured with Pro Markers and it also comes with the sentiment. Die cut and layered onto a piece of blue card which I hand cut by tracing round the die then wielding me little scissors. The birdies were just hand drawn after I'd done the clouds using a template, small duster brush and TH 'Tumbled Glass' 

- all SU backing card is 'Marina Mist' - any mist here and I wants me money back.

- patterned paper is from Echo Park's 'Hello Summer' paper pad and 
just a tickle of Glossy Accents on the sunspecs and parts of the cocktail glass.


Di
x

'Everyone needs a sidekick

........who else is gonna kick you in the side now and then?'

This sentiment, and the stamp it comes with, totally cracks me up:

The stamp is part of a lovely Stamping Bella treat from a very dear friend a while back - you know who you are and thanks a million once again, mwah! :)

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card stock

- image is 'Uptown Girls - Pattie and Dottie, Friends Forever' by Stamping Bella. Coloured with Pro Markers, sentiment stamped using SU 'Old Olive' and the notebook die is by MFT, called 'Notebook Edge'. I spotted this die over at the lovely Amanda's blog a little while ago - am not sure if Amanda (whom I hold responsible for many of my purchases) has the 'page ones' or just the edge die though. I went for the edge as it seemed to be very versatile, which it certainly is. But, if you do fall for this die, I would suggest you die cut along the top of the image before trimming the sides and bottom - that does allow for a little margin of error in alignment which you can then sort out when trimming the sides and bottom at perfect right angles - ask me how I know :(

- plain green backing card is SU 'Old Olive'

- papers are from Raspberry Road's 'Love Lives Here' paper pad (free with Quick Cards Made Easy')

- ribbon came from my ribbon box, topped with a handbag charm tied with green cord

- four Josy Rose pewter coloured nail heads, one in each corner

The card was made especially for my longest standing 'Bestie', Moira - we go back to boarding school days in our teens - and both the image and the sentiment seemed perfect for her, which is why I've saved it for months before using it! The handbag charm is 'cos we both love Radley bags and I love the 'bunny ears' - that is soooo my party trick :)

Hope you had a lovely day Mo!

Di
x

Coffee and friends

................... a perfect blend.

A couple of months ago, totally out of the blue, I received an email from Stamping Bella saying that I had a gift voucher waiting for me. After initial disbelief it turned out to be true, a lovely act of kindness from a dear friend who knows I love Stamping Bella. I was a greedy little pig and, in all the excitement, spent it on stamps in double quick time! They have been patiently waiting here to be used, while I kept them close by just in case they disappeared like a magician's rabbit - and this is the first outing for one:

 I used:

- 7" x 5" white card stock

- stamp by Stamping Bella called 'Uptown Girls - Clarissa and Camille Share a Cafe', stamped in Memento 'London Fog' and coloured with Pro Markers

- background papers are all from Bubbles 'Born to Shop' pad, love the way the reverse of these papers are plain in matching colours

- sentiment came with the stamp set, stamped using Memento 'London Fog' then die cut with one half of a Nestie die and mounted onto plain paper, cut to size after drawing round the same die

I had such fun colouring this brilliant image, and the sentiment is so true. Thank you again, my dear kind friend - mwah!

Di
x

Stamping Bellas

The SD card on my camera let me down badly this week and I lost quite a few photos - boo, hoo!! Undeterred, I resorted to a free file recovery facility called 'Pirifrom Recuva'. I've had to use it in the past (we never learn do we!) and although I def. have lost some recent photos, all sorts of previously deleted ones popped up! Tee, hee!! Amongst them I found these, taken a couple of years ago just after I discovered 'Stamping Bella'.

The stamps are very simple, I love loads of the images and there are some cute sentiment stamps too, so I duly sent off to the States for some goodies - err, and Mr Import Duty in the UK also loved stung me! Can't remember the duty I paid now but it hurt a bit at the time :( I haven't found a place in the UK that stocks the whole range so had to place my fate in the hands of our nice chaps in UK Customs!

I'm sure I sent the Retail Therapy card to my sort of daughter-in-law - Kai is a lady who loves to shop!

I know for sure that I sent my friend Joy the 'Spa' card as we'd been for a half day's indulgence at Nirvana Spa - we came out so totally chilled out we were almost unconscious! The flotation pool was literally out of this world - once you got the hang of gently floating on your back rather than floundering face down as I did at first :( Anyone ever tasted the 'soothing' minerals they put into those pools?? Yeuch!

To make the cards I used white square card stock with sticky ribbon behind the coloured layer of card (being mean I usually just add little strips to each side taken a little way underneath the coloured card, rather than take it right across the card...just make sure they line up OK!). The images were stamped onto white card and coloured using Whispers pens, the sentiments were stamped in co-ordinating colours onto white card and layered onto the same colour card as the image then added at an angle. Then just a few little touches of co-ordinating Bellas Baubles in the top left hand corner - if you go to the Bella website, take a look at the delicious names all the different colours are given! My favourite image is the Bella in the bath (BubbleBella) - love the bubbles made using lots of baubles, which conveniently come in a packet of mixed shades of aqua. Bit of a labour of love though, sticking all the baubles on :)

Thanks for calling by!

Di
x