Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #392

What a week of tail chasing here! It ended on Friday with the delights of a routine blood test at our local surgery, with the nurse having several attempts to find a co-operative vein - oh deep joy.

In between it all I managed to make a snippets card for this challenge - at one point in Thursday afternoon it was looking a bit 'touch and go'. However, this is the result:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank

- piece of white card - trimmed to 5.25" x 4" for the panel I wanted to work on

- snippet of white card which I die cut using a Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Chevron Border' die

- glued the die cut in place onto the white panel using a Zig glue pen, leaving some of the die cut hanging over at either side, to be trimmed off later 

- rummaged around in my overflowing snippets folder amongst the 'fifty shades of brown' and pulled out four different snippets (forgot to take a photo, although I was watching the clock as it was almost time to groom Dudley)

 - then die cut the snippets using the same chevron die, one colour at a time to avoid getting in a muddle

- then added each shade of the brown chevron die cuts into the white chevron frame on the card panel using a Zig glue pen

- trimmed the overhanging sides of the chevron with the inserted chevrons, from the back using small sharp scissors

- next I found some metallic twine in gold and brown and twisted two lengths together (couldn't decide between gold and brown so I mixed them!)

- sellotaped the twine strands to the back of the card and snipped off the excess

- backed the whole white panel with a piece of fun foam trimmed to  5" x 3.75" - using Collall All Purpose glue

- glued the panel onto the card front

- final touch, added a Craftwork Cards pre-made and die cut gold on white oval Birthday sentiment on top of the chevron panel - little tip, I used thin sticky pads and made a sort of bridge with two pieces of sticky pad so that the twine wasn't squashed down at all

And there you have it - what I hope is a card suitable for a chap. I'd originally intended using blue snippets but couldn't find four shades of blue snippets which really worked together.

Let's move onto the prize for this fortnight's challenge - which you will no doubt have already guessed:

My 'sample' card is very much based on a card I found HERE - a lovely blog with several clever ideas how to use the Spellbinders Shapeabilities 'Chevron Border' die (I went for the quickest one and also one using snippets of course!). The prize is also the same die that Christine used for her Hope & Chances Charity kit card that I published HERE not so long ago. I loved the die cut in the kit so much I ran out (metaphorically speaking) and bought the die, one for me and one for the toybox! It's a super die and I've seen it used in red and gold for Christmas cards - stunning!

A couple of points about the die - I reckon you really should use waxed paper or similar for easy release of the die cut. I find this with Spellbinders dies, particularly more intricate ones. I didn't use waxed paper and struggled a bit, but got there in the end - I have a roll of the stuff but was too lazy involved to get it from a cupboard literally just behind me in here, which would actually have saved me time in the long run. Also, I had to use shims (just card or paper) - which is often the case with a long and fairly intricate die cut. Don't let that put you off joining in the draw - it's a great die for male cards and would be lovely (for example) for a baby card, made in advance in pink and blue all ready for you to add a sentiment or whatever you fancy.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 19th December. 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. 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.

 

One little task this weekend is to make Dudley some more doggy treats as he's just finished the ones I made a few weeks ago. Knowing the things he particularly likes (cheese and carrots top the list!) I'm going for a recipe which uses wholemeal flour, polenta, grated cheddar cheese and grated carrot, egg, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and a touch of black pepper. It's from a book I bought fairly recently called 'Homemade Dog Treats Recipe Book' published in the UK by Wet Nose Publishing. How sweet is that for a publisher's name then?! I'll let you know the outcome and whether Dudley approves!

 

BTW - we thought Dudley had stopped hiding toys in our bed, but last night Len found that Benjamin Bear was safely tucked under the duvet! Absolutely no idea when he actually does this - his second name is 'Stealth' we've decided!

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

 

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 245

Hi there! There's a bit of a nip in the air early morning and late evening, we put a duvet back on the bed on Friday (slept so well, it's like a cosy nest again) and the leaves are changing colour - sure signs that Autumn is on the way.

Our surrogate daughter, the wonderful Mama of Len's two beautiful grand daughters over in Germany, had a milestone Birthday this past week and my snippets card was made for her big day.

I already had the die set waiting to be used, I first spotted it over at Liz's blog and then over at Sonia's blog. It gets even better, 'cos Liz bought the die set after seeing it over at Janice's blog HERE back in March this year (I saw it too in fact but hadn't realised it was a die set at that point!). All three girls made fabulous cards for the Playground using the die set (and all three were weekly picks as well!) - this is my first attempt (pinched some ideas about the edging from Sonia - mwah!). I took the photos a couple of weeks ago in really bright Summer sunshine so some of the colours do look slightly washed out/in soft focus:

I used:

- 300gsm white card stock, die cut using the main card die from the Spellbinders 'Pop-Ups' 'Happy Days' die set, making sure the fold lines were well embossed before folding them. You can do this by hand or using a 'tan/rubber' embossing mat to run the die cut through your machine a second time

- a sheet of paper from LOTV's 'Timeless Victorian' paper pad was used to die cut the patterned fronts and also the steps on the card base - glued in place using Collall All Purpose glue

- snippets of SU's 'Wisteria Wonder' to die cut the double loop edging scallops - which were then glued in place (this is where the Woodware Ultra Fine Nozzle containers are brilliant)

- next die cut the birdcage from a snippet of 'Wisteria Wonder' plus the three little birds(from a snippet of white card) - using the Joy! Lin and Lene 'Birdcage and 3 birds' set of dies

- glued the cage and birdies in place and then punched three teensy little black eyes from a snippet of black card using my smallest hole punch and glued them in place as well

- the sentiment gave me some issues as space was a bit tight and loads of my sentiment stamps and dies are either too large or too long to fit. Found an old Hobbycraft stamp called 'Special Day' in the end - phew! Stamped it using Brilliance 'Pearlescent Lavender' onto a snippet of white card

- then found a circular Spellbinders scalloped edge die to suit and chose the best fit for the plain inner from the Tonic Studios 'Circle Layering' set of dies. This really is such an invaluable set of dies with 14 circles in total - I love it!

- die cut the sentiment, then die cut the scalloped circle from a little snippet of 'Wisteria Wonder' and embossed both edges of the dies using a ball ended tool

- glued the two sentiment circles together and added them to the card - final touch was to use little scraps of 'Wisteria Wonder' to die cut Kai's name and also her age (using First Editions 'Alphabet Sans Serif' and Memory Box 'Classic Numbers' dies). Glued those to the steps and we were done!

My 'in-house critic' gave it the stamp of approval - apart from his usual observation about any patterned paper being like wallpaper of course!

And this is my third and final entry for Darnell's NBUS (never-before-used-schtuff) challenge #7, which finishes at the end of tomorrow (Monday 5th September). It's standing room only over there but you still have time to play!

Time for a peek at this week's picks:

Cathy nipped in with this really gorgeous mixed media panel - I absolutely adore it. Lots of dimension and the touches of gold are absolutely perfect.

I always look for entries which show us great ways to use up snippets. Sue T did just that with her really lovely patchwork card - and isn't the sentiment just perfect?!

Then Helen hopped in with another simple but so eye catching way of using up snippets - this time it's snippety strips of paper (thought it might be washi tape at first). 

I just had to show you this card, made by Trina! Each one of those lilies was individually stamped then masked before the next lily was stamped, right around a masked heart shape. The monochrome shading is just stunning and the pops of red in the sentiment are so perfect. What a card!

I know I feature Sonia's work pretty regularly here - this amazing Neolithic Doirama was actually made by her daughter Prisha as a project for school! I can't even begin to describe it here - you'll have to go and see all the amazing detail for yourselves. Artistic talent certainly runs in the family!

And, after a little absence, Jean returned to play with us - bringing this delightful First Birthday card. The background paper is a patchwork design and I love how Jean has pulled all the colours from that piece of paper into the other layers, the ribbon and buttons - and the image. So cute!

Kim has been playing with little strips of paper, making the most wonderful paper quilled butterfly! Isn't it absolutely beautiful? I really love it and wish I could have as much patience and dexterity!

So those are my picks for this week girls. As ever, not an easy job and I've limited it to seven as am not supposed to be sitting still at the laptop/desk for too long! Should have been three really but sometimes it's impossible to whittle down!

We had two new Playmates last week:

First was Neva with this fabulous 'Oval Pull' card. What a lovely design and such pretty colours too! Neva should fit into the Playground perfectly - her blog name is 'Finding Snippets of Time to Craft'!

And then Sue B skipped in, with this brilliant card. It was also for the Less is More Challenge (use stickers, peel offs etc) and is so perfectly designed and executed!

Welcome to both of you - hope to see you playing along again really soon :)

And it's prize draw time, for the Clearly Besotted Shaker Circle Hooray die and the packet of shaker mix.

Here's our winner:

 Greta

Congratulations Greta, the early bird did catch the worm this week for sure! Can you please drop me an email with your address in and I'll post your prize off as soon as possible! My email address is on the right hand side bar.

Here's this coming week's prize:

Yes indeedy, it's a Spellbinders 'Pop-Up' 'Happy Days' set of dies - just like the one I used on my card today. And it does work with a machine as small as a Cuttlebug - so long as you tape the card 'base' die to the main card stock you're using for the steps card and turn it by 180 degrees before running it through again as there is a little bit of overhang.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 10th September. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

A maximum of ONE entry and please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

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 :)

And here's a heads up for you, our Playmate Liz (of Crafty Sunflower) is celebrating reaching 100 followers with these lovely dies as a give away:

 

To help Liz celebrate, and also be in with a chance to win, hop on over to her blog and see what you have to do to play along. Please note, these are Liz's prize over on her blog - the Playground prize this week is the Spellbinders set of dies!

Have a lovely week!

and, of course, Parsnip
x 

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 151

It was touch and go whether there would be a snippets card from me this week - although the Playground would still have gone ahead as usual. However, by Friday morning I'd caught up with snippets commenting and managed to make this card whilst waiting for the bathroom fitters to arrive:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank

- a snippet of matt silver card, embossed using the lovely Darice folder called 'Snowflake Background' then cut slightly smaller than the card front

- next came the fun bit - using a Spellbinders Holiday die set called 'Picture Perfect'. The set comes with four dies - a large plain frame, the large tree and outline village 'scene', as well as two small dies with a little house, trees and a tiny light bulb (as you would find on Christmas tree lights)

- I used just the two large dies, firstly by die cutting the solid blue background using the frame die from a snippet of pale blue pearlescent card stock - and that snippet only just fitted in the die

- then I had to plan/think the next step right through before die cutting the 'scene' and frame. Took one square snippet of white Centura pearlescent card stock just a bit bigger than the plain frame die and covered the reverse with Stick-It adhesive sheet because the scene die is so intricate. Then flipped the white Centura card over and first popped a piece of wax paper over the card with the more waxy side facing uppermost. Next popped the frame die onto the wax paper covered card face down of course and just sat the 'scene' die inside - secured them in place with removable adhesive tape and then ran everything, all layered together, through the Cuttlebug

- success - the die cut popped out of the die easily and it was just a matter of making sure all the windows in the houses etc. were clear before peeling off the backing from the Stick-It adhesive backing and then lining up and carefully adhering the white scene complete with its integral frame to the already cut blue background

- after assembling the silver embossed snowflake background and the scene onto the card out came the 'bow maker' and two snippets of white ribbon (white with sparkly edged satin and plain white organza) to tie a double layered bow. Pushed a sparkly blue gem brad through the centre of the bow then just glued the bow onto the card using glue gun

To be honest, I really cribbed this design and colours from the illustration on the Spellbinders packaging as that's what totally sold the die to me in the first place :)

Onto this week's picks:

I picked this card, made by Neets, as it's a perfect example of how you only need three small snippets to make a really stunning card.Of course having an eye for design is imperative as well :)

On the other hand, Kath used quite a few snippets brilliantly here, in various sizes when she made this great card for a young 'chap' :) Love it Kath - inspiration for those of us who struggle with cards for boys!

This week I'd earmarked two possible picks from one of our playmates and this was my final choice - a darling and so cosy Christmas card - made by Sue J.

And, this week I upped the number of picks to four as this Christmas card, made by Lucy, struck me as absolutely perfect and I couldn't leave any of the other three out either :)

We  had no new playmates this week - but some of you played along for the first time in a while, which is lovely to see. Our lovely Jules is 'missing in action' but I checked and she's absolutely fine, just very, very busy.

The winner of last week's prize of the Kanban 'Let's Do Lunch' stamp set is:

Pat

Well done Pat! I just checked and it's 22 weeks since you last won so it was time your lucky number came up :) I still have your address and will pop your prize in the post ASAP. Let's hope it doesn't take as long to arrive as the last one did - I think that package walked to you!

Some of you might wonder why I run Mr Random using the full number of entries (52) rather than (say) the seven of you who said 'Yes please' this week. Easy really - some of you playing for the prize might have entered more than once and it's the fairest way I can think to give you that extra chance.

And I bet you girls already guessed what this coming week's prize is? Tee, hee:

Yup, it's a Spellbinders Holiday 'Picture Perfect' die set, exactly like the one I used today. And, as the 'scene' die is very intricate, I'll also include an A4 sized pack of 5 adhesive sheets of Stick-It for you to play with. Looking at the die it's reminiscent of some of the Memory Box village dies but I do like the fact that it already comes with the swirly tree and the frame.

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 22nd November 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. As always, if you're only interested in one or other of the items making up the prize, just say so and if you win then I'll do a further draw for whatever it is you don't want. But, do go for both if that's what you'd like of course.

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 :)

Over the coming weeks we're probably going to have a few Christmas themed prizes - I have some lovely goodies lined up! Of course your snippets makes don't have to be Christmas themed though!

Let's just whisper this - when I get up this morning it'll be a test drive of the refitted shower room. If you see spouts of water and hear anguished screams from Hampshire then you'll know there's more snagging work to be done! Fingers crossed but am not holding my breath :)

Just a little peek :)

    
Di (and the usual happy wave from Parsnip of course)
x

Less is More - I do like to be beside the seaside

That's the current challenge over at Less is More - where our lovely playmate Darnell is Guest Designer this week!

I steered clear of seaside scenes as, for me, one of the delights of the seaside is looking for pretty shells - and this embossing folder had never had an outing either:

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank

- a snippet of pale blue, slightly linen printed paper, which I embossed with the fabulous Spellbinders 3D-M-Bossabilities 'Shell Beauty' folder. Before doing the embossing I inked right over the 'indented' side of the folder using Memento's 'London Fog' ink pad and that's what makes the embossing stand out so well of course

- I then adhered the embossed paper to a piece of spare white card before trimming it do size - this was to give the rigidity needed to wrap the gold cord around it later on

- one layer of gold mirri card and, one layer of dark blue pearlised card were added to the white card blank

- a snippet of gold cord was wrapped twice around the embossed panel - which was then stuck onto the card blank

- the gold coloured shell charm was tied on, in a bow, with another small piece of gold cord 

The charm came from a bracelet in Primark's sale a few years ago - I think there were three or four gold and pearl charms on the bracelet - bought specifically to cannibalise for the charms :) At the same time I found a great silver coloured one with a small Eiffel Tower and other Parisian things on - I think there was even a tiny little poodle :) So don't overlook 'el cheapo' stores where you could find jewellery to chop apart for card making etc.

I didn't add a sentiment or anything else - partly for fear of over egging the pudding when it's meant to be a less is more card, but also because I couldn't bear to cover up any of the gorgeous embossing :)

Di
x

Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 110

Where did last week go then? It only seems five minutes since I last did a snippets write up :( But still, it does mean that we're a week closer to Summer.

First things first - I finally made a grab button for the Playground - wahoo!! It's on the sidebar at the right hand side and the code to take it is underneath. I'd love you to take the button and thank you soooo much to all of you lovely playmates who hopped right in yesterday and grabbed it, I was amazed and very touched, mwah!! :)

Anyhow, here's my snippets card for today:

I used:

- 7" x 5" white card blank

- snippets of white, green and red card from the snippets folder

- Sizzix embossing folder called 'Corner, Flower Vine'

- Spellbinders Shapeabilities Die D-Lites 'Poppy Patch' die - cut from green and then red card with the poppy heads snipped off the red die cut and added on top of the green die cut. Fiddly but worth it :)

- sentiment is a pre-loved one by SU, stamped using SU 'Real Red' and then punched with SU's 'Curly Label' punch before being popped onto the card with thin sticky pads just to add a bit of dimension

The poppies die is fabulous, but it's also very delicate so I reckon you could tear the stems if you have to 'encourage' the die and card to part company. I used waxed paper between the die and the red and green card snippets and it worked like a dream.

Right, straight into this weeks picks - which get more and more difficult to choose. I do try to play fair and rotate whose work I pick, but often there are makes that just can't be left out - am not quite at the sticking a pin in the screen stage just yet :) However, I just checked my list that I keep as the week progresses and there are 20 picks! So, am going to have to just pick a handful - but it shows that, as well as ALL your snippets makes being brilliant, you do seem to be going from strength to strength. Well done to every single one of you lovely little playmates.

So here goes:

This is just so clever, made by Liz - even the little ball of wool has a perfect wrapper round it!

Sam made a few of these fantastic tulip cards - they really are beautiful.

Isn't this Christmas card, made by Mo, absolutely divine?  What a stunner!!

Now here's a different use of snippets, a coffee jar cleverly decorated by Jenny and topped with snippets flowers - it's delightful!

A great retirement card by Carol L, such a clever idea to put the stop sign across the timepiece!

I just fell in love with this adorable card by Princess Judy (aka PJ) - loads of snippets used and isn't that the sweetest little frog?

This card by Julie C is a brilliant example of a flip card - and a reminder to me to step outta the sand pit box more often and make differently shaped cards.

And this lovely card made by Squirrel absolutely had to be shown here - not only is it perfect use of snippets but it means we end with a veritable rainbow of colours!

So, as I said, every entry deserves to be shown - and of course you can hop back to last weeks Mr linky and go check out if you haven't done so already! The thumbnails certainly will draw you in - I think that was a good move a while back once the Playground filled up with more and more playmates.

And please can you welcome a new playmate, Liz W, who brought this pair of lovely Christmas cards - hope you came back again Liz!

Here goes for the winner of the 'Hot Pants' Penny Black stamp and Tim Holtz Craft Pick tool:

 Jules

Most of you will know that Jules started off the Snippets Playground and I don't think she's missed a week (well maybe one or two) since I took over from her two years ago. And when her name finally popped up today I was extra delighted as Jules LOVES Penny Black stamps (particularly hedgies) and always has a heart somewhere on her fabulous cards. Those heart covered little pants seem to fit the bill perfectly :) I call this serendipity - couldn't be a better choice by Mr Random number thingy. I have checked your blog Jules and don't think you already have this little cutie - and with all the wedding stationery you make I bet another pokey tool will also be handy! Just drop me an email to confirm I'm right and the stamp and TH pokey tool will be in the post to you ASAP. Well done - it took some time for your name to pop up but hopefully it was worth waiting for :)

And this coming week's prize is:

A 'Poppy Patch' die, the same as the one I used today - very kindly donated by Viv, thank you so much honey! And, to go with it I'll include a little packet of 25 pre-cut wax paper sheets (5.5" square) - if you'd like them to try out.

The snippets challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 8th February and will open again at midnight UK time on the same day. Maximum of three entries and please say 'No thank you' in a comment if you wish to still play but not be the winner of the prize.

Please NEVER be afraid to say you're just playing for fun - it doesn't offend me at all, and the Playground is first and foremost for us to have fun, the prizes are just a thank you for playing :)

Mr Linky is below - please let me know if you have any problems linking, I can sort it out for you quite quickly and am always happy to do so.

Have a great week, keep hanging onto your hats in the UK today as more gales are forecast YET again,  and hope to see you in the Playground.

Di (and a wave from Parsnip)
x 

Just chill!

The other day I had reason to go right through my House Mouse stamps and, shame on me, I found a few I've never ever threatened with an ink pad before :( This particular one I used in the card below always scared me a bit but once I got going it was great fun to colour:

And a closer view to see if the sparkle and glossy accents shows up:

Harrumph, not really :(

I used:

- 6" x 6" (almost) square card stock in primrose pink, I pushed the boat out and used two cards in total to make an easel card plus the backing for the image and the little strips across the card

- image is from the House Mouse 'Chill out' unmounted rubber set, along with the sentiment and the extra lemons - there's another image in the set too, available from Joanna Sheen. Image coloured with Pro Markers and tickled with 'Cotton Candy' (pink on the flower) and 'Crystal Ice' Stickles on the glass. The flesh of the lemons and also parts of the glass were tickled with Glossy Accents. Image was die cut using a Nesties 'Wonky Square' die and, as usual, the primrose pink backing was made by drawing round the outside of the die and hand cutting it

- the lemon patterned paper is by 'Back to Basics'

- yellow sparkly 'domes' have been here for years - I think they came from QVC ages ago

- sentiment was stamped and then coloured over with a 'Lemon' Pro Marker before being die cut using a Spellbinders pennant die, little flower on the pennant was punched from a snippet of primrose pink using one of SU's 'Itty Bitty' punches

- by that point I was so hot and tired my brain was frying and I stuck the sentiment - sadly very firmly - in the wrong place, leaving a big gap above it :( Tried allsorts of ideas but ended up tying a bow using some pretty pink edged lace - which originally came from the local haberdashery store

Then I shouted 'Move over' at the mouse and jumped into the glass as well!

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

House Mouse and Friends, Challenge 149 - add some sparkle

Joanna Sheen - Citrus Colours - that would be the lemon then :)

Cuttlebug Mania - Fun in the Sun - I hope this qualifies OK with a bit of poetic licence 'cos it's just how many of us in the UK would love to be right now. Having fun and chilling out in the sun - in something lovely and cool.

And there are celebrations over at Cuttlebug Mania - in fact I counted seven comments already left by your Snippets Playmates congratulating the team on reaching 100 followers :) It's almost like a Playground outing over there!

I think this challenge will grow and grow so why not take a peek? It isn't limited just to Cuttlebugs by the way - you can use any manual die cutting/embossing machine.

Di
x