Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 204

Yikes, not much more than a month to go until Christmas now and no doubt Rudolph is already limbering up for his big night leading his mates around the World.

I know that there has been some casting going on for the Playground Nativity play - needless to say it's already getting a bit very silly, and also very funny :) Well, there's a big surprise - not!

My snippets card for today is one of two that I made exactly the same:

I used:

- 6" x 4" white card blank

- snippet of SU's 'Real Red' card stock, embossed using Crafts-Too's embossing folder called 'Poinsettia Frame'

- the image was stamped onto a snippet of white card stock using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a favourite Penny Black stamp called 'Little Angel'

- next the white frame was die cut from another white snippet using a Lil' Inker's die called 'Instant Camera'. The sentiment was stamped onto the bottom part using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a sentiment from the Creative Expressions 'Joy to the World' stamp set

- next I used the same die to cut the image before lightly colouring the image background with pale blue 'Pebbles' chalk

- I don't think it really shows in the image of the card  that you can see above but I also covered the 'photo' with some of that thin plastic 'book covering film' we used to use many years ago - just to give it a bit of a shine such as an instant photo would have. Made me smile here - I used to cover all my cookery books with the stuff, and school books before then - err, once we'd moved on from brown paper and then patterned Fablon of course! Clear was such an innovation :)

I also bet loads of us can remember the magic of watching instant/Polaroid photos appear before our very eyes - also many years ago. Sometimes this blog seems like a walk down Memory Lane, or perhaps a history lesson to the younger ones of you!

One thing I would do differently in future when using this die would be to trim the actual image to just a smidgen less than the outside measurement of the entire instant photo frame so that the image then sits 'back' in the frame (and you avoid the sliver thin gap around the image itself) - much as the real thing did in the 'olden days' :) Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I really didn't feel up to fiddling about any more once I realised the error of my ways.

I'd like to enter this card into the current Penny Black and More - 'Anything Christmas'  challenge.

And also Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge where it's' 'Things with Wings' - plus Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra where it's always 'Anything goes'.

Quick gallop onto the weekly picks now. And there was the usual palaver deciding on the short list of course:

This is gorgeous! Mary Anne made an amazing Christmas card using a really beautiful basket die, and lots of snippets of course.

I really love this card, made by Susan (Rainy). Loads of snippets used of course and how clever to make the tops of the acorns interchangeable by adding little magnets to the backs - a great idea!

And Eve used the same set from Stampin' Up as well, to come up with this brilliant snippets make. It really shows how the same set of stamps can be used so differently - and loads of scope for even more variations of course.

Lots of you, quite rightly, hopped over to Pat's blog to take a closer look at this fabulous card. The poppies are just so gorgeous, and perfectly set off with the embossed zig zag and  oval shaped die background - and of course the perfectly toned in butterfly too!

This is the very first white on white card made by Liz and it's absolutely fabulous - so elegant and just perfect in every way! Hard to believe that Liz had never made a white on white card before now - what a way to begin! And then, the embossing folder is just stunning don't you think? Sigh, once again I was 'enabled' and just had to go and buy one - plus a spare for the Playground toy box of course.

That's one thing about running the Snippets Challenge and looking closely at so many beautifully made and very clever entries. The Playground really ought to come with a bit of a health warning as it's one of the very best places I know to find people happily sharing what new crafting materials they're using. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Isn't this wall hanging just adorable? Made by Ileana, I think it's so pretty and that snowman is just the cutest little guy - love the jingle bell as a finishing touch!

These darling little Tic Tac holders were made by April - another great way to use up snippets and also fabby little stocking fillers/craft fayre super sellers! And, there's a link to a tutorial over at April's blog if you fancy having a go yourself :)

We had three new playmates this week:

Tina Z nipped in a couple of times, and this was the lovely butterfly card she brought on her first visit - wonderful die cutting and embossing.

What a great Christmas card this is - brought to us by Shirley. I so love the little pops of red against the white, deep blue and silver - and what a fabulous image!

This amazing scene was created by Sandma (Sandra) - it's so beautiful and I love how the twigs frame the top of the image and just flow so naturally down the side as well.

Welcome to you all and do please come back and play with us again. You'll find that the Playground is a fun place to meet other crafters as well as picking up lots of ideas - plus everyone is so kind (don't tell them I said that though!)

A little drum roll now while Mr Random picks the winner(s) of last week's prize of the Inkylicious 'Thank You Calligraphy' stamp and the set of Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Labels Eighteen' dies. And our winner is:

 Barb W

Barb has been playing along regularly with us since mid-July and this is her first win - so it's really lovely to know that her turn arrived, whoop, whoop :) I don't have your address Barb so could you please drop me an email (di_wray@hotmail.com) and I'll post your prize off ASAP.

This super 'make' by Barb was already lined up on my list of picks from last week:

It's a 'Birthday Box' and such a clever way to keep a note of Birthdays for each month of the year, as well as using up snippets of course. Would make lovely gifts as well as sure fire sellers at Craft Fayres - I know that a lot of you have picked up on how clever this idea is - and so pretty too!

Moving onto the coming week's prize, there's another stamp and die on offer, just like the ones I used on my snippets card (well, there's another surprise I guess!). We've actually had the same stamp as a prize before (won by Sam (aka Hettie) this time last year, but it's so sweet and really good for gift tags that I thought we could have another one as a prize (especially as it fits so nicely into the die aperture. The die is totally new to me, and of course another one fell into the shopping basket for the Playground :)

It's a Penny Black 'Little Angel' stamp as well as a Lil' Inker's 'Instant Camera' die, a die which isn't just for Christmas of course :)

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 28th November. 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 say if you only want one or other part of the prize (the stamp or the die) but both are up for grabs as one prize of course and will only be split if the first name out only wants one or other of the items, in which case I'll do a second draw for the other part of the prize. And 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 :)

Friday saw me at the docs once again, long story cut short - more new meds, and sent off to hospital for an x-ray. Apparently 'something out of the ordinary' does appear to be showing up on the x-rays of said 'poorly trotter' but I won't know just what until Monday as it needs to be properly evaluated. Amazing that it's taken three weeks plus of agony for me to finally be sent for an x-ray - all I want now is to know just what it is, if it isn't gRout/inflammation :)  If it's a fracture then at least I might have a head start for Sarn's 'casting' sessions - tee, hee.

Christmas could be a bit different this year I suspect, depending on what's been found. Thank goodness for Ocado and other online shopping outlets :)

Remember it's Rudolph Day over at ScrappyMo's from Wednesday until the end of the month and of course it's the last one this year. There's a fabby Memory Box die to be won, and if you hop over now and comment on Mo's post dated 20th November you can also be in with a chance to win a different and equally lovely Memory Box die set in the interim!

Have a good week!

Di and of course, Parsnip!
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Merry Monday #180 - Use a reindeer

The current challenge over at Merry Monday is 'Use a reindeer' - I guess that two or more would be acceptable as well :)

I'd recently added some Penny Black Stickeroos to an on line order and they were still sitting on my neglected desk here - and amongst them was the sticker I used on this card.

Edit: AND, Brenda dropped me a huge hint that a Stickeroo is acceptable over at the current Penny Black and More challenge (which is 'Anything Christmas') so I'm also joining in the fun over there - thanks B!

Here's the card I made:

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank

- a piece of SU's 'Hello Honey' card stock for the little frame around the embossed layer

- a piece of white card stock, embossed using Darice's 'Snowflake Background' embossing folder and trimmed to just slightly smaller than the 'Hello Honey' layer

- stuck the 'Hello Honey' and the white embossed layer together and then added a strip of netting ribbon across the front before adding the panel to the front of the card blank

- stuck the Penny Black Stickeroo onto another piece of SU's 'Hello Honey' card stock, which I then trimmed to have a narrow border before adding it onto the card front using thin sticky pad strips

- the sentiment is a pre-printed one, made by Craftwork Cards - stuck onto a larger oval of SU's 'Hello Honey' which was punched using SU's 'Larg Oval' punch (a perfect fit with a border for the Craftwork Card oval messages)

- final touch is a Josy Rose gold heart shaped nail head just above the two reindeer :)

Di
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Happy hedgie card

A couple of weeks ago I sent Maura her Presscut 'Step Card Cutting' set of dies, won in the Playground, and enclosed a card as I always aim to do. The package has now arrived so I can post this on the blog :)

I thought it would be an idea to make her a step card using my own die set - I know that when I first tried my own set out I was so very grateful to have the lovely card that Liz had sent me a little while ago as a reference.

My card was made very quickly as I wanted to get the prize off to Maura ASAP:

I used:

- A4 300gsm white card, full length but cut to 5.75" width - just enough to accommodate the die and also go through the Cuttlebug with a smidgen to spare on either side

- a hint - if you buy this die set and only have a small cutting machine like me, you'll need to tape the die in place onto the card stock and then carefully turn it round after cutting one half. And, I almost wrecked my Cuttlebug by trying to push the sandwich through with the top of the long die aligned right up to the edges of the cutting plates. They need about an inch of 'freedom' to go through the rollers before meeting up with the die, then it works fine  - and the same when you cut the other half of course

- after folding the card I flattened it out again and added the scalloped edge rectangle and strips, die cut from a 6" square sheet' of paper from the Wild Rose Studio 'Vintage Rose' paper pack

- the image is a Penny Black Stickeroo from the 'A Bunch of Love' sheet, popped onto a piece of white card and then die cut using a Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die

- the sentiment is by SU from their 'A Word for You' set, stamped using Memento 'London Fog' ink and then punched using SU's 'Modern Label' punch

- too late to photograph now but I also used the slightly odd looking 'spare' die to cut a liner from more patterned paper, then stuck a plain white scalloped rectangle on for the message to Maura :) 

It might be 'cos I'm using a Cuttlebug which is really on the edge and quite a snug fit, but I did feel that some of the cut edges on the card itself needed something like a burnishing tool or even a bone folder held flat and rubbed over them just to take away any little lines that you often get when cutting solid shapes. Apart from that - it's a star here!

Di
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Less is More - Week 250 - Santa

The current 'one-layer' theme over at Less is More is 'Santa'. And, over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 255 it's 'red and green must be seen'. And, it's always 'anything goes' over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for November.

So, I sneaked into the craft room for 30 minutes (absolute tops) on Sunday and quickly whipped up a teensy little card to cover all three challenges:

I used:

- 3" x 3" square white card blank

- the image is from a single Penny Black wooden stamp called 'par avion'. I masked off two of the three little chooks with a post-it and inked up the one exposed chook using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink before removing the mask from the stamp and stamping the little chap in the centre of the card front. Used SU's 'Stamp-a-ma-jig' for placement

- coloured the image using Whispers markers with a tickle of clear Wink of Stella on both the fur and pom pom on the hat

- stamped the sentiment using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and a stamp from the Personal Impressions 'Many Greetings' set

- finishing touch was to emboss a circle round the image using a circle die from the Tonic Studio's 'Circle Layering' die set and a ball ended embossing tool

Really quick and easy make, the first I'd made for several days :)

Di
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Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 203

What a weird week, at one point I thought the toe/foot was on the mend here - then I got too ambitious and ended up going backwards! Orders to rest properly and also double dose of pills - nice, not!

Anyhow, I've managed to keep up with the commenting side of the Playground as well as noting down the picks of the week. But, my snippets card has already appeared (on Tuesday's post for the new Cuttlebug Mania challenge) - so if it looks familiar then you wouldn't be too far wrong!

It leads us into the prize for this coming week  though:

I used:

- 4" x 5.25" white card blank, tent style

- piece of white card from the same sheet as the card blank was made from, embossed using Cuttlebug's 'Scrollwork' embossing folder and trimmed to exactly fit the card front

- the sentiment is a luscious scrolled sentiment by Inkylicious called 'Thank You Calligraphy', stamped using SU's 'Mossy Meadow' ink onto a snippet of the same white card

- then die cut the sentiment using a Spellbinders die from the 'Labels Eighteen' Nestabilities set (snigger, I had tried stamping directly onto the centre of the card and made a boo-boo, so making this panel covered it up

- finally, added a couple of Prima ready embossed coloured paper flowers, with the centres 'dollied up' with brads - and some punched foliage behind - made using a snippet of SU's 'Mossy Meadow' and a Martha Stewart foliage punch

Let's roll straight into the picks for this past week now - and as always you came up with some really stunning snippets makes. My 'first cut' list of possible picks was absolutely huge - and cutting it down became almost impossible. But, it had to be done so here are just some of the makes I'd originally listed - I do so recommend that you try to find time to go and peek at last week's makes, every one should have been included and there are some stunning and very clever ideas!

This darling card, made by Jenni, really made me smile. I love those little penguins - and all the little hats are snippets - a real test of patience there Jenni, with a wonderful result.

Maura brought us this amazing Wedding card to share - I absolutely love it! Plenty of snippets and such a gorgeous design with the two lovely birds in reversed colourways.

I think this card, made by Viv, is absolutely amazing. A perfect example of a really stylish CAS Christmas card using snippets - as my in-house critic would say, it's shop quality. Which IS a compliment!

Karen P has been struggling with health issues more than usual lately, so it was especially good to see her hop into the Playground with this amazing mixed media card. LOVE the dimension and how those flowers just pop off the card at you :) Hope you feel more settled with the new meds soon Karen.

Kitty is a really regular player in the Playground, often three times in a week - and her makes are so varied too. This gorgeous tag really caught my eye, wonderful colours and such a great design too.

We had a lot of tags this past week - and all of them are absolutely fabulous!

I adore this card, lots of snippety snowflakes - always a great use for white scraps. But, on top of that, do please check out the amazing colouring of that Mo Manning beautiful angel image. Susan (Eden Land Designs) is one of the most talented colouring artists I've ever come across. The tiny details and so many different colours and shades that Susan used are just stunning.

And I thought we'd finish off with a snippets make with a difference:

Last week was little Daisy's 2nd Birthday, and Jane J made this totally fabulous 'jungle themed' Birthday cake for her party. The level of detail is just amazing - obviously loads of little snippets of fondant icing were used in the process :) To see plenty of photos, taken during the making of this masterpiece, do hop over to Jane's blog - one very talented lady indeed!

So folks, it's actually late Saturday afternoon as I'm adding the final touches to this post - it's taken a lot longer than anticipated but I do hope you enjoyed the scamper through the few picks I had time to write about.

And now for the winner of last week's prize, the Hobby Art 'Have a Very Mice Christmas' stamp set:

 Sue (Zouave Cards)

Oh well done Sue! I'm almost positive this is your very first Playground win, after playing along for quite some time. Wahoo - and I know you've been have a rough time for a while now so I do hope the little meeces will make you smile.

Can you please drop me an email with your address in and I'll post your prize off as soon as possible. My email is di_wray@hotmail.com.

And, you girlies probably already know fine well that this coming week's prize is linked to my snippets card for today/last Tuesday. It's a real shame but I can't get hold of the Cuttlebug 'Scrollwork' embossing folder for love nor money (I've searched high and low on the internet as it does go perfectly with the sentiment).

BUT we do have an Inkylicious 'Thank You Calligraphy' stamp exactly the same as the one I used plus, a set of Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Labels Eighteen' dies. The white die cut itself doesn't show up too well on the photo of my card - I did confess that I'd used it to cover up a bit of a boo-boo with the sentiment. But, it's a real all time favourite shape of mine so I decided to add a set to the prize. Although I'm pretty sure a good few of you already own the same set, it's such a classic style for all types of cards and the sizes are so useful that - if you don't already own it - then maybe you should keep your fingers crossed this week and try to enter up to three times :)

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 21st November. 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 say if you only want one or other part of the prize (the stamp or the set of dies) but both are up for grabs as one prize of course and will only be split if the first name out only wants one or other of the items, in which case I'll do a second draw for the other part of the prize. And 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 :)

Thank you for all the lovely get well messages - they've brightened some pretty sore days here.

Di and of course, Parsnip!
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More cards for Playground prizes

My little stock of cards to pop in with Snippets Playground prizes needed replenishing - so I whipped up some quick and easy makes, using Penny Black Stickeroos:

I used:

- white card blanks, 2 x 3.25" and 1 x 4"

- snippets of red and pink card for the 'frames'

- snippets of white card for the image layer

- Penny Black Stickeroos from the 'A Bunch of Love' sheet

- sentiments from a couple of different sets, stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- then it was just a matter of layering them together using Collall All Purpose glue

I thought the little hedgies were very appropriate, given the Summertime antics of Spike and Co. here. However, their feeding visits have dropped off dramatically to about one night in three - getting ready for hibernation now, bless them.

Foot update: I'm afraid I was getting a bit too confident and spent yesterday without resting up at all - and suffered for it by the time I woke up this morning. Thankfully already had an appointment booked to see the doc. to check on progress (or lack of it, sigh!). Am now on double the dose of anti-inflammatories for five days to see how that goes - and oh boy,  it hurts as much as it did in the beginning.

Am propped up on the sofa once again and doing my best to keep up with the Playground :)

Oh, on the way back from the health centre, we called at the local Post Office and all prizes to date are now winging their way to you - so at least there's some good news to report.


Di
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Ding Dong Merrily on High!

It's been a week or three since I entered into Merry Monday's challenge, and this week (#179) it's 'Pink, green and white' - a yummy combination.

Also, over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #254 the theme is 'Bright or sparkly colours' (I covered both!) - and of course over at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for November it's always 'Anything goes'.

So, I rustled up four cards, all the same as one another:

I used:

- A6 white card blank, tent style

- piece of 6" x 4" white card stock, embossed using Crafts-Too's 'Snowflake Banner' embossing folder and then trimmed down to be slightly smaller than the card front and glued in place

- snippets of pink sparkly card stock and SU's 'Always Artichoke' green card stock. I covered the front of the green card stock with clear sparkly film

- then from both the pink and green snippets I die cut bells using the Memory Box 'Bells are Ringing' die

- popped the pink die cut in place and filled the gaps with the green sparkly card cut out pieces

- dithered over whether to add a sentiment or not - in the end I used a stamp from the Personal Impressions set called ''Many Greetings' and a Brilliance 'Pearlescent Ivy' ink pad to add the words 'Ding Dong Merrily on High!'

Isn't it Murphy's Law? More often than not it's hard to get sparkle to show on photos of cards - this time the sparkly film is shining so much in the photo it's overpowered the green behind. Sigh :( 

Di
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Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Give Thanks

The current challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania is 'Give Thanks', which is to use the word(s) 'Thanks' or Thank-you' on your creation.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine (it doesn't need to be a Cuttlebug but it must be manual, not electronic). And, you can't mix the two, it must be all manual please. Then make your entry, link into the challenge, link to the challenge in your own blog post and and make sure that you also say what products you used for any die cutting/embossing.

Our sponsor this fortnight is Crafty Sentiments Designs .

I knew straight away how I wanted my DT card to look, for a change, and this is the result:

I used:

- 4" x 5.25" white card blank, tent style

- piece of white card from the same sheet as the card blank was made from, embossed using Cuttlebug's 'Scrollwork' embossing folder and trimmed to exactly fit the card front

- the sentiment is a luscious scrolled sentiment by Inkylicious called 'Thank You Calligraphy', stamped using SU's 'Mossy Meadow' ink onto a snippet of the same white card

- then die cut the sentiment using a Spellbinders die from the 'Labels Eighteen' Nestabilities set (snigger, I had tried stamping directly onto the centre of the card and made a boo-boo, so making this panel covered it up

- finally, added a couple of Prima ready embossed coloured paper flowers, with the centres 'dollied up' with brads - and some punched foliage behind - made using a snippet of SU's 'Mossy Meadow' and a Martha Stewart foliage punch

So now it's your turn! 

 
Di
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Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 202

Well, we made it to Sunday without the Playground being totally wrecked by all the fireworks, bonfire and general shenanigans! It's been a giggle hopping round after Sarn and watching how many of you agreed to bring food and hooch for the party. Ha, 'hopping' around was the order of the day as well for sure.

Anyhow, I did manage to make a snippets card for today, did two almost the same and it took me two days in between resting up. There's this one below, and I also switched the clothing, book colours and snowflake edged background for light and dark blue on a second card:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank

- a Hobby Art clear stamp set called 'Have A Very Mice Christmas' and Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink. I used just one of the five different mouse stamps to create a little choir by stamping, masking and more stamping - the masking instructions came with the stamp set

- then added the sentiment and some musical notes that also come with the set

- coloured the choir using Whispers pens. Am afraid it's quite patchy (made all the more so by the photo of course) and Pro Markers would have been a better choice but I couldn't lift the big rack/set across to my desk whilst balancing on one leg :)

- using a snippet of red card (probably SU's 'Real Red') and the Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page (PATP) 'Aspen Snowflake' set I created a 'frame' for the image

- trimmed the image down to fit and rounded the corners using an X-Cut corner rounder punch

- tickled the little choristers' ruffs with clear Wink of Stella just to add some glisten

- glued the layers onto the card blank and called it a day

Isn't it strange how we go mad for particular products and then almost forget we have them as styles move on and our own crafting style changes/evolves? I went really dotty over Martha Stewart punches a few years ago including the PATP ones - and am ashamed to say I have loads of them languishing here. Time to play with them a bit more I think!

The stamp set I used today really is adorable, it comes with five little meece stamps as I already said - one in a stocking, a chorister as I used today, one in a fur trimmed cloak and Santa hat, a fairy and also a modern mouse in a duffle coat. It also has little extras such as the sentiment (a bit cheesy - snigger - but really quite perfect for the images!), music notes, a plum pudding, piece of cheese wrapped in a ribbon and two teeny meece. So, you get loads of lovely stamps in the one really cute set - and I reckon that might be a pointer to this coming week's prize :)

But first, let's run through the weekly picks. I had the usual tough time choosing the 'final cut' from all of the possibles I'd jotted down - and if your snippets make doesn't appear as a pick it certainly doesn't mean it's any less fabulous!

I totally love this card, made by Jackie T. A darling image and all those lovely die cut snowflakes make it really pretty and very special.

Sonia brought us yet another fabulous make this week - this is one amazing bottle for sure! Beautifully decorated, and as always, Sonia has given lots of detail about how to do it can be found on her blog.

Kate is someone else with masses of patience. What a wonderful scenic representation of London - it's so detailed and I'm not surprised it was a hit with one of Kate's sons.

Oh this is such a fun card, made by JaneW. Do hope over to Jane's blog for a closer peek - this is the inside of the card and the outside is also great. It's a 'man flu' card :) Very clever and the details of how Jane made it are on her blog post.

I absolutely adore this Christmas card, made by Helen. It's just perfection, such a lovely design, beautifully made and coloured - and the addition of little snippets to paper piece the 'trio's' hats/scarves is brilliant!

Em hopped in waving a brilliant mug - perfect for filling with chocolates, sweets or perhaps Snowman Soup ingredients.  I do so love this, and it's an unusual make for the Playground - with a link to a tutorial in case you fancy having a play!

And we have two new Playmates this week:

This is a CD cover mini album, made by Kavita. So cute, and I love the little bears - made by quilling - amazing result and doubtless they took an absolute age to make!

Love this Halloween card, brought to show by Amanda (Purplemurtle) - love all the Autumn colours and the little kitty in the pumpkin :)

Welcome to the Playground girls - it would be lovely to see you again!

Bit of a drum roll now as it's time to choose the winner of the stamps (Woodware 'Christmas Bells' plus the four singles donated by Greta) from last week - and the winner is:

Eemeli

Oh WOW Eeemeli, I'm so, so pleased your name finally came out as a winner! Eeemeli has played with us since February of this year and has featured in the weekly picks but sadly my little welcome to her was in the week that I lost a lot of the post afterwards including the weekly picks and new folk and couldn't retrieve much of it. But just so you know, this was the very first card that Eeemeli brought to show us in week 162:

Clever isn't it? I do love the idea of offsetting the inner circles - a great way to use snippets and also a super design!

I don't have your address Eeemeli, so can you please drop me an email (di_wray@hotmail.com), and the stamps will be on their way to you as soon as possible.

And the prize this coming week is, as I expect you already know:

It's a Hobby Art clear stamp set called 'Have A Very Mice Christmas' - exactly the same as the one I used on my snippets card - along with a sheet of instructions to make the 'chorister mouse' masking process easier to work out - although you would still have to cut two little masks out of course. The larger mice are between 2 and 2.5 inches in height BTW. It's not a massive prize in the great scheme of things, but there are lots of elements to play with - and I know lots of you just play for fun a lot of the time. 

Even if you aren't into 'cute' and don't want to be in with a chance of the prize, I do hope you find time to come and play anyhow :) 
 

The Snippets Challenge will run for one week and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 14th November. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

Maximum of three entries and please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw. As always, I only include folk who say a positive 'yes' for the prize in a comment.

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 - here's hoping things are more peaceful in the Playground, although I suspect there'll soon be Christmas in the air of course! I just can't wait to see what's on the 'mischief agenda' for that ............ not :)

Quick update on the toe/foot saga. I had to hop back to the docs on Friday as any improvement to date had been minuscule and the first lot of pills were finished and can't be repeated straight away. But the blood tests did point to grout (as Sarn calls it!). So now I'm on a strong dose of steroids for a few days - plus the strong painkillers. Quick edit at 11pm on Saturday, pain isn't as bad, and there's a more noticeable reduction in the redness and swelling - plus the joint is itchy albeit still painful (apparently a sign that the attack is subsiding). Bit scared to hope but perhaps things are finally turning around.

All this means that I haven't managed to package and post off your prizes from last week - I'll do it just as soon as I'm able, I promise!

However, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my ears, eyes and sense of smell - just thought I'd warn you, in advance of any more mad plans for the Playground :)

And of course, it's also Remembrance Sunday today - 'Lest we forget':

Coming from a family with a long military background, and being brought up as an Army child, today is always very poignant - as will be Wednesday 11/11 of course.


Di
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Football fan's card

Phew, this is a last of a little run of male cards I'm pleased to say - I always struggle and am much happier making pretty things :)

This card was for a little neighbour's 7th Birthday, yesterday. He's mad about football (aka soccer elsewhere) and follows his Daddy in being an Arsenal supporter:

I used:

- 7" x 5" white card blank, tent style

- slightly smaller black border panel

- made the football by using SU's 'Honeycomb' embossing folder and white card as well as some black card. Snipped a few hexagons from the embossed black card and added them onto the white embossed card before running it through the Cuttlebug with a circular die (one from the Tonic Studio's set I keep banging on about)

- then I cut a couple of strips of Kanban 'Green Grass' patterned card and snipped the top edges to look a bit like blades of grass

- cut a panel of Kanban's 'Blue Sky' patterned card just a bit smaller than the black panel

- stuck one layer of the grass strip about 1" from the bottom of the sky panel, added the football and then added the other grass strip over the bottom part of the football so it went right to the bottom of the sky panel. I know, I possibly wasted some sky precious patterned card but it made the whole thing much more robust

- as usual, I'd left a bit of an overhang when adding the grass strips so trimmed each layer as I went, back to the edge of the sky backing card

- next added the black panel behind the sky, grass and football panel then stuck it onto the card blank front

- all that was left was to add the wording using peel off stickers for ease - some are silver ones coloured with a yellow Peel Off marker pen

- almost came unstuck next, I wanted to add Arsenal's current badge/logo. Found and resized an image and then the printer kept screaming it had a paper jam when I was doing a test print. Called the in-house support team who was also stumped, poking here there and everywhere in the printer with no sign of a paper jam. And, for some reason as we were giving up and ready to try it on another printer I just idly lifted the entire printer up to peek underneath - and there was the jammed piece of paper. Just think, if we'd given up and ordered a new printer - the asses ears would have been waving high here when we discovered the jam as the printer was moved to make way for a new one! Moral of the story? Leave no stone (or printer) unturned :)

- having resolved the printer issue (and having had help from in-house support team to bring the logo to a more true red as by this time I was almost running round the walls here), printed it on matt photo card and trimmed round the shield. That left the white cut edges of the card which I just ran a gold calligraphy pen round before adding said shield to the card with a thin sticky pad - phew

Making that last bit took longer than the rest of the card! And I did giggle - when he first saw the card almost finished Len remarked 'Like it. You're really on the ball kiddo with that one'. Then there was silence before we both cackled at the unintentional pun! Nut case.................who also sends his huge thanks for all your lovely Birthday wishes the other week!

By the way, I did spot this idea for the ball in a few places on line. Another use for that SU embossing folder!

Di
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Origami Christmas Trees

I spotted Carol L's origami Christmas tree card in the Playground recently and just had to have a try for myself - it wasn't until I'd made up six trees that I realised how similar the papers I used are to Carol's as I was looking at a tutorial using totally different papers! Anyhow, this is my version and I know hope that Carol won't mind:

I used:

- 3.75" x 3.75" square white card blank

- backing card by 'unknown', but very similar to Kanban and I got enough to cover the front of six card blanks from one A4 sheet

- paper from the Raspberry Road 'Christmas Collection' paper pad, free with QCME magazine three years ago

- then I followed THIS tutorial, making a mistake along the way - sigh. I cut the largest squares wrongly along one side (yes, I was making six cards the same at once!) and as a result had to scale down each square to one quarter inch smaller all round than the tutorial says. It still worked but what a dumb thing to do!

- after doing all the folding I assembled the trees onto strips of narrow paper which had a length of red tape liner down them - that made it easier to hold things in place. Then I finished off the bottom ends with slightly wider strips of paper to match the tree as little 'trunks' and tucked the top strips up into the bottom layer

- at this point I felt the trees were too 'bouncy' and although it wasn't clear in the tutorial I then carefully added little strips of red liner tape to hold the very back of each tree to the layer in front. That made them more robust yet still left the dimension of the folded down points sitting there free

- next I added the gold star peel offs to the top centre of each card - much easier to do it that way round as it then gives you a centred point underneath which to place the Christmas tree

- took the risk and added three strips of red line tape to the back of each tree - it's unforgiving if you get it wrong but it was the surest way to fix the trees in place - and it worked fine, thanks to that centrally placed star

- had already measured and trimmed the trunks down to size before sticking the trees in place so it was just a case of adding the sentiment banners - bought from Lakeland Limited back in the Dark Ages

Little word of warning though, they will only go through my letter postal gauge with more encouragement than our postal service allows, so it's either large letter postage or making sure they're for hand delivery only.

And another six cards went into the box! Am almost at my target now so am able possibly to spend more time on family cards than usual - we'll see!

Edit: this was written a few days ago, since then I feel like I've had a foot run over by a steam roller and am spending a lot of time lying with said foot in the air :) 

Less than a handful of you know what's going on, for those who don't, it started with a big toe pain a week ago and built up to a full-orchestra crescendo over the weekend. And it wasn't just the piccolos gently playing - it was the big bass drum in full blast!

Current theory is that it's gout (not just reserved for old men then!) and absolutely agonising. On a scale of 1-10 it's a 10+ for sure. And that's from a gal who's had umpteen pretty awful injuries over the years. Have been whipped off some statins pills that I always thought were rather suspect when I reluctantly started them three months ago - and am now hoping for relief - ASAP please!!! 

So, this is a plea to please be patient about your lovely prizes if you won this weekend just gone - right now I can't walk let alone put a shoe on to drive the car! Am padding around when absolutely necessary on crutches with bare feet but will do my best just as soon as am more mobile.

Also, it's a heads up that am not sure how I'll handle the Snippets Playground right now. I have a cosy nook on one of the sofas with cushions under knees etc. and my foot in the air plus a baby laptop to keep in touch - problem is that I can't sit at the main desk for very long at all, crafting is very much out of the window - plus the little laptop is quite slow. So, if my commenting is erotic erratic right now - that's the reason.

 Err, also, I keep falling asleep due to the strong painkillers ................. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Di
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Olivia's 6th Birthday

Our little grand daughter Olivia (aka Livi) had her 6th Birthday recently. Of the two little girlies, she's the more tomboy inclined of the pair of them. I knew she was crackers about dinosaurs from our visit there the other month and planned to make her card along that theme. But, it turns out that she loves 'Toothless the dragon' even more - so plans had the be switched pronto! There was also the fact that, as the girl's Birthday's are only a couple of weeks apart, it's always best to keep their cards fairly similar and this is what I came up with:

I used:

- 8" x 8" square white scalloped edge card blank

- plain pink card stock for the main frame and the frame round the 'Toothless' image

- covered the main card 'frame' with a piece lightish blue pearlescent card stock

- added a pink satin bow on a length of ribbon to the left hand side of the card and added a little 'Princess' charm to it, using opalescent cord - how I made the ribbon length with its bow is a new tryout for me, details underneath this list

- next die cut the greeting from white card using the Memory Box 'Grand Happy Birthday' die and popped that down in the right hand corner of the card before adding '6th' - die cut from more white card using a Memory Box 'Classic Numbers' die and Tattered Lace 'Every Day Anniversary Alphabet (D695)' dies

- at that point, as with Mia's very similar card,  I could see where to position the image so next that was glued in place

- added 'LIVI' to the image, die cut using white card and Tattered Lace 'Every Day Anniversary Alphabet (D695)' dies

- one white paper flower added to the side of the sentiment with a large clear gem added

- something was missing from the top right of the card so I added some star peel offs, sort of arching into the image - and just a tickle of clear Wink of Stella over the moon

And the idea how to create the bow all from one piece of ribbon came to me in the middle of the night before I made the card. I took a length of the pink ribbon and selected a hard backed book from the bookshelves in my craft room, making sure the book was wide enough to measure at least half the height of the card itself as this is going to be the strip of ribbon down the length of the card. Should have taken a few photos really but this is what I did next.

Folded the ribbon around the book with the centre of the piece of ribbon against the page opening side of the book. I'd left long enough ends to then be able to tie a bow on the spine side of the book - so at this point I had a piece of ribbon, wrapped around the book and tied in a pretty bow at one edge. The reason it's best to follow the tying of the bow on the actual spine is because your next move is to cut the centre of the ribbon in half - across where it lies across the page opening side of the book, makes it easier to slide scissors underneath :) So you now have a bow with its tails, tied in the centre of a length of ribbon hanging from each end.

Then it's just a matter of adding the length of ribbon to your card with the bow already neatly tied in the centre - the raw ends are hidden underneath the pink and blue card layer on the front of the card. I hope this makes sense, if not please say and I'll do a little step by step with photos! Don't know why I never thought to do this little trick before, it makes things much easier and you do end up with a neat bow which lies along the length of the ribbon.

Then, once again, I needed to make up a box to protect it en route to Germany :) Hope you had a super Birthday Livi!


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