Sunday Snippets - a triptych card

I decided to play with a new die set and made a triptych card - I've been admiring a few of these made by Playmates lately, notably Sarn, Brenda and Pauline:

I know - when I finally remember to take a photo of the leftover snippets - they're pitiful!

I used:

- a piece of pale ivory linen effect card from a FULL sheet, die cut using the main die from Studio Light's 'STENCILSL253' set of dies *** - I then used an embossing board to draw a line down the faint fold lines for easier folding 

- snippets of Tonic's fabulous pearlescent 'Majestic Gold' card - I keep every single scrap tucked into the currently open packets of each colour and the width of most of them is perfect for the set of dies I was using for this card

- used the larger Studio Lights single panel die to cut three gold panels and set them aside

- then, due to current limitations on lifting and bending (sigh) I pulled outa DCWV pa per pad from the bookshelf behind where I sit. I've had it for many years simply to gaze at and gently stroke much of the time! Yup, it's that super 'Mariposa' 8" x 8" butterfly themed paper pad that many of us totally loved a long time ago - so beautifully gilded on many of the sheets. I think I've only ever used two sheets before making this card

- spent some time browsing through the pad and finally settled on one single sheet to use - which I die cut using the smaller of the Studio Lights single panel dies

- glued the die cuts one on top of the other (Majestic Gold outer frames) and then onto the card front so that the card, when folded for posting, has the more colourful panel showing as the front

- all that was left to do was to add the words to the centre panel - taken from the Clarity Stamp 'Words Sticker' Collection - one longish sentiment trimmed into two parts worked a treat

- finished! The card will fit into a small slimline envelope with room to spare

***The Studio Light set of dies was nowhere to be found in the UK. I eventually tracked it down in the USA - paid a very reasonable price and only £2.01 postage. Sent via courier by air to the UK and got here in five or six days - wow! It's the genuine article ..... I did wonder if it would prove to be too good to be true but happily was proved wrong. If you're interested in 'being enabled' - just drop me an email and I'll send you the direct link as it took me ages to track down such an amazing deal! And I'm not on commission BTW!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #63. The set of 'Studio Light' dies I used for the triptych are NBUS. 

- Allsorts Challenge Week 784 - under the 'Anything goes' option.

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley's been enjoying lots of pleasant relaxed walks now that the rain has eased here - as well as making lots of new friends en route! Whilst he is reluctant (only initially) to have his harness on 'ready to go' - once out he's a real little trouper and just gets on with it! I have to say, if I've been left Home Alone - he launches himself at me for welcome home cuddles! Whoever knew we'd actually been apart for a whole week ......... or so it seems in his eyes. Mine too to be truthful! The house is far too quiet!

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

Hope to see you on the swings, the weather really is warming up at last and no doubt Sarn will be enlisting help to inflate the paddling pool in readiness! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Sticking together

We had typical UK Bank Holiday weather here in our neck of the woods, Very little sunshine, a good bit of rain and also dropped temperatures. Always the same!

Rootling through a basket of NBUS goodies, I came across a couple of unused sets of stamps needing a first airing. This is how I used them for my snippets card today:

I used:

- 5.25" x 4" white linen card blank, side opening

- snippets of coloured card which were easily to hand in orange and green - trimmed down to form a 'frame' for the image panel then glued together and set to one side awaiting the image panel

- then trimmed a snippet of white linen card down to sit nicely inside the 'frame' - flipping it over to use the plain reverse

- stamped a funky bird and sun using VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and stamps from the AALL & Create 'Free Bird' stamp set

- used the same VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad to stamp the sentiment, in two parts. The sentiment(s) came from Altenew's little 'Crafty Add-On' set of stamps. Very appropriate and such fun!

- so, the image panel was already trimmed to size and all that was left was to colour it - using Zig Brush Markers. I like them but always feel the results looks somewhat childish - fine for this card but IMHO not for more delicate and subtle work. Horses for courses as they say.

- then added the image panel to the already adhered orange and green layer to form a framed panel 

- adhered the whole framed image panel to the card front, using very narrow sticky foam strips and the usual glue stick trick

- finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #63 HERE - the stamp sets were both having their first outing.

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge, under the 'Anything Goes' rule.

On Friday I had cataract surgery on the second eye. So far all is going well and here's hoping it continues that way.

Dudley Pupdate: Hmm, Dudley wasn't totally quiet on the Friday trips to and from the clinic - even though we'd popped Honka Duck into his doggie booster seat with him. Perhaps he was yelling at him to get out ............... or pay the fare for his ride in treats?! Who knows what goes through the mind of Dudley Dog..

Len always pops Dudley's harness on him once it's obvious we're getting ready to go out as it lets him know that he's riding shotgun and is along for the ride. And, the past few trips he has actually jumped up wanting to get into his doggie booster box on the back seat of Len's car. That's a decent step forward, rather than him almost gluing his paws to the driveway in resistance! We'll just keep working on the rest!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #480 are now published HERE . 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! Just scroll down from my results post - over in the Playground.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - Kitty Claws card

I made this snippets card from literally bits and pieces found easily to hand on my desk, no scrabbling around lifting heavy stuff just yet:

 

I used:

- 5.25" x 4" pale ivory linen card blank, side opening

- a snippet of pale ivory linen card, flipped to the flat reverse and stamped using a Stampendous 'Kitty Claws' stamp and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- the coloured snippets were already selected so I coloured the image using Polychromos pencils to perfectly match the green and rust coloured snippets - not that the camera confirms that of course!

- a snippet of sparkly rust coloured card was trimmed to form a narrow border and glued behind the trimmed image panel

- then a snippet of Tonic 'Inca Gold' iridescent mirror card was trimmed to add a narrow border behind the rust sparkly card layer, and glued in place (I favour Tonic 'Inca Gold' iridescent mirror card these days as it's such a pure colour and not at all garish as some gold mirror card can be) 

- trimmed a snippet of slightly corrugated green card (sent by a lovely blogger from The Netherlands) to just quarter of an inch smaller than the card front, ran a matching green 'Whispers' brush pen around the white edges and put it to one side the dry

- next trimmed another snippet of Tonic 'Inca Gold' card to just a tiny bit bigger than the green layer

- glued the green panel onto the gold one and then glued them onto the card front

- finally, added the small ;framed' image panel onto the card front, using thin sticky foam tape and a glue stick

- didn't add a sentiment - finished!

Apologies, I did use a lot of snippets but the leftovers were generally so tiny I didn't take a photo of them. I did add a touch of clear 'Wink of Stella' to Kitty's pompom after the photo was taken BTW.

I'd like to enter this card into:

May's 'Rudolph Days' Challenge HERE. 

The current 'Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge' HERE  is celebrating the 100th Challenge and remembering dear Ike, founder of the challenge, who left us in 2022.

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #62 HERE, the 'Kitty Claws' stamp was having its first outing

Dudley Pupdate: I've often said what a pickle Dudley is on car journeys - hollering for England non-stop. Earlier on in the week I had a post-op check-up on the first eye, which is progressing well. That exercise entails Len dropping me off, going back home and then doing it in reverse once I phone to let him know I'm ready to leave. Luckily, we don't live too far from the Clinic. So that's four car trips for Dudley per appointment - 24 trips in total by the end of this, if all goes as planned. 

Miracle of miracles, on the final two trips on Wednesday - there was hardly a peep out of Dudley. In fact, once he'd greeted me with his tail wagging like a windmill for the final drive home he curled up in his doggie booster box and went to sleep! We think that Sarn's theory that he's finally learning that whenever we go out in the car he always comes back home is spot-on! 

Sarn has just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE  Hope to see you on the swings - we have mixed weather so bring your shorts .......... as well as your wellies!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me,

Sunday Snippets - all I see is magic

A fairly quick card from me, using a couple of NBUS items: 

Just a couple of snippets left, the outline from the stamp die (close call there!) and a piece of the green backing card

I used:

- 5.5" x 4" pale ivory linen card blank - tent style

- first step was to use a snippet of pale ivory linen card to die cut the stamp outline - using a die from Penny Black's 'posted cut out' set of dies

- then trimmed the Penny Black 'Masterpieces Made Easy' panel, from the 'take me away' set down to 3.25" x 2.25" to fit neatly inside the stamp serrations outline, and glued it in place

- stamped the post mark onto the image panel using a stamp from the matching Penny Black 'posted' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- at that point I could work out where to stamp the sentiment, using a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and a stamp from the Funky Fossil 'Making Memories' set of stamps (part of the current Snippets Challenge prize)

- then mounted the 'stamp' panel onto a rectangle snippet of toning green card, measuring 4" x 3", using thin foam strips and the 'glue stick trick'

- finally, glued the front panel onto the card front - and called it done!

I used a few snippets. The pale ivory linen card base is not strictly a recognised size, but it works for me as it's left over after cutting a tent style A2 sized card AND saves on A4 card wastage too. The pale ivory linen card for the stamp shaped outline was a snippet - as was the green backing card.

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #62 - HERE - the Penny Black die set and the matching stamp set were having their first outing.

- Allsorts Challenge # 781 .... see more below!

The Allsorts Challenge are celebrating their 15th Birthday this week! Lots of lovely prizes to be won as well - do please join in with the fun. Brenda and her team are amazing and your support would be lovely! 

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley forgot himself and did a little puddle on Friday when Len returned after a short trip out. Basically over excitement at seeing that his Dad hadn't run away ..... for all of 30 minutes! He wasn't chastised at all - but he sure knew he'd broken a house rule and sat to one side as Len cleaned up, with his head bowed in shame, whilst I had to resist picking him up to comfort him, not allowed anyhow for the time being.

It's been a stressful week for him with me having my first cataract surgery 10 days or so ago (hence the sentiment I used on today's card) as he still hates travelling in the car to and from the Hampshire Clinic treating me.

Me? Doing really great - one down and the other one to be replaced at the end of May! What a fantastic difference already! Who turned on the bright light and opened the yellow net curtain? Happy Bunny so far. 

Remember, the results from Challenge #479 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Hope to see you on the swings for the current challenge too as that runs for almost another week.

AND, my card today used another one of the Funky Fossil sentiment stamps in the current Challenge #480 prize bundle. I really love this sentiment, obviously! 

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - every picture tells a story

I pulled out a snippet of navy blue pearlescent card and a few snippets of 'Pale Ivory' linen effect card to make my snippets card for today:

Very sorry, no photo of the snippets this time - they were rather unexciting and had been disposed of before I thought to take a photo!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4" pale ivory linen effect card blank, tent style

- snippets of the same pale ivory card as well as snippets of Tonic's 'Navy Dazzle' card stock for the remainder of the card

- used a NBUS set of Waffle Flower dies called 'Wooden Frame' to die cut and emboss the main rectangle as well as the oval frame from navy blue card snippets - set those aside for now

- dry embossed a snippet of pale ivory linen effect card using Cuttlebug's 'Script' folder, trimmed it to fit to the back of the navy rectangular frame and adhered it in place, before setting it to one side again

- out came the Misti and I stamped the flower and the bee, using VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink - on the reverse side of the pale ivory card (no linen effect on the reverse, which is handy). The stamps are from a NBUS set of stamps by Hobby Art, called 'Happiness Blooms'

- then stamped the sentiment in readiness, using the same 'Morning Mist' ink pad and a stamp from the fabulous Funky Fossil 'Making Memories' set of stamps - NBUS and set to be a favourite here - on the reverse side of the pale ivory card again

- die cut the sentiment using the oval frame die from the 'Wooden Frame' set of dies - so that the piece would sit perfectly in the oval frame aperture. I did need to cut a smaller oval by hand to back the piece, for adhesion and stability

- coloured the stamped flower and bee using Polychromos pencils and Sansodor blending solution. The bees wings are the palest blue, winked with clear Stella, pretty!

- trimmed the flower and the bee images using tiny Fiskars scissors to leave a narrow white outline 

- at that point I added the rectangular frame to the card front, using thin strips of foam tape and the glue stick trick

- next popped the flower in place, using mini glue dots, to cope with the embossing -  then the bee using a small piece of thin foam pad

- then came the stamped sentiment oval - added using thin strips of foam tape below the rectangular frame and a glue pen for the top portion to keep it all level

- final touch - some tiny Memory Box clear Fairy Drops! I love these!

The card is slightly under USA A2 size as I decided, before assembling it, to trim the A2 card by one quarter inch from one side - glad I did that for better balance!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #62 - HERE . The two stamp sets and the set of frame dies are all NBUS. 

Dudley Pupdate: Arnie is still his doggie bestie! They met up on Wednesday as Arnie was on his way home and Dudley was just setting off for a walk. The non-stop hugging and dancing was such a delight to watch. It went on until they both flopped down on our driveway, totally worn out!  

Mind you, Dudley ended up in Len's bad books on Saturday - little scamp managed to find a hedgie 'calling card' in the back garden and was in ecstasy, rubbing all over it right down one side! Len was pretty cross, didn't take any prisoners and just cut away the offending patch of hair! From a recently shorn Dudley as well! I daren't even take a look. I suspect he (Dudley of course) is headed for a bath ............ anytime now!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. Hope to see you on the swings, goodness knows what Sarn has in her satchel this week! If it chinks and sounds like a bottle of hooch - I'm confiscating it! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Christmas wine anyone?

Hooray, we've had a few sunny days here - and not before time either.

Whilst idly browsing online around unbranded dies, I came across such a fun wine glass die set. This is how I used it for my snippets card today:

Left over snippets, fished out of the waste bin! Amazing how the light above the top of the pile washed out the red of the rich Tonic card to almost pink!

I used:

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

- for the main outside frame I used Tonic's mirror 'Inca Gold' card, trimmed to 5.25" x 4" - and set it to one side for now. Resist the temptation to always build up a card directly, layer by layer, onto a card front - far better to build up most or all of the front panel and then glue it together in the proper order - simple advice I was given when first card making and, for me, it always works best! 

- then trimmed a Kaisercraft 'Blue Bay' wooden planks effect piece of 6" x 6" paper to 5" x 3.75" - and set it to one side 

- obviously, I already had the snippets I wanted to use out on the desk before selecting the two layers to form the backing frame so out came the Altenew Blossom Mini die cutter and off I went!

- first of all used a snippet of Tonic's iridescent  'Firestone Red' to die cut the wine glass. The die set is unbranded but I've never seen it before under licence - fingers crossed! The wine glass die is actually shaped slightly 'on the wonk' so it isn't anyone's eyes - perhaps Santa already had a tipple!

- then spent a quiet hour or so half watching You Tube whilst cutting out the belt and buttons (Tonic Black Velvet), buckle (Tonic Mirror 'Inca Gold') - and what I assume is Santa's beard from plain white card - ALL of them were snippets. In fact, I double layered them all for dimension - being a bit soft in the head!

- fully assembled the Santa wine glass and put it to one side

- glued the gold and wooden planks backing layers together using Collall All Purpose glue, then added the made up Santa wine glass, for that I used a glue pen

- adhered the panel onto the card blank using  thin foam stripe and the glue stick trick

- die cut the sentiment using a Creative Expressions die set - 'Lisa Horton's Borderline Ho Ho Ho'. I like this little die set but it IS tricky to line up and cut properly IMHO. Sadly I find that with a few of Lisa's designs

- for the sentiment I used snippets of Tonic 'Inca Gold' and also parchment paper

 - gluing them together as I went

- glued the 'Ho Ho Ho' sentiment across the stem of the glass using a mix of glue pen as well as mini glue dots at either end of the sentiment strip to both raise it and also beI invisible

- finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #62 HERE- the die sets were both having their first outing.

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge, under the 'Anything Goes' rule.  Allsorts are celebrating their 15th Birthday on 18th May - with lots of lovely prizes too!

Dudley Pupdate: During the week, I was sitting on our bed, folding some laundry, ably assisted by Dudley of course. Suddenly there was a little scuffle against the bedroom window and there sat a rather pretty little pigeon on the outside window ledge. Dudley immediately woofed 'Go away you interloper' at the bird. It blinked and settled down. Nonplussed at his lack of 'authority' - Dudley trotted over to the window. popped his paws up on the wall and stretched as high as he could - to give a few more 'Go away' woofs. The bird stayed settled down. 😂 So Dudley shrugged then decided to join it, curled up at my feet and had forty winks!

Since then, Len has given Dudley a really good trim - he looks like a newborn lamb! But. he took it all in his stride, if you ignore the few 'Dudley doing the Egyptian sand dance' moves around the grooming table. 

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #478 are now published HERE . 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! Just scroll down.

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - Birthday Celebrations!

Very recently a special friend celebrated her Birthday and this is the card I made for her: 

I used: 

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

- a snippet of Tonic pearlescent 'Luna Silver' card, trimmed to 5.25" x 4" and set to one side

- a snippet of white card trimmed to 5" x 3.75", with a round stitched aperture die cut using Marianne's set of dies - CR1630

- next step was to stamp a sentiment - I used a Delicata 'Silvery Shimmer' ink pad and a stamp from Penny Black's 'Special Thoughts' set. Originally I'd planned to then clear emboss the stamped sentiment but the match to the pearlescent  silver backing card was so spot-on that I decided not to risk ending up with too shiny a look

- amongst my more precious snippets I'd been saving a lovely embossed piece of white card, used by a friend  to protect a card she sent to me some time ago - so I backed the aperture I'd cut into the white layer with it

- and then the fun began! I die cut two layers from snippets of SU's 'Certainly Celery' card using a die by Jeannie's Art called 'Butterfly Touch - Butterfly Corner'. I'd had the die for some time and this was a first play as I'd half suspected it would be tricky - and I was right as the die cuts seemed to have a life of their own when I was gluing the layers together!

- used snippets of some Lindy's Magical Shaker backgrounds to die cut the teeny little butterflies in pink and lilac and glued them on top of the butterflies that are part of the main die - wham! Suddenly the die cut really came alive

- I added three butterflies to the bottom right hand corner of the card front to add more balance and popped a teeny little flat backed silver gem onto each butterfly

- final step was to layer the finished white panel onto the 'Luna Silver' one,  then add it to the card front using narrow foam strips (Amazon sell them HERE) and of course I used the 'glue stick trick' 

- finished!

Apologies, I did use a lot of snippets, all are mentioned in the words above but totally forgot to take a before or after photo of them!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #61 HERE, the Marianne set of dies was having a first outing

Dudley Pupdate: Nothing stunning to report, with the recent reasonable weather Dudley is actually enjoying his walks rather than tiptoeing around puddles! Bring on the sunshine. 😀

Sarn has just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. Hope to see you on the swings, after last week's St George's Day pantomime, complete with Dudley dressed up as a fire breathing baby dragon, I dread to think what sh'e got planned for this week!! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me,

Rudolph Days - April 2024

I was delighted when my entry into Rudolph Days Challenge in March was picked as one of the top three. And am even happier to be this month's Rudolph Days Guest Designer HERE - thank you so much Helen! 

This is my card:

I used:

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

- a backing piece of Tonic pearlescent 'Red Velvet' card, trimmed to a whisker under the size of the card front

- a snippet of really lovely holly patterned silver card, which I think was used by a friend to protect the Christmas card she enclosed it with - and I've saved it ever since, today is its day to take a bow!

- die cut the snippet of silver card using a die from the Taylored Expressions 'Petite Scallop Rectangle Stacklets' set, to make the main front panel. There was literally just a whisker of waste left on all four sides after the cutting was done

- used a snippet of white card and trimmed across it using a Spellbinders 'Curved Edge' with a line of stitching die

- then die cut the bottom edge and up the sides in one do using the scallop edge die I'd used on the silver background 

- glued the white piece onto the bottom of the silver panel

- glued the red layer and the silver panel onto the card front

- then came the drawn out part - die cutting the deer and all the extra bits and bobs ..... all from snippets using a Spellbinders die set called 'Magical Deer'

- the white body and head are double layered and the 'beard' plus the  piece down the centre of the face were die cut using a snippet of 'pale ivory' linen card, on the reverse smooth side

- the little cutouts on the deer's face and body were backed with snippets of red velvet card - used the same red velvet card for the cover/saddle  over the reindeer's back

- the antlers were die cut using a dark brown card snippet, which I then topped with second layers, die cut from a snippet of black velvet card

- the little hooves and nose are die cut from black velvet card and the ears and tail had a little bit of pink die cut card added

- ran away for a rest

- glued the main body with the additional pieces in place to the card front

- then used very narrow red line tape to stick the bottom part of the antlers to the back of the deer's head before adhering it to the image using glue pen for the antlers and small pieces of thin sticky pad for the actual head - to give it some dimension

- die cut a selection of red, pink and white flowers and adhered them to the deer's antlers

- final touch - added some tiny flat silver gems to the flower centres - plus one last cheeky one, right in the centre of the deer's cover/saddle

- tottered away ................ and lay down in a darkened room to recover!

This might well be the only time I ever use this die set - I just counted 32 die cut shapes, 34 if you count the double layering of the main body and head. It seemed to be never ending!

Didn't add a sentiment as it's already busy enough. Besides, reindeer in snow with a background of holly patterned paper and sparkly touches sort of points to Christmas, IMHO.

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

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #85 HERE. The theme is 'Santa and his Sidekicks' - any deer surely is one of the best known of Santa's sidekicks!

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #61 HERE. The 'Magical Deer' set of dies was having its first (and possibly last) outing here.

You have until the end of the month to enter all three challenges I've linked to in this post. Go on, you know you want to.

Sunday Snippets - Penny Black Stickeroo to the rescue

It's been another one of those weeks here, where time just flies by. I suddenly realised on Friday that I needed to make a snippets card - having been focused on other cards, as well as other stuff going on here. I reached out for the little packet of Stickeroos that I keep close at hand, already mounted onto snippets of toning card - and within 30 minutes had produced this:

I used:

- 4.75" square pale ivory linen card blank - tent opening

- then die cut the Penny Black Stickeroo on its snippet backing layer of SU 'Certainly Celery' card using a Marianne Craftables 'Stitched Circle' die - CR1360. The Stickeroo is from the Penny Black 'Gentle Blooms' sheet of stickers BTW

- I then used a NBUS die from Gummiapan called 'Scalloped Pointy Border', bought a while ago in one of their sales, and cut part of the bottom of the card front away

- found a piece of deep teal blue card to pick out the colour of one of the flowers, trimmed it to 4.75" square and glued it to the inside of the card front

- finally, used thin sticky pads (and the glue stick trick) to adhere the image to the pale ivory portion of the card front - didn't add a sentiment as it's a 'general purpose' card

- finished!

I only used one snippet - the backing layer for the Penny Black Stickeroo.

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #61 - HERE - the Gummiapan Scalloped Pointy Border was having its first outing as well as the Marianne set of stitched circle dies. 

Dudley Pupdate: Before long, Dudley will need a bath as a slight doggy 'hum' is faintly there when you snuggle up really close to him. He has hair, not fur, therefore is less prone to 'doggy hum'. But, he's due an application of anti-flea and worming meds between his shoulder blades and we like to leave a week either side of that before any baths. So, I bought some proper 'doggy cologne' - which actually smells like baby powder, very much like his shampoo. On Friday I gave him a couple of sprays down his back to test it out and the result was hilarious. 

As a result we had wild 'zoomies' all around the house - followed by a lot of rolling and rubbing, same as after a bath! As well as some well choreographed wiggly hip moves! So funny .......... I half expected him to get up on his hind paws and launch into a John Travolta Saturday Night Fever Bee Gees 'You Should Be Dancing' routine! Never a dull moment. Check the link then imagine Dudley in John T's place! Snort. 😉

Remember, the results from Challenge #477 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. Hope to see you on the swings for the current challenge too as that runs for almost another week.

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - Butterflies!

Here's my snippets card for this week:

My leftover snippets - yay, I remembered to take a photo!

I used:

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

- grey backing paper from Echo Park's 'Be Mine' paper pad (it's actually the reverse of a sheet printed, using the same grey that features in many of the designs - handy 😀), trimmed to the same size as the card front and glued in place 

- another sheet of paper from the same pad, this time patterned, trimmed to 5.25" x 4" and glued in place on top of the grey layer

- then came the snippets - the previous day I found some offcuts of Strathmore Mixed Media card and played around making backgrounds using Lindy's Magical shakers - all from the 'Tea and Crumpets' range

- I chose to die cut the black top layers from a snippet of black 'velvet' card' first, using two dies from the Sizzix 'Detailed Butterflies Mini' set and put them aside for now

- used the leftover apertures so I could choose whereabouts from the backgrounds to die cut the bottom layers of the butterflies

- die cut the bottom 'solid' layers from the backgrounds already made using 'Lindy's Shakers', then ran them through the Gemini to emboss them, using the same dies

- glued the black die cut layers onto the embossed base layers

- final step was to add both butterflies to the card front, using snipped up thin sticky pads

It's a shame that the shimmer doesn't show up - especially in the purple butterfly. The embossing step was SO worthwhile, again in real life!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #61 - HERE - the butterfly die set I used is NBUS, 

Dudley Pupdate: At last, we've had some sunshine here and the difference it's made to Dudley is so heartening. He adores playing in the dry back garden, zoomies are his speciality, some lovely dry walks and he races back indoors with such a sweet lopsided grin on his face! Happy dog, happy home!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. Hope to see you on the swings!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me,

Sunday Snippets - THAT postage stamp die set

Spring is really teasing us here - temperatures are rising at times and the sound of lawnmowers drifts across to us - in our easy care revamped garden. Len is a happy guy for sure, and the wildlife still visit as well. But then it rains and blows a 'Hoolie'! 

Very last minute snippets card from me - using one of the currently hugely popular 'postage stamps' set of dies in 'simple mode':

My leftover snippets of the 'Certainly Celery' papers - sob, only a few tiny scraps left now

I used:

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

- first of all I used white card, the same as the card blank, to die cut the main outline of the card topper using an unbranded die 

- then trimmed some plain SU 'Certainly Celery' card for the bottom layer and also some deep purple slightly shimmery paper for the next layer

- glued both those layers onto the card front

- then die cut the snippets of SU's 'Certainly Celery' paper pack, using the dies to match the faux apertures in the main outline

- glued the patterned snippets onto the outline die cut, using a glue pen

- then used the same glue pen to glue the whole outline panel onto the card front

- stamped the sentiment onto a snippet of white card, using a LOTV stamp from their sadly discontinued and still very much loved by yours truly 'General Greetings - Small' set of stamps - using a VersaFine Clair 'Monarch' ink pad (gorgeous colour!)

- used a SU plain small oval punch to punch out the sentiment

- used a snippet of the left over purple glimmer paper to punch out a SU scalloped small oval

- glued the white sentiment onto the purple scalloped oval

- used thin sticky pads to adhere the completed sentiment to the card front 

- added a strip of the patterned paper to the envelope flap and called it finished

I learned a few things along the way. The idea of using papers from the same colour range is better in theory than in practice.  In real life the card does them justice, but on camera and unless you're close up they really are too similar to give it that 'Wow' factor. Tiny backing layers of the purple paper to frame each of the 'Certainly Celery' panels would give more definition - but I thought of that one too late. The way to do that, IMHO, would be to die cut the purple layers for each 'aperture' then do the same with  the patterned paper but also trim a little sliver from the top and one side of those patterned papers to create a narrow margin all round the patterned paper layer. Next time, I might well give that a whirl!

 

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #61 HERE - the die set was having its first outing.

Dudley Pupdate: For the past week or so, Dudley has been rather subdued. He's eating fine but he's often in a little dream world of his own. Physically everything is working as normal but we're watching him closely and he will be off to the vet if need be - before he can even say 'I wanna treat for going'!  It could just be that, like us, he's fed up with all the damp weather and longing for Spring to arrive properly.

Having said that - he still put up a jolly good fight on his hind legs when I was grooming him yesterday afternoon. Overall the match was a draw, although I'm sure that Dudley scored a few below the belt hits! What can you do when a little fluffy white face with beautiful eyes plants itself on your 'chest shelf' and silently appeals 'Enough Mama, enough please!'?

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #476 are now published HERE. 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! 

Love from myself and Dudley,