Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Use a frame'

Time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania -  this fortnight's theme is 'Use a frame' and you can create your frame in a variety of ways eg. die cut, embossed, stamped, drawn, etc.

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is what I made - six the same in fact, in a push to keep up with the Christmas card target:

I used:

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

- panel of white card, trimmed to an eighth of an inch smaller all round than the card front

- then die cut an aperture using the larger of the two dies in the MFT 'Wonky Peek-a-boo Windows' set into the white card panel

- glued the panel to the card front and also set the piece that had been cut out back into the aperture. This was as I was only wanting to use the stitched outline and also wanted a flush surface for the next steps

- snippets of SU's 'Pear Pizzazz' from which I cut the green stitched aperture using the smaller of the two MFT dies in the 'Wonky Peek-a-boo Windows' set. Then I carefully trimmed around each aperture to form a green frame - which turned out to be only a whisker bigger than the aperture I'd filled in on the white panel, phew!

- next backed the aperture in the green frame with a snippet of LOTV's 'Frosty Christmas' paper and glued the whole thing in place on the card front

- then stamped a sentiment from the Paper Smooches ' Christmas Sampler' set using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink onto the card front

- stamped the penguin using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Jane's Doodles 'Winter Wishes' set

- coloured the penguin using Pro Markers and Whispers markers before fussy cutting him out

- stuck the penguin in place sort of sitting on the frame using a thin sticky pad 

There's lots of ways you can use this set of dies, I opted to make life difficult and go for a 'proper frame'. Trimming those outside edges of the green frames took quite a while with them not being at right angles to one another! But the same set of dies really works so well just used as apertures/windows, perhaps with one twisted inside another one on two layers of card. I'm sure I've seen this set being used on one of your blogs - Kathy K perhaps? I know I tend to get a lot of ideas for new products to buy from blog hopping, sigh.

I hope you find time to play along with this latest Cuttlebug Mania challenge - we'd love to see you join in! There's loads of scope and different ways in which you can make your 'frame'.

This is my final card for the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge as I'm stepping down from the team. The Playground will of course continue though!

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Have wings, will fly'

It's time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania -  this fortnight's theme is 'Have wings, will fly' and we're looking for a project which includes a bird or an insect with wings eg. butterfly, ladybird, dragonfly etc. More than one is fine!

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is what I made:

I used:

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

- SU's 'Certainly Celery' flowery DP, trimmed to just slightly smaller than the card front and glued in place

- the white frame and inset panels were cut using an offcut left over from making the card blank and Just Right's 'Three in a Row' set. I've got a bit of a 'thing' at the minute about frames with white inserts but the inserts were likely to have a gnats whisker of green showing around the edge so I backed the frame with white card before popping the inserts in place. I know, it would only have been the thickness of the actual cutting line - but CDO (OCD) struck again!

- glued the frame in place on the card front

- the sentiment is from the Paper Smooches ''Sentiment Sampler' set, stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink

- the leaves were cut from a snippet of plain SU 'Certainly Celery' and a die from the Spellbinder 'Rose Creations' set

- those cute little ladybirds are from an Elizabeth Dies set called 'Lady Bugs'. I just added some Stick-It adhesive paper to snippets of red and black card, die cut the  ladybirds and assembled them - making sure none of the black spots made a bid for freedom before they were popped in place! The die does cut the holes so the black body shows through but I thought it looked more realistic to have the spots flush with the red wings - despite it being a bit fiddly

- glued the leaves and the ladybirds in place using Collall All Purpose glue, in a fine line applicator

I hope you find time to play along with the Cuttlebug Mania challenge - there's lots of scope with the theme. I had ideas for a few different cards before settling on this one - and of course your 'thing with wings' doesn't need to be a die cut. I'd had the ladybird die set for ages - NBUS needless to say - and wanted to give it a first outing :)

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'A nice cuppa''

It's time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania and this fortnight's theme is 'A nice cuppa' - it can be coffee or tea.

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is what I made:

I used:

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

- snippet of black card, trimmed down and glued onto the card front

- snippet of red card, die cut using a Lil' Inkers 'Stitched Rectangle' die and glued on top of the black panel

- had fun cutting out the tea cups, choosing stripes perhaps wasn't such an easy/good idea but I wanted a slightly 'retro' look to the card

- first of all I die cut the whole stack of cups from a snippet of white card - the die is all in one piece and it's the Apple Blossom 'Teacups' die

- then jiggled about with the die to cut three white, grey and black striped cups from a snippet of LOTV 'Mr and Mrs' paper (plus a bit extra top and bottom to allow for trimming) so that the stripes lined up across the top edge of each cup

- glued the striped paper cups one at a time (working from the top) on top of the white card layer - with more than a few adjustments along the way of course

- added a black saucer  using a little snippet of black card and the same die and put the stack of cups to one side for now

- shame on me, this is the first outing for NBUS sentiment stamp set I bought literally years ago! Made by Personal Impressions it's called 'Keep Calm and'

- swiped an anti static bag across a piece of black card, stamped the words I wanted in VersaMark and then heat embossed them using 'Stamp Stuff' white embossing powder

- trimmed words to the size I wanted, adhered the stack of cups to the card front using thin sticky pads and did the same with the sentiment/words to add dimension

- voila, finished!

Apart from the jiggling about with the stripy snippets and the cups, this was a really easy card to make.

Love the Personal Impressions 'keep calm' set - there's a huge range of options to choose from to go with 'Keep Calm and' - 'Keep Crafting', 'Eat Chocolate', 'Buy Shoes' - and of course 'Drink Wine' - along with about 10 others. One that really tickles me as a punchline is 'Run Away'! :)

The background to the black and white 'retro' cups and red theme goes back to when I returned to the UK after being incarcerated at boarding school. Bit of a culture shock for me but I recall that my Mum was so very excited and really looking forward to finally settling into my parents 'much longed for after a lifetime of travelling' new (and their very own) house that was being built whilst we did our last stint in Army accommodation.

Knowing they wouldn't be moving very far ever again, my Mum certainly did some nest building and one dinner set 'for every day use' she bought was quite daringly black and white - and the teacups had black saucers as a contrast. Super modern at the time of course and before the days when we just used mugs. The kitchen in the Army house had red and white cupboards - hence my colour scheme today!

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Easter and include a bunny'

It's time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania and this fortnight's theme is 'Easter' and we're looking for a project which includes a bunny - or even more bunnies!

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is what I made:

I used:

- 6" x 6" white card blank

- then covered the card blank front with yellow Core'dinations (looks like green/lime in the photo but it's a true daffodil yellow !)

- next, I embossed a piece of white card using the Crafts-Too 'Leafy Tree' embossing folder and trimmed it to the size I wanted

- yay, time to die cut the grass, a snippet of green card and using a Stick-It backed MFT die called 'Grassy Fields' - I finally moved on from always using my 'icicles' die :)

- aw, next came the sweet little 'bunnies'. A cute family of them, die cut using the Joanna Sheen 'Rabbit Family' set, cut from SU 'Smokey Grey' card snippets and then coloured the tails on a couple of them with a Signo white pen

- added the  stamped sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a 'Happy Easter - small script' stamp from 'Stamping All Day' 

- mounted the image panel onto a piece of SU 'Smoky Grey. card so there was a narrow border down each side (the height of the image panel is deliberately the same height as the card front to fit the tree plus extras on!)

- finally, glued the image panel to the centre of the card front

I got the idea of using an embossed tree from Diane H, over here. I have a sneaking feeling this is the very first outing for that tree folder and I bought it back in the dark ages!

So, I used all NBUS goodies on my card today, the folder, grass die, bunny dies and also the sentiment stamp! Which means I can join in again with Darnell's latest NBUS challenge. She really would like to see some of our 'boo-boos' - but wouldn't you know it, I don't have any to show. Unless you count the fact that I originally die cut the grass with the Stick-It sheet on the front - it went into the waste bin and was gone before I thought to take a photo though! 

Easter is almost here so I hope lots of you are beavering away making cards and will find time to join in with the Cuttlebug Mania challenge.I'm a fine one to talk really as I only send a couple of Easter cards each year!

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Mother'

It's time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania and this fortnight's theme is 'Mother'.

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is what I made:

I used:

- 5" x 7" white card blank

- snippet of peach coloured card, embossed using the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder, trimmed to size, corners rounded using an XCut punch and then glued onto the card front

- snippet of white card, die cut using a Spellbinders 'Labels Eight Decorative' die

- then I used a Memory Box 'Perky Poppy' die to cut out a poppy shaped aperture- backed the aperture with double sided adhesive sheet so that the inlaying would be nice and easy

- die cut the poppies from a snippet of green card and inlaid the outline part into the aperture, also using two little white infills I'd also kept from the main die cutting

- die cut the poppy heads from a little snippet of peach coloured card and, before inlaying them I laid them out on a scrap of paper, gently touched the central parts with an orange Zig pen then 'pulled' the colour out towards the edges of the petals using clear Wink of Stella

- then inlaid the petals to complete the poppy 

- tickled the poppy bud and the leaves with clear Wink of Stella

- added the image panel to the card front, using a sandwich layer of white card and white fun foam, die cut using a plain 'Label Eight' die - smaller than the image panel

- the sentiment was stamped onto a snippet of white card using SU's 'Mossy Meadow' and a 'Stamping All Day' sentiment stamp

- then layered the sentiment onto a snippet of peach card and glued it to the card front

- added three iridescent peach sequins as a finishing touch

A little bit about the sentiment stamp. I bought it on line from 'Stamping All Day' when I was searching for a First Holy Communion stamp (which I found in the same shop). They specialise in text stamps and there are some really lovely fonts as well - here's an example of a stamp that's on my 'wish list':

The service was super fast and the clear stamps are great quality and stamp perfectly - they even make personalised stamps to order. This little 'toot' is totally unsolicited BTW :)

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Sketch - with green(s)'

It's time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania and this fortnight's theme is a sketch - with green(s).

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

And here's the sketch:

I flipped the sketch onto its side for my DT card:

I used:

- 4" x 6" white card blank, tent style

- slightly smaller panel of green card from the snippets folder, SU's 'Wild Wasabi' glued onto the card front

- next I die cut the lattice work panel using a Memory Box 'Piestra Tile' die and white card stock then trimmed it to just slightly smaller than the green panel

- before going any further I stamped the sentiment using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a sentiment from a Paper Smooches set called 'Sentiment Sampler'

- glued the white panel onto the card front

- used some really neglected Spellbinder Shapeabilities 'Rose Creations' dies to cut three flower heads from three different snippets of yellowish card

- slightly rounded the petals using a large ball ended tool and a foam mat

- stuck the flowers in place using little pieces of thin sticky pad in the centre of each one

- added a black glossy embellishment to the centre of each flower to finish off, and they remind me of Black Eyed Susans!

Hope you can join in with Cuttlebug Mania - the sketch does lend itself to using up a few snippets.

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'It's a Zoo out there'

We have a lovely theme for this fortnight's Cuttlebug Mania challenge, which starts today - 'It's a Zoo out there' and you can use any animal(s) on your entry.

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog, but suffice it to say that Beccy's Place is involved - one of my favourite places to shop for digital images.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

This is my DT card:

I used:

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

- layer of white card, embossed using a Quickutz 'Flowers' embossing folder and glued to a frame of SU's 'Wild Wasabi' card stock before being glued to the card front

- the image is from the really adorable 'Ellie' set, over at Beccy's Place. Printed onto white card and then coloured using Faber Castell 'Polychromos' pencils - with a little bit of blending using Sansodor blending solution and paper stumps

- then I die cut the image panel using a Spellbinders 'Lattice Edge Rectangle' die and glued it onto the embossed panel

- next die cut the swirly leaves and tendrils from a snippet of SU's 'Wild Wasabi' using a Cheery Lynn Designs 'Fanciful Flourish' die and glued it to one corner of the image panel (thereby hiding a small tear in the edge of the border - ssshhh)

- die cut three daisies using my much loved Joy! daisy die set (6002/0024) and paper from the Wild Rose Studio 'Vintage Rose' paper pad and glued those in place

- topped the centre of each daisy with a white Josy Rose nail head - finished!

Oh boy, this really was a struggle to make in the middle of my loss of mojo the other week. Every single step was like wading through treacle!

 

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Roses are Red'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Roses are Red'.

Your theme can actually be anything, just so long as there's lots of red as the main focus. Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

I cheated somewhat with my DT card as it was already made for a challenge (two in fact) that I couldn't enter. I know there's a lot of white on the card but the main and only colour focus (the heart) is red.

This is what I made:

I used:

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

- smaller layer of white card stock, embossed using the Couture Creations embossing folder called 'Bon Jour'

- then I stamped the heart using SU's 'Real Red' ink onto the centre panel - masking off the top and bottom of the panel first. The heart stamp is a much loved one by Penny Black called 'Love is the message'

- then I die cut the word LOVE out of the stamped panel using a die by Impression Obsession called 'Love' (making sure I saved the two little cutouts - a small heart and the centre of the letter 'e'), and also cut the word again from white fun foam

- backed the LOVE aperture in the card panel with double sided adhesive sheet and then popped the fun foam LOVE word in place along with the little cutouts I'd saved

- glued the saved die cut LOVE word from the card centre panel on top of the fun foam

- glued the panel to the card front and called it done

This was a bit of a tricky card to make so you can imagine my horror when I realised that it didn't qualify for the two challenges I wanted to use it in :( First was Darnell's NBUS Challenge #9 where I'd even complied with the options of CASE'ing a card as well as using the camouflage technique for the word LOVE. Ha, what I had totally forgotten was to use something NBUS - the basis of all Darnell's challenges!!

Then, I realised it wasn't fair to enter the card into the current Penny Black Challenge of 'Anything Goes' as the card is such a direct CASE from cards made by both Darnell and Chrissie!

So, I put the card to one side in the hope that it would be useful for a future post or perhaps Cuttlebug Mania DT work. Yay, happy dance when the theme for this fortnight was chosen!

Hope you find time to join in - not long until Valentine's Day. I've kept this card hidden from my in-house critic as it's most likely going to be given to him on 14th February :)

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'I am crafting'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'I am crafting'.

You might have to put your thinking cap on, although I actually had THE perfect stamp set - totally unused as well as being a good few years old - shame on me. And - this theme wasn't my choice either so it's pure coincidence which stamp set I used!

Some ideas are sewing, knitting, carpentry, painting - and I bet you can think of many others as well. You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

So this is my card:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank

- snippet of SU 'Wisteria Wonder' card as the backing layer, glued onto the card front

- snippet of white card, embossed using the Taylored Expressions 'Twirls and Swirls' embossing folder and then trimmed to just slightly smaller than the 'Wisteria Wonder' layer. Then glued on top of the card front

- the stamp is from a very old fabulous set made by the now discontinued Elzybells called 'Stamp & scrap'. It really is perfect for a crafter/stamper/scrapper to use and goodness knows why I've had it forever without even using one single stamp - sheer madness!!  I hate to brandish Elzybells stamps when they are out of production though - sorry!

- then I coloured the image using Whispers markers - ahem, and in the process she did end up with a rather fetching sun tan! Added a sentiment from the set and just decided to go for it anyhow rather than start again - it could be me after our Portugal break, although I doubt it very much!

- die cut the image using an oval Nesties and then used another snippet of SU 'Wisteria Wonder' card to die cut the 'frame using a real favourite Spellbinders die of mine, I love the gentle scallops - layered the image onto the scalloped piece and glued it in place.

 Job done - and then I ran off to do some ironing.

Cuttlebug Mania - Winter Wonderland

Gosh I really had to race to make this card ready for the new Cuttlebug Mania Challenge, where the theme is 'Winter Wonderland' - that can be Winter nature, snow, ice, Winter sports and so on.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

 

I used:

- 6" x 6" square white card blank

- then found I had an already stamped image using a House Mouse stamp called, appropriately enough, Joyous Noel. What tickled me when I bought this stamp ages ago are his little skates - paper clips! 

- then coloured the image using Whispers markers, mostly for speed and the very fine point they have at one end

- the backing paper is a snippet, in real life it's a delicate ice blue with silvery edging- from my Christmas papers box

- then I used Spellbinders Labels 8 dies to cut the image and a Core'dinations magenta coloured card backing/frame then just added some Anita's Christmas Dimensions stickers (peel offs, shame on me!), and Glossy Accents to the bell that the mouse is gaily waving :)

Normally I would make a thinner frame by drawing round the edge of the die I used for cutting the image, but this card just called for a little more of the cheerful magenta colour! Still giggling about those paper clips :)

Thank you so much for the input and lovely comments about the Playground. I have almost decided on the way forward - it will be a bit different and hopefully easier for me to keep on running it almost alone (with Parsnip!) but we'll still have our lovely Playground, yay! Tune in on Sunday for my thoughts.

Pixie's Snippets Playground Weeks 260 and 261 - Prize B

Time for another Christmassy 'Snippets Playground Celebration' prize - and this is my snippets card:

I used:

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

- snippet of white card die cut using a Spellbinders 'Labels Eight Decorative die', glued onto the card front

- snippet of XCut silver metallic self adhesive sheet, die cut using a Creative Expressions 'Let It Snow' die, then burnished in place onto the card front

- turquoise sparkly gems, here and there on the die cut

This is today's prize:

A Creative Expressions 'Let It Snow' die,. of course! Liz is aware that there's a die coming along as a prize which will tax even the most dedicated crafter who fancies 'inlaying' it with all those little cut outs! I was stunned at how well she inlaid the 'Silent Night' die cut from the same range. It's a fabulous die and makes a real statement - but I can't see me ever attempting to inlay it, ever!

At the end of all of the celebrations I'll do a massive draw session for all the prizes using the one Mr Linky - which is on the main snippets post HERE - so you do need to have entered one snippets make over on that post to be in with a chance :) Maximum of one entry please - to keep things fair for those who may not have time to craft.

Just leave a comment on this post if you would like the chance to win today's prize.

It's also time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Make a Christmas card - but no red or green'.

New Challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania

There's a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania, starting at 7am UK time today. The theme is 'Use Santa on your project' - a lovely one for this time of year! I've had to skip my DT card this time round but do go and play.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

Something I spotted the other day really cracked me up - one picture and a few words - says it all:

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Light in the darkness'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Light in the darkness'.

For example you can use candles, lanterns or stars on your entry - I'm sure you'll think of some others. I almost went for a Nativity image where the stable was bathed in a lovely glow, so there's another idea for you.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card, the light here was dreadful when I took the photo needless to say:

I used:

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

- a piece of white card stock, die cut using a Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangle die, backed with a panel of white fun foam and glued onto the card front

- Memory Box 'Glowing Candles' die which I die cut from white, silver and green snippets

- the first layer I glued in place was the green layer with all the pieces still in place apart from the white parts of the candles. The Woodware Ultra Fine glue applicator was invaluable when layering up this intricate die

- next took the silver die cut and snipped off the little branches and poked out all the loose pieces then glued it on top of the green layer 

- then poked out the six white candle pieces from the white layer and coated them with clear Wink of Stella before gluing them into the silver apertures. For once I thought ahead :)

- added little red pearlescent gems to the ends of the branches and just a few on the main part of the holly arrangement

- I wanted quite small, raised and very shiny silver lettering so added a peel off sentiment in the top left corner

- final touch was to add some Stickles to the candle flames. The yellow I have would be too bright and the lemon too pale, so I mixed a little blob of both together on a scrap of paper and applied the mix with a very fine paintbrush

I hold my hands up and confess that I got the basis for this card design from the super-talented Loll. I've had my die since October 2013 and this is only the third time I've used it, bad me! Thanks for the inspiration Loll (you popped up on Pinterest when I was looking for general ideas for candles on cards), I loved your card and also it was time to give the die another outing!

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Music'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Music'.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card:

 I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" cream card blank

- a slightly smaller 'frame' of black card glued onto the card front

- then I die cut the 'happy birthday' panel using a Memory Box 'Grand Happy Birthday' die and a Stick-It backed snippet of tan coloured card and stuck it onto a square of cream card, smaller than the black 'frame'

- die cut part of the 'happy birthday' again using the same die and cream card to inlay the cream parts of the sentiment. I don't always do this but it does give a more 'finished' feel (IMHO)

- then die cut three little guitars using an All Occasion Dies 'Small Guitars' set, Stick-It adhesive sheet and small brown toned snippets of card. It's a sweet little set and you get both a classical and an electric guitar die BTW

- the 'scratch-plates' actually drop out of the die cuts so I just swopped them around to provide contrast and stuck them in place

- then used a Stick-It backed snippet of black card to die cut the 'Musical Score', again with an All Occasions die, and stuck it in place with a few notes on the tan panel as well

- popped some teensy gold gems onto the guitars to cover the cut outs for the knobs (being a purist, in a house with five guitars, I think there's been some poetic licence used when designed the knob placements on the little die)

Having said that about the knobs, I do think that both of the guitar dies are really lovely and they weren't very expensive when I bought them in Coventry the other week either.

This card is for a good pal's hubby, next month, he's into music and guitars :)

Do join in with Cuttlebug Mania if you can - remember you don't need to have music related dies/embossing folders. You could work some music patterned paper or an image/stamp into a card design for example - and use a 'non-music' die or embossing folder as well. 

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Something Spooky'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Something Spooky'. By that we mean you can let your mind go a bit mad - for example, ghosts, mummies, spiders, witches, kids in costume, or lots of black. Or any other bright ideas so long as it fits in with 'Something Spooky'.

I struggled with my DT card as I have almost zilch items here to do with Halloween - and in fact, I used this same main die last year for a similar theme over at Cuttlebug Mania. Mind you, it's so specific to Halloween that it needs an annual outing!

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card:

I used:

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

- slightly smaller layer of SU's 'More Mustard' card stock, glued in place and topped with a slightly smaller again layer of black card stock 

- then I embossed a piece of pearlescent 'platinum' coloured card (bought at the Coventry show) using a Tim Holtz 'Cobwebs' embossing folder and trimmed it to just slightly smaller than the black card layer and glued it in place

- next, die cut the really fun Cheery Lynn Designs 'Witches Laundry' from black card and glued it in place across the card. The Woodware Ultra Fine applicator bottle is perfect for fine work like this! 

- then added a few touches of gold here and there on the die cut using a Signo 'Sparkling Gold' pen

- sat for ages pondering what to do next with the blank patch at the bottom left hand corner of the card - a sentiment? black gems? - totally stuck, until I remembered a die I've hardly used

- out came the Cheery Lynn Designs 'Kitty Kitty Meow Meow' die and a snippet of black card. Die cut just the Daddy cat from the sweet little family, chopped his tail off (ouch!) and popped him in the offending corner

Must be my warped sense of humour, he almost looks like he's quietly looking on - sniggering at the cat hanging on the line to dry - possibly his Lady Wife? :)

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania and the challenge runs for two weeks.

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Thanks or Thank you'

I'm home again but spent all day yesterday sorting out the craft room and finding homes for all those new supplies that 'one cannot possibly do without'! We had a really great few days away and needless to say it wasn't without a few incidents! And a LOT of laughter.

I'll be round to see all your Playground entries as soon as possible and would like to also send another huge 'Thank You' to Jane for looking after things so well last week.

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'Thanks or Thank you'. Very appropriate!!

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card:

I used:

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

- next I used a Frantic Stamper 'Thanks Card Band' die to cut out the word 'Thanks'. What's great about this die is that the word mostly is cut away but the card remains attached at the top and bottom of the letters - really neat

- then covered the top and bottom sections of the card blank with patterned card fromthe lovely DCWV paper stack called 'Quince Blossom' that I won a while ago I deliberately left a white border round both the pieces of DP

- then I backed the cutaway 'Thanks' with a snippet of black card - just glued at the top and bottom behind the word.

- then backed the inside of the card front with a full sized panel of white card to hide the band of black

- the top panel looked too bare but I still wanted to keep it quite fresh and simple so I stamped LOTV's Just to say....' (from their General Greetings - Small' set onto a snippet of black card using VersaMark and then embossed it using white Stamp n Stuff embossing powder 

- then die cut the sentiment panel using a Spellbinders Oval die and ran a ball tool round the inside of the die before removing the piece of card

- using a snippet of leftover white card then drew round the outside of the die with a pencil, then cut round the shape and rubbed out any pencil marks before gluing both pieces together. I use this trick loads as it does give a smaller border than going up to the next size of die

- glued the sentiment panel in place and there was just something lacking so I rescued a snippet of the patterned paper and cut out a single flower and glued that in place. Aaah, that's better :)

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania and the challenge runs for two weeks.

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'New Home'

Time for another Cuttlebug Mania Challenge and the theme this time is 'New Home'. Blame me if you don't like it :)

NB! Edit to say that the new challenge wasn't yet up and running. Jannie has now sorted it out!

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card:

I used:

- 4" x 6" white card blank

- a piece of SU's 'Real Red' card stock, trimmed slightly smaller than the card front then embossed using SU's 'Elegant Dots' folder and glued in place

- a piece of white card stock, stamped using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and the main stamp from Woodware's 'Bless This House' stamp set

- coloured the image using Pro markers then die cut around it using a Spellbinders 'A2 Distressed Rectangles' die

- used one of the two sentiment stamps from the Woodware set and Memento 'Tuxedo Black' to stamp 'All the best in your new home' 

- die cut the sentiment using a smaller die from the Spellbinders 'A2 Distressed Rectangles' set

- glued the image and sentiment panels onto the red embossed card front

- final touch, a tickle of clear 'Wink of Stella' on the pinky-red roses, red front door heart and the birdies red heart shaped wings - it's just added that extra bit of interest for when it's turned and catches the light

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania and the challenge runs for two weeks. It's always useful to have a new home card on hand, I've been caught out a few times in the past when a 'we've moved' card has arrived here out of the blue and it's been a scramble to make a New Home card!

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Anything Goes - with die cuts'

Yay! The Cuttlebug Mania Challenge is back, after our Summer break. The theme this time is a nice easy one, to get you back into the swing of things - 'Anything goes - with die cuts'. You can use just one or several dies, it's up to you - and after that you can do pretty much anything!

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

This is my DT card:

I used:

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

- a piece of black card stock, trimmed slightly smaller than the card front and glued in place

- a piece of SU's 'Smokey Slate' card stock, trimmed slightly smaller than the black layer and glued in place

- snippets of pale pink and black card stock for all the die cutting

- the corners as well as the separate roses were die cut using two die sets by Poppy Stamps. One is the corner solid background shape with three solid rose backgrounds and three matching open cut roses called 'Art Deco Rose Blooms'. The other set is called 'Art Deco Roses' - that set comes with the open cut corner die plus a couple of open cut roses

- the panel for the sentiment was die cut using one of the very first dies I ever owned (could be a Sizzix one) but I don't have a note of the name. I die cut the centre pink layer and also a black frame using the same die

- the sentiment was die cut using a Joanna Sheen die called 'Retro Happy Birthday' and a snippet of black card backed with Stick-It double sided adhesive sheet, then popped onto the pink panel

- the sentiment panel and frame were than glued onto the card front

- added a selection of the Art Deco roses here and there

- final touch, some iridescent sequins, glued in place using Glossy Accents in a Woodware fine Line applicator

My bestie from the age of 13, when we started boarding school together, like me is a fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I bought the Poppy Stamps dies ages ago - specifically with her in mind :)

Happy Birthday for yesterday Moira, hope you had a lovely day!

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania, it's a really open theme this time with plenty of scope and the challenge runs for two weeks.

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Summertime/Enjoy the Summer'

It's time again for a new fortnightly challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania - and the theme this time is 'Summertime/Enjoy the Summer! If nothing else, we're always optimists on the DT, although judging by the current heatwave in the UK perhaps this really IS Summer at last:)

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

I was quite well prepared to make this card, for once! And here's the end result, and I had a real blast making it too:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" square white card blank

- slightly smaller piece of green backing paper from the Carta Bella 'Beach Day' paper pad, glued in place

- using the Lil' Inker's 'Instant Camera' die I cut a white Polaroid frame and then a blue 'inner'. And, as I don't like the teensy little gap between the frame and the 'photo' (OCD again!), I backed the whole frame with more blue card and set it aside

- the paper pad I used had a Polaroid photos image sheet in it - what a result! So, I followed the colours when making up the little scene for the photo 

- for the scene I stamped a palm tree and crab using the Paper Smooches 'Summer Lovin'' stamp set with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink, coloured them with Pro markers and then fussy cut round them using little Fiskars scissors - and set them aside

- next I die cut the sun and the cloud using the Joy! Sun & Moon set and MFT's 'Cloud Trio' sets of dies, and used the 'Summer Lovin'' stamp set with Memento ''Tuxedo Black' ink to add a smiley face to the sun and then popped them onto the 'photo' scene I was building and snipped the corners away from the back

- then came the 'waves', another little stamp from the same 'Summer Lovin'' set and Brilliance 'Moonlight White ink - which to be honest I did go over with a Signo White roller ball 

- then glued the palm tree in place - and it was taking shape! 

- added a couple of seagulls, using the same stamp set again and Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink (anyone spot that the seagulls are flying upside down? I spotted this much later, just before leaving for Southampton yesterday in fact and too late to change so they are in fact acrobatic seagulls -snigger). I then checked the stamp set itself and the acetate is printed the same way up as I used the little stamp. Still think I prefer them the other way up though.

- at that point I used the Misti to position one of the sentiments from this fabulous Summer themed set of stamps and added it to the bottom part of the Polaroid frame making sure I had a nice little gap to the right hand side

- into that gap I glued the darling little crab - as if he's escaping from the photo (anyone who's ever been 'crabbing' will relate to their abilities to escape!) and then added a couple of googly eyes for fun

-  used a half panel of the patterned Polaroid sheet from the same paper pack (the same sheet I'd been using for colour matching) and glued it to the left hand part of the card front, over the lime green layer

- added the Polaroid scene, again using glue - at a jaunty angle

- finally, added three Paper Smooches 'Beach Day' orange Enamel Dots along each right hand corner

This was another fun card to make - even though the flip flops from the stamps set which I really, really wanted to include would have been just too much :( Watch this space kids! A great stamp set for sure, despite acrobatic seagulls!

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania, it's a great theme with plenty of scope and the challenge runs for two weeks. ALSO, we're taking a little break over the Summer but will be back with you in September so hope to see you then.

I must confess, I've been quietly almost sobbing here - so many of you have been making the most gorgeous Summer themed cards using dies/embossing folders this past week or two. And I've known that this challenge theme was coming along and of course couldn't say peep. I do hope you'll have another go and join in with us!

Di
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Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'BBQ'

It's time again for a new fortnightly challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania - and the theme this time is 'BBQ'! I expect this may well cause some wry smiles, certainly here in the UK - given the rain we've been having. In fact, Len said I needed to add raindrops to my DT card :)

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (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.

Details of our sponsor can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

I dithered around for a while and even went so far as to purchase a digi for the princely sum of 99p (bargain!). But in the end I did a little search on the internet for 'punch art' ideas and then trawled right through my dies to see what I could fiddle round with and adapt to suit. This is the result:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.75" white card blank

- slightly smaller snippet of plain pale blue card stock for the background, which I built up before finally adding it to the card front

- a total of seven dies and lots of snippets of card, as follows 

- snippet of patterned green grass card, die cut using Marianne's 'Icicles' die (LR0135). Then layered strips of the positive and negative die cut one below the other right across the bottom of the image panel, with the icicles pointing upwards as grass

- snippet of black card from which I die cut the wheels (using my very smallest Spellbinders circles die) and the BBQ legs, using the trunk of a Memory Box 'Arboscello Tree', die cut twice

- snippets of two shades of orange card which I die cut using Penny Black's bow from the 'Whirl Wreath' set and I used the pieces which would normally be left over  to create the 'flames'. Then did a partial die cut from a teensy piece of black card for the BBQ lid's handle

- next, die cut the body of the BBQ, using a die approx. 6cm across, from the Tonic Studios Circle Layering set of dies and a snippet of Christmas (or BBQ!) red silk sheen mirri card - then using a trimmer sliced it in half

- die cut the sun from a snippet of yellow card, using a die from the Joy! Sun & Moon set

- die cut the cloud from a snippet of white card using MFT's 'Cloud Trio' set

- by now I had enough bits and pieces to play around with the design and so the next thing I did was to stamp the sentiment (with the aid of my Misti of course) in the top right hand corner using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a sentiment stamp from the Paper Smooches 'Summer Lovin' stamp set

- now it was time to assemble the little scene and I glued the sun in place partially covered by the die cut cloud. One reason I'd not yet stuck the blue panel to the card front was 'cos I was sure the cloud and sun would be a bit of a squeeze alongside the sentiment so I just overlapped the cloud in the top left corner and trimmed it straight from behind with scissors

- next I stuck the BBQ legs where I wanted them to be and then added the wheels, topping the black circles with grey ones, punched using eyes from the SU 'Owl' punch :)

- before assembling the BBQ body I added the handle to the lid, and the flames to the bottom part, using red line tape on the back of the pieces - then just stuck the two parts in place on the blue layer

- almost there, final touch was three brushed pewter Josy Rose nail heads - one in the centre of each wheel and one on the lid 'join/hinge'

This really was huge fun to make, albeit a bit fiddly - as well as the time spent working out which dies to use.

If you decide to make something similar, or even very different, using dies - my biggest tip of all is to look closely at the areas which are not part of the design of the end cut result. Those pieces which you would normally discard after cutting. It's amazing how many useful little shapes can be found, for example I was spoilt for choice with options for the flames:)

We'd love to see you over at Cuttlebug Mania, it's a great theme with plenty of scope and the challenge runs for two weeks.

Di
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