Sunday Snippets - Spellbinders 'JOY'

My snippets card this time uses a Spellbinders set of dies called 'Joy' (S4-1012) that has been patiently waiting for at least a year to have a first outing. I kept looking at it and putting it back as I knew it would be a challenge and a half:

I used:

- 5.75" x 4" white card blank, side opening

- die cut the main JOY part first to get a handle on what size background area would work. I used a snippets of Tonic pearlescent 'Majestic Gold' card

- then die cut a Tonic satin mirror 'Black Velvet' rectangle using a die from the Heffy Doodle set of A6 stitched rectangle dies - shame they closed shop as their stuff is/was lovely

- then used a snippet of the same 'Majestic Gold' card to back the black panel and glued them together

- next came the really fiddly part! I die cut all the additional bits from snippets found in the back of an ancient paper pad by Hot Off The Press called 'ForeverChristmas Cards' so that I could closely echo the image on the die set itself and also keep everything nicely toned together. As the snippet were paper, I backed them using some 'Stick It' double sided sheet and a 200gsm piece of white card

- used my baby Altenew die cutting machine to die cut the red poinsettias, green holly leaves, gold centres for the poinsettias and the striped (using paper from the same pack, yay!) inserts for the word JOY

- used a glue pen to add the poinsettias, gold centres and holly leaves onto the main die cut then glued it onto the panel front using two glue pens in different sizes for ease and speed (I did it that way as I would have splodged onto the black background if the image was already in place! I know myself too well)

- at that point I added the striped JOY pieces to the gold die cut. I later realised that I could have die cut the letters into the main gold part then inset the striped letters - but they look fine as they are, IMHO

- added the completed panel to the card front, using thin sticky strips 

- finally, dug out the last of my stash of Mai Flowers small adhesive pearls and added some teeny ones to the tips of some of the firtree bits

- went and had a lie down in a darkened room with a wet flannel over my face

I made two cards the same and have enough snippets in the pad to make a third one. However, this is one of those die sets that I might only ever use the once. I don't know what it is about Spellbinder dies but I've found the same with others in their more intricate sets. Sometimes, no matter HOW hard you faff around, the little pieces you pop on (the poinsettias are particularly bad) just won't line up onto the main die cut. Turning them round and round just made me dizzy until my head hurt. How hard can it be to actually do some precision design and production work? I found the same with their beautiful Christmas Reindeer set a few weeks ago. Sizzix dies can be very complicated, but I always feel that the alignment is really precise so it's worth the pain. Grrrr. Hops down from soap box, sorry to be a 'Moaning Minnie'!

I'd like to enter this card into:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge#68 - the Spellbinders 'JOY' set of dies was having a first outing, at long last!

Also Allsorts Challenge 806 - where the theme is 'Christmas'

I'm so happy that Allsorts will be a fortnightly challenge from December 20th. It's one of my favourite challenges and this gives me more time to make an entry to fit their chosen theme - although one can still enter under 'Anything goes'

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley continues to find and settle into some of the smallest spaces around the house. We now refer to the shower room off our bedroom as 'Dudley's Office' without thinking twice about it. I'll start charging him rent if I find him setting up a desk and laptop in there - small business or not - pun sort of intended! During the early hours of Thursday morning Len was woken up by someone beside the bed on his hind legs with his paws on the bed, ready to tap him awake. Seeing the anxious little face, he knew something was afoot and they both shot downstairs into the garden, where Dudley was promptly sick. Bless his little heart for asking to go out!! Bad me, I slept soundly though it all! He was absolutely fine when it was 'get up, it's a new day' time so we have no idea what that was about. 

We have a new Challenge #493 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will still be some gooodies left over from the Halloween 'trick or treating' haul in the tree house! When I saw Sarn trundling a wheel barrow full of Halloween treats I did wonder however we'd ever get though them all. So far, they're going down just fine and dandy!

Love from myself and Dudley, 

Sunday Snippets - 'Merry Merry' Christmas cards

My snippets card(s) today use some Penny Black Stickeroos that I'd already popped onto some gold pearlescent snippets. In the end I trimmed the gold off altogether, leaving just the images - and I made four cards in total, two of each design/image:

I used:

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

- a piece of green backing paper, which is covered in little pine tree branches, from the Honey Bee 'Make It Merry' paper pad - trimmed to just an eighth of an inch smaller all round than the card itself

- glued the background paper to the caerd front using Collall glue

- then die cut the corner sentiment using a NBUS die (found on eBay recently) called 'Merry Merry' from the Corner Concepts range by Die-Versions - I think the whole range is now discontinued, sigh. The card I used came from a whole bundle of snippets, tucked into a Tonic packet of pearlescent card called 'Red Velvet' 

- glued the sentiment onto the top left corner of the Penny Black Stickeroo image (both designs came from the 'Woodland Splendor' sheets - somehow I had two sheets!

 

- final step was to add the whole panel to the card front, using narrow strips of thin foam tape - finished!

NB The cards and images are exactly rectangular - I just wasn't positioned centrally to take the photos so they appear to taper off a bit at the right hand end!

I'd like to enter the first card, with the birdie on, into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #68 - HERE -  the 'Merry Merry' die was having a first outing

- Allsorts Challenge #805- HERE -  the theme is 'Magic of the Season' ie. Christmas 

Dudley Pupdate: We had quite a change of direction  on Halloween this year! Although we had everything ready - we actually left our hallway in darkness and just lurked! Len was remotely operating all the lights etc. IF anyone did decide to call. However,  not one single person came to the door. It might seem a lot of trouble for nothing but it actually achieved the aim, which was to see if people would bypass houses that weren't decorated, something that is always publicised around here as being the polite thing to do. In recent years the kids have been getting older (and greedier) and we decided to see if we call time on what was becoming much less fun than it used to be. So, little Dudley was fed earlier than usual that evening, much to his delight. His world seems to revolve around food and cuddles - oddly enough, he really has to be coaxed out for walkies. Other dogs I've known used to go scatty just at the sight of their lead!

Remember, the results from Challenge #491 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Do come and play with us in the Snippets Playground - the Tree House is loaded with leftover Halloween goodies! Some of the spooky eyeballs have popping candy in - not tried one of those yet!

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - 'Clarity Treescape'

Did you remember to change your clocks overnight - over here it's one hour back - ie 'Fall - back'. Easy way to remember it!

The October Rudolph Days challenge is well under way and my snippets card this week is a Christmas one so that I can play along:

I used:

- white square 5.75" x 5.75" card blank, side opening, tent style

- a snippet of satin effect silver matt mirror card - die cut with a NBUS die by Clarity called 'Treescape Aperture'

- then cut the frame around the die cut trees using a Heffy Doodle die from their 'Stitched Squares' set of dies - sadly now discontinued as they closed down

- added a square snippet of deep purple-ish blue matt mirror card to the back of the trees die cut panel, covering both the top and bottom parts of the scene, using a glue pen 

- next, die cut the snow bank part of the 'Treescape' from an A4 sheet of very pretty sparkly white card stock that arrived here a day or two ago - thank you again to a lovely friend!

- glued the relevant pieces of the snowy bank into the apertures 

- die cut a sentiment using the Tonic Studios 'Peace Strip' double die set (actual sentiment only) and snippets of the deep blue card, twice. Glued them one on top of the other and then snipped the 'tails' to suit and glued it in place at the bottom right of the card

- added an IO little die cut 'cardinal' for a pop of extra colour - and also to hide a slight blip in the die cutting!

- finally, used thin sticky strips to raise the Treescape panel for dimension and stuck it in place - all done! 

Sorry, the snippets disappeared into the bin before I thought to take a photo! 

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #67 HERE - the Clarity 'Treescape' die is NBUS

Allsorts Week #804 HERE under the 'Anything Goes' theme

And, after all that, I almost forgot - October's Rudolph Days Challenge - HERE!

Dudley Pupdate: This coming week is Halloween of course and we're all prepared. Dudley has his little spooky neckerchief chosen in readiness. One thing I'm worried about is that he's become quite reactive to outside noises - people smile when they see who's been doing the 'welcome barking', but, if it becomes too much then I can see us cutting things short, once the little ones have done the rounds. Which will leave us with a whole load of candy, which neither of us really eat. Maybe I'll just make up cello bags of treats and lob them from an upstairs window ....... or leave them with Sarn in the Playground stash of goodies!

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

Hope to see you on the swings - weather and Halloween trick or treat callers permitting!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Rudolph Days Challenge - September 2024

I truly thought this entry would never happen - breaking a really long run of joining in with the Rudolph Days Challenge. However, here's my card, last minute, for September's Rudolph days challenge:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" square white card blank, side opening

- a piece of the same white card stock. trimmed to 4.75" x 4.75" and set aside whilst I did the patterned layer

- for the patterned layer I used a very pretty pink piece of snowflake paper from Whimsy's 'Blurry Flurries' paper pack, die cut using a 4.5" x 4.5" die from the NBUS Penny Black 'snowflake stitch frames' set of dies

- then added the pink patterned layer to the white piece, before gluing the panel to the card front

- for the sentiment 'NOEL' word I used dies from the Creative Expressions 'Stacked Noel Layering Die' set - cutting three layers in solid white, solid black and then detailed white - and glued them together in that order (the set also comes with a backing 'shadow' die but I didn't feel it needed that)

- glued the sentiment onto the pink paper layer 

- added a double cut and layered white snowflake, using the same set of dies, on top of the letter 'O'

- final touch - a single little diamante gem in the centre of the snowflake just to add a tiny touch of sparkle - finished! 

It was a first outing for the 'NOEL' die set so I'm linking into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #66 HERE!

Phew, that was touch and go, I need a lie down! And, being a bit loopy, I did make two cards exactly the same! I might hunt out bigger diamantes and check if a slightly larger size would be better in the middle of the snowflake.

Sunday Snippets - 'hello'

A few weeks ago I fell in love with a die set, showcased by Donna HERE. After searching online, and even thinking of (tedious) ways to make a similar card without a die, I did resort to an unbranded die set in the end (one is offer right now over in the Snippets Playground!) and here we go:

I used:

- white 5.75" x 4.25" card blank, tent style

- a snippet of Tonic satin effect matt mirror card in 'Black Velvet' - die cut with an unbranded 'Hexagon Cover Plate' die from Amazon (I can send you the direct link - just email me) 

- glued the black die cut to the card front - bear in mind I made two at once - following our Val's advice when she recently made her two beauties HERE 

- then I chose a couple of sheets of patterned paper from the 'Dovecraft 'Back to Basics - Monochrome' paper pack' - I do so LOVE that paper pack!

- die cut the patterned sheets of monochrome  paper and glued the infill pieces to each of the two cards - flipping between the two

- used the fall out black centres in the empty middle space on each card - glue pen again

- then die cut a snippet of Tonic pearlised 'Red Velvet' card, twice per card

using double layered Heffy Doodle 'Hello Shadow' die cuts (bought in their closing down sale, sigh) 

- die cut the 'shadows' using the same die set and a vellum snippet

- glued the sentiment layers together, glued them to the vellum and then onto the black hexagon in the centre of the card

- finished!

I'd like to enter my card(s), as they are a pair, into the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #66 HERE - the hexagon die set is NBUS 

- Allsorts Week #800 HERE - the theme this week is 'anything goes' Congratulations the Brenda and her team - 800 challenges - wow!

Dudley Pupdate: Oh boy, has it been WET here. One stubborn little pooch has at times had to be physically dumped into the back garden for 'ahem'. He survives and once dried off with a good towelling - and yup, he always has a fight with the towel to show it that he IS the boss - things calm down. Until the next session. It's exhausting!!

It was 'worming pill' day on Friday - do you know how far a Havanese can spit a pill he doesn't want to take? It's pretty impressive!

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

Hope to see you on the swings - weather permitting.

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - 'Smile'

Apparently it takes less muscles and also causes less wrinkles if you smile rather than frown! That's today's 'useless piece of information' folks!

It's been a weird week -  and time just seemed to run away - so my snippets card was made late, in next to no time  ..... once I'd found the snippets:

The leftover snippets of the black velvet and the patterned card rectangles were literally just slivers - close call!

I used: 

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank - right edge opening

- 5.25" x 4" snippet of 'black velvet' card stock - I save every teeny little scrap in the packet and it's never far from my reach!

- 5" x 3.75" snippet of DCWV 'Quince Blossom' card stock, saved in the back of the pad and just enough to make the patterned panel - very tactile as the white flowers are raised and almost cry out to be stroked. It's a beautiful 12" x 12" paper pad that I really should use more! I think I won it a lot of years ago from Allsorts Challenge if memory serves me correctly

- glued the two layers onto the card blank

- next was the sentiment as I let the papers do most of the work

- I used a two layer Poppy Stamps die called 'Freestyle Smile' - bought in a clearance sale a little while ago

- used a snippet of the black velvet card and a snippet of vellum, from a little oblong dish in my filing tray beside me to die cut the sentiment and shadow backing

- glued the pieces together using a glue pen

- adhered the finished sentiment panel to the card front, using Stix 2 micro dots - which worked like a dream!

- and that was it - finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #66 HERE as the Poppy Stamps 'Smile' pair of dies was having a first outing.

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge #799, under the 'Anything Goes' rule.

Dudley Pupdate: Autumn is knocking at the door - but Summer isn't yet over and we've had some very warm days. Lately, whether for coolness or to just hide away for peace and quiet, Dudley has taken to having several snoozes, day or night, in the shower room. We've had a few scary moments if I slip out of bed for a quick 'visit'! We often refer to Dudley as the silent ghost and it sure spooks you out to see a sleepy little white dog sliding past you in the middle of the night! No doubt, he will find another favourite spot before too long . I hope, it's most unnerving to say the least - he doesn't even stop to say 'Hello'!!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #486 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 - 'for you'

I wanted to make a few 'for you' cards to enclose with Playground prizes - this is one of them:

I used:

- 4.75" x 4.75" square pale ivory linen card blank, side opening

- the plain reverse of a whole sheet of paper from a K & Company pad of  'photo matting' papers (the papers are 4.75" x 6.75" for quick photo mounting) - probably the very first paper pad I ever bought many, many years ago - trimmed to 4.5" square 

- a whole sheet of patterned paper from the same paper pad, die cut to just over 4" square, using a die from a set of dies by The Works (now discontinued)

- I then glued the plain 'frame' and the patterned paper square onto the card front

- the reverse plain side of the paper left from die cutting the front toned well with the patterned paper so I die cut the sentiment words using a die called 'for you' by Alex Syberia and then used the 'shadow part of the die to cut the background for the words from snippets of vellum

- glued the parts together then glued the assembled sentiment panel onto the card front - finished!

I made three cards in the same design using different papers - and that was the end of the paper pad, after all this time!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge#66 - the Alex Syberia 'for you' sentiment die was having a first outing

Dudley Pupdate: Thursday was a fun day for Dudley as it was my Birthday and he absolutely loves to be involved in the opening of cards and presents. Each card was closely inspected then given his 'nose dab' of approval!

Earlier in the week he was certainly NOT so overjoyed as it was time for a grooming session and the application of 'nasties' repellent down his back. He ran and hid but Len hunted him out and the little monkey was insistent on bringing Honka Duck to the grooming table! No way was he letting go of his best pal:

It was nigh on impossible not to practically cry with laughter - he really is such a little pickle!

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #489 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will be cake in the tree house!

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - Streamlined Sprig

1Not too long ago I spotted one of my super-enablers (our much loved Darnell) using a die set that I fell in love with and HAD to have. Fortunately, despite being a USA Altenew product, it's stocked by a UK supplier. Here's my card and the leftover snippets:

I used:

- white card blank, trimmed to 5'5" x 4.25", tent style

- a piece of the same white cardstock - I use Craft UK card blanks ( just under 6" square) and cut them down to size for most of my card blanks then, when I want matching front panels, I use half a card (ie. the front or back) to play with .... and keep the other piece for the future of course

- die cut the white panel using a couple of dies from the Spellbinders 'Hemstitch Rectangles to form the edging pattern, I used the 'Venise Lace' set of dies as it looks a little Art Deco to me, then set it to one side

- next came the flower spray - I used a gorgeous set of Altenew dies called 'Streamlined Sprigs' to die cut the main stem and outlines from a snippet of Tonic 'Black Velvet' card stock

- next, used a couple of snippets of Lindy's Magical Shakers pieces, made way back in April, to die cut the flowers and the leaf

- glued the outline and the flowers and leaves together

- time to stamp the sentiment, using a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' inkpad and a sentiment stamps from Woodware's 'Deco Sayings' set - a real favourite of mine

- used the floral sprig to position the sentiment using a medium sized Misti then stamped the sentiment in the bottom left hand corner

- then added the Altenew floral sprig using glue pens

- added a slightly smaller piece of thin foam sheet behind the front panel

- glued the front panel to the card front - I used Collall All Purpose glue for this and the previous step

- finished! 

You may wonder what I do with so many unwanted 6" x 6" envelopes when I merrily chop down the UK Craft card blanks. I do chop them up to refill my 5.75" x 4" 'pad' of paper slips - and also give Len a wadge for his little 'notes to self' that we all seem to do. Mindlessly chopping is truly very therapeutic!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #66 - HERE - the Altenew 'Streamlined Sprig' die set had its first outing

- Allsorts Challenge 797# - HERE - under the 'Anything goes' option. The proper theme is Autumn Colours - nice one ladies!

Dudley Pupdate: We've had a fairly normal week here - whatever 'normal' is of course! It's rained, a LOT! So Dudley (the water hater supreme) has resisted venturing out, a LOT. We've gently 'toed him into the rain'. A bit when he was obviously crossing his legs and also when clenching his nether regions! Sometimes, I think a 'normal' dog who skips round in the rain and loves puddles would be great - but, not half as funny as Dudley 'Rain Avoidance Antics' I suspect! I also suspect that Dudley would hang on for the toilet when it's raining until his eyes pop out!

Remember, the results from Challenge #485 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Do come and play with us in the Snippets Playground - the more, the merrier! Dudley is willing to hold one end of the skipping rope!

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - Van Gogh's World washi tape

An advertisement popped up on either Facebook or Instagram, totally randomly, for washi tape. So, as you do, I bought the box that was advertised as it features one of my very favourite painters. I had myself some real fun making up a batch of washi tape panels, all were made using snippets of plain white and white/pale ivory linen card leftovers. The card is trimmed away so any white or cream background card would do really. Then I rustled up some cards a few days later, this is the main one:

I used:

- white DL card blank, tent style

- used a snippet of Tonic irridescent mirror 'Inca Gold' card to die cut the sentiment using the MFT Die Versions Corner Concepts 'Happy Birthday' die

- the panel I chose to use is from the IEBEE company, based in China, and it's the widest washi tape in the 'Van Gogh's World' set of 36 washi tapes at three inches wide - more about the tapes below **

- made sure of the sides were trimmed nice and straight and then glued the die cut Happy Birthday to the back of the top left corner using a meduim nibbed glue pen

- just needed to place the panel with the sentiment onto the card base to work out how much to trim from the right hand end

- trimmed the end and stuck the panel onto the card front using thin sticky pads and the usual glue stick trick

- finished card number one!

- on a roll, I made three more following the same principle (photos are below) - super quick to make and I love the results

** A little bit more about the washi tape itself. The box contained 36 rolls of washi tape for £18 - that's 50 pence per three metre reel of tape! The number of rolls does vary depending on the design (they have FAR too many to choose from, all of them gorgeous) as does the price of course, It did take little while to arrive here but the packaging is fabulous, a really sturdy display box. Some of the tapes are gilded to add to the glamour! For accents I did sometimes add Altenew's narrow gold washi tape at the edge(s) BTW. The Van Gogh washi tape came from IEBEE and this is the link to the store home page - I'm not affiliated in any way, just a very happy customer. They have a huge variety of journalling and card making goodies - I particularly like the 'Monet's Garden' washi tape set as well as the 'Butterfly Garden' and know that Liz would love their 'Sunny Blooms' washi tape, loads of gorgeous sunflowers there! The tape is a joy to use and sticks really well. Mind you, I'll have to live until a very ripe old age to stand any chance of using even one box of it it up! But, at 50p per roll - who can complain, not me for sure. BTW, postage is free over £40 - I did pay £3.99 postage but, considering what I actually got, it was still money very well spent.

Here are the other cards I've made so far, all using the same basic design but more than one strip of washi and edged using Altenew's narrow gold washi tape:

My leftover gold snippets from the sentiments - man, I am SO mean with mirror card and keep the tiniest scrap! 

 

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #67 HERE - the Van Gogh washi tape is NBUS needless to say!

- Allsorts Week #796 HERE - the card has a sentiment and also is 'anything goes' if my sentiment isn't enough

Dudley Pupdate: I haven't had a chance to video Dudley spinning for his bedtime treat - sorry. Right now he's absolutely full of beans the minute we stir in the morning - leaping all over us when it's time to get up and play! I sometimes wonder if he gets lonely and is sitting beside the bed literally willing us to wake up! He usually goes out into the garden for a quick wee, then does several celebratory zoomies ............... before coming back indoors to see what there might be for breakfast! I swear, he's ruled by his tummy!!

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

Hope to see you on the swings - my mojo went off for a fairly prolonged walkabout recently but seems to be back and firing on all cylinders at the moment - hooray!

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Rudolph Days Challenge - August 2024

Crumbs, August already - apparently some shops are already stocking their shelves with Christmas goodies, mostly chocklit of course, perleease!!

This is my offering for both the Rudolph Days Challenge and also the Christmas Kickstart Challenge - two Monthly Challenges I try very hard not to miss: - plus two other favourites:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" pale ivory linen card blank, side opening

- the stamped image was in a Gummiapan (UK Meissen, I think) sale a year or so ago, no name but to me he's 'Skiing Reindeer' - imaginative huh?! I bought three very similar different reindeer images and they too also come with matching dies, they cost me very little and will make an appearance on here ASAP

- stamped the image onto a snippet of pale ivory linen card on the plain reverse for smoother blending, using a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- coloured the image using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils and Sansodor blending solution and then die cut it - using the matching die. I made a little jig of the image for best placement!

- tickled the bauble on the reindeer's antlers using Clear 'Wink of Stella' and put it to one side

- next, took a background 'snowy hillside' piece of card from the KanBan 'Christmas Wobblers' backgrounds pack and die cut it using a 5" x 5" Heffy Doodle 'Stitched Squares' die - now that I knew where the ski-ing deer should be positioned

- next step was to trim a piece of Tonic pearlescent 'Red Velvet' card down to 5.25" x 5.25" square to back the 'scene' panel

- glued the red panel and the scene together and then glued them onto the card blank

- added the sentiment, already made in two layers, in my favourite Tonic Christmas sentiments pot - using a  glue pen

- the final touch is the reindeer in action! I backed him with a blank die cut for stability and then added him to the scene using thin sticky pads and the usual glue stick trick whilst placing him

- made two whilst at it of course! Finished.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

- Rudolph Days Challenge - August 2024

- Christmas Kickstart #89 - Animal Antics

- Darnell's NBUS Challenge #65 - the Gummiapan reindeer stamp and matching die were NBUS

And last but never least:

Allsorts Challenge #795 - Delightful Animals

I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see again properly with my new glasses whilst making these cards. But the very best thing is to be able to pick up a magazine or book with smallish print and be able to read it properly. Bliss!

See you on Sunday for a new Snippets Challenge!

Sunday Snippets - Ruby Wedding Anniversary

A very special friend  has just celebrated her 40th/Ruby Wedding Anniversary and I wanted to make her and her hubby a card to perhaps keep so I pulled out some of the trickier and more testing techniques in my paper crafting skills and made this:

I used:

- 5" x 5" white card blank - scored then creased down the middle of one piece to form the basis for an easel card

- 5" x 5" piece of the same card for the front panel, to be added onto the easel once decorated

- Tonic satin mirror card in 'Scarlet Organza', die cut using a 5" square die from Heffy Doodle's 'Stitched Squares' set of dies  - twice, one for the card front and one for the base then set aside

- Tonic 'Silver Damask' card, trimmed to 4.75" square, twice, as before then set aside

- then dry embossed a snippet of white card using an X-Cut 'Polka Hearts' folder and set it to one side

- I know, a lot of stuff is set to one side for later but that's often the way my mind works - build up the card in my imagination, make the different pieces and then assemble it 

- time to finally make the 'shaker element' for the main card panel

- I used a die, again from Heffy Doodle's closing down sale, from their 'Stitched Hearts' set of dies to cut an aperture in a piece of set aside 'Silver Damask' card then backed it with a snippet of acetate - I used red line tape for that part

- taped right around the back of the heart aperture edge using thin foam tape

- filled the shaker 'hollow' using a mix of  Heffy Doodle 'Red Velvet' and also Lucy's Little Things 'Platinum' shaker mixes

- removed the top layer from the strips of foam tape around the back of the heart aperture and gently placed the snippet of embossed hearts card as a backing (that was only half an inch at most bigger than the shaker element) 

- then ran thin foam tape right around the edges of the shaker element panel and popped it onto the pre-die cut piece of red satin mirror card - almost finished the front panel!

- die cut the numbers 40 from the same red satin card using a set of Cuttlebug 'Olivia' dies - pre-loved by a lovely friend and now loved by me! Added the numbers to the bottom right hand corner of the front panel and put it to one side ready for later 

- then made up the red and silver damask panel for the base portion of the easel card and set that aside as well - tell you what, 'ASIDE' was getting a bit crowded by now but I had a plan!

- at this point, as it was standing room only in 'ASIDE' I added the base panel onto the easel card base using glue

- then adhered the front panel to the 'standing up' portion of the easel card  using red line tape

- needed something to prop the easel up with of course, so I die cut a 'Happy Anniversary' sentiment twice from the same red satin mirror card and layered them together, for this I used a Creative Expressions die called 'Shadowed Sentiments - Happy Anniversary' and a glue pen

- die cut the sentiment backing from vellum and adhered it to the back of the red mirror card sentiment before - once again, putting it to one side whilst I worked measurements for the actual panel for the 'prop up' portion

- decided to keep the theme of red satin mirror card and the silver damask and used a 'STAX Fishtails' die by MFT to die cut the backing layer - the height was fine and I just altered the width to suit by replacing and locking in the straight end of the 'fishtail' die before running it marginally through a die cutting machine

- gingerly trimmed down a snippet of silver damask card to match the pattern above as much as possible in order before gluing it to the red panel prop then adding the assembled sentiment to the panel

- added the whole 'prop up' panel to the card front, using thin strips of foam tape and, as always these days, a few swipes of glue stick to allow some movement upon first contact 

- and that, was it - finished! Then I lay down in a darkened room with a wet flannel over my face to recover!

I did so enjoy making this card, but the battle was between the heat and also I was running on non-prescription specs still. I always say though, I'm more of a paper and card engineer than a real artist. Which is why I do so enjoy the precision of making a card like this one - particularly when it's for someone extra special. 

Long story, best kept short about the eyes, but it appears that the optician didn't send off for the frames (ironically they're 'frameless' glasses) for a further 10 days after my appointment! I now finally have the glasses and they're great! Light as a feather and at last I can see 👀 the full benefits of cataract surgery. 

Also, on the 'up' side - I had a final check with Tom the Eye Doc and he's very pleased with the results from cataract surgery and my new prescription readings. Being blunt, he was given a bit of a sows ear to begin with, due to other vision issues, so I never expected a silk purse. He's done his utmost with massive improvements from where my sight was at and I think we got 'soft suede' and that's good enough for me! Three cheers for Tom the Eye Doc!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #65 HERE

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge #795, # under the 'Anything Goes' rule.

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley has a pre-bedtime treat each evening (OK, and perhaps one or two during the day). His bedtime treat is his favourite and for years now he's done his special 'party piece' to earn it. Len shows him the treat first and says 'spin!'. And little Dudley spins repeatedly, using all four paws like a whirling dervish right across the landing from our bedroom to my craft room  doorway. Len follows him then pops the treat onto a side unit beside my desk and I give it to Dudley, with a special cuddle. His record is seven full spins - always done at great speed so that he's almost a little white spinning blur! I would so love to capture it on video so you could see him in action - that's a challenge I've now set myself!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #486 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 - Wedding Wishes

It's very rare for me to have reason to make Wedding cards - this is for a lovely blogging friend who got married earlier this week:

I used:

- 5.75" x 5.75" white card blank, side opening

- a whole piece of 'Burnished Rose' card from Craft Perfect's 'Moonlight & Rose' - a very pretty shade of pale rose in satin mirror finish (even though it looks pale gold in every photo I've taken!) - trimmed to just slightly smaller than the card front

- a whole piece of 'Frosted Silver' card from the same pad. trimmed to just slightly smaller than the 'Burnished Rose' piece of card

- a piece of white card, dry embossed using an X-Cut 'Polka Hearts' folder and trimmed to just slightly smaller than the silver layer

- then glued all three layers onto the card front and set to making the embellishments

- die cut the heart twice from more 'Burnished Rose' card using a Tattered Lace die called 'Filigree Heart' - to my delight the intricate little pieces stayed firmly in place so I just glued both layers together and set them aside

- next I used a snippet of the 'Frosted Silver' card to die cut two linked Wedding bands before glueing them together and setting them aside - the die is unbranded 

- finally, using snippets of 'Burnished Rose' card I die cut the sentiment words twice and layered them together. Both dies are Heffy Doodle ones called appropriately enough 'wedding' and 'wishes' (psst, look closely enough and you'll probably see that the fonts are different)

- all that was left was to place the die cuts where I wanted them and then glue them in place. The heart itself was lifted up using thin sticky pads

This is a gorgeous paper pad and I squirrel every little snippet in a 'halved envelope' pouch inside the back cover - hence finding the ones I used for the sentiment and rings.

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #65 - the heart, rings and sentiment dies were all having a first outing

Dudley Pupdate: He's such a rascal! We had a food delivery mid-week and Dudley was doing his sentry duty malarky with Honks in his mouth at the top of the stairs whilst the delivery driver was unloading. I turned from my desk and said - 'Go on then, say hello Dudley' - and off he bounced down the stairs as if to say 'I haf permission to show you my favourite duck'!! And presented the driver with his beloved Honka! Sob, SO cute. I think the delivery driver would have adopted him on the spot given a chance.

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #487 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - the more, the merrier!

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx