SNIPPETS & RUDOLPH DAY CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday .. .. I hope you are all making the most of the lovely sunshine .. .. after all who knows how long it will last?  

On Saturday I shared a Christmas card I had made and mentioned at the time that it would be good to make the same card but in different colours .. .. so that is what I did on Sunday and I finally have chance to post them here .. .. 

These used:

Images:  Hero Arts "K5620" and "H5629"

Sentiment:  Penny Black "30316" Season's Gifts

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pads:  Rose Bud, Teal Zeal, Toffee Crunch, Pear Tart & Pistachio (the green card ended up with two colours on it for some reason)

X-Cut Heart Punch

Pearls

My Trusty Sewing Machine

Not sure which colour I like the most.

So I thought I would share my makes in the Rudolph Day Challenge and also in Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge where we are encouraged to use up our leftovers.  I was able to use up some of the white card snippet mountain and a few glitter card snippets so I was well chuffed.

The Rudolph Day Challenge is a great prompt for us to get ahead of our Christmas makes.  You know .. .. those cards we end up making in a last minute panic and flurry come November/December (well I say "we" .. .. but I definitely mean "me").  But this year it is going to be VERY different!!  I am going to be super organised .. .. she says with her fingers tightly crossed!!.

These four cards have bumped my Christmas card total up into double figures .. .. woo hoo!! .. ..  and I now have a grand total of 11 cards sitting waiting in my Christmas stock box.  Not a huge amount I know, but better than I have manged in previous years .. .. and it is still early days!

Anyway . . . off to go and cross some work of that "crafty do list" next.

Catch you soon

THIS WEEK'S FESTIVE MAKE

Hi Everyone

I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

Isn't the lovely burst of sunshine we have been treated to a welcome sight?  Well apart from making the windows look a bit like they haven't seen any TLC in a while!!  Eeekkk!

Certainly my brides who got married last week were treated to lovely sunshine on their wedding days.  Who would have thought February weddings could be blessed with such beautiful weather.

Apologies for my quiet blog.  It has been all work and no play this week .. .. but I hadn't made my Christmas make for this week so decided I had better crack on and get one done .. .. and here it is:

This used:

Images:  Hero Arts "K5620" and "H5629"

Sentiment:  Penny Black "30316" Season's Gifts

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad "Sweet Plum"

X-Cut Heart Punch

Pearls

My Trusty Sewing Machine

I really enjoyed making this card and now want to make it in lots of different colours! But for now this is Christmas Card number 7 into my stock box.

I am hopeful that this week is going to be a bit less pressured and that I will have chance to do a bit more posting.  We shall see!

MAKE CARDS TODAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday .. .. and happy Valentine's Day.

I hope some love will come your way in one form or another today.

It has been a busy wedding week here which has seen me completing lots of venue stationery.  I  have two brides getting married this week.  One tomorrow and another on Saturday so definitely lots of love in the air for those happy couples.  Let's hope there will be some of the wonderful sunshine in the air too that has been making a bit of an appearance this week.

So nothing has been made especially for my blog since the weekend .. .. but what I can share are a few of my makes that went into the current edition of Make Cards Today  magazine which is now on sale.  

There was a bit of a cute bird theme running through the projects I was asked to work on.  The first here was part of a decoupage commission and the others were part of a stamping commission.

Hopefully the weather will be nice enough for me to take Mum for a walk out later.  We are already looking forward to the spring weather appearing as walks out have been rather chilly for her these past few months .. .. .. no matter how many layers we dress her in.  Someone suggested her having a little hot water bottle under her coat so we might have to try that!

To make her smile come meal time I made her a little cottage pie in a heart shaped dish last night.  That can be cooking away whilst we put the world to rights later.

So enjoy your day everyone and I will catch you again soon.

GUEST DESIGNER FOR CHRISTMAS KICKSTART CHALLENGE #4

Hi Everyone

Happy Tuesday!

Here super bright and early today with a scheduled post .. .. .. and wearing a little elf costume if you will!!

Yes, the lovely Jo, owner of the Christmas Kickstart Challenge, asked me a few weeks ago if I would be a guest designer this fortnight .. .. for the theme "Have a Heart".  Luckily there are quite a few hearts in various guises in my craft pod, so I was more than happy to accept Jo's kind offer.

This is the creation I have put together in the hope of inspiring others to take part:

This used:  Image:  Penny Black "2754H" Xmas Kiss

Sentiment:  Hobby Art Clear Stamp Set "CS059D" Winter Wishes

Backing Papers:  First Edition Papers "All That Glitters"
Poppy Stamps Die Set:  Stitched Market Tag

ProMarkers

Chalk

Ribbon

Pearls

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is it!

If you fancy playing along and adding  to your Christmas Card box nice and early, then head over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge and remember to "Have a Heart".

It will make a change for me to me looking for your hearts LOL!!

Jo has also included the option of you using Sketch Number 30 from my collection .. .. which looks like this:

but this isn't compulsory.  It is just an added option.

So there we go.  I hope you get chance to take part .. .. and thank you Jo for asking me to be an Elf for the next fortnight. 

I am so pleased your challenge is proving to be so popular.

Have fun everyone .. .. and in the meantime that is Christmas card number 6 into my stock box!

BLEEDING ART TISSUE TECHNIQUE

Hi Everyone

Happy Saturday .. .. I hope your weekend has got off to a good start.

I have a lovely blog friend called Pauline (though as she doesn't have a blog herself I suppose you would call her an "email friend") .. .. but for quite a number of years now we have shared emails.  Not lots .. .. just one special big one in the period between Christmas and New Year.  It is where we discuss things that have happened since our last emails, how our Christmas has been and our hopes and dreams for the coming year.

Pauline enjoys going to workshops and one she was hoping to visit this year will be run by Eileen Godwin.  Not a lady I have come across during my crafty journey (so many fantastic people I still need to discover) .. .. but boy oh boy was I pleased that Pauline had mentioned Eileen and sent me a link to her blog "Eileen's Crafty Zone".  (Thanks again Pauline XXX).

I watched some of Eileen's many You Tube videos and particularly enjoyed one featuring the "Bleeding Art Tissue Technique".

All fired up I was ready to have "just a quick play" and rushed to the craft pod armed with tissue paper .. .. but sadly my tissue paper wasn't the right sort.  Mine was of the "non-bleed" variety so did absolutely nothing .. .. but an internet search found me the right sort and I ordered a pack asap! 

It arrived earlier this week but unfortunately there was no time to play .. .. .. to be honest there was no time today either but I just couldn't wait any longer .. .. and this is what I made:

This used:

Images:  Stampendous! -  "P107" Agapanthus Cluster
A very old wooden script background stamp with no markings
Scrapberrys Stencil "Petals Pattern"
Sentiment:  Hunkydory Die Set "Framed With Love"
Butterfly:  Memory Box Dies "Moonlight Butterfly & Kaleidoscope Butterfly"
Distress Ink:  Bundled Sage
Memento Ink:  London Fog
Crystal Glamour Dust

Bleeding Tissue Paper
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

Obviously not as good as Eileen's but for a first play I don't think I did too bad.  Next time I think I need to get things "a little bit less wet" although I do like how some of the colours have mixed together.

I definitely feel lots of play sessions coming on (when the other work allows it) .. .. and my sheets of tissue are certainly going to go a long, long way as you don't use much at all!

This technique is definitely going to be good for using up some of those boxes of white card snippets!!  But I now feel I would like more stencils and silhouette stamps!!  LOL!!

Anyway, that is me for today.

Hopefully I will find time to throw a few snippets together tomorrow.

CHRISTMAS KICKSTART CHALLENGE

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday!

Another week has disappeared super fast .. .. .. and it has been wedding work all the way!  Hence no time to make anything for my blog unfortunately.

But I had better get my Christmas make for this week done smartish .. .. otherwise the week will be gone and a new years resolution will be broken .. .. and we can't have that happening so early into the new year can we?!?!?

So here it is .. .. .. all ready for taking over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme for this fortnight is "Festive Felines" .. .. ..

This used:

Image:  Digistamp Boutique "Large Christmas Cats" (very sadly no longer trading boo hoo!!!)

Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "Zipty Do"

Distress Inks:  Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood for a watercoloured sky
ProMarkers
White Embossing Powder
Crystal Glamour Dust
Gems
Snowflake stamp with no name .. .. but a favourite that never gets put away.  It has sat on my desk for years being a Christmas present that my Nieces bought me 

and that is it!  Christmas card number 5 into the box. Woo hoo!  I must admit I am really enjoying making Christmas cards in a more relaxed manner.

Hoping to catch you again over the weekend ... have a good one everyone!!

I DON'T ALWAYS SEW STRAIGHT

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good Saturday ahead of hopefully a good Sunday too!

So January is done and dusted in the blink of an eye and we are into February already!  I hope the whole year isn't going to go this fast.

We have been lucky here snow wise so far and have missed out on it completely .. .. though the other day when I went to Mum's I turned a corner and the road and pavements were fine but then a few hundred yards later I was met by snow on the pavements and trees.  How weird .. .. but I guess it has to stop and start somewhere! 

Don't the trees look beautiful all covered in frost!  Even those pesky cobwebs I walk into in the garden suddenly look amazing and make you appreciate just how much hard work they must be to create.

No frost today though .. .. just really cold temperatures .. .. just perfect for staying snuggled indoors and cracking on with some of that wedding work and a quick play with my Oxide Inks to produce this paper pieced creation:

This used::

Image:  Penny Black "3865K" Gossamer
Sentiment: Penny Black "30-297" Sprinkles and Smiles
Backing Papers:  Docrafts - Forever Friends Kraft Notes
Distress Oxide Ink Pad:  Faded Jeans
Distress Ink Pad:  Worn Lipstick
First Edition:  Torn Edge Nesting Dies
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Ribbon
Glass seed beads
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is it!

All finished and ready for entering into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for February where the theme is "anything goes" as always .. .. but with the optional theme of flowers!

Catch you again soon and stay safe and warm.

TEENY TINY TUESDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well .. .. pretty cold no-doubt if you are a UK resident!  Brrrr!!!

A really quick post from me .. .. which to be fair I should have posted earlier today .. .. but life is super busy at the moment and each day seems to be lasting about an hour!!  Where is time going?!?!?

I was looking at the calendar and suddenly thought how come I only have two cards in the Christmas box if January is just about over!  So to make sure I am track I added more to the box using one of my favourite techniques .. .. the inlaid die technique .. .. and the die I love to use to do it!

So here we go .. .. just one picture because two teeny tiny 3.5" cards were misbehaving and didn't want to pose nicely and there was no time for messing about today .. .. but Christmas cards 3 & 4 are in the box!   They might be tiny but they still count .. ..

These used:

Memory Box Die "Pine Border Outline" Die
X-Cut Mini Sentiment Die:  Merry & Bright
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Green with black flock paper to make lovely textured trees
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today .. .. super late and wondering if we are going to wake up to snow!!

THANK YOU MISS DI xx

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

A special day today because there is a great blog hop happening organised by the lovely Darnell as a thank you to our fantastic friend and playground boss .. .. Miss Di.

Some of you may remember I paid homage a couple of weeks ago when I explained how Di had made the brave decision to take over the Snippets Playground from me seven years ago .. .. and boy oh boy what a fantastic job she has made of it.

The most fabulous, generous and friendly person you will ever have the pleasure to meet and someone who deserves to know just how honoured we all feel to have her in our lives.  (I did write blogging lives .. . but that just didn't look right LOL!!)

Darnell has been arranging a blog hop, which went live today, for us all to post a creation by way of a thank you for Di's tireless efforts in keeping the playground mob under control.

I knew just the stamp set I was going to use .. ..  a very old one from Docrafts called "Wellington" .. .. and here is the finished creation:

I am running with my little creation to Pixie's Snippets Playground as everything is a snippet apart from the card base.  Even the pink bow was tied and sitting in my snippet ribbon drawer waiting to be used. 

I am also linking up to Darnell's post where all the cards that have been created by Di's friends and playmates are on show.  

Thank you Di for everything you have done with the challenge over the last 7 years it is a pleasure to know you .. .. ..  and also thank you Darnell for organising the thank you Di blog hop.  I hope everyone who knows Di gets chance to play along .. .. even if you haven't had chance to play along in the playground for a while.

No snippets from me last Sunday as Mr Heart and I were at a Wedding Fayre but more about that another day.  Today is all about Di!  xx

CHRISTMAS KICKSTART - CHALLENGE #2

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

As you can probably tell from my lack of posts this week the weddings for this year (and next) are already getting underway and I have been busy making samples for couples I met at the fayre the other Sunday .. .. as well as getting a batch of invites finished ready for collecting at the weekend.

Is it just me or does Christmas feel like a lifetime ago already? 

But busy or not, I am determined to keep my Christmas card promise going and have made a creation this week for entering into the next Christmas Kickstart Challenge.  

The theme for this fortnight is "Bundle Up" .. .. to keep those winter chills at bay .. .. and straight away I knew which image I would be using .. .. .. my cute and lovely "snowy" stamp! 

So here we go:

 This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2521K" Snowy and the matching die for cutting.

Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-316" Season's Gifts

Backing Papers:  First Edition Paper Pad "All hat Glistens
Little Holly Sprig comes alongside:  X-Cut Merry Christmas Die
Dashed Die for snow - unbranded from Ebay
Christmas Tree Die .. .. think it was"Cut and Make" from the Range .. .. a whole £1 and I love it!!!
ProMarkers
Crystal Glamour Dust
Gems and Pearls
White Gel Pen
Snowflakes from my snowflake box

I am also entering my card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for January.  The theme is always "anything goes" but with an optional theme of "something new" if you want to bring that into the equation too.  The backing paper is my "new" element.

and also

The Winter Wonderland Challenge where the theme for January is "It's Snowtime" so you need to have snowmen or snowflakes on your creation.

So that is me for today.  Definitely a day for getting bundled up here!!  The ice still hasn't melted from my car yet .. .. so I will need to make sure Mum is wrapped up well today .. .. certainly a lot more than Snowy snowman is!!

Hopefully catch you again soon .. .. but in the meantime that is Christmas card number 2 into the box!!  Yay!!!