Rudolph Days and Snippets Playground

Morning Peeps, Rudolph Days challenge has arrived again and as I somehow missed it last month though I'd better get a move on and enter this time round. I also have a card for the current Snippets Playground challenge.

Above using a variety of AALL and Create stamps (sorry Abs, a very quick post and not listed them all), lots of snippets for the vase, plant label, clock and flowers.

A Penny Black stamp for my Rudolph Days share, Lavinia Rabbits and lots of snow. 

See you all again soon, our next Allsorts challenge will be Saturday 4th January.

Seasons flower vase

Morning everyone, our last challenge of the year at Allsorts and Sarah is asking us to use our dies. Prize are three coordinating die and stamp sets from Oakwood. This challenge will be the first following our new fortnightly system, the next will be Saturday 4th January.

This card uses Lavinia stamps and stencil and Highlight Crafts dies for the matting and layering frames. After adding ink inside Sticker Stencil 8 I built up the vase of flowers using Holly, Woodland Fern, Winter Berries, Fir Cone, Seed Head and Moss Flower which were stamped several times to decoupage. Words are from Seasonal Words, I love the font of this set.

Another with more dies from TRR, the red frame is I believe from Carnations Crafts along with backing DP from MCS.

I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and send my sincere thanks for all your support and kind words of encouragement throughout the year, it's been a touch one for me so means a lot.

Pengin, Frosty and a Buzzard

Morning Peeps, today sees our last challenges of the year at We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations, we have a Winter theme at both and also prizes from AALL and Create.

For my card at the top I used AALL and Create Snow Crystals (221) and again Penguin and Frosty (603 & 604) and Lavinia Sticker Stencil 9, first inking the inside of the globe, then stencilling and finally stamping. I also added some stencilled snowflakes around the snow globe and matching envie.

For this one I used several AALL and Create stamps, Frayed Frames (26), Fallen Leaves (806) and Long Eared Mammal (836), very soft inking in the background and built up an arch with the foliage and stamped the Hare inside, plus a matching envie.

We are truly blessed to see so much wildlife on our land, I took this yesterday from the dining room window, a Common Buzzard who has taken to searching for his prey in the orchard, he seems to like the new vantage point being created by the tree pruning. Living so remotely does have it's advantages.

On the one below you can see him perched on the tree to the far right. Shortly after he took off after a Pidgeon who was too quick for him, so he returned to his resting perch.

I've one more post before Christmas, that will be for Allsorts which will be our first challenge following our new fortnightly system.

Lots of White (almost) and a snippet

Morning one and all,  a new Allsorts challenge where Ellie would like to see 'Lots of White'.  Prize come from AALL and Create.

I alluded to poorly doggies a couple of weeks ago, this week's been traumatic. Daisy eldest Lab fourteen and a half collapsed the other day, has rallied, eating and wagging her tail but very frail. Poppy, Parsons JR, twelve and a half, went into DWR specialist Vets beginning of week to have second surgery for Laryngeal Collapse, before they got that far CT scans showed a large mass on her liver. 

Then they discovered a blood clot preventing any surgery and suggesting the unthinkable. So we visited her Thursday, she seemed her usual self, they say she's not in pain and managing the laryngeal breathing problem with light sedation. So after a couple of conversations with Marcello our regular Vet, we brought her home and he is supporting us in palliative care so she can spend her last days/weeks in her own surroundings. It's heartbreaking, but she's mooching in the gardens as always, eating well and one would never realise what's really going on.

Back to craft, white space is something I find scary on cards, so this was a challenge restraining myself adding more colour. Above, a Sweet Dixie die, Tattered Lace EF, Organza bow and TRR white Christmas Roses. There's a very odd blue border around the card, it's not there irl so must be something to do with taking the photo in rotten light and not had time to do a re-take.

This one is a Sweet Poppy stencil, the image coloured with distress inks, left to dry then the stencil placed back over the image and translucent paste applied. The sentiments are AALL and Create.

The current challenge is in full swing over at the Playground, here's my entry using snippets for the circles, words and focal flower which is a firm favourite of many of us, Textured Florals (531) from AALL and Create, although not available from them several companies still have stock and base is a Gelli Plate mop up. So sorry Misses Di and Sarn but I don't have a snippet photo. Also popping to the Path of Positivity with this one.

Today I must finish sending Christmas cards, I am so behind, did one batch and the other sitting waiting to be done.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Morning to you all, Lynn is our host over at Allsorts challenge and her theme is 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' with prizes from AALL and Create.

I've give A&C's Sack of Joy (1224)) another outing, rather like the traditional feel of the image penned by Abs for last months new releases. Kept him fairly simple and placed into a frame and added some soft starry stencilling to the frame.

I've mentioned many times that this sentiment from Penny Black remains a firm favourite, to me it reflects precisely what this months Path of Positivity theme is all about 'Faith and Hope. A simple card with the quote focally and the frame stamped with a few Lavinia stamps in the background and built up with decoupage using Two Red Robin artwork.

Hummingbird

Afternoon Peeps, definitely the slowest post in the making ever, despite my imac being repaired it's going at snails pace, if anyone is contemplating upgrading to the new Sequoia don't bother, it was absolutely fine before!! Yesterday it took almost two hours to open and commenting is also a problem for whatever reason, I write them but half seem to disappear and for once I don't think it's Bloggers fault.

I've got my Highlight W11 desktop so think I'm gonna have to spend an hour or two moving everything over, although I've already been told it won't be straightforward and might not accept everything because of incompatibility of the two operating systems.

Above my Card Chain Challenge share for this month which went to my blogging challenge pal Carol, and below the card I received from Hilary a beautiful white on white creation. I veered (terrified of) away from that option and went with the sketch using stamps from Lavinia's Sunbloom Collection.

A very quick make using (meagre) snippets for the Playground, it's one of my inspirational samples for AALL and Create using one of Abs new floral stamps called Petal Pop (1249) and Frayed Frames die (26). The flowers and Butterfly stamped a second time on snippets and decoupaged. I would also like to enter this at the new Path of Positivity challenge where the focus on on Faith and Hope, the sentiment if rom my own Believe stamp set, like to supplier in name.

I used pearlescent paint for the flowers and Butterfly which looks rather glary in my photos and being up against time didn't get to take another. 

And here is Hilary's lovely card.

Winter all the way

Hard to believe it's our last challenges of the year at We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations where we appear to have a duplication of themes, it's Winter at both, not sure how that happened! And another duplication it seems, prizes from AALL and Create at both.

My SS share above uses some of the recent AALL and Create releases, Parallel Rectangle (57) and Sack of Joy (1224) plus a few worker stamps on the smaller elements within the die. They've also just released some beautiful new floral stamps designed by Abs, I made a good few samples with them and will share soon. Santa is slightly larger than the panel so he was stamped twice, coloured and cut out and some elements decoupaged to add dimension. 

I saw this shape card over at Christines blog, mine isn't quite the same as I changed the dimensions with the result that it doesn't fold flat which the original design did, but it's going to Grandson Zachary who loves Penguins so will be hand delivered. I stamped and cut out A&C Penguin family (603) and Frosty (604), stencilling using crackle texture paste and Snow Crystals stencil (221) over a spritzed background. The little beads were strung onto thread and fixed on the frame to give a vague icicle effect - don't have an icicle die!

Finally a snowy scene using a mixture of stamps, Lavina Pheasant, Bandit from Fox set 1, Small Pine Trees, same Berries as the card at the top and a cottage from Inkylicious. I used Pan Pastel for the colour and of course lots of glitter.......for years I've used Judikins snow white glitter on Winter cards, it's quite chunky and added over glossy accents retains the white colour without the iridescent colour hues most glitters have. But it's no longer produced so if anyone can recommend a similar alternative do let me know.