Snippets and Rudolph

Morning all, a rather swift post as I'm running out of time to join in the current Rudolph Days challenge and as my share also used lots of snippets doubling up and popping to the Snippets Playground.

All products are TRR, I printed part sheets of Reflections to use up smaller pieces of Premium Pure Print, I get lots of leftovers when I print smaller images from MCS. Then die cut them and printed a piece of MCS for the backing. A die cut frame which is Sweet Dixie as is the sentiment and basically everything arranged into the frame. I even remembered a photo of my snippets.

I would also like to share this card at The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge and Love Those Pretty Papers - using them is rare for me so felt I should!

Have a good weekend everyone, a busy one here as it's youngest Son's Birthday on May the Last (so called when he was small and it's stuck), he's a big boy now but still gets rather excited on his Birthday. Margo assumed we would be playing pass the parcel, well at three I guess it's a forgone conclusion so figure we'll have to fit it in.

Don't forget our Allsorts Birthday challenge is in full swing with some awesome prizes to be won.

Happy 16th Birthday Allsorts

Morning all, it's our 16th Birthday at Allsorts where I am your host for this very special occasion. Where did those years go, seems like only yesterday when we announced our very first challenge.

Our theme is totally open so Anything Goes to help us celebrate and we very much hope you will join us as we have a fabulous collection of goodies to be won, a huge bundle of products from AALL and Create, plus some wonderful prizes just for our USA entrants from Gina K Designs, Lawn Fawn and Colorado Craft Company. All details on challenge blog.

Thought I would made an eclipse card, been ages since I did. Stamped and coloured some Lavinia Fairy houses, flowers and of course a Fairy, Pan Pastels for the sky and cut the 'happy' seven times to get some dimension and stamped the other words. I recently saw a challenge called Word Power, as the above is all about the focal words so hope this fits, as well as the AAA Birthday challenge.

This one uses A&C Tag it Yourself (27), Roadway Vistas (78) and Rosey Daze (1251). Kraft card for the base, stamped the focal image and colouring with Ecoline pens, A&C rub ons here are there and some coordinating fibres tied across the bottom.

As you will see on the challenge blog post I got rather nostalgic and looked back to that first challenge in May 2009, this was my DT make and would you believe Penny Black quote and sentiments that I still use regularly.

Finally, a sad note, so many have asked about our Daughters Dog Pixie who had a stroke two weeks ago when we lost our Poppy, she rallied really well, until Thursday when she became very poorly and last evening another tough decision. This morning she will be placed close to Poppy, they spent many hours over the last 13 years mooching together in the gardens.

Stargazing in the secret garden

Morning Peeps, it's mid way time at We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations where our themes are Feminine selected by Lynn and Four Legged Friends chosen by Pinky. Some gorgeous prizes for four lucky winners from Lavinia Stamps and Grafton Crafts

Stamps on both cards come from Lavinia Stamps, no links again I'm afraid, as explained in my previous post, whilst all went to plan and seeing the benefits of reduced pain, fighting an infection and my mojo has taken a hike! Hopefully normal service will be resumed soon. Just noticed the above looks rather blurry, not sure why as fine irl. 

I noticed on a fellow DT's post the theme at Cards 4 Galz is Fantasy and as we have Fairies in the garden also Ellies Garden Party, so felt I should link the top card to both.

Stand up tag

Morning all, it's mid month time at Tag-Along (and ATC's) where you have really wowed us with your support, we can't thank you enough. This months Anything Goes theme runs until noon GMT on 28th May for the chance of winning the lovely die set from CraftStash.

A double tag which I often make, cut the tag twice, score one about a third down and stick the top sections together. An inky background, stencil and crackle texture paste, an A&C flower stamped twice onto oddments, coloured and cut out. There are several snippets so I'm popping to the Playground with this one, hopefully there's some homemade lemonade left. 

Other than the above I rarely enter challenges due to visual problems with linking and save that activity for my challenge essentials. But thought I would give it a go with a couple, the first is Sweet Stampin's Spring, the Daisies are all popping up, Sunday I sat a while with three year old Margo making Daisy Chains, despite the years some things never change. Also Stencil Fun, who doesn't love using them, know I do, this follows their A/G route.

My ATC and little envelope use Lavinia stamps onto an inked and stencilled background, simple as that. Following on from what I mentioned above about challenges, my ATC will hopefully fit at The Card Free Zone.

I've not detailed all products as only meant to be sitting at my desk in short bursts, whilst all went OK with my treatment, I had ten cannulas down my lower spine bilaterally (five each side) and a couple of areas are being slow to heal.

Don't forget to pop a note in your diary for 24th May, a special challenge at Allsorts for our 16th Birthday.

Blue bloom and Poppy Dog

Morning all, time for a new challenge at Allsorts where Lynne would love to see Paper Piecing, as always theres the A/G route as well. We have a super prize of a £25 store voucher from Personal Impressions, we are so happy to welcome them to Allsorts for the first time and thanks must go to Lou Sims for organising it all.

A week of no craft and one I won't be sorry to see the back of, apart from the hospital stay, we lost our little Poppy on Tuesday, she was 13. She coped with so much for a little one, a tracheostomy early 2021 followed by surgery, but last December they discovered a Liver mass and gave her weeks. 

We pampered her with a diet of home cooked chicken and fish and she was doing so well until a couple of weeks ago when her cognitive functionality wavered and she went downhill culminating in the decision we all dread. She's been buried under a tree up towards the orchard, a part of the garden we called her happy place as she would spend hours just mooching. She also enjoyed watching activity outside from my craft room.

To add to that eldest Daughters Terrier, same age as Poppy who we look after most days in term time had a stroke Monday, no movement in back legs, but since a course of steroids started yesterday there is a glimmer of hope with some movement. 

For my card at the top I have used a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz stamp set called French Garden along with a very old TH corner die. Some stencil work to the base piece using crackle texture paste, the blooms were stamped onto the base and again onto a piece of MCS DP, cut out and paper pieced and another sheet of the same DP used to mat and layer to carry the colours. Some twine to finish and of course an envie.

Some of my Stampers Anonymous stamps have been neglected for ages so it's nice to have a prompt to get them out and play again and I'll confess to a new set, I've had my eye on Mr Rabbit for so long and this seemed like a prompt to actually buy him.

Mr Rabbit paper pieced beautifully using MCS DP, some background stamping with stamps from the same set and a matching enive. I think he's such a handsome fellow and sure he'll be used a lot.

Our next Allsorts challenge celebrates our 16th Birthday, we have some very special prizes and we would love you to share our logo on your own blogs to help us spread the word and make it a really special occasion. 

Gentle Whisper

A new month means new challenges at We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations. At WLS our theme has been selected by Pinky and is Four Legged Friends and at SS Lynn has chosen Feminine for her theme. We have prizes from Lavinia Stamps and Grafton Crafts.

Unusually for me a CAS design for my SS share, but this is such an elegant PB stamp called Gentle Whisper feel it needs little more than a masked border with soft inking and sentiment which is also PB. Colour was added to the stamp using Ecoline pens and stamping platform stamped 2/3 times to add depth of colour.

My WLS share features Lavinia's Lupin gazing into the sky and a scene built up using Tree Stem, Open Dandelion, Leaf Spray, Group Poppies, Snow Shrub and Fairy Path and a mixture of Clair and Element inks. I'm charing this at Lavinia's Secret Garden challenge.

Finally, my share for the Card Chain Challenge, all stamps Lavinia following the colour palette of Chocolate, Orange and Slate and the optional Rabbit, my card went to Pia in Norway and I received one also with a Rabbit from Robyn in Australia.

I'll leave you with a photo of the gangs new fly protectors, naturally selected by Anysia, why else would horses wear ones with Unicorns? Penelope and Merlin still had theirs on next morning, whereas Heskey had deposited his in the water trough, clearly not masculine enough for him.

Apologies I've not been around visiting too much, rather under the weather, only a couple of days migraine free since mid March and new diabetic injections not agreeing with other meds, so rather ropey. Going into hospital this week for some treatment.

Tag-Along (and ATC's)

Morning all, it's the day of our first challenge at Tag-Along (and ATC's) and we so hope lots of you will come and join us. One very lucky winner selected at random will receive a set of dies from the lovely Peeps at CraftStash who are sadly closing down. But it does mean they have a huge sale going on with some super bargains to be had so worth popping over to take a look.

I've always enjoyed making tags, although admit ATC's something I've not made that often, but throughly enjoyed preparing work for our new challenge. 

Lots of ink for my first share above onto a piece of corrugated, it's very finely ridged and what they use in the packing from the London Italian deli I order from. After inking with a variety of colours I stamped an A&C background stamp, the pattern is very muted but the effect I wanted. Next stamped, cut out, coloured and applied crackle glaze to the A&C Flowers. I found some gold lace, added two little gold 'twirlies' found in a box of odds and sods, placed the blooms centrally and finally black cord and gold button.

When I researched ATC I discovered that historically they were often given in little pockets so I devised one to fit and did a quick photo tutorial which you can find on the page here on the challenge blog. Also being so tiny they are a perfect way to use up snippets which is a bonus as I can pop over to the Playground with it.

For the ATC I inked a background then built up the scene around Herbalum Bob, all from Lavinia's Herbs and Delights collection. Decided to also decorate the pocket with more stamps from the same and finally white Posca dots to finish.

We are really looking forward to you joining us in our new venture and look forward to seeing what you create.