Sunday Snippets - 'You are unique'

My snippets card this time was triggered by the arrival of a surprise package from a lovely friend. Amongst the delicious hand crafted goodies, templates and ideas she had included the offcuts from some Gelli plate pulling she used when making up the package contents. It called out to me, so I made this to share with you:

I used:

- 4.75" x 3.5" silkweave pale ivory linen card blank, side opening - odd size due to being left over from making A2 cards from the same card pack. Therefore a snippet!

- the gelli pull paper snippet wasn't huge but so very lovely and I knew fairly quickly exactly what to do with it - first of all I mounted it onto a snippet of white card using double sided sticky sheet 

- worked out the positioning and size of the main stamp and trimmed the gelli snippet to the size I wanted, then backed it with a slightly larger black frame using a snippet of Tonic 'Black Velvet' Satin effect mirror card - used Collall glue for that step. Sort of working backwards at this point - with the trimming to fit the card size

- then stamped the image, using a stamp from the AALL & Create 'Long-Eared Mammal' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad

- then picked out a 'You are unique' sentiment strip from the Clarity 'Words Sticker Collection' and popped it into position on the lower left- hand side of the little panel (cheating but quick!)

- finally, added the completed panel to the card front, using thin sticky strips - and called it 'done'!

I loved making this card, wanting to do the background piece of paper worked by a friend some proper justice. Quietly rewarding I think.

I'd like to enter this card into:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge#67 - the AALL & Create 'Long-Eared Mammal' set of stamps was having a first outing

Also Allsorts #802 - under the anything goes option

Dudley Pupdate: During this previous week, Len and I went together to have our Covid and flu vaccinations. A saga ............... of which I'll spare you all the details - be grateful! However, whilst waiting for me outside the Chemist's shop with Len, a defensive Dudley barked at anyone who walked past the door where he last saw his Mum - naughty boy! Then, not content with that - up came the rear end and he did a full squat to leave his little trademark 💩. WHAT? He already did that earlier on home territory - did he keep it in reserve? Thank goodness for always having emergency poop bags on hand! Smiling here - I think that Len returned home rather traumatised and ready for a lie down in a darkened room! I think we've moved from StroppyTeenager to Antagonistic Adult overnight!

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #491 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - no doubt there will be goodies for cooler days to be had in the tree house!

Love from myself and Dudley, 

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 - 'Storyboard'

There's been a bit of a craze recently for die cut frames to form either a 'storyboard' or 'a collection of pseudo postage stamps'. They are such fun to play with, so when Heffy Doodle had their closing down sale fairly recently, I bought a set of 'storyboard' dies  and this is my first play with them:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank, side opening - the set of dies is Imperial and perfect for USA A2 sized cards which is a size I really like for the balanced proportions

- then used a piece of the same white card used for the card blank to die cut the 'frame' using the main die from Heffy Doodle's 'Imperial Storyboard' set of dies

- had already picked out the paper pad I wanted to use - one of the earlier ones dating back 14 years called 'Born to Shop - Bubbles'. Aha, closer inspection says it's by Docrafts! 

- in the back of the pad I found everything I used as a paper snippet on this card. First of all I trimmed the piece of plain mauve to sit behind the framework of panels, glued it to the back of the framework and then added the completed frame to the card front - all done using glue pens

- then die cut the little five patterned inserts from snippets and glued them in place

- die cut two sentiments from pale mustard coloured paper (the beauty of the paper pad is that the reverse of each sheet is plain, using colours from the patterned side) and layered them together. The shadow die set I used is by Memory Box, called 'Big Hugs Posh Script'

- die cut the shadow from a snippet of vellum and glued the die cut words on top

- then just glued the sentiment 'panel' onto the card front - finished!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #65 HERE - both the 'Storyboard and the 'Big Hugs' dies were having a first outing 

Dudley Pupdate: poor little guy really has been feeling this heatwave we're having. We've lost him a few times as he silently roams around the house during the night, looking for the coolest places to lie. Wedged between a tiled wall and a toilet pan is his top choice of place right now - cool on both sides as well as his nose! If only he knew that water would cool him down - but, as he hates to even get his tippy toes wet, it's a non-starter to think about a paddling pool for him!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. And, if you like the 'Storyboard' die set I used - there's one exactly the same included in the prize bundle!

Hope to see you on the swings - the sight of Sarn trundling a huge freezer into the Playground did stop me in my tracks the other day. No doubt she has plans laid for cold drinks, lollies and ice creams! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Birthday Boy!

Well, after some recent grim weather - now here we are, absolutely roasting! It's pointless planning ahead these days if 'weather' factors into the mix. 

Anyhow, we're celebrating regardless of Mother Nature and her 'moods' as Dudley has his 6th Birthday on Monday 22nd July. Here's his Birthday card from Len and myself:

And most of the leftover snippets!

I used:

- 8" x 6" deckle edged cream hammered card blank (dating back to my early crafting days when I used a postal supplier in Chesham whose name escapes me now - but I'm thrilled to have unearthed them not too long ago!) - side opening

- a piece of the same cream hammered card, cut from a matching card blank, measuring quarter of an inch less on all four sides to use as the front panel - set aside for later

- next up was the Havanese image, which I didn't want to be a true 'Dudley photo' but a near enough portrait. I downloaded it from a digital images website for a small cost - the full sized image is utterly stunning and I think this little guy does the trick

- a fair bit of fiddling around with the size took place before I was happy - then printed the image onto printer paper as I couldn't face accessing the rear feed on my printer to use card. It came out fine!

- next, I used Stick It sheet to adhere the paper printed Havanese to a snippet of white card before then covering it with a snippet of self-adhesive clear plastic laminate sheet for a glossy finish

- then, used a die from the Marianne set of stitched circles to die cut the little guy's image  - success!

- used a NBUS die from the Heffy Doodles 'Skinny Circle Frames' die set to cut the turquoise frame for the image and glued the centre fallout from that behind the doggie image for stability and a little bit of 'lift'

- final touch for the centre image panel was to die cut an outer 'frame' using a die from Tonic's huge set of plain circle dies - introducing terracotta into the mix - glued all the layers together and set it to one side

- for the 'Happy Birthday' I used more of the turquoise card and an unbranded 'Happy Birthday' die with no name, very much like Poe script - double layered then set aside

- the number 6 die is by The Works from their  'Numbered Candles' set of dies, long discontinued I think, double layered in turquoise card and then the flame was die cut from a paler terracotta card snippet, double layered and added to the flame area of the die cut

- next I dug through the lovely Funky Fossil 'Ransom Note' set of dies for letters to make up Dudley's name, used snippets of truquoise and two shades of terracotta to cut two of each and then double layered them

- and now the fun part - assembly time!

- first of all I glued the sentiment and the number 6 onto the hammered cream card panel

- then added the Havanese image panel using thin sticky fixers

- and then Dudley's name was added, using a glue pen

- final step was to adhere the finished panel onto the card front - using thin strips of foam tape in the usual way

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #64 - the Funky Fossil circle frames and also the Marianne stitched circle die sets were both NBUS. And the Funky Fossil 'Ransom Note' dies don't appear to have been used previously either! 

And, into the current Allsorts Challenge #790, under the 'Anything Goes' rule.

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley is still a delightful pickle of course - recently he's been having a whale of a time between the house and our garden log cabin. He loves it when I'm relaxing in there and comes to visit to check I haven't run away. Tthen hops around the garden doing zoomies before popping back into the house to check that Len hasn't run away. It keeps him occupied and generally out of mischief. Of course, if there's something 'icky' to roll in on the lawn during his travels then he'll find it and give it his all!! On Friday he found a wonderful pile to roll over and he ended up with a slightly clipped patch for his pains - Len keeps a pair of rounded end doggie scissors handy!

The little guy's Birthday tomorrow will be a day much like any other - but, it did give me cause for reflection and  I came across this 'progress' photo - sent to us by Cherie, the lovely breeder, It was taken after we'd chosen Dudley (or HE chose us!) ...... but he had to wait with his siblings until he was old enough to leave Dolly his Mum. He was about eight weeks old at the time and still sits in exactly the same way whenever he's hopeful for extra cuddles - or more likely treats! With that very same unwavering stare as well!

Very importantly, we have a new Challenge #485 being run by our lovely Sarn over HERE! Do please come and play - the more, the merrier!

Love from myself and Dudley, xxx

Sunday Snippets - Especially For You

I initially made this snippets card with Christmas in mind but I don't have a small enough long Christmas sentiment die that would look right - so it's now for a Birthday, a Thank You or similar:

I remembered to take a photo of the leftover pieces of snippet for once!

I used:

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

- a snippet of white card for the background

- a snippet of Tonic 'Inca Gold' mirror card, backed with a snippet of Stick It adhesive sheet then die cut using a Gummiapan die called 'Doodled Gifts'

- peeled off the backing paper and popped it straight onto the snippet of white card for the background

- then covered a piece of white card with Altenew 'Gold Splatter - Blush' washi tape - it's 4.25" wide, very pretty and has been unopened for ages

- die cut a 4" x 4" square from the washi tape covered card, using a die from Heffy Doodle's 'Stitched Squares' set of dies and set it to one side

- used a piece of leftover washi tape covered card to die cut the little pile of gifts - after covering the back with Stick It sheet

- popped the pink washi pieces into the apertures in the pile of gifts - some of them were teeny tiny!

- die cut the white image panel using a smaller Heffy Doodle 2.5" x 2.5" 'Stitched Squares' die

- trimmed a piece of Tonic 'Inca Gold' to just leave a narrow margin around the pink panel and glued them together

- glued the image panel onto the pink washi covered panel

- added the whole panel to the front of the card using thin sticky foam strips and the 'glue stick' trick

- finally, covered the back of another snippet of Tonic 'inca Gold' mirror card with 'Stick It' adhesive sheet and die cut it using a die from Tattered Lace's 'Sentiment Borders' set of dies

- snipped the sentiment down to the three words 'Especially For You', which are repeated along the die several times, peeled off the Stick It backing and stuck it in place - finished!

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

- Darnell's NBUS Challenge #63 HERE, the Altenew pink washi tape, Gummiapan 'Doodled Gifts' die, Tattered Lace set of 'Sentiment Borders' dies and also the Heffy Doodle 'Stitched Squares' dies set were all having a first outing! Four NBUS items in one go - whoopie!

- Creations in Pink - Challenge #71 HERE

Dudley Pupdate: Just in time for some hot weather here, Len trimmed Dudley this past week. He's like a little newborn lamb right now - looks so small with delicate little feet and legs now that his 'Ugg boots' have been shorn off. His hair grows back really fast so it's only a couple of weeks before he's all fluffed up again.

Sarn has just kicked off challenge #483 over in the Snippets Playground HERE  Hope to see you there - the paddling pool has a very slow puncture so I'm afraid there's a 'rota' for us all do a stint on topping the air up! Dudley is 'excused boots' as he would take forever to add even the slightest bit of air! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me,

Sunday Snippets - 'smile'

A fairly pink card from me:

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blank - side opening

- used an Altenew 'Bold Floral' stamp and Clair VersaFine 'Morning Mist' inkpad to stamp the flower onto a snippet of the same white card as the card blank (I have a 'thing' about whites being the same shade)

- then coloured the flower using Arteza Watercolour pencils and a fine brush

- die cut the flower using a matching die and set it to one side

- die cut a lattice panel from a snippet of Tonic pearlised 'Luna Silver', using a lovely unbranded die gifted to me by a kind friend and also set that to one side

- die cut the pink frame from a 5.25" x 4" snippet of pink linen effect card, using a die from Penny Black's 'stitched frames' set of dies - which left me with the centre as a further snippet for future use

- backed the pink frame with a 5" x 3.75" snippet of the same white card using very narrow red line tape

- at that point I could pop the frame with the white centre panel into the Misti and juggle the silver lattice die cut and the flower about to position the 'smile' sentiment, before removing the lattice and flower then stamping the sentiment using 'Morning Mist' again. The sentiment is from the Funky Fossil 'Making Memories' set of stamps that were part of the prize in Challenge #480 

- then stuck the lattice panel onto the front panel using Stix2 micro dots

- adhered the flower using thin sticky pads

- finally, stuck the front panel onto the card front using very narrow foam tape - and the glue stick trick of course

And, whilst everything was out on the desk I made a second card almost the same, just changing the colours:

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #63 - HERE- the lattice die was having its first outing

- Allsorts Challenge #785 HERE - under the 'Anything goes' option

- Creations in Pink - Challenge #71 HERE

Dudley Pupdate: The other day, Len spotted a new bit of cooperation between Dudley and myself that I'd been keeping quiet until we both perfected it. Honka Duck is a pretty big thing for such a small chap to carry at the same time as he uses a strategically placed footstool to hop up onto our bed. So, if I'm sitting either in or on the side of our bed he brings Honka to me and holds him up in the air. That's my signal to take Honka from him and put him onto our bed so that Dudley can then skip around to the foot of the bed and hop up. It worked so seamlessly and Len's jaw did drop. 'How did he learn that one? was his question, at which I just shrugged as if it was the simplest thing in the world! Little does he know how long we've been working on it!

It was my turn for a little surprise on Thursday when I couldn't find Dudley anywhere - suddenly I spotted him and had to grab my camera to take this photo:

Len was sitting at his desk playing the guitar and Dudley was on his 'lookout' fleece covered table beside him .......... with his head resting on Len's arm as he dreamily absorbed some Spanish melodies! Apparently he was like that for around 20 minutes, I wonder it it's in his DNA? Havanese are descended from dogs of the Bichon variety that were originally taken to Cuba (hence the Havana link) by Spanish Traders many years ago. Len says my theory is 'barking' mad - ha, ha!

Remember, the results from Challenge #481  are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE 

Hope to see you on the swings for the current challenge as that runs for almost another week.

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - a triptych card

I decided to play with a new die set and made a triptych card - I've been admiring a few of these made by Playmates lately, notably Sarn, Brenda and Pauline:

I know - when I finally remember to take a photo of the leftover snippets - they're pitiful!

I used:

- a piece of pale ivory linen effect card from a FULL sheet, die cut using the main die from Studio Light's 'STENCILSL253' set of dies *** - I then used an embossing board to draw a line down the faint fold lines for easier folding 

- snippets of Tonic's fabulous pearlescent 'Majestic Gold' card - I keep every single scrap tucked into the currently open packets of each colour and the width of most of them is perfect for the set of dies I was using for this card

- used the larger Studio Lights single panel die to cut three gold panels and set them aside

- then, due to current limitations on lifting and bending (sigh) I pulled outa DCWV pa per pad from the bookshelf behind where I sit. I've had it for many years simply to gaze at and gently stroke much of the time! Yup, it's that super 'Mariposa' 8" x 8" butterfly themed paper pad that many of us totally loved a long time ago - so beautifully gilded on many of the sheets. I think I've only ever used two sheets before making this card

- spent some time browsing through the pad and finally settled on one single sheet to use - which I die cut using the smaller of the Studio Lights single panel dies

- glued the die cuts one on top of the other (Majestic Gold outer frames) and then onto the card front so that the card, when folded for posting, has the more colourful panel showing as the front

- all that was left to do was to add the words to the centre panel - taken from the Clarity Stamp 'Words Sticker' Collection - one longish sentiment trimmed into two parts worked a treat

- finished! The card will fit into a small slimline envelope with room to spare

***The Studio Light set of dies was nowhere to be found in the UK. I eventually tracked it down in the USA - paid a very reasonable price and only £2.01 postage. Sent via courier by air to the UK and got here in five or six days - wow! It's the genuine article ..... I did wonder if it would prove to be too good to be true but happily was proved wrong. If you're interested in 'being enabled' - just drop me an email and I'll send you the direct link as it took me ages to track down such an amazing deal! And I'm not on commission BTW!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #63. The set of 'Studio Light' dies I used for the triptych are NBUS. 

- Allsorts Challenge Week 784 - under the 'Anything goes' option.

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley's been enjoying lots of pleasant relaxed walks now that the rain has eased here - as well as making lots of new friends en route! Whilst he is reluctant (only initially) to have his harness on 'ready to go' - once out he's a real little trouper and just gets on with it! I have to say, if I've been left Home Alone - he launches himself at me for welcome home cuddles! Whoever knew we'd actually been apart for a whole week ......... or so it seems in his eyes. Mine too to be truthful! The house is far too quiet!

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

Hope to see you on the swings, the weather really is warming up at last and no doubt Sarn will be enlisting help to inflate the paddling pool in readiness! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Sticking together

We had typical UK Bank Holiday weather here in our neck of the woods, Very little sunshine, a good bit of rain and also dropped temperatures. Always the same!

Rootling through a basket of NBUS goodies, I came across a couple of unused sets of stamps needing a first airing. This is how I used them for my snippets card today:

I used:

- 5.25" x 4" white linen card blank, side opening

- snippets of coloured card which were easily to hand in orange and green - trimmed down to form a 'frame' for the image panel then glued together and set to one side awaiting the image panel

- then trimmed a snippet of white linen card down to sit nicely inside the 'frame' - flipping it over to use the plain reverse

- stamped a funky bird and sun using VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and stamps from the AALL & Create 'Free Bird' stamp set

- used the same VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad to stamp the sentiment, in two parts. The sentiment(s) came from Altenew's little 'Crafty Add-On' set of stamps. Very appropriate and such fun!

- so, the image panel was already trimmed to size and all that was left was to colour it - using Zig Brush Markers. I like them but always feel the results looks somewhat childish - fine for this card but IMHO not for more delicate and subtle work. Horses for courses as they say.

- then added the image panel to the already adhered orange and green layer to form a framed panel 

- adhered the whole framed image panel to the card front, using very narrow sticky foam strips and the usual glue stick trick

- finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #63 HERE - the stamp sets were both having their first outing.

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

On Friday I had cataract surgery on the second eye. So far all is going well and here's hoping it continues that way.

Dudley Pupdate: Hmm, Dudley wasn't totally quiet on the Friday trips to and from the clinic - even though we'd popped Honka Duck into his doggie booster seat with him. Perhaps he was yelling at him to get out ............... or pay the fare for his ride in treats?! Who knows what goes through the mind of Dudley Dog..

Len always pops Dudley's harness on him once it's obvious we're getting ready to go out as it lets him know that he's riding shotgun and is along for the ride. And, the past few trips he has actually jumped up wanting to get into his doggie booster box on the back seat of Len's car. That's a decent step forward, rather than him almost gluing his paws to the driveway in resistance! We'll just keep working on the rest!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #480 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 - all I see is magic

A fairly quick card from me, using a couple of NBUS items: 

Just a couple of snippets left, the outline from the stamp die (close call there!) and a piece of the green backing card

I used:

- 5.5" x 4" pale ivory linen card blank - tent style

- first step was to use a snippet of pale ivory linen card to die cut the stamp outline - using a die from Penny Black's 'posted cut out' set of dies

- then trimmed the Penny Black 'Masterpieces Made Easy' panel, from the 'take me away' set down to 3.25" x 2.25" to fit neatly inside the stamp serrations outline, and glued it in place

- stamped the post mark onto the image panel using a stamp from the matching Penny Black 'posted' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink pad

- at that point I could work out where to stamp the sentiment, using a VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink and a stamp from the Funky Fossil 'Making Memories' set of stamps (part of the current Snippets Challenge prize)

- then mounted the 'stamp' panel onto a rectangle snippet of toning green card, measuring 4" x 3", using thin foam strips and the 'glue stick trick'

- finally, glued the front panel onto the card front - and called it done!

I used a few snippets. The pale ivory linen card base is not strictly a recognised size, but it works for me as it's left over after cutting a tent style A2 sized card AND saves on A4 card wastage too. The pale ivory linen card for the stamp shaped outline was a snippet - as was the green backing card.

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #62 - HERE - the Penny Black die set and the matching stamp set were having their first outing.

- Allsorts Challenge # 781 .... see more below!

The Allsorts Challenge are celebrating their 15th Birthday this week! Lots of lovely prizes to be won as well - do please join in with the fun. Brenda and her team are amazing and your support would be lovely! 

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley forgot himself and did a little puddle on Friday when Len returned after a short trip out. Basically over excitement at seeing that his Dad hadn't run away ..... for all of 30 minutes! He wasn't chastised at all - but he sure knew he'd broken a house rule and sat to one side as Len cleaned up, with his head bowed in shame, whilst I had to resist picking him up to comfort him, not allowed anyhow for the time being.

It's been a stressful week for him with me having my first cataract surgery 10 days or so ago (hence the sentiment I used on today's card) as he still hates travelling in the car to and from the Hampshire Clinic treating me.

Me? Doing really great - one down and the other one to be replaced at the end of May! What a fantastic difference already! Who turned on the bright light and opened the yellow net curtain? Happy Bunny so far. 

Remember, the results from Challenge #479 are now published in the Snippets Playground HERE. 

Hope to see you on the swings for the current challenge too as that runs for almost another week.

AND, my card today used another one of the Funky Fossil sentiment stamps in the current Challenge #480 prize bundle. I really love this sentiment, obviously! 

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - every picture tells a story

I pulled out a snippet of navy blue pearlescent card and a few snippets of 'Pale Ivory' linen effect card to make my snippets card for today:

Very sorry, no photo of the snippets this time - they were rather unexciting and had been disposed of before I thought to take a photo!

I used:

- 5.5" x 4" pale ivory linen effect card blank, tent style

- snippets of the same pale ivory card as well as snippets of Tonic's 'Navy Dazzle' card stock for the remainder of the card

- used a NBUS set of Waffle Flower dies called 'Wooden Frame' to die cut and emboss the main rectangle as well as the oval frame from navy blue card snippets - set those aside for now

- dry embossed a snippet of pale ivory linen effect card using Cuttlebug's 'Script' folder, trimmed it to fit to the back of the navy rectangular frame and adhered it in place, before setting it to one side again

- out came the Misti and I stamped the flower and the bee, using VersaFine Clair 'Morning Mist' ink - on the reverse side of the pale ivory card (no linen effect on the reverse, which is handy). The stamps are from a NBUS set of stamps by Hobby Art, called 'Happiness Blooms'

- then stamped the sentiment in readiness, using the same 'Morning Mist' ink pad and a stamp from the fabulous Funky Fossil 'Making Memories' set of stamps - NBUS and set to be a favourite here - on the reverse side of the pale ivory card again

- die cut the sentiment using the oval frame die from the 'Wooden Frame' set of dies - so that the piece would sit perfectly in the oval frame aperture. I did need to cut a smaller oval by hand to back the piece, for adhesion and stability

- coloured the stamped flower and bee using Polychromos pencils and Sansodor blending solution. The bees wings are the palest blue, winked with clear Stella, pretty!

- trimmed the flower and the bee images using tiny Fiskars scissors to leave a narrow white outline 

- at that point I added the rectangular frame to the card front, using thin strips of foam tape and the glue stick trick

- next popped the flower in place, using mini glue dots, to cope with the embossing -  then the bee using a small piece of thin foam pad

- then came the stamped sentiment oval - added using thin strips of foam tape below the rectangular frame and a glue pen for the top portion to keep it all level

- final touch - some tiny Memory Box clear Fairy Drops! I love these!

The card is slightly under USA A2 size as I decided, before assembling it, to trim the A2 card by one quarter inch from one side - glad I did that for better balance!

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #62 - HERE . The two stamp sets and the set of frame dies are all NBUS. 

Dudley Pupdate: Arnie is still his doggie bestie! They met up on Wednesday as Arnie was on his way home and Dudley was just setting off for a walk. The non-stop hugging and dancing was such a delight to watch. It went on until they both flopped down on our driveway, totally worn out!  

Mind you, Dudley ended up in Len's bad books on Saturday - little scamp managed to find a hedgie 'calling card' in the back garden and was in ecstasy, rubbing all over it right down one side! Len was pretty cross, didn't take any prisoners and just cut away the offending patch of hair! From a recently shorn Dudley as well! I daren't even take a look. I suspect he (Dudley of course) is headed for a bath ............ anytime now!

Remember, I've just kicked off a new challenge over in the Snippets Playground HERE. Hope to see you on the swings, goodness knows what Sarn has in her satchel this week! If it chinks and sounds like a bottle of hooch - I'm confiscating it! 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - THAT postage stamp die set

Spring is really teasing us here - temperatures are rising at times and the sound of lawnmowers drifts across to us - in our easy care revamped garden. Len is a happy guy for sure, and the wildlife still visit as well. But then it rains and blows a 'Hoolie'! 

Very last minute snippets card from me - using one of the currently hugely popular 'postage stamps' set of dies in 'simple mode':

My leftover snippets of the 'Certainly Celery' papers - sob, only a few tiny scraps left now

I used:

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

- first of all I used white card, the same as the card blank, to die cut the main outline of the card topper using an unbranded die 

- then trimmed some plain SU 'Certainly Celery' card for the bottom layer and also some deep purple slightly shimmery paper for the next layer

- glued both those layers onto the card front

- then die cut the snippets of SU's 'Certainly Celery' paper pack, using the dies to match the faux apertures in the main outline

- glued the patterned snippets onto the outline die cut, using a glue pen

- then used the same glue pen to glue the whole outline panel onto the card front

- stamped the sentiment onto a snippet of white card, using a LOTV stamp from their sadly discontinued and still very much loved by yours truly 'General Greetings - Small' set of stamps - using a VersaFine Clair 'Monarch' ink pad (gorgeous colour!)

- used a SU plain small oval punch to punch out the sentiment

- used a snippet of the left over purple glimmer paper to punch out a SU scalloped small oval

- glued the white sentiment onto the purple scalloped oval

- used thin sticky pads to adhere the completed sentiment to the card front 

- added a strip of the patterned paper to the envelope flap and called it finished

I learned a few things along the way. The idea of using papers from the same colour range is better in theory than in practice.  In real life the card does them justice, but on camera and unless you're close up they really are too similar to give it that 'Wow' factor. Tiny backing layers of the purple paper to frame each of the 'Certainly Celery' panels would give more definition - but I thought of that one too late. The way to do that, IMHO, would be to die cut the purple layers for each 'aperture' then do the same with  the patterned paper but also trim a little sliver from the top and one side of those patterned papers to create a narrow margin all round the patterned paper layer. Next time, I might well give that a whirl!

 

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #61 HERE - the die set was having its first outing.

Dudley Pupdate: For the past week or so, Dudley has been rather subdued. He's eating fine but he's often in a little dream world of his own. Physically everything is working as normal but we're watching him closely and he will be off to the vet if need be - before he can even say 'I wanna treat for going'!  It could just be that, like us, he's fed up with all the damp weather and longing for Spring to arrive properly.

Having said that - he still put up a jolly good fight on his hind legs when I was grooming him yesterday afternoon. Overall the match was a draw, although I'm sure that Dudley scored a few below the belt hits! What can you do when a little fluffy white face with beautiful eyes plants itself on your 'chest shelf' and silently appeals 'Enough Mama, enough please!'?

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #476 are now published HERE. 

Do please come and play in Sarn's current challenge over in the Snippets Playground! 

Love from myself and Dudley,