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 - Aurora Snowflake

We've had quite a decent week weatherwise here. Not the silly sizzling temperatures we have known but still pretty hot!

I'm ploughing through my NBUS goodies and, as it's also the Rudolph Days Challenge, made a little run of Christmas cards - four of them, all the same:

The blue is much more vibrant in real life BTW!

A closer look at the sparkle!

I used:

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

- Tonic Mirror card in 'Firestone Red', trimmed to exactly the same size as the card front

- glued the mirror card onto the card front using my ScorPal corner to butt up the base card and then just slipped the ready glued mirror card layer on top. pushing it into the same corner - easy peasy. I only recently spotted this idea on Chrissie Stokes' You Tunbe channel and it's a real game changer. I know, late to the party, once again!

- next, I die cut the backing layer of blue snowflake patterned paper using Whimsy 'Blurry Flurries' paper (love this particular paper pad so much that I have two of them, plus the leftovers in an original pad!) and a scalloped die from a lesser known UK branded set I bought recently on clearance. Rubbish quality, made in China for maximum profit and less robust than China made dies usually are. It's now in the bin as it distorted like a banana on the first pass - lesson leanrned there! 

- glued the backing layer onto the red mirror card layer

- then die cut the Memory Box 'Aurora Snowflake'  using a snippet of parchment paper for the back layer and a snippet of white card for the top layer. I had already covered the front of the white card snippet with Woodware double sided sheet scraps - something else I hoard!

- at that point I decided that the top snowflake layer was likely to be delicate so I immediately glued it onto the snowflake parchment backing using a glue pen rather than risk removing the protective layer and glittering it straight away

- it was a risk, but worked fine when I came to then glitter the snowflake - using something much akin to Glamour Dust but even better IMHO. I bought a huge unbranded pot many years ago from a local craft shop

- used a soft brush to whisk away any stray pieces of sparkle - still finding them on my clothes and (ahem) person days later!

- glued the finished snowflake onto the card front

- added the sentiment - ready made using snippets - from my little tub of my favourite small sized 'Merry Christmas' die cuts

- and that, was it - finished!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #64 HERE

The Rudolph Days Challenge for July 2024 HERE 

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

Dudley Pupdate: Basically, Dudley had a wonderful Birthday on Monday - he nose dabbed each card and gift he was given (frantic to sample the edible gifts of course!) and was almost cuddled to pieces by yours truly! Huge thanks for all your Birthday wishes etc. He certainly realised that the day was special - err, and tried to carry it on for the remainder of the week! Rather like a child who has become over excited and just can't calm down.

I know that some of you will have already seen this photo of Dudley Dog in full show coat, taken in May 2019 - hard to believe he was only 10 months old. It didn't last long, being the little pickle he is - it became clear that a puppy cut was the way forward. And everyone was happier as a result!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #484 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 - 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 - 'Let it Snow'

To be honest, given the mixed weather here, a bit of snow wouldn't really surprise me! This afternoon (Saturday) the rain was coming down in torrents/stair rods. I was almost ready to steal/launch the Playground canoe to take us (Dudley and I) to safety ............ hoping that Len would swim along behind pushing us as we two passengers paddled, bailed and cheered him on! Visions of me in the front with Dudley huddled behind me sheltered from the wind and rain beating out the paddle timings with his paw on a little drum ......... a bit like a dragon boat race really. OK, dream on Di, sometimes I do believe I need help! 😀

So, here's my snippets card for this week:

I used:

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

- piece of white card the same size as the card front on which I would build the little scene 

- the 'snowy background' paper is quite flimsy so I added Stick It sheet to the whole of the white panel front. Then covered it with a piece of 'Night Sky Scrap Book Paper' from a NBUS book of papers. Mostly like galaxies but some do resemble falling snow if you select the area on the sheet carefully (bought from Amazon ages ago) 

- only then did I trim the panel size down to 5.25" x 4" - I don't trust my precision when using something like Stick It sheet where you only get the one chance! Then put the panel to one side for now

- grabbed the Altenew Mini die cutting machine and had a little play with red and white snippets of paper and card to die cut the snowman first, with his scarf, hat and patchwork heart. Added the pieces to the snowman and then die cut his nose and pompom for his hat. The eyes were so tiny I just used a fine marker pen for those, as well as for the four little buttons down his front. Such a cute little guy and so reminiscent of a much loved Penny Black stamp. The die set is an unbranded gift from a very kind friend, you know who you are x

- then used snippets of the white and the same red patterned paper (from inside the back of a Marianne Christmas paper pad many years old) to die cut the three word sentiment - by Creative Expressions called 'Festive Shadowed Snetiment - Let it Snow'

- glued the words and backing shadow together using a glue pen then popped them somewhere safe until the next step

- now I knew the 'lie of the land' and the spacings available I could die cut a couple of snowy 'hills' using a Spellbinders die from their 'A2 Curved Borders One' set 

- glued the hills in place (subtle but there are two of them) leaving overhangs at the sides which I then trimmed from behind flush with the trimmed down main 'snowy sky' panel

- then used the snowman to check positioning and glued the sentiment shadowed words in place

- added the snowman to the card front using thin sticky pads and a glue stick, just in case of a 'wobble'

- finally, glued the whole front panel onto the card front - using the ever faithful and forgiving Collall All Purpose glue

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

- Darnell's NBUS challenge #64 - HERE - the snowman die, sentiment dies and, shame on me, the 'Galaxy' papers were all having its first outing

- Allsorts Challenge #789 HERE - under the 'Anything goes' option

Dudley Pupdate: It's been a fairly uneventful week in Dudley's world. He's heading for his sixth Birthday very soon so I'm working on a card for him whenever he's occupied elsewhere! How sad, hiding the card you're making in case the dog sees it! 

Dudley is obviously a late developer (quiet smile here) as only recently has he actually taken the words 'Bed time' onboard! He immediately scampers off to find his chosen spot out of the few that he moves around during the night. He's quite a restless sleeper and sometimes has the 'night terrors'. Why, we have no idea, but we just calm him down - perhaps let him mooch around the garden and then he settles back down. It could be that he knows the hedgehogs are out and about - they're eating us out of house and home right now and sometimes it seems as if they're having a brawl in the feeding station! I know, or 'doing other stuff' - but we can't feed any more mouths!

Remember, the results from Challenge #483  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. Come ready for all weathers - sunbathing and swimming gear as well as wellies and umbrellas! And a fleece or perhaps even a pair of skis, if you're wise!

Love as always, Dudley and yours truly,

Sunday Snippets - Fractured Christmas card

Reminded by Carol L's 'pick' last week. I revisited the Fractured Card 'technique' the other day:

I used:

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

- a snippet of white card covered with a piece of patterned paper from the really lovely Honey Bee 'Make It Merry' paper pad

- trimmed the panel to measure an eighth of an inch less than the card blank on all four sides as the base and set it to one side

- die cut a snippet of the same white card using a 2" Heffy Doodles 'Stitched Squares' die ready for the sentiment

- I die cut a 4" square 'jig' with a scrap of card and die cut the centre portion out using the same 2" stitched square die turned to sit with the points facing top. bottom and the two sides 

- stamped 'MERRY and BRIGHT' using a sentiment from Penny Black's 'Yuletide Wishes' set of stamps and a VersaFine Clair 'Shady Lane' ink pad - and the mini Misti

- glued the sentiment die cut onto the front panel of patterned papera further piece of the same paper 

- cut four quarter inch wide strips of a snippet of plain green paper from the same pad as the patterned paper came from - always a good way to match colours

- then, one at a time I used a glue pen to glue them from a corner of each side of the sentiment panel, right down to the edge patterned layer

- flipped the paper covered panel over and trimmed off the 'overhanging bits'

- adhered the completed panel onto the card blank using narrow foam strips - finished! Sorry, no photo of the white and green snippets I used 

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

- Christmas Kickstart #88 - 'Festive Frames' (I hope the Fractured technique counts as forming a frame around the sentiment panel) 

- Allsorts Challenge Week 788 - under the 'Anything goes' option.

Dudley Pupdate: Dudley has been a proper little pickle this past week! We had a guy here doing some regular maintenance work and the little scamp decided that he would make a good Mum to his puppies if you get my drift. Oh the shame of it - so determined was Dudley that he even skipped away from a treat as I was trying to close him in the craft room with me! Luckily the chap could see the funny side of it. 

Then, I went to have my hair chopped and there was a sweet little dog in the salon so of course I made a fuss of him.  When I got home Dudley was very excited as always - practically breaking the front door down. But not long after my arrival he 'really' sniffed my leg and he probably picked up Teddy's whiff, froze, glared and stalked off to bury his head under Len's pillow .... showing his bottom to us - purely to demonstrate that he was in a 'strop'!!  I tell you - it's like having Kevin The Teenager living here!!

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

Hope to see you on the swings, the weather is up and down at the moment - so perhaps the seesaw would be a better choice? Corny, I know. 

Love as always, Dudley Dog and me

Sunday Snippets - Nativity Bauble

Well, that's been quite a heatwave here - all of three days or so but it was truly scorching! 30.9 degrees at one point in my craft room with no air-con in a UK house - even with a fan blowing as much as I dared for fear of blowing die cuts about the place - absolutely not fun! It's cooler on Friday, as I write this post, and to be honest (even though it might seem ungrateful) we're very glad to have some respite.

I recently picked up a set of dies to continue with my plan to make more of our Christmas cards this year to reflect the true message of Christmas:

I used:

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

- a sheet of green shaded paper from the Honey Bee 'Make It Merry' paper pad from which I die cut the base layer of the bauble 

- then cut the gold top layer of the bauble - using a snippet of Stick It backed 'Inca Gold' mirror card and a die from Sweet Dixie's 'Nativity Bauble' set of dies - I also cut the little hanging string and the holly leaf embellishment at the same time

- took a sheet of shades of red paper from the Honey Bee paper pad and trimmed it to fit onto the card front with a quarter inch border all round

- before going any further I added the gold bauble, string and top embellishment to the red panel, to easily position it and also to be able to accurately snip off the top of the overhanging gold 'string'

- glued the red paper onto a piece of 'Inca Gold' card measuring an eighth of an inch bigger all round for a narrow border

- added the pre-assembled double layered 'Inca Gold' sentiment from my little pot of ones I make up when I just want to craft for a short time with the TV or You Tube on - the die is one of my favourites of course - Tonic's Mini 'Merry Christmas' 

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

- finished!

And of course, I made two the same whilst I was at it! I'm still not hitting my monthly Christmas card progress target for various reasons but have plans up my sleeve ........... never fear!

I'd like to enter this card into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #63 HERE - the 'Nativity Bauble' die set was having a first outing, as was the lovely Honey Bee double sided 'Make it Merry' paper pad - some really fresh looking designs along with plenty of toning plain/shaded sheets, I love it - watch out for a few 'Fractured' cards for Christmas appearing here before long! 

The Rudolph Days Challenge for June 2024 HERE

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

I've finally finished the 6 week long eye drops regime, due to having back to back ops and have now made an appointment for an eye test in two or three weeks time. Watch this space folks. 👁👁

Dudley Pupdate: When we saw our vet in early Spring she suggested trying Dudley with the one gap in his 'meds' ....... the dreaded and so hard to administer every three months 'additional' worming pill. I won't go into the details of the extra worm that the pill protects against but from my Biology days at school it's gruesome - and who wants to risk that for their beloved pet.

So, the different brand recommended pills were bought even though we suspected there might be fun and games ahead. At this point I should say that for over a year, Dudley has had a daily multi-vitamin pill popped into his little breakfast dish. Granted he does sometimes try to skip out of it but he does always eat it without any problems when reminded. Soooo, we did hope we might be ahead of the game and popped a worming pill in with his brekkies in place of the multi-vitamin and just carried on as normal. One lick and a crunch ......... and it was quickly rejected by Dudley! As luck would have it, I still had some breakfast toast with jam on in my hand, so I popped the crunched pieces onto teeny little bits of the jammy toast - and down they went! Relief!

BUT, whilst sitting on the edge of our bed later on I spotted about quarter of the pill that had escaped our notice in his initial 'quick, spit it out' session! Ho hum! I gently called Dudley, dozing nearby on the bed with his beloved 'Honks' beside him, to come for a cuddle. Poor little guy sleepily as well as innocently came into my open arms and with one swift movement I gently grasped his muzzle as his jaws instinctively clamped shut. 

However, there is that little 'side opening' in dog's teeth/gums so I lifted his side lip and popped the quarter pill right in. Dudley was so shocked that he swallowed it straight down. Then - he sat and looked accusingly at me as if to say 'You conned me Mama! I was hoping for a treat, at the very least'. Naturally, I felt so bad but it had to be done - I doubt if it can be repeated so easily but I'll try again in September - three months down the line. PS - of course he was given a little treat and all was forgiven. Doubtful about the 'forget' part of that phrase though!!

Very importantly, the results of Challenge #482 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 - 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