Sunday Snippets - A Beery Male Card

Hello Fellow Snippeteers,

And welcome, too, to my new followers - hope you enjoy my crafty prattlings!

I'm still on 'clean up craftroom' duty but took a little time out to make this quick and simple to make card for my Grandson's birthday.

It's his 29th. I don't know how it's happened but the last 29 years have passed in a flash and he's gone from cute baby to a daddy himself in the blink of an eye. One of his passions is playing pool - I'm told he's not half bad at it too - and because that usually entails the partaking of a pint or two I thought this topper was quite appropriate.

Supplies used:

- a white A6 card blank from Docrafts Papermania

- snippets of Kraft and brown card trimmed to size for matting and layering

- Kanban male themed topper and greeting

I did say it was simple to make, didn't I?

It's a snippet card so I'm off to check in to Pixie's Snippet Playground and catch up with what Di and Parsnip are up to today.

Before I go, I'm sitting here looking at the most gorgeous golden/red sunset.

The real thing is so much better then this photo but it is the best I can do with the camera I have. Still, I hope it gives you some idea of just how lucky we are living on the west coast of Scotland ... we get the pick of the skies!  That's a telephone wire right in front of my window. Birds congregate there periodically during the day, twittering, tweeting, gossiping and bickering and I have a front row seat to it all. 

Right, that's it for today. I wish you all a very good evening, or morning, depending on where you are. 

Rudolph Day - March

Hi Everyone,

It's been a gloriously sunny day, a day to potter in the garden, so it seems strange to be talking about Christmas but it's Rudolph Day and I've made a trio of festive themed cards to share with Maureen over at Scraps of Life.

They are all the same design but I've used a variety of patterned papers, ink colours for the greetings and embellishments, e.g ribbon and enamel dots.

I can't make up my mind which version I like best - they are all so pretty.

Here's a list of the supplies I used:

• white textured cardstock, Papermania, for the base. A5 (14.8 x 21cm) size folded in half. 
• patterned paper from the Mistletoe 6x6 pack (Memory Box) 
• scraps of ribbon
• white and green funky foam for poinsettia flowers
• poinsettia die from Spellbinders
• enamel dots from Simple Stories DIY collection
• greeting stamp from Scenic Stamps Woodland Cottage set
• inks - ColorBox Cranberry and Memento Tuxedo Black
• scrap of dark brown cardstock for matting the greeting on the first card

I should point out that the greeting on the first card was trimmed from the same sheet of patterned paper as used to decorate it.

I'm also submitting a card to Hazel's  CHNC Challenge 326 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas.

It's the start of British Summer Time so remember to put the clock forward one hour before you go to sleep tonight.  Oh dear, that means one hour less sleep for me - my biorhythm will be shot to pieces for at least a week!

Hope your weekend is going well.

Sunday Snippets

Evening Folks,

Had a busy day so only just found time to write up this Sunday snippets post and join in with everyone over at Pixie's Snippets Playground with these cards.

On Tuesday last week, as I mentioned in this post on Wednesday, I challenged myself to make as many cards as I could with the leftovers from a scrapbook layout rather than just stash them away to be forgotten, possibly forever. The result was a set of four cards that definitely have a scrapbooking influence and so quite different to my usual. Here are three of the cards - I can't show the fourth yet ... it's in transit to someone who might just read this post.

Materials: white card base measuring 4"x 5¾", used tent style; Papermania green striped die cut - trimmed to size, backing layer; Dr Seuss card - possibly a Dear Lizzy product; hearts punched in two sizes from snippets of My Mind's Eye and Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic patterned paper - that's a gold dot on the light pink paper, not black as appears in the photo; gold sequins from stash.

Materials: white card base measuring 4"x 5¾" - portrait orientation; lavender patterned background is a very old paper - maker unknown; snippets of patterned papers from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist collection, and American Crafts Dear Lizzy's 5th & Frolic Lovely Lane; the topper is a cut-apart from way back - again maker unknown; the butterfly was in a RAK received from a friend; Fun Fair enamel dots.

Materials; a teensy-weensy white card base measuring 4" square; striped green die-cut from Papermania trimmed to size; another cut-apart topper, maker unknown, matted on a snippet of black cardstock; pink chevron  washi tape from Bella Boulevard; snippet of turquoise spot paper from American Crafts; tiny hearts and butterfly punched from a snippet of pink patterned paper; Papermania iridescent adhesive gems.

I should say that all the materials used are old - the one date I could find is 2012 - so I very much doubt any are still available.

I'd say this was a very successful challenge. If there is one thing I like better than recycling it's using up leftover stash, especially if they mean I can join in our lovely Head Snippeteer Di's challenge which is now a fortnightly event ... giving us more time to find a use for our snippets!

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend.

Cardmaking - Snow Capped Mountain Scene

Morning Everyone

Today I have a card made for the November UKPC Swap. It got forgotten because of our really bad December and only rediscovered today when I was tidying up computer files, moving last year's photos into a 2016 folder.

The challenge for this Swap was to interpret the sketch below.

As you can see the sketch is portrait but inspiration didn't come until I switched it to landscape. I could then see that it was clearly a mountain scene - snow capped mountains in the moonlight, of course!

Since making the card the list of materials has gone missing and, as it could be anywhere now, I'm going to have to rely on my memory - that will be fun :)

Here goes:

The background, a piece that had been tucked away in my stash for a year or so, was made using cling film and Cosmic Shimmer Mists in shades of green, Meadow Lush & Blue Lime, and Rich Gold. Once it was trimmed to size it was embossed using a Textures Distress folder from Crafter's Companion.

The hills were made using kraft card, trimmed to shape, and heat embossed in the style of Stampendous' Fran Seiford's famous Frantage, only I mixed up my own from a variety of powders already in my stash. They were, as far as I can remember, Papermania Seafoam White, Heat It Up! Gold & Silver, Sheena's WOW! Lime light and I added, for even more texture, a scattering of Flower Soft Sage,

The 'moon' was created using a Clarity Circle Dot stencil and Pinflair Silver Buff-It which has a nice gritty texture with a glittery finish. The sentiment is from Clear Impressions' The Wild & Free stamp collection from an issue of Get Stamping.

Also used is in the background is a stamp of house and trees from the Winter Wonderland stamp set, a freebie from Creative Stamping Magazine, Issue 36. For embellishments I simply used some natual twine stapled into the positions suggested on the sketch.

That's all as far as I can remember but I'm sure to have forgotten something. As I said, I did note everything down at the time. It's probably long gone, a casualty of my frequent tidying sessions. That being so, if there is anything I missed that you want to know more about do let me know, I'll do my best to answer any questions.

In the meantime, take care, stay safe and have a great weekend.

Cardmaking - Christmas Candle

Hello Everyone,

Hope you've as fine a day as we have had here where we have had clear skies, bright sunshine and no rain! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog and leave a comment. I really enjoy reading every one of them.

I have another quick made Christmas card to share.

I was sorting through a box of photographs (looking for something else entirely) when I found this one that I took of a Christmas tree I spotted in a garden centre a few years ago. I immediately thought it would make a lovely card.

There was so little to the making of it that I won't go through all the steps, instead here's a list of supplies.

• cardstock - a sheet A5 (48x21cm) white textured cardstock (Papermania) folded in half to create the card base; scraps of green printed cardstock (Hunkydory) for front of card and holly leaves; dark red - to mat the photo on; gold mirri for greeting words
• embossing folder - Sizzix Hero Arts Dots for the red photo mat
• dies -  holly leaves and greeting words from Tattered Lace mini die set 
• embellishments - gold edged red ribbon and red flat backed pearls from stash

I used so many leftovers in this card, even the ribbon was an off-cut left from a previous project, that it was almost a card for nothing!

I'd like to submit this card to the following challenges:

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November 2016 challenge

Weekly Christmas Card Challenges - #48

Must fly - time for an hour on the sofa with a cuppa - Gareth Malone will be choosing another choir i so I'm off to watch the programme.

To Sew or Not to Sew - a SWAP card

Hi Everyone,

Well, I have tried and I've better than tried to sew on card with my relatively new sewing machine and I'm failing miserably. I just can't seem to get the tension right!?!? I'm not giving up entirely, I don't give up easily,  but as time was running out I chose not to sew for this tent style card.

Just a bit of faux stitching had to suffice.

With the exception of a few items, the materials are from Papermania's Happy Daze collection which is just perfect for the sewing theme. The front is covered with patterned paper which I carried over to the back comme ca ...

I've used one of the bracket-shaped die-cuts from the collection at the top of the front, again wrapping it over on to the back. I ran a row of blue faux stitching along the raw edges just to give them a bit of definition.

The elegant lady is from a Crafty Individuals stamp set and to get the topper just the size wanted, I have used a Spellbinders label as a template, first drawing round the inside and cutting out, and then drawing around the outside for the matting.

The vintage thread card is a download from Craft Stamper magazine and that's some embroidery silk wound round it - leftover from my cross-stitching days.

Just a glimpse of the inside decoration.

Materials used:
White square-shaped card base
Papermania's Happy Days Collection, includes design paper, designer die-cuts, flowers and embroidered brads
Crafty Individuals CI-323 stamp and Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Five
Zig Vellum Writer - blue
From stash - white embroidery silk; needle; button

We've just had a text to say that my SIL and grandson have been up to the jetty at Portencross (scroll down to yesterday's post for a pic) fishing and have brought back a fine catch of mackerel, would we like some? Apparently, there are so many fish there that catching them is easy and so they now have more than they need. The EM likes a bit of fresh mackerel and I don't think the Boss will turn her nose up at a morsel or two either but, while I like most fish, this is not one of them. All the more for them then :)

Oh, I found the missing die - thank goodness, they are a bit too pricey to lose. Clearly, I don't want that to happen again, it's not good for my aged heart, so I'm now on the hunt for some magnetic sheets.

And the best news of all, my wee sister, Margaret, got home from the hospital today - bunting out and all happy smiles  - I've warned her never to give us such a fright again :)

That's me done for today - two posts are more than enough anyway :))

Take care all, enjoy the weekend and happy crafting,