Snippets Card

 

Hello! I haven't been blogging here for quite a long while. Although this strange year has dragged in many respects, time seems to dash away too. I seem to take lots of photos, but I don't seem to do anything with them!

 I hope that you are keeping well and happy. Here is my snippets card for Pixie's Snippets Playground

It really is a very snippety card, as you can see! I found an example on Pinterest that uses the old SU word window punch. Such a good idea for tackling Paper Mountain. Some of these bits of paper have been hanging around for a LONG time! 

Here are some other recent makes -

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty pleased with how the house turned out. It's made using Tim Holtz's Paper Village dies - very cute! The base is chopped off the Christmas tree and it has been covered with gesso, True Snow and a fine glitter. The trees were coloured with Speckled Egg Distress Oxide spray. It was a lot of fun to make!

More cards...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And finally, a soapy make which had its moments, as soap making often does!!

 

If I don't get back here soon, I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and a better New Year!

Happy crafting, April xxx

Tasteful Touches

 

 

 



Just that really! Saying hello after about two months - I really am hopeless with my blog!

 

I have used Stampin' Up's Tasteful Touches to make this skinny card. All the leaves and flowers are snippets left over from another card. The flowers were colouring failures that needed going over again with the blender pen and the Wink of Stella. They very nearly ended up in the bin in an overdue fit of tidying, but I'm glad I made them into a new card instead.

 

We stayed in a lovely cottage in Lancashire as a welcome change of scenery. It was greatly needed after my husband working from home (he has gone back now)  and my daughter trying to teach herself A' Levels. It felt wonderful to clamber up Pendle Hill and walk along the river. That will be it on the holiday front. I certainly wouldn't want to attempt going abroad!

Here is a rather dark photo of the river that ran alongside our cottage.

Here's a better photo!

And here is a Pendle witch wearing her mask!

I'm sending my skinny card along to Di at Pixie's Snippets Playground where a certain somebody has been a very sweet Birthday Boy recently!

Happy Crafting! April xxx

Botanical Prints

 

 

 

Oh my! Two blog posts in one day!

I am entering this card into the challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is flower. I think it is reasonably minimalist. I stencilled through a laser-cut overlay, so I think that gives it more of an 'airy quality'.

The stamp and repurposed overlay are both from Stampin' Up's Botanical Prints Medley which I love very much. The flower was coloured with Stampin' Blends and the cardstock and stencilling are both Mint Macaron.

Here is a more complicated version with die cuts and sequins added...

I hope you like them!

Happy crafting, April xx





 

Girl with Birds

 

 

Hello! I hope that you are keeping well. I really enjoyed making this card! It is a digital stamp from Vera Lane Studio. I love the birdies!

 

Digi Stamp: Whimsical Gal with Birdhouse and Birds

Cardstock: SU Whisper White and Basic Black

Inks: Distress Inks - Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon.

Stencils: Tim Holtz Speckles and Penny Black Oscillations

Coloured with SU Blends

Snippets of an old SU paper that have been brayered with ink and some torn washi tape

White gel pen

 

 

I also had a good time making this collage from pieces of gelli prints.

 

 

 

Some 'inchies' made from the lovely IndigoBlu magazine...

  

Our daughter had her 17th birthday. Her nickname at school has always been Ladybug, so this card seemed appropriate! She managed to meet up with all her friends virtually via some form of social media or other, so all was not lost fortunately. Young people are coping brilliantly, I think. I can't imagine what it must be like to have your education and future put on hold at that age. I hope that they all bounce back as quickly as possible!

 

 

 

 

 

Soap-making has been going on. This batch is Lavender & Tea Tree and it smells lovely! The recipe has been formulated by my assessor, so it was great to make a soap that is different from my own range. There are lots of regulations around the claims you are allowed to make about soap. This one can be advertised as antimicrobial. Although all soaps are antimicrobial because of their surfactant properties, the addition of the lavender and tea tree essential oils enhance that effect and leave your hands smelling lovely. Once they are cured I want to send some to our local wildlife sanctuary, as they have been tirelessly working to look after hedgehogs, rabbits and all kinds of birds.

 

Finally, I have been working on our pond and this lovely little guy has been keeping me company. After many weeks, he also appeared with a girlfriend.

 

 

 

 My card has some old SU dsp snippets - hope I dig out more as it is very useful indeed! I am sending it along with a socially distanced hug to Di and the gang at Pixie's Snippets Playground.

 

Keep crafting! April xx

 

 

 



Birthday Cat

Hello! I hope you are coping well with lockdown. We had a special birthday to celebrate as Toby was 50 last week. We are very lucky in living two minutes away from Birkenhead Park so we don't feel at all deprived when it comes to walks.

I made this pop-up box card as my husband (like me) is cat-mad. It was super-fiddly and naturally I left it to the last minute which was a bit stressy - fussy cutting a tiny mouse at night is a bit daft!! He liked it very much though and we managed a celebratory, but obviously rather unusual birthday. I used SU's Nine Lives to make the card. I do love the ball of wool and tiny mouse and fish stamps! I was inspired by my friend Too Much Glue Sam. She made a whole bunch of these cats and made a Mother's Day bouquet with them - so cool!

Here is the cake...

And here are a couple of pics from the birthday walk!

 

Here is a rather attractive box of humbugs that came in a hamper. They were red, white and blue. The birthday boy said he wasn't actually that keen on humbugs, so I ate them (always happy to oblige!)

My card used some super snippety tiny snippets for mice, food dishes etc. so I am sending my card to Di, Dudley, Parsnip, Hedgies and Walter Pigeon at Pixie's Snippets Playground.

Happy lockdown crafting! April xx

Birthday Butterflies

Hello! I made this birthday card for my friend's daughter who is 16 today. Such strange times with us all having to resort to rather makeshift celebrations, but I hear she managed to have a good time. The lovely lady who is often on the till at Sainsbury's told me that she was meant to be going to the US for her son's wedding in four weeks. She had also had a whole day of people moaning about the empty shelves! I'm a bit of a loner at the best of times, but I think when this is all over I will be much more appreciative of all the little social things that I tended to take for granted!

This card uses really lovely stamps and paper from the IndigoBlu magazine. I particularly like the snippet of black card that was run through the embossing folder that comes with the magazine. You can't really see it in the photo, but it's comprised of cogs and a clock face. I sprayed it with some pearl Cosmic Shimmer Mist. The paper has been stencilled and stamped with SU Sahara Sand ink and the butterflies have Wink of Stella on their wings. Lots of sparkle!

 I hope that you are keeping well and that crafting is bringing some comfort to you! I am sending my card off to Di, Dudley, Stinky Monkey IV,  Parsnip & the Hedgies at Pixie's Snippets Playground. I'm aware that that is possibly the maddest card recipient list ever!!

April x

Power of Hope

Hello! This is my card for this week's Global Design Project which was inspired by this sketch here -



The sketch made me think of windows, so I cut a 'window frame' using a die from the Ornate Frames collection from Basic Black cardstock. There are pieces of vellum in the windows and I used the Power of Hope stamp set to create a background scene.

I used a piece of platinum foil embossed with the Stone 3D folder to make the 'seal' thingy. The other cardstock used is Petal Pink. I have also added some sequins from the Woven Threads Sequin Assortment. Lots of fun to make!

Happy crafting! April xx

More masking tape and a post-it note

 

 

Hello! Here is another card made using masking tape to create an inked background. The stamp set is SU's Seaside Notions - I just couldn't resist that seahorse!

The colour scheme is inspired by this week's Global Design Project

I'm also sending this seahorse along to Di, Dudley & Parsnip at Pixie's Snippets Playground. The Real Red card was one of a small pile of snippets that took some serious searching for. For some unknown reason I seem to have no red card at all!

Happy crafting! April xx

Fun with Masking Tape

 

 

Hello! My post title is only slightly ironic - I really did have fun with masking tape whilst making this colourful card! It was inspired by the beautiful creation over at Global Design Project.

Isn't that a lovely card? I used the masking tape technique to make stripes of colour with Lovely Lipstick, Grapefruit Grove, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Blueberry Bushel and Highland Heather. Very easy and lots of fun to do, as you just squidge ripped pieces of masking tape down on an inkpad and then transfer to the card. I love it because you get such interesting and unpredictable variations.

Here it is in action! Very therapeutic - all that inky squidging around...

I also followed the original by stamping the sentiment on vellum and fussy-cutting it. I wouldn't have thought of doing that, but it certainly gives a greater depth than if you just stamped it directly, I think. Some sequins stuck on and there you go! Rather more 'rough and ready' than the exquisite original lol!

Happy crafting, April xx










Happy Birthday to You

Hello! Today's card was made using 'Happy Birthday to You', one of SU's Saleabration stamp sets. I'm never that crazy about birthday cake stamps, but I do like the flowers on this one. I coloured them with a blender pen and a Highland Heather inkpad. This card also used up some snippets of Old Olive and Sahara Sand cardstock, a piece of platinum foil for the cake stand and some vellum 'repurposed' from a kit.

I am sending hugs to Di, Dudley and Parsnip over at Pixie's Snippets Playground (avoiding squeezing your shoulder!!)

My card also fits the theme of 'Celebration' over at Global Design Project.
 

 Happy crafting! April xx

Layered With Kindness

Hello! This is a lovely stamp set from the new Stampin' Up spring catalogue called 'Layered With Kindness' - so pretty! I used Blueberry Bushel (full colour and stamped off) combined with Old Olive to make this thank you card. I was inspired by this sketch at Global Design Project

It was definitely very nice to make a springy card after lots of Christmas crafting!

Happy crafting! April xx