Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #416 - results

 

Cold and grey weather right now, when the sun does come out to play it's such a delight. We had about an inch of snow last weekend, and a few flurries since, but nothing to compare with the snow and storm Arwen in some other parts of the UK.

 

Now for the picks from our previous challenge. Many thanks to Amanda for being our Guest Designer!

And here we go:

Oh wow, I adore this card - made by Bunny. The light bulbs are so realistic - die cut from snippets of Brusho coloured paper or card. Don't they look just like glass, fabulous!

Makes me want to have a little play with my own Brushos again. I got dis-hearted when, due to being overly enthusiastic/heavy handed, I often ended up with very muddy looking results. Bit like a child painting really - sigh.

I know, I picked Carol L for two challenges running ☺ But this really elegant card totally jumped out at me - brilliant use of monochrome snippets and the pops of red and silver.

I truly do try hard to spread the picks around, but it would be unfair of me to bypass a card like Carol's.

And my final pick this time is such a sweet card, made by Helen F. House Meece images are a huge favourite of mine and this card is cute as can be. I adore the addition of the curls and snippets of 'wrapping paper and ribbon'! Such a great touch.

I've stayed with three picks again - life is a bit busy right now. Thankfully the pre-Christmas panic I got myself into a few days ago has abated - mostly just through slogging away at things and ticking stuff off a long list of things to do.

We had two new Playmates this time - both of whom I sort of 'poached' from the brilliant Christmas Kickstart Challenge which ended on 30th November. A new Christmas Kickstart challenge begins on Tuesday morning folks, over HERE!

I really do urge you to hop over to Bobby's blog HERE - plenty of wonderful ideas using snippets strips in the same post! 

And Prudence joined us via Instagram as well - go HERE to see her great Christmas tree card!

Do come back and play again soon ladies!  

I know that some of you do prefer not to link in from a blog, but use other social media such as SCS, IG, FB and Flickr. Whilst I may choose you as a pick - sadly I can't always spend what often is quite a bit of time fiddling around trying to get your images onto Blogger. Often I have to save images, if I'm even allowed to do so, to my own hard drive, resize, save again and then pick them up from there. In future I will give links but no image in those cases - sorry! You'll still be in the prize draw of course. Some folk merrily predicted that Blogging would come to an end a couple or so years ago - I have yet to see proof though.

That's the picks from Challenge #416 in the Playground and we had 40 entries, including two new Playmates. Now for the prize draw which is a Pink Ink set of stamps and matching dies, from me. And the winner is:

Lesley G

Congratulations Lesley - a little while since your last win so this one is certainly due! I think you'll love your prize - enjoy!

Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so it can be can be copied and pasted for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course.  Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost one more week to run on the current Ruby's Memory Challenge #417 which you can find HERE. There are two lovely prize bundles to choose between - kindly donated by two of our Playmates.

Breaking news: Next Sunday, 12th December, is the start of the Grand Christmas/New Year Draw in the Snippets Playground, with lots of prizes to be played for on many of the days during the four weeks it will run. I'll publish all the rules as usual next Sunday - but basically it will run along the same lines as previously. You must clearly use snippets remember!

Last Sunday's Ocado delivery was a total repeat of the other week when Dudley ran and got 'Honka Duck' to show to the delivery person - a young lady this time. Dudley adores most ladies, she almost melted on the spot, and of course he then did several of his tricks (dancing on his hind legs, few spins and plenty of cute smiling looks) - flirty little show-off that he is ☺. 

I said at the beginning we had about an inch of snow last weekend. Here's Dudley doing zoomies around a far corner of the back garden clipped from CCTV footage. He uses the 'plug' for the rotary washing line socket as the marker for one end of his chosen circuit. The netting fence is to keep him off a huge patch of bare soil left after we had gardeners in to remove some massive shrubbery not long ago, about four times the length shown, in readiness for a project next Spring. He would love to get in there and have a good dig for sure!  

I love the top 'action' shot. Although Dudley has seen and been out in snow in previous years, it was still a huge novelty and his absolute joy was a delight to behold!

He blends in well here doesn't he - good job he's got those lovely dark eyes and button nose!

Lots of love from Dudley Dog and of course me,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #417 - Ruby's Memory

Hello again - thanks for calling by! It's time for another snippets challenge dedicated to sweet Ruby's Memory, in aid of the centre who originally rescued her, and this is our eighth one.

The prizes for this challenge have kindly been donated by two different Playmates! So there are two chances to win a prize as we'll be celebrating having donated £200 to the rescue centre once this challenge closes. Also the Playground toy box is overflowing with prizes here right now and I can't get the lid on properly! That should be a hint that we'll have a Grand Christmas/New Year Draw again this year ☺ 

From Linby we have Prize A:

Creative Expressions 'For you' edger die, Apple Blossom 'Flourish Clover' die and a set of Crafters Companion stamps called 'Craft Words'

And from a playmate who wishes to remain anonymous we have Prize B:

Tattered Lace Border Collection 'Floral' set embossing folders, Tattered Lace 'Blossoms' set of dies, Joanna Sheen Signature dies 'Holly Swag', Clear Stamp Boutique 'Just for You Vase and Flowers' set of stamps and a Hobby Art really sweet little Christmas Bear stamp.

 

What generous donations from two lovely people. Thank you both so much!

I'm afraid that I won't split or mix around the bundles. It might be that you already have something that's included in a bundle but please don't let that put you off playing. I'm sure that the donors will be just the same as me when I say feel free to pass anything onto a crafting friend - at your end.

Remember to always say if you're playing for the prize on offer - and this time please also say 'Prize A', 'Prize B' or 'Either'.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 11th December. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day - and the Grand Christmas Draw will begin!

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list. And I won't be splitting the prize of course.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

Dudley gave us a good few 'moments' this past week. On Thursday, he took a real dislike to the British Gas engineer who came to do the annual boiler service. In the end we had to 'gate' him in the craft room with me. To be honest, the guy was rather weird and never even asked if he could go upstairs to check the radiators - he just did it ... which set Dudley off again in protest! Only once the guy had gone did we realise what the issue had been. He was working in the garage where our boiler is housed and Dudley's store of food, treats and a little army of as yet unused toys are also housed in there! Once freed, he shot down into the garage to do a full inspection and audit!

Lots of love from Dudley Dog and of course me,

Pixies Snippets Playground - Challenge 416

Welcome to a new Snippets Playground Challenge.The Winter is dithering a bit here, some days are relatively warm for the time of year and, as yet, we haven't seen our first frost. Having said that - time is certainly galloping towards Christmas. Len even started playing Christmas music on his guitar and is already asking me to decide what outdoor/indoor lights we'll have this year. No idea was the response - too soon for me.

And for this challenge we have another lovely Guest Designer. This time it's Amanda of 'Panda's Paper Playtime'!

To find out how Amanda made her fabulous card hop over to HERE. There are even step by step photos for you to see the process! I absolutely adore this card, needless to say as I'm a huge fan of Amanda's work and have been for a lot of years, the snippets are cleverly coloured leftover strips from a huge batch of Wedding invitation making. Many thanks for being our Guest Designer for this challenge Amanda, and also a huge thank you for making such a brilliant card to showcase the prize - it's great fun!

And, the prize from me this fortnight is:

It's a five piece stamp set, along with five matching dies, by Pink Ink called 'Pigs Might Fly'. Cute, quirky and something quite different. I particularly love how Amanda used the set with a 'rainbow' and also kept it so fresh.

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 27th November. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

 

Dudley had a trim (by Len) using the new clippers last Sunday and, thankfully, we seem to have finally found the right (and of course, almost most expensive) ones available. We also had quite a bit of work done on the gardens, front and back, earlier in the week. More on that in 2022. Dudley was in his element ,needless to say - once he got used to the guys. He really is such a nosy-parker and had to inspect everything. Good job he's so cute and can get away with it! Having had a bath last Saturday, of course he's a bit grubby ............ sooner than planned though!

 

I had good news from the new optician I went to during the week, the cataracts are still deemed to be minimal and no need for a referral. It appears that my previous optician over reacted about the cataracts two years ago (as confirmed by the hospital last year). For now it's a case of 'keeping an eye on things' - to coin a phrase! Yippee - bit of a relief at least for now, during the current situation.

Stay safe and be kind.

 

Lots of love from myself and a 'woof' from Dudley, 

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #414 - results

Hello and welcome to another results post. As I'm typing this on Friday 5th November it's like WW2 out there - thanks to idiots who must have their fireworks, despite a huge local communal display on 6th November.

 

Anyhow - here are the picks for this time around:

 

What a stunning Christmas card this is, made by Val. Flags are always a great way to use snippet strips and I particularly love the idea of  the sentiment strip across the card, great thinking! 

Here's a super card made by Franka (Inkami). Again, a very elegant card and plenty of snippets used. Red and either gold or silver are such wonderful companions on Christmas cards.

And my final pick is this fun card, shared with us by Kitty - it looks good enough to eat really. Wonderful combination of snippets as well!

We had two new Playmates this time:

Jennifer H, with this fabulous male card

Pauline C with a lovely vintage card

That's the picks from Challenge #414 and we had 39 entries in total.

 

The rather sad part is that when I revisited potential picks on my little list to pick out the final three, one didn't mention what snippets they had used (even though I could hazard a guess, that's not fair to other entrants) - and another potential pick didn't have a link to the Snippets Playground in their post. Which disqualified them both from not only being a pick but also from the prize draw. I've said it so many times and find it such a shame when people miss out.

Now for the prize draw,which is an Echo Park 'Candy Cane Christmas' set of dies plus a Neat & Tangled 'Medallion Flower Builder' set of dies. Kindly donated by Kathy A. And the winner is:

Karen Ladd

Congratulations Karen! Knowing your 'love of die cutting', you'll love these dies. Kathy will post/mail it to you directly from her home 'across the Pond'.

Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so it can be can be copied and pasted for speed and ease. It's a good prompt for me and also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course.  Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost one more week to run on the current Challenge #415 which you can find HERE. The prize is a lovely floral Penny Black slapstick/cling stamp called 'full of glee', kindly donated to the toy box by Darnell.

Challenge #414 was in aid of Ruby's Memory and I just sent off a further donation to USPCA, the rescue charity who saved Ruby and gave her the chance of the wonderful life she had with Lynne and Greg. That means, thanks to your generous prize donations, and the addition of Gift Aid tax relief onto my donations in lieu of buying prizes, we've raised £175 for USPCA so far.

And, there is some really happy news over on Lynne in NI's blog, in case you missed it - take a look: 

Meet 'Miss' Molly, who has joined Lynne and Greg as their new little Westie fur baby. We all know that a new doggy can never, ever actually replace Ruby - but this little sweetie will surely help to heal the massive holes left in Lynne and Greg's lives and hearts, coming up to a year ago now - as well as becoming a much loved and very important member of the family. In time I think she and Ruby will blend together all the love in your home and almost become as one. We all wish you three loads of happy times ahead - and wee Ruby will always be in our hearts and watching over you all for sure.

Am currently doing a turn as Guest Designer over at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge - run by the very sweet Jo. The theme is Christmas of course - and it's snippets! Please come and join in HERE.

On Friday I had my COVID booster jab, with no reaction so far other than feeling as if someone punched me in the arm. The organisation was brilliant, unlike the local health centre's chaotic and hopeless 'organisation' of flu vaccinations six weeks ago. Hats off to the NHS - so that's both of us up to date with our flu and COVID jabs. Little Dudley has his doggy booster jab in December but we're keeping that under wraps! 

Dudley news: Poor little mite had a bath/shower yesterday (Saturday) which will be followed by a going over with yet another (third time lucky?) set of doggy clippers today if possible. If these don't do the job, then I'll be bundling Dudley into my car and whisking him off to the only local grooming salon that I trust. 

 

Love from myself and the usual happy 'high-five' and woof from Dudley.

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #413 - results

 

Now for the picks from our previous challenge. Many thanks to Sarn, our Head Prefect and creator of much mischief as well as lovely cards, for being our Guest Designer.

And here we go:

It's always great to see really clever ways to use up snippets - especially those longish strips we all seem to accumulate! Sandra H brought the above card to share and it's a lovely example of how to make the most of your snippety strips.

Wowser, what a wonderful selection of Halloween treat bags, shared with us by Carol L. Mind you, sharing via a blog post doesn't taste as yummy as in person! No doubt there will be Halloween treats in the Playground Treehouse though.! Really lovely to see you back playing with us Carol!

What a card, made by Jane W! Tons of snippets used and the detail is stunning. I thought the 'berries' were clear 'dewdrop' gems but Jane actually used clear liquid pearls - really effective as well.

 

Sharrie joined us for the first time from her new blog, bringing this lovely card - all the colours I love as well!

I accidentally didn't introduce you to Samantha, a new Playmate from Challenge 412 - and this is really pretty card she shared:

Come back and play soon! 

That's our joint picks from Challenge #413 in the Playground, we had 46 entries in total and one new Playmate. Now for the prize draw which is a Stampin' Up 'Vertical Sentiments' set of stamps - from Sarn. And the winner is:

Kathy K

Congratulations Kathy! Knowing your style of crafting, you're sure to use your prize to its full advantage!

Please send me your address, even if you know that I know it already, with your full name at the top as well so it can be can be copied and pasted for speed and ease. It's also confirmation that you still would like the prize of course.  Please put Playground Winner or similar in the subject line of your email in case it drops into my junk mail. Email address is on RH sidebar as always.

Remember folks, there's still almost one more week to run on the current Ruby's Memory Challenge #414 which you can find HERE. The prize is an Echo Park 'Candy Cane Christmas' set of dies plus a Neat & Tangled 'Medallion Flower Builder' set of dies, kindly donated by Kathy A who is also our Guest Designer.

We tried out the Mangar Elk 'rescue/rising cushion' the other day - with Len on the floor as guinea pig just in case there were any issues. It works a treat, although Dudley wasn't too sure about it when the air pump was running. 'What sort of dragon-like beastie is that then?'. Naturally, we both hope it's never needed but it sure beats a wait of several hours for help to arrive! 

Here's Dudley catching a few extra ZZZZzzzz'z on our bed before I made it the other day. And yup, that's the latest 'Stinky Monkey' beside him (still not as loved as previous ones) - plus his very first very grubby now 'rustle and squeak hedgie' puppy toy from Sarn, over three years ago - which he still loves and often uses as a pillow! 

He looks so sweet and innocent - but trust me, there's mischief brewing as soon as he's awake! Folk have mentioned that perhaps his name ought to be 'Tinker' - well, that's always been one of his nicknames from almost the word go! So you were right in suggesting it.☺

And, for your entertainment, here's Dudley 'spinning for a treat' - a little ritual after he's done a 'poop' each day. His record is seven spins in one go! The 'lunge' at the end is because Len always pops the treat on a unit beside my desk for me to give to him. And if I'm not fast enough he (Dudley) hops up and down like a demented Easter Bunny! If you have the sound on, he's panting a bit as he just did a few racing laps of the garden (zoomies, to celebrate a successful toilet mission) he then charged indoors and raced up the stairs, two at a time to my craft room, where he knew I'd be waiting to give him a treat.

Sorry, I just can't 'crack' uploading the video onto Blogger - here's a link to it on YouTube, it's also on Facebook:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsl-A5-rrI

Love from myself and the usual happy 'high-five and woof' from Dudley,

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #414 - Ruby's Memory

Hello again - thanks for calling by! It's time for another snippets challenge dedicated to sweet Ruby's Memory, in aid of the centre who originally rescued her, and this is our seventh one.

The prize for this challenge has been kindly offered by Kathy Asper - who is also in the spotlight as a guest designer for this fortnight as well. First. lets take a peek at the three lovely cards Kathy made:

 

I love all three of these cards - each one showing how well snippets work on die cuts for Christmas cards. To find out how Kathy made them, do hop over to her blog HERE.

 

And, Kathy has generously donated two sets of dies - both make up a single prize which won't be split. The prize will also be posted directly to the winner by Kathy:

 

The prize is an Echo Park 'Candy Cane Christmas' set of dies plus a Neat & Tangled 'Medallion Flower Builder' set of dies. Just perfect to play with before Christmas!

As always, the Snippets Challenge will run for two weeks and the Playground gates will close at 11am UK time on Saturday 30th October. The gates will open again at midnight UK time on the same day.

It's a maximum of ONE entry, please say in a comment if you wish to play and be a possible winner of the prize. Please also link back to the Playground in your blog post to be eligible for the draw.

Remember, if you link into the Playground and don't say clearly that you want to be in the draw in a comment on here, then you will be bypassed if your name comes out of Mr Linky. I'm sure you all know I ask for a positive 'yes' on the blog post itself - just in case you're only playing for fun - otherwise I don't add you to my little list. And I won't be splitting the prize of course.

 

Please also remember that I only allow a total of nine other challenges, which makes 10 in total, when you enter a snippets make into the Playground.

 

Dudley has been in disgrace here, for only as long as it took for his sweet little face to melt our hearts. So, all of one minute probably. Len was cutting the grass in the back garden and Dudley spotted a neighbouring cat lurking underneath a bush on Dudley's patch no less! He made one frantic dash, the cat soared over the tall fence like a rocket and Dudley returned with his head hung low absolutely covered in sticky seed heads, bits of grass cuttings and also muddy paws.

 

'I only wanted to introduce myself' he moaned - as he was brushed to within an inch of his life and then had his paws and tummy given a good wash. 

 

A few of you will have already seen this as I posted it on Facebook - once we stopped laughing (discretely of course). One of our neighbours commented and asked was it one of theirs (it was). She saw the funny side when I said that Dudley only really saw the tail end properly. ☺ 

However, Dudley redeemed himself in the early hours of Friday morning when he was out in the garden for a final toilet trip before bedtime. He suddenly stopped mooching around and alerted Len to this little creature underneath the arbour:

A baby hedgehog, being held in Len's cupped 'gardening gloved' hands and probably the size of an orange. Light as a feather as well, so we need to watch out for it and, if it returns to feed again, weigh it in case it needs to be taken to a local hedgehog rescue place. I know it seems a shame to take a hedgehog away from its Mum and possibly its siblings. However, it's already fairly independent and without expert help it just wouldn't survive hibernation if it weighs under 500 grammes. Watch this space and let's all hope for the best.

Thank you from Len for all your Birthday wishes! And yup, he did love his Birthday card I made for him, posted on here on Friday 15th October.

Lots of love from Dudley Dog and of course me,