Sunday 27 August 2017

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 293 and 294 - results

Well, the weather is still a bit mixed but generally it's been quite warm down here in the South of the UK. Certainly the plants are growing at a rate of knots!

Let's get straight on with our lovely Guest Designer for this fortnight - a lady you will all know well, it's Val of 'Aquarius Blog' - who came dashing to the rescue when I put out the plea for guest designers! I now have a bigger list than I had, so many thanks to all of you who have offered!

This is the card Val made, using up snippets:
Isn't it absolutely adorable?! I love the colours, cuteness and all the pretty die cuts - really great use of snippets Val!

Val was a GD for the Playground before, back in June - see HERE, and is a regular player, very supportive and is another person I'm glad to call a sweet friend.

This is what Val sent me:

This one came about really because I’d remembered that somewhere in the depths of my craft room I had a snowman die from way back and I found a box with some really old dies, many of them Cuttlebug ones which were solid metal, fairly thick with foam around the cutting edges and  some other miscellaneous bits and pieces which must be 10-12 years old at least.  The upshot of this is that I also came across this Cuddly Buddly die, not quite as thick as the aforementioned but still a metal plate with foam surrounding the cutting edges and decided I’d make an anniversary card cute style.  Apart from the base card everything else came from my snippets collection.  I don’t suppose this actual die is still available and if you’d prefer something using more current stash please let me know – at least I won’t be enabling anyone to go out and spend money!

I left Val's words almost as they were and did have a good giggle about the die being 'out of production so no-one would be tempted to go and buy one for themselves'! The very first dies I ever bought were very similar and incorporated foam in one way or another. 

In fact, it made me think that perhaps one fortnight we should make a real effort to dig out our oldest and long forgotten stamps/die for our snippets entries? I know there are some challenges which focus on 'an oldie but a goodie' but it could be a thought? Or, do you prefer that we always just have 'anything goes' - without exception?

Thank you so much for being our Guest Designer for this fortnight Val, and for being such a loyal Playmate as well.

Remember the tale I told about 'Fenwicks shop window' a couple of weeks ago? Well, leading on from that I remembered a tale from my own Father's childhood. He decided to go to the seaside for the day during the school Summer holidays, from the outskirts of Newcastle, on his own. Anyone knowing that aree would realise it was quite a feat for a little chap - following his nose toward the coastline.

I don't know if he hitched any lifts at all but he did get to the seaside and managed to share in a family's picnic as well as have a paddle in the sea. Then it was time to return home and by this time it was becoming dark and his little legs were very tired. It took a lot longer for the return journey than he thought it would and by then his parents had the police and half the neighbourhood out looking for him.  

Obviously there was huge relief when he arrived home, tired, hungry and very grubby - so he was popped straight into bed. However, retribution came the following morning. One of the main shopping roads near to where he lived had a department store and quite a few of the staff had been amongst those searching for Dad. They'd even put a huge sign in the main window with his description (probably no photos back in those days!). Dad's punishment was to spend the day after his adventure, standing in the same shop window - with a notice around his neck thanking everyone who had joined in the search!!

I heard this tale more than once so am inclined to believe it - on the other hand, this was the same chap who, as a Father, told his little girl that goldfish came back to life if you flushed them down the loo when they died! And guess what, I was 18 years old when I finally realised it was one big fib.

Now for my picks from this past fortnight: 

First of all we have a Gold Star Winner
 
And it's Karen P this time! I chose Karen's wonderful 'little house in the woods' because it's absolutely gorgeous of course, but also because of all the hard work Karen put into using up loads of little snippets for the flowers, trees and house. I adore all the little punched out crosses which make up the house - what a labour of love! Well done Karen and do please help yourself to the Gold Star Badge on my right hand side bar!

For the three other picks I've really dithered so much - I had a 'short list' of nine originally. In the end I decided to showcase three Playmate's work that I don't think have been in the final three picks lately - to spread the love a bit. And of course, there's something extra special about each one - they each use something that wasn't originally intended to end up as part of a card, some clever up cycling going on here:
Liv made this lovely window card - what a stunning background die to build on. Scenes and windows are so 'in' right now and I just love how Liv used pieces of doily from a local coffee house for the draped net curtains. I expect lots of you already know that Liv hails from Switzerland and (unlike the UK and the USA for instance) coffee houses on the Continent are taken very seriously with beautiful cakes, the aroma of freshly ground coffee and a doily between the cup and the saucer. I know we do have some lovely little teashops in the UK - Jane of Jane's Journal supplies an award winning one one near her (Dotty's) with her hand crafted cards for example.

Liv had a nasty piece of malware on her laptop recently which meant she ended up making a fresh blog so it would be great if you could pop over to say hello and maybe add yourself as a follower.

I love this card made by Sue T! What a pretty little scene and all the components to make the card came from Sue's 'scrap box' - including the wood effect backing, which originated as packaging! I happen to know a very dear friend who almost force feeds her hubby custard tarts so she can then use the packaging for crafting :)

And my third pick is this one:
And again, it's some clever 'up cycling' - made by Vinita. The little scene is so cute and the rainbow fence is made from the ends of ice cream spoons (the ones  we get with tubs in the cinema sort of thing). Loads of interesting detail over at Vinita's about how she made this card too.

I hope you like the picks I ended up with - it often takes me ages flicking to and fro between your blogs, checking out my 'first thoughts' and trying to decide on a final three! Ha, sometimes it would be almost as easy to pick ten of you anyhow! But, I like a challenge and also do try to tie the picks together a bit. I wonder, do you know that's in my mind already for the next set of picks?

59 of you played along last fortnight and we had one new playmate joining in with us as well:
This lovely card was made by a young lady called Remi - who is Shannon of SHartL's daughter - isn't it pretty?!

Welcome to the Snippets Playground Remi! I can see that you have a very good eye for card design :)

Prize draw time now and our winner of the Polkadoodles 'Ribbon Gift Frame' set of dies and Altenew 'Carousel' set of stamps is:
Well done Liv! That's two strikes in one Sunday Snippets blog post! Can you please drop me an email with your address for extra confirmation that you do want the prize and that your address is up to date and I'll post it off to you as soon as possible. My email address is on the right hand side bar.

Keep those snippets entries coming girls, you still have a week left to play HERE remember! The prize is a Memory Box die called 'Dragonfly stems - Left Corner' and Clearly Besotted's 'Say What?' set of assorted sentiments. I will split the prize if you only want to play for part of it.

And, remember it's Rudolph Days once again over at ScrappyMo's - you have until the end of the month to enter, as usual! 

Love from the little white peril - and of course from me too,





27 comments:

  1. Fanks eva so much Miss! Sori I ain't bin around much the old bird is keeping me well busy with projects this and that and she's got that rotten old sewing machine out again too! I shall tell her to add the gold star to her blog'cos she's gonna be so chuffed with that one!

    Seriously Di, you've made my weekend, thank you so much! Karen xx

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  2. I've still got those dies that Val talks about, lol, I won't throw them out yet, took me too long to save up for or be bought them for presents over the years I've been crafting, will have a look see what I have and try to use them for the current snippets challenge.

    Lovely picks from everyone else too. Just keep doing what you are doing sweetie, we are always chuffed and over the moon for whoever gets picked even if it's not our own work, well at least I am, lol! As for your tale about your dad and the goldfish that really made me laugh too Karen x

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    1. Thanks Karen! Glad I made your weekend! :) xx

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  3. You have a very hard job of making picks & you do it so well, Di! These are all amazing! I actually do like the idea of a theme now & then--always like using my oldies but goodies!

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  4. Thank you so much Di for picking me in your final list,a tough job! Love Karen P window scene so beautiful and all other works is brilliant too! Made my SUNDAY!

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  5. Welcome to Val as GD and such creative use of snippets in the Top pick list!! Really inspiring! Amazing works! Congrats to the lucky winner!

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  6. Congratulations to Val on her GD spot and what a lovely snippets card she's made! I've still got lots of the old, thick Sizzix red, yellow and green dies. They take up so much room compared with the thin dies, but I can't see me ever getting rid of them! I do use some of them now and again.

    I like the idea of a themed week in the Playground - it would get a few extra brain cells working to think of a design or perhaps encourage us to blow the dust off some of those long forgotten dies and stamps.

    Great picks again this week and congratulations to Karen P on her Gold Star award and Liv on her win. xx

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  7. Congrats to all the winners and thank you so much for showing off my daughter, Remi's card as a pick! She is just beside herself with pride and is determined now to make cards for all of her friends and her new teacher. The story of your dad's seaside adventure put a shiver in this mom, but I'm so glad it had a happy ending!

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  8. I still have a couple of the foam backed dies too, ones that I still use regularly. They seem a bit clunky to store and use compared to modern ones, and of course they don't cut the lovely detailed and intricate shapes that we are used to now, but they are good solid workhorses and not ready to be put out to grass yet! I'm not sure there will be a snippets make from me this fortnight as I've had guests staying and now am about to head off to Mum's. I could really do with the weather today being wet and miserable so I would be forced to stay indoors and craft, but unusually for a bank holiday it is absolutely glorious!
    Jane

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  9. I always enjoy reading your posts and just loved the goldfish tale in this one - priceless. Also the seaside visit story equally so. I'm not sure whether a themed challenge now and again would be good or not although it could spur us on to 'think outside the box' and no doubt many of us have a 'few' items which lie neglected amongst the new items we are enabled to purchase!! Crafty blogs have a lot to answer for when it comes to depleted bank balances. Have a great Bank Holiday weekend, hugs.

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  10. Morning All . . . on this lovely hot and sunny Sunday. GREAT picks Di. Also waving hello to Remi.

    Congrats on being this week's GD Val. You've made a lovely snippets card there.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  11. What a delightful post Di.. a lovely start to this super sunny bank holiday. Val's card is gorgeous.she is such a sweetie. I loved your Dad's tale..how hilarious. Great pics as always and I loved the use of Liv's doily..the only thing we can use from coffee shops here is the wooden stirrers...lol. Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday and thanks as always for everything you do in the Playground. Hugs xxx

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  12. Congratulations to Liv for winning the prize this week and well done to the top picks (thank you for choosing mine Di). It's great to see Val back with one of her masterpieces from the scrap box, always a pleasure to see what she makes.

    Sue xx

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  13. Brilliant cards from everyone and Remi's cake really looks so scrumptious. Congrats to Liv on her win and Karen on her gold star xx

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  14. Hi Miss Di, and the lovely Parsnip.
    Congrats to Val on her GD, and her card is gorgeous, and a very wonderul use of snippets too.
    Such a very super and wonderful Gold Star creation not surprised it was awarded, as it excellently created.
    Congrats to the wonderul picks, and the winner.
    My they were such super snippets creations.
    I did chuckle at your little story about your Dad.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

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  15. Congratulations to Val for her cute and pretty GD card and also love the picks this week with very clever use of snippets, and also congratulations to Liv for winning last time. I love the story about your Dad trotting off to the seaside for the day and everyone out searching for him, and your story about the fish really made me smile too. x

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  16. Congrats, winner and top picks. I love the story about your dad. [Bunny]

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  17. Wow! I am speechless! Thank you so much for your wonderful words, Di, and thank you for the prize! I've sent you an email.
    Congrats to the others!
    Also thank you to those of you who decided to become followers of my new blog. Encouraging for me! :)
    Have a creative new week!

    Hugs, Liv (Swissie)

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  18. Well done to Val for stepping into the brink and some lovely picks, congratulations to the Gold star winner.
    Loved the tale about you Father, it is the sort of thing they did in those days, pity it is not carried on these days.
    Oh no, do you mean to tell me that all those goldfish I have flushed down the Loo are dead, sob.
    have a good week Di.

    Kath x

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  19. oh those are wonderful cards!
    congrats to winner!

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  20. Fabulous cards and good to know about fellow crafters as well.

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  21. Gorgeous cards. Congratulations everyone xoxox

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  22. Well done all..... again Di it was a hard task to choose from all of the lovely enterences! congrats liv and congrats Val as your guest designer xx

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  23. What a funny post this was to read. Congratulations to Liv on her win and well done to your picks of the fortnight. What a lovely selection of cards. Val's card is a real cutie too. I really enjoyed reading about your Dad's adventure and appearance in the shop window! What a lovely story about the goldfish. I wish my Dad had been so inventive when I lost mine! Great post and lovely cards. A well deserved Gold Star for Karen. All those little crosses are a super idea. Barbxx

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  24. My goodness, what a super post, Di! I so enjoyed the tale of your father or your father's tale! He sounds like a wonderful character, both as a child and a grown man! It's grand to see Val as GD and her darling card and I am really smitten with ALL your picks this time! I'm going to pop along to visit them, better late than never!! Hugs, Darnell

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  25. A lovely story about your Dad :-)
    Fabulous picks this week, congratulations to Liv and a great article and card from Val.
    Janice x

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  26. What a lovely lot of cards, I love the Butterfly you have coloured in Di, you can never have too many colours in my opinion!! XXXX

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This is a public blog. Those leaving a comment on any post on this blog or entering a piece of artwork into a linky do so in the knowledge that their name and blog link are visible to all who visit this blog and in so doing have published their own personal details and consented to my use of that personal information should they be selected as a winner or to accredit work.