Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

We are off to Brixham today to visit Paul's Mum and then we will leave from there to go down to St Austell,  we will stay for 3 nights so that we have plenty of time to look around the Eden Project,  they have a Christmas Lights feature in the evening,  which we hope to do on Monday,  after speaking to the Eden centre direct,  they advise that Monday will be much quieter.  Of course the weather doesn’t look the best, thankfully there is plenty to do inside.  The good thing about your ticket is that it lasts a year, so we can come and see the different plants in Spring and summer too.   The most special part of the weekend is getting to meet Lilian, I am so  excited 😊.

Karen

Karen's Description: 

I know this card doesn’t fit in with the current challenge but I was pleased how it turned out I was inspired by a card on Pinterest

Took quite a bit of engineering- measuring etc All mats and symbols etc cut on ScanNCut 

Her surprise party on Sunday is casino themed

Karen it might have taken a lot of work but my goodness it was worth it, what an incredible card!  

Its perfect for a Casino themed party  obviously something that she has a keen interest in,  she will absolutely love it.  

Karen also included the card that inspired her.   It would make a great man card too.  

Are  you going to the party Karen?? 

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing card my lovely XXX 

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday  

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Sizzix Wreath stencil card

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Busy day here today,  I think I have most of the Christmas cards I need, I just need to sit and get them ready to post.   Then I have to pack for our long weekend away,  we are going to visit Paul's Mum on Saturday and then we'll continue the journey down to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project and see our Lilian,  I am more excited about that more than the Eden centre.  

We have waited to make the final decision wether to go based on my Blood results etc,  the urine wasn't a 'certain ' clear, it keeps showing some Staph' cells,  but no blood which is unusual for me,  the blood showed that my liver was Ok too,  which was a sigh of relief.  The nurse said... 'because my liver is ok she has put a short course of Nitrofurantoin into the pharmacy for me to take away',  I'm hoping she is just being cautious and isn't expecting it to flare up !! 

I finally got around to using my Sizzix Wreath Stencil after so much inspiration from our Karen.    I decided to use it on Kraft card for a different look,  I used Distress inks Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness,  Gathered Twigs & Festive Berries,  I used the Festive Berries to colour the edges of a piece of card to create a mat, I stamped one of my Gina K sentiments and die cut it and popped it in the centre of the wreath.  A few red sparkles  finished the festive look.  

I hope that you all have a great Friday, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies,  

My goodness the floods were quite bad around here,  after two days of persistent rain for the best part of two days. Lucy had to drive through a lot of standing water on the way to GP surgery, trouble is you can't see the pot holes under the water!  

I went and had my blood tests yesterday,   I took a sample to be checked too,  the nurse checked it and said it looked all clear apart from a tiny trace of blood.   The blood tests are for a whole host of different things,  mainly my liver and inflammatory markers, the nurse said I should have some results back today.  I asked about flu-jab but she said that they had run out and were waiting for more stock.  I explained that we were going away this weekend so would rather wait until after the weekend in case it makes me feel rough.  

Today's card is another Gina K 'Christmas in July  collection' card.

The Mistletoe branch is a 4 part stencil,  I used Pear Pizazz,  Old Olive inks for the Greens and Cherry Cobbler with a touch of Aged Mahogany for shade. 

I die cut the branch,  added it to a 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 inch card base matted with cherry cobbler, I embossed the front panel for interest and some lovely texture.  I finished the card with a sentiment from the same stamp set. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs,  

Sandra xxx 

Gina K Christmas Kit Card

 Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

I think we have had more than our share of rain this past few days,  it didn't stop yesterday,  the wind was howling all night, so the rain was lashing at the window, it was so loud, poor Milo struggled to settle down too which makes for a fun night. 

I have Blood Test today, to check that my liver is ok after taking Nitrofurantoin, fingers crossed it is but I am a little concerned that I can feel something pushing up against the bottom of my rib cage on the right side. We'll find out in a few days hopefully. 

Today's card is the first card I made using the Gina K 'Christmas in July' kit I got at a bargain price on FB Destash group.  

I have to say that I am so impressed with the quality of every element in this kit, the stamps are great, the dies too.  The stencils are an amazing quality material, really sturdy not thin and flimsy.

I started by cutting 3 frames from 300gsm card, they measured 4×6 inch, the aperture was about an inch smaller.  I adhered these three frames together, then cut another piece of 6×4 inch card and covered it with gold splatters that  I created by using a little pea sized amount of Stamperia Gold paint with a little water added to loosen it so it would splatter evenly.  I set this to dry and moved onto created those String Lights. 

I stamped the wire part in Green ink and then stamped again with Versamark and added clear embossing powder and heat set,  this gave the wire a shine that made it look more realistic, to colour the light bulbs you have a stencil, its super easy to line up, I used Festive Berries,  Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron & Salty Ocean Distress ink to colour the bulbs.  After the bulbs were dry I die cut them, again the die lined up easily.  

I stamped the sentiment in Festive Berries and stamped again using Versamark and heat embossed, I have added a close up so you can see the shine. 

I created a top folding 5 × 7 inch card base, then adhered the stacked frame onto the gold splattered background then onto a gold mirror card mat and then the card base. I then added the string lights, I added glue to the pieces that sit in the frame and foam pads behind the bulbs that are inside the frame.  I also added foam pads behind the sentiment and added to the centre of the card. 

I hope that you all have a drier day,  

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx

Tim Holtz Ephemera card

 Good Morning Ladies, 

I had what felt like a busy crafting day yesterday but I only finished two cards,  I think I need to find some quick and simple designs!  

I made this card on Sunday,  it is actually a Vicky P' Journal page but I don't have this size Journal (8 ×4) inch.  So I decided to use a card that I have and actually rarely use.  

It started with a new technique, which is applying your paint to your background with a baby wipe. 

It gives a more subtle effect,  it wasn't that messy either. 

I stencilled some detail onto the background and dry brushed on some gold paint, it looks messy at first you have to trust the process. I added some splatters of gold paint for texture too  

Then we get to the fun part,  picking out and colouring,  edging and distressing the die cut ephemera. 

I added some gauze under the holly bough, its really light adds great texture.  

I really enjoy making these journal pages, however I must concentrate on Christmas cards for the next couple of weeks. 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx

A second Stamperia Christmas card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

Welcome to the start of a new week,   what have you all got planned?  

How are you all doing with your Christmas shopping?  I have done a few bits but I need to sit and concentrate to get the rest done!   I need to see how many Christmas cards I have made,  hopefully I will have enough, I have my doubts,  I am guilty of making too many Journal pages when I should have been making Christmas cards ☺️  I will try and rectify that this week.  I am only sending to my lovely Blog family and a couple more, the others  be bought.  

Today's Christmas card isn't traditional in colour etc,  however I love this style,  it does have Snowflakes, Christmas tree and snow though. All elements are Stamperia, mostly from the Owls House collection.  

I hope that you all have the best week, 

My love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A look at our makes this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all enjoying a lovely relaxed Sunday.

I really love Blog Sundays,  because I get to share your makes...

It occured to me that I always forget to add the TicTacToe categories to my descriptions, so here are the ones for this week. 

Card 1:  Trees, Flowers/Christmas/ Glitter

Journal page 2:  flower/Glitter Sparkle/Journal page

Card 3:  Christmas/Glitter/animals 

Journal page 4:  Snowflake/Christmas/Journal page

Karen 

Karen's Description:

Card 1:  Here’s another very simple Christmas card that fits a few of the options

Tree-glitter-Christmas-embossing folder

Card 2:  Just had a go at finishing that layered stencil one with JL stamp

Stencil - Snowman- Christmas x

Card 3:  Another challenge card - Gina wanted me to repeat that tutorial you showed but couldn’t remember when you did it 🤦🏼‍♀️

So Snowman - Animals - Christmas 

A Serif image 

Sentiment from JL’s magazine heat embossed in Faded Jeans DO on vellum

Bit of gauze as an embellishment

3 amazing Christmas cards Karen, all completely different,  each one using different techniques.  I love the modern look of your first card,  perfect man card too.  Another brilliant version of this layered stencil,   love that centre image,  the colouring is great too, really makes the image 'pop'

Thank you so much Karen for supporting the challenge XXX 

Lilian

Lilian's Description:

Hi, hope you are ok.

This is my card for this week’s challenge.

I bought some background papers but didn’t realise they were sepia, so not much use for Christmas. I coloured the poinsettia and cut it out.

Stamped the little snowflakes in silver.

Stencilled the red edges.

Categories used, snowflakes. Flowers. Stencil.

Absolutely gorgeous card Lilian,  those Poinsettias are popping off the page,  beautiful colouring, that stencilled border brings the whole card together. 

Thank you so much for taking part my lovely XXX 

Maria

Maria's Description:

I'm sending this card for Sunday. Hope it's ok.

Embossing, Xmas, Poinsettia.   The stamp is from the same magazine that Karen used some week ago, sorry can't remember and I have put the magazine away somewhere 🤭😊

Your card is so lovely Maria,  that Embossing folder has given a really deep, crisp emboss, I love that shade of green too 😍  your bauble is coloured beautifully,  the Poinsettias are such a perfect embellishment as that pop of red stands out on that gorgeous dark green background.

Thank you so much my lovely XXX 

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

Both cards Snowman/snowflakes/Christmas

The first card I used Lawn Fawn snowmen dies and stamps. I gave this to James and Mollie last Christmas. The little pink heart on the snow lady representing her pregnancy with Scarlett ☺️

The second card I used some printed background snowflake paper, and a LOTV image. I think the Merry Christmas circle die was from My Favourite Things. It was made in 2021.

Absolutely gorgeous cards Sonia,   the snowmen are so adorable on both cards.  Adding the heart to the Snow lady's tummy was such a brilliant idea.  Their Christmas will be a whole lot busier this year!   

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful Christmas cards my lovely XXX 

*************

I hope that you have a lovely Sunday, 

Love & hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx