Pretty Floral Thank you card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, this week has gone so fast, it doesn't seem possible that it's Friday again tomorrow and we have another lovely long weekend, although I don't think we are going to be as lucky with the weather.

Today's card is in a new favourite colour way, I just love the Navy/Yellow combination, (Night of Navy /So Saffron).  I was inspired to use those colours by the beautiful new paper padvi was using.  The paper collection is called "Garden Impressions", it's 6x6 and has some stunning designs.  The good thing about Stampin'Up! Paper collections is that you always have the matching ink and card to hand, making the paper go further and your projects look amazing. 
The stamp set I used is  'Share What You Love'. Which has some lovely sentiments and pretty florals and a background colour wash stamp to, which I used on my card. 
I used the Triple Banner Punch to add some detail to my card and a few coloured pearls.
I hope you like my card. xx

I think Pat maybe popping over today inbetween appointments, which will be nice. Crafting is much more enjoyable when you do it with friends.

Sophie's University visit was a success she got offered a place on the spot, which is reassuring, she had a huge smile on her face when she came home.  Coventry is only about an hour away too.
They both have some big decisions ahead.

I am going to pack some Stampin'Up! Catalogues ready to send out, if you would like one please let me know.

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Lynda's been thumping!!!!

Good Morning Ladies,

Lynda has been doing a spot of 'Thumping' not to Captain Underpants of course, although I think she feels like it at times, hahaha! ' Thumping' is a technique, you use Markers to add ink to your stamp,

by tapping the or 'thumping' different coloured markers all over your stamp, you then breathe or 'Huff' onto your ink covered stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp the image, it gives a lovely marbled look.

I have done a YouTube Tutorial a while ago using this same stamp, I will add the link to it below...

My Thumping Tutorial

Lynda both of your cards are awesome, I love the colours you have chosen to give colour to your stamped tree.  Thank you so much for having a go at the technique and for allowing me to share your cards. XXX

Now ladies let me share with you the our Criminal 'adventures' from Monday night/ Tuesday early am.
Matt sold a car that Paul had bought him to get him from 'A to B' while his truck is off the road, it was a little Peugeot 106, it cost all of £150 but it did the job for a few weeks, sadly it failed its MOT so needed to be scrapped.  Matt advertised it and a man came to collect it 6pm on Monday evening, he seemed nice enough, he was buying the car for the engine to put in his late fathers car, he chatted for a good half hour or more and then left, using Trade plates to drive away, he was aware that the car had no MOT or Tax.  Anyway he paid the money Matt had requested and off he went.  We thought no more of it and went about our evening as usual.
Paul was just getting into bed and I was just getting a glass of water when there was a loud knock at the door and the door bell went off, I panicked to be honest as it was about 12.15am, thankfully all of my babies were in bed so I knew it wasn't about them.  Two policewomen were at the door and asked if they could come in, they then asked if we owned a silver peugeot 106, I explained that Matt had sold it at 6pm, they explained that it had been involved in a serious incident at about 11.30pm.  Paul went and woke Matt who showed the Police the portion of the Logbook that the chap had signed, they photographed it and passed on all information that we could give.  After calming down we all got into bed, although my heart was racing as was my mind, I kept thinking that the chap would come back because we gave evidence.. By about 1;45am Paul was asleep as well as all the others.  At about 2 - 2.15am there was another car on the drive and then I heard 'Its the Police" so I rushed (as much as I can) and opened the door again to two different Police Officers who were asking the very same questions, after a few minutes I asked why we were being asked again as we had been through all of this information with their colleagues after midnight. They tried to explain that they were having a super busy shift, I told him that they had called all the information in over their radios, including addresses etc.  The ended up apologising profusely and eventually left. By this time I was wide awake and my mind was in 'full' over thinking mode!  Therefore I got very little sleep.  Milo was restless too, I got up fed the cats and checked that our other Cars were still on the drive way, they were thank goodness!  It turned out that the car was stolen and used in a high speed police chase, driving 80 in a 40mph area, running red lights, going the wrong way around the roundabouts etc, they were on the run from the police, they were eventually stopped and detained.
All a little too much excitement for a Monday night in our sleepy village, Lord only knows what the neighbours thought!!

My day was soon brightened though by the arrival of my lovely friend Margaret, we did lots of chatting and crafting too.  Thank you so much for coming Margaret xxx

Our car did get fixed, so Paul and Sophie are off to Coventry today for her interview and tour of the facilities.  I was thinking of going but I want Sophie to enjoy the whole experience without worrying about wheelchair accessability.

I hope that you all have a fantastic day,

Love and hugs to all

Sandra
xxxxxx

My Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

Here is my Sketch Challenge card for this weeks challenge.  I made it using the 'Share What You Love ' suite from the brand new Stampin'Up! Catalogue, this suite is actually on early release so you could order it right now if you wanted to. I love the rich colours that work so well for summer as well as Autumn and Winter too.
All of the elements i used were from this suite including that gorgeous  Velvet Ribbon and the Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon both of which give that real touch luxury.

I finally got into my craft room about mid afternoon yesterday after seeing Paul's parents off, they seemed to have really enjoyed their stay, they love the house and the garden, which is where we spent pretty much all weekend, including eating our Roast beef dinner on Sunday evening.

A couple of days relaxing is on the cards for me, mostly spent in my craft room hopefully!
I have a very special visitor coming over today......Margaret is coming to do some crafting this afternoon, I can't wait, crafting is much more enjoyable when you have someone to share your excitement with.

Our car failed its MOT on Friday on the emissions part of the test, so today its going in to the garage to have sensors changed on the catalytic converter, its going to be a very expensive job, fingers crossed that it gets finished today as Paul is taking Sophie to Coventry University on Wednesday for an interview, this is a re-scheduled appointment from when we had snow earlier this year.

I hope that you have a lovely day however you are spending it...

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and relaxed after a weekend of lovely weather.

I thought I would go for a sketch this week, partly because I was just too exhausted to think about anything else. I thought that this was quite a nice sketch that you can make as simple or embellished as you like.
I have some fab ideas in mind and I hope to sit and play later today after Paul's parents have left.
We had a lovely weekend, we pretty much spent the whole weekend sat out in the garden. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which makes it worth any pain and discomfort I am feeling, it was so lovely seeing Paul relaxed with his family xx

This week is Sophie and Lucy's last official week of 6th Form, I can hardly believe I will have no school age children, makes me feel old!! They are both excited and anxious about their future! I am looking forward to when they have finished their exams and we can get back to a relaxed family life.

Well I am off to wish our visitors a safe journey home, I may then have an hour to just relax and chill and then I will sit in my craft room for a couple of hours.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Thank you all for another fabulous response to our weekly challenge, you have absolutely 'aced' this challenge with some stunning cards, all from recycled things too.

My card (above) was made from an old gift bag, I love how it turned out.

Anna

Anna's (from Dannii's fb group) took part in the challenge this week and made this lovely New Baby card, I will add Anna's description below..... 

"This is my take on the go green challenge i used a card some one gave me for the birth of grand childi did recycle the ribbon but i cant think what it was off"

 Thank you so much Anna for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Dannii

Dannii made this gorgeous little basket by recycling an old Grape tub, lining it with pretty paper and adding pretty pleated paper to the outside, finishing with some lovely Navy ribbon.

Thank you so much for taking part in our weekly challenge.

XXX

Janet

 Janet's first two cards were made using fronts from old cards, they look fantastic Janet, I am glad that this challenge inspired you to use them.
Janet's third project is a beautiful 'Book Folding', such a fantastic way to recycle an old book!
Thank you so much Janet for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Karen

Karen's fantastic card is made using some Recycled Tissue boxes, Karen has a friend that saves them for her.  There are some lovely patterns in your card Karen, I love the hexagon design too.

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian's card is amazing, I love how you have used both the recycled map and an old Topper, both elements work perfectly on this card.  

Thank you so very much for taking part Lilian.

XXX

 Lorraine

Lorraine (Dannii's fb group) was inspired by Michele's tissue box idea too and made this absolutely stunning card, that was one pretty tissue box!

Thank you so much Lorraine for taking part.

XXX

 Lynda

Lynda made two projects for this weeks challenge, the first is a stunning card that started life as a Jiffy bag!! Lynda has worked her magic with the background, you would never guess that that card started out being that brown colour! A real work of art Lynda !
Lynda's second project was turning an old spice rack into a pretty storage rack for all of her embellishments, what a genius idea Lynda, it looks brilliant.
Thank you so much for taking part despite a rough week with hospital etc.

XXX 

Maria

Maria has made two lovely challenge cards, the first is a lovely Yacht scene, a great Man card.

The second card is super cute, Maria made both cards by using old toppers.  You would never guess that from looking at them, they look like they were made that way.

Thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Michele 

Michele made two cards for this weeks challenge, which is amazing after the week she has had!
Her first card is so pretty, the recycled part is that cute little sentiment topper, I love how you have taken the inspiration from that tiny little piece to make such a fantastic card.
Michele's card is the one made from a Tissue box, such a great design Michele.
Thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Once again I want to thank all of you that took part in this weeks challenge, what an amazing display of cards, all featuring things we would have thrown away.  I hope you won't blame me for making your hoard tissue boxes etc from now on! hahahah.

We had a lovely day yesterday with Paul's family, luckily the weather was beautiful and we spent all day in the garden.  I will admit that by the time Paul's brother and family left at 10pm I was about fit to drop, but it was worth it to see everyone having a lovely time.

A lazy day is on the cards today, well apart from cooking roast for 9, hopefully I can just 'supervise' some of it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

We have a lovely selection of crafts and shopping again this week, so I will get straight on with the show........

Janet

Janet has shared  two fantastic craft items with us this week the first is at the top of the post today, 3 stunning paintings and the second is a beautiful Watercolour Notebook, that front cover is stunning Janet!

I will add Janet's description below....

"The notebook is a watercolour memory book. As you can see I've decorated the front cover and shown a page inside.

The three little pictures are watercolours. I used Crafter's Companion Fairy/Wishes stamps and coloured them with Spectrum Noir Aqua colour and Sparkle pens."

Thank you so much for sharing your crafts Janet.

XXX

Danielle

Danielle has made this gorgeous Owl Sun Dress, It is absolutely gorgeous Dannii, Layla looks lovely in it, she must absolutely love it Dannii, I think Layla is so cute and adorable.

Thank you so much for sharing my lovely.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian, Omg I absolutely love this bag, you have used some stunning fantastic, bright and cheerful fabric too.  I would love if you could make me, I will pay you for it, just let me know.

Thank you so much for sharing your bag Lilian.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret, such a gorgeous Cross-Stitched card for sweet little Penny's first birthday, it is such a lovely keepsake.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful card.

XXX

Karen

Karen has been busy making cards this week, they are all fantastic, I will add Karen's description below:  

First for a lady that loves her flip flops and ice cream A little girl who’d just had her bedroom decorated with rainbows and butterflies Oscar! A colleague going to St Lucia Hence the translation All done with Serif and items within ScanNCut cut (apart from the clouds)

Thank you so much for sharing so many of your cards with us, using the sandpaper for the sand is genius idea. 

XXX

Lynda

Lynda ordered one of Stampin'Up!'s most popular stamps over the years, the Lovely as a Tree set,

I am looking forward to seeing what you make with it.

XXX

Michele

Michele shared her lovely, crafty birthday gifts with all of us, you must have been over the moon with these gifts, great for relaxation!

Thank you so much for sharing.  

XXX

Margaret

Margaret has also been shopping with Stampin'Up!, you have bought a lovely selection of both old and new products, I bet you can't wait to see your cards and projects. What did you think of the new ink pads?? I hope you bring your stamps when you come to play!

Thank you so much for sharing your shopping with us.

XXX

Thank you all so very much for sharing all of your crafts and shopping with us ladies, its so kind of you.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Something Floral for Friday by Michele

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and prepared for a nice relaxing weekend!  I think the weather is supposed to be dry which I'm thankful for as Paul's Brother and his family are coming over on Saturday to visit Paul's parents while they are here, apparently coming for tea!!! That will be 12 to cater for then!! I will have to think of something fairly easy to prepare.

Today's 'Something Floral' card is s real WOW card, so pretty too, I think that these pop-up box cards are a real showstopper!  Our Michele by has designed this one featuring some beautiful floral paper, I believe it's a Papermania pad, I have it in Navy, one of those that I have stroked but hardly used!  The flowers that Michele has used are Sue Wilson's 'Faux Quilled Blooms' they make a fantastic display.
Michele said that this was one of her older cards, I wish my older looks were so amazing! 
Thank you so much Michele for bailing me out at the last minute!! I really do appreciate your help xxxx

I got so carried away preparing for our visitors that I completely forgot to make a card for today's blog!! 

If any of you have anything crafty or shopping to share for tomorrow's blog I would be very grateful. 

That's all from me for now, I have to go make myself look like a domestic goddess!!!! Hahahaha xx

Have a lovely day Ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx