Another Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card couldn't be more different than yesterday's card, this one actually took longer believe it or not!

I decided that I wanted to Create my background using the Baby Wipe Technique, SO I took a babywipe and added spots of Blackberry Bliss, Flirty Flamingo, Mossy Meadow and So Saffron.

I then took some of the foliage stamps from the 'Rooted In Nature' and pushed them into the baby wipe and then stamped on to the paper, around the edges to create a border frame. 

I used the same method to ink up my Sentiment and stamped it in the centre.

I took three colours of Twine that match my stamped images perfectly and wrapped them around the card, finishing with a knot.  

When I had first made the Baby Wipe ink pad I stamped out some of the skeleton leaves from the Rooted in Nature set, I then die cut them and embossed them with them, I think they look quite good.

I placed three of the stamped leaves around my knot and finished it with a copper leaf embellishment.

What do you think??

Have you all decided what you are doing for your challenge cards this week? I am looking forward to seeing them.

Pat I hope Pete's transfusion goes well today and that he feels benefit soon after, I think that anyone going through what he has would be apprehensive.  Sending you both huge hugs. xxxx

Maria I think you would enjoy driving around France, there so many beautiful places to visit, I think that you would love it xxx

I am hoping for a Sunnier day to day as I have another 3 loads sat waiting to go in the machine.  I wish I could wave a magic want and have the clothes all washed,dried and folded ready to put away.

I hope you have a lovely day however you are spending it,

Love and hugs

Sandra

xxxxxx                     

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

Well, where did that weekend go???, No sooner was I wishing you a lovely weekend than I am here welcoming in the start of another new week!
How many of you had to relent like us and put the heating on, the weather man said it was going to get down to 2 degrees last night, so the heating went on!
Paul didn't get to try out his new Rotovator, the weather was just rubbish, so much rain I thought we were going to have floods. It will have softened the ground ready for turning over though.

This weeks Challenge is a little different, I would like you to make a card with a 'Background that you have created or 'enhanced' yourself'.
So you can use a piece of decorative paper that you have embossed or added some kind of sparkle to. it can be an 'Blended Ink' background, you could use Gilding Flakes, Gilding Wax, Glitter, Embossing Paste, Micro Beads, (I know that most of you will have a jar of those somewhere)!
Or you could simply stamp your background, creating your own background paper.
I know that you will all create some amazing cards, I can't wait to see them.
So to summarise:
Your Challenge is to make a card using a Background that you have Created or Enhanced yourself by using :
Embossing Folders
Gilding Wax
Gilding Flakes
Ink by either Blending or stamping your own design
Enhancing decorative papers by adding :
double sided adhesive and using glitter, Iced Snow, Micro Beads,
You could highlight areas with Glitter Pens, or pick out detail with a Glue Pen and add glitter etc.

My card is another card using some of the dies I bought from Anne at 'A Crafty Place'
I used the 'Netted Star' background die to cut my background piece, I placed this die cut on a Double sided Adhesive sheet, I then added Frantage Glitter to the exposed areas. I added foam tape to the back of this and mounted onto  a piece of 'Coastal Cabana' Stampin'Up! card, I then made a card base and set about deciding on the decoration.
I knew I wanted to use the new 'Angelina' die as it was so pretty, but it has that lovely detailed pattern around the outside which meant it got lost of that Netted Star Background, so I searched through my dies and found that one of Grand Floral Oval dies made a perfect mat, I then used a mat of Coastal Cabana cut with a plain Grand Oval and built up my layers,
I used Sue Wilson's Classic Poinsettia dies to create the flowers, I cut them in both Coastal Cabana and Whisper white, I then kind of scrunched the up  and carefully opened and mounted together, I went around all edges with a Metallic Gold Pen, I then pumped the pen a couple of times on a piece of scrap paper and held it over my flowers and tapped it with a Bone Folder to get spots of Metallic Gold all over the flowers.  I arranged them around that central oval and then added two bows, one made from the Dotted Tulle and the other Foil Edged Coastal Cabana (both Stampin Up!) That dotted Tulle is perfect for tying pretty bows and makes a great base for a smaller ribbon too.
I hope you like my card and it inspires you a little.

I hope that you enjoy the challenge and most of all have fun making your cards.

Have a lovely start to the week,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Goodness me I hope that the weather is brighter where you are than it is here, since yesterday we have had continuous rain, very heavy at times, its just really dark and cold, I felt all day yesterday like I wanted to put the heating or light the fire, I ended up just getting a Hot water bottle and snuggling on the sofa in my dressing gown!

  The chilly weather had us craving comfort food too. we ended up having what we call 'Stuffed Jacket Potatoes', we cook the jackets in the microwave then scoop them out, mash the potatoes with lots of butter, salt and pepper, we then add in the toppings, this week it was gammon ham in chunks, cheese and spring onions, mix it all together and them put the potato and gammon mix back in the potato skins, then top with extra cheese, pop them into a hot oven to heat through and the cheese is golden and bubbling! 

We serve them with Baked Beans, sometimes the girls prefer tuna and sweetcorn in theirs and they have those with salad and coleslaw.  

On to the exciting part of the day, your amazing cards...….

Brenda

Brenda has made two cards for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge, Brenda has also taken up the extra challenge of creating cards for Christmas and everyday occasions.

Brenda made her first card using categories: Ribbon/Blue/Embossing

Brenda's second card uses categories: White/Sparkle or Shine/Ribbon

Thank you so much Brenda for two amazing challenge cards, I am so grateful that you made time to take part.

XXX

Janet

Janet has made three cards for this weeks challenge, they are all so beautiful too, I love the dies you have used for the third card, it would make a perfect anniversary card, especially with those little red roses.

Janet's card use the following categories:

1. Blue/White/Die Cut

2. Tree/Ribbon/Die Cut

3.  White/Die cut/Patterned Paper

All of your cards are gorgeous Janet, thank you so much for taking part and making so many lovely cards my lovely.

XXX

Karen

Karen has also had a super busy week with Card making, three amazing cards for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge.

1. White/Shine/Die Cut 

This card has a beautiful background made with Pixie Powders, Karen has used the same Die that Lynda has, the Shine comes from using the Pixie Powders on Glossy card.  Such a lovely card.

2. Blue/Shine/Die Cut

Karen used the same technique for the background as the last card.

3. White/Shine/Die Cut

The shine for this card comes from Karen using Distress Oxides on Glossy photo paper, after colouring the glossy card Karen has die cut all of the elements for the card from it, such a lovely technique Karen, thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks so much for 3 amazing challenge cards.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian has made us another stunning Challenge card, WOW, this is such an expensive looking card, Lilian has embossed a piece of card and used that as a border then mounted the focal element of the card upon it. I love your combination of die cuts Lilian, the beautiful combination of foliage really enhances the Poinsettia.

A stunning card Lilian, using categories: Emboss/Sparkle/shine/Die cut.

Thank you so much Lilian, I love your card.

XXX

Lynda

Lynda has made three gorgeous cards for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge, all Christmas cards, meaning that Lynda has made a real dent in her Christmas card list this week.  I love all 3 of your cards Lynda, that new Sue Wilson die is stunning.

My 1st Cc: White/Snowflake/Patterned Paper

My 2nd Cc: Snowflake/Blue/ Embossing

My 3rd Cc:  snowflake /sparkle /diecut  made using the SW die I got last Sunday.

Thank you so much for taking part Lynda, I am so grateful for your support each week my lovely.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret has used one of the Stampin'Up! 'Delightfully Detailed' Laser Cut panels for her challenge card this week, matting it onto Night of Navy card and then onto a lovely contrast colour. a 'Lovely Label' punched tag and pretty silver bow finish the card.

Margaret has used Categories: Blue/Ribbon/Punch 

Thank you so much Margaret for a lovely challenge card.

XXX

Maria

WOW Maria, your card for this weeks Challenge is absolutely stunning, one of your best cards I think.  

Maria used Categories: White/Sparkle/shine/Ribbon

You have to zoom in to see that beautiful detailed card that Maria has used in the background of her card, then beautiful bouquet of flowers adds the perfect amount of detail.  Maria has finished her card with pretty diamante gems and tiny little satin bows.

Thank you Maria for such a beautiful challenge card.

XXX

Michele

Michele has made two fantastic Christmas cards for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge,

Card 1 is Snowflake/Blue/Ribbon  

Card 2 is White/Embossing/Diecut.

Thank you so much Michele for supporting my challenge this week, I will have to get my thinking cap on for next weeks challenge if you have 6 cards to make!  It will take me forever to write the blog post with that many entries!  

Just kidding I am so grateful for however many cards you all make.

XXX

Val

Val has used the Stampin'Up! 'Lovely as a Tree' stamp set for her challenge card this week, I just love the texture this tree stamp gives, it almost gives dimension, that linen effect paper you have used on the front is so lovely and works will with the tree stamp, as does the twine.

Val used Categories:  Tree/Die Cut/Ribbon

A truly lovely card Val, thank you so much for taking part, have a lovely trip!

XXX

Phew! I think that I got everyone's challenge cards, thank you all so very much for such an amazing response to this weeks challenge. xxx

I am off to my craft room to think about next week's challenge, If any of you have any ideas or if you would like a particular type of challenge please let me know.

Have a lovely Sunday ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Ohhh exciting day today, we get to see everyone's Ally Pally Shopping!!

But before that I want to share the beautiful gift I received from Lilian for my birthday, Lilian called it a 'Mug Rug',  I would never put any mug on it though, it's just too lovely to spoil. Lilian your machine stitching is just so perfect, I love the quilted effect, it will be going on display in my craft room along side some of the other beautiful gifts I have received, thank you for such an amazing gift, you are so thoughtful and kind xxxx

Now onto the shopping...….

Cheryl

Cheryl didn't go to Ally Pally but that didn't stop her from Shopping, Cheryl got all four of these stamp sets from a 'Craft Declutter' group on Facebook, some lovely stamp sets there Cheryl, I look forward to seeing what you make.  You have had some amazing bargains from that group!

Thanks so much for sharing. 

XXX

 Lynda

I told you that Lynda had done a 'Supermarket Sweep'!!  She managed to get all of this shopping in about and hour and a half!! 

I think that you did an amazing job Lynda, you have bought some lovely goodies. You got some lovely stamps, embossing folders too, a good range of Basics including card and Storage.

The Octagon Die was an amazing price from 'A Crafty Place', too good to leave it behind!

I am looking forward to seeing what you make with all of this Lynda, thank you so much for sharing.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret enjoyed her first full day out since having her accident earlier this year,  she made the most of being able to do some Crafty shopping too, she bought a set of John Lockwood's stamps, it looks like mixed Christmas images.  I love that Vintage scene stamp you have bought too, those little books of toppers are amazing, they have cute animal images on ready made toppers, you just need to pop them onto a card base with a bit of matching card.
Some craft essentials too including card blanks, double sided tape!
Thanks for sharing your shopping Margaret.

XXX

Maria

Sadly we didn't get to see Maria, I know that Terry really missed you Maria, you are his favourite hug I think!! 😜

You bought some lovely things Maria, are those your first Distress Oxide inks?  you chose some lovely colours!  I love your cute Snowman stamp, you got some lovely embossing folders too,

You bought the same Sue Wilson Background that I did, I have been playing with it today, it extends really easily.  I look forward to seeing your Christmas makes my lovely.

 Brenda

Thank goodness that you took your little trolley with you Brenda, you really did well with your shopping! Some lovely 3D Embossing Folders, Inkyliscious Brushes (they are amazing) and you managed to get an MDF Stand for yours too, such a great ides, I have mine in a draw. I stood for a while admiring all the different Clarity pads, they have some stunning patterns, including patterned Vellum.  

Did you see the card that Sue had made with glitter in the background of that Arch Window style die, it really sparkled!  I love your Inkyliscious stamps too, they had some stunning samples on their stand, Emma was doing some great demo's too. If you type their name into YouTube some of their videos come up, so you can have a refresh! 

You have so lovely new goodies, I look forward to seeing what you make with them.

XXX

 Sue

Sue bought so gold and silver paper, a selection of card from a new Company called Hawksbill, they supply card, in every weight and colour you can think of, they are relatively new on the craft market. All of the card and paper seemed to be really food quality too, I look forward to hearing from Sue if it was ok to work with.  Sue also got one of those Animal card toppers, they will be perfect for using with the girls or Beavers for making quick cards.

Some embossing powder from Honey Doo finished Sue's shopping, you did really well Sue, thank you so much for sharing your shopping.

XXX

Michele

Michele couldn't make it to Ally Pally either, she also sold some things on Ebay and had money in her Paypal,   So she decided to 'blow it'  with some BARGAIN shopping from CraftStash!!!

The Penguin die was free with any order through Craftstash last weekend,  the Sentiment Stamps were also free, with an offer on 'Diecutting Essentials' magazine, with those two bargains in her trolley/basket Michele qualified for Free postage for the two items that she did 'actually' want to buy!

So our Bargain Queen strikes again!

Thank you so much Michele.

XXX

My Shopping

The above goodies where the items I bought from Ally Pally last weekend, I have been after a Tim Holtz Spritzer since Karen did a review, I can't to have a go with it!  I also really needed some more pads for my blending tool, so picked some of those up.  The rest of my shopping came from the 'A Crafty Place' stand at Ally Pally, as I said before they had great prices and were such a lovely couple I couldn't resist!  

I ordered these three sets of Sue Wilson's Festive collection for A Crafty Place's online shop, the shipping was really fast too, my favourite die is that 'Angelina' label die, it's so delicate and actually can be used all year around as there isn't anything particularly Christmas about it, I was playing with it yesterday. I thought that the other two dies would make lovely backgrounds.  It's been a while since I bought so many of Sue's dies.!!

last but not least are some of my recent Stampin'Up! stamp sets, I couldn't resist the Reindeers, I love both the pattern and the style of the deer.  I bought matching dies to all of these stamp sets too! The Christmas tree has detail that cuts into it, making it look dimensional, I just couldn't resist, I am a sucker for a tree stamp and die! 

Last up is the 'Merry Christmas To All' stamp set, it has a set of dies with it too, they cut out the Words: Merry/Happy Christmas/Holidays, they work perfectly with the other stamped sentiments. I used them on the card I made the other day.

In the words of the late Bruce Forsythe ''Didn't they do well!!?, so much lovely shopping, I wonder how much we collectively spent?!

Thank you ladies for photographing your shopping and sending it in for me to share with everyone.

Have a lovely weekend ladies, however you are spending it.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Something Floral For Friday

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

It was another super windy day yesterday, we had some quite heavy rain too, which the garden needed, although I feel a little frustrated for Sophie and Lucy, this trip to Thorpe Park, which included an overnight stay, was the first 'hotel' holiday that they had booked and organised totally themselves, so I hope that the high winds and rain hasn't spoilt their enjoyment, I am guessing some rides would be closed in adverse weather conditions.  I had to chuckle to myself when Lucy and finished printing off her tickets and information she came to find me to ask for a 'poly pocket', at first I wondered what on earth she was on about but she waved her booking info at me and I knew straight away.
I like to be organised and since we first went on holiday I have always had either a plastic wallet or folder to collect all of our hotel bookings, travel documents etc in, although we have had a fabric zip one for a while now.  Anyway the first time Matt went away he printed his information and proudly produced his plastic wallet, that he had been and bought and had even made himself a little...'Tickets/money/Passports/EH1C card Checklist just like we have.  Then Becca started travelling abroad and bought herself a plastic wallet too.  The girls have obviously noticed all of this too so it seemed only right that they have one too, so Lucy happily trotted off with her documents all organised in her 'Poly Pocket' (as she called it, I thought that she was talking about a Tiny little handbag doll that was around when Becca was tiny)!
I think it's quite sweet that they feel that strongly about something to want to do the same for themselves, it's a shame that wasn't the case for all things.

Today's card is very special for two reasons...….

A) It's my Birthday card from my lovely friend Sue and I think it's amazing.

B) A year ago you would NOT have got Sue making an ALL STAMPED card, yes she might stamp elements of the card and assemble them, but never a completely stamped card that also has quite a lot of White space, which is so tempting to try and fill with more stamping.  But Sue has stuck to her design and created a stunning hand stamped, almost clean and simple card.

I believe Sue started by masking off the circle and Blending what looks like Peacock Feathers Distress ink into that circle.  She has then removed the mask/tape and used her Stampin'Up! Stamperatus to stamp the pattern of flowers across the bottom of the card, using taller stamps to fill the circle.
The super tricky part for a 'non confident' stamper is after finishing your card perfectly, leaving no finger prints in the white areas you have to stamp your Sentiment, in the middle of the white space, this is when my hands would shake and sweat and I would probably drop the block before getting my stamp positioned!!
Thank you so much Sue, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated how far you had come on your stamping journey, I love my card.  xxxx

What have you all got planned for the weekend?  Paul got a Rotavator for his birthday from Matt and Becca so I think he wants to go and use it at the allotment this weekend, it will depend on the weather, I think that the forecast looks a little unsettled and getting cooler.  If that's the case I will spend the weekend searching out my thick pyjamas!

Have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Christmas Card 'Old Style'

Good Morning Ladies,

How many of you did a 'double take' when you saw today's card??!

I saw some of Sue's new dies at the show on Sunday and just couldn't resist them, I have mixed the dies with Stampin Up! Card...Whisper White & 'Coastal Cabana' which is a gorgeous blue. I also used Stampin'Up! Copper Foil and Copper Foil edged Ribbon (Coastal Cabana) and Spotted Tulle Ribbon & Glitter Gems.
The Sue Wilson dies I used for this card are Festive Collection:  Frosty Snowflake Corner, Festive Frames 'Eve'.  I used the 'Eve's Snowflakes' Embossing Folder for the Background.
I finished the card with some Stampin'Up! Snowflakes cut in Copper Foil, I also added some of the tiny dots that look like snow on the SU Blizzard Die.
What do you think?
That's 3 Christmas cards for me this week, so far!

Boy was it a windy day yesterday, I think I must have pegged same washing on the line about 3 times before 10am yesterday, I gave up trying to peg out my big 'comfy pants' for fear that they would break free and down a passing B52 Bomber!! It always makes me laugh when I compare the amount of fabric used to make my knickers compared to the girls, some of them are pointless!  How that can be comfortable is beyond comprehension to me, I also noticed on holiday this year that a good 60% of bikinis were that 'thong' style, I imagine there were a lot of burnt bum cheeks this year!  Luckily Sophie and Lucy are a little pit prudish when it comes to swimwear, they like to be covered

Sue came over late morning and we spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up, we had lots of interruptions too as all three girls were home and everyone of them needed help for something at somepoint! We did get to go into the Craft room, (I tidied enough room for Sue to craft).  Sue got started with her Challenge card and I was playing with some of my new dies.  Before either of us knew it, made announced that Chris (Sue's husband) had arrived to pick her up.  I finally got to meet little Christopher, OMG, such a gorgeous little boy, so intelligent, he was taking everything in, you could literally see him scanning the room with his eyes.  He loved the cats too, he made me chuckle though as Milo walked away from him he said "look he's got a sprayer'', Sue explained that he has a thing about Skunks at the moment, I am guessing that their bums must look similar.
(this has turned out to be a bit of a 'bum' blog)!!

Quiet house today as Sophie and Lucy had gone to Thorpe Park for two days with their boyfriends and some other friends, the house will be so peaceful!

I hope that you have a lovely day what ever you are doing.

Special hugs for you Pat if you look in, I really miss you ! xxxx

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Another Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

This week's challenge is good one for getting those Christmas cards made, so that's what I am intending to do.  The more I can get done each week the less stressful the final card making session will be is my thinking.

There are 14 Weeks to Christmas so that means a maximum of 12 weeks to get all of your cards made, written and ready for posting.  Although I do find that we seem to get less each year, when all four of the Children were at school we had 100's, they filled every door of the house I think. I used to enjoy making their special Christmas cards with them. In fact before I had the girls (up until about 2 weeks before I had them ) I used to go into school three days a week to help Children with reading, take little groups for maths, English etc.  The best sessions were the Craft / messy play ones, I love how children are so free thinking, their minds aren't over complicated by the fact that grass is green or sky is blue, I wish I could use the same method for my own crafting!

Today's card was inspired by the paper collection, it has Tranquil Tide (green), Sahara Sand and hints of Copper foil.
I die cut the 'Christmas' die with both Copper foil and Tranquil tide and layered them up, I stamped the 'Merry' onto Tranquil Tide' in Versamark and covered with White embossing powder and heat set.
I die cut this with a tiny label die and mounted onto a piece of copper foil.
My card base was cut from a sheet of Traquil Tide card, I cut it to 10 X 7 inches and scored at 5, so my card base was 5 x 7 inch. I die cut a mat of copper foil and then a piece of 'Joyous Noel'  Dsp.
I wrapped a piece of tranquil tide ribbon around the card and topped it with a piece of  'Tea Room' ribbon (coastal cabana with copper foil edge).
I tied a bow in the same ribbon and wrapped the foil edged ribbon around the centre and dangled my Copper snowflake from it.
I mounted my sentiment onto my card and used some tiny die cut snowflakes and dots to embellish my card.
A totally different card from Mondays, thats the beauty of the TicTacToe challenges, no two cards need be the same.

I hope I have inspired you to get started with your Christmas cards, I am hoping Sue is coming over today, if she isn't too tired from Ally Pally, mind you they were much more organised than I was, I did too much chatting, plus I forgot that the show closed at 4pm on Sunday, the time just disappears. Lynda must have done a 'supermarket sweep' because her and Terry didn't get there until 1pm, we had lunch and chatted until about 2.30, so I was really surprised to see how much she had bought in an hour and a half.  You will get to see on Saturday.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx