Tuesday 31 January 2017

Karen's Challenge Card & Shopping






Good Morning Ladies

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my card yesterday, I apologise for my over enthusiasm, but I still want to do a little fist pump every time I walk through my craft room and see if there! 
But today is about Karen's card, and what a fantastic card it is! I didn't get it in time for the post on Sunday so as I promise all of your cards get featured on the blog at some point, I saw this one and wanted to share straight away.

I believe Karen has used the Spellbinders Curved Border dies to create that lovely  curve, the papers are Stunning, they look like one of the Creative Expressions pads, but I will get Karen to confirm that when she looks in.
Would you have guessed this was Karen's card in Sundays Line up?
Thank you Karen for sharing xxx

Now on to Karen's Craft Shopping,  somebody was lucky enough to go to Sandown Park on Sunday, it sounds as though Sunday was the best day to go as it wasn't quite as busy as the Saturday.
Karen's shopping ( I have copied Karen's list)

Here's what I bought

Sue Wilson - Stitched Lattice Frames and Scalloped Lattice Frames dies, purely because I have the Baby Shadow Box and a lot cheaper than icon
Sue Wilson - Perspectives Triple Merry Christmas Was a real bargain
Tonic Nuvo drops in red
Ranger Glossy Accents
Collal glue
Pebeo wax - it was so cheap and wanted to play because the Pebeo wax seems such a nicer texture than CS and different again to Gilding Polish
Two bottles of Pixie Powders
Some yarn/wool - to make a Minion hat for my boss for his birthday - which I managed to do but no photos I didn't get to bed until 2.30am!
ScanNCut USB - Tattered Lace Number 5 Frippery and Flourishes. I really wanted to get the Glitz & Glam and/or the Best of 2016 Of course they didn't have those. Very pleased with the one though

I think that's it

Karen
xxx    

There sounds more than there actually looks in the photo, you got an amazing Haul Karen, I love that latest Sue Wilson Scalloped Lattice die, I use the outer frames all the time for making frames and matting and layering.
Thank you for sharing your Shopping with us Karen xxx

Lilian, I hope you are feeling better today xxx

Lynda, I hope your swelling has gone down my lovely xxx

Margaret I will give your catalogue to Sue today, so hopefully you will see if on Friday xxx

If anyone else would like to see a SU catalogue, just let me know xx

Sue & Pat, hopefully see you later, we are off to Pat's today, so don't bother hoovering Pete ! Xx

Have a lovely day ladies

Love and hugs
Sandra 
xxxxx

Monday 30 January 2017

Monday Sketch Challenge

My Sketch Challenge card

The Sketch 


Good Morning Ladies,

I am on such a high I just can't tell you, you will probably all think I've lost my marbles when I try and explain why!

But first I will give you the list of who made which card on yesterday's blog!

(1) Michele
(2) Lynda
(3) Margaret
(4) Michele
(5) Brenda
(6) Lilian
(7) Michele
(8) Janet

Brenda, Lynda, Margaret, Lilian you all got 6/8
Val got 5/8
Janet you got 3
Michele it was trickier for you as 3 of them were yours!

Thank you all so much ladies for both taking part and playing along xxx

Karen, I still haven't received your card my lovely, please re-send and I will share it xx

Now onto today's sketch, super simple sketch this week, Michele suggested that I add a theme with the sketch, so I have and that theme is........

Flowers and Trees, you can choose whichever you please, or both if you wish!

My thinking was that most of us have at least one stamp/die in that category, so I hope you enjoy the challenge.

My card (the reason for me being on such a high) is a TOTALLY STAMPED card, I started with a plain piece of white card and made a background using some of my new Stampin Up stamps .... Gorgeous Grunge, Delicate Details (the lace border) and Avant Garden which is the main image, such a detailed stamp!
In all my years of paper crafting I have never really had too much success when it comes to stamping, I just couldn't get the pressure right to get a good image.
This changed when I discovered the 'faux misti' stamping tool, I started to gain confidence and then I started buying the Stampin Up stamps and could even stamp free hand, without the stamping tool, which is how I made the background to today's card.  I just cannot explain to you my excitement, I know Sue understands my giddiness as she has struggled the same as me with Stamping, so I can't wait for her to have a play on Tuesday!
I know my card is nothing special really, it's just a huge deal for me to start with a piece of white card, use no backing papers or dies and end up with a fairly good result!

I hope you all enjoy the challenge as much as I did, I will make one with dies too!

Have a lovely day ladies

Love and hugs
Sandra
Xxxxxx

Sunday 29 January 2017

Your Sketch Challenge Cards


My Challenge Card

The Sketch
 
Card (1)

Card (2)



Card (3)

Card (4)


Card (5)

Card (6)

Card (7)

Card (8)

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

My favourite day of the week, because I get to see and share your Challenge cards.  It amazes me every week that you all take the same basic layout and create an amazing, individual card.  
I am going to do the same as last week and leave you to have a guess at who made which card, I will make it a little easier for you this week by listing  below the names of everyone that took part..

Brenda
Lynda
Michele
Janet
Lilian
Margaret

Just match the card number to the name of its creator! 

I will be busy choosing tomorrow's sketch while you are guessing, for some reason it takes me hours to choose, I like to make sure that the sketch is achievable for everyone, those with lots of dies, those with only a few, those of you that you like to computer craft, Stampers, non Stampers etc.  If any of you ever want a turn at choosing the sketch just let me know.

Well I will leave it there for now, I have to make two sketch cards once again this week, one for our Sketch and one for the Stampin Up sketch challenge on Facebook.  I have also been chosen to be on Pootles Design Team for February, I have been sent a stamp set and have to make 3 projects! 
So busy, busy busy!!!

Have a lovely Sunday ladies,

Love and hugs 

Sandra 
xxxxxx







Saturday 28 January 2017

A real 'Mixed Up' Saturday, lovely Lace, Crafty Buys & Cute card

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

We have a lot to get through today, so I won't keep you 
In suspense any longer........

Janet's Stunning Heart Plaque


We haven't seen any of Janet's amazing lace crafts for some time, 
I believe the last one was the absolutely stunning lace Napkin Holder, 
Like this heart plaque here Janet's sewing skills are exquisite.
This is a real work of art Janet, the stunning lace around the outside
Looks so pretty, I love the detail of the Bird carrying the Key too, great
For New Home or 21st Birthday, thank you so much Janet,
I am so pleased you have your sewing mojo back 
Xxx

Tracy's Baby Shadow Box Card


Tracy I think your New Baby Boy card is amazing!
So Clean, Crisp and precise, every box is ticked with this card.
I adore every little character on the card, particularly the
Elephant, he is my favourite, your friend just have been blown 
Away when she opened the card, it's so beautiful.
Thank you for sharing 
Xxx

Brenda's Crafty Buys




Brenda has been doing a little retail therapy while she has been
Under the weather, I think that 'retail' is the best therapy there is and 
It always seems to make us feel a little better!
The first photo has a lovely selection of dies, Sue's Noble
Circle dies and Happy Birthday, a Justrite Happy Birthday
And Amazing Meadow stamps, your faux 'misti' will
Come In very useful with those!
The second photo is if Brenda's new Ribbon Storage 
From Ali Reeve at Clevercut, Brenda it looks amazing,
You can get such a lot in it, Ali's products are all really well
Made and sturdy, I have the Ribbon Wheel which is really 
Robust, have fun filling up all those spools Brenda, I wish
I was close enough to come and help you!
Thank you for Sharing 
xxx

Margaret's Crafty Buys




Margaret has bought a lovely, varied collection of Dies
From Craft Stash once again, (I think you might be their by best Customer)!
All of the dies were on a Special offer, the Creative dies were
5 for £24 and the others were £22 for 4
So quite a good deal there ladies, might be worth a visit!
The first dies are a fantastic Collection of Label and Tag dies, 
Perfect for adding sentiments tonight cards.
The second photo is of that lovely Windmill Scene die,
I could picture that in the background with Daffodils and Tulips
In the foreground, what do you think?
Last up is a great collection of shapes dies for adding
Decoration of framing your work.
You chose wisely Margaret, I can't wait for the cards!
Thank you for sharing 
xxx

Have a lovely weekend, oh don't forget your 
Sketch cards!

Love and hugs

Sandra 
XXX













Friday 27 January 2017

Something Succulent !


Good Morning Ladies,

I have made today's card for a Stampin Up Team Challenge on Facebook, it is from a sketch that they featured on Monday, which was one we did a few months ago
I have made 3 Challenge cards this week, one for our Sketch on Monday, one for Janet's mini Challenge and today's card for Stampin Up. 
Mind you I rather enjoyed playing with the "So Succulent " stamp set and their matching dies, with a little dab of ink on their tips they look quite realistic, I think I like them because they are a bit different.
Succulent Stamps & Dies
I used the papers from the same Collection at the bottom of the card, I made a border piece with Delicate Details lace stamps, then used the dies to create the flowers to embellish the card. I had great fun making those Flowers, I sat playing last night as Paul was at work at when I looked at time it was 00.56 am,  Oops, still had to photograph card for blog and write this post.  

Ladies I wanted to let you know that Janet emailed me yesterday to say how seeing all of the cards for her Tutorial really made her day, so thank you, from me too! X

Lynda I do hope Margaret was ok after her fall, you must have been so worried, send her our love, I was also pleased to read that your Exercise class was a little easier yesterday, I have visions of you in a Leotard with matching leg wamers! 😉
I hope it continues to get easier and that you will really start to see the benefits of having the surgery, you'll be running round Ally Pally this time xxxx

Pat, I hope you are having a good time at Bet's although I know you won't get much rest, I bet it's chilly on the coast right now, have you ventured into Clacton yet, I have such fond memories of going to Clacton with mum, dad & Nana as a child, it saddens me to go back and see what a state it's in these days, one image really stands out, it was a laughing policeman in a glass case outside the pier, funny how particular things stay in your mind, wrap up warm if you go xxxx

Maria, it sounds as though you and Rick are having fun, looking forward to photos, ask Rick to photograph you 'in action' on the slopes ! Xxx

Brenda we will be thinking of you today as you attend another funeral, I hope the weather stays bright, I'm sure you will be exhausted, please take if easy, hugs xxx

Val, I bet you can't wait to get back to a slightly warmer climate, going from Cape Verdi back to Spain would have been ok but to return to Wales is quite an extreme change of weather!  I hope you feel more like getting out and about today, sending  hugs xxx

Have we got any crafty shopping to share ladies??? Come on, confess!! If so send me the photos and I will feature them.

Right that's it from me, advice write this I am trying to keep the duvet over my shoulders, it's absolutely freezing in our room tonight, I don't like being in this big old bed on my own, I usually warm my feet up on Paul, but he's working until 7.30am, Milo is snuggled up by my feet at the moment so that's creating a little warmth.

Love and Hugs to all,

Sandra
Xxxxxx






Thursday 26 January 2017

Janet's ZigZag Tutorial cards

My Double Zigzag Card

With band taken off
Janet's Double ZigZag Card


Lilian's Double Zigzag card

Lynda's Double Zigzag Card


Inside Lynda's card


Maria's Double Zigzag Card

Margaret's Double Zigzag card


Good Morning Ladies,

Last week Janet did a tutorial for the Double Zigzag cards she had made for her 'Knit and Natter' group, I have to say it was a brilliant tutorial Janet, very easy to follow, with clear and precise instructions.  I am so pleased that some of you found the time to have a go, at least Janet knows that her tutorial instructions work brilliantly.

My card is first, I used Floral Muse Papers, some Lace and pearl trim along too of each section to add interest , I 'fussy' cut some butterflies from the paper collection, then added some matching flowers and foliage, I wasn't sure about how to keep my card closed, so I band a band of card to go around the card and decorated it to match the rest of my card, I hope you like it, thank you Janet xxx

Janet's card is next up, some pretty papers used, the pretty ball gown in the foreground goes with the music theme if the background paper, beautifully finished with some pearls xxx

Lilian, your card is gorgeous, with the subtle script paper in the background and that stunning stamped floral spray adorning the centre of the card, so elegant, thank you xxx

Lynda, how fabulous your card is, a pretty colour outside, opening up to a real WOW centre, with a lovely verse and a kaleidoscope of butterflies, thank you for taking the time to take part xxx

Maria, such a cute children's card from you, using all of the Beatrix Potter Characters, they match perfectly with your background too, amazing card, thank you Maria, I hope you are having a lovely holiday xxx

Margaret, such a lovely colour combination on your card, I love the die cut on The I side too, the card is finished so elegantly with that pretty butterfly on the front, thank you so much for taking part, I bet if I'd ask you this time last year to have a go at a double Zigzag card you'd have thought I was talking double Dutch!! It goes to show how much you have come on in a short space of time xxx

Thanks again to Janet for doing us the tutorial to start this challenge, if anyone else would like to do a challenge just let me know.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra
Xxxxxx




Wednesday 25 January 2017

Treats from Janet & Maria


Tracy's Card for Janice

Janet's pretty 3rd Birthday Card

Janet Pretty card

Maria' 'Noble' card


Good Morning ladies,

3 fabulous cards for you today, 1 from Tracy, 1 from from Janet and 1 from Maria.

Tracy made her card for her lovely friend Janice and what a fantastic card it is! Made using Sue Wilson's "Shadow Box Collection " 'Retail Therapy' die set to create the card, placing the die cuts on top of the pretty paper and adding then adding the detail and embellishments in white and a lovely  dark purple.  I am sure Janice absolutely adores this card Tracy, thank you so much for sharing it with all of us, I look forward to seeing many more from you.

Janet's pretty, girly card is just adorable, I just love that beautiful girl image, with her big eyes. The background paper is stunning too.  The pretty red Buttons work so well in the corners of drawing your eye in, both the RicRac ribbon and the narrow blue ribbon pick out the blue in the card too. Thank you so much for sharing Janet xx

Last but by no means least we have Maria's lovely aperture card, it looks to me like the Creative Expressions Noble  'ornate Square Die ' has been covered with double sided adhesive sheet and then dipped into Gilding flakes, it looks incredible, I think that the aperture in the centre of the card works perfectly, adorned with those cute little butterflies.  Thank you so much Maria xxx

Now ladies I will keep  Janet's double Zig Zag  mini challenge open until tomorrow to allow those of  you who that are still creating yours to finish!

Sue, Pat & I had a lovely day yesterday, we were making Janet's double Zig zag cards, in between having lunch and catching up on what we have been up to.

Pat, have a safe trip to Essex today, try and get some rest xxx

Maria, I hope you are having a fantastic time xxx

Val, hope you are having fun too, looking forward to having you back xxx

Sending love and hugs to all of you

Sandra
xxxxxx



Tuesday 24 January 2017

Sue's Easel card


Good Morning Ladies,

I hope you are all well, exciting day for me today as it's Pat and Sue's day to visit, I appreciate it even more when Paul is working, I still struggle with being on my own.
Mind you I got to Skype with Amanda today, we were both chatting along while we crafted, crafting with friends is much more fun, we were sharing our Stampin Up ideas etc, by the way I keep meaning to say that if any of you are interested in looking at a Stampin Up Catalogue let me know and I will pop you one in the post, there is no pressure for you to buy, I promise! XX

Today's card is Sue's challenge card from Sunday, Sue had used Creative Expressions Calabria Die from their Italian Range, designed by Sue Wilson, it is one of the Original collections, it seems like years ago! It looks fantastic die cut in different shades of purple, I know Pat loved it too. The funny thing was Pat was hoping to see Sue's card in the line up on Sunday, as she thought she was guaranteed to get one right!!  But She had texted me the photo instead of emailing it and despite checking about three times in my email box on Saturday (as I was sure I had had a card from Sue) I didn't even think to check my text messages!  Never mind the card has now had a day all of its own!  thank you so much Sue for taking part and sharing xxx

I have a sneaky feeling that the three of us might be making zig zag cards today, watch this space!

Oh before I go I just wanted to say that Michele told me that she was putting some dies that she no longer uses (or has never used) on eBay, so I suggested that she put an email around with the dies on, just in case anyone is looking for a particular one, she isn't selling them for very much either, you know Michele, our bargain queen! 


Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx


Monday 23 January 2017

Monday Sketch Challenge

My Challenge Card


The Sketch

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

A fairly simple sketch for you this week, you can use whatever 
Shape you choose in place of the star, I chose flowers (no surprise there). You can also use whatever you have to create the border across the centre.

For my card I used "Big on Birthdays" Stampin Up stamp
And 'Botanical Builder' Framelits for the border and flowers, I think you will be seeing a lot of this border, because I love it!

Wasn't yesterday's 'guess the card designer' fun, most of you did really well, the answers were....

1 Janet
2 Karen
3 Lilian
4 Maria
5 Karen
6 Karen
7 Lynda
8 Michele
9  Margaret
10 Michele

Number 5 had a lot of you stumped, but in fairness it isn't a 'typical' Karen card, more Maria in style I think. 
The two people that were fairly much spot on were....,
Brenda & Sue, Brenda got 8/10 and Sue got 9/10
So I will be popping a little something in the post for you both.
I hope you enjoyed it, it really does get you thinking, I was looking at things like Lynda's card stand, Maria's kitchen work tops to give me clues! I will definitely be doing that one again, maybe next time I will give a list of who has entered, which would make the odds of getting in right  slightly higher.
Thank you so much for taking part xxx

Don't forget your mini challenge card, If I  could have your photos in over next couple of days, I still need to make mine, Paul's on 3 long day shifts and 1 night this week so I will get lots of craft time.

Have a lovely week ahead ladies,

Love and hugs
Sandra 
Xxxxxx 







Sunday 22 January 2017

Your Challenge Cards


My Challenge Card

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Easel cards where the theme for this weeks challenge, juding by some of the amazing cards I received, you all really enjoyed this challenge.  So without further delay I will display them below....
But this week I am going to do things differently, last week I read that a few of you try and guess who made which card, so I thought I would play along, I will show all of the cards that I received for this Challenge, but I won't add their names, so that you can all have a go at guessing, I will add their names later on today, so that you can check your answers.
For the person that gets most guesses correct I will send out a little something, just for fun.
So here goes........

Number (1)

Number (2)

Number (2)

Number (3)

Number (4)

Number (5)

Number (6)

Number (7)

Number (7)

Number (8)

Number (9)

Number (10)

Right ladies there you go, just add the card number with your guess beside it, I will tell you that 2 ladies sent more than one card.

To all of you ladies that took part this week, thank you so very much, I love doing the challenges each week for you, seeing incredible displays of cards like this makes every minute I spend worth while, thank you xxx

Can I ask if any of you ladies have ordered from 'Hixxysoft', they sell dies as well as office supplies I think, a bit like Icon Uk, about 12 days ago I ordered Sue Wilson's Striped Nasturtiams a long with her Faux Quilled Leaves (to make the 0rder up), last Tuesday the Faux quilled leaves arrived but the Striped Nasturtiams didn't, now I will add that I only ordered from them because they were the only place advertising the die as 'In Stock'.  I tried to find a number to call them but they don't have one advertised, so I emailed them, I got a reply later that night explaining that they were expecting the Striped Nasturtiams in any day but had just found out that they were going to be delayed until they get their shipment of Sue's new die release on or after 26th January!  Maybe I am unreasonable but I was really cross that they had taken my money for something that they didn't have in stock as they advertised. They didn't advertise them as 'pre-order' or 'awaiting delivery'.  Would you be frustrated with this situation???? I emailed him back on Tuesday asking why they said they had it in stock.......I am still awaiting their reply.

I will look in later to see how you are getting on with your guessing, have fun.

Enjoy your Sunday ladies,

Love and Hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx