Good Morning Ladies,

Well today is going to be a hard one, I hope and pray that Mum would be proud of what we have done to give her the best Funeral Service possible given the frustrating complications of the Covid Pandemic.  I spent most of Saturday allocating the 6 remaining spaces after Children and Grandchildren, so I hope that there are no upsets over places etc.  One thing that I didn't think about was that we will all be sitting 2 metres apart, I think that this is the one time I would like Paul and the girls at my side, this is their first funeral as they were too young when Dad died, I have done my best to talk them through the whole thing so that they know exactly what to expect, Matt and Becca came to Dad's funeral so they have a better idea, these are those moments when you want to wrap them up and protect them.  We still haven't made any final decisions on what we will do afterwards, we will play it by ear and see what the weather is doing.      One thing is for sure I will be making sure that my Brother and Sisters stay in touch, they have a habit of not bothering to contact one another for months at a time, which I think is so sad, in some respects we have nothing to return to Rowhedge for apart from visiting Mum at the Cemetery, so I will be encouraging them to come and stay with us as much as possible. It would be nice to have a nice family Christmas but I think that the Covid restrictions are still expected to be in place then so that won't work.  We have agreed to get together as a family for Mum as soon as the restrictions are lifted.

Today's card features the Flourish Filigree Stamp set.  All I have done is stamp that beautiful filigree stamp in the background with Versamark ink, add embossing powder and heat set, then do the same with the sentiment and punch that out with matching punch and pop it in the centre of the filigree stamped image.

I don't think it needs any other embellishments, just let that stunning stamp take all of the attention.

The measurements of the card are:

The Base card is 4 1/8 X 5 1/2 inches 

The layers are 1/4 of an inch larger 

Quite a quick an easy card, I love the simplicity though!

I hope you all have a good day your wonderful love and support will help me get through the day.

Love and extra hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

A Christmas Challenge card

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Janet is was lovely to have you 'home' with us, I have certainly missed seeing you in everyday my lovely, I'm glad your heating is sorted and updated, hopefully your new system will save you money, they are usually a lot more efficient, my parents didn't have central heating until about 12 years ago, in face they got the boiler and central heating and double glazed windows at the same time, that made a huge difference to the warmth of their house and their gas bills, it used to worry me sick that they had the same gas fire that they had had for years and little wall mounted gas heaters in the hall, they had no heating at all upstairs, even after they did have radiators fitted my dad would never have the one in the bedroom on, he slept with a window open in Winter and Summer, bless her the radiator was the first thing that Mum switched on when dad passed. 

Today we set off to Colchester, the girls are both taking their cars as Paul still can't drive, bless them I think they are both quite nervous about the journey, it's going to be quite a challenge for both of them, we are splitting up though, Paul is going with Sophie and they are taking Becca and I will go with Lucy, we are taking the flowers, which will probably fill the back of Lucy's mini!

I used my Corner dies from The Works on this Festive version of the card that I shared on Friday. I embossed the background with my new 'Scripty' Embossing Folder. 

This time I used the Rectangle 'Heirloom' Frame instead of the the Oval, I stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler ink to tie in with the Poinsettia's and the mat, it's hard to see but I used Very Vanilla (cream card) for a warmer feel, it also works well with the gold. 

The Poinsettia die I used was a Brittania Die, it is a set of three dies and the small one is perfect for this size card. 

I added a border of Very Vanilla & Gold Ribbon that I finished with double bow on the frame, I arranged the poinsettias around the bow.

I finished the card with those cute little corners die cut in the same matt gold as the frame, popped some matt gold pearls inside the poinsettias, I matted and layered the card with red and green card and finally onto a cream base card.

I am a bit addicted to those frames, it's so unusual to have the Frame dies that come with an embossing folder so that you could have with or without detail. 

Anyway I must get on I have to pack my bags and get on the road. 

I hope you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Man Card Monday

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

It hardly seems a week ago that we were welcoming in September, I can't quite believe that this week see's us welcoming in October! 

We have a super busy week ahead of us, we are travelling to Essex tomorrow for  Mum's funeral, which is on Wednesday morning, we travel back on Wednesday afternoon,  we were hoping to go and do something fun after Mum's service but the combination of Covid and weather have put paid to most things.  Then on Thursday Paul has his new appointment at the Eye Clinic,  please keep your fingers crossed for a positive outcome. 

My head has been permanently fuzzy this past few weeks and I seem to be going from solving one problem to dealing with the next, so I really needed to take a little time out yesterday afternoon,  I went in and continued sorting my craft room but then I had the urge to sit and make a card,  the first time in a few weeks to be honest!! So I ceased the moment and reached for my favourite (recent) craft purchase, the Indigo Blu Magazine,  I just flicked through the magazine and picked a simple design and followed it. I knew that I wanted to do a Masculine card as I want to continue the 'Man Card Monday' feature. I would be happy to share any of your cards on a Monday too, just let me have your pictures.

So today's card was made using the Indigo Blu magazine papers and stamp set, the blue in the background works so well with new 'Misty Moonlight ' cardstock from stampin up! I love it, its a lovely shade 😍 of blue.  I used a 6x6 card a folded back the front of the card for interest , I layered the card with the Misty Moonlight card and then the patterned paper from the Magazine collection, I stamped the steam train on the same paper and matted and layered the same as the card base. I attached this piece to the front fold of the card and added the 'Just For You' sentiment to finish.               I hope you like my card, my Father in law loves Steam Trains so would love this card.

I hope that you all have a lovely day and that those of you have had your houses in turmoil while having work done have some kind of order returned.  

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                            xxxxxx 

Your Challenge Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all having a lovely weekend, it's certainly a chilly one!  We spent most of yesterday trying to make sure that the families of all my Mum's siblings had a place in the Crematorium for someone to represent them, which when there are only 6 spare spaces is very tricky.  I think that Paul and I cracked it yesterday, we then started on preparing the order of service sheets for Wednesday.  I left Paul to sort most of it as I am no good at creating documents, I can embellish them just fine but anything that involves Word has me totally in a pickle!                                                                             We are both hoping to take today off for ourselves though, we both need a bit of a chill day! 

I know that this is your favourite day of the week so let's look at the amazing cards that you have all created.............

Karen

Oh Karen I love this card, I love the autumnal colours, I really love the finish the sewn edge gives the card too.  I really want to have a go at sewing on my cards but so far I haven't plucked up the courage. I certainly wouldn't be able to create a beautiful straight line like you have!! 

Karen's Description: 

Here’s a cc It covers quite a few of the tic-tac-toe It started as a flat/one layer card for last week .... So I’ve re-fashioned it for this week Stitching - image - heat embossing I have used a Woodward stamp and heat embossed- a wash background and painted/bleached with DO and coloured the mat with same DO I used SW pierced dies and stitched around it using the pierced holes as a guide Also more than 2 layers (6 in total) Die cut and sentiment!

Thank you so much Karen for such a lovely challenge card XXX

Maria

Maria I really love your Traditional style Christmas card, its so lovely to see the old fashioned letter box and that cute robin. I also love the white fluffy snow.  The embossed background is lovely and ties in perfectly with the colours in your card.

Maria's Description:

''The topper is by Honkeydory's book of Christmas Wishes and it

sitting on a very dark Green embossed background of Holly and

3 little Red buttons I found in my stash.''

Thank you so much my lovely for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX

Lilian

This stunning card of Lilian's works perfectly for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge,

 it uses Categories:  Sentiment/More than 2 layers/Die cut.

Lilian has an absolutely stunning paper collection to create this card, I love all the shades of blue and I have to say that that Butterfly is exquisitely delicate!   Such a pretty card with some gorgeous layers.

Thank you so much Lilian for sharing such a stunning card XXX

Michele

Two beautiful cards from Michele for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge, I really love both of the your cards Michele particularly the second card, such a pretty scene.  Christine's Charity cards are all so pretty and so well thought out.  

Michele's Description:

2 challenge cards-both in the same category. Sentiment/image/die cut. First one is request from crazy friend-I used a magazine freebie to stamp the pattern on the white card & the fern Die was part of the same free set. Second card was a charity kit I ordered from Christine Emberson ages ago, only just got round to assembling it!

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge Michele XXX

Sonia

Aww Sonia I love your cute puppy stamped image, I love how you have tied the Kraft card into the card too, your compositions always work so perfectly.

Sonia's Description:

'' it’s just a quick simple card from me this week. I’ve used sentiment/image/die cut.

The little dog stamp was from my stash - a freebie from a magazine. The sentiment from LOTV. I made the card to give as a Thank you card for the breeder who we are getting Barney, our Cockapoo puppy from.

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge Sonia, the breeder will love your card as it is super cute. XXX

Brenda

Brenda has designed two gorgeous cards for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge, I have to say Brenda that I absolutely love the way you inlaid that die on your first card, the effect is stunning.  

I love the super cute mice and the autumnal feel of your second card to, I hope you found colouring therapeutic. 

Brenda's Description:

Well I have managed to challenge cards the first one (blue) categories are

sentiment, diecut and ribbon. I’m still a little unsure about this card I feel I ought to put something in the bottom left hand corner but what!

My second card stamp it’s a really old one from dimensions fourth do you remember them? Oh and the categories image, diecut and sentiment.

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge Brenda, your cards are beautiful. XXX

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

Ladies thank you all so very much for participating in this weeks challenge, it has been a 'bit of a week' this week but my struggles were made that little bit easier with your amazing support.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart. XXX

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday Featuring Michele's Magazine Review

 

Happy Birthday Cheryl 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Please join me in wishing our dear friend Cheryl a very Happy Birthday,  I hope restrictions don't stop you from having a lovely day. XXX 

Oh it feels really Autumnal outside again today, the heating has gone back on to timer ⏲️, when we got up early yesterday morning everything felt so chilly, even the toilet seat, which was a bit of a shock 😲!! 

I wanted to share a picture (above) of the Cute critter that Karen kindly gifted to me recently, I have to say that myself and my girls have hugged and thrown him across the room, although we felt a bit guilty being mean to him, it's such a genius idea to gift something that someone can hug, cry on, shout and scream at and as Karen said 'throw across the room in temper'' the girls just wanted to try him out, so they threw him at each other, it worked as they ended up crying with laughter, which had Paul and I doing the same.  I have asked Karen to make one for the girls too, so that they can have their own, that also means that they can keep their hands off mine!  Karen you are on to a winner with this idea, such a unique gift idea, my girls have always had a 'comforter' they have a 'lello' which was their word for 'Yellow', it started out as a yellow, brushed cotton cot sheet, with little Winnie the Pooh's on, they both have one (they had matching bedding), maybe it's a twin thing that they both ended up with the exact same comforter, they now resemble a piece of grey rag, they both still have them under their pillows today. So cute bless them, they are so excited to receive their own critter. Thanks so much Karen XXX

Michele's Magazine Review 

Hi Ladies 

Diecutting Essentials has a brilliant free gift this month which can be used for so many occasions.

Here’s the magazine with the free gift-photos got a bit mixed up or maybe it was me that’s mixed up!!

First feature using the free gift.

More ideas using the free gifts, nice ideas for craft projects.

Clean & Simple card ideas using the free gift. Theses would be quite easy to copy using other Dies

Another feature on how to create your own stamps to match your Dies. Nice cards in this article.

Great article on Mono prints and it seems easy enough to do.

Brilliant feature on hinged Diecutting, making some gorgeous cards.

Great to see someone using a basic set of Dies and producing 5 very different cards

Part two of this article.

Some great ideas for gift tags.

More ideas.

I’m sure most of us  haven’t go this Die but it gives us a few ideas perhaps using what we already have in our stash.

Part two.

That’s all for this week so
Happy Crafting.

Love Michele

Thanks so much Michele for a fantastic Magazine Review,  it looks as though all of the articles are new and not recycled from other magazines!  which is a bonus, I was actually thinking about formally complaining about the repeated articles in my magazines but I 'm pretty sure that they would say that they had to recycle some features because of Covid-19!!                                                                     There are some great features in this issue,  I am biased as I love a wreath card, so the free gift is right up my street!  Having said that there are some great features showing how to use the free gift to make other projects.                                                      There are a couple of really great features encouraging you to get the most out of your Crafting.   The first is a feature showing how to use but parts of die cut cutting, both the inny and outy!!  The second feature showing you how to look at your older dies and use them with the 'Hinged' technique,  to breathe new life into them. 

Thank you so much Michele for a great review,  another fantastic Magazine. XXX

Thats all for today Ladies,  I hope  you have a lovely weekend. 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                              xxxxxx 

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and looking for the weekend.  The weather is somewhat cooler and definitely feels more 'Autumnal'!

Your Next Challenge

If you haven't already guessed from the cards above, for this weeks Challenge I would like to make Christmas Cards.  

They can be any design, you can use any technique at all.  Just show she some Glitter & Sparkle !!

I know we have all got to get on and make some progress with our Christmas cards thats why I have left the techniques and style up to you, you can choose your favourite technique.  

Maybe even find a style that works for 'Batch Making' cards, that would be really useful .

I hope that you enjoy this weeks Challenge, I can't wait to see your cards.

Wrap up warm if you leave the house today ladies, it really is chilly.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Throwback Thursday card for this week's TicTacToe Challenge

 

Good Morning Ladies,

What a change in the weather today, we had rain all night and most of the day, the garden needed to though, the brassicas look so much better for it (listen to me sounding like a gardener), I am proper impressed with out Brussel Sprout plants though, you can see the sprouts forming already!  

I wasn't sure if it was the weather or because I was feeling under the weather but in the morning I was so hot, my heart was just permanently in a superfast rhythm which is why I just had to lie down for most of the morning, I managed to get up at around lunch time and potter in my craft room for most of the afternoon, doing little things that don't really show but definitely needed doing, like sorting through all of my dies and putting them in sets or grouped in categories.                                                                             

My desk is much clearer and looking around I can see what a difference taking time to organise things is making. I just have to Keep it tidy now!

Today's card is an oldy but works perfectly for this weeks challenge, using categories:

 Sentiment/More than 2 layers/Embossing

Todays card is a handmade background using Honey Doo 'Swirl Background' stamp, stamped in Versamark and I then added Honey Sparkle Embossing powder and heat set, I made sure it was all dry and then I went in with Distress Oxide inks...Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac & Squeezed Lemonade.
I added the same ink blend to a seperate piece of card and die cut my sentiment, adding it onto a white background.  The 'My Friend' stamp comes with the die set.  It's a Spellbinders set called 'Hello Expressions'  that I bought from Christine over at Hope & Chances.

The good thing about a TicTacToe Challenge is that some many cards work with the categories, so even though this card is from Feb 19 it still works. 

Fr. Richard was so lovely and made everything so simple, such a comfort. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day today,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                        xxxxxx

My Amazing card from Michele

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope you are all well, what did you think of the 'Big Announcement ' I will admit I was expecting more! I thought there would be tighter restrictions,  particularly to the younger generation that seem to be a large factor in the recent rise in cases, I really don't see how closing pubs at 10pm is going to make any difference, its pointless,  in fact they will probably go from a 'controlled environment ' to someone's house where there will be No awareness of restrictions!!  Soapbox returned!! 

Today's card is the amazing card that Michele made me for my birthday. It is so perfect for this year, with the gardening theme,  I have certainly done my share of that this summer. 

I believe the card design is one of Ella’s Designs  and Michele has layered the pretty papers to create a beautifully composed design.  

The verse couldn't be more perfect, there has been an awful lot of 'Wishful Thinking' !! 🤣😂

Michele you couldn't have picked a better design,  thank you so much for such a lovely birthday card XXX 

I have a call scheduled with the Vicar this morning  to discuss Mum's funeral, I have a lot of notes written down,  I hope i remembered everything! I have asked all of my siblings for their input too. So fingers crossed all goes smoothly. 

Janet we miss you, I hope the new heating system installation is going smoothly. Take care, sending hugs XXX 

Lilian I hope things start going a little smoother, what a frustration having Boiler trouble too. XXX

Lynda I hope you have stayed upright this week and haven't been flashing your bare bottom to the ambulance men!  Sending hugs XXX 

Love & Hugs to all of you, 

Sandra 

xxxxxx 

Another Beautiful Birthday card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

What a beautiful September day we had yesterday, it was pleasantly warm and lovely and sunny and stayed warm into the evening, which I was glad of as I didn't get to spend much time out side until late afternoon.  Another day of phone calls and searching online for answers to other issues regarding probate and Land Registry 🥺😓!

So spending an hour in the garden checking over the sprouting Brocoli and Brussels Sprouts and picking what I expect are the last of the Sweet Peas,  they smell heavenly!

Today's card made me gasp in delight when I pulled it out of the envelope, the beautiful paper that Sonia used has a pretty blue floral pattern with a lovely lace detail too.  Sonia used really ornate frame die cuts that work perfectly with the detail in the patterned paper.  The sentiment which is from a Spellbinders set has a pretty font that works so well with the style of the card. Sonia finished this gorgeous card with a pretty butterfly 🦋 die cut.

Sonia thank you so much for my gorgeous Birthday card, I absolutely love it XXX 

Sonia's always has a way of inspiring me, this card it's the sentiment,  I have that set of stamps that I think I was inspired to buy by Sue Wilson, I had forgotten about them until I saw Sonia's card. So thanks again Sonia, while looking for those stamps I found a whole box of stamps,  hidden treasure!!! 

I got a bit more organising done in my craft room done before the phone calls started, hopefully I will get to finish it today.

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Man card Monday

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all well and enjoyed a weekend of lovely weather. We got a few garden jobs done and relaxed and then I started the mammoth task of sorting my craft room out!! You ever wish you hadn't starting something!  I wanted to do it properly so I started reorganising the shelves where my stamps are on, I got Paul to turn it round so that i could access all of the shelves.  I ordered some A4 wallets and some more Magazine storage racks to keep the stamps from Magazines in etc. Fingers crossed I will finish it today so that i can sit and do some Crafting x

Today's card is one I made using the papers and stamps from the Indigo Blu magazine. I stamped the Hot Air balloon once onto the piece of decorative paper I had cut and mounted to my card base, I then stamped it again onto another piece of the paper and fussy cut it,  I then covered it with clear ink and added clear embossing powder,  the shine doesn't show up on the picture but it is there,  i mounted the balloon onto its matching base stamp and then used some of the other stamps to decorate the background.                                                                I fussy cut the sentiments from one of the sheets in the magazine,  I added some thicker card behind them for stability and popped some foam pads on the back .                                                                             I think it makes a good 'Man Card' ! 

I hope that you all have a lovely day today,  Janet I hope your heating system installation goes smoothly, Lilian I hope that your Kitchen is coming along nicely,  I can't wait to see it !!   Lynda I hope you are recovering from your fall my lovely xx

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                          xxxxxx       

Sendinf

your challenge Card's

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I had a lovely relaxing day yesterday, I went out into the garden without any phones so that even if it did ring I couldn't hear it, I felt guilty but I felt as though I was at breaking point.  There weren't any more 'official' calls to be made for now either so it is time for a bit of a break, I am really feeling like I need to trip to the seaside at the moment, I think I mentioned yesterday that I find staring out to sea very calming, not sure how calming it would be a 'bracing blackpool' though, not quite as calming as the Med! But it is a more realistic option for now, well that's if we don't end up even further into a lockdown, I feel a full lockdown is only around the corner.

Anyway lets have a look at your amazing cards....

Sonia

Oh WOW Sonia, three stunning cards from you for this weeks challenge,  the scene on your first card is just so idyllic, doing the black on white glitter theme is just genius too, you are so inspirational Sonia.  I love the background of your second card, it has the real wow factor, I have always loved that sentiment and it is so true.  Your third card has the most amazing background that works perfectly with your silhouette stamp, I love how you have the hearts raining down too.

Sonia's Description:

Here are my challenge cards:

I had already made the pictures, just hadn’t made them into cards.

The Christmas scene is a Penny Black image which I stamped. I then covered it in a piece of double sided adhesive sheet and added glitter on the top. The sentiment is from Woodware stamps.

The second card is a watercolour background I created using distress inks. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment (from TrimCraft) and added some gold shimmer spritz.

The third card uses stamps from Inkylicious and Altenew, stamped over the background created with distress inks and an AALL & Create stencil. 

Sonia thank you so very much for three incredible Challenge cards, who would have thought that totally flat cards could be this stunning! XXX

Michele

Two fantastic cards from Michele, I love how you have used the same style/layout for both Birthday and Christmas, maybe thats an idea for another Challenge???!!!

Michele's Description:

2 challenge cards made using a brand new magazine freebie-Diecutting Essentials (Review next Saturday). Coloured card blank, white card with white Diecuts glued on it. Sentiment on both was die cut and a few stickers added.

Thanks so much Michele for taking part and for coming up for with the idea for this weeks Challenge XXX

Maria

Maria has made three gorgeous cards for Michele's one layer challenge, Maria I would love to know where you find some of the beautiful images you use, that owl image is absolutely stunning, I love how you have created the frame for that card too. The penguin card is super cute too and I love how you used peel-offs to finish the frame of the card. Your stamped image on the first card is so beautifully coloured, I love that sentiment too.

Thank you so much for taking part in Michele's challenge Maria XXX

Lilian

Wow Lilian, this Nautical themed card is stunning, I love that image and the vintage feel to the whole card, your embellishments work so perfectly too.

Lilian's Description:

Stamperia papers, and I think the die cuts are Sue Wilson all at sea, with copper wax on them. 

Thanks so much for taking part, especially as you are working around the chaos of having your kitchen done. XXX

Karen

Karen has stamped the background for her card and the sentiment, I must say Karen that I really admire you for having the courage to pick up a fine liner pen and creating that fantastic frame for your sentiment, I love how it looks.

Karen's Description :

Here’s my totally flat card I was inspired by a project in the indigoblu magazine (page 17) I used a SW die cut coloured with Mermaid Lagoon DO Snowflake stamps from a mag in a mixture of Mermaid Lagoon Speckled Egg and Tumbled Glass -1st and 2nd generation stamping and a bit of Twisted Citron through a stencil

Thanks so much Karen for taking part in this weeks Challenge XXX

Janet

Janet has designed two gorgeous Christmas cards for this weeks Flat card challenge.

I love the scene's on both of the cards, especially the second with those darling children, you just can't beat those traditional scenes.

Janet's Description:

My First card is made with papers from STAMPERIA and the stamp is one I have had for a few years and came free with a mag.

My second card for this week is made using LABLANCHE papers and the stamp is from PHIL MARTIN.

Thank you so much Janet for two gorgeous challenge cards, I hope that your heating system is installed quickly so that you can relax ready for the weekend XXX

Cheryl

Cheryl has made a lovely 'Thinking of you' style card for this weeks challenge, I love the colours that are in that pretty card.

Cheryl found a kit that worked perfectly for Michele's flat card challenge, you just add the sentiment and any embellishments you choose. I love the sentiment, it means a lot to hear someone say that when you are feeling really low or overwhelmed.

Thanks so much for taking part Cheryl XXX

Janet

Brenda has been busy crafting this week, she has made three cards that work perfectly for Michele's 'Flat card' challenge.

Brenda's first card is a pretty Christmas scene, Brenda has coloured the Christmas tree so beautifully, I love that bright red sentiment too.

Brenda's second card is made with a SU stamp that has a beautiful floral branch, the sentiment is so lovely too. I love the simplicity of this card.

Brenda's third card was made with Honey Doo Splat stamps, I really love it done with just one colour Brenda, finishing the card with the matching blue mat and shadow behind the sentiment was a brilliant finishing touch.

Thank you so much Brenda for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX

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

Ladies, what can I say that I haven't said a million times before?!  Thank you all so very much for taking part in Michele's challenge, she will be so thrilled to see so many challenge cards.  

You all go to so much trouble each week to support me and the blog, whether your house is in turmoil with renovations or your work load is getting your down, you don't feel great or are physically struggling, you all give up your time, you have no idea how grateful I am.

Particularly at the moment, I think I had one day where I thought I wouldn't be able to get a blog post done but I pushed myself to do it because I knew it would come back to haunt me if I didn't.  Hearing from all of you has been such a comfort.

I can't thank you enough for the lovely cards filled with kind supportive words or the flowers and gifts, It has made an impossibly hard situation a little easier to bare. XXX

I am treating myself to another 'Switch off' day today, I have almost finished a book I started about a week ago, I am on the last chapter but I don't want it to end, is it just me that feels like that?!  

To be honest I only usually read books on holiday but I have found reading quite a good distraction of late, particularly at two in the morning, thanks heavens for Kindle !!

I hope that you have a lovely day too my lovelies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx