Mixed Up Saturday

  

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Thank goodness its the weekend,  the weeks that Paul is on late shift are really long, with him not getting back until 10pm, this week I have been laying on the bed when he gets in and he comes and sits down with a cuppa and that's the day pretty much over, where as on earlies he's back just after lunch, we have an early start but you still have the majority of the day to spend together. I think he will be a little nervous this coming Monday though as he is starting a totally different job!!  I think he wishes he was starting after his eye surgery not before.  

The plaque pictured above is the messy creation that I was working on at the beginning of the week, I am so relieved to say that Karen loved it, which really made my day as I absolutely loved creating it.    I followed a Tracy Evans Tutorial and all of the stamps featured are her Aall & Create Designs. 

Sue's Magazine Review

Simply Cards & papercraft Issue 210 review

Free Gift

This months magazine has a really useful set of ALTENEW Bells and Boughs Christmas stamps that include sentiments, some leaves and a layered bell stamp set with matching dies all with clear instructions on how to use them and with lots of examples including several clean and simple cards, great for batch making. Also instructions for gif wrap, a tag, gif box and bag and a lovely framed picture project using some of the stamps and hand lettering there is a lettering template for this project online if you don’t feel confident enough to do it freehand)

Other articles include: 

Colour Wheel Wonders using opposing colours

Contemporary Christmas using non typical colours and shapes

Bargello, a paper weaving technique

Using Buttons, Gems and Pearls to fill in basic Christmas Shapes

A downloadable Sketch that has been shown here three different ways

In-laid die-cutting technique, using Glitters

Embossed Background using Faux-Letterpress Technique

Free Gift inspiration 

Using stamps 

Clean and Simple cards

Slider card technique 

Using Free stamps to create Gift Wrapping & tags

Lou Collins shows you how to create gifts using free gifts. 

**********

There is an article from each of the following companies showcasing their latest releases:

Indigo Blu 

Indigo Blu gorgeous 'Botanical' stamps with a lovely journal project

Hobby Arts 

Hobby Arts 'Green Things' (Brussel sprouts) Stamps

Hunkydory 

Hunkydory Christmas Release

Heartfelt Creations 

Heartfelt Creations Traditional Festive Release

******

Die-cutting essentials issue 145, , which is the sister magazine of SC& , has a stained glass die and three projects using it are shown here:

That’s all for now.

 Take care

 Sue x

Thank you so much Sue for a fantastic Magazine review, I think that you and I both agree that the actual sentiments of the free stamps aren't quite as good as we first thought, but they are free and there are lots of other great features in the magazine, I am yet to try the Bargelo Technique, I know that Sue Wilson loves it and so does Julia Watts, both have created some amazing designs in the past.  

I am very grateful that you went to the trouble of writing a review for us, I know that sometimes you buy magazines that we don't usually feature so it would be great to do a review of one of those in the future.  Thanks again my lovely XXX

Ladies I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, keep warm,

Sending hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Michele's Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Another Wet & Wild day here in Wiltshire, its getting a lot colder too, time to dig out the thermals I reckon.  I desperately need some new slippers, I have been wearing my Croc Flip-flops since March, they are the most comfortable piece of footwear I have ever owned,  you really don't feel them, I also feel like they cushion my feet as I walk very heavily. I am tempted to get the fur lined crocs as slippers but they are so bulky, i'm not sure if I would be tripping over them, we bought some for Lucy and she loves hers.  I really struggle to get socks on so if I don't have a nice warm pair of slippers I will struggle,  I have bad circulation in my right leg so my foot on that side is a pain to keep warm.  

Michele asked if she could set our next Challenge and I gladly accepted, so here it is....

Michele's Challenge 

Michele would like you to use 1 die/stamp set or Mask/ Embossing Folder to make a Christmas card and a Non Christmas (any occasion) card. 

Michele has shared an example, using one of her recent purchases....

I love the look of this die set Michele, the cards you have made a fantastic example. 

I will add photos of Michele's cards laid out flat....

Thanks Michele for setting this weeks challenge and for sharing these fantastic inspirational ideas with us.

I have a couple of ideas for this weeks challenge, I am looking forward to sitting and having a play.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,  

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                              xxxxxx 

Two Thursday Throwback Cards

 

💚💙💛💗Happy Birthday Karen 💗💙💚💛

Good Morning Ladies,

Ladies please join me in wishing Our Lovely Karen a Very Happy Birthday, I hope you get lots of cuddles from Oscar & Charlie, relax and enjoy your day XXXXXXX

We had the best weather of the week for most of the day yesterday, we had a couple of  'off' moments, the first one was as the postman arrived at the door, he asked if he could shelter under our porch for a while as you have never seen rain like it, I now see where the saying 'coming down like stair rods' comes from!  A few minutes later it was perfect sunshine once again, you'd think it had never rained.  The sky then turned the weirdest colour, Paul had just left and I had just wrangled the cats back in the door when the loudest thunder storm started, this time we had huge hail stones!  Talk about four weathers in one day! 

I ended up spending most of the afternoon doing paperwork for Mum's Grave and sorting payments for my brother to make.  Then there was paperwork that needed organising for Paul's surgery.  So  I didn't get to make any cards, so today's cards work perfectly for this Weeks TicTacToe.

For the first card I used Categories: Designer Series Paper/Red & Green/ Ribbon

For this card I used the 'Under The Miseltoe' Designer Series paper, mixed with Old Olive and Real Red card, Real Red Ribbon and the Everyday Label Punch.

The Second Card uses Categories  Blue/White/Ribbon 

Today's card was made with the 'Snow is Glistening' stamp set that I shared with you on yesterday's post, I saw a similar card to this on Pinterest made with the one of Crafters companion stamps.  

I stamped my Christmas tree on to a piece of Vellum using Versamark ink, with vellum you must make sure that you use your anti static bag with vellum because it seems a lot more static than regular card or paper.  I then used some white embossing powder with a bit of glitter in, just to give a little sparkle to the tree, although it doesn't really show up on camera.  I then heat set the powder and then attached the vellum to a piece of leftover 'Galvanised' card with tiny silver brads.

I made my base card a little wider that usual so that I could add my very last piece of Dotted Tulle ribbon, ( I think I will HAVE to order more as I love it).  I attached the ribbon to the back of my mat with glue dots and then used another piece to tie a knot, I popped a tiny foam pad behind the knot to secure it, I topped that with one of the Snowfall Trinkets.  To finish the card I added a few clear, sparkly gemstones around the tree. I am going to have my sentiment on the inside of the card.

I actually made the first card for this exact challenge back in November 2018 !!!

I hope that you all have a lovely day, we will be spending most of it at the hospital.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                        xxxxxx

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Ooh I have had a fun couple of days of messy crafting, I thoroughly enjoyed it too, I think it helps when you are making it for a special reason, you are more motivated to make it to the best of your ability, but you enjoy the process more because you are thinking of how well it will be received (well hopefully ).  I certainly haven't had as many different products out on my desk at the same time in a while.  After I shared the photo of my desk in the chat group yesterday I felt almost shamed into clearing it up, which I did manage, well most of it anyway! 

I am sharing a card isn't a Christmas card today to show that you don't have to make Christmas cards with this particular TicTacToe, this card uses Categories:  Blue/White/Ribbon

Today's card is another Challenge card, I used the beautiful 'Needlepoint Nook' Dsp and Matching  'Needle & Thread' stamp set. 

I cut a Night of Navy Card Base to 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 inch, the cut a Whisper White layer 1/4 inch smaller, I stamped a couple if the stitched flourish stamps from the stamp set, I next cut a piece of Night of Navy Card  and added a piece of the Dsp to that then adhered that to the card base. I then created a border with a piece of the same paper but using its reverse side, I layered that over a piece of the New White Flax Ribbon and frayed the ends. To make the topper I stamped a sentiment from the set and added some tiny butterflies (also a stamp in the set). I mounted this onto a Night of Navy matt and added foam pads to raise it off of the card.

To finish the card I die cut three tiny butterflies in Night Of Navy with a White detailed top layer, I added these along the bottom of my DSP layer, I then die cut a 'Thanks' from the new 'Well Written' sentiment dies.  I added a few sparkle gems to the butterflies.

I hope it gives you a little inspiration. 

Brenda, I hope you got a bit more or your Jigsaw done, do you start with the edges?? XXX

Cheryl I am sorry to read that you have Vertigo, I hope the meds kick in swiftly, as its a miserable thing to suffer with, gentle hugs on route XXX

Lynda, so pleased that you have another appointment with your surgeon, you need answers my lovely, sending hugs your way XXX

Margaret, sending gentle hugs your way to my lovely XXX

Have the best day possible ladies,

Love and hugs to each and every one of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all doing OK and I am sending Special, Gentle Hugs to those that are having a struggle today, we all have those days after all.

The day just seem to disappear after Paul went to work at 1pm, first one sister called and then the other, by that time it was getting on for 4pm, so I went in to my Craft room to start on a project for a certain friend, well did I get messy, Paul wanted to know how I got paint in the back of my hair and on my face, I always find that when I attempt a 'Messy Background' it ends up being to messy or not messy enough, I think thats mainly because I don't usually 'do' messy anything!  I finally left the 22nd Version (Probably the 6th) for the night, to dry and for the glue to adhere the elements solidly in place (fingers crosses that the cats don't go in there and have a play, well that would make a different kind of texture to the background...paw prints and cat hair!! 🙀 🐾, If it all sticks well I hope to finish it and get it in the post today, wish me luck! 

Today's stunning project is one of Pat's latest Groovi cards, I did see this being started earlier in the summer and I can't find the words to describe how beautiful that scalloped edging is, bare in mind that Pat has picot cut the edge of both layers, if you zoom in you can see all of the incredible detail that Pat has embossed into the edges too.                                                                                                                Then we move onto that stunning centre piece,  e beautiful Bird house that has the most exquisite cut work detail on the roof, then you move down to those tiny flowers and leaves that have been embossed and then coloured.  Your hands must have been aching after you finished that piece Pat, so much piercing and snipping!  Its worth it though, the card is an absolute work of art, I love it. XXX

We have a few errands to run today, some paperwork today for Paul's operation etc, so I'm sure the day will fly by, I don't mind though as Paul's on late shift this week and that makes the day really long.

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                      xxxxxxx

Man Card Monday/TicTacToe Challenge card

 

Click on Picture for YouTube Tutorial

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and feeling rested after the weekend, we were lucky enough to have a lovely quiet weekend, we had a lot of rain which stopped anything much happening in the garden but that meant even more relaxing! Although I really don't mind pottering about in the garden, especially when the air is so fresh and crisp! 

Today's card is one that I made two years ago (although it only seemed like last year) I am sure that most of you have a Christmas/Fir Tree stamp that you could use to make this card, thats pretty much all you need, that and one ink pad, it literally takes 10 minutes to make.  There are two cards featured above as I wanted to show the difference between adding a white mat and not having one, I think it draws your eye in and makes the design stand out more.  I think that this card would work well for a Christmas card for a Man, don't you?

The TicTacToe Categories for this weeks challenge are BLUE/WHITE/SNOW

Here is the Technique 

I took a piece of Whisper White card and then die cut a circle to use as a moon mask, I held that in place and blended the Night of Navy ink across the card, quite heavy at the top, continuing down to about half way and then blending out to the bottom of the card.  I then Spritzed the card with a fine mist of water, I blotted it off and quickly dried it.  I then took the large Christmas tree stamp and stamped it repeatedly over the bottom half of the card, no need to mask either.
Lastly I tapped a Waterbrush loaded with Whisper White ink over the card which gave the snow effect and stamped the sentiment inside the moon. You can also use a White Posca pen for the snow, it actually gives a 'whiter' snow.
I did two versions, one with and one without the white mat, it looks so much brighter with that white mat, it seems to pick up the white in the card.
The Card measurements are as follows:

Base Card 4 1/8 X 5 1/2 Inch Night of Navy
White Mat 3 7/8  X  5 1/4 Inch Whisper white
Top layer   3 6/8  X  5 1/8  Inch

You can actually make this card any size that you choose.

If you didn't find the instructions easy to follow the Tutorial is linked above.

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Did you all remember?

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Hello from a wet and wild Wiltshire! Oh it was a cold and dark day yesterday, you know those

days where you just can't be motivated to do anything!! 

Did you all remember to put your clocks back? My problem is working out which ones do it automatically,  i always look at my phone first and think "have you changed or not" !! 

To be honest apart from the cooker and coffee maker boiler  I think the rest update themselves.   So we are back to dark evenings!  I think that being in any kind of lockdown will be harder with the cold, dark weather, do you? 

Anyway here's something that I know will make you smile.......

Lilian 

A very classy Christmas card design from Lilian for our Sparkle and shine challenge, I absolutely LOVE the Embossing Folder that you have used, it's  a Couture Creations Folder called 'Timeless' (thank you Lilian) 

Your card is elegant and classy and I love it  thank you so much for taking part XXX 

Janet 

Three fantastic designs from our Janet for this weeks challenge,  two Christmas cards and a Birthday card.  I love the Vintage style of your Christmas cards my lovely. 

A lovely Circus themed card for a lucky 4 year old too.

Janet made all three of her Challenge cards using her lovely LaBlanche papers,  I'm guessing that you must have a quite a 'LaBlanche' collection by now. I can see why you like them so much! 

Thank you so much for three lovely Challenge cards, I do hope you don't find being locked down too frustrating my lovely,  I guess we are lucky as we can still get most of our craft shopping on line! XXX 

Maria

A gorgeous Christmas scene card from our Maria for this weeks challenge.

Maria has used Sue Wilson’s 'Netted Star' background die, then added the snow covered trees in front,  some lovely Sparkling snowflakes and some Deer and other forest animals bring the scene to life.

Thank you so much Maria for making such a lovely Christmas card XXX 

Sonia 

Such a lovely design for your Challenge card this week Sonia, using some older Sue Wilson dies to create that lovely background, you can't beat Red & White on a Christmas card ! 

Sonia's Description:

"The snowflake mini striplet die is from Sue Wilson’s Festive Collection, as well as the filigree  poinsettia. I also used one of Sue’s embossing folders, which I think is snowflake swirl. The sentiment is from a Woodware stamp set."

Thanks so much for sharing a lovely Christmas card design for this weeks challenge , I know how exhausted you are sweetheart,  I hope you are enjoying your weekend XXX

Karen

Karen has created two lovely Christmas cards, both using the same Embossing Folder, 

Karen's Description:

"Here are 2 sparkle and shine cc

The blue is embossed with a CE folder and then heat embossed with Frosty Dawn CS powder with Sue W NOEL Die with a small black shadow and stuck with foam pads

The copper one has same technique on background and an Ultimate Crafts MERRY CHRISTMAS die"

Thanks so much Karen fie two lovely Challenge cards XXX 

Michele 

I love how bright and cheerful both of your Challenge cards are Michele,  that cake omis brilliant! 

Michele's Description

"Finished 2 challenge cards. Pink one has silver card behind the topper, green one has gold card. Both have lots of gemstones on them. The papers are from Making Cards magazine sometime in 2017!!"

The Making Cards magazine is the only one that I have hoarded as I can't bare to part with the lovely papers.  After seeing your cards I might go and have a look through them, thanks for the inspiration XXX

Brenda

Brenda has shared a beautiful Christmas card for this weeks challenge. 

A lovely red card with lots of beautiful silver Ivy falling down either side, Brenda used the same red card to die cut the sentiment and layered it onto mirror card. 

I agree with you Brenda,  this particular Ivy die looks stunning die cut in either Mirror or flat card,  I think the mirror card gives it the real 'wow' factor though.!!! 

Thank you so much for sharing this lovely card with us Brenda,  with the couple days you have had I really wasn't expecting a card, so I was delighted that you made time to take part XXX

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

Thank you all so very much for making such incredible cards for this weeks Challenge Ladies XXX 

Janet your comment took me right back to those old days of the blog, I think we'd all rather a luxury coach trip out to Marigny these days!  I would love nothing more than to spend a day Crafting all together,  I haven’t given up on the idea XXX

Enjoy the rest of yours weekend my lovelies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Can you believe that we are putting the clocks back this weekend?!  

This year has just flown by, mind you I think most of us will be glad to see the back of it, I don't think it will be forgotten somehow.  I hope that we will have some kind of information so that we can move into 2021 with hope of  things getting better.

No magazine review this week so I have shared some other crafts and also some inspiration for this week’s challenge. 

First up today is Karen's Crocheted 🧙‍♀️ Witch, Katen she is brilliant, you are so incredibly inspirational Karen,  you can Crochet pretty much anything, you can instantly identify whatever character you have created too! 

Karen's Description:

"This is one of the three crochet projects I had laying around in my sofa!

Kerry Lord (Toft) has brought out some Halloween kits and as I had some green yarn I thought I would try a similar version using the Doll Emporium book I had to cobble the hat which I’m not happy with but for a a one off it’s OK" 

Thanks so much for sharing your Witch with us Karen,  I love seeing your creations XXX

Matt

This second project is one of Matt's latest Pyrography projects, it's one of the 'House Badges '  

I think he is practising so that he can create some Christmas gifts.  He is a bit like our Sophie in that he just seems to be naturally gifted when it comes to creativity, he thought that this particular piece wasn't that great, but I disagree,  I think its brilliant!   

Keep at it Matt, you have a natural talent XXX

Some Challenge Inspiration 

Blue/Clean & Simple/Ribbon

Blue/White/Ribbon

Michele's Shopping 

Michele's Description:

"Crafty purchases. I bought the card due because I loved the charity kit Christine Emberson did this month, unfortunately I bought one of the circle Dies thinking it was the entire card kit! Found the flip flop die on EBay & the seller included a free Die! The glitter glue seemed like a good idea along with the Posca pen-let’s see if I actually use them."

Thanks so much for sharing your shopping with us Michele,  I am looking forward to seeing you use those dies. Particularly that 'Circle Swing' card die.

The stickles glitter glue will be perfect for your Christmas cards, I have been using a Posca pen to 'flick' ink of my project for extra detail and texture,  I laugh as I say that as I know that you don't really like 'messy' Crafting. Thanks again my lovely XXX 

Ladies I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, I hope you all get plenty of time to relax.  

I know that some of you have no choice but to stay home, I know it will be frustrating as far as shopping goes and seeing your loved ones but I really do think its for the best, I honestly think that we should all be staying home.  

Extra hugs for Our Dear Friends that are struggling both mentally and physically right now Xxxxx 

Love and huge hugs for you all, 

Sandra

xxxxxx