A quick hello

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Just a quickie post today as I started with a dreaded Uti yesterday,  it came on mid morning,  quite out of the blue,  I had felt under the weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, sore throat, shivers etc but put that down to having same virus as Lucy.  I didn't feel too bad on Thursday though,  so was quite surprised with the Uti symptoms yesterday,  when we got home I knew for sure that it was Uti (I have become an expert this past few years, especially when it comes down to the difference between a bout of Interstitial Cystitis and full blown Uti)  Fortunately my Gp made sure I was covered for antibiotics for our holiday, so I started the lighter option of the two.  I have had Pivmecillinam before, so didn't really think twice about taking it, checked the dose, took them and some paracetamol for the miserable pain,  within 45 minutes to an hour I started itching, then came nausea,  I ended up having to go to bed, I felt so unwell, as you all know very well, when you have ongoing medical issues, something as simple as a Uti can feel so much worse, it's added pain, making the pain that your body is 'used to' worse, my AF seems to go into one long episode, which is so physically exhausting.  The itching makes me feel like a 'stroppy toddler", to the point that I want to lay in my back, kicking my arms and legs and scream "its not fair " 😫 🤣😂😆

I have got some photos of the patio pots from last Sunday to share with you...

This is the latest flower on my 'Mango Stripe" Dahlia, this one looks like its three different blooms in one, the bold red, the plain yellow and then the beautiful variegated stripes, it is so beautiful.  

This was the first bloom, the stripes are more even, there is less of the vibrant yellow in this one too. 

This Dahlia is '' Hootenanny Swann Island" this flower isn't as 'perfect' as its first either, however,  the colour is stunning that yellow centre is so vibrant, enhanced by the gorgeous deep pink. 😍 

I very nearly didn't bother with these Begonias as they are usually more trouble than they are worth,  but my goodness, I would have kicked myself,  these beautifully delicate flowers are just breathtaking,  I believe they were called 'Petticoat'.

I apologise that I haven't shared and paper craft inspiration today.   I do find that nature can be an incredible source of inspiration though,  for example the colours of these flowers would be perfect for one of those layered stencils or to use for any background etc. 

I hope that you all have a great Saturday,  

Sending my love and hugs, 

Sandra xxx

Ps.  Its not such a quick blog after all, it did take me three separate attempts though 😉😂

TGIF...

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

I had a lovely rest day yesterday,  which was very much needed after our exploring adventures at the Priory, Chapel & Rectory yesterday,  my knee was really 'complaing' all through the night!  I spent most of the day at my desk, I have been doing  Tracey Evans Workshop for about a week, (fitting bits in here and there) I will say that I thought that maybe they were a little expensive at first but I am on my 3rd or 4th project and I have really enjoyed it.  

Today's card is from the Workshop,  we started out by making a 'Masterboard' which with drying time took 2 days, then we cut the A3 Masterboard up and are making our way through the backgrounds that we created with it.  

All I have done on this card is draw around the bird stencil with a micron pen, then add white paint around the edges of the bird,  we then go back in adding colours to match the background, the idea is to almost 'spotlight ' the bird.  I added some embossed white stamping, Then added the 'Nature ' and the 149 label at the top, some white splatters finish the piece.  There are so many layers of i interest on this piece, the textures are amazing.

You can see the torn print in the background and the texture paste on these photos.

I hope that you all have a great Friday, 

Love and hugs, 

Sandra xxx 

Second Bird Thrinchie

 

Thrinchies 45 & 46

Good Thursday Morning Ladies,  

I honestly thought it was Friday today,  I'll be glad when it is! 🤣

Lucy and I had our hair done yesterday, Lucy's is lovely,  mine is a little lighter than I thought it would be, all the girls love it, so I guess its ok.  We got home at around 2.30pm, had a quick drink and then went to look around The Priory  (Becca's wedding venue), it is a beautiful country house, set in acres of land, there's Padel courts, swimming pools, walled vegetable garden, orangery, chapel, its absolutely stunning.  We also had a look in The Rectory,  which is where Becca and the Bridesmaids are staying on the night before the wedding and Adam and Becca are staying the night of their wedding.  It sleeps 16, it has a cinema, hot tub, sauna, the kitchen is beautiful as are all of the bedrooms.  The master has an incredible four poster bed! The Rectory is the other side of a large lawn, so not even a minute from the Chapel etc.  It has made it all a lot more real !  

Today I am sharing the matching thrinchie to  yesterday's.  These are Thrinchies 45 & 46,  the same Colours and stencils were used as yesterday's! Simple but effective. 

I hope you all have a great Thursday,  

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra xxx 

Bird Thrinchie 1

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

Two days of resting are up, Lucy and I are off to the Hairdressers to get our pre-wedding colour top up,  goodness me I'm so nervous, there will no hiding any mess-ups with the wedding being in 2 weeks Saturday!  Then we are meeting up with Matt, Paul &  Becca to go look at the wedding venue, just so we have an idea of the logistics!  

Karen has your cough and chest cleared up with the antibiotics and fresh sea air?  I hope that you are feeling much better my lovely xxx

Maria sorry to hear you are in so much pain with your back,  is it sciatica?  It sounds like that kind of pain that you were experiencing with the bumps in the road.  I hope you feel a little bit better today,  although sciatica does come in waves that can be a few hours or a few weeks. It sounds like you had a lovely lunch out yesterday 😋 xxx

Sonia I hope that you had a lovely weekend,  making lots of memories with your lovely family xxx

Lilian I hope that your back is a little easier today my lovely,  that constant nagging pain just becomes exhausting both mentally and physically.  Try not to let it get you down,  I try and push myself so I feel like I am not letting the pain win, there are more days that I just want to pull the duvet over me and stay put than not,  but my determination makes me not let that side of my body /brain win!   Sending you gentle hugs your way xxx

Brenda I hope that your hospice appointment was helpful and that it didn't exhaust you too much.  I hope John is doing ok.  Are you off to your daughters for the Bank Holiday weekend?  

Gina I hope that you are well and managing to get lots of crafting time in !  Have you got any more little breaks planned, or have you had any more amazing charity shop craft finds??? xxx

Sue are you back home after your trip to Chris's family? It was lovely to read that you were up at Hounds Tor (your happy place), it's not just the place it's the memories that you recall when you are there xxx

Today I am sharing the first of a pair of Thrinchies featuring Tracey Evans Bird Stencil.  

I used Distress Oxides Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade & Candied Apple to cover the inner part of the bird stencil (the bird shaped inner ) I spritzed it lightly with water then turned it over and placed it onto my thrinchie, I placed a piece of kitchen roll over a gently applied pressure over the stencil.  I carefully lifted the bird and revealed the bird,  I allowed it to dry, then I did some background stamping,  using a text stamp in the darker of the three shades and then I added tiny touches of the text stamp in black.  

I used TE number stamps to add the 1 2 3 to the thrinchie,  the bird was stamped onto the top of the 3.  I then finished the piece with some ink splatters. 

I will share part 2 tomorrow x 

I hope that you have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

Another reverse eclipse card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Yesterday was a bit like "one of those days" you want to go back to bed and start the day over again!! 

I think I mentioned in my previous blog that I had done something to my knee,  I had it elevated most of the night,  however the pain was unbearable,  keeping me awake most of the night, when I got it off the bed to try and take a step, there was no way that was going to happen, it feels like it is under so much pressure, the pain is on the inside of my knee, the pain appears to spread up my thigh too. Getting down to my desk was a performance,  trying not to weight bare on the knee that you only use to weight bare ended up being a bit of a disaster,  thank goodness Paul was working from home!  Whilst we were navigating that situation my phone rang, it was Lucy, she was feeling like she was going to pass out and was going to be sick, can Dad please come get me.  So he closed down his terminals and off he went, he came back in confused as Lucy had driven herself and So her card would be left there!  I just said go get her and we'll work it out,  when she came in she looked terrible,  I had told her at 7.30am to call in and tell them she was too unwell to go in, but my girls are stubborn!  I asked if she wanted GP call but she said she just needed sleep.   She slept rest of the day.  Paul ended up driving Sophie's car into Wildlife park, Soph then drove her car back and Paul drove Lucy's car home, so all drama resolved....for today! 🤣🤩 

Today's card is another version of the reverse Eclipse card that I made last week.  I used my IndigoBlu Lady stamped in Versafine Clair and added clear embossing powder and heat set, I then created another exactly the same.  I used a more open design background die this one, cut two and adhered them together and then used the same die to cut one of my embossed Ladies,  after knocking out all the die cut bits I adhered this one to the top of the other two die cuts, so you have one piece, the final part is to line up your die cut piece with picture on with the image on the background piece....

This was quite an intricate one to line up but if you have cut all your parts the same size you should be fine.  

The final part was adding a black mat and then adhere to a card base. 

I'd love to see you have a go, 

Sending love and hugs,

Sandra xxx 

A journal page to start our new challenge

 Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had a good weekend,  ours was very relaxed,  just as my love requested.  He managed to finish his book in the garden, then spent time setting up his new Tablet,  he was impressed at how he could now save recordings on his bird feeder camera as well as have photos.  

I have done something to my 'good' knee so my day was a bit restricted,  I am currently creating a 'Masterboard' as part of a Tracey Evans workshop,  so I did a bit more to that yesterday.  We had a lovely steak dinner (Paul's real birthday meal). That was the weekend,  Paul asked me to thank you for his birthday wishes xxx

Today I am sharing a journal page that I created following a Tracey Evans YouTube tutorial,  the background was created using a stencil, I used three different shades of green Distress Oxides on the stencil, then spritzed with water and placed on my page, I popped a little piece of kitchen roll over it and pressed it into the page, I then did some background stamping in Morning Mist, then some darker bits in black.  I stamped the butterfly stamp in green.  The flower was stamped in brown, I fussy cut the flowers and adhered them over the stem. 

I used my ticket stencil to create the tickets,  to which I added some of the ephemera stamps on Tracey’s stamps,  I fussy cut them and added them to the page.  I added the three birds, the word and then added shading and some ink splatters to finish. 

I hope that you all have a great start to your week, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A look at what Lilian & I made this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

We had a lovely relaxing day yesterday,  just as Paul requested,  although I will say I find it impossible to sit and do nothing,  on holiday I read or do a crossword etc,  I sat for about 10 minutes, then got up and dead headed all of my pots, then wateted them,  we have some cabbage and sprout plants in troughs on the deck, waiting for corn/ courgettes to finish, they will then go in their place, anyway I have seen a few white butterflies around,  they had almost destroyed my Kale plants last week, they are netted but the butterfly laid her eggs on the netting,  the caterpillars then dropped onto kale!  Anyway they are usually easy to spot as they are a cluster of bright yellow eggs,  but they have got smart,  out on the deck they are landing on the soil and laying just one egg on each leaf, making them a lot harder to spot,  I cleared them off the little plants twice yesterday!  Paul's job today is netting over them!   Growing vegetables is one long battle,  to stop something eating them before you get the chance to ! 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hello , here is my piece for the challenge this week. It a page in my art journal.

Jo Rice did something similar on Pinterest, I just changed the stamps.

A mixture of stamps some from stamping up, and Lavinia stamps , the little flower stamps came from amazon. Lots of different colour inks blended together.

Oh I love this Lilian,  did you use one of those stamp wheels to get everything so perfectly lined up?  I love the Autumnal shades too, I have to say its my favourite season for colours.  

Thank you so much for sharing your lovely journal page with us and supporting the challenge XXX 

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I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday, 

Love and huge hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

It's Paul's birthday today,  so we will do whatever he wants to do,  when I asked yesterday he said he'd like to sit in the garden and read his book,  so far that's the only plan,  other than dinner out with the girls & Matt & Alex at a nearby Cider Farm that has a lot of different food outlets,  something from most cuisines I would say.  

What are you all up to?  

Sonia, your weekend sounds lovely,  I hope that Mollie is feeling better.   I can't believe your Great Nephew is one already!  Have an amazing time xxx

This is a photo that a lovely security man took of us all outside of Niko's Greek Taverna. 

I treated myself to the Sweet Petunia Glue Press,  I have bought that many different glues etc that either don't do what I want need them to do or the 'fine tip' gets blocked, Or I end up taking the whole end off and soaking it in hot water to free it of glue that has set and hardened. 

This comes with a full pot of Tonic's Nuvo glue and an empty pot for you to fill with your favourite glue.  The stand has a little pink silicone plug....

This is where the glue press nozzle sits and the silicone seals the end so that the glue doesn't dry and harden.  So it's always ready to use.   I have only used it for 3 days, I really like it so far. 

My other go to adhesive is....

Scrapbook adhesives Permanent Glue runner, it places little strips of double sided adhesive wherever you run it.  I have the 'grand' one of these too,  I bought this set on June as it was cheaper to get the runner with adhesive in already, plus two more refills, it was from Amazon.  Christine Emberson introduced me go it years ago, I loved it straight away,  it allows you to pull your artwork off of its base in the first minutes after adhering,  when it sets its solid its a really strong bond.  

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

I hope that you all have an amazing weekend,  

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Phew...It's Friday !!

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Oh my goodness what an exhausting week, I am so glad it's Friday,  this weekend we can relax, unlike last weekend.  My body is definitely still recovering from Wednesday's trip to London, then up early yesterday to go to bladder clinic !  So I am planning a lazy morning today. 

Our Next Challenge 

I thought we'd do a 'background challenge '  this challenge will be "To use either Background dies or Stencils /masks " to add detail to your cards, journal pages or Snippets etc. 

I hope that you enjoy the challenge, I look forward to seeing what you all create xx

Have a lovely end to your week,

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A Reverse Eclipse Csrd

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

As I am writing this it is 11.30pm, we are on the Oxford Tube heading home,  we will probably get in at 2am!  

The 'Mamma Mia the party' experience was incredible,  there was plenty of food,  Greek themed, you weren't pressured into buying drinks either, that kept refilling the carafes of water on our table.  The show was brilliant it takes place in a Niko's Greek Taverna, there was a special guest playing 'Niko' for this performance, it was Antony Costa from the boy band Blue, the girls had no idea who he was though 🤣 Niko's daughter Constantina has fallen for a British Barman, which goes against his wishes for her to marry a Greek man,  they fit all of the popular Abba songs into the story, there was  a lot of audience participation,   towards the end it felt like you were part of a huge party,  literally everyone was up  dancing and singing, .my ears are still ringing now !  I would 100% recommend it and I'd like to go again. 

Today I am sharing a new technique that I tried after seeing it on a YouTube video by Yorkshire crafter, its called the 'reverse Eclipse card' 

Step 1 :   Die cut two background die cuts that are around 4  1/4:× 5  1/2 and stick them together

Step 2:  choose a stamp, silhouette stamps probably work best, using a stamp platform is easier for this technique as you have to stamp the image in exactly the same place on two different pieces of card cut to same size as your die cuts. 

Step  3:  Lay the background die over the stamped image so that it all fits in.  Then die cut it with that same die.

Step 4 :  lay the die cut stamped image over the twp die cuts so that they line up perfectly and adhere them together . This bit is really important. 

Step 5:  lay your 3 stacked die cut layers over the last remaining stamped image....

Adhere into place and you can now see the full stamped image.  

These two images show the depth of the die cuts and a closer look at the technique.  

Its quite simple but its quite effective I think. 

I hope there aren't too many 'typos' as I am writing on a dark bus with no glasses (as they are in the back of wheelchair stowed at back of bus). 

I hope That you all have a good Thursday,   I have bladder clinic  

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Lilian's gorgeous floral card

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

It was too hot to go anywhere yesterday we just stayed inside with fans going,  not that we could go anywhere anyway as Lucy's car needs a new battery,  she ordered one and it arrived yesterday,  Paul fitted when he got in late afternoon.                On a brighter note I could see the relief in Pauls eyes when be got in today, he had a very long meeting with the 'BIG' boss and got all of the paperwork for 3 aircraft signed off,  I asked if he told him about the hours he put in, his answer was just what I expected,.....of course he didn't tell him!   It was a relief to see him actually relax when he got in from work,  the girls were out at Becca's painting signs for the wedding,  so we drove down to Bourton and shared a portion of Fish & Chips ( I can only manage a little bit of fish and a few chips) it was quiet there,  all of the tourist coaches had left,  we got a bench, Paul went and got our tea and we sat in peace, people watching and laughing at 2 dogs that were chasing a ball in the river, we were there about an hour and a half, it was lovely. 

Today I am sharing Lilian's other card that she made last weekend,  it is so beautiful,  Lilian's colouring bringing those gorgeous blooms to life.

Lilian's Description: 

The second card is from stamping up. I used my zig pens and water, not sure about the green stencil work. I saw this one on Pinterest by a lady called “ Jan Clotheer” hope that’s right.

A gorgeous card, I love the stencilling,  it adds some lovely interest to the card without taking over.  Your flowers are the stars of the card.  Thank you so much for sharing your card XXX

I hope that you all have a great day,  we are off to London,  

Sending love & hugs to all of you 

Sandra xxx 

My Ticketed Snippet '2'

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

I hope that you all had a good start to the week, I had a busy day yesterday,  doing bits and bobs in the morning,  then I had a shower and did my hair treatment,  my hair has gone 'frizzy' wherever the blonde highlights are, it looks so dry, I hate it,  Becca has a friend that has bleached the life out of her but has managed to repair the damage by using 'Olaplex ' so in order to sort my hair for the wedding I thought it was worth a try,  although I wasn't quite prepared for the cost 😲,  they come in number order, I needed No3 (bond repair) £24 then No4 shampoo & No5 conditioner and £20 each!!  I am 3 treatments in and not much to report so far, I'm not expecting miracles but I would like to see some improvement,  I'm trying not to use heat either but my hair is a bit unruly when I let it dry naturally. The afternoon I spent 'deckling' the edges of the place cards for the wedding, it took my ages, its the last papercraft job that needed doing, they have a slit cut in them ready for a sprig of lavender foliage on the day before. 

Karen I hope you have a lovely week making memories with the boys xxx

Maria I'm sorry you are still feeling rubbish, maybe worth a gp visit if meds aren't working my lovely xxx

Sonia your meal out sounded lovely,  I love lamb, we don't have it very often,  so it would be my choice if its on menu too, are you in work this week? xxx

Brenda I hope that you and John are both ok, your weekend enjoying the views in your daughters garden sounded lovely, they have struck lucky with their new home xxx

Lilian I hope R is recovered from his fall, there is no making these men rest and recover is there?!  I imagine you are over run with tourists at the moment,  Paul's mum said its crazy in Brixham and Paul and I nipped to Co-op in Bourton on Sunday and we have never seen it so busy, the pavements were so full of tourists they were walking in the road, the river was full of little ones and dogs trying to keep cool 🤣😂 xxx

Today I am sharing the matching 'Ticketed Snippet ' to the one I shared yesterday,  its made with same colours, this time I used the poppy stamp and the little crow instead of the chicken. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love & hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

My first 'Ticketed Snippet'

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you have managed to rest and enjoy the weekend and you are now ready for the start of a new week. 

I spent yesterday afternoon creating a journal page, following a Tracey Evans YouTube video,  it kept me entertained while Paul worked another 11 hours!  I am so worried that he is going to burn out!   I put a piece of brisket in the slow cooker, it cooked all day and it smelt delicious,  we had mashed potato,  spring greens, carrots and Yorkshire puddings,  it wasn't really the weather for such a hearty dinner but we enjoyed it anyway 😋

Today I am sharing my first 'Ticketed Snippet' I followed Tracey’s YouTube tutorial and really enjoyed it, I stamped a little script stamp with Versamark ink to cover the background, added white Embossing powder and heat set, I then taped Tracey Ticket stencil over the inked area and used Distress Oxide Sprays in Salvaged Patina and Villainous Potion to spritz lightly over the Ticket stencil, I removed the stencil and dried the ink,  I cut the stencil out, I used a damp piece of paper towel to clean over the embossed script,  I used Versafine Nocturne to stamp a chicken onto the ticket, I stamped another chicken in black and used the same script stamp to remove some of the black ink, it gives more interest to the chicken,I fussy cut it and added it to the ticket, just in front of the other Chicken,  I added a strip of card from the scrap from around the tickets, to use as base for the chicken,  I stamped and coloured and fussy cut a flower and added it to the ticket, then adhered the ticket into my little square journal,  I added shading then added some stamping beside the ticket. 

I hope that you all have a great start to your week,

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx