Stamperia Herbarium Tag

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

Well yesterday was a sharp contrast to Saturday wasn't it?!   We didn't venture out, Paul had planned to top up all the veg beds with the tonne bag of compost that we had delivered a couple of weeks ago but our garden is set on quite a steep hill and the bottom where the veg beds are is so saturated with water it's impossible to walk on let alone barrow loads of compost so that didn't happen,   I emptied and reorganised the storage unit with shelves in under my desk,  took a couple of drawer fulls out,  put the paper and card in recycling and the foiling stuff I have and haven't used i more than a year if not two into a storage box a put it onto my shelf unit in hallway.  That means I have space in arms reach for the things I use daily.   Its strangely therapeutic rearranging craft stash,  trouble is I won't be able to find anything tomorrow 🤣.   We then sat and watched some of the Winter Olympics,  we had a lovely roast pork dinner, its not a meat we have often as Soph isn't keen,   she hates any meat that has fat on, although she will eat it if I make sure there is no visible fat and ironically she loves the crackling!   We finished the day watching the Winter Olympics and I had a nice relaxing bath.  

I hope that you all had a good weekend xx

Today's reminder can be a tricky one,  as Mum's, grandparents and wives we are often far too hard on ourselves,  so being 'gentle' with ourselves isn't always a priority.  We must try though! 

Today I am sharing a mdf Tag that I really enjoyed making on Friday,  the tag comes in three parts you get a full size back piece then the front piece is split into the centre tag and the outside frame.  I followed a tutorial by Emilia Sieradzan, I used 1 piece of backing paper to cover the tag, then just 5 die cuts from Herbarium junk journal to create the scene, I do love the quality of their die cuts. adding stamping to the frame really makes the frame look part of the whole piece,  adding things like the gauze adds texture and interest. 

Its nice to create something that you can have out on display.  

I hope that you all have a good start to the week  

Brenda it was lovely to hear from you yesterday 😘

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

A look at our craft projects this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies ,

We were treated to a beautiful sunny day yesterday, it was chilly but the sun was lovely and warm, It was definitely a log burner night,  just to take the chill off, our lounge is big with high ceilings and huge windows so it soon loses heat,  the log burner just gives that extra boost of heat on those colder nights. 

I love todays reminder as its something that Paul likes to remind me of.  I'd like to remind you all of it too 😘

Lets see what you have been making....

Karen 

Karen's Description:

I made this card using a  paint splat stamp that I haven’t used before.  

The splat stamp is a great background filler,  it would be great on journal pages too.  I'm sure Alan loved his card,  did he make you one??   I'm sure he wrote a lovely sentiment either way. 

Thank you for sharing your card with us Karen XXX

Lilian

Lilian's Description:

Hi, here is my art journal page for this week’s challenge.

It’s number 1 cameras and photography.

I used the new secret diary junk journal.

It maybe a bit too much but I needed to cover up a few smudges.

It's definitely not too much Lilian,  its amazing,  all of the different vintage cameras are so interesting to look at, all of the elements and ephemera match perfectly too.                                                                     Thank you so much for taking part in the Challenge XXX 

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:  

Valentine’s for Mark. Really simple using images printed from Pinterest 😊 xx

Oh Sonia what a gorgeous card the image is so cute,  that could actually be a Lotv topper!  The background matches perfectly too,  I love that you have created it from free images on Pinterest.  You have REALLY inspired me to go looking at the vast list of printable images,  we need to sort our printer as its mot printing cleanly,  probably because we don't use it often enough.  

Thank you so very much for sharing your gorgeous card my lovely,   I hope that you have a truly amazing day today with your lovely family and gorgeous Grandbabies XXX

Sue

Sue's Description: 

Hi my lovely. Finally finished my card. The glue is still wet under the glitter so it looks a bit weird at the moment. I got the stamp from Temu and the dies are from my stash xx

Such a great Christmas card Sue,  how organised are you?  getting started on Christmas cards in February.   I think I may have that background stamp, I love seeing it stamped on red background, you'll have to send another photo when glue is dry. 

Thanks for taking part and supporting the blog XXX

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I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love and hugs to All, 

Sandra xxx 

Mixed up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

A chilly start to the weekend,  fingers crossed the rain stays away!

Gentle Reminder: 

I hope that you all know that 'You are never alone'  that's the most incredible thing about our Blog,  I can pretty much guarantee that over on our 'Chat Group ' I could ask for help or advice at any time of day or night and at least one of you would reach out, mostly because most of us are rubbish at getting a good night sleep 🤣😂                                      I feel so blessed to have such a lovely Blog Family❤️

Our Sonia found this Verse while browsing Pinterest last week,  some lovely thoughts about Scrapbooking,   which I know is Sonia's 'to do list' I can't wait to see your first Scrapbook my lovely I know how much work you will put into making it something to be treasured,  such a beautiful gift for your children & Grandchildren to look at and show to their chikdren.  Thank you for sharing the lovely Verse XXX

Gina

Gina has made this incredible 40th Birthday card,  its interactive!  You open it up to reveal that gorgeous page featuring a things '40 & Fabulous', Lipstick,  fancy heels, perfume, handbags and cocktails!! Then flip it over and you have the lovely Verse and wine topper!                                                    The last photo is the matching envelope that Gina made to put the card in.  

This must have taken you all week Gina,  what a lovely gift to give someone special.   Thank you so much for sharing it with us my lovely XXX 

Karen

Karen had a lovely week away with her Bowls Club,  they went to 'Potters Holiday park' in Hopton, Suffolk.  It sounded like you had a really fun week,  there were some craft activities included in their package,  so Karen made the most of them.   

She painted that lovely Gnome,  such a great keepsake from your week away.   I absolutely love that Pipe cleaner Tulip,  it looks very realistic,  gorgeous color too.   Then finally we have those lovely painted rocks,  if you varnish them you can put them out in your garden,  they will brighten up your pots and borders.   The girls got Paul a garden gnome for Christmas it is making quite a rude gesture with his finger,  needless to say both Paul and the girls found hilarious. 🤣😅😂                          Thank you so much for sharing your lovely makes with us Karen XXX

Brenda I hope that you are recovering well at home my lovely, sending gentle hugs your way XXX

I hope that you all have a lovely Valentines day!

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Some old Valentine style cards

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Well the rain didn't stop yesterday,  even Soph said that she was sick of driving in heavy rain,  especially round here where the pot holes are hiding under the standing water,  lovely Lynne next door burst a tyre just up the road from us, luckily Bill was hkme so he could go rescue her.  The road is littered with bits if tyre and wheel hub caps!   Lucy needs to go get her tracking checked/wheel alignment as her new tyres are wearing in odd places,  we are thinking the large pot holes that are many inches deep are the cause of causing the alignment to be off.   The frustrating thing is its been gradually getting worse and many people have reported it but still nothing is done to fix them,  then this rain washes more debris out of the pot hole.  

Bladder clinic went ok,  the bonus is because the nurses are so good there, they chased up my new 'prescription ' so that I could just continue the instilations monthly ( last time prescription ran out and then didn't get the new one sorted until months later) so I had to start again with weekly appointments.  

Today's reminder is another good one,   I think we all are guilty of prioritising everyone else in our families before ourselves both mentally and physically.  So lets all for one day put our own mental first.  

Today I am sharing some Valentine / Love cards to hopefully inspire you if you want to make one for Saturday.  Some very different styles over the years.   Are you making one ? 

I hope that you all have a lovely Friday 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A Stamperia 'Secret Diary' Tag

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Yesterday was a mostly dry day,  we did have a bit of rain,  Lucy decided not to go to the Wildlife park, the weather wasn't great in the morning,   so she said she would give Benji another long walk and then come over for a couple of hours.   We popped into Bourton as she wanted to get some bits from shop,  we were both shocked that the river that runs through the village is always a foot or so below the path edge that runs along it,  yesterday it was about a foot over the footpath so nobody could walk along from the car park to village centre,  its the first time we have seen it flood, it was flowing really fast too.  We came back home, had some lunch together,  she then went and spent time the Bella,  then collected all of her uniform that she dropped of on Tuesday,   I did ask her if she wanted a 'service wash'  (like the do at launderette)🤣  I told her it would be £10 !   Apparently she couldn't work out Becca's machine and didn't know if Becca's laundry detergent would flare her psoriasis up,  which was a fair point.   

Bladder Clinic today, so I get to spend quality time with Soph as she takes me to the hospital,  we usually go and have lunch after.  

After Lucy left I sat and made the tag above,  I cut the paper slightly larger than the mdf tag, i adhered the paper with glue, then I took mu sanding block to sand the excess paper so that it makes a lovely smooth edge around the tag.  I adding some stamping to the background and then used a stencil to add some extra texture,  a few brown splatters finished the background,   I then took some of the die cut ephemera,   the window,  which I added foam tape to raise it from the background,   I added glue to the back of the girl and then cut a butterfly in half and added then behind her shoulders.  I adhered her to the window frame.  Then popped the sentiment,  I finished by adding a piece of lace through the hole in the tag and secured it with a twine bow.  A few pearl drops finish the tag.  I really enjoyed making the tag so I ordered a few more!  

I hope that your Thursday is a good day, 

Brenda I hope you are recovering well  sending gentle hugs xxx 

Karen  I hope that you are having a lovely time xxx 

Sending love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

A double Journal page

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

We were back to rain again yesterday,  it's getting boring now!   

I hope it holds off today as Lucy wants me to go to the Wildlife park with her to walk Benji,  we can borrow an electric scooter from the park so she can just hold Benji's lead and not have him getting caught in the wheels of my wheelchair!   It will be nice to get some fresh air.  

Today's Gentle Reminder is another one that resonates with most of us,  whether it's getting better psychologically of physically x 

I really love how this Vicky P inspired double page journal spread. 

I used my y x 6 inch journal,   I covered the background with Kitsch Flamingo & Saltwater Taffy Distress paint using a wet wipe,  it gives a very irregular coverage but that gives more interest,  when it dried I did some stencilling with the darker colour paint,  then after leaving it to dry I added some stamping and then added some stencilling using white, Matt embossing paste, then came black and white splatters.  

I fussy cut the poppy like flowers from a new  book I have called  'Maremi's Essential Backgrounds', the images in it are so lovely,  so Fussy cut the flowers and adhered them with matt medium, I cut the sentiment and adhered that too,  a few white splatters and some doodling with Black fine liner and white pen. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs, 

Sandra xxx

A card today for a change 😉

 

Good Morning My lovelies, 

We actually had sunshine 🌞 yesterday, what a difference it makes to your mood,  we didn't have a drop of rain, which is the first time in what seems like forever.  I hope that you all got to see some sun too. 

The sun shining through the windows does highlight the dust though!! 😳    So I did a few house chores before sitting down at my desk, intending to create but got enthralled in Tim Holtz latest YouTube video,  which in turn sent me looking here, there and everywhere for the different products he was using,  before I knew it it was 4.30pm! Luckily I had a couple things that I made last week.  

Today's reminder couldn't be truer,  your life is so incredibly important to more people than you think. ❤️ 

So today I am sharing a card that I made using Stamperia Masquerade collection,   I don't have much of this collection a small paper pack and some die cuts.  I created a layered background using some of the papers, layered onto white card,  then I fussy cut some frames from a sheet of patterned paper and some flowers,  the Cello is a chipboard piece,  which I had put off using as I thought it would look awful as it has a shine to it, but added to the layered background it looks ok,  I did think about adding a 'Matt' medium over it to dull the shine.  I might try it on one or two if the smaller pieces as a test.  I finished the card with some splatters and some gold dots made with Stamperia Contour liner.

I hope that you all have a good day today, 

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A new journal page and New Challenge idea

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

I am determined to set this new week off with on a  positive note.  I hope that your week gets off to the best start too.  

I am currently suffering with another awful headache,   I had put it down to the stress of waiting for results but now that stress is out of the way I am thinking its Hormonal,  as it ties in with the other symptoms.  I am going to try and get through to the surgery this morning, get this whole thing sorted out.  

I hope that you are all safe from floods,   the rivers around here have all breached their banks,  the River Windrush looks like it is a huge lake,  it burst its banks and has flooded acres of land on either side.  There is nowhere for all of this water to go.  

I love today's Gentle Reminder,  its hard to let go of some things mentally,  it can also be frustrating when someone tells you to 'let it go' too.  But there are definitely times when it is better for you to let it go and move on.   xxx

Our Next Challenge 

 I have been looking at this Aall&Create challenge for a couple of weeks and I have made a couple of journal pages with these Categories in mind.   

So how do you feel about having this as our Challenge for the next couple of weeks ??  

You Do Not have to make them with the Memorydex dies.   You can make Cards,  Tags or Journal pages.   You can use any products you like too.   

If this isn't for you, just let me know and I will think of something else.  

I will say that 'Veggie Land', 'Fruits Land'  & 'Postal Art'  all have me confused 🤣😅😂

I hope that you all have a great week, 

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Our crafts this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all having a lovely relaxed Sunday,  ours will be a slow day after such a busy day yesterday,  both the journey there and home were horrendous because of the rain mixed with strong winds,  having the windscreen wipers were on max speed and were barely clearing the screen,  added to cars with those really bright lights,  which Paul really struggles with since having his cataracts repaired.  The journey home was worse as it was dark.   It was worth it to see family that we don't often get to see and for Paul to catch up with his brother.  

Let's have a look at your makes.....

Karen 

Karen's Description:

My version of number 3 for the Aall&Create challenge- children

The images are from Googling and adhered to card with “wobblers” The sentiment I found in Google The rest is all Aall&Create

Such a fun card Karen,  it reminds me of a character on T shirts back in my Teens 🤣   I love all of the bright colours.  That sentiment is so funny and true!  

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing card with us my lovely XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

Card 1:  

I made this for Marks Birthday. The papers and image are all printed from Pinterest. I added the Temu Happy Birthday die cut and the heart from my stash.

Card 2:

A simple New Home card for James and Mollie, using a LOTV image, using Kraft card for the matting.

Card 3:

Another New Home card for Luke and Hayley using papers from the Stamperia Family and Baby collections.

Wow Sonia, thank you so much for sharing your 3 amazing cards with us.  Your first card couldn't be more perfect for Mark,  love that it was a printed image from the Internet too.  It looks like you have stamped it and coloured it in.  Your second card is a perfect LOTV card,  their iimages have just the perfeft amount of cuteness 😍   the last card made with the adorable new Stamperia papers is adorable, Luke & Hayley will love it XXX 

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I hope that you all had a lovely weekend,  

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

As you all read this today we are on our way to Nottingham to meet up with Paul's Aunt and nieces,  we went last year and it was lovely to catch up with everyone.  It will be a long day though.  

I totally agree with todays reminder,  you are all very much appreciated 😊 

For the first time in a long time I didn't physically make the girls Birthday cards,  however, I did 'create' them. ....  

Oh and another first,  they both had the same card, although the message inside was personalised. 

Lucy

Sophie 

One thing I learnt while creating these cards was how alike the girls look in some photos!   I nearly put two in my basket with the same photo.! 🤣

Now for a little bit of 'Happy News'  I had a letter late yesterday after saying that the biopsy I had taken was 'normal '  I can't tell you how relieved I am.  Now we need to find what is causing the issue. 

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,  

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Journal Page featuring a Bird

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Todays Gentle Reminder couldn't be truer,   you, my dearly loved friends all deserve to be truly Happy!  If I could wave a wand and make it happen, believe me I'd be waving it until my arms fell off !  😘😂

I had one of 'those' days yesterday,   I felt a little bit down,  it happens to us all, we had plans,   the girls wanted to go out for brunch,  to garden centre and rhey also wanted to go to Hobbycraft,   but I just couldn't summon the energy or the enthusiasm,  so for fear of my mood affecting their day I said I'd stay home.  Paul was out at work,  so it felt like a long day,  I just sat at my desk and crafted.  I think I was mentally exhausted from being 'upbeat' for the girls birthday also.  They went out and had a good couple of hours,  Soph asked if as an alternative we could go for a coffee in Bourton, so that's today's plan as Paul is in work again today. 

Today I am sharing a journal page that I made on Tuesday,  it works for the Bird theme of the Aa&C Challenge.  The background is made up of a piece of rice paper, cut up and rearranged and adhered with Rice paper glue,  after that was dry I used Glitter Gold Embossing powder through a Stamperia stencil and heat set,  I added a bit of stamping, then I adhered the Birdcage and the Canary,   now you can learn from my mistake, I adhered the bird and cage with matt glue, which worked really well but took the glitter and shine off of the glitter embossing.  I embellished with some flowers and a few white splatters ! 

I hope that you all have a lovely Friday,  

Love and huge hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx