Anything Goes Saturday !

Good Saturday Morning ladies,

It's a quiet day in our house today, Paul and the girls are all working, Matt will be out tending his flock of sheep. So instead of sitting feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to have a productive day in my craft room, trying and get enough projects done that I can get ahead of myself rather than panicking and having to sit in the craft room until 11pm (like I did Thursday night) to get a card ready for yesterday's blog!!  That's the plan anyway, I will report back on the reality later!! Watch this space.........

Now onto today's photos,OMG!!!  First up is the CUTEST photo we have ever had on this Blog.....

Val's 'Gracie' in her party dress !!!!

I'm not joking I had tears in my eyes when I opened this photo, she is the most adorable thing I have ever seen Val, although I am going to say that she does not look happy to be wearing her beautiful dress.  You are so blessed to have such a darling little dog Val, please keep the photos coming, I absolutely love her xxx

Val's next photo is another 'must see', it's of Val's stunning Bird of Paradise plant,

Oh how I wish I had a garden full of these to look out on, they are literally a work of art, it never ceases to amaze me how vibrant some of mother nature's colours are, over here you are lucky to get them as a cut flower in a florist, that are either already open or it takes forever for them to open, it must be so lovely to have them in your garden, are they a tricky plant to grow Val? 

Can I say a heartfelt thank you Val, I know this blog is a 'craft blog', but it's also a place to share little snippets of our lives with each other each day, so being able to share these little insights into each others lives is wonderful, Saturday's has always been a day for something different, so pretty much anything goes, we are all as close

as family in some respects that it seems only natural to share personal photos of the things that make us happy.  So please all of you, share as many photos as you like of the things that make 'you' happy, I am only too happy to share them.  If we are honest there is a little bit of nosiness in all of us, we all like to have little look into each others lives. Thank you Val, so much for the photos xxx

Next up we have some of Brenda's Granddaughter Ciara's  amazing cards......

Three fantastic cards Ciara, I love the letters you have used to personalise your cards, you have coloured them so that they match the theme of your cards perfectly.  

I would also like to mention the beautiful flowers that you have made for your Mum's card, you have layered them up so carefully and mixed the colours perfectly, the stems look perfect too.

Samuels card is so fabulous, those birds look like they are having a really fun party, your colouring is so brilliant Ciara, they all have their matching hats too, Samuel will be delighted when he opens his card.

Thank you so much for sharing your lovely cards with us Ciara xxx

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, however you are spending it.

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

Xxxxxxx

PS,......

Did any of you read the comments on Sue's blog yesterday???? 

I have to agree with some, this blog was initially formed so that ladies could come over and continue to discuss at length subjects that were raised in Sue's blog. 

It became more than that and developed into a lovely, friendly and I think VERY supportive blog, rallying round our friends at times of the loss of a love one, sending flowers as a token of our love and support. Celebrating uplifting moments together etc, the support was continuous, hourly at times.  So I have to say I was a little bit saddened at some of the comments.  I looked back at some of the lovely words that were said about my blog, thanking me for bringing friends together etc, maybe it has all been genuinely forgotten?!

The main thing for me is that I have you, my dear sweet friends that make the time to call in every day, your genuine love and support of each other warms my heart daily.

You wonderful ladies have made my life so much brighter than the days were I felt so very alone and isolated due to being housebound.  I genuinely look forward every day to reading your comments, sharing the different moments of your lives too.

So thank you, all of you xxx 

A little Thank you

Good Morning Ladies,

Well that was the girls school break, over in a flash, they spent pretty much 80% of it with their nose in a book, for either Biology, geography or Spanish, so not much of a break for them apart from the fact that they have had coffee and chocolate on demand and have been able to play their music throughout the house, (thankfully they have a very good taste in music)! Nobody really wanted to do anything yesterday, with it being Paul's only day off, I think he was exhausted, so we let him have a real good lie in and the girls were feeling the same, so we just had a relaxing, family day.  Paul is back to work today and the girls are working both days of the weekend.  That's just about all my news, oh apart from Matt has 15 pregnant Ewe's, so lambing should start in about 4 weeks time, So spring is definitely around the corner! Yippee !!

Onto Today's card, yes it's stampin Up again, I really don't set out to make a SU card but these lovely stamp sets are all sitting therd, calling to me.  

The background of the card was made using the 'Delicate Details' stamp set that has been a free Stamp in the 'Sale-a-bration' booklet,  it's the one that you chose Lilian,

 I decided to have a play and stamp the different border dies in alternate colours down a piece of card to see what it looked like, oh, by the way I stamped it freehand (without the safety of my "faux Misti' )!  I used 'Mint Macaron' and 'Sahara Sand' ink pads and matching card for matting and layering.  

I really liked how it turned out, so I inked around the edge with the "mint Macaron' ink, then matted and layered and popped it onto a white card base.  

I then stamped the 'Thank you, so very much' from the 'Flourishing Phrases' stamp set, cut it into a flag shape and the matted if the same as base card, I cut flowers from the 'Flourish Thinlits' die set and layered them adding a leaf too, the final finishing touch was a small tassel that I made with matching card stock, I think it's a cute addition and gives a bit of movement to the card too.

I hope you like the card xx

Lilian, I want to send you the hugest hug, my dear sweet friend, I am so pleased that you got to go to Exeter to the Craft show, I'm sure you were mentally exhausted as well as physically my lovely.  I can't wait to see what you bought xxx

Cheryl, did you get to Exeter too? Did you find your fabric?? I do hope so, I hope Tiegan enjoyed it too xxx

Janet, how did your K&N ladies get on with their card? I am so glad to here that Lily-Mae is on the mend and that you got a surprise visit! Sending hugs your way xxx

I am off for a play with my Apron die from Sue today, have a lovely day ladies, whatever you have planned. 

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Pootles Design Team Challenge Week 1

Good Morning,

This is the first of three projects that I have made as part of the 'Pootles Design Team'

For February.  I was given the 'Bookcase Builder' stamp set to create my three projects with : 

Now I will say that I panicked a little when I first saw this stamp set, as it isn' the sort of thing I would normally choose to work with, but I have to say that sometimes it is good to step outside of your comfort Zone and challenge yourself.  

With this set the possibilities are endless, I think it would work really well for Scrapbooking as well as card making, invitations and announcements. 

For my first project I used all of the 'New Baby' themed stamps to create a 'pop up block' style card.  This card folds totally flat to go in an envelope, the dimensions are 

11.5 cm X 11.5cm.  

The instructions for this card are much easier to show than they are to explain, so I will do a tutorial explaining how to create it.

I used: 

Mint Macaron card 

Mint Macaron Classic Ink Pad

Stampin' Up Dainty 1/8 inch Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon (dyed with Mint Macaron Ink Pad)

I hope you like my first Pootles Design Team Project.

Love & Hugs

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Maria's Makes

Good Morning Ladies,

I was looking at my card files and noticed some of Maria's cards that I hadn't shared, or that had been part of a challenge.

The first card is for Maria's Sail's Grandson Ben, Ben loved 'Harambe the Gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo, he was tragically shot because a young boy that wasn't being supervised by his parents (in my opinion) fell into his enclosure, such a tragic waste of such a magnificent animal!  Anyway Maria download a photo of Harambe from the internet to use on Ben's card, I love the little 'Happy Birthday' banner that you have created for the card, it works perfectly, as do the black gemstones, a fantastic card Maria that I'm sure Ben loved.

Maria's second card was part of the easel card challenge I think, but it deserves another view, I love both the paper you have used and the dies, the 'Heraldic Square' is one of my favorites, I loved the stamps that they bought out to match it too, my only frustration was that you had to buy the 'inner and outer stamps seperately making it too expensive.  But as Maria has shown you don't need the stamps to make the die look fantastic. The 'Configuration' die from Sue Wilson's find range is what Maria has used to create the 'stopper' for the easel card is also really pretty, I used these to create a pretty Background to a card earlier last year, they are really quite a versatile die to have in your stash, another idea I had for them was to use them on the flaps of your 'pop-up' Box cards, it would create a nice lacy look.

The third card I chose to share, Maria sent to me last October, it was for Joan, who was going to be 97 on her birthday, wow what a fantastic age, I bet she would have done amazing stories to share of different things she has seen and witnessed through

Her long life.  

I love the image you have created on the card Maria, what did you use to blend the colours together ? Do you have the 'inkyliscious Brushes' or the little 'Egg shape' blenders from Creative Expressions? 

The 'Kaleidoscope' of Butterflies flying off into the sunset is such a lovely image and works so perfectly with your (very true) sentiment  "All Good Things are Wild and Free".  

Thank you so much Maria for allowing me to share your cards with our lovely friends. Xx

Paul seems to be on a really long shift pattern this week, he worked Friday, then Sunday, Monday night, had Tuesday off and is back in today, off Thursday, then back in Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I can see that he is exhausted already as his body isn't having enough time to recover between night and day shifts! It's ridiculous and all because more people seem to be leaving the services than they can recruit! Still only about 4 months and he will be done.  (Soap box put back under stairs).

Special hugs to those not feeling 100% xxx

I hope you all have a good day,

Love and hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Michele's SETcraft Challenge Projects

Gemma Die

🎉🎉🎊🎆Happy Birthday Val🎆🎊🎉🎉

Good Morning Ladies, 

Firstly I would like to wish our very dear Friend Val a very Happy Birthday and a year full of good health, fun and laughter (and crafting of course)!! Birthday hugs on their way xxx

PS....I'm sure Janet's organised a delicious cake for your special day Val xxx

Today I am so pleased to be able to feature Our Micheles's Collection of Projects that she created for the lovely Ben at SET Craft  for their Facebook page.

Ben sent the 'Gemma' die from Sue Wilson's latest Did release, it is one of their 

"frames and Tags" dies, made by Creative Expressions.  You can buy the die here:
http://www.setcraft.co.uk  Setcraft have a super fast delivery service and their prices are unbeatable too.

I cannot believe how many different projects you made Michele from just one die set. I can't choose carefully favourite, I love the tags, but I have to choose one of the cards, purely because you have put so much work into them, turning them all different directions to get a different look, for instance, you wouldn't think they are made from the same die.
I think my favourite I'd the Black, White and Kraft 'Thank You' Card, it's stunning and how thrilled you would you be to receive that as a thank you!
Well done Michele, you absolutely 'aced' this challenge and guessing by Ben's lovely write up on Facebook on Sunday afternoon he was really pleased with your efforts!

I received my Apron die from Sue's die giveaway yesterday, it's lovely, there a lots of tiny bits included too, I am looking forward to having a play with it.
If any of you would like me to cut you a couple to play with just let me know.

Well that's all from me for today, I hope you all have a good day, especially you Val ! Xx

Love and hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx

Monday Sketch Challenge

Monday Sketch Challenge

 My Challenge Card

A closer look

The Sketch

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

Phew, what a busy weekend, we never seemed to stop all weekend, rushing about right up until Paul left for work at 6:30pm last night, I'm not even sure what we did!

I did spend all of Saturday afternoon finishing those Design Team cards, writing posts for them and scheduling them for the next three Thursdays, I can't tell you how relieved I was to have it all finished.  I then sat and did Sundays blog post, which takes longer than a normal post because I upload everyone's cards and write a few words about each one, I think I finished that at about 5.50pm, I then helped Paul get dinner as we were supposed to be leaving at 7o'clock to go to the cinema, we made it just in time.

I really hate rushing about, luckily Paul had remembered to pick up a selection of sweets while he was shopping, we always take them with us as Paul would refuse to pay the extortionate prices that the cinema charges, do you all take your own? We saw a lady in once with a packed lunch and flask!  

One thing that did annoy me was the sheer laziness of some people, there was a row of young women (early) 20's I would say, they must have had every snack from the kiosk, two or three drinks each, cheesy nachos with different dips, popcorn, sweets etc, when they got up to leave they struggled to step over the mess they made, every single piece of food wrapping, bottle and container was left on the floor around their seats, it was absolutely disgusting!  It would have been easier for them to just pick up the rubbish than have to tiptoe around the mess!  Those poor cinema employees must get so frustrated, there were waste bins all over! Sorry ladies rant over, soap box back under the stairs! 

I hope you like this weeks Sketch, it's a fairly straightforward design , I would like you to use any "Winged" creature, it doesn't have to be a Butterfly, you could use a Dragonfly or a Bird, an Angel or whatever you choose.  The rest is entirely up to you, I look forward to all of your Fantastic emails arriving,  I love the anticipation of waiting to open the attachment to reveal your cards, it's like opening the Advent Calendar as a child! 

This week as an added bonus, I will put everyone that enters into draw and the winner will receive my card (if they want it)  and a little something else too.

I hope you enjoy the challenge xx

Brenda, can I ask if you have received your prize from Sue yet?  I only ask as Michele has had hers already, you watch mine will arrive today now I've mentioned it (fingers crossed), I hope you are getting stronger each day my lovely xxx

Sue, I hope you managed to make it to 'Hound Tor' and got to enjoy the peace and tranquility, I expect you'll be having a nice relaxing day today as a result of making it there, but my goodness it looks worth every step, I have found a photo to allow everyone to visualise your special place xxx

Hound Tor

Pat, I hope you are feeling better today, this sounds very similar to what you had a couple of weeks back, maybe worth making a note on the calendar to see if there's a pattern, hugs xxx

Sending gentle hugs to all of you that aren't feeling 100% xxxxx

Now close your eyes and imagine you are all sat on one of those rocks in that photo......Relax !

Love and Hugs to each and every one of you,

Sandra 

xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

 My Challenge Card

The Sketch

Janet's Challenge Card

Karen's Challenge Card

Lilian's Challenge Card

Lynda's Challenge Card

Margaret's Challenge Card

Maria's Challenge Card

 Michele's Challenge card

Val's 1st  Challenge Cards

Val's 2nd Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Here we are at Sunday once again, it only seems 5 minutes since we were getting ready to go out for dinner with the girls for their birthday, I feel this year will whizz by as fast as last years did.

Particularly as this year is a busy one for us with Paul retiring from his current job and having to choose a new career and with that comes having to find a new home, although we are hoping to stay on in this house for another year to give us more time to find somewhere that meets our needs. 

Anyway on to todays cards.......

Janet,  your card is beautiul, I haven't a clue what dies you have used but I love them!  The colours are so rich, the card matching so perfectly to those pretty flowers and ribbon, I hope you can remember the dies you have used, I look forward to you enlightening me later on. Thank you so much for taking part

xxx

Karen You always describe your cards so perectly I like to copy and paste your own description....

The patterned paper I bought from Hobbycraft

Image from MCS - recoloured in Serif and cut out with ScanNCut as I wanted "her" to lie on cream card - printing it on cream might have made "her" look a bit jaundiced

Purple paper printed from Serif using the colour picker from the "hat" - too dark in my opinion

Ovals and hearts cut with ScanNcut

SW Bed of Roses embossing folder

Bling coloured with a Chameleon pen

I love everything about your card Karen, I don't think that the purple card is too dark, i think it matches perfectly, such a pretty image.  Thank you so much for taking part xxx

Lilian, your card is just so pretty, I absolutely love 'Spring' cards, they just make you think of all of the lovely things we have to look forward to, the beautiful flowers and the warmer weather, all the things that seem so far away right now.  Such a beautiful stamp you have used, you have coloured it in perfectly Lilian.  Thank you so much for taking part xxxx

Lynda, your card is so bright and cheerful, you have used a lot of my favourites on your card, firstly the Spellbinders Floral Oval in the centre of your card, closely followed by the Sue Wilson Striped Nasturtiams, the can look so different when die cut in different materials, I love them, I also love the other flower die you have used, although I am not sure what its called,  altogether a beautiful card Lynda, thank you for taking part. xxx

Margaret, such a pretty 'tone on tone' card the different shades of teal coloured card work so well, your floral striplet style die is so pretty, I love how you have added the flowers to make it look like flowers and vines twisting through a fence or gate, so clever and so pretty.  Thank you so much for taking xxx

Maria, I am sure your Dad will love the card you have made for him, that lovely Garden Shed image will work for so many 'male' themed cards, I mean most men like to hide away in their peaceful haven, my dad used to spend hours in his shed, we were never sure what he was doing!  The green background works well with the image, I love the little ladybird, such a cute touch, also the Hammer on the Sentiment.  Fantastic card, thank you so much for taking part xxx

Michele, your card has that 'Spring Feel' too with that wreath of pretty flowers, I love how you have used the embossed mirror card as the background, it highlights those pretty colours beautifully.
Thank you so much for taking part xxx

Val, two beautful cards from you this week, oh my goodness the cat looks so very cute, I love the grey themed background, its not a colour we often use but it works perfectly for so many different colours, a gorgeous card, somebodies Niece will love it, that cute little wooden cat charm is the perfect finishing touch.

Your 2nd card is also spring like with that lovely shade of green and the embossed pearl card, adding some flowers to the bicycle basket was a fantastic idea, it gives depth and dimension to the card. a gorgeous card that could be used for so many different occasions, it would certainly brighten up somebody's bedside if they where poorly, especially as so many hospitals don't allow flowers these days.  Thank you so much for taking part this week xxx

Thanks once again ladies, today wouldn't be such a special blog day without your hard work, I am so hugely grateful!

Have a lovely Sunday,

Oh by the way, the girls loved their first day of work, so that was a huge relief, this is going to give them both their first real taste of independence. 

Love and hugs 

Sandra

xxxxxx