Throwback Thursday

Good Morning Ladies,

I thought I'd transport us back to February 2016 for a Throwback Thursday card, this is the first card I made with ''that Embossing Folder', the free All-Occasion one that everyone wanted, the card style would work with any of the new versions of this Folder too.  The Embossing Folder does all the work I just added a few flowers, a bow and a Phill Martin Sentiment.!

Ours was a busy house last night, both girls had their boyfriends over (thankfully they had takeaway) as I was in bed, having said that both of the lads are extremely polite and charming and it was lovely to see the girls being treated for their first proper Valentine's Day.
Paul and I will save our Celebrations for next week!

Karen I hope you are thoroughly enjoying the 'City of Love', what a perfect time to visit, how was the Louvre??

Thank you all for your kind messages yesterday,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
Xxxxxx

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy Birthday Val !!!

💕Happy Birthday Val 💕

Good Morning Ladies,

First of all today I would like to wish our Very Dear Friend Val a very Happy Birthday, I hope the sun is out and that you have an amazing day xxxx

Today's card is Michele's Valentine card for Phil, I love the stepper card design Michele, it works so perfectly with four letter words as the match up with the steps, I also think that adding the personal details makes a card more of a gift.
Michele originally made this card for the Challenge last week but I asked her if she would allow me to keep it for today as I knew I wouldn't be getting one made in time.
I love that big Lacey heart that isn't too girly for a man's valentine card too.
Thank you so much Michele for allowing me to share your card today.

Now as expected my craft unit arrived today......we decided not to pay £150 to have it assembled because we thought it was too expensive and how hard can it be?!!.....

I'm kind of regretting that now, particularly as it arrived in 23 boxes, yes that's right 23 !!!  As if we don't have enough boxes in the house!!  

Wish us luck with this project!!!

A super quick blog today, I will email you all and let you know why. 

Thank you for being so patient, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra 

xxxxx. 

Lynda's Marvelous Mechanical Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Lynda made this absolutely stunning card as an extra challenge card for me to share with you on Sunday but I loved it so much and thought it looked as though Lynda had spent hours on it that I thought that it deserved a day of its own.

The three butterflies are what qualified it as a challenge card but there is so much else to look at, Lynda's blended background for instance, this time She blended:
Distress ink : Pine Needles
Distress Oxide ink: Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick
I am amazed at the variety of colours you have got in that background by blending those 3 colours, I am certainly going to have a play with this technique when I get my craft room sorted. 
Do you all have some inks you could play with? Anything blendable really, I thought that maybe we could do it as a mini challenge or something. Let me know your thoughts.
The dies Lynda has used on this card are Sue Wilson's 'Mechanical' die range, including :
Butterfly
Swirl
Background

Such a fantastic card Lynda thank you so much for allowing me to share it with our friends.  You always blow me away with the amount of work that you put into a card, I have kept every single card that you have ever given me, right from that very first black and white one that you gave me when we first met at Ally Pally all those years ago, they are more than just a card to me they are a gift.
I think it's the same of any hand made card we give, it's something we have thought about, considered the recipients likes and interests and then tried to make a card that will make them smile when they open it.  It's a totally different experience to picking and sending a shop bought card.

I am hoping that my craft unit will arrive today, although I'm not sure how many bits it will be in, as we didn't want to pay the extra £150 assembly fee, I'm guessing it will be in huge boxes as I ordered the plastic storage boxes too.  It's being delivered by Fed Ex so I think you can track it to get an estimated time of delivery.  At first I thought that £50 was too high for delivery but I imagine it's down to the size.
I think that somebody should start another company in competition with Storage 4 Crafts though, if you can save £375 + by using a magazine code they are clearly making a lot of profit on these units.
I will add photos as we put it together and as I fill it up.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

Michele sent me the photo of this card yesterday so that I could share it on the blog one day this week, as I was looking at it I had a thought about this week's challenge.
I really like the Embossing Folder Michele has used on the blue card, the randomness of the pattern really appeals to me, it gives such great texture to the card, Michele has also used a couple of the 'Tuck in' dies to give some extra detail.
The main image has been decoupaged, which makes the birds really stand out from the background. Michele has picked the yellow from the blossom in the image and used matching colour pearls as an accent. 
Such a lovely 'Spring ' card Michele thank you so much for helping me out. XXX

So the theme of this week's Challenge is to create a card that features 'Wings', they can be Angels, birds, butterflies or even airplanes, if it has wings you can use it.  I know we have had this challenge in the past and you really enjoyed it, so I am hoping you will enjoy it this time too.

Paul had the flu virus in the week, he was raging hot but shivering, nasty cough(which he still has ) and rotten sore throat.  On Friday when we got in from cleaning I felt absolutely terrible so I got into bed, I started with feeling so cold then I was too hot, by Saturday morning I had a fever so set off to Bungalow with a hot water bottle as well as a concoction of paracetamol, ibuprofen and my usual medication.  I just about got through the day but came home and went straight to bed.
Yesterday I felt horrendous, I have the sorest throat and virtually no voice, I ache absolutely everywhere too, I managed about 5 hours at bungalow cleaning carpets, I honestly don't know how I got through the day.  As I write this I am in bed, hoping and praying that I feel a bit better tomorrow.

I hope that you are all ok and had a good weekend.

Have a lovely Monday,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

This week's Challenge was to make cards that feature 3's, so it could be 3 colours, 3 layers of 3 of anything featured on the card.  You all had some amazing ideas so without further delay here are your cards......

 Lynda

Lynda has designed a 'triptych' style card, using three beautiful floral stamps that she has stamped and coloured. The background is one of Lynda's blended Distress Oxide backgrounds, using fired Brick, Fossilized Amber and Lucky Clover. The stamped flowers are Stampin'Up! Stamps that Lynda has stamped onto a £1 pad and added Watercolour to the flowers. The sentiment is from 'Beautiful You' (SU) .

An amazing challenge card my lovely.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian, once again you have created an absolutely stunning Challenge card, a beautiful die cut corner that reveals a pretty blue background, then there is the exquisite stamping around the edge of the card with such tiny flowers and foliage.

Then three gorgeous, super detailed butterflies finish the card. 

A real wow card Lilian, thank you so much.

XXX

Janet 

Janet managed 3 Challenge cards that feature 3's, how clever! Hahaha

Three gorgeous cards, the first features 3 very well dressed ladies, the second is from ' House of Zandra' Fabulous Shoes CDROM I believe, the third features 'Alice in Wonderland' in a trio of hearts design card.

3 amazing cards Janet, thank you so much.

XXX

Michele

Michele has used one of her new Embossing Folders to create her challenge card this week, I love the shades of gold you have used, both colours highlight the embossing perfectly, 2 lots of 3 Butterflies complete this week's challenge criteria.

A lovely card Michele, thank you.

XXX

Karen 

Karen has gone an extra step with her Challenge Card, mixing old with new as well as using 3 toppers!  Here is Karen's description......

"Here’s my cc for threes I thought I’d also mix it up a bit as in one of your suggestions old/new 

So it’s an old MCS image with the “newer” SW shadow box stitched lattice frame with some tiny dark red bling on the cross over thingy bits (can’t remember the official name!)

Thank you so much Karen.

XXX

 Maria

Maria has used a really pretty ' trio of Roses ' stamp and die for the '3' element of this week's Challenge, 2 lots of three gems too, a lovely embossed background and pretty pink ribbon complete this lovely card.

Thank you Maria.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret has chosen to use the Stampin'Up! 'vertical Greetings' stamp set to create her first Challenge card this week.  I like making ' just for you ' cards as they are so useful, whether it's a 'Thanks' or a ' just because ' or 'Happy Birthday', they have so many uses, I really love this stamp set too!

Margaret's second challenge card was made using the free All Occasion Embossing Folder we all bought in December (I think)!  Three butterflies make the challenge part of the card. Margaret used Promarkers to colour the image so beautifully.

Two stunning cards Margaret,

Thank you so very much.

XXX

Brenda

Brenda has used this week's Challenge to make her Grandsons 16th Birthday card, Sam plays for the Saracens Juniors so Brenda made his name up from Photographs of the team shirts, which is an amazing idea. Three letters and three rugby balls make up the challenge part of the card, I bet Sam will think it's the best card he receives, with it having his name on in his team colours.

Thank you so much Brenda.

XXX

Val

Val, wow! Such a pretty card, starting with a delicately embossed background with 2 butterfly semi circle die cuts for interest, the the three letters that spell ' Mum', that have been die cut in the prettiest papers. Val has embellished the card with Pretty Butterflies and flowers.

A stunning challenge card Val, thank you so much.

XXX

My goodness Ladies, 12 absolutely amazing entries into this week's challenge, I am so delighted that you enjoyed the challenge.

Hopefully we have about 3/4 more days of me not being able to craft and then it's full steam ahead, I am so excited to get my hands on my craft stuff !!  

It just seems like forever since I had my usual Sunday afternoon craft session thinking of the next week's challenge and making a card to inspire you all.

I can't thank you all enough for your patience and for helping me out with extra cards to share.

I hope you all have a lovely relaxing Sunday,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Some lovely things for you to look at today.......

Maria

Maria has shared a couple of photographs of her recent holiday to Zell am See, which is a Town in Austria, on the Lake Zell, which is south of the City of Salzburg.  

Your photos look like Christmas cards Maria, I can see why you want to go back, it's breath taking, I bet the air is really clean too.

Thank you for sharing your holiday photos with us Maria, I prefer the Sun when I get on holiday but my goodness I think I'd give that up for those views. 

XXX

Cheryl

Cheryl has been so busy getting all of the Pantomime costumes together, just look how gorgeous this costume is! It's for the smallest chorus member, made to fit a 3-4 year old.  What little girl wouldn't love that pretty material. Those puffy sleeves must have taken a lot of time and work, it's such a beautiful detail though. They won't want to give them back. 

Thank you so much Cheryl for giving us a peek at what you've been busy making.

XXX

Michele

Michele was a lucky winner over on Sue Wilson's Blog, what a gorgeous die set to win, I love that frame, you could use it for any occasion with a change of sentiment.

Craftstash have released another batch of Apple Blossom Embossing Folders and matching stamps, they are gorgeous and Michele couldn't resist, she had some reward points to use too so saved some money at the same time.

Thank you Michele for taking part today.

XXX

Karen

This is such a lovely idea for a special gift for a couple, Karen you are so very inspirational, your projects are so varied, your mind must be constantly thinking of your next project. 

Here is Karen's description:

"Something for mixed up Saturday 

It’s a box frame for a friend of my son It contains the keys of their first flat together together with a map of whereabouts for Valentine’s Day" 

XXX

Thank you once again to all those that shared projects and photos with us all today.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend planned, I am hoping to finish up at the bungalow this weekend. 

Oh, I forgot to say that Parent's Evening was very positive, both girls have Fantastic relationships with their teachers, so the comments were all fun and positive, they are both on track to do brilliantly in their A Levels.

Stay Warm and get crafting,

Love and hugs,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Something Floral For Friday

Good Morning Ladies,

Our Floral cards for this Friday are 2 of Lynda's cards, the second one is the card that Lynda made for Pat's Birthday, Pat loved it and sent me a photo of it to share with you today.

The first card is one of Lynda's beautiful blended background cards, this time she used Distress Oxide 'Fossilized Amber' then dried it and then added 'Fired Brick' and blended it over the top, it has created such a pretty shade, lots of warm oranges and yellows but light enough to be Spring colours rather than the darker autumn shades.

Lynda then stamped 'Sheena's' Poppy Stamp over the top and coloured with Watercolours.

You could use this card for any occasion Lynda, from a 'Get Well Soon' card to a 'Just Because', leaving cards without sentiments is really useful as you have always got a card to hand whatever the occasion.

Now onto Pat's Birthday card, for this card Lynda created another amazing background, I actually thought it was one of Lynda's favourite 'Northern Lights' papers to be honest, because it was blended so perfectly it looks printed. 

The Chrysanthemum flowers are Sue Wilson Dies as is the die cut in the middle, Lynda cut the flowers from the same coloured paper (coloured with Distress Oxide) to match the background, the sentiment is from the 'Beautiful You' Stampin'Up! Stamp set.

Pat absolutely loved this card and was amazed by the amount of work you put into it Lynda.  

Thank you Pat for sharing your birthday card and a Huge thank you to Lynda for making two fantastic Floral cards.

I'm sure you can guess how my day is going to spent!  I hope whatever you are doing you have a fantastic day xx

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx