Back to the Start Monday Sketch Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

I decided that it would be fun for us all have another go at this Sketch as it was the first ever sketch that we used back in January 2016.
It will be good to see how much our card making has changed over the past 3 years +!

The sketch itself is fantastic sketch, so very versatile, you could use this sketch for just about any style of card or occasion.  You can as always change the flowers to whatever you like, so stars, snowflakes, butterflies, footballs, or leave them as flowers, the choice is yours.  I am really looking forward to having another go at this one!!

What I have decided to do is share the cards that we all made for this sketch last time, I will probably do it on Saturday, although I am not 100% sure yet, I may stick to featuring them alongside the latest version on the Sunday.

I am so excited for this challenge, it's nice to have something to compare our cards to, thank you all in advance.

We had a lovely relaxed weekend, I hope that you all had one too.

I have to push myself this week, since deciding to stop being a SU Demo, I have lost my 'mojo', I go and sit and my nice tidy desk and nothing inspires me, I haven't felt like this for a long time.  I mean I really enjoyed making those little note cards and matching envelopes last week and the making the box was fun too.  I feel like I have no 'direction', I am now free to use absolutely anything but I don't know what to choose.  I still want to use my SU products because I love them but I want to add in other things.  I need to get everything out of the cupboards and boxes and just play I think.

Having this sketch will be a great help though, I can't wait to play.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Michele set us a lovely Challenge to 'Sparkle' up our dull, cold January, you have all loved this 'Sparkle Challenge' and your cards are amazing...……

Brenda

Brenda's challenge card is absolutely stunning.  It is made with a white card base and has Coastal Cabana as the accent colour, I think that colour is one of my most favourite SU colours.  Now onto that stunning top image..Brenda got a Foiling Machine for Christmas, all I can say is 'WoW', I want one! 

I did see Julia Watts demo'ing the new Spellbinders Foiling Machine at Ally Pally but to be honest I wasn't really inspired at all, had the samples all been like this I may have thought differently. 

I absolutely love your card Brena, thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge.  XXX 

Janet 

Janet's Challenge card is just so rich and oppulent, it matches the lovely gift box that I featured on yesterday's blog.  Janet used one of the Crafters Companion Edgable dies to create that beautifully intricate top  section, a card as intricate as this needs only simple embellishments, which is exactly what Janet has used, a simple Bow topped with a Butterfly. 

Thank you so much Janet xxx

Lilian

Lilian has created an incredibly pretty card for this week's 'Sparkle' Challenge, it features a beautifully embossed background, (details of folder please ). To add 'sparkle' Lilian has placed tiny crystal gemstones on each of the embossed flowers.

The focal point of the card is Lilian's beautiful arrangement of gorgeous little die cut flowers and foliage, so simple yet so beautiful. 

Thank you so much Lilian for another beautiful challenge card.  XXX 

 Lynda

 Lynda has created such a beautiful Background for her 'Sparkle' Challenge card, I will add Lynda's description below...

" My Cc I put some sticky sheet on the paper I Blended with oxide & glitterd it put die cut over it ( from wish) then matted gold frame blue card gold card"

Amazing Challenge card Lynda, thank you so very much for taking part. XXX 

Margaret 

Margaret has used an absolutely stunning die to cut that beautifully intricate design. That little Bird is so sweet too.

I love everything about your card Margaret, including that gorgeous colour.

Thank you so much for taking part. XXX 

Maria

Maria, despite being busy packing and preparing to leave for her lovely holiday in the snow, managed to make two cards for this weeks 'Sparkle' Challenge. 

The first card is so pretty with a delicately patterned background paper that looks almost like those flowers are 3D, Maria has created a pretty foiled die cut topper that has delicately detailed foiled corners too. The foiling is sparkly in itself but Maria has enhanced that by adding some pretty coloured gemstones. 

Maria's second card is for a relative that has lost a parent, always such hard cards to make but I think your card is perfect Maria, with pink suede card and then the delicately glittered top layer that compliments the pink beautifully.  The little bits of foliage works so well with your design. 

Thank you so much for taking part Maria.  I hope you have an absolutely amazing holiday in the snow,  I hope you remembered your  thermal undies!! Looking forward to your photos too. xxx

Michele

Two fantastic cards from Michele for her 'Sparkle ' Challenge.  The amazing Alien card we saw on Monday as we used it to launch this weeks challenge. 

Michele has also made another Christmas card (I am so impressed), here is Michele's description.....

"I used the Christmas shadow box Dies plus scraps of card. Pearlised/Mirri Card  & gemstones are the “sparkle “ for my challenge card."

Thank you so much for setting the challenge and making two amazing cards XXX 

 Sue

Sue has made TWO gorgeous cards fotlr this weeks challenge,  both using a stunning Tree die, I want to say that it was a magazine freebie but I'm not 100% sure.

The first card has a pretty background paper that features leaves, what a fantastic idea!! A really pretty paper two and you have picked a perfectly matching coloured card too. 

Sue's second card features the same die cut, this time in shades of pink.

The 'sparkle' elements are the Birds, Heart and sentiment, which have all been cut with in Super fine glitter card.

Thank you so much Sue, you know how much I love seeing your cards on the challenge board XXX 

 Val

Last but by no means least is Our Lovely Val, who has been busy making Valentine's cards for the shop, this gorgeous Valentine card has a pretty Heart embossed background (i love that Folder Val). Then Val has the added the die cut word 'Love' that has a Heart die cut out of the centre of the 'o'.  That die cut heart has the been used as a perfectly  placed embellishment.  Both the 'o' and heart are cut out of red glitter card.  

Thank you so much Val for taling part in this weeks Challenge, your card is amazing, I might borrow your idea. XXX 

Well Ladies, what can I say, yoh have made some absolutely amazing cards for this week's challenge.

I would also like to thank Michele for choosing this weeks challenge topic.

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday, 

Oh, a little bit of exciting news...Sophie & Lucy were buzzing with excitement when we picked them up yesterday, as they had served Prince George and Princess Charlotte who were visiting the Wildlife park yesterday with Kate's parents.  The girls said that they seemed to enjoy their Sausage & Chips!!! 

Sending lots of love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Hello from a very cold Wiltshire, Oh it's so so cold today, I think that the car will still need ice scraped off at 10:20am when we have to take the girls to work, I doubt there will be many at the Wildlife Park today either, although the past few weekends have been very busy.  I think we will be staying in the warm. it's definitely a 'Light the Coal Fire day' , we have a jigsaw puzzle to finish and I think that today is the perfect day.

If in think back to this exact time last year we were loading the van to bring the first lot of furniture over to this house. The weeks that followed were the hardest weeks of our lives, trying to move, clean the bungalow and unpack here, I have never felt so ill in years, Paul was too.  We did consider moving somewhere less expensive after this first year, but we love it here and for the little bit we would save it isn't worth putting ourselves through that again before we are ready to move into our own home.

I thought that I would share the little matching envelopes and Gift box that I made to go with my little Note Cards, I really enjoyed making them into a little gift.  The paper is a free gift if you spend over £45 with Stampin' Up! I think Margaret has it too, its so handy having a punch the right size to punch the butterflies out with, save time 'fussy cutting'.  I think that his would make a lovely gift for someone thats maybe stuck at home or laid up poorly. 

I hope you like them xxx

Now onto your crafts...….

Janet

Janet has made a beautiful Gift Box that matches this weeks Challenge card, it looks so nice having a matching set.  The box was made using a Tonic Square Insert die 'Square Kaleidoscope' ,

I love this box Janet, it looks so sophisticated, especially with that lovely tassel. 

Thank you so much for sharing it with is today xxx

 Lynda

Lynda has made her very first Journal, which started out as a notebook, it looks so much more than that now though as Lynda has embellished every page, going into so much detail, every page has something different to look at, whether its a pretty tag or a piece of lace, a carefully placed resin frame that is highlighting a pretty part of the background paper. I can see that Lynda has added personal pieces too, like a piece of a colouring book that has been coloured beautifully, there are so many different laces and appliques to look at and feel, thats another great element to Lynda's journal it's very tactile, so many different textures. All finished with a beautiful 'Wrap' cover that has a lovely detailed closure too.

Lynda what an incredible job you have made of your first journal, you have finished yours and I am still procrastinating!  You have inspired me to get on with it!

Thank you so much for sharing your journal with us today my lovely xxxx

Val

Val shared her shopping with us last week but I missed the email, so I am adding it in today, I am so sorry Val.  xx

The two dies are from Joanna Sheen's Website, she has a lovely range of stamps and dies on there.

The two stamps are actually from Wish, you will have to tell us what they are like Val, they look fantastic, I love both sets, the fish one is funny too.  You can afford to take a gamble a a couple of pounds each!! 

Thanks so much for sharing with us Val XXXX

Michele 

Last but not least we have Michele's shopping for this week, just as you would expect from our Bargain Hunter, both dies were £1.99 from Ebay (china).

You just can't go wrong for that price!!

Thanks so much Michele for sharing your bargains, I might go and order that tree myself! XXXx

Thats all for this week Ladies, stay warm and cosy in those craft rooms, don't forget to photograph what you make!!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Throwback Friday

Good Morning Ladies,

I was feeling a little Nostalgic yesterday as I was looking back at old block posts, my blog started in 2012, but I only ever posted a couple of times. It was in June 2014 that I started blogging more often.

Todays cards are the first and second Blog Challenge cards that I made back in January 2016.
The first ever Blog Challenge was on 4th January 2016 to be exact, I used a Lilli of The Valley topper mixed with some pretty background paper and some of Sue Wilson's flowers, remember these were the days that I only used to make cards with Dies.
When you thing back thats an awful lot of Challenges we have done together, there would have been lets say 50 In 2016, the same in 2017 and 2018, so we are well on our way to 200 challenges, can you believe that, it honestly seems like only yesterday!

The second card today was my second Challenge card used Spellbinders Floral Oval dies, I was blending ink at that point but not too successfully ! I stamped the sentiment too!!  The papers are Anne Marie Designs, a Spellbinders Flower, Sue Wilson Leaves and some pretty stickpins.  A pretty card but very simple, I wonder who received it?!

It's amazing to think that some of us have been chatting on this blog from later 2015 to today,  although it honestly feels like I have known some of you a lifetime, I am so very blessed that starting this Blog has bought so many amazing friends into my life. For that I am thankful every day, I think about it every time I write a post. I hope that you have all gained something positive from it too, sometimes it just helps to write a frustration down, having people support you is a huge bonus on top of that.

What have you all got planned for this weekend??  We aren't sure yet, its a year ago tomorrow that we picked up the keys to this house, where has that year gone!!

What ever you have planned I hope that you all have a lovely weekend

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Michele's Boozy Cards

❤💛💜 PAT ❤💜💛

Good Morning Ladies,

Please join me Ladies in sending Our lovely Pat lots and lots of love and hugs on her Birthday, I do hope that you get to eat at least one slice of cake today!! Love & Hugs on their way to you xxx❤xxx

If the weather forecast on Social Media is correct we will all be needing a 'tot' or two of the above!
I read that we are in for some snow and really cold temperatures!  Not that I have ever had a 'hot toddy' in my life.

Michele's cards are just brilliant, perfect for so many occasions, mostly cards for men, although some ladies like a bit of booze too!
Michele made the cards with papers from the Making Cards April 2018 magazine, I love your layouts Michele, that backing paper is very retro and works perfectly with the different bottles of Spirits.
I have to say the 'old' 'Making Cards' magazine had amazing quality papers featured each month, they were always very 'stroke worthy', unlike a lot of the shiny magazine papers.
If anyone is going to get the best out of a magazines papers Michele is the one!
Thank you so much Michele, these will be great for both your stash and for your Sale Table, with these and the Space men you will have a lot of the 'Male' occasions covered. xxx

Talking of magazine papers etc, my latest copy of 'Card Making and Papercraft' dropped through the door on Monday morning, now I will confess that  this is one of the magazines that I would happily pass by, I find that it tends to repeat year on year and this year is no exception!  This month's edition does have some lovely Oval frame dies, with Cameo style heads, there are some lovely inspiration cards inside too.  The reason that it is still dropping through my door is beyond me, it has even survived the change of address.  I subscribed to the magazine on a 'special deal'  you got 3 Issues for £5 at the time there were some lovely Christmas stamps that we were all after and they were featured on this magazine as a freebie in around Oct 2017, so I looked into the offer, you just paid your £5 up front and that was it, no Direct Debit details or anything like that, sure enough a few weeks later the first magazine turned up and it carried on and on and on, way past 3 issues, on to 6 then 12, I am now at about 15 issues for £5 !! I can promise you that I have called them, emailed them, mostly because I was afraid of getting a huge bill.  They have taken down my details and 'looked into it' and it's still arriving.  Not that I am ungrateful for a freebie but I kind of wish it was one of the other mags!
So I would totally recommend these little offers, well mine certainly was a great deal.
I do know that Sue stopped her Subscription to the same magazine and it continued to arrive for some months afterwards.

I had a bit of a frustrating afternoon yesterday, sadly Sue couldn't make it so I decided to open up the Downloaded images I had purchased for my journal and have a go at printing them out, it turned out that I needed to make some minor adjustments to the way they were laid out so I had to open the downloaded file in Word, this is the first time I have used Word on my Laptop, well 'Of Course'  I needed the 1 years subscription Key code, that arrived at the same time as my Laptop, I could see myself 'putting it somewhere safe' in my head, in reality I turned out every draw, 'special' cupboard and nook and cranny that I could reach, nothing, I did get excited when I found a 'Microsoft Office' cd download thing, only to turn it over and see that it had been used already and was the one we bought to put on the girls laptops to get them through their exams. By four o'clock I was pretty miffed!
So I decided to have a go at 'Coffee dying' some paper ready for my Vintage journal, I watched a few tutorials (that all said something different) so I made up my own rules, I found some old decaffeinated coffee that nobody uses and made up a large jug, I didn't have heat the oven like the people in the tutorial because the AGA is on constantly, so I got myself a little production line, the bottom oven of the AGA is definitely better, the ones I put in the top went a little too brown, I discovered however that I didn't need to put them all in the oven as the ones I had waiting to go in were sat on baking sheets on top of the closed plates on top of the AGA, by the time the oven ones were finished the ones on top were dried out too as those domes covering the plates get super hot too. So in no time I had a lovely stack.  I just need to be able to print the other bits to start assembling the journal !!
So when Paul comes in and I was telling him about my afternoon, he said ''oh you should have just checked the emails as they sent a 'download'...…!!!!  I will leave my reaction to your imagination!
They did send a hard copy too, where it is remains a mystery!

Well I have waffled on for far too long today, I do apologise!

Pat extra LARGE hugs on their way to you today xxxx

Sue I do hope that your head is feeling a little easier today, I missed you yesterday xxxx

I hope you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all of you too,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Something to Brighten Your Day ......

Good Morning Ladies,

A little something to brighten your day today from me!! I have had this 'Butterfly Gala' stamp set since before Christmas and the Gingham Gala Papers too but I haven't got round to playing with them, so while Paul was busy doing his accounts on the Lap Top last night and sat and played.

The background stamp I used is from a stamp set called 'Tempting Textures', I popped into my Stamperatus and stamped all of my backgrounds, just wiping the stamp over between colours. I then stamped and punched out all of the butterflies in matching colour card and ink. I placed my stamped background back in the Stamperatus and placed the butterfly where I wanted it to be, while holding it in place I positioned the little 'antenna' stamp and the sentiment, then removed the butterfly, inked up the stamps and stamped those onto each colour background.  I added a little glue to the back of the Butterfly and placed him onto the card so that the 'antenna' where positioned correctly.
I took four little Rhinestones and stuck them down the length of the butterfly's abdomen.
To finish the card I inked the edges with matching ink and popped the toppers onto a piece of matching Gingham paper and then on to a little notecard.
The colours I used for these cards are:
Daffodil Delight
Balmy Blue
Lemon Lime Twist
Grapefruit Grove
Highland Heather
I hope this card brings a little sunshine into your day. xxx

Like Lilian our house was quite cold yesterday, everyone seems to migrate to the kitchen because the Aga stays on and really warms the room, it is the warmest room in the house by far, I quite like it because the kitchen becomes the social hub of the house rather than the girls being up in their bedrooms doing their own thing. The only down side is, when they are in the kitchen they eat!  Sophie has taken a real interest in cooking lately too, which I love, there is no better way to bond and have fun with your children than when teaching them 'life skills'.  They have no idea see as they didn't have compulsory 'Home Economics' like we had, we were taught everything from making a bed to ironing a shirt and then all of the basic cooking skills.

I am hoping to see Sue today, which will be so lovely, these weeks soon roll around don't they.!


I hope you have a lovely day however you are spending it,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

my Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Here is my Challenge card for this weeks 'Sparkle' Challenge, I used a sheet of paper out of the pad pictured above, it is an 8 x 8 pad with some really pretty papers in it.

Danielle gave me this pad along with some others when we did our Swap back in November.

I took a sheet of the paper and cut it down to fit my card base, the pink in the paper was a good match too Berry Burst card, so I added a mat of that behind the paper, then adhered the paper and topped with a piece of Berry Burst Ribbon with Sparkle Edge.  

I then fussy cut the flowers and Butterfly from another sheet of the patterned paper and shaped them and decoupaged them onto the paper,  I think they add some lovely depth and dimension to the card.

To add the touch of 'Sparkle'  I covered the flowers and Butterfly with a clear glitter pen and then topped with some little sparkly gemstones.

I stamped the 'For You' In Berry Burst ink on a piece of matching card and die cut with a tag, tucking it under the bow, to finish the tag I added a tiny die cut Butterfly.

I hope you like my card. xxx

I didn't get much done yesterday, I just enjoyed playing around with a lot of different things in my craft room, looking for all of the things that I used to use and have stashed away.

Sorting through which SU stamps I want to keep and which ones I want to sell, although 'Mr Hoarder' thinks I should keep them all, (just in case)!  That was actually on a Name badge on his Overalls at work but was written ''Justin' Case'' , he likes to be prepared for every eventuality, Bless him!!

Lilian, I hope your Acupuncture helps you, do you go often?? xxxx

Janet, I do hope you have a fun afternoon at Knit & Natter, is it your turn for project?? xxxx

Michele, I hope your sciatica is easing, such a bloody painful condition that doesn't seem to respond to any kind of pain relief, sending hugs as I know how painful it is xxxx

Val, I'm curious, does it always rain after your window cleaner has been?? We seem to have a curse, as soon as they were sparkling the heavens opened!  Paul's mum had same problem!  I hope you are enjoying your Dickens Classics, which one are you on?? xxxx

Pat, sending you huge hugs xxxx

Of Course there are big hugs on their way to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx