Mixed Craft Saturday Featuring Michele's Magazine Review

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and enjoying the weekend, such a shame that the weather has changed for the worst, it was so chilly last night we had the fire in the lounge lit. Paul's parents are used to the slightly warmer climate of Devon, so really felt the cold.  You don't often see Paul's dad out of shorts but he was yesterday, we can't put the heating on either which made it seem even colder.

Anyway we start today with the fantastic Box above that Danielle has designed, I love the card she has used to make it, luckily for us Danielle has made a tutorial, I will leave the link below...….

Danielle's Box Tutorial

Janet

Our Janet made some amazing cards while she was in Marigny, I imagine that being in that relaxed environment really helps your creativity, well just look at the cards that Janet made, that proves my point. 

Janet made these lovely cards using the same 'La Blanche' Decoupage kit that she used to make her challenge card last week.  I love how the vintage theme of the kit Janet,  you could add lace and pearls or leave them just as they are they still look amazing.

Thank you so much Janet for allowing me to share your cards with our friends. XXX

Michele's Magazine Review

Hi Sandra 

This weeks Review features Papercraft Essentials which has a “Cracking “ free gift-Wallace & Grommit Stamps & Foiled Collection.

Here’s some ideas you can use the fee gift to make.

Here’s s more in depth feature. There’s 2 more features using the feee gifts including cards for Ladies.

A great beginners guide to inked Die impressions and another way to use your Dies (always a bonus!

Great article on Faux layered Diecutting with some lovely cards as examples.

There another feature on Cards for men using Dies-they’ve used Hexagon Dies plus patterned papers.

These cards could be used for many occasions & any age group.



That’s it for this week, Happy Crafting.

Michele 

Michele thank you so much for yet another fantastic magazine review, we all need some inspiration when it comes those cards for Men!!  There is so much more in it too, thanks again Michele XXX

 Michele's Crafty Buys

Michele received a £5 voucher from Hobbycraft for her Birthday (you just need to sign up to their loyalty card/Blog). Both items were half price, so with the £5 voucher Michele only paid....£1.25, now that's what you call savvy shopping!

Thanks for sharing Michele xxx

 Karen

Karen saw this die being demonstrated on Hochanda by Pete Hughes and loved it, so she looked online and ordered herself one, I think I might need to buy one too Karen, there are some exquisite lace designs there. Thank you so much for sharing and inspiring me to spend more money, I hope you don't mind if I tell Paul it was your fault!!! 😜😜 XXX

That's all for today Ladies, we have a busy family day ahead, Paul's brother is coming over with his family for the day to spend time with us and Paul's parents.  Paul is looking forward to it, he doesn't often spend time with his family so I want him to enjoy every moment. 

Have a lovely day however you are spending it my lovelies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx

A card for two challenges and Next Weeks's Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

Ooh I actually managed to have a couple of hours playing in my newly tidied craft room yesterday afternoon!
For the first time in a long time I actually enjoyed just sitting and playing, I'm not sure why, what the difference was but it was nice. I was trying to put everything away after I used it, to keep everywhere tidy, trouble is that's just not how I work, I never set out with a pre-planned idea of what I am going to use or make, so I often try things and then change my mind and try something else, all the time the pile is mounting up beside me, which usually results in me crafting on top of a little mountain of ink pads, dies, card and tools! But not today, today I stopped an put things that I didn't use away, which was so much easier and it only took me five minutes to clear away at the end.

Today's card works for both last week's challenge and the upcoming challenge for next week too!

I started with a white piece of card as I wanted to make my own background paper, I started by inking horizontal stripes across the card using Tattered Rose distress Oxide ink, I then blended that out a bit, next I used a floral mask to add some more detail, using the same ink, so the details were subtle, I finished by using a stamp with random dots on to add some touches of gold to the background.  Sadly I covered most of it up, so you can't see it, I should have done a step by step sequence of photos.
I mounted the background I had created onto a narrow matt of gold and then onto a white card base.
I die cut a frame from Gold Metallic patterned card (a extra interest) and used it to frame my sentiment.  To embellish the card I used the free stamps and dies that came with this month's 'Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine, I actually bought mine for £5 on a Craft Declutter page on Facebook.

I stamped the large and small flower stamps onto Petal Pink card (su) that matches perfectly with Tattered Rose Distress Oxide, I used Versamark to stamp and Gold embossing powder to tie in with the background and frame. I die cut the large flower and leaves and fussy cut the smaller flowers, I added some shade and colour using Petal Pink Stampin' Blends and added a few little sparkles to the centres of each flower.

In the top corner I added a bow that I finished with a resin flower that matched the colours in the card.

I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it!!

For this weeks Challenge I used Categories:  Metallics/Bling/Feminine

Next Weeks Challenge

I have chosen a TicTacToe for this weeks challenge, as I know that you enjoy them and we haven't had one for a few weeks as I have been trying to mix things up a bit.

I think that the categories are all self explanatory, 'metal/metallics' I think means either silver/gold/copper embossing or card or embellishments, you can add whatever you think appropriate.

I am looking forward to seeing your cards. xx

The house inspection went ok, Paul was right, there was nothing to worry about, the chap was very nice and ex-military so found lots to chat to Paul about, it was quite funny because I could see that Paul wanted to get back to work but he would never be impolite, anyway he finally left, to sighs of relief all round.  Paul went to work and I went to lie down for an hour!

We have Paul's parents arriving today for the weekend, then on Saturday Paul's younger brother Mark and his family are coming over for the day, we did this last year but the weather was glorious and we were sat out in the garden well into the evening, I think that we will definitely be inside this time, suc a shame as the sun makes every thing better!  

So we are in for a busy weekend!! 

I hope that you all have a lovely, relaxed weekend ladies.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

More of Michele's Cat cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Today I am sharing the last of Michele's 'Cat' themed cards, which were also made using Magazine freebies.

I love the quirky designs of these Cats they look like a naïve hand drawn.  

I think that you have totally complimented the style of the cards with the backgrounds you have used Michele, I do love the shape of that die you have used for matting and layering too.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share your cards my lovely. XXX

I wouldn't have had a card for today as I just completely ran out of time, I was in my craft room most of the day tidying and reorganising, it really needed it, I also went through boxes of off cut bits of card and de-cluttered most of it as I probably won't ever use it, it's too easy to pick up a new piece than to rifle through a box looking for a piece big enough to stamp onto or die cut. 

I then went out with Lucy, as I needed to get a new Iron, ours finally gave up on Tuesday evening, in fairness we had had that iron about 8 years which is an absolute miracle for us, we never managed to keep one for a year before that.

So I decided to get one that was the same, same make etc, but I was floored by the price, the iron we had was a Tefal Express Steam Generator iron, it has a tank that sits on the floor making the actual less heavy and bulky to use.  I did a bit of a check round on line to compare prices and ended up at good old Argos, it was still £200 all but a few pennies, I swear it wasn't that expensive last time, thinking about it though we were going through £50 irons every year so £200 over 8 years doesn't work out so bad. I did toy with the idea of getting one of those Garment Steamers that you see used in shops etc, they are becoming more popular, the iron we had/have has an excellent vertical steam so you can steam over a blouse on a hanger etc, it is quicker and less harsh on the fabric too.

Paul manged to whizz through a good amount of ironing last night so I guess it must work ok, he was a little puzzled at the lack of a temperature control button (as the last one had one) but this one is more intelligent apparently (hahhahaha)!

I am not quite sure what's happened to me this week, I have only been talking about cleaning and housework! 

I hope that you all have a lovely day today,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Danielle's card made with free papers

Good Morning Ladies,

Here we are at the middle of the week once again, the week following one that has a bank holiday always seems a really long week to me.  

We have a busy week ahead, we have a house inspection on Thursday, so I have been organising everyone to tidy their rooms bathrooms etc, I was stressing about taking their word that the bathroom were cleaned properly, so Lucy had the great idea of videoing the bathroom to show me.  

Needless to say they had done a grand job. 

I think that they were a bit more enthusiastic because I had ordered a new cleaning product kit, it arrived on Monday and they couldn't wait to try it out.

It's called 'Koh' and it's totally harmless and safe with not harsh chemicals, you get a large box (like a wine box with a tap), a spray bottle and a variety of micro fibre cloths in the kit oh and some black sponges.

I have to say that so far we are all very impressed, it cleans mirrors and windows without any effort, no smears or anything, super shiny taps and fittings too. 

It cleaned the oven effortlessly and I have never seen the glass oven door so shiny, it looks like new, so I will say, 'so far, so good'

Poor Harley was so confused yesterday, he just couldn't work out were the lambs had gone, he kept running in and out, looking around the whole garden, I think he really missed them bless him, so he needed a little more attention. 

Today's cards have been made by our Danielle, she used the papers that she received FREE with the Unicorn die that she was sent to demonstrate a couple of weeks ago, the papers were really lovely and made to work perfectly with the Unicorn die.

Danielle used the 'Herringbone Pattern' technique to create those gorgeous backgrounds, they are absolutely stunning and as Danielle has shown the pattern and papers are so incredible they can be the focal point of the card as well as the background. Popping them onto a Black card base really shows off all of the detail of those papers.

All that Danielle has had to add is a sentiment and a few gem stones.

Thank you so much Danielle, your cards made with Free papers are absolutely stunning. XXX

Today will mostly be spent tidying my craft room, it needs a really good sort out, it looks like a bomb has hit it!  Wish me luck !

Love and hugs to each and everyone of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Another Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you all enjoyed another lovely sunny day yesterday, it was beautiful here, lovely warm and sunny all day.
It was a bittersweet day yesterday as after a lovely day in the garden with the lambs it was our last day as they are now ready to move onto the Big Barn with the other lambs and sheep.  It will be a relief in that there will be no clearing up after them but as I have cared for them since they were tiny newborns fighting for their lives, I handed them back strong, healthy lambs, I shed a few tears as they left and again later that night, Paul went over a couple of times to check on them to reassure me and him that they were settled and safe.

I did get time to go and make a card though, something very different for me and something that I haven't really tried with stamping before.
I wanted to use a Magazine Freebie to fit in with this weeks challenge, so I used the free stamp set that came with Issue 71 of Creative Stamping Magazine,

The stamp set is called Love & laughter and has been designed by Helen Griffin of Simply Made Crafts.

I used three different stamps from this set to create a design on the side of my card, the first thing I did was to make Masks for the stamps so that I could create depth in my design, I think I have tried masking maybe once before, I have some Inkyliscious Mask paper and stamped my stamps onto the paper and fussy cut them.  I stamped the first image onto my card covered it with the mask and then stamped the other stamps around it. 

I used my Stampin Blends to colour the images, and then stamped the sentiment from another Magazine freebie.

I coloured some faceted gems with the Blends and popped them into the centre of the flowers, I put the topper onto an Old Olive card base,  I added some green pearls to finish the card.

I really enjoyed trying something completely different for this card.

I hope you like it too.

Val it was lovely to see you in yesterday I am so sorry that you are in so much pain my lovely, have you been to GP to see if there is anything that you can offer to help by way of treatment rather than more medication, which I think is probably the last thing you want right now.

Sending you huge hugs my sweet friend xxx

Lilian I would definitely think about seeing a private cardiologist as 4-5 months for an urgent appointment is ridiculous, especially as you have been suffering a lot of symptoms and side effects, I think that you have been messed about enough my lovely, fingers crossed you can get an earlier appointment. xxx

Pat, hope you are ok my lovely xxx

The girls and I are having our hair cut this morning at 9am, there was me thinking that maybe I could lie in as I didn't have to get up to see to lambs!! There's always something isn't there?!

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Margaret's Sparkle Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

Well what a beautiful weekend, we were really blessed with the weather,  which makes such a difference, every one just seems so much happier when the sun is shining . Aldi was absolutely packed with people buying BBQ food though, it always makes us laugh, as soon as there is a hint of sunshine there isn't a sausage or burger to be seen in supermarket!!  I personally am not a huge fan if BBQ's they are too much work in my mind, by the time you have prepared all the meat and salads you may as well have cooked a roast dinner!
We do have them on holiday but that's mainly so that we can cook outside.
Do you ladies enjoy a BBQ?

Todays pretty card is Margaret's 'Sparkle Challenge' card that i totally forgot tp include in yesterday's blog, I have no idea how i forgot, i went back 3 times to check that I hadn't missed Val's or Lilian's cards.
It might have been because we have chatted quite a bit since you sent your card photo,  so I didn't notice it as i was browsing through. 
The bonus if being missed is that your card then gets a whole Blog post to itself. It helps me out too as it's a ready made blog post, so an extra thank you for that my lovely xxx

Margaret has used Stampin'Up Designer Series Paper for the background of her card, it has such a pretty hand stitched Butterfly design all over, so detailed and very delicate.  To add 'Sparkle' Margaret has added a piece of pretty blue glitter card behind the patterned paper, it works beautifully with the colours in the paper.
Margaret has die cut her sentiment and edged the die cut with matching ink.
Such a simple, stylish card Margaret, thank you  so much for taking part in the challenge my lovely. XXX

Paul and I were sitting having a cup of tea on Saturday afternoon in the lounge, I heard a bit of an odd noise  that sounded like tapping on glass, so I turned around to see the tiniest of our lambs dancing about on the GLASS patio table, that was luckily covered over, she must have climbed up the covered chairs to get up there, she is by far the most mischievous one of all of them, she likes to be adventurous bless her, she just happens to be the loudest too!

I hope you all have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Challenge cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Some absolutely amazing cards for this week's challenge ladies, you have done an amazing job once again, so let's go and have a look..…...

Brenda 

Brenda has made 2 completely different Challenge cards that both work for this weeks challenge,

I absolutely love the bright and beautiful colours of the first card and that Grand Swirls die is now on my shopping list!!

Ciara's Confirmation card is Exquisite Brenda, it is absolutely full of sparkle with the glitter in the background and the tiny sparkles on that Trellis Die cut, Ciara will love it Brenda.

Here is Brenda's description:

I have used Crafters Companion Gemini Create-a-Card dies for both -

For the First one I used Grande Swirls die and put some multi coloured vellum behind.
It has no sentiment yet as I haven’t got an occasion in mind yet!

For the Second one I used Twinkling Trellis die, it is for Ciara’s Confirmation later this month and still needs a sentiment, but will get that done in good time

Brenda thank you so much for two stunning challenge cards XXX

Lynda

Our Lynda has made two amazing challenge cards for us this week, both cards have absolutely amazing backgrounds. I love both of the dies you have used Lynda, particularly the second one.

Here is Lynda's Description: 

My challenge cards

Added some silk glitter to a piece of double sided sticky sheet rubbing well

Then cut a new die from Wish its lovely to cut & you get a set of free stars.

Next one similar way to do the background using another die from Wish.

Lynda thank you so much, the background on that second card is just beautiful, it looks like a sky scene.  I am so very grateful that you made time to make cards for this weeks challenge as I know that you have been feeling rubbish, struggling with pain and getting used to changes in your medication, you are a true inspiration my lovely XXX

Karen

Karen has managed a very respectable 3 cards for a challenge this week, all using different techniques too. 

Here is Karen's Description:

The HAPPY BIRTHDAY one is caught in crystal using CE crystal tints - yellow citrine, pink topaz, pure amethyst with purple haze Pixie Powders and silver glitter It’s ashame the photo doesn’t show the glitter very well It’s quite sparkly

The second is a card inspired by one I saw shown on Hochanda 

Background is aubergine dream PP mixed with water and “flicked” onto card The butterflies are JL cut in shades of Colour Families by Hunkydory - I’d forgotten what a lovely sheen it has plus for the sparkle some gems

Sentiment = Phill Martin

My third card:

 You inspired me to have another go with my ScanNCut foiling kit 

It’s for a work colleague who loves owls The image is from a TL USB

Karen your cards are all stunning, your 'Caught in Crystal' background is just gorgeous, so bright and vibrant and full of detail and texture, I was hoping to do this technique with Danielle but we ran out of time, hopefully next time.  I love the 'flicked' background effect, it gives fantastic detail without being too much, so that JL's Butterflies are the stars of the card. 

Your foiled Owl is stunning Karen, Emma will love it, I am glad that I inspired you to have another go at foiling with your S & C.

Thank you so much for 3 fabulous cards. XXX

 Michele

Michele made two cards for this weeks challenge, both very different and both fabulous!

Card 1:  Michele used more of the papers from the Making Cards magazine that she used for the other lovely Dog themed cards that I shared on Thursday for the first card, the two strips of 'Bling' down either side of the image give some amazing 'Sparkle' to the card.  

Card 2: Challenge card made using free papers (Making Cards) plus some scraps of gold cards & 4 black gems . 

Thank you so much Michele for two amazing challenge cards, both featuring Making Cards 'Free Papers', you make some amazing cards using 'Magazine Freebies'  which was what inspired next weeks challenge theme! XXX

 Cheryl 

Cheryl has made a lovely card for this weeks challenge using an amazing background, Cheryl has added narrow silver ribbon down either side of that lovely background. The card is finished with that fabulous 'Celebrate You' sentiment.

Thank you so much Cheryl, it's lovely having one of your cards on our display today, I really appreciate you making time to take part my lovely XXX