Your Circle Challenge Cards

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Well wasn't it breezy yesterday?! We had intermittent heavy showers too, which made gardening tricky, fortunately most of my jobs could be done inside,  potting on Cauliflower,  Sprouts,  Purle Broccoli,  marigolds etc.  Paul managed to dig over the extra veg patch in preparation for planting out our Cauliflower,  cabbage and broccoli.
The house is so quiet without the girls here, it seems odd as there is no background noise. They are having a lovely time on their own, they have been sharing their cooking with us, it's  lovely seeing them be so independent, actually they have gained a lot more cooking experience since they have been at home during lockdown.
Sophie is a lot more experimental with herbs and spices, lucy prefers baking.

Anyway you have all come to look at some amazing Challenge cards  so here we go....

Sonia

Sonia has made two amazing cards for our Circle Themed Challenge. The first is a brilliant Man card and the second is a beautiful Thank you  card.

Sonia's Description:

"Here are my challenge cards

The first one I made for my Nephew’s Birthday. I stamped the grid background, and cut random sized circles and added the die cut guitars. Stamped the stars and added the sentiment.
For my second card I used some of the backgrounds I’d created with my Gel plate.
Again I cut the different sized circles, butterfly and pierced flag. The sentiment is LOTV."

Thanks so much Sonia for two stunning Challenge cards. XXX 

Sue

Sue has made a lovely romantic card for our Circle Challenge this week.

I love that die Sue, it's a great one for creating Anniversary or Valentine's for Men as it features tje 'Love' element without being too Fussy & fancy.
Thank you so much Sue for taking part in this week's Challenge.  XXX

Janet

Janet has created 3 beautiful Challenge cards that all feature circles in different forms.

The first card features a beautiful stamped image of a girl with a gorgeous dress that Janet has coloured perfectly.   The second card features a pretty dressform image, I love that dress! The last card features a Tonic die cut, it looms very 60's in style, that pretty background paper really enhances the die cut.

Janet's Description:

"1.My first CC is a Crafter's Companion stamp and I used Spectrum Noir pens to colour the image.

2. My second CC is made using a CD from Dolly Dimples called 'Dazzling Dresses'. the little flower and butterfly I made from air dry clay.

3. My last card for this week is made using a Tonic Die and the backing paper is from Phill Martin.

Thank you Janet for creating 3 stunning cards for this weeks Challenge XXX 

Pat

Pat has shared 4 stunning Groovi Challenge cards, the first two amazing cards are projects that Pat has created from the Groovi 'Shac' workshop that Clarity shares every Friday.

I love all four of your cards Pat, thank you so much for sharing them with us XXX

Karen

Karen's Circle themed Challenge card was made using the Honey Doo 'Encircle' Background die, I love the contrast between that lovely background paper and the white die cut that highlights different parts of that background paper.

Karen's Description:

"Here’s a cc for you 

It’s one of the die cuts you sent me with a Clarity Rainbow River 8x8 paper - it reminded me of bubbles! And that SW Happy Birthday die"

A lovely fun card, love that background,  thanks so much for taking part Karen XXX

Michele 

Wow Michele I love both of your Circle Challenge cards for this week, I have to say though that the second card is one of your most beautiful cards ever! 

Michele's Description:

"Two old cards for this week's Challenge. 

First card made using a magazine freebie. Second card made using the well used Stamping Up set of Dies = Swirly scribbles."

Thank you so much Michele for two gorgeous Challenge cards XXX 

Maria

Three beautiful cards from Maria for our Circle Challenge this week. 

The image on your first card is just adorable Maria, adding the fern leaves really embellishes the main image, making the scalloped circle look like a flower. The image reminds me of 'Victoria Plum' which was around many years ago.

Your second and third card feature such soft, sweet colours, I love them both.

Maria's Description:

"1- sweet circle image sat on a another? circle with some fern from

magazine and a happy birthday greeting.

2- easy card with nine circles from a pack of papers I had for ever

and never used. Not sure for who therefore no sentiment yet.

3- Bokah circle card made for a special friend   used oxide inks

 for the background"

Thank you so much Maria for 3 gorgeous Challenge cards XXX 

 Lilian 

Lilian has made a very modern, mixed media style card for our Circle Challenge.

The cards background has been made using TracyEvans Circle Mask and a Circle stamp.

The focal elements feature Lilian's favourite 'Stamperia' Papers.

I love this card Lilian, thank you so much for tsking part in the Challenge XXX

Thank you all so much fot another incredible display  of Challenge cards Ladies, I appreciate every minute that you put into making them. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend  

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday Featuring Michele's Magazine Review

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and enjoying the weekend, it's a bit blustery here but the sun is definitely trying to shine!
Paul and I have a lovely peaceful weekend on our own, we have lots of garden jobs to do though, they will be a bit easier without the hot sun beating down on us. My jobs are potting on and  sowing more sweetcorn and beans & peas, were are sowing in intervals so that we don't get everything ready at the same time.
What are you all up to this weekend??
Oh I have  Tracy Evans workshop too!

Let's see what you have been sharing ....

Janet

Janet has ahared her latest Beaded project with us, it is beautiful Janet  so colourful and I bet it comes to life when it catches the light too, I haven't seen anything like this before, I love it, it's geeat to try different types of crafting.

Janet's Description:
"I have also attached my latest piece of bead art.

The Company who produces these kits is AM CRAFTS LTD.

It is Mini Artcrafts - Mandala Series 5.

It is a kit I bought sometime last year. It was the first time I had seen this Company and thought it might just be a little different. I have to say I really enjoyed the kit."

Thank you so much Janet for sharing your beautiful bead work XXX

Karen

Karen has shared some Cross Stitch Samplers that she made for her Sister in law and Husband,  the show different seasons and the clothes are cleverly stitched to match. They must have taken ages, what an incredible gift to give someone.

Karen's Description:

Here’s some of my cross stitch
For 4 years running these were gifts for my sister in law and husband The characters do reflect them and the clothes they wore They had them hanging in the kitchen and when they had their extension built she returned them to me to re frame them etc I totally forgot all about them (she probably has too!) until OH started doing a clear out
The borders are straight but some how haven’t photographed very well.
The Book I used and can't find is by Jo Verso

Thank you so much Karen for sharing these lovely gifts with us.XXX

**********

Hi Ladies,

The magazine being reviewed is a brand new Box set from Altenew

Here’s some ideas of what’s inside the magazine.

This is a close up of everything in the box set.

First of many features using the contents of this magazine.

More ideas, nice as it’s not just cards.

Even more ideas.

This article shows a few modern styles.

Interesting feature on Watercolours.

Simple cards on display here.

This article makes the flowers the main feature on the card.

More ideas.

Different ideas again in this article.

Lovely spring colours used here.

Nice gift tag with in-depth instructions.

Bright, bold colour used on these cards.

Some card ideas for Men, always useful.

That’s all for this week, lots of these ideas could be adapted so you can use what’s already in your stash.

Happy Crafting

Love Michele

Sent from my iPhone

WOW Michele, what a fantastic review of a lovely Magazine, you know everything will be great quality with it being Altenew! I am very tempted to buy this one, I love all of the inspiration too.
Thanks so much Michele for another fantastic review XXX

Michele 

Michele spent some of her Birthday Money on some new Dies, a great choice there Michele, the Family dies are Brilliant and Ovals are also useful,  those grape vine dies will go great with the other wine dies you have. I could definitely use the Belated Birthday Wishes die, this one is lovely with all the extra twirls and curls.

I look forward to seeing you using them, thanks so much for sharing XXX

********

I hope you all enjoy your weekend, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Your Next Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

Here we are at the end of another week, it hardly seems five minutes since we were welcoming in the first day of May and here we are  just a week away from June, it's a bit unsettling to be honest as we have a lot of changes coming in June as a Country and I for one am more than a little worried, I have convinced myself that we are heading for a second lockdown as there are so many people out there that are already taking huge risks, the news showed photos of packed beaches and beauty spots, it just horrifies me that people are so thoughtless, we are all patiently waiting to see our family and friends and these idiots are jeopardising that, it makes me so angry !  Paul's parents home town of Brixham was really busy and in that tiny town it's virtually impossible to be 2 metres apart from somebody, which makes it too risky for the local residents that have to be careful to go out and do the things that they need to do. Rant over !!

Your Next Challenge

For your next challenge ladies I would like you to use Dies to create the background to your cards.
It can be any style, any theme, any shape or size
You can use one big Background Die or Small dies cut several times to create the background, for instance you could die cut flowers and arrange them as the background for your card.
I have given you a variety of cards that have used dies to create the background, I hope that helps you a little, I will of course add more inspiration as we go along.
I hope you enjoy the challenge Ladies xx

We had a quiet day yesterday as I was pretty much tied to my craft room chair for a couple of days I wanted to be outside.  We had a lovely family walk on Wednesday evening, the girls and I joined Paul when he walked Harley, it was so lovely to be out in the country side.

Paul and I have a very quiet weekend as the girls are going to stay at Becca's to Dog sit for a couple of days, it will be strange as the girls have been here constantly since the start of lockdown, it will be nice to just cook for two for a couple of nights!!

I hope that you all enjoy the weekend,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx