Thursday Throwback Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Phew what a scorcher!!! Yesterday ended up being just too hot to craft, after Paul left for work I went into my craft room but it was just too hot, I think that the heat exacerbated the symptoms of my AF, I was struggling to breathe comfortably even when sitting.  It's a really warm room, it has too windows on opposite walls that let the sun pour in, there wasn't any breeze coming in the windows either, I went and fetched a fan but that was just recirculating the hot air, so I ended up stripping off and laying on my bed with the fan on me for a couple of hours......Bliss!

So for todays post I have rewound a couple of years (3 to be exact) to share this Hexagon card, it's one of the few cards of mine that I look back on and love, although I do wish I had added a few more flowers to the top right to balance the look a bit more! Oh the luxury of hindsight! 

Here's the Description from that day too:

''I recently had the urge to make different shape cards, to challenge myself and do something different, so I order a set of Sizzix Thinlets Plus Hexagon dies, I then spotted that Sue Wilson's Pacific die range had a Hexagonal theme to so I ordered the Bora Bora die (well and the striped Nasturtiums but that's another story)! The two die sets work perfectly together, so I have been itching to make a card with them, so last night after tea was sorted I retreated to my craft room and the above card is the result. 

I basically used one of the larger Hexagons to die cut a card base (I just use an 8x8 white card), I then cut a blue Matt, then. Slightly smaller white one, I die cut the Bora Bora die background in blue, the detail part in white, another blue frame, the centre from Pat's Tahiti die and then my stamped Sentiment. 

I then cut out my flower box and my glue gun and arranged some flowers on the side and a small spray on the opposite side for balance.

I really hope you like it.''

I think that we will all be having a take it slow day today, please take it easy ladies,

Sending you love and hugs,

Sandra

xxxxxx

My Hexagon Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope you are all managing to stay comfortable in this heat, it is meant to get hotter the next couple of days, it's OK if you don't have to do anything, I guess it's more bearable if you live by the sea as you have the breeze from the sea.

The girls asked me to thank you for your lovely comments on their cards XXX 

Today I am sharing my first 'Shape' challenge card, I chose Hexagons as my shape.

I used a Tim Holtz Background die to create a make shift stencil to create the coloured Hexagon background for my card, I inked through with Fossilized amber Distress Oxide. I then used a couple of the stamps from Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to create the paint splatter and the lines, I used a diagonal stripe stamp and stamped in black ink and then trimmed a piece to sit my sentiment on, I coloured some white card with Fossilized Amber and die cut a scallop piece to add under the diagonal piece.  A couple butterflies and few sparkles finished my card.

I quite like how it turned out, thanks Pinterest for the idea,  my brain was too hot to be creative yesterday! 

My girls are back at work today so it will be a quiet house and lonely lunch for me, hopefully I will get ahead with some Crafting!?

I hope you have a lovely day, stay cool & comfortable!

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra 

xxxxxx 

Lucy's Card For Paul

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all well, did you all have good weather yesterday, it was sunny and warm but quite windy here.

Paul is on lates this week, so we won't be getting much done in the garden, by the time he has walked Harley and had breakfast, watered greenhouse etc it's almost time for him to get ready for work, we are trying something new this week, he is going to take both his lunch and dinner into work with him, he said that he was having his lunch at about 2pm and having to wait until after 9pm for his dinner which was too long and it isn't great eating that late.  So I am having to be super organised and have meals pre-prepared for him to take with him. 

Today I am sharing the card that Lucy made for Paul for Father's Day, I will explain that Paul's car, lovingly named as the 'Red Racer' is the centre of a lot of 'banter' between Paul and the girls, they take great pleasure in trying to wind Paul up about his car, he always has a witty comeback, they have an amazing relationship!

So it seemed only right that one of them immortalised the Red Racer, so that Paul had a reminder long after it has gone.  Lucy cut the shape of the car by hand using a piece of real red card folder in half, she then got a picture of the same car online and printed it out and hand cut ALL of the windows, wheels and every little bit of detail of the trim on the doors etc, it looks amazing and Paul had a huge smile on his face when he opened the card, she wrote the verse on the inside in the style of a 'Used Car Advert'

it was brilliant.

They certainly don't need Mum to help them make cards anymore, I think I will calling on them for ideas in future!

Lucy and Sophie, Dad was absolutely blown away by your Father's Day card, I was too, you are so incredibly creative XXX

I had a right good clear out yesterday, cleared loads of 'bits' off my desk that I have no idea what I was keeping them for, scraps of card etc, I find it helps me think a bit more clearly when I have a clear desk, rather than a small square of of my A3 craft mat with a mountain of craft stuff either side, I filled a bin bag with all the packaging, paper scraps and lord only knows what, I sorted through a couple of overflowing 'Bit Boxes' and thought seriously as to whether I would actually use the odd bits of card that I had been keeping, in truth I haven't used them in the last year so it is unlikely I will use them in the next year! I was going to clear out some magazine free stamp kits but I do actually use them from time to time, so they got a reprieve, for now anyway.  I am a strong believer in 'if you can't see it you don't use it', I keep looking through old stamps etc, I never realised that I had as many as I do, will I ever use them all.  

I feel a 'use some of your original stash' challenge coming soon!!

I hope you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Sophie's Amazing Father's Day card

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend,  we managed to get some garden jobs done, virtually all veg is in now apart from another tray of leeks,  which will go in a deep tub as our soil is way too clumpy for leeks to grow, I'm guessing its because it hasn't been touched in more than ten years so it was fairly solid,  Paul was grateful for his Birthday gift from Matt a couple of years ago, he could not have done that amount of ground with a spade, so the rotavator got a lot of use.  The veg plot has gotten bigger by the week.  I was amazed on Saturday as i was weeding around the various beans we have growing I noticed a French bean, the funny part is the bean was longer than the actual plant itself!! I had a good look through and found enough for us to have a small portion each with our dinner, I can't tell you how different they taste, going from the bush to the plate in less than half hour! 

I have to tell you ladies that I was so immensely proud of both Sophie and Lucy on Saturday, they were both absolutely exhausted after what was one of the busiest two days the park has ever seen, they said that working with plastic gloves, apron and a mask was an absolute nightmare in a small kiosk (basically a wooden shed), they looked totally washed out when they got in, I asked them if they wanted me to help them make there Father's Day cards, they said no, we know exactly what we are going to do, so they had a coffee and a shower and disappeared into my craft room and told us we were banned, I was impressed that they knew where everything was (Even I struggle with that)!

About 2 hours later, they called me in and all I can say is WOW!! They totally balways me away with their skill level. 

I will share Sophie's card with you today, she designed the card using photos of Paul and our children, they have an amazing relationship with their Dad, Paul is a man a few words but I could see he was touched by what she wrote inside, she also added a hilarious pop-op inside the card. The hilarious touch was the price code on the back! 

It's a bitter sweet feeling, having spent years helping them make their Father's Day cards , they now make cards that are better than mine, they have so much inspiration,  they are buzzing with 💡 ideas! 

Paul loved his cards, they also made a menu for him to choose his breakfast,  he opted for freshly made pancakes with freshly picked strawberries 😋 it was a delicious breakfast,  we had a lovely afternoon tea outside, I made some Scones,  we have been experimenting with different recipes, I tried 3 ingredient scones using lemonade last time, we weren't keen, yesterday it was a Mary Berry Recipe,  they were lovely,  with some lovely clotted cream, home grown strawberries or jam.

We then had a lovely family walk and finished the day off with Paul's favourite....Steak &Chips, garlic mushrooms,  Onion Rings and peas! 

I hope that you all have a lovely day today,

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Festive TicTacToe Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies, 

Welcome to your favourite day of the week, it's my favourite as I get to share your amazing designs. 

I know that Christmas is just about 3 days short of being 6 month away but we do need to make a start on the cards as its the one occasion that we send 20/30 + cards, although I do buy some cards now for people that don't really understand the time and love that goes into hand making a card, which helps.  I hope that you enjoyed the challenge,  I know I did.

Here are your amazing Challenge cards....

Brenda

Brenda has created the only Birthday card of this weeks challenge and I love it ! Such a lovely design and I really like that embossing folder! 

Brenda's Description:

I picked Blue, White and dry embossing
The EF I used is from Crafter’s Companion - can’t remember what it’s called.
I cut strips of card in my chosen colours, sellotaping them together then embossed the joined together card.
In wrapped some twine around covering the joins (ribbon looked naff)
Cut a few flowers using Tim Holtz dies then added a sentiment."

Thanks so much Brenda, I really love your card XXX

Karen

Karen has used one of Sue Wilson’s original Festive dies,  I love this one, I can't remember if I have it or whether I used Pat's,  either way I really love it. Especially in this colour way!

Karen's Description:

"Here’s a cc which covers quite a few of the tic tac toe 

White - Snow - Dry embossing 

Blue -White - Dry embossing etc etc

SW die cut and embossing folder"

Thanks Karen, such a fantastic Christmas card XXX

Michele 

Two fantastic Christmas cards from Michele for this weeks challenge. 

Michele's Description:

2 challenge cards. First one made using a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (snowflake)+ gems. Blue/embossing /snow . Second card made using a topper from Hunky-dory Festive furry Friends book. Snow/white/ribbon (on the presents) which is cheating a bit but I lost my enthusiasm last night!

Thanks so much Michele for two lovely Challenge cards XXX 

Sonia

Sonia has designed some amazing Christmas cards for this weeks Festive TicTacToe Challenge, I really love the wreath design of the first card, the cours you have used are just perfect,  such a lovely red. 

A lovely snowflake themed card , that paper is lovely and perfect for that style of card.

Now onto the third card, I love this design Sonia, so different,  I really love how you have left it black and white too, a perfect clean and simple card.  

Sonia's Description:

My first card is red and green. I used the Memory Box Catalina Wreath die, and Britannia Dies poinsettia. The sentiment is from LOTV.
My second card is dry embossing, snow and blue. The main snowflake is the Crystal Snowflake from Britannia Dies, the others are from a couple of Memory Box dies. The sentiment is from Inkylicious.
My third card is clean and simple. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I got the stamp from, but found it whilst rummaging through my Christmas stash. I also can’t remember where the star die is from but it came in a set and think I bought it from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is from LOTV

Thanks so much Sonia for your amazing Challenge cards XXX 

Cheryl 

Cheryl rediscovered an old Hunkydory Christmas Card Kit and used it to create her challenge card, I had a couple of their kits, they are lovely quality and I love the style of yours Cheryl. The good thing about them was that you got everything you needed apart from adhesive,  so you could get on with some batch card making.

I really like the different colour of these particular cards

Categories: Snow/Decorative papers/Red &Green

Janet 

Janet has pulled out all the stops for this weeks challenge, making two lovely cards and a beautiful cracker style gift box.

I have the same magazine freebie that you used for your first card Janet,  it stamps really well, I used it on vellum too and it gave a great image.

Your second card would really make someone's day and that gift box is just stunning! 

Janet's Description:

My first card this week was made using stamps which were free with a C.mag a couple of years ago (I think).

I used Red/Green/coloured with markers/White

My second card I made using a die which was free with Tonic's C.mag last year.

I used Red/Green/Clean and Simple

For  my last offering this week I made the cracker using a Tonic die bought a couple of years ago.

I used blue/'White/Ribbon"

Thank you so much Janet for your amazing projects for this weeks challenge. 

Maria

Three amazing Christmas cards from Maria for our Festive TicTacToe Challenge this week.

Maria's first card is a traditional Santa decoupage, such a lovely design.

Maria's second card is made with some lovely special effect paper, giving a lovely snowy look to the card.

Maria's third and final card is made with an absolutely gorgeous Decorative paper, those little robins are so cute, Maria has finished the card with a pretty ribbon and a lovely foiled tag.

The categories Maria used are:

Papers/ Green-Red/ Snow

Snowflake/ Embossed/ Blue

Ribbon/ Red-Green/ Paper

Thank you so much Maria, your cards are so lovely XXX

Lilian 

Lilian has used one of Sue Wilson’s Stained glass effect dies for her card for this weeks Challenge.

Lilian has coloured the image with pens and then added glossy accents(I think) to give the real stained glass effect.

Lilian used Categories: 

Red&Green/Coloured with pens/Sparkle

Thanks so much Lilian for such a lovely Challenge card XXX

**************

Thanks so much Ladies, I know it seend odd to be making Christmas cards on a a warm June day, you have made some incredible challenge cards.

I hope that you all have an enjoyable Sunday,  we will be making sure that Paul has an amazing,  relaxing day! 

Sending love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday featuring Michele's Magazine Review

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Fingers crossed we are expecting good weather today, low twenties and only slight risk of a shower,  which is a good thing as the lawn has grown about 4 inches with all the rain we had. 

I have to say that when we went out into the garden to 'Survey the damage' that the torrential rain had caused we were actually shocked at how much things had grown!! We popped out to have a quick look on Thursday wben Paul watered greenhouse and summerhouse but we were standing there gobsmacked,  some of the beans had grown s good few inches up the canes, onions 🌰 look like they have doubled in size, it's crazy what a good days rain can do. The sad part is our roses and Philadelphius (mock orange) have been battered, with most of the beautiful fragranced Blossom laying on the ground, we were only saying on Tuesday afternoon how delightful it was to sit at the patio table and be able to smell the lovely scent, its similar to the scent of the lilac.

Now on to today's post...

Karen

Our Karen has Crocheted herself a "Mini-Me", the likeness is uncanny! In fact Karen shared it with me a couple of weeks ago, unfinished and I knew straight away that it was her. You have captured your features brilliantly Karen, I can see you will be inundated with requests for these.

Karen used the Kerry Lord book, 'Edwards Crochet Doll Emporium '

I love it Karen, they would make great gifts. Thanks for sharing XXX

Lilian 

Lilian treated herself to this absolutely gorgeous Stamperia Collection last week,  I can totally see why you couldn't resist it Lilian,  I love everything about it, those beautiful images , so vintage, the colours are just beautiful too.

I can't wait to see what you make with it, that's if you can bare to use it! 

Thanks ao much for sharing your shopping with us xxx

Michele's Magazine Review 

Hi Ladies, 

Papercraft Essentials has a really versatile free gift this month, as you’ll see from the next few photos.

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

First of 4 pictures showing some ideas using the free gift.

2nd photo.

Another feature using the free gift.

2nd photo.

Very interesting article on layered stamping.

Great article on shapes cards.

That’s all for this week
Happy Crafting

Love Michele 

Thanks Michele for a great Magazine Review,  I think everyone will be relieved to have you back in the hot seat!! Some great inspiration in this issue, I xan see you getting lots of use out of that free gift. I really love the Gardening themed cards, they would be perfect for so many people, male and female alike!

The feature on layering is an interesting one and I love those Rocker cards, they would be great for this weeks challenge. 

Thanks again Michele for your time and effort XXX

That's all for today Ladies, I hope you have a lovely weekend,  I hope the weather is kind to you too, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Good Morning Ladies,

Well it's Friday again, it's been a funny week, the girls went back to work yesterday so the house felt really quiet, which is not my favourite, they were both a little bit anxious about going back but the Wildlife park seems to be taking all the precautions that they can, they are limiting numbers to 30% of full capacity to ensure safety for all. They will both be exhausted when they come  home. It will do them good to get out and socialize with their colleagues and friends.

It rained the whole night and pretty much all day, really heavy rain too, great for the garden but I am fully expecting that there is going to be a lot of local flooding, we must have had a months rain in one day. I hope that all of you  stayed safe and dry.

Next Weeks Challenge

One or two of you have mentioned doing a Shape challenge, various shapes have been requested so I thought that I would set the challenge as " Any Shape Challenge" 

Basically you can choose any shape that you like and make your challenge cards using that shape as the theme.

You can use the shape as....

The overall shape of the card

An aperture, so any shaped aperture

You can use your chosen shape as the feature of your background

You can use die cuts of your chosen shapes too.

I have added a few cards above that show different uses of shapes in card making.

I hope that you all enjoy this challenge, I can't wait to see your cards.

******************************

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, I also hope that this rain hasn't caused you any problems.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx