My First 'Man' card for this weeks Challenge

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you all had a good weekend,  I was absolutely delighted to wake up to a Winter Wonderland. 

It looked so beautiful,  it always seems so quiet and peaceful after or during a snow storm adding to it's tranquility. It had started to melt by midafternoon sadly, it will be a nightmare tomorrow as it's going to freeze overnight so the melting snow will be solid ice, luckily we don't have to go anywhere. 

We had a lovely relaxed weekend,  I did some Crafting, Paul was working on the planting layout for the vegetable plot. The girls went for a walk i  the snow, they were so excited to get out in the snow which really warmed my heart ❤ 

Today's card is my first Card for our 'Man' card Challenge.  The Silhouette Sports figures were part of the magazine freebies in Creative Stamping Magazine.  

There are some good stamps in these two sets, there are also some good techniques inside. 

I stamped three of the sportsmen in Black onto Basic Grey card and die cut then with my StampinUp Triangle dies,  I arranged the triangles to form a square which I matted onto Black card, then grey and then onto a Black card base. 

I created the scarf sentiment from the stamp set, using small scissors to create the loose tassels on the end of the scarf.  I found a small Happy Birthday and stamped that and punched it out and matted it onto a piece of black card. I raised both sentiments on foam pads to let them stand out from the background.  

I hope you like it xxx

I hope you all manage to stay dry, warm and safe today, 

Love and hugs to all of the, 

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Your One Sheet Wonder Challenge Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Hello my lovelies from a very chilly Wiltshire, this past two days have been so cold, yesterday was much brighter though, seeing sunshine really does make such a difference to the day.  I am already really looking forward to being able to peg out all of the washing and getting it dry in the fresh air, especially bedding!  It's the simple things that make us happy.  

Now I won't hold you up any longer.........here are your AMAZING 'One Sheet Wonder' Challenge cards.......

Lilian

Lilian decided to get a start on Christmas cards for our One Sheet Wonder Challenge this week, I have to say that the papers you have used are beautiful and work perfectly with all the embellishments that you have chosen.

Lilian's Description :

"I used Stamperia paper 8x8 cut down to size, dies, stencil and stamps from a box mag that I bought in the sale from craft stash, made by Chloe. I used faded jeans oxide ink."

Thank you so much Lilian for taking part and creating 4 beautiful Christmas cards, just think if you made 4 every month you would have 44 cards by the end of November, how organised would we all feel if we managed that?! XXX

Karen

Karen also went for Christmas for the 'One Sheet Wonder' Challenge cards, very similar in colour to Lilian's Challenge cards, although the overall look is completely different.  I really love that snowflake design paper you have used Karen, I will say how impressed I am that the embossed background you have made, when I was designing my cards I tried using an embossing folder for my background but it looked too much, yours work perfectly though.  

Karen's Description:

"A mixture of Spellbinder Tattered Lace Sue W and a freebie die Bargain bucket EF’s The tiny bit of stamping is a JL sentiment in Tumbled Glass DO with clear embossing powder the paper pad is from Works or The Range Slightly shy of 6” so my strips are slightly less than 2” wide"

Thank you so much Karen for 4 amazing challenge cards, this challenge has made me decide that these 'One Sheet Wonder' challenges are a great way to create a lot of cards in one sitting, so if you gethered all of your chosen papers, matching embellishments, ribbons etc and just sat and made the cards you could create quite a pile in no time, using your papers up too.  I have done a 12 x 12 one before and made about 12 cards I think, so if you did that 3 or 4 times a year you would really get ahead with your 'c' cards.  Thanks again my lovely XXX

Michele

Michele has created some beautiful cards, both 'Happy Birthday' and 'Just Because' which are handy to have ready to send to someone just to let them know you are thinking of them.  That beautiful floral paper that you have used Michele really works for these smaller card designs, I think it's so pretty. Cutting the longer strip into three was a clever design twist too, its surprising how many variations you could make with one 6x6 inch piece of paper.

Michele's Description:

"My 4 challenge cards. I’ve tweaked the long strip into 3 squares as I was struggling with that piece. Think the square “just because” one need something else but not sure what!

Here is what I used to create my cards.....

Thank you so much Michele for taking part in this weeks challenge, it looks like you really enjoyed the challenge, your cards are beautiful . XXX

Janet

Janet cleverly created 4 different cards for 4 different occasions for our ''One Sheet Wonder' Challenge this week. One totally BRILLIANT idea that Janet used was 'peel offs' !!  Whether using them to finish off an edge like in the Birthday card, where the peel offs mimic a mat of silver mirror card or to add design detail like Janet has in the 2nd card(thinking of you) and the one that caught my eye straight away...the Christmas card (3), adding those peel off borders has enabled Janet to make a much bigger card with the smallest piece of the 6x6 paper. I think I may have passed all of my peel off's on when I decluttered before we moved here, I am kind of regretting it now.

Janet's Description:

"For the 'One piece Wonder6x6' I found a piece in my 'scrap' drawer.I think it came from a pad called 'Bohemien'.

The backing papers are from 'Chocolate Baroque' and all the decorations are from LaBlanche and Tonic."

Janet thank you so much for taking part and creating 4 amazing cards, you have really inspired me this week, I am almost tempted to buy some peel off's.  I thought I had kept some of the Pinflair Flexible border peel off's for decorating box lids etc but as always I couldn't find them when I wanted them. I wonder if 'Princess Pinflair' still sells them?! XXX

Sonia

Oh Sonia your 'One Sheet Wonder'' challenge cards are cute and adorable, I really love those cute Snowmen! I also love you colour theme, it works perfectly with the 'snow' theme. Adding the glitter card adds some sparkle and shine to your cards as well as extending the paper a little bit.                Now even though you have used the same dies for your second set of cards they look quite different, you can't beat a 'Lotv' topper for cuteness, the pugs are just so cute and so is that gorgeous owl!  I REALLY love that circular sentiment die that you bought, it's really hard to find decent circular sentiment dies. 

Sonia's Description:

"For the first four cards I’ve used snowman images purchased from The Lovely Studio. I’ve used my new Merry Christmas circle die from My Favourite Things, Sue Wilson’s snowflake border and Memory Box snowflake dies. The next four cards use LOTV images and the same dies. The patterned papers are from my stash - possibly by Trimcraft."

Thank you so much Sonia for 8 amazing challenge cards, your cards are so inspirational, you have also made a great start to your Christmas card collection.  I really look forward to seeing your 8x8 and 12x12 One sheet wonders. XXX

Maria

Ooh Maria I really love the colour theme of your challenge cards this week, that purple is so pretty and you have added the perfect shades to go with it.  Like Sonia you have some really cute little toppers in your stash.  Your 'Get Well' card is so lovely and would brighten anyone's day, that is something we all need right now. The adorable Hedgehog Birthday card is also lovely, I love that darker shade of purple, it works perfectly with your patterned paper, the vertical sentiment works brilliantly too.  The second Birthday card is lovely, clever way of using the silver die cuts to extend that tiny piece of card to make a perfect square card.  Finally your 'sending warm wishes' card, I love how you have used the ribbon to finish the piece of decorative paper, the colour works so well too.

Maria's Description:

Maria I know that you haven't had a great week, so the fact that you have created 4 absolutely amazing challenge cards really touched my heart, thank you so much my lovely for pushing yourself into taking part in this weeks challenge.  I hope that you feel a little better next week. XXX

Brenda

Oh Brenda I love, love, love the colour of your challenge cards, it looks like a subtle 'sage' green in the picture, the colour green plain card that you chose to accompany your patterned paper works so well with the patterned paper, the green matches perfectly.  I love all four of your designs and the way that you have embellished them all, from that circular die cut sentiment on the first card to the beautiful border that you created for your second card (those tiny flowers and foliage are just perfect)!  I have to say that you get the prize for 'genius design idea' this week though......using the triangle of decorative paper as a Vase is simple genius and really works, such a clever idea, thank you for the inspiration.

Brenda's Description:

"The paper is from a pad of 6 x 6 from First Editions and is called Isabelle, There are some really lovely patterns in this pad. I’ve had it for several years, this particular pattern is one of the plainest but I think it works for the challenge,  I’m not sure about the last card I made the brownish one wanted to do something different !!"

Thank you so much Brenda for four amazing cards, I am so grateful to you for taking part each week. XXX

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

Ladies thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge, I know it was something totally different for you to have a go at, it looks as though you all enjoyed the challenge though, please let me know if you would like to do another one, we could have a go at 8x8 and 12 x12 inch One Sheet wonder cards too. 

I hope that you have a relaxed sunday my lovelies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and having a relaxed weekend.   Not much happening here, it will be nice to not see Paul with his hands on the keyboard of his computer,  bless him he has worked so many hours this week. So I am going to make sure he only does 'fun' things.  

Maria has discovered the joy of Diamond Painting, just look at the incredible Wolf scene (above). They look so majestic.  I bet it was tricky with all the Grey and Black. Its stunning Maria, I bet it will look amazing in a frame.   Thank you so much for sharing your Painting with us. XXX

Michele's Magazine Review 

Hi Ladies,

Papercraft Essentials has a lovely patchwork cardmaking kit free this month.

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

This is the pull out feature using the free gift-so many ideas & projects.

Here’s some inspiration on covering a diary. This could also be used on a plain notebook.

Free downloads-such cute cards!

Ideas using a mandala design & bright colours.

How to create your own background using alcohol inks, aren’t they stunning?

Some lovely ideas & inspiration using Glacier paste.

How to get more use out of your basic shapes dies.

More ideas.

Great inspiration for men’s cards, I’m sure we’ve all got stamps or toppers that we could use to recreate cards like this.

More ideas.

That’s all for now so
Happy Crafting

Love Michele

Thank you so much Michele for another great Magazine Review.  So many great ideas and features. XXX 

Karen

Karen couldn't resist one of Tracy Evans latest stamp sets and I can see why, I love the vintage style of the images, Tracy is an amazing stamp artist, I can't wait to see what you create. Thank you for sharing your shopping XXX 

Michele 

Michele used for £50 voucher that she won for her Magazine feature last year, she got all of these dies for £3.11 plus the Voucher!! So ladies it is worth sharing your makes in magazines.  What an incredible haul,  thank you so much for sharing your prize with us! XXX 

That's all for today ladles, I hope you all have a good weekend. 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

It's Friday once again, this week has absolutely whizzed by, maybe because I have spent most of it on the phone, trying to finalise everything with Mum's Estate.  Paul has been extremely busy too so we have hardly seen him!  So it will be nice to relax at the weekend. I would ask if any of you had plans but as we are all locked down there is little point.  I think that we are all becoming experts at making the most of it now though.  It will be a shock when we can leave the house.  My only real regret is that the Lockdown is holding up us being able to sort out Mum's grave, I was torn between just getting my sisters to do it as they are more local or waiting until it is possible for us to travel.  My brother was telling me not to take the risk when it comes to travelling, there is a little Estuary not far from Mum's called Mersea (famous for its oysters) the police were in the local car parks there scanning peoples car registration and anyone that didn't live on the Island was issued a hefty fine, which I totally agree with, if they were as strict as that with everything else we might not be in the position we are, I noticed last night that anyone caught at a House Party of any kind is going to risk an £800 fine too.

Your Next challenge

Ladies, I would love you to create some cards for those pesky men folk!  Not something that we all find easy but I do believe that there are more choices out there today than we have had available in the past.  Thankfully stamp and die companies have come to realise that Men are interested in more things than Beer and Football.  You have all absolutely aced this Challenge a couple of times before so I am really excited to see what you create this time.

I hope that you all have a lovely Friday and weekend, please stay safe,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                        xxxxxx

The last of my 'One Sheet Wonder ' cards

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies,

Well fingers crossed Mums house gets handed over to it's new owners today, so that will be one less thing to worry about when the weather is stormy.  My Mum also insisted on keeping a meter that you top up with a card before that it was a coin meter, she said that she always knew it was paid and that she wasn't owing anything, for us though it has been a pain as you need to keep the card topped up because if the electric ran out the heating wouldn't work either and the last thing we need is burst pipes. So I will be relieved when they have the keys.  I hope they get to make some lovely memories in that house as we did in the 50 years we called it home.

The storm rages on here or the tail end of it anyway, really strong gusty wind and rain all day, so I guess the floods will return.  My heart really does go out to anyone who's home is affected by floods, storm Christoph really does seem to be causing misery around the UK, I hope that you, my lovely friends have all avoided the worst of it.  As if we don't all have enough to deal with right now.

Today I am sharing the last two cards of the four I made using just on sheet of 6x6 patterned paper. Again I have just kept the embellishment simple, letting the pretty paper shine.  The first card I used a little card from the matching 'Memories & More' pack that matched the papers, I used an oval die to cut if out But I fussy cut around those two leaves otherwise they would have been chopped off by the die, this way they still remain and complete the image, I like the effect it gives to the overall image.

The second card I just die cut the 'Thank you ever so much' sentiment and matted it onto a matching background, I kind of like the simplicity, the paper itself is quite busy so having the white space really works.

I hope you like them and I am really looking forward to seeing yours.

Well it barely seems possible that we are at the end of another week tomorrow, after which we will be in the last weeks of January !!  Where did it go?  I barely seems like a couple of days since we were taking the Christmas tree down!!

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend (well as lovely as it can be),

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

2 Pretty Cards from Cheryl

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you all stayed safe and that Christoph didn't cause you any damage.  I think it missed us but the wind was extremely strong late afternoon and early evening yesterday, we had a fair bit of rain too, so I guess the Thames will break its banks for the 3rd time this year, the poor farmers must tear their hair out, although I will say that the crop that he had in the fields that ran along side the river looked like they did really well last year, so maybe it doesn't cause too much damage.  One thing that does surprise me is the amount of little left behind after the floods have gone, the drains and ditches along side the roads are full of cans and bottles and drink cups, it looks so awful.  We are actually having a real problem with 'Fly Tipping in our village, there is a layby that is just at the entrance to the village and when Lucy took me for a test drive in her new car the other day some lazy swine had dumped about 20 or more black bin liners full of rubbish, they were both in the ditch and on the verges, I have suggested putting a sign up saying that there is a camera (even though there isn't) hopefully the thought of the huge fine and thought of being caught might stop them, they will probably just take it somewhere else.  Rant Warning:  If our Council didn't make it so awkward to book a slot at the Waste Recycling Centre (Tip as we call it), you have to take evidence that you live in the area a book a particular spot etc, if people could just pitch up and drop off they might be less likely to drop it in laybys, I mean if you have it bagged up and in your car you are half way there!  (rant over)!

Today's cards were designed by Cheryl, the cards were made with leftover bits of backing card that Cheryl used for her last Challenge card.  I have to say Cheryl it is a really pretty design.  Cheryl has used toppers that look like they are actually stitched, I love the muted colours and the designs are so beautiful Cheryl.

Thank you so much for sharing them with us XXX

Ladies I hope that 'Christoph' misses your area and you stay dry and safe,

Sending love and hugs your way,

Sandra

xxxxxx

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all well, it was a bit of a grey and drab start to the week, roll on brighter, warmer days of Spring,  it will make Lockdown a little bit more bearable if nothing else, I remember last Spring was a real delight, with lots of warm sunshine, we can dream!! 

I spent kost if yesterday trying to organise Mum's Head stone and a date to place her ashes in her chosen plot, as with everything Lockdown plays a factor,  not for the chap that prepares the plot but for us travelling a long distance to get there, I'm not sure if it's considered a good enough reason to travel.  

Today's cards are two of the 4 that I made as part of my 6 x 6 One sheet wonder Challenge on Friday.

I stamped a simple sentiment and die cut with Oval dies, I wanted to keep the embellishment simple as the lovely lace borders are beautiful enough to take centre stage.                                                                     The second card I kept even more simple by just stamping 'Just a Note' in bottom corner, leaving the pretty papers and borders to shine. 

I hope you like them. 

I hope that the sun shines wherever you are today,  please stay safe my lovelies. 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx