Mixed-up Saturday

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

From a VERY cold Wiltshire,  Omg I cannot remember being this cold, I spent every moment that I wasn't doing anything under my duvet, this house is a nightmare to heat effectively,  we want to light the fire as that makes a huge difference but the last two times that we had it on Sophie (who's bedroom is above the lounge) complained about the smell of smoke in her bedroom,  it appears to be coming from inside her wardrobe which is on the chimney wall, so we haven't used it since in case it caused carbon monoxide fumes or something,  we mentioned it to landlord but he just said it was probably the wood we were burning,  which was nonsense as the logs were kiln dried logs for open fires, I suggested to Paul that we get the chimney sweep to check it out for us but he said it wasn't worth it because even if there was a fault Mr S wouldn't pay to have it fixed, he would just say , Don’t the fire!  I would love a log burner 😍

Now I'm not sure if I have shared the quote above before, it made me laugh to myself as I have said this to the girls before, it reminds me of the other quote that says something about your husband finding out the true cost of your craft stash after you'd gone, rather than the 'bargain price' you told him!! 😉 🤣!!  Having said that I so lucky in that Paul has never questioned how much any craft items cost, he may occasionally roll his eyes though!  🙄😉!  I always discuss any large craft buys though. 

Diecutting Essentials 

Issue 97

It's such a nice change to have a magazine without Christmas cards!    This Issue of Diecutting Essentials features all things 'Spring Flowers'!  The free gift is a pretty Floral Wreath and some nice stamps that work with the wreath or could be used independently.  The Die is Memory Box die so will be really good quality .

The first article shares some really pretty cards that are all made using the free gift.  Some lovely card designs, I like the circular one a lot,  I would use different colours though.

Now these cards are made with lovely Spring Colours, they are apparently 'Eclipse ' cards, however they aren't what I would call 'Eclipse cards' I think that they use different methods to create the raised (eclipse) pieces, some have stamped pieces that are coloured to match the base card exactly.  Either way they look fun, if it makes it easier for people to acheive then I'm all for it. 

I absolutely love both of the featured cards,  so much so that I going straight to find the Tim Holtz embossing folder!  They would make great cards for men, you could even create personalised versions. What do you think?? 

These cards have all been made with 'Die cut Inlay Backgrounds'  using dies to create embossing which gives a lovely detailed background. I do like Merry Christmas die used on those last two cards. 

This is the die set in case you like it as much as I do! Hopefully it will be in the Sale in new year! 

I don't really make cards for New Year celebrations but I do like some of these fun ideas for New Year Gift wrapping.

Noe Ladies,  I am 100 % going to have a play with this technique,  it's not stained glass like the Sue Wilson die's created, this particular technique seems to focus more on the metallic borders around the srained glass...

I have tried to zoom in on this card to show the 'faux metallic ' lines, the thick metallic look is created by embossing the die cuts with silver embossing powder and heat setting, you can repeat until you get your desired thickness.  

We will all have a die that we can have a go with!! 

Finally these cards are all made using a combination of the Free Dies,  Stamps and Downloaded papers.  There are some really pretty designs here, the free papers are really pretty, I am sure we all have equally beautiful papers in our stash too.  

A good edition of the magazine to finish the year, I have enjoyed having this pop through the letterbox every month, especially if you are needing a little inspiration, beyond the free dies there are some great technique tutorials too, I really like the ones that encourage you to more use out of your dies .

I hope that you all have a super Saturday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Thank Goodness its Friday

 

Goood Friday Morning Ladies,

OMG What a week that was!! I am for sure glad that it is Friday, this week feels like it has been mostly cleaning and waiting, waiting for Paul to come home or waiting for the lady to turn up on Wednesday, you will laugh at this, the girls were both off work on Wednesday and came down at around 10am for breakfast, by which time the kitchen is sparkling clean, as they walk in they are met with ''don't think you are cooking anything now, no pans allowed, you can have cereal and then wash the bowl but be sure to clean your the sink after!  Or maybe just go to Macdonalds!!  I said that they can do whatever they like after the lady had been, which turned out to be early afternoon!  (I was trying very hard to not be stressy about it but that deep rooted military wife preparing for a March out inspection part of me is still bubbling under the surface)  Although as I said yesterday the lady couldn't have been less bothered about what the house looked like. she was lovely and very much a Cat Lady, Milo definitely captivated her! 

We are going to be mostly Christmas Shopping this weekend, we also need to fit in a visit to see Paul's Mum, Paul has a few days off over the next couple of weeks so we should have plenty of time,  we have given up on the idea of going to London before Christmas, we usually travel up on the 'Oxford Tube' which is a bus, that takes about an hour and a half. But with all the talk of Rail strikes over the coming weeks the Bus's will be absolutely packed, we have had issue's with getting a seat on a normal week day with people not wanting to move seat to let me sit down, despite there being lots of seats up stairs, we know now to speak to the driver if thats the case and he will ask the 'non disabled' people to give up the  allocated Disabled seat, I didn't know whether to laugh of shout on one occasion when a lady argued with the Bus Driver because she wanted to stay in the Disabled seat as it was more spacious!  I wanted to point out that that was \kinda the whole point, the extra room was to make it easier for said disabled person to be assisted into their seeat!  Some people are just ignorant!                So after that long winded rant what I was going to say that we decided to leave going to London to the New Year. 

Our Last Challenge of 2022

I think that this will be our last Challenge of 2022, I am sure that you are all going to be busy preparing for Christmas which is a little of 2 weeks away 🤯!!   I definitely don't want to put anyone under pressure. 

So for our last \challenge I am going to give you Free Choice, so you can choose any theme, any colour, any style, you can make a Card or a Journal Page, a Calendar, it doesn't even have to be a 'Papercraft', it can be something that you have sewn, knitted, crocheted, a Diamond Painting, absolutely anything you like.  Let's fill our Sunday display full of beautiful crafts, feel free to send as many as you choose, I can fill the Blog with them through the week too.                                                 I really hope that you enjoy this challenge my lovelies, I am so excited to see what you all create or share.

I hope that you all have a great Friday, who's going into the loft to get their decorations down this weekend?

Sending my love and Warm hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

My Original Spellbinders Poinsettia die

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies, 

Woohoo a day of relaxation, no reaching for the duster every time you look somewhere different and see dust or a finger print!!  🤣😂 

The lady came after lunch time, she was here for literally 10 minutes or less, she spent more time fussing Milo,  who was chilling in his basket in the porch, Paul said he was silently panicking that he would bite her and set her off on the wrong foot, fortunately Milo was very well behaved.   We briefly chatted and we explained that none of the jobs that we had reported the last three or four visits, she reassured us that 'they are actually starting to repair the faults that have been reported now'!!  I asked her to mark the dripping kitchen tap as Urgent, as it fills a whole washing up bowl overnight,  we do recycle the water but its really frustrating! I did bring up the frequent 'visits' that we get, she was surprised and shocked but said she didn't think that they could "bring it up without it being awkward'.  I think I am going to be a bit more direct with him next time he visits or calls.  

All went well with the inspection, the only thing she focused on in each room was the carbon monoxide monitors, not the carpets that I scrubbed !🤣😂

She was such a lovely lady and said she said that we had a lovely home. 

I wanted to just relax for the rest of the day but decided to sit at my desk and make the inserts for all of my Christmas cards, WHY didn't I make them as I went along as I said I was going to do!!  It turned out a lovely afternoon with Paul, I made most of the inserts and a bonus card too! 

For the card I used the my original Spellbinders Poinsettia dies, which I have had for many years, When I went through my Christmas dies I am embarrassed to say that I have atleast 6 different sets of Poinsettia dies! In my defence they are all different.   I paired my original Poinsettia die with thr first Tim Holtz background die to create this card, I used some early SW foliage dies too.  The photo makes the card look bright red but it is infact Cherry Cobbler which is a dark red.  I did cut two of the front panels to give a but more definition, I layered them over a mat of Cherry Cobbler card and then arranged the layered up Poinsettia and the foliage along the edge of the die cut area.  Idig through my sentiment box and decided on the one above, I cut it in Cherry Cobbler with a drop shadow in gold. A few pearls in the centre of the flower and a couple behind were the finishing touches. I am hoping that that's it for Christmas cards for this year but watch this space! Lol 😆 

I am hoping to see Sue today, we are going to go out for lunch for a change, it will be nice to have a catch up, it feels like a bonus relaxing day as we originally thought that the inspection was today!  

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

A few Oldies

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,

I hope today finds you well, we have had a somewhat busy 24hrs as Paul got his dates muddled and the house visit is in fact today and not tomorrow!! I only knew because I checked to see if they gave a time, but no they don't, it's between 9 am and 3pm !  I looked at date and thought 'I'm sure that the 7th is Wednesday not Thursday, this was at around 3pm yesterday,  so you can imagine the panic that went through my mind!  But I sat and thought about it and the fact that the house is actually fine, as I said on the weekend this is our home, we live as we live.  I did insist on all bathrooms being spotless the floors vacuumed and washed over, cobwebs removed and windows cleaned, we muddled through and got it mostly finished by tea time. 

So sadly I had no time to craft, in fact I need to go and have a tidy in my craft room this morning as it is a disaster area as usual !! 

So I went way back in my card archives and found these beauties,  I believe they date back to 2014/2015, it's crazy to think that that is 8 years ago.  

The first two cards were made using Sue's First Die Launch 'The Californian Collection'  I used those dies loads during that first year of having them.  I prefer the more traditional colour card to the white and silver one, I think I got a bit carried away with flowers on the that one 😂😂

The third card has to be one of my favourites, I really love that sentiment die, the SW embossing folder framed it perfectly.

The 4th card was a Precious Marieke die I believe, I quite liked it in Navy and White but would like to make one with a scene in background.

The last card was made using the same SW Christmas Background die that I used last week, it is timeless, one of those dies that you can use year after year and it won't look dated. Having said that I think the bow looks ridiculous and I should have used a different flower!  Oh how tastes have changed. 

I hope you enjoyed that little walk down memory lane, I would love to see some of your old Christmas cards. 

I hope that you all have a good day, wrap up warm ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Christmas Kraft card

 

Good Morning Ladies,

How are you all today?  I took my last antibiotic yesterday so fingers, toes and eyes 👀 crossed that they have worked, 4th time lucky!! I also had a call from the local hospital yesterday to offer me an appointment for next Tuesday, I am so relieved that it's come around so fast, fingers crossed for some answers!  

Today's card is a 6x6 Kraft Card, I then added a piece of flocked vellum, I have had the vellum for a while it has a lovely shimmer to it.  I sorted through my older dies and decided to go with Poinsettia dies and some old Sue Wilson Winter foliage dies, I didn't have any shimmery green card so I used the Pearlywinks Glitter mist spray to make the Old Olive card look a bit more festive.  The Poinsettia flower is die cut from Pink Frog Red Velvet card, I stamped the poinsettia's in Versamark  ink and added gold embossing and heat set. I finished the poinsettia with a sparkle placed onto a small circle of gold card, it finished it off nicely.  I am really enjoying rummaging around these old dies!

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

A sparkly start to the week!

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all relaxed after the weekend,  how many of you have got your tree and decorations up? We will do ours next weekend so that they are up ready for when my Sisters come over the following weekend.  We have another inspection this week, Paul got an email on Saturday stating that they are coming on Thursday,  oh, they say don't worry if you aren’t home we will let ourselves in and look around !! Which I think is wrong, they shouldn't expect to go poking around our home without us being present.  I usually stress about these things wanting to go into full military 'march-out' mode, but it's our home at the end of the day, so it is what it is!!  (Will I still be this 'chilled' come Thursday)???  Watch this space! 

Janet, where did you get Rabbit, do you have a Traditional Butcher that sells Game?? Proper butchers seem to be few and far between these days.  I thought you were hoping to go back to Marigny after Christmas, I'm sorry you have to wait for Spring,  I guess it makes sense to make sure that Jim is fully recovered before taking on that long drive. I hope your Rabbit pie was delicious,  I don't know whether I would be brave enough to try it?  

XXX

Now here are the answers for Saturdays quiz...

Brenda

Lilian

Karen

Janet 

Maria 

Sonia

Sue

The only person that got it 100% correct was Our Maria!  Well done Maria, the rest of you weren't far off.  I have say that I was so flattered to you thought that Sonia's stubbing card was one if mine, I would love to make cards to Our Sonia's standard XXX

Today's card I made on Friday using a border die that I have had for a few years, I have no idea where it's from,  part of me thinks its a 'China die', having said that it cuts beautifully.  I used it to cut some 'Mint Macaron' glitter card, I cut the border twice and placed them back to back, I put a narrow piece of card along the join as the white ribbon I wanted to use was quite thin,  I placed a piece of rhe white ribbon,  then a piece of Mint Macaron ribbon, finishing with a piece of the same glitter card that I cut with my Kool Katz Ribbon die, I stamped the sentiment in matching ink and die cut and layered onto a piece of the glitter card.  to finish the card I tied a double bow in the white ribbon and topped that with a Mint Macaron bow and finished it with a tiny snowflake die cut in the same glitter card. It will certainly sparkle on the mantlepiece!  

I hope that you all have a great day my lovelies, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Old Die Challenge Card

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope today finds you all well, how bizarre that it will be Christmas Day 3 weeks today!! (Christmas Day round 1 in 2 weeks for me) with my sisters coming over for a family Christmas. So much to think about!! 🤪, you know what I'm like with a list,  I have about 15 of them on the go !!

Let's look at your AMAZING cards......

Your Old Die Challenge cards

Brenda 

Brenda's Description:

Card 1 - The Crazy Bird had been cut out and coloured ages ago and that was why I used these colours.

Card 2 - The card grandson did get was a variation of the one above. We bought him a toolbox and a few more tools for his birthday, his other half moans at him for leaving his tools all over the place so now he has no excuses, the colours of the card are the same as his toolbox and tool brand. (Well not the hammer handle)

Oh Brenda, I cannot tell you how excited I was to see your Email Brenda !!!😍 Not because you hVe taken part in the Challenge particularly,  it's because I am so thrilled that you have felt well enough to sit and make cards, it's hard to get back in the right 'head space' when you are out of the habit of sitting and creating, I have certainly struggled with no 'mojo' this past few weeks, so I can only imagine how hard it's been for you. 

Your Crazy Bird cards are amazing,  the expressions on their faces can't fail to make you smile, the cards you have designed suit them perfectly, your Grandson will love it XXX

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hi, here is my card for this week.

These dies are from Sue Wilson ,but I can’t remember the name. I have triple embossed the flowers.

Lilian I absolutely love your card, it's so pretty  the script embossing in that centre piece is amazing too. Such a beautiful Christmas card, thank you so much for taking part XXX

Janet 

Janet's Description:

My Challenge card for this week was made using another CRAFTERS COMPANION EDGE DIE. The centre image and card is from my stash (as usual).

Janet I love your Silhouette cards, the gorgeous lace edging really elevates the card to a very special one, I love the special finishing touches like diamantes around the silhouette.  Thank you so much for another gorgeous Challenge card. XXX

Karen

Karen's Description,:

Card 1:  Here’s an extremely easy card A Posca pen splattered background in silver and an ancient Memory Box die.

Card 2:  A background by Serif , A sentiment by John Lockwood and a D-Lite tree die in white with a grey shadow and some red gems.  

Oh Karen I love those Posca Pen Backgrounds that you make, they are so effective, I think it's the final 'Clean & Simple ' style that makes them so appealing.   What a genius idea to combine that great Serif background with that Spellbinder die,  I have it but have never thought of using it as a tree.  Thank you so much for taking part, despite being so poorly,  I hope you are feeling much better my lovely XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

I’ve used Spellbinders ‘2010 Heirloom Ornament’ die set and JustRite stamp set ‘Merry and Bright’ The glitter gold die cut behind the top ornament is also from an old Spellbinders set ‘Fleur De Lis’ accents. The papers are from a TrimCraft pad. The poinsettia is from Britannia Dies.

OMG Sonia, this card is stunning!! I have them too and had totally forgotten about them!  So thank you for the reminder,  I never made them look as gorgeous as you have though!  Such an inspirational card, thank you so much for taking part XXX

Sue

Sue's Description:

This weeks card is made using the Lyra die set from the Gemini collection by Sue Wilson. The snowflake is a freebie from a magazine years ago.

Ooh Sue, you can't beat a 'Lyra' die card, do you remember the 'Handbags' we used to make with them?  Your card is gorgeous,  that incredible Red Velvet card lifts it to a luxury status,  that snowlake die cut is so intricate, especially considering it was a freebie!  Thank you so much my lovely XXX 

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Thanks once again Ladies, another incredible display,  those old dies have not dated a bit !!  You are all amazing 👏 ❤️ 

I hope that you all have an amazing Sunday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx