My Mothers Day Card from Lucy

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Another week has whizzed by, this time next week it will be at the end of the March, thats jusy crazy.  Mind you I am ready for the weather to be warmer.   It's lovely seeing the garden Spring into life too. 

Today I am sharing my beautiful Mothers Day card from Lucy,  she chose 2 of my favourite SU colours, she also has proved that a Christmas die doesn’t have to be used just for Christmas! I love it, I love how they pick up little tricks like putting gems in flower centres, they clearly take more notice than I think they do.  So if your looking in Lucy I absolutely love my card, thank you xxx

Our Weekly Challenge 

We will continue our theme of Simple Backgrounds,  that Karen chose last week for another week.  I think two weeks is better for the challenges as it gives us more time to explore the theme. 

I hope that you all have a great Friday,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Some Throwback Simple Backgrounds

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Well what a day yesterday turned out to be, bright and sunny for most of the day, we did have a couple of brief showers though.  

Sadly I different have such a bright day, as I was struck down out of the blue with the most painful cystitis symptoms I've ever had, I was sat on the loo in tears!  GP has given me more antibiotics but doesn't think I should take them, I asked why they relieved symptoms if they weren't helpful? She said that they may have anti-inflammatory properties,  I will see how I get on overnight without them. 

Now I couldn't concentrate enough to craft so I have shared some cards with simple backgrounds... 

Card 1:  I masked off a circle and inked through with So Saffron ink, I then added a little bit of script stamping in the background of the circle for a bit more detail.  To finish I added the silhouette stamp.

Card 2:  This simple background was created using an alcohol marker on acetate. A simple white butterfly finishes the card.

Card 3:  The simplest of all this background is a piece of patterned paper, with a stamped sentiment and a few gem stones. 

I hope that these give you some ideas, 

Have a great Thursday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Another simple Background card

 

Good Morning Ladies,

A lovely sunny day here yesterday,  I even got a load of washing almost dry, such an amazing feeling.  (Simple things please simple minds)🤣😂

I went from having a very full house on Monday evening,  it felt strange having both Flynn & Lewis here for tea, I had forgotten how to cook for six! 

Then by early morning they had  all gone!  I was all alone 😔.  Although if you stood outside and heard me talking to the cats you'd think I had company!    I ended up putting some music on and making a mess in my craft room! 

I ceated some very simple backgrounds by adding some drops of SU Re-inkers Berry Burst and Daffodil Delight on my glass mat and adding some water and flicking the paintbrush to create splatters 

I picked one and added a mat of Berry Burst and added it to a white card base. 

***I am interested in what card base you reach for most of the time, I mostly fold with the crease at the top 'tent fold' I think its called. I find it easier, it fits most card styles and stands easy to photograph.

To finish my card I die cut a circle from the back of a piece of the Dainty Flowers Dsp and sliced it up so that you see more of the background, I like that it has the splatters on to tie in with background.  I then fussy cut some flowers from the dsp and added them so that they covered part of the die cut circle.  I have to say that sitting and fussy cutting the flowers while listening to music was quite calming/ therapeutic.  I added some diamantés to finish the card, I just couldn't decide on a sentiment. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

A very simple Background card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope today finds you well, we had a very wet and dismal day yesterday, it felt chilly too.  We had the morning 'off line' as we had a chap in doing an electrical check, they have never been as thorough as he was, he was up and down the stairs, in all rooms, we had to unplug absolutely everything in the house, you don't realise how many things you have plugged in until you have to unplug them, it was because he was putting 500 volts through the system to check that everything trips off, the most awkward socket to get to was behind my huge craft unit, luckily Soph was home and managed to climb in and unplug the internet box.  Apparently this is a problem with something so he has to come back and test every single socket in every room, that will be a nightmare job.  Paul was relieved when he had finished so he could get back to work, I was just glad to have Pinterest back 🤣😂

Today's card was a quick one, well I say that I did about three hours research beforehand,  I just couldn't make my mind up which direction to go in.

I masked off my card front with a piece of scrap paper that I had die cut a circle out of on the right hand side, I then took an old Hero Arts stamp script stamp called 'La Letter' and stamped over my mask, I removed the mask to reveal my simple stamped background...

I then took a small flower stamp from a SU set called 'Background Bits' and stamped the flowers over the script background.  To finish I added a small 'Thank you' stamp.  A very clean and simple design! 

I hope you have as good a day as possible, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Paul's Mum's Birthday card

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

That weekend just seemed to disappear,  Saturday literally flew by though, it reconfirmed my desire of wanting to live by the Sea, there is just something about the fresh air, the smell of the sea and I find the sound of the sea so soothing.  I think Paul's mum has to realisation that she would actually really miss living by the sea if she moved to Birmingham. I think its like anywhere you live you take for granted the beauty around you.   

We had a quiet day yesterday as all our girls were working, Matt came over in the afternoon,  instead of buying me flowers that would die in a week the card he bought had seed infused paper that you plant and grow your own flowers,  such a lovely idea, he bought freshly baked cakes too.

Today's card is the card I made for Paul's mum for her birthday next weekend,  it has a very simple background so perfect for this week's Challenge.... I took a piece of Ombre green paper and embossed it, I added to a white card base, then die cut a pretty rectangle to lay my 'bouquet' on, I bought the SU bouquet stamp & die set on fb market place, so I was keen to use it,  it has a stamp to create the newsprint background for the wrap, the matching die cuts and scores the wrap so its easy to fold,  i then stamped the bouquet in Pear Pizazz ink and coloured with my Stampin Blends,  I die cut some extra flowers to fill the bouquet out a bit, the little tag and sentiment are included too, I added the 'Mum', which I die cut from the leftovers from the background. I finished the card by adding sparkles to the flowers centres. 

I hope that you all have a great start to the week,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Your Challenge cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I want to start by wishing you all a Very Happy Mother's day, you ladies are literally my whole life, I don't know what I would do day to day without you to turn to!  You are my strength and encouragement my support and inspiration and I love you all dearly ❤️ 🥰😘

Now lets look at what you have made for this weeks challenge......

Your Challenge Projects 

Brenda

Two beautiful cards coloured is pretty Spring colours, your colouring is incredible Brenda, I absolutely love the cute girl stamps.  The colouring you have done in the background works perfectly too.  I am sure that they won't be in Ann's card box for long.

Anne if you are looking in, we would love to see one of your cards, sending love and hugs your way xxx 

Brenda thank you so much for sharing your cards this week, it fills me with joy being able to share your cards xxx

Karen

Karen's Description:

Card 1:  I did this Make and Take at Ally Pally My 2 friends did it too and thought Mica Magic was amazing It looks different to when I bought it and tried to tell them that I’d sold my big box on So maybe the smaller boxes are different and better

Card 2:  Looks very ‘wavy’ in photo but is OK

New Woodware stamp heat embossed with silver and I’ve rediscovered Nuvo drops!

Two fantastic cards Karen, I do agree with you about the Mica Magic,  Danielle had them and having played with them I think they don't have much mica in them, you seem to have to work so hard at getting decent depth of colour, the pops of yellow in your card above look vibrant but the pink/purples don't.  I love the stamp though and your colouring is amazing. 

Your Christmas card is lovely,  the tree is so different but I love it, I also love the colours of the Nuvo drops you have used, you could make it look so different my using different mediums to colour it. Woodare have some amazing designs.  Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hi,  Here are my two cards for this week. The stamps are very old ones that I found when I was looking for spring stamps. The tulips are stamps and coloured with my zig water colour pens. The lantern stamp is stamped with Olympia green versa mark ink and coloured once again with zig water colour pens.

2 beautiful cards Lilian,  your tulips are coloured so perfectly,  your shading is an inspiration,  I love the little corner stamp you have used too. 

I'm not sure of the flower on your secon card, is it an Anenome ? Whatever it is the colouring is inspirational.  Again I love the little bits of stamping on the base card, it really ties the two layers together.  

Thank you so much for taking part my lovely,  enjoy spending time with your family this weekend XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

Card 1: I’ve used a LOTV image and sentiment. I thought the image fitted well with the ‘Spring’ challenge. I used the Pink Fresh Studio Floral Lace background and patterned paper from my stash.

Card 2:  I made this card for a resident at work, who requested an Anniversary card. I die cut the heart and stamped and heat embossed the text stamp which was one of the freebies from Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine. The flowers are Spellbinders. I added an Anniversary sentiment inside.

2 gorgeous cards Sonia, the first card is so cute, it would be perfect for so many occasions, you can't go wrong with a LOTV image.  That background die works perfectly with any card. 

Your second card is a perfect an Anniversary,  I bet your resident loved it, by the way that freebie script stamp is amazing!  Thank you so much for two amazing Challenge cards my lovely XXX 

Sue

Sue's Description:

For this card I used a combination of Sizzix dies and Old unbranded stamps. The Brickwork embossing folder is from Aall&Create. 

Sue such a gorgeous card, I love the scene you have created through the aperture, everything works so perfectly together, you must be so pleased with how it turned out my lovely.. Thank you so much for taking part XXX 

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

Ladies thank you so much, your cards are amazing,  thank you, thank you,  thank you ❤❤❤

I hope that you all have a wonderful Mothers Day, your Children are truly blessed having you as Mums xxx

Love and extra big hugs today,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Brenda's Poppy cards

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Today's quote was sent to me by Gina, I think it's very true for most of us!  Thank you so much Gina for sharing it. xxx

As you are reading this we will be driving down to Brixham to spend the day with Paul's mum, we are hoping that the weather is nice so that we can walk around the harbour, we will have a nice lunch somewhere too, then make our way home early evening.   

What do you all have planned today? 

Craft Shopping from 

Ally Pally

Brenda

Brenda picked up some lovely goodies,  I didn't go on the Cardio stand, it was so crowded whrn we first went past and after we were going round after lunch I didn't have the energy,  I still have quite a few of their stamps that i haven't used yet (listen to me being sensible 🤣😂).  I love that scenery stamo you have bought Brenda xx

That poppy stamp is so lovely and I love the cards that you made with it too (see above) I think you acheive much more when you just 'have a play ' with something new rather than having to have a specific project. 

You got some good bSic bits too, we were all amazed by the Watercolour lady Eunice Friend,  she has a YouTube channel and runs Watercolour classes, she has created her own paints and brushes and the ladies that were doing Make & Takes were all amazed by how great her brushes were and how pigmented the paints were, I got the brushes,  Brenda got the paints and the brushes.  I do want those paints but they will hVe to wait until next time.  

Thank you so much for sharing your shopping with us Brenda, I am delighted to see that you are playing with your new things XXX

Karen 

Karen had an a lovely day shopping as she travelled to and from the show with friends and spent lunchtime with us, she was as delighted to see Brenda as we were, it really did make the day extra special, you can see that Karen had a great shopping day too!  Like me she started out at AALL&CREATE and did a good shop there, I picked those number tags up snd put them down, I think i might order them for Mothers day!  After the first shop Karen had a little delay as she thought she had lost her phone, luckily it was quickly located and normal shopping resumed 😉🤣😂. 

Karen what do you use the Limetree card for? Is it good for pencils or pens ??  We all topped up on consumables,  glue, ink etc,  the Woodware tree is lovely,  you will see tomorrow how detailed it is and stamps beautifully. The stencil looks like it could be Aall&Create but is infact a visible image design, that Clocks embossing folder is lovely great for vintage and mens cards too. 

A great shop Karen thank you so much for sharing it with us. 

Sue

Sue and I did our shopping together which was lovely, we talked ourselves out of buying a few things but mostly encouraged each other to buy it whether we needed it or not!  

Sue got some lovely bits, I really like that Mixed Media background stencil, such great value getting so many different patterns on one stencil.  Those gorgeous Dragonfly stickers were only £1 and were so delicate and detailed, sue picked them up for Christopher to play with, the washi tape was a bargain, it was Anna Griffin too so great quality, I have to say that I was surprised that HoneyDoo were selling random things like that, I kmow they all have to make money but those things belong on those 'pile it high, sell it cheaper' stands I think.  The creative expression Stencil is fantastic as it had two different Mountain/valley or Horizon line stencils, then all the little bits too, I think it is water themed as it looks like reeds, fishband bubbles but I have to say looking at on the day it could be used for any background. Those vertical sentiments are fantastic I am going to order myself a set too as Sue picked up the last one, she got some great colour Oxides too, it pays to shop around though, two stands next to each other one had Oxides priced at £7.99 , sneakily had no prices displayed, so you dont find out until you are paying, when mist people would be too embarrassed to say " no, I'll put them back", luckily Sue asked beforehand,  we left it and looked at the next stand which was The Stamp Hut, they were selling them at £5.99,  so Sue almost got 3 for what she would have paid on the previous stand!! 

Thank you so much for sharing your shopping with us my lovely XXX

Me

My Shopping... well I got the inks that I had on my list,  the other bits were a bonus!  First stop of the day was the Aall&Create stand where the offers were too good to pass up, it worked out at buy 2 get 1 free on one if the stamp sizes, the others were just as good too, I bought a few that I had my on,  the Sweet Poppy stencil and stamp were purely Brenda's Fault! , if she hadn't shown me her stencil and told me how amazing the cards being demonstrated were, I wouldn't have gone straight there and bought the stencil and stamp set.  I can't wait to sit and play with them.  

The last item wasn't for me, as I mentioned on Brenda's Description right at the end of the afternoon we met Eunice Friend, an incredibly talented Watercolour artist,  she has created her own paints, working tirelessly to get the formula just right, all pigment no fillers, so the colours are so bright and vibrant and so a little goes a long way,  I have been searching for a decent paint brush for months,  she was selling a set of three for £15, I thought she said £50 at first !  She runs watercolour classes on YouTube,  she has free tutorials too, she had a great deal on at the show though....A year's tuition (weekly classes) and the paints, brushes and Bockingford Watercolour pad for £90 !  I could see Paul's eyes light up, he had found the perfect gift for his Mum's Birthday & Mother's day!  So that's what he got, he also bought me the brushes,  I can't wait to see his Mum's face today, she has been wanting to start her Watercolouring again for a while.

I hope that you all have a great Saturday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra 

xxxxxx