Our Next Challenge

 

Brenda

Maria

Karen

Lilian

Janet

Sue

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

Well it's the last Friday of May, does it seem a month ago that we were welcoming May in and hoping for better weather!  We also have another nice long weekend, looking at the weeds in the border under our front window I know what we will be doing, although I do fancy a day out so we might go visit a National Trust property or something.  I really want to go to the Black Country Museum too but it will be way too busy on a BH weekend.  

What do you all have planned? 

Our Next Challenge

Clean & Simple is the Challenge for the next two weeks,  I Pinned some amazing clean & simple cards when we were doing our Pinterest challenge,  there is a Clean & Simple Facebook group as well, so lots of inspiration around.   

I thought I'd find some of our old C&S cards for inspiration, I can share more if you'd like it.

I hope that you will all enjoy the challenge x

Have a lovely Friday, 

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Magic Window Card Tutorial

 

Here is the Tutorial for these Magic Window Cards

Good Thursday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all having a good day, hugs to those that are feeling rough, especially Janet & Sue, also those of you that are coping with the same daily struggles XXX  

We had another glorious day here yesterday, I know I keep saying it but the biggest buzz for me is getting the washing dry, I event did a mid week refresh of our bed sheets just because I knew they would be dry without having the dryer on for ages, although we definitely forgot to put the bedding on the bed before we went out to the Cinema so that gave me major regrets when we got back at after 11pm and still had to make the bed, when all I wanted to do was flop into it.  It was worth it though as there is no greater pleasure that clean, fresh bedding, not that it helped me sleep though, I think the emotional rollercoaster film we saw at the cinema and a few other 'sad frustrations' were playing on my mind, I laid for about 45 minutes trying to relax and try different methods of encouraging sleep but nothing worked so I played a card game and did a Sudoku, which worked eventually!  I have a quiet day on my own today as Paul is in the office, so I think I will have a play with my new Tim Holtz Mixed media Mat. You can't beat a bit of messy crafting to keep your mind busy!  It looked really good and one thing I have struggled with the 'smooshing ' technique, I have always used my glass mat, the inks just pool together, in the video demonstrating the mat Tim explained exactly why that happens and that on this mat and any 'proper' craft mat (not oven tray liner alternatives).  I was watching as he smooshed his inks and they just sat in their little area with the tiny little spots and dots that give so much interest when we smoosh!  So watch this space, I will let you know how I get on with it, now that I finally have it in my hands! 

Today I have shared some 'Magic Window' cards, as you open the card the two side pieces open up to reveal a hidden message or picture, it really is a 'Fun' card that will no doubt bring a smile to its recipient.  I have linked the video in the photo above and as a link below for you to click on and watch at your leisure.  Sonia followed the 'Twist & Pop' tutorial the other day and I can't wait to show you the card she made, it is stunning!! 

Link to Magic Window Tutorial:

Magic Window YouTube Tutorial

There is also a link to the original blog post back in 2018 that gives all the measurements etc......

Magic Window Blog post

I hope that you find the tutorial helpful and maybe get a little inspiration.

Sending my love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

Double Gate Fold

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

I want to send out special, gentle hugs to all of our blog family that are feeling under the weather at the moment, I hope that you all start to feel brighter as the week progresses xxx

We had a nice quiet day yesterday after the excitement of the electrician's visit yesterday,  all furniture replaced,  we had a bonus find of a pair of the girls knickers and an odd sock from the back of the tumble dryer, so all was not lost ! 😉🤣  

I really didn't do much in preparation but a combination of that and potting on my plants really caught up with us yesterday morning,  I felt slightly unwell and Paul said he wasn't feeling a 100% either which is a very rare thing.   I finished a 'Special Card' and then made this one for today so I felt like I had really accomplished something by teatime.  Frustratingly we had booked to go to the cinema,  not realising how we would feel, I will let you know how that went. 

Today's card is a double gatefold,  well kind of, it isnt meant to meet in the centre like a gatefold,  your base card is 10 3/4  x 5 1/2 inch,  score @ 1  5/8,  3 1/4, 7 1/2 & 9 1/8, burnish your score lines and away you go. I used So Saffron as my accent colour for the mats and to colour the flowers, the stamps and dies are from the Happiness Abounds collection.

I hope you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

A Fancy Fold for the Fella's

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Well what a day we had yesterday!  We had an Electrical Inspection a few weeks ago and it highlighted that there are two sockets on two different ring mains that are drawing too much current,  so we had the electrician out yesterday morning to resolve the problem, he needed access to EVERY single socket in the house,  behind big wall unit, behind huge fridge freezer,  behind my craft desk to name but a few, oh also behind the bed, we had to move all kitchen appliances away from sockets, pull out washing machine & tumble dryer!  He arrived sometime before 9am and got straight to work, he was dashing around the house like a mad thing, he couldn't detect the problem sockets on the first run, so then he said that he had to remove the cover of every one and check wiring!  So round he went again, it had taken close to 2 hours by this point,  he did it eventually,  bizarrely he didn't tell us which ones were faulty,  despite us asking, I wonder if he gave up! 🤣 His next job was to replace the Smoke detectors that expired in 2016,  we had bought our own but its good to know that we have the extra security now.  I felt awful because I went to offer him a coffee but of course we had no electricity!   I was relieved when he finally left, thank goodness Paul was able to be home!  The rest of the day was relatively quiet thankfully!  

Todays card is a fun fold for men, I made a standard sized card  (4 1/4 x 5  1/2) in Navy card, the covered the front with a piece of nautical themed pattern paper, I then die cut an aperture for a finishing touch for aperture I cut a slightly larger scalloped circle and used the die that I used for the aperture to cut the centre out, credted a scalloped frame, it just looks neater. I actually did the same for the inside too.  Now for the fun fold part, cut a piece of card 8 inch x 5 1/4 in and score along longest part at 4 inch & 2 inch then fold the first fold a valley, the 2nd fold a mountain fold, so you end up with a reverse z fold card, adhere this part to the card base with the 'Z' fold closing in to the centre of the card (see photo above).  Now the easiest way line up the circle with your focal image on (the circle has to be the same size as your aperture) is to have your circle stamped with matching mat (i used navy)  now close your card and take your circle and place it through the aperture, it will now be perfectly aligned. Remember to only add adhesive to right hand half of your Circle too.                                                              I finished mine with a sentiment embellished with a little Anchor.  You could choose any theme for this fold, you can even change the aperture shape.  

I hope that you all have a terrific Tuesday, 

Love & Hugs to all,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

PS:  I had a lovely message from Janet's daughter to say that Janet had no Internet at the moment but she will be back with us in a couple of days. XXX 

Some Inspiration videos.

Twist & Pop Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that today finds you well rested after the weekend.  Janet I do hope you are up for a visit today as you are very much missed xxx

I also hope that you were blessed with the beautiful sunshine that we had yesterday,  it was a pleasure being out in the garden, I was mostly potting on, Paul was doing all manner of jobs including emptying some of the composters, he got a huge amount of compost by the end of the day.

Anyway onto todays cards.  I thought that I would share the video Tutorials that I made a few years ago, the first one is "Twist and Pop" cards, I have made a few of these and always need a refresher, even if I have a die to cut the pop mechanism,  you need to know how to fold and glue it in to place!  

So here is the video link:

Twist & Pop Tutorial

I hope that it might inspire one of you a little bit, they are fun cards to make and always have the 'wow' factor!  Just click on that link above and make one along with me. 

I have another video for the hidden reveal style cards,  I will share that one on Wednesday. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra                                                                    xxxxxx 

Some amazing Fun Fold Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

Such a beautiful day yesterday,  perfect for our Village Fête which was very busy and had a lovely atmosphere.   We popped out to Garden centre too to pick up some bedding plants for my planters. 

We have a mixture of  some older 'Throwback cards' and a lovely  Swing card from our Maria to share with you today, Lilian has created a new fold that I haven't seen before, its called 'The Flying Seagull Fold ..

Maria

Maria's Description:

I tried my hands on making a swing card. It wasn't easy to cut out the swing bit for the plate kept moving on the big cutting machine so will try if one of the little ones are easier.  I call this card my tester / prototype.  I used papers that you gave me and cut the reindeer 🦌 out from the same pack. Little bit of glitter and some Glossy Accents on the flowers and the reindeer .  

Have a lovely weekend.  Love to you all ❤️. Maria x

Thank you so much Maria, I love your Swing card, you are right about cutting the swing part, it can be tricky,  you have to have your cutting plates exactly in the right position,  but you did it !!  That little Stag looks perfect as the focal point, the papers are lovely too.

Thank you my lovely for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and creating an amazing fun fold card XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hello, lovely day here, hope it the same with you

Here is my card for this week, it’s called ‘the flying seagull fold’ found it on Utube. The papers are from Stamperia. Was hoping to get another one done but with my jaw aching couldn’t concentrate. 

Have a lovely weekend . Lilian

Oh Lilian I absolutely love this fold, what a perfect way to show off your gorgeous papers, I don't think I've seen the 'Flying Seagull ' fold before but I will definitely will be having a go, we have so many beautiful papers in our stash that we don't want to cut in to but I think this fold changes that as you can display the favourite elements from your paper on that centre panel.

Thank you so much for inspiring us my lovely XXX 

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

I used an Amazing Paper Grace die set and Tim Holtz butterfly. The sentiment is from JustRite stamps. The papers were free online ☺️

Sonia you have worked your magic with Kraft Card once again,  such a beautiful combination of pretty papers, gorgeous die cuts and pretty papers!  Thank you so much for a lovely inspirational fold.  XXX 

Karen

Karen's Description:

Card 1: Made with ScanNCut and SueW dies

Card 2:  A downloaded ScanNCut project

Card 3:  A simple gatefold card that I made for a friend’s husband a couple of years ago.

Some lovely inspiration Karen thank you so much, your Pop-Up Box cards are amazing,  that Halloween one is Brilliant!!  Thank you so much for sharing some lovely cards XXX 

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

What an amazing display of Fun Fold cards, something for every occasion in that display!  Heartfelt thanks to my lovely blog family for inspiring everyone each week 💖 🥰😍

I hope that you are all enjoying a lovely Sunday  

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra 

xxxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

What are you all up to this weekend?  The weather is forecast to be pleasant which is a bonus.  We have the village Fête today,  tomorrow we have to make sure that every single Electric Socket is accessible as the electrician is coming Monday to check every one to make sure its wired correctly as there is something wrong on one if the ring mains apparently,  oh and all of our smoke detectors are years out of date, so he is replacing those (at long last).  Other than that there is the usual gardening jobs.  We haven't had any of the village plant sales this year, which we have really missed for picking up bargain bedding plants and herbs etc, apparently the bad weather at the start of the year meant that the plants didn't grow, I don't remember the weather being that bad but I guess it must have been.  We did buy some geraniums from Aldi last year and they were lovely. 

The photos above are from are trip to London, I really wanted a photograph of the Mall with all of the flags , so Paul dodged the traffic to get the shot!  The second photo is of our Creme Brulee Crepes from Boolay in the Seven Dials Market by Covent garden,  oh my they were so delicious 😋!  I will be making that a tradition! 

Diecutting Essentials Issue 103

Issue 103 of Diecutting Essentials has 'Fruity' themed free gifts this month, the dies are Strawberry plants, the leaves, flowers & fruit.  The bonus stamp set is very 'Berry ' themed too. 

This first feature focuses on using your dies  the cards are all very sweet but not my cup of tea to be honest.  The free papers are pretty and the dotty and gingham papers could be used for any themed card.  There are some fun techniques too.

Technique Showcase:  This month the technique is all about making your sentiments stand out more by Ombre shading the background, the cards all look really effective and would make great cards for men & boys of all age.

 Back to Basics:  Die-cut Gatefold cards, you can use any die that has a shaped outline.  I love both of these inspiration cards.  These would be perfect for this weeks Challenge too. 

Expert Guide:  This months expert guide focuses on Wax Resist.   I must say that I absolutely love some of these backgrounds , the 'Wax Resist' was created using a White Oil Pastel crayon.  I'm sure there are other things you could use if you didn't have a White Oil Pastel,  however these backgrounds are that nice it might be worth investing in one.  I looked on Amazon and you can buy just white back and split the cost or mixed colours go for about £7.  I don't mind buying the all white pack and sharing them.

Sandra Rayner has used the dies to make so many lovely Strawberry themed creations, perfect for a summer picnic, she has a very creative mind.

Jessica has used the dies to make some absolutely gorgeous cards, some of those strawberries look so deliscious 😋,  especially that basket of strawberries! 

Skills Booster:  Get your circle dies out!!  Look at the variety of projects Maria has created,  again some of them are perfect for our Fancy Fold challenge.  

This is how to make those rolled roses!  

Now I know you are going to be disappointed but I didn't include the feature : "A day in the life of Stephanie Weightman", I thought that it might just be the thing thst made you go and buy the issue, so I didn’t want to spoil it for you 😉😜🤣😂

That's it for this review, if you like strawberries then you'll love this issue. 

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx