A look back at your lovely makes

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had an enjoyable Saturday,   we were lucky with the weather yesterday,  it was perfect for wandering through the gardens at Eden project.  I hired an electric scooter so that Paul could walk beside me, plus there are some pretty steep hills!  But I think it was 'daylight robbery', it was £20 to hire for the day!!  I enjoyed the independence though.  The Mediterranean Biome had much more in this time, so many varieties of chillies and tomatoes,  different variations of herbs.

The day was finished off perfectly spending the evening with Lilian & Roger,  I know you'll be shocked to know that we chatted so much the evening just disappeared,   we got there around 5.15pm,  we had a lovely fish & chip tea,  the fish was incredible, with crispy  light batter😋,  you can tell when the fish is freshly caught.  We sat and chatted after dinner and before I knew it it was after 9pm,  I felt terrible,  as we only planned stay a couple of hours!   I think thats the definite sign that you are with enjoyable company.

Thank you Lilian & Roger for a lovely evening and delicious fish & chips 😘

Karen, did you buy anything at the lovely sewing/fabrics shop you visited yesterday?? 

Let's look back at some of your makes....

Lilian 

Lilian's Description :

Hi, here is my card for tomorrow, sorry it’s late.

Lavinia stamps for the wreath, hobby art for the cottage and stickles for the berries. 

I am sharing a throwback card from November 2023 for Lilian..

A perfect Christmas scene in a beautiful frame Lilian.  I'd rather enjoy Christmas in that little cottage 😄

Thank you for sharing it with us XXX 

Karen 

Karen's Description:

Here’s a challenge card

Lilian inspired me to get my SueW New York dies SueW poinsettia dies Nuvo drops and do you remember the TL dies - the long fronds but can’t remember name

JL leaves (mulberry?)

New latest Merry Christmas stamp heat embossed in old copper powder

I just love clean and simple cards and this one is beautiful, the vellum poinsettia adds to the simplicity,  it makes the poinsettia look so delicate. 

Thank you so much my lovely for a sharing this pretty Christmas card to inspire us XXX

Sonia

I used a card from October 2023 for Sonia for this week....

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 ☺️

To me Kraft card is as Autumnal as it gets, I really love that die too. Thank you so much for more Kraft Inspiration XXX

Maria

Marias Description:

Hi  here is my card for this week. 

I used some stamps I hadn't used before so here they are.

The card got a bit dark but hey ho... 🤭😊 All products are from Temu.

Maria what a lovely card, I don't think its too dark either,  its a lovely dark Autumnal red.😍

I love how you have added sparkle/splatters around the dandelions,  it looks like their seeds are dispersing.  

Those are two brilliant stamp sets too,  you should challenge yourself to how many combinations you can make from them. 

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful card with us XXX 

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love to all,

Sandra xxx 

Happy Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

As I am writing this we are on the journey from Brixham to St. Austell,  it's later than we planned but our visit Paul's Mum was lovely,  we went out for Dinner/Supper and the time just disappeared,  so we left Brixham a couple of hours later than we planned,   we crossed into Cornwall at 9pm,  I am looking forward to getting into bed.  I am struggling to keep my eyes open,  probably because I have got into a habit of not being able to sleep until 3am,  yesterday was partly due to my bladder reacting to the treatment!!   

ChatGPT insisted that I had to bring my CPAP machine and my Blood Pressure monitor as my readings have been all over the place this week.  (I asked it if it was totally necessary) 

 

Another fun piece of Artwork,  although I'm not quite sure what the message is 🤣😂

Maria

How adorable is this lovely traditional Santa Crystal Art  piece that our Maria made for her Mumma ❤️ 

The pearls make it even more special my lovely, he looks like he is holding the 'Magic Key'  we had one of these to hang on our front door so that Santa could come in and leave gifts, as we didn't have a chimney back then!  

I know your Mum will have him out where she can see him for all of the Christmas period.  

Thank you for sharing him with us my lovely XXX 

I hope that you all have a good Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of the,  

Sandra xxx 

A throwback card & technique

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

As you are reading this we will be on our way to Brixham to see Paul's Mum,  I wonder if we will pass Sonia as she is driving back up with her parents 🤔   

I like this reminder, particularly as we all progress in many different ways, in our own time, whether it's recovery or learning something new for example The 😄

Now today's card is a throwback but I thought I would include the whole technique,  as you could create this background and use it in many different ways,  however I thought if you used it and added a new stamp or die cut over it it would work for our New/old challenge,  as if you are anything like me you have had your distress oxides for years (so they are old) ! 

Here is the technique using scrunched up tissue paper.....

 I had a play with some ink pads and tissue paper to create backgrounds, I saw Marion Emberson try this technique with different products.  I used SU ink pads for this first one.  With the addition of some Gold Watercolour paint for added sparkle. 

Its so simple.....

Take some Tissue paper and scrunch it up, the more creases the better,  you then tap your scrunched tissue into your ink pad and randomly tap it onto your card, I masked off a square for a neater look, it dries quickly, I wanted a touch of shine, so I scrunched another piece of tissue and dipped it in my gold watercolour paint and did the same as with ink pads, I wasn't sure at first but as soon as I peeled the low tack tape off I loved it !! 

I hope that you all have a great Friday, 

Love & hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Lilian's Birthday card

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies,  

Ooh it was much cooler yesterday,  Autumn was definitely in the air.  

I had a bit of a troublesome day,  for some reason my blood pressure has dropped very low (for me). First thing it was 93/62,  I felt a bit rubbish too,  so much so that I took myself to bed after lunch,  which I never do.  It did rise later in the afternoon but only to 97/63.  So I did a bit of research online as I didn't know whether to take my BP medication,  my BP is usually in the low 120 /90,  but the surgery just told me to fill in a 4 day form and told me to ring the local pharmacy,  which I did,  he said that he wasn't qualified to tell me whether to take the Amlodipine or not and to call the surgery back,   I did but got told to fill in form! It rose a bit in the evening but was still low so I didn't take my Amlodipine.  I will call GP this morning if its still low today,  especially as we are going away tomorrow.  

A lovely reminder today, we all definitely are stronger than we think we are 🥰

Today I am sharing the card I made for Lilian's birthday in ChatGPT,   I will explain the design as it looks a bit busy. 

I know Lilian liked the artist Klimpt so the main part of the card is a nod to 'The Tree of Life' I also wanted to include things that are important to Lilian,  so there are sewing elements,  scissors,  spools of thread etc,  the Bees are to represent Lilians work (making beekeeper hoods). After seeing the absolutely stunning quilt Lilian created I wanted to include that too. 

I will say that this was another example of card making a huge difference to how your artwork comes out of the printer....

This was on Highlight crafts smooth printer card

This was Canon Matte photo paper!  I was gobsmacked. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all of you  

Sandra xxx 

Stamperia Flowers & Poems journal page

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

We had a busy day yesterday,  Lucy was on a mission to get some storage boxes for her kiosk at work,  we had to pop into the Wildlife park first for Lucy to measure up..

As we walked up to the kiosk I noticed one of the Rhinos having a wallow in the mud,  the noises were incredible, he was really enjoying it,  I wish I'd videod it.  We carried on to the kiosk and on the way back ...

He was out and playing with this little one,  it was lovely to watch,  the baby had its ambitions mixed up with its capabilities I think as it was proper charging at the big one,  who luckily was chilled out after his mud therapy!!  I could sit and watch Rhinos all day,  the park are opening another habitat for the younger rhinos as they are at capacity.   I hope they have the same set up though, having the 'Haha' that keeps visitors safe enables full view of the animals and it looks like you are really close up to them 

Such an amazing idea!!!

Now I like the graphic but I am unsure of the sentiment.  xx

Today I am sharing a journal page that I made using my Stamperia’s Flowers and Poems collection. 

I used the metallic paints from the collection to add some colour to the background 

I then add some stamping and stencilling with gold glitter embossing paste..

I then pick out the die cuts from the Flowers & Poems Focus Journal and edge everything with ink.

The arranged them onto that background.

I added the crocheted ribbon to the bottom of the frame and then added the 'Bloom'. 

The finishing touches are some white (metallic) splatters and some gold dots.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs, 

Sandra xxx 

A ChatGPT card for a friend of Girls

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

A busy week this week,  today Lucy and I are off on a mission to get storage boxes for work, I also want to look at sofas as ours is becoming too much of a challenge for me to get up from.  I also need to have somewhere to sit comfortably after my surgery. 

My Urology Consultant has kindly allowed me to revert back to monthly Ialuril instillations as the 6 weekly top ups just wouldn't work for me, this week is a real challenge as its the last week if the 4 and effectiveness has worn off.  Ao I called Bladder clinic o  Friday and they called yesterday to say that they can book me in on Thursday, for which I am incredibly grateful.  The only downside is that I will need to go a week after my surgery which might be a struggle but I will ask what they think on Thursday.   Friday morning we are going down to Paul's Mum's in Brixham,  then we'll travel on to Cornwall on Friday evening, have a visit to the Eden project, to get another visit on our Annual pass,  then we will pop in to see our Lilian,  then Sunday I think we are visiting a large National Trust house on the way home.  

How cut is this artwork?? I love then reminder too! 

Today I am sharing the card I made yesterday for a friend of Soph & Lucy to give his girlfriend.  I went into ChatGPT to create it.  I then created an insert and a box to match.  

I hope he liked it or more importantly,  I hope his girlfriend liked it. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Clean & Simple Old / New card

Good Monday Morning Ladies 

Ooh yesterday was a busy one, I felt like I was on the go all day!

You know when you get the urge to clean something and next thing you know you have rearranged half kitchen or craft room,  well that was my day.  I went to iron something,  remembered that iron needed descaling, so waited for Paul to carry it to sink,  took the descaling parts out and thought 'ooh that needs to sit in citric acid,  so boiled kettle, saw that needed doing then the water filter, etc I never got around to ironing anything!  Then I made omelettes for lunch (we are trying to eat healthy on run up to my surgery) I bought an 'Omelette Maker'  oh my its brilliant and makes a lovely thick Omelette,  much more appetising than I made in Frying pan!  

By this time it was after 3pm and I needed to make cards for Blog and I for girls friend to give his girlfriend.  I made today's card relatively quickly,  the inky piece I had in my stash, so die cut the leaves out of that with my 'Old ' Tim Holtz leaf die,  I then used 2 'new' items:  the stictched square die and the leaf embossing folder.  The sentiment is an old Tim holtz stamp,  which I embossed in gold and added some gold gems to finish. 

The other card I made in ChatGPT while also helping Paul make Roast Beef dinner, Lucy decided it needed a box, by this point it was 8.30pm, could I get my brain into 'box making' mode 😌, no, I had convinced myself I needed A3 card,  of course I didn't,  thankfully ChatGPT came to rescue, made the box, then it needed a pretty label or something so got that designed and finished and by then it was 10 45pm!  I had to face the devastation in my craft room this morning 😲!  I was too tired to do it last night !!  I think I had every square and rectangle die out that I own. 

I had a thought this morning....maybe ChatGPT can help me learn to use my Scan&Cut ! It's worth an ask. 

I hope you all have a great start to your week, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx