A simple floral card

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

We had another sunny but chilly day yesterday,  Lucy wanted me to go to B & M Bargains with her to get some food storage boxes as her and Soph want to start meal prep for lunches to take to work as the choices they get at work aren't very healthy.   We got home around 4.30 ish,  by which time I was exhausted,  Lucy was panicking because my face was really hot and red which is something I don't usually suffer with until this past few weeks, I did my BP and it was really high again, which is so frustrating because I was consistently lower last weekend (well the top number was) the bottom one never gets below high 80's and my Heart rate remains in 90's at lowest.  I was hoping that if it stayed lower I wouldn't need to take the Ramipril,  but it looks inevitable. 🙄

Today's reminder is another important one to remember,  Paul reminded me of that yesterday,  I wrote about how 'lucky' I was to have him in my life,  his reply was "Well I'm lucky too" and that I should feel like I am valued too.  x 

On Monday I had one of 'those' days,  I sat at my desk for most of the day and made nothing, I couldn't decide what to use or where to start,  so at around 4pm, I closed my eyes and picked a stamp set......

I have had this stamp for a good couple of years,  I have seen many cards that in fact inspired me to buy this stamp set,  a lot of them had a polka dot like background that I loved,   I have bought two different stamp sets trying to get the same effect, but the dots were either too regimented or the dots were too big, more like splatters.   So I had this brainwave yesterday,  I used my black Calligraphy ink to do my own splattered background,  

It still didn't look like I wanted it to but it was Okay,  so I moved on to stamping and colouring the flowers,  I then looked at the stamp set beside me and I noticed the stamp in the top right corner,  

The DOTS!!! Yes the dots that they use to make the dotty background,  all this time I had the stamp to make the background right THERE 🙄🙄🙄🤣😂

What a twit I am!!

I coloured the flowers with my Clean Colour Pens and washed the colour out to the edges with a paint brush and water.  I set this to dry and then die cut the flowers.  

I decided to use that dotty stamp to create my background,  guess what my lovelies..... it's the results I have been trying to acheive for many many months 🙃 🤣😂  

I stamped the border lines up the left side and across the bottom.  I stamped the sentiment and then added the flowers to the right hand side of the card   I added 3 little sparkles to finish the card.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Media Sprays Card

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Today is a special day for me, as it is the day that I met the love of my life ♥️

38 years ago today I popped into Sainsburys in Ipswich for some toiletries as I was staying with a friend, I locked eyes with someone that made my tummy flip,  we  'just so happened' to end up behind him at the till,  I started a conversation about what he was going to cook with his shopping.  We then said goodbye,   later that evening we were out in Ipswich, my friend knew which pubs were best as her partner was in RAF,  we went into the Swan and I spotted that familiar face straight away,  we got chatting and the rest is history.  I honestly feel that we were meant to be together , the love I feel is beyond anything I could have dreamed or wished for ❤️  I am very lucky ♥️

I love today's reminder,  it's something thats easy to forget 🥰 

Anyway let me tell you about this card,  the background was created with Distress Spray stains, Fossilised Amber,  Picked Raspberry,  Twisted Citron,  Mernaid Lagoon & Cracked Pistachio, I sprayed a little at a time, drying between some layers to avoid a muddy mess.  The stamp set is a Tim Holtz Mixed Media set THMM12 Silhouette Birds.  

When the background was dry I stamped the birds and embossed them for a more intense black.  I used the stencil that comes in the pack with Black Texture paste to add some extra detail.  I stamped the stitched lines under and above the birds,  I stamped and fussy cut the heart and spritzed some of the inks onto a piece of card and stamped the sentiment and added it to the card. 

I matted the piece onto black mat and then onto a white card base.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

 

If you need reminding of this.......

I am incredibly glad and VERY grateful that

You are here 🥰

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

We had a bright but chilly day yesterday, Paul got some jobs done in the garden while I was sowing seeds and sorting what we are sowing and when so that we are prepared for the coming weeks, we got Sweet Peas, sweetcorn, a few different flowers, some pea shoots for salads. The most time consuming part was creating the biodegradable pots for sweet peas out of loo roll tubes that we have been saving. They make transplanting really easy though.  

I didn't get much else done, my blood pressure went up again yesterday which gave me terrible headaches.  

Becca tried a couple years ago to claim for loss of earnings from Thames water, it happened the weekend of International Air Tattoo, they were fully booked as its a simple journey to Fairford from Burford, there was a burst main somewhere which meant that Burford area was without water on the hottest weekend of the year, it took 2 days to resolve, again it cost the business thousands, they tried to claim from Thames Water but got nowhere, they also looked at claiming from insurance but their premiums would have ridiculously. Insurance companies are like crooks sometimes. Mind you so are Thames Water !!!  

I could look at doing a Step by Step tutorial for Sue's Fancy Fold from yesterday, it was called a 'Diamond Column Card' Now I'm interested to know how many of you are working in Imperial? I mostly use inches as thats how I was taught, I thought most of us would be the same, apart from Our Maria who I'm guessing was taught in metric?  

I am sharing a super quick and simple card that I made using my Stamperia Secret Diary collection, I love all of the little details that they include in the junk journals, like the clip on the top of the topper, they also have things like faux tape, paper clips etc. I may add some more detail to this card, to make it a bit more interesting. 

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

My love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

 

A look at our crafts this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

We had quite a relaxed day yesterday,   mostly because we were hanging about waiting for Becca & Adam,  they haven't had water for 3 days,  both at home and at the hotel,  the local towns Carterton, Witney & Bourton also were without water,   Becca had taken the week off to settle her new puppy in but after Wednesday night she was mostly having to do damage limitation,  they have lost 3 nights of virtually full restaurant, (Friday & Saturday are always busy), also the hotel was full Fri & Sat and had only 2 free rooms on Thursday but you can't have guests staying if you don't have running water.  So it has cost Her thousands in lost business,  yesterday she was trying to get answers from Thames water about how long this was likely to last, mostly because the hotel and restaurant are full from Monday because its Cheltenham Horse Racing Festival this week,  it's one of their busiest weeks of the year, if not 'The' busiest.  Bless her she was proper stressed,  thankfully the water supply returned at around 5pm,  which was a huge relief, it also meant her and Adam weren't coming over for a shower.  

Hopefully today will be a calmer one,  its hard not to feel the stress that your children are suffering isn't it ?  

Let's have a look at what you have been making this week.....

Karen

Karen's Description:

1:  This is my version of In The Kitchen

Found the background on Pinterest which I inked around and added a bit of stamping and splats I didn’t want to hide the background too much I primed the sentiment and I cut the spoon on ScanNCut, Cut it in silver at first but then thought that we used to lick the wooden spoon So I tried to colour the spoon to resemble a wooden spoon x

2:My version of Friendship Number 6 in the Memorydex challenge I cannot abide those Janet Klein figures So used Scripted Stars #468 and a printed sentiment which I wish I’d done on cream now as my embossing powder doesn’t appear to be bright white

Karen your Aall&Create Memorydex Challenge pieces are inspirational,   you've had some incredible ideas 💡 for the different categories!  The kitchen background is amazing and that Wooden spoon looks so realistic. 

The star background works so perfectly with your friendship sentiment.  The little fussy cut pieces really help make the sentiment look like it had always been part of the background.  

I am looking foreward to seeing your 'Tea Lovers' piece. 

Thank you so much for sharing your Challenge pieces with us, it's giving us all ideas for our own challenge pieces.  XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hello , here is my piece for this week’s challenge.

A card this week, for dog lovers.

Used a stencil for the background and papers from Stamperia’s  

Quiet days and secret diary.

A gorgeous card for Dog lovers Lilian,  I love your stencilled background, the colour is spot on and works so well with the papers,  a lovely composition that will bring a smile to any dog lovers face.  

Thank you so much for taking part my lovely,  I find that looking at some of your favourite crafters on line helps to boost your mojo.  The Stamperia instagram is a really good source of inspiration XXX

Maria 

Maria's Description:

For the coffee lovers.  Hope it is alright.

I stroke the card in TH Faded Jeans ink first then stamped in pink and black.  Heat embossed happy birthday and  embossed through a stencil. Used some coffee themed stickers. Forgot to do any splatters 🤭😊

Oh Maria, such a gorgeous card, I love the effect you have acheived on the background,  dragging the ink pad across is so effective, it has given so much depth and texture,   the stencilled embossing looks like falling blossom on the ground, so clever,  your embellishments are perfect for the theme.

Thank you so much,  you really have found your 'mixed media' mojo my lovely XXX 

Sonia 

Sonia's Description: 

After seeing a reel on Facebook from The Trillium Creative, I decided to have a go at the paperclip tag that she creates. I used a Lawn Fawn tag die, using pink card, which I cut twice and added some stamping (Stamperia background stamp) I die cut the grid panel in a lighter pink and cut it down to fit the tag. The butterfly and flower dies are ones I bought at Sandown, cut in pink and vellum. You add a small rectangle of folded paper with a paperclip over the top, glue on both sides of the paper and stick on the blank sides of the tags, adding some glue to tops of tags to adhere them together. I added a bulb pin through the tag hole and put some beads on one side and a butterfly charm on the other. It’s not perfect but I’m happy with my first attempt 😊

I saw these little paperclip tags and thought they were a lovely idea,  the one I saw was a vintage style with little dangles hanging from them,  I absolutely love yours Sonia, from the  stamping on the background to the little textured die cut on the background, all of the elements you have used work so well together.  That tiny butterfly is so cute and a great little finishing touch.  Those dies you bought last weekend are lovely.  These will look lovely in your Memory album.  

Thank you so much for sharing your lovely makes with us XXX

Sue

Sue's Description:

Hope you like my take on a tutorial by Karen Foy on YouTube. Another copy of this junk journal and a couple of other bits happened to fall into my basket as I love it so much 🥰Take care. Love Sue 

Wow Sue what a stunning card!!! Its a really 'fancy fold' !  I must go look up Karen Foy,  does she do mostly Stamperia ?  I must have a go at this fold.  

You must be so pleased with how it turned out!  So inspiring too. 

Thank you so much for a brilliant card Sue XXX

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

I really struggle with asking for help, even though

I know it's Okay ! 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

We had a lovely start to the day weather wise, I wanted a walk in garden as it looked so sunny,  but it was a lot colder than it looked.  

I took some photos while I was out in garden,  Paul picked some of the daffs that the wind had caught....

Sonia's Shopping 

Sonia got some lovely goodies from the show at Sandown park last weekend.  Some lovely paper pads and pretty pink and blue card for your Memory albums, the inks and resin dots match perfectly too.  Those Altenew sticky sheets areso useful, it saves having to use magnets or tape when stamping or stencilling. I love both your flower and butterfly dies,  have you tried cutting them yet?  

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

Gina 

Gina made an Anniversary card for her husband,   its a slider type card, made using the Ronot stamps by Andy Skinner.  Gina bought the Robots just for this card.  

Your card looks very technical Gina, so effective though.  Your husband will love it.  Thank you so much for sharing it with us  XXX 

Maria

Oh WOW Maria,   I think this one of my favourite ones if your Crystal Art pieces,   those poppies are so bright and vibrant and look very realistic.  

Thank you for sharing your gorgeous piece with us XXX 

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend , 

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

Daisy art journal page

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Another lovely sunny day for us yesterday, it does make such a difference to the day.  

I felt a bit weary yesterday,   my BP was quite high first thing,  which worried me as I was on my own for a few hours.   I had my GP appointment,  he has added another tablet as he wasn't happy with my BP or my resting heart rate.  He has made me an appointment with him for another check up but made me promise to call if the new medication doesn't bring it down further or if I feel in any way worse.  

My urology consultant appointment was over in minutes, literally,   I was brutally honest about how I felt and how badly the uti were affecting my life in all aspects,   he took to calling me 'love' and agreed that its time to get the Uromune started ASAP!  Which is a step in the right direction.  I have to wait for them to agree the prescription,   he explained that they are very 'precious' about who they give their medication too!  (As its a trial I guess)! So I will get a message when its ready and we have to go to Gloucester hospital to collect it.  

Now onto today's Journal page....

I started by adding light pink and yellow paint to my journal page using a baby (water) wipe,  

After letting it dry I added some background stamping.  I then added some glitter embossing powder through a stencil and heat set. Then I added some circles with texture paste.

Now onto the fun bit, picking out what you are going to use to build your scene. I started by cutting up some background paper and distressing the edges and adding to the page. 

I then fussy cut the daisies from a A4 background sheet and arranged them over the coloured pieces.  I drew in the stems with a Clean Colour marker and added details with a fine liner.  

I added some splatters and some white details on flowers. 

I really enjoyed making this one 😄

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Dog Lovers Journal page today

Good Morning Ladies,  

Lucy and I had a lovely trip out yesterday,  we ended the trip with lunch by the river in Bourton in the sunshine.  

Reminder,  you don't need reminding of this one, you all know how much you matter to your loved ones and to me of course 😘🥰😍

Busy day today,  I do find all of these appointments exhausting,   I have my list of questions ready, (Great Idea Sue).  Frustratingly my fast heart rate is making so hard to relax enough to sleep. 

Brenda it was so lovely to read your positive update yesterday,   take it steady my lovely,  I'm sure you loved your little walk around the garden 😘

Dog Lovers is the Caregory for todays Journal page,  I used my Stamperia Pets collection.

The backgrounds always start out messy but you slowly build up using Rice paper, then white paint over joins of paper, then stamping,  next comes stencilling and lastly the die cuts etc, finishing with splatters of course! 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx