Friday, 22 May 2026

The Distress Oxide rainbow card

 




Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

These Friday's come around so fast,  this week has absolutely flown by,  probably because I had two appointments and then out with the girls too, not that I am complaining,  I love their company and more so with Lucy if I didn't go out with her she probably wouldn't bother as her days off never match Soph's.  They both enjoy taking me out too. 

Have you all got plans for the Bank Holiday weekend?  


Another great reminder, something we all need reminding about x


Today I am sharing the Distress Oxide version of the brushstroke card I made on Monday,   I have to say that on this occasion there isn't much difference.

The top one is Distress ink, the bottom is Oxide. 


The Picked Raspberry does look less vibrant and maybe the Wilted violet,  they look more 'powdery' the other colours look very similar.  

I have really enjoyed playing with inks this week. 

I hope that you all have a great Friday,  

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Thursday, 21 May 2026

Distress Oxide background card

 



Good Morning Ladies,  

A quiet start to the day today as Paul & Lucy are at work, Soph went to Lewis last night,  so she'll be back later today,  I must get atleast a couple of cards or tags made,  to build up a stock for scheduling for our holiday.  

I got the Ecg monitor disconnected yesterday,  the lady that removed it shook her head and said that she was tired of constantly explaining where the monitor wires are placed on your body, even printing a diagram,   however the lady that did mine had all of them in the wrong place,  one was up high in the middle of my neck ( you could see it above a round neck top)  the other two where belly button height but placed more on my back on either side,  none were where they were last time,  so fingers crossed it worked ok,  she was a real character,  she said 'lord only knows what will happen when I retire '  i asked when that was,  she said she was 73, which shocked me, she is planning on working until next march.  She said that she would get bored sitting at home every day bless her. I have to wait for results now,  atleast 2 weeks for recording to be analysed they will pass results on to my GP. 

I made today's card yesterday afternoon,   I used Wilted Violet,  Mermaid lagoon & Pumice Stone DO, smooshing them onto my ink mat and tapping my card into the colours one at a time and heat setting in-between colours,  it took me a while to learn that smooshing worked better using just one colour at a time and fully drying to prevent the colours mixing and creating mud.  My favourite part of smooshing is being able to capture the little dotty bits.  

After fully drying the background I stamped my Visible Image butterflies over the coloured panel,   I did heat emboss them as Oxides can sometimes can dull the black ink.  I then stamped them again onto white card and fussy cut them and placed them over the ones I stamped onto the panel.  I trimmed around the little sentiment and fussy cut a Pumice Stone mat for it.  I added the piece to a card blank and added some faux stitching around the edges. 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 


Wednesday, 20 May 2026

An Arden creative tag

 





Good Morning Ladies,  

Just a quickie from me today,  as I am writing this I 


am literally shaking with the shivers! 

Todays reminder is a good one,  its easy to get caught out when you are feeling low and just want to push on a little further,  when you really now twins  at it's ok to let someone elste to do it!. 

Our garage bill was a nightmare,  best part of £900 for the repairs!  But Paul  seemed ok with the work that was done. We had to have a new radiator,   these things never happen while your car is still in Warranty.  We need it to be ok though as we are driving through the Pyrenees in 4 weeks !  

Today I am sharing a tag that I made last week, I used my Arden Creative die cuts to create the tag, the base was coloured using two shades of blue acrylic paint applied with a wet wipe!  I used black embossing to add detail and some stamping.   I really like the different background colours. 

I am going back to Clinic to get me 24hr Heart Monitor device removed, then Lucy and I are off to do some holiday shopping! 

I hope you have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Rainbow Brushstroke card

 




Good Morning My lovelies,  

Ooh it seemed a chilly day yesterday,   we usually leave our back door open for the cats 🐈 to come and go as the please (during Spring & Summer), however yesterday it was too cold,  maybe worse because it was rainy too.  

It does look like its warming up for the weekend though,  which is good for Sonia going back down to Sidmouth and Sue who is off to Cambridge with her family.   We did think about going down to see Paul's Mum but then realised that its the start of the Half term, so it will be crazy busy.  

I love the artwork of today's reminder,  it's a great reminder too.  

Today I am sharing a card that I made yesterday using 2 different Tim Holtz stamp sets,  Floral Trims & Brushstrokes.  

I used Picked Raspberry,  Carved Pumpkin,  Squeezed Lemonade,  Tumbled Glass & Wilted Violet Distress inks, I added the ink to the Brushstroke stamp and repeated across the card,  I then took the Floral Trims stamp and stamped over the colours.  I finished by adding a sentiment, then mounted onto a black mat and then onto the card base. 

I might have another go using Distress Oxides.   

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love & hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx

Monday, 18 May 2026

Stamperia Daisy art card.

 


Good Monday Morning Ladies,

Welcome to the start of a new week,   the weather is forecast to be in the 20's by the end of the week,  which is something to look forward to!  It would be nice to have everything in the garden done so that you could just sit and relax but that's not reality,  there is always something that needs doing.  

I'm try to get ahead with crafting so I have time to make extra cards for while we are away.   So no relaxing in the garden for me 🤣  To be honest I couldn’t just sit in the sun doing nothing,  I have to be doing something.  

Todays card is one I made last week,  I got my Daisy Art collection out,  I decided to make a card,  it couldn't be simpler,  its a piece of background paper from the Junk journal,   I added the fussy cut envelope and flowers and the butterfly,   no sentiment yet, as I will add one when I know what I am using it for. 

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

Love and hugs to all of you

Sandra xxx 

Sunday, 17 May 2026

A look back at our makes this week

 




Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

We had a mixed bag of weather yesterday,   Paul was outside for a couple of hours, sadly my bladder had other ideas,  so I was in pain and stayed inside 🙄😔  I did manage to pot up some seedlings and pot on some houseplants that really needed a bigger pot.  Other than that I acheived very little,  it's so bloody frustrating when you get up with the intention of 'getting stuff done"  but your body has other ideas!   We should be used to it by now though I guess! 

Anyway lets cheer up and look at what you have been making this week....

Karen 





Karen's Description:

18:   Hot Chocolate 2 images from Pinterest The mug is decoupaged with a heart added

Was going to use Fluffy Stuff or Nuvo Drops for cream on top but decided against it

19:  I am pleased how 19 Camping turned out I searched Camping on Pinterest and camper vans came up which reminded me of one of Gary’s favourite holidays at Flamingo Land Zoo Look how healthy and confident he la on the climbing frame with his sister and cousin

Background created in Serif 

Karen Burniston photo frame etc

20: Snail Mail is a smooshed background using Peeled Paint and Mermaid Lagoon DO

All images from a magazine 

Saw the sentiment on an A&C example 

The envelope is a Sizzix die

Karen these three pieces are absolutely incredible,  all perfect for their categories.   I love them all,  number 2 is such a perfect representation with the added bonus of having such a lovely memory attached.   Art/creativity wise I think number 3 is my favourite,  the background is amazing,  the snails, postage mark and envelope perfectly capture the theme.  That verse is so perfect. 

Thank you so much my lovely for 3 truly inspirational pieces XXX 

Lilian 


Lilian's Description:  

Hi, here is my challenge piece for this week.
Transportation is the guide.
I used some small backing papers, which you gave me some time ago.some texture paste, which was a mistake as it turned pink in places. All of the die cuts are from various Stamperia books.

I can't believe how you transformed that background into that incredible background with the sea in the foreground!  You definitely have the theme covered!  I love your attention to details,  like the shading under the boats etc.  You are an amazing artist my lovely, so inspirational. 
Thank you so much for another brilliant Challenge page XXX

*********

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love and hugs,

Sandra xxx 


Saturday, 16 May 2026

Mixed Up Saturday


 


🥂🎂🍹🎉 Happy Birthday Sonia 🎉🍹🎂🥂



Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

Please join me in wishing our lovely Sonia the very happiest Birthday,   I hope that you have amazing day in Dorset with all of those dearest to you celebrating with you.  I hope that you get spoiled, just as you deserve my lovely ❤️ 


The art work on these daily reminders bring a smile even if the reminder doesn't!    Just know that you are all of those things and More!!! 


I have a few photos of our trip to the Wildlife park..



The rhinos are my favourite along with Big cats and Giraffes 


This is the newest arrival!  





This photo made me smile, it was just after a shower, I think he was just checking the weather before coming out.



This little Colobus Monkey family were adorable to watch,  just look at that little baby 😍

We had a lovely morning walking around,  it was really quiet too, so we got to enjoy the park without having to dodge the crowds.  

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx