A new journal page

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that like me you all got a better night sleep (Thursday night) that little breeze made such a difference with the slight drop in temperature,  I was so exhausted that I think I fell asleep within 10 minutes off getting into bed.  

I had a day on my own yesterday as both Paul and the girls were working,  Soph usually has Thursday  and Friday off but her boss asked if she would swap a day off to help him out as they are short staffed,  she did, I wish he was as flexible with her when she needs to swap a day.  She is off today but doing 6 days without a break and then only having one day to recuperate is hard,  especially after the super busy weekend in extreme heat.  Lucy's Cabin is basically a big wooden shed,  it's full of machines that cause heat to build up, the only relief they have is one fan,  she said that she got to the point that she thought she was going to pass out on Monday,  she'd had a queue constantly from 11am as everyone wanted cold drinks and ice creams.  She did call through to tell them how she was feeling and they sent someone to relieve her for 10 minutes, so she could try and cool herself down.  Thankfully it has prompted her boss into looking at getting some kind of AC unit. So her first day off she spent just totally relaxing.  

Today I am sharing a journal page I made over the weekend,  using Arden Creative  'Been There' collection.

 

I started with a piece of the 'Been There ' patterned paper.

I then added Stormy Sky, Shabby Shutters & Rustic Wilderness Oxide Sprays to add some colour.

I added some background stamping,   then added some gold embossing paste through a stencil from same collection 

I added some laser cut ephemera,  little tickets, some hessian ribbon and then some little resin stickers to finish. 

A few splatters finish the page,  there is space on this one to add a couple of small photos too.  

I hope that you all have a lovely end to your week,  

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra xxx 

Some of our throwback Silhouette cards

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Today is 100% a rest day for me,  3 nights without sleep, sore swollen ankles and exhaustion from a full on trip to Ikea with Lucy & Becca,  my goodness that place was warm,   it was quiet though,  the other disappointment was that the ice cream machine at the exit of Ikea wasn't working,  having a cheap whippy at the end of shopping is a tradition.   It was lovely to catch up with Becca though.  We ended the day on a high though, we all went down into Bourton and had fish & chips by the river, there was a lovely breeze that made it even more enjoyable. 

Today's reminder is a different one,  but most of know that recovery/ healing isn't straightforward or 'linear' 

I thought I'd share some of our throwback silhouette cards ....

Maria

Sonia

Karen

Lilian 

My card background was made using Pigment powders. 

These cards were all from 23rd May 2021,  about 2 months before Covid Lockdown ended.  It doesn't seem like it was 5 years ago. 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs 

Sandra xxx

Ink blend with Silhouette die cut.

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

Firstly today please join me in wishing Our Lovely Maria the very Happiest Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈           I hope the sun shines for you all day my lovely ascI know that makes you happy,  I hope that Rick treats you to a lovely Birthday dinner ❤️ 

I'm not to sure what this reminder refers to,  whatever it is its your body / life you can change whatever you like.  It's definitely 100% okay to change your mind and your feelings too.  

Brenda Paul keeps the coffee grounds that the 2 lots of coffee brews create each day,  he leaves them to dry out buy the Aga before mixing them with the veg peelings and eggshells and gives them to his worms ☺️, that sounded odd, let me explain...he has to worm composters,  they turn all veg peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds and tea leaves into nutrious compost.   I hate looking in the blooming things but they do a good job.   Like you the rest of our food waste (cooked food scraps,  bread etc) goes in our green food waste bin that the council provide, I was surprised that only us and one other from the little cul de sac beside us bother with food waste recycling!  Maybe you could take a photo of your beautiful rose bush, it sounds lovely XXX 

Sonia,  I am so pleased that you booked the Spa treatment for yourself,   you have exhausted yourself driving up and down to Dorset then Devon and all the work you did for your parents Anniversary.  You enjoy it lovely XXX

Karen you must wonder how you had time to work,  you are busy most days which I think is amazing.  Does this extreme heat affect your Diabetes?? Its certainly affecting my BP and heart rate!  

Lilian,  I would rather go without than have 'milky' tea,  I probably have 2 cups of tea a day,  I only like a drip of skimmed milk in mine!  I saw an article yesterday saying that being on BP medication can make it a lot harder for your body to regulate the extreme heat,  Amitriptyline also makes it harder to cool off.  I hope you aren't too uncomfortable my lovely XXX 

Sue, I hope the heat isn't it making it too uncomfortable for you while you are away. Cambridgeshire is lovely, so much to see and do.  Have a lovely time XXX 

Gina I hope that you are coping ok in the heat my lovely XXX 

Today's card is one I picked as it looked simple to do,  that wasn't the case.   The start was simple, I die cut a large oval then blended Squeezed Lemonade,  Carved Pumpkin,  Picked Raspberry & Festive Berries Distress Oxides,  Ciara who's YouTube I follow simply die cut the Tim Holtz Meadow die in black card,  she adhered it to the oval and then trim the excess off around the oval,  which I did initially, it looked rubbish as the die cut has lots of open areas so cutting a smooth clean line was difficult.   So I sat and thought about it for a minute or two and then it came to me,  I re did the oval ink blended background,  then the simplified method.... Use the same oval die to die cut the silhouette die cut,  that way it matches up perfectly.  I did add back in two flowers that overhung the oval slightly. 

The other tricky bit was stamping the sentiment over the oxide inks,  it almost soaked into the ink,   I did repeat stamp the sentiment but it started to blur the smaller text.  Let me tell you I won't be reapeating this in Distress Inks. 🤣😂                         You can make the panel any shape that you like.   I might try a different shape with a different silhouette die.  

I hope that you all had a more comfortable night,  have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx

The Distress Oxide Version

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Well that was a bit of a warm one wasn't it?  I hope that you all managed to find a way to keep cool.  I was in and out all day,  I just can't sit out in the heat like Paul can,  I also get bored if I'm not doing anything,   I kept looking round finding jobs that needed doing.   We have switched the Aga off for the summer,  the kitchen was unbearable with it on.   I would say that we have been having salads so it's been easier as far as cooking goes but with all the bits and pieces, pasta salad, potato salad, homemade coleslaw etc its harder work than cooking a roast dinner!   We had our first Jersey royals last night with a little butter and they were delicious 😋 

Brilliant artwork,  perfect reminder!! 

I did another Distress Oxide/ Ink comparison with these two cards.  I do think that the Inks (right) are slightly more vibrant on this occasion.   

I did have to stamp the flower (leaving it in the stamping platform) then use the stencil to add the Oxide inks, I then had to place the inked piece back into the stamp platform and restamp the image as the oxides covered the black ink.  I like both versions,  the oxides just need that extra step.  

I hope that you all have a good day,

Love & Hugs to all,

Sandra xxx

Happy BH Monday

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

Did you all enjoy the lovely sunny weather yesterday,   I literally did nothing,   it was just a little too warm,  Paul set me up a chair and the large umbrella in the shade,  he even got me a bucket with some cool water in to put my feet in to cool me down 😍. He did start doing some weeding but I told him to stop as he was in full sun,  it was just too hot.  So he got his magazines and came to join me in the shade.  We sat inside for lunch,  I had a plate of fruit including watermelon which was so refreshing,   I am in my grape phase at the moment,   I love them and can finish a hole punnet in no time.  I haven't had watermelon in a couple of years as we bought some from a market in Spain and my goodness did it make me sick,  I couldn't face it after that.  Paul fancied some yesterday so I cut half up and tried a piece,  so I guess thats me back to eating Watermelon 🍉! 

After Sonia's Coffee themed journal page and Maria saying that that's how she felt before coffee in the morning,  my girls are the same, they HAVE to have coffee!  Paul enjoys a coffee but his drink of choice is a cup of tea!   I used to drink coffee but went off it when I was pregnant with girls and haven’t drank it since,   I think that today's world is very coffee orientated,  there are many coffee places in most towns, its crazy.   Do you ladies all drink coffee,  do you have these fancy named ones,  it always makes me laugh when we go anywhere and just wants a 'coffee', not a Espresso or a latte, just coffee with milk!   I think he just asks for an Americano. 

On any other day this would be a great reminder, however today's heat deserves a reminder that says 'just sit in the shade and take it essy 🥵🤣

I got my Distress inks out again on Friday and used one of my favourite Tim Holtz stamps,  I popped the stamp in my stamping tool and stamped the flower in Black Versafine Clair,  I gave it a quick dry before moving on to adding ink.  

To create the random circles I die cut some circles out a piece of card and used that to add circles of dustress ink around the stamped flower.  

I spritzed the circles with a pearl spray for added glitz.  I stamped a simple sentiment,  then finished by adding the card to a card blank then added a few pearls.  

Just like last week I did an Oxide version of this card too,  I will share that in the next couple of days. 

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

Love and cool hugs, 

Sandra xxx 

 

Our makes this week

 

Good sunday Morning Ladies,  

I am going to blow my own trumpet today,  I don't often think about my makes,  the only day I reflect about the last week is Sunday and the aim of Sundays post is to celebrate what you have been making.  

But I am really enjoying crafting at the moment and love all the things I made this past week,  half of which aren't shown today,  I honestly think that variety of Cards, Tags and Journal pages helps because they all start differently,  if I'm not feeling very inspired I'll do a tag as there is less white space,  a splash of colour, a couple of stencilled areas, bit of stamping and your basically done, you just need a focal point and your done.  A journal page takes a bit more planning,  although you can go completely abstract and its just as lovely as something that has been meticulously planned. Cards can vary,  depending whether you are making for someone special,  for a special occasion or making for fun or a challenge of course 🤣😂

It sounds obvious but we often forget about ourselves when others around us need our time and help,  love the artwork too x

Karen 

Karen's Description: 

Card 1:  

Here’s a card made entirely from scraps

Leftover background, coloured card and vellum

Card 2:

Another card with scraps 

A scrap piece of Clarity paper with scraps of black and white letters- Aall and Create

Saw the layout on HM by Pink Frog

Two amazing cards Karen, the first one is so incredibly pretty,  such a beautiful paper,  the butterfly couldn't be more fitting as an embellishment. 

Your second card could be used for many things,  especially Masculine cards,  but a change in colour and sentiment would make it work for anything, including Christmas (I whispered that as it isn't even June).  

Thank you so much for two lovely,  inspiring cards,  I really appreciate your support  XXX

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Here is my piece for this week’s challenge.

The theme is “summer time”

Thought I would do a tag for a change.

Various ephemera from Stamperia books and a bit of random stamping and stencilling.

Lilian what a beautiful tag,  it certainly does represent Summer,   such beautifully coloured flowers, I love that background too,  your stamping has added so much interest too. 

Thank you so much for for creating the tag for the challenge,   your support is very much appreciated XXX

Sonia

Sonia's Description:  

Journal page made to fit both challenges - Coffee Lovers and using up old backgrounds. 

The background was made by inking a stencil then adding sprays of water and placing it on card. I added the text from a Stamperia stamp and the ink splats, some from Stamperia and some from Honeydoo Crafts. I added the small brown ‘coffee rings’ using an old deodorant lid. The images and quote are printed from Free Printable Designs facebook page by Tiffany Irvin. I cut out the cups to add to the side of main image.

What a brilliant Journal page,  I love all of the sentiments, they work perfectly for the Coffee Lovers theme,  just like the images you have used,  your fussy cutting is amazing,  those cups must have taken ages,  especially inside the handle.  

Thank you so much for such a lovely journal page,  I'm surprised you had the energy after your busy week!  I am so grateful that you did though XXX

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  stay cool ! 

Love & Hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Happy Sunny Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Ihad to send Paul up intp the loft last night to get the fans down,  I find frustrating at night when it's hot and stuffy,  the heat really affects my AF which makes it hard to relax enough to get to sleep,  however I don't like the fan blowing on me either 🤣😂 I am like 'the princess and the pea' 🙄😂  If we are lucky because our bedroom is on a corner we might get a bit of a breeze.                                             Do any of you have trouble sleeping in the heat?   When we are on holiday we have air conditioning,  so we can set that going so that the bedrooms are nice and cool when we go to bed.  Lucy and Sophie have just bought themselves a 'cooling sheet',  I am intrigued to see if it works,  if they do I will be sure to buy one for our bed.   Our duvet actually has a 'cool' side,   it has 'space' technology🙄🙄🙄, it is supposed to help keep you cool,  we have had it for atleast 4 years and haven't noticed a difference yet 🤣😂🙄🙄

This reminder is one that you shouldn't ever get tired of hearing,   you absolutely do matter so very much, to me and to all of your wonderful family too  ❤️ ♥️ ❤️ 

Gina 

Gina's Description:

This is a card that I made for a 90th Birthday.  I made the box ( first & second photo).  The card I made using my Tattered Lace Book die,  the flowers were from my stash. 

Another beautiful Special Occasion card Gina,  the book style card is so lovely and your beautiful flower sprays finish it perfectly.  The box is equally as beautiful as the box,  the paper that you used with those lovely fuschias gives a real wow,  the sentiments give the touch of luxury too, the fact that you even lined the box with pretty paper shows how incredible your attention to detail is. 

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx