Stamperia White Christmas card

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

We waiting in anticipation of the rain all day yesterday,   we got the tiniest drizzle at around midday and then a little more at 7pm,  the first lot lastest 30 secs and you couldn't tell that it had rained at all, not on windows or the decking,  the evening shower was a a little heavier, there was actual moisture on the driveway and deck but it was only for 5 minutes and the heat had everything dry in 20 minutes.  Paul was hoping that he wouldn't need to water the pots on the deck but you couldn't tell it had rained so they needed a good water.  

The full meaning of todays affirmation or positive reminder.....

Every person has inherent worth and a basic right to receive care, love, kindness and respect simply for existing, without needing to earn it through perfection, work or pleasing others. 

*****

Today I am sharing a Christmas card that I made on Monday,  I was inspired by a journal cover that someone created,   I adapted it to create a card, it's 6 x 6 inch.  I took a piece of background paper from the White Christmas collection,  its like an Aran knit design,  I then took a white version,  cut out a few of the strips and layered them over the darker ones, I then took a panel out of the junk journal added foam pads down the centre (to allow me to tuck things in behind it), I used my Crop o Dile to add an eyelet to a tag from the junk journal,  the added some hessian ribbon through it, I tucked that behind the rectangle.  I popped out the girl,  Christmas tree, little bunny and sentiment and arranged them on the rectangle label,  to finish I added three of the die cut buttons on foam pads for dimension.  I added some white splatters.  I will add a personal sentiment when I know who I am sending it to.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs 

Sandra xxx 

A butterfly journal page

Good Morning Ladies,

Lilian I hope that all went well yesterday and your journey to recovery is going well. 😘

We had another very warm day yesterday,   it was around 31° early afternoon,   we didn't bother going outside until just after 5pm,  we had a wander down the veg plot as I haven't seen it for over a week,   I was shocked to see that the french beans had grown up the pole about 2 feet and had flowers on, we planted more because our original ones had been neglected while we were away and consequently hadn't really grown,  thankfully now they are back being watered they have grown to about 8 feet,  fingers crossed they give us a few beans,  I also popped in about 60 leeks,  that were half price at garden centre,   we eat a lot of leeks in autumn and winter, so would be lovely to have our own.  

I had to look into this one,   it basically reminds you that your value as a human being cannot be devalued my external factors,  your worth cannot be changed by past mistakes or failures or other peoples opinions.  It doesn't alter who you are because of your body shape, weight or age, or if you struggle mentally or physically.  

I think its all to easy to be hard on yourself,  I am definitely guilty of it,  "wishing I  was more able"  or feeling "guilty for being a burden " are just two examples.  

I have been better in my thought since being interested in these daily reminders,  it has definitely made me think more about how I feel and think.  

Here are a couple of ideas for changing negative thinking about yourself....

Today I am sharing a butterfly themed journal page that I made last week,  I used my 49 & Market "Faded Memory Lane " collection. I was inspired by a Pinterest post. 

I used Antique Linen & Tea Dye Oxide sprays for the base colour of the background, when dry I used a stencil and added Faded Jeans Oxide spray,  I liked how it turned out 😍

I added a bit of stamping around the edges of the background, then picked out a selection of ephemera,  tags and labels from both the ephemera pack and their die cut selection.  I added the three butterflies to the large label as a focal point and then added the sentiment and added the blue flowers.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all of you 

Sandra xxx 

Happy Monday Morning...

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

Welcome to the start of a new week,   I hope that you all had a lovely weekend.  

Lilian you are in our thoughts today, I hope that you are first on the list, so that you aren't laying around getting anxious all morning.   Sending huge hugs and wishes for a speedy recovery ❤️ 

Fun artwork on today's reminder,  a great reminder too.  We are all capable if more than we give ourselves credit for.  xxx

Today I am sharing a Christmas Tag that I made on Friday morning. 

I used my Stamperia White Christmas collection,   I used my Spellbinders Arch dies to create both of the layers, I backed both onto card to give more rigidity.  I used my Crop o Dile to pop an eyelet into the centre of the largest tag layer.  Both layers are background papers from the collection,   I added some snowflakes using a stencil and texture paste.

The buttons,  mittens , hot chocolate mug etc are all the due cut ephemera from the collection.  I sewed through the buttons to make them look more realistic. Finished with bow, ribbon through the eyelet and some white splatters of course.  

I hope that you all have a good day and a great start to your week,  

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Lets look at our makes this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

Well I thought yesterday was supposed to be cooler!!  It certainly didn't feel any cooler while we were out freeing the roses of the bind weed that has grown up around the stems and branches while were away, I was shocked at how fast it had grown we literally cleared it a week or so before we went away.  Shame the drought and intense heat didn't kill that too. 

We had a lovely day just pottering round ticking jobs off the ever growing list.  

Beautiful artwork,  now this one I dedicate to our lovely Lilian,  who is having surgery tomorrow.   I want you to know that we will all be with you virtually, I think it would be too noisy if we were actually there with you.🤣😂  

Wishing you the speediest of recoveries my lovely friend ❤️

Let's look at your makes....

Karen

Karen's Description:

This took me a few days to finish 

Took inspiration from the magazine I bought recently and used the stencil with JL Christmas stamps also from a magazine 

I used Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon and Blueprint Sketch DO for the background

Karen your blended is amazing,  especially in such small areas,  I love those little stamps, I might be tempted to buy the magazine just for those stamps!  

Your layout is lovely,  I love the little strip of card that you have used as a ribbon,   is that the old Sue Wilson die you have used for emboss the detail onto it? 

Thank you so much for sharing your card with us, it's lovely to see you back in your craft room XXX

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:  

Here is my piece for this weekends challenge. I know it’s not Christmas, It’s for our granddaughter for her birthday on the 19th of this month. Thought I’d better get it done as I’m not sure if I will be able to feel much like crafting when I come home.

 

I used chat GPT, asked it to design background and then some ephemera. It also showed me how to put it together, I changed it a bit. She is quite grown up now.

Lilian your Granddaughters Birthday card is so lovely,   13 is a tricky age to make cards for,  I think you have absolutely got it right though.  

Thank you so much for sharing your card with us XXX 

Maria 

Maria's Description:

I was playing this afternoon but I just stared at it all and in the end I managed to make this very simple card. It's a good one to have on stand by if you forgot someone 😊🤭. I will try with other colours too as this was made by bits from my bitbox.

The Poinsettia is by Poppystamps I believe , couldn't find any other name on the envelope they are in.

Maria you may think it's simple, sometimes simple is perfect!  The poinsettia is so detailed with all of that embossed detail that a simple background is exactly what is needed. 

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

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

Something a bit different from me for the blog, my lovely.

I haven’t felt up to making a card or journal page this week, but I have been creating a Winter Countryside Collection on ChatGPT. Here are some of the pages I have created 😊

Oh my goodness Sonia,   the Winter Collection you have created is so beautiful,   the scenery is stunning,  the baubles are gorgeous and that Snowman is adorable 😍 

You are as good as any designer my lovely,  you should definitely look into creating Collections to sell.  

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful Collection with us.  XXX 

(Sonia has protected her designs with watermarks)

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love & Hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Happy Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

Welcome August !  How we are 8 months through the year is crazy 🤪  

I am going into the weekend and new month trying my best to be positive after a 'trying ' few weeks.  I was beginning to feel sad that we don't have our holiday to look forward to, as we have had our holiday at the end of August for years,  so last year after changing our dates to June we felt a bit blue as August started as our holiday had been and gone!   This year I have changed my thinking to 'we have the whole of August and September to relax and enjoy the garden.  

We have all overcome some fairly major hurdles and managed to survive, in different ways of course.   I often sit and think about how bloody incredible you amazing friends are.  So today's reminder is very true 🥰😍😘

Now I didn't take any photos of my poor completely dead and totally brown and crispy wall baskets when we got back from holiday as it was too heart breaking.   So I was determined to try and get some colour back in them to cheer me up as we drive up to the front door....

I adore the petunias in this basket,   it was hard to capture how deep the purple was on the one on the left, it just makes me smile.    

The purple petunia is called " Cosmic Violet"   the pink one is called "Circus sky" 

This basket hasn't quite caught up as fast as the other one,  however this gorgeous petunia makes up for it.  It is called "Cherry Sky" the white speckles make it look like it is sparkling. 😍

Last but not least...

All of the beautiful flowers in this barrel were free this year.   The beautiful Petunia "Tidal Wave" has survived 3 winters in this barrel, we don't put it in greenhouse or anything, it must be sheltered in this corner by the front door,  the silver vent behind it is from the Aga which is on from September onwards which maybe could keep the barrel frost free!   I am just delighted to see it's green shoots i  Spring, giving me hope that it has survived another year!  The gorgeous sweet peas were all grown from seeds from last years sweet peas,  sadly these are the only survive survivors,   the 3 other pot fulls on the deck died in the heat and lack of water.  Thankfully these ones will give me seeds to keep them going another year. 

Maybe you could share some photos of your garden my lovelies. xxx

Gina

How brilliant is this card that Gina made for her Son's birthday.   The caption reads " Mum Saying Happy Birthday Son" !!  

The funny thing is the lovely lady here looks similar (in the face) to our Gina, especially with her new hair do !!  They added pearls and gems make it more than just a birthday card,  he won't forget his 39th birthday that's for sure 🤣😂 

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

Thats all for today my lovelies,   I hope that you enjoy this first day of August, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Something Festive for Friday

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Fingers crossed this post published as normal,  I have no idea why yesterday's didn't,  I apologise if any if you missed it.  

Love this artwork,  it gives an Autumn feel though.  

I like the reminder too,   we all need time, for many different reasons.  Do he gentle with yourselves ❤️

I made this Christmas card yesterday afternoon,  the background is made with Distress Sprays,  Oxide Peacock Feathers and Wilted violet spray stain,  I added some splatters of the Distress Mica Sprays in the same colours.  The shimmer looks amazing...

I

 I tried to capture the shimmer in these photos 

I spritzed a piece of white card with a mica pearl spray,  I then used my Bibi Cameron Snowflake die to cut a snowflake from the shimmery card. 

I placed it over the background,  trimmed off the overhanging bits of snowflake and then adhered the piece to a white card base.  

I struggled to get a sentiment to stand out with the busy card front, so die cut 'Wishes ' in black and then pressed into clear ink pad, added clear embossing powder and heat set,  I added the 'Warm Wishes '  from an old Anne Marie designs Christmas sentiments sheet. 

A few black stones finish the card. 

I hope that you all have a lovely Day, 

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx

A TEXTures Dragonfly Dreams Journal page

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Well yesterday was the 'straw that broke the camels back'  (as they say)!  The heat made the symptoms of uti and theses bloomin antibiotics even worse.  I popped to shops with Lucy in the morning and felt awful in the supermarket,  we came home,  I tried laying on the bed with fan and my cool towel to try and relax but I couldn't relax at all.  So I got up and tried to distract myself by crafting 😂                         Sorry for moaning,  I just believe in being real with you all, I could just say "I'm ok" I guess 🤣

I'm glad it's okay as I do it often 🤣

I bought some of Lou Collins (TEXTures) Dragonfly Dreams collection.  I was drawn to it by the geometrical design if the stamps. 

I used the background stamp from this collection with Kitsch Flamingo & Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide for the background, I spritzed it with water and then dried it before stamping the floral kite shaped stamp from above.  

 

To embellish the card I used a jar of flowers from the paper pad collection,  I wrapped some twine around the jar and added a now.  I fussy cut some of the same flowers from another jar and added some foam pads to the back to raise it up,  I popped another one at the base of the jar.  I added some splatters of both the oxides and blake ink.  To finish I stamped and fussy cut the 'Beautiful ' and added the 'Just the way you are' at the bottom.  

I am looking forward to playing with these stamps more.  

I hope that you all have a lovely day,  especially as its forecast to be cooler,  

My love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx