A clean and simple card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Today's reminder goes out to all of you,  you all hold a place in my heart,  I look forward to reading your comments every day.  You are all as loved as family ❤️

Today I am sharing a clean and simple card that I made yesterday.  I used a die that I bought recently from Temu. 

I started by creating the coloured background, I wanted it to have a shimmer for added interest so I used Distress Mica Stains,  these are the colours I used....

It was fun using them as they sat on the shelf for too long without being used. 

I spritzed some of each onto a piece of card and popped on the Aga to dry. 

I cut the base card to 4 1/4  x 5  1/2 inch,  then cut another piece of card 1/4 of an inch smaller and took my leaf die and cut it out.  I then stamped the sentiment in the bottom corner.  

I trimmed down the coloured layer so that it fit behind the front panel,  I added foam pads to the nack of the front panel and sandwiched them together.  I added glue to the back of the coloured piece and placed on the base card.  

Here is a look for at the shimmer....

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Silent sea Journal page

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

Just a quick one today as I am feeling a little fragile as my BP decided to shoot up again yesterday afternoon,  I woke with a bad headache,  but just took paracetamol and got on with my day,  by mid afternoon I was struggling,  then around 5pm I started feeling really dizzy and sick and had to go lie on the bed,  tested my BP and it was 172/98 which is highest its been since the day i went to surgery,  I called GP and they advised me to take an extra Amlodipine and check my BP later in evening and early tomorrow morning and to call if it hadn't settled down.  

So today's Gentle Reminder is perfect for me ! 🤣

Today I am sharing the Silent Seas journal page I made on Monday,   I created the background by adding Grey and Blue paint to the watercolour paper and moving it around after drying it I added some splatters of the blue ink.  

I added some stamping and texture paste too. 

Then came the fun part,  building the focal point using die cuts and stickers and rub-ons. 

The rub ons from Stamperia are really amazing quality,  its hard to see but the brick work behind the window frame die cut is a rub in, they leave no shiny outline or anything. 

I chopped down a moon and added in the corner of the window frame and built up the die cuts etc on the outside.  I finished with some splatters. 

I am really pleased with this one x 

Maria, I am sorry to read that your Dad has had to have his other leg amputated,  it must be so hard for you being so far away my lovely,  sending you hugs xxx

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Snowdrop journal page

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Today's reminder is very true,   especially if you managed to get through your 'mountain climbing' day yesterday,  for some of us it feels like a celebration just to through the day,  I genuinely feel a small buzz of joy as I get into bed at night,  "I made it through another day"! 🤣😂

Prescription review went well yesterday,  the pharmacist was lovely,   I told him that I felt overwhelmed having 4 new medications to start in one week,  he went through them with me,   I asked about moving my original BP tablet to morning as prescribed,  explaining that I was told to take it straight away (in the evening) on the day it was prescribed as my BP was so high.  He initially said that I could move it by taking as I have been and then taking another the following morning,   when I explained that I was worried about taking the Amlodipine and Ramipril together in the morning he said he didn't recommend that as they both make your BP drop quickly and will both lose effectiveness at the same time, so he suggested leaving the Amlodipine in the evening and Ramipril in the morning.  I felt relieved afterwards,  he didn’t want me to take the GTN spray unless absolutely necessary,  the Buscopan tablets I explained that I was taking 2 twice a day and he said it would be helpful for all of my abdominal issues so recommended I take the full 6 tablets a day.   The only other thing that he suggested was me taking a Beta Blocker as my heart rate is still high particularly noticeable at night, so he is going to talk to my GP.  All in all I felt that he really listened and wanted to help, which is reassuring.  

Today's journal page was made yesterday,  following a Tracy Evan’s tutorial.

I used Micro Glaze through a stencil, the Micro Glaze is like vaseline,  so acts as a resist.   I then added some Lindys pigment powders (like pixie powders)  and spritzed with water,   I set it to dry...

This is how it looks after it was dry

I then added embossing paste, through a script stencil.   This photo shows the shimmer from the Lindy pigment powders.  

I then die cut the Snowdrop and used Lost Shadow DO on the flower and Twisted Citron & a touch of Rustic Wilderness on the stem. I added  some script stamped details on the petals   After I had dried it I covered it with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder and heat set, then repeated to give a lovely thick glaze.

I adhered the Snowdrop to the background and added some little bits of stamped details around the snowdrop.  Some white splatters and a black mat finish the page. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Aall&Create challenge Journal page

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope you have a great start to the week my lovelies,  what have you all got planned?  

Today's reminder is another good one, after having an afternoon in the garden today definitely feels like a Mountain Day ⛰️!!  🤣

Today I am sharing another Journal page,  this one is a 6 x 6 inch page. 

The background was started by adding two shades of teal/turquoise colour paint to the page with a vaby wipe,  when that dry I added some stamping and the used translucent texture paste with the darker paint mixed in so that it tied in with the background.  When that was dry I used Versamark through an ornate stencil and added sparkle white embossing powder and heat set 

I tried to capture sparkle here ✨️ 

I inked around the edges to draw your eye in.  Then came the fun part ....adding the die cuts,  this page is for the Category Art & Craft. 

I used the paintbrushes, Girl and flowers all came from my Secret Diary Stamperia collection. 

The 'Art'  is made with my new Alphabet dies from temu.  The words underneath are from my little portable printer.  

The final touch was adding some sketchy lines with fineliner pens and some splatters!  

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs,  

Sandra xxx 

Your Crafts from this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

I hope that you are all being spoilt today my lovelies.  

Today's reminder is very apt for me today,  as we had a lovely afternoon in the garden yesterday, I really didn't do very much apart from a little bit of weeding in my pots and some pruning, our garden is on quite a hill though so just getting up and down had me breathless!  I definitely wouldn't be able to get out there at all without my walker !  

Let's have a look at what yoo have been making ....

Karen 

Karen's Description:  

1:   My version of tea lovers, Very simple 

Gingham card which I dread to think how old it is from C&C 

Die from Dreamweavers paper pieced with card coloured with Ecoline pens I shadowed them slightly with pencil but also added a grey shadow (Hickory Smoke DO) and a printed sentiment

2:  Circus finished

I love this clown image found on Pinterest 

Added the sentiment coloured to match the image and turned into a sticker

I have decoupaged the image 

Added some texture paste and decided against splatters

Edged imaged with Tumbled Glass DO

I love that you are enjoying creating these pages for the Aa&C Challenge,   I know the feeling as I love creating the journal pages,  I think its because there is no pressure for perfection as its for our enjoyment only.  

Your Tea Lovers card is brilliant and I love the checked card as the tablecloth,  brilliant idea. 

Now I'm generally not a lover of clowns,  I find them terrifying, the image you have found is completely different though,  it has such a sweet face, not frightening in the slightest.   Your background is so clever too, with the texture paste stencilling is a brilliant idea for juggling balls!  

Everything works perfectly!  

Thank you so much for sharing your inspirational ideas with us XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hi, here is my piece for this week. It’s taken me a week to do kitchen, this the best I could come up with.

As usual Stamperia papers, from several books. I wish I cut the window out first and put a background behind it.

Lilian it's perfect, I love the papers you have used, I have been thinking all week what to do for the Kitchen category,  you have given me some ideas!  

Thank you so much for taking part my lovely XXX 

Maria

Maria's Description

I have been sitting here for some hours now and made this card together.

Lilian mentioned something about "Kitchen" so I had a look at my stickers to see what I could use and here it is.

Paper as a background. Distress Inks, White Splatters and Kitchen Stickers used here

Many hugs to you all 💕 xxx

Your time was well spent my lovely,  your card is lovely,  the background is amazing and your card works perfectly for the challenge.

Thank you so much for taking part and supporting the blog my lovely XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

I made this card for Dad to give Mum tomorrow on Mother’s Day. The background papers are printed. I’ve used a Sue Wilson die as the focal point and the little circle die cut sentiment, from my stash. The butterflies are from the new set I bought by Craft Addiction. I added some clear gems to finish it off 😊

Oh Sonia your papers are so beautiful, they work perfectly for your pretty design,  your mum will love it.  So sweet that your dad gives your Mum a card.

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

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Mother’s Day,  

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

You amazing, Dear  Sweet  much loved Friends are everything mentioned in the reminder today and more ❤️ 

We are having a quiet day,  well actually we have a to get everything we we want to do this weekend today as we are 'Dogsitting' our newest Granddog Boo tomorrow, he might be tiny but my goodness is he needy,  with Harley or Benji they let you know when they need to 'go outside for a toilet break'  but we aren't anywhere near that stage yet with Boo. So we'll have puppy pads everywhere just in case.   Added to that Milo was wholly unimpressed when Boo last came to visit, he is the boss around here,  the funny thing is that Boo is smaller than Milo so poses no threat. 🤣

My craft shopping 

I was looking at sponge daubers at the craft show and online they were atleast £19,  these were £4.60 each, so worth a try,  I only use them for edging die cuts. 

I picked a few dies out, they ranged from 80p to £2 (I do think I might have the top vase die set from Gummiapan) 

I bought this storage unit thinking it looked a bit different to the one on temu,  it was £4, I will make it work 🤣

I absolutely love this Alphabet die set, it was £6.97, its quite large though (its on A4)  I love the curly bits! 

I couldn't resist this stamp set from Arden Creative or the Die cuts and Rub-ons above,   I have seen this stamp set used loads for adding details to journal pages.

This is the PET tape that I used on my last journal page, its by Arden Creative,  you peel off the clear stickers from the Acetate strip

These gorgeous stamps and tickets are perfect for adding little clusters to journal pages,  I love them.  

That's it the Temu haul above was my little addition to Paul's temu Strawberry planter haul 🤣😂

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Butterfly journal page

A fun quote,  I am hoping it's  just

My mind that's 'growing'!! 🤣

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Well did you Ladies  get the gale force winds??  It started to pick up here early afternoon as Soph and I were driving back from Cirencester (Bladder Clinic) and lunch out. As the afternoon went on the wind picked up,  it looks worse in our garden because we have so many big trees, they were bending and swaying like crazy, fingers crossed that everyone stays safe and these gales don't cause and structural damage.

I got back from Cirencester and really had the urge to get crafting,  however I started to tidy my desk which turned in to a much larger tidy and reorganise,  until Soph came downstairs and looked at me and told me to sit down and insisted on me taking my BP which had shot up, she said she knew I wasn't right as my face was so red.  I made room on my desk and started crafting, which is the best thing for calming down a busy mind.  Today's little journal page is the result.

I started out by sprinkling some of my Lindys Powders onto my 3x5 inch gel plate, I spritzed with water and placed it on my journal page and squished the powders about, moving the colours over the page.  I dried it quickly and added some stamping and then some texture paste through a stencil.   I tried a new product called PET tape by Arden Creative,  I initially thought it was the whole thing that you used but realised you peeled the sticker off of the shiny carrier and added it to my page, a larger piece on the left, small on the right,  next came the lovely little tickets,  I absolutely love them.  I tore off a few and added them to my page,  

I have tried to capture the sparkle here 

This is the background without the finishing touches.  The shimmery pigment powders have so many different colours in them.

I added some gauze for some extra texture  it's a bit like Tracy Evans adding the cotton under her focal images.   I found a butterfly on some old SU papers that worked with the colours and fussy cut it and added it over the gauze.  I found a sentiment,  added it to a black mat and added it to the cluster at the bottom of the page.  

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

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx