Our Makes from this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

We had another lovely day yesterday,  I did intend to do a couple of hours weeding with Paul, untangling the bindweed from the roses and getting us much of the root up as possible, what a bloomin job, I did a bit but my goodness that rockery area is a sun trap, I came inside had a cool down and tried again,  we got the all of the bindweed that was growing up the roses,   when we moved it the bindweed had the roses bent double where the weed had grown up and over,  the one rose is permanently misshapen,  its a clever weed it seems to entwine 4 & 5 weed strands together creating like a rope and destroy anything in their path.  Why can't plants grow like weeds?!  

Anyway I gave up and left Paul to finish and I came inside to do some crafting but lost an hour or so on Pinterest 🤣

Another great reminder,  the artwork is lovely too x

Let's look Let's have a look a what you have been creating.....

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hello, here is my challenge album page for this weeks challenge.

It’s Fruit land.

Found the picture on Facebook 

It’s from Kelly Lou.

It came out rather dark, I’m sure it’s the paper but couldn’t find my good paper.

What a brilliant idea for Fruit Land Lilian,  that is one that had me stumped, a long with a couple of others 😂

The image is lovely,  I did try and lighten it a little for you.  The cherries look yummy 😋   Kelly Lou has some lovely images. 

Thank you so much for taking part in the Challenge my lovely XXX 

Karen

Karen's Description :

Card 1:

This is Maria’s birthday card using scraps of card It started off being tags but wasn’t working so it evolved to strips cut on ScanNCut taped together across the back and then dry embossed

I also cut the flames on ScanNCut There’s a candle in the basic shapes

Journal page:

My version of Vintage

This was my 4th attempt I can’t seem to get vintage very well

On previous versions I’d gesso’d background, texture paste on another and splats but decided to keep it very simple 

Piece from a The Works pad

Ticket stamps from Indigo Blu and A&C #396

Absolutely brilliant use of scraps for the candles and the flames are perfect. The personalised sentiment is a lovely touch. 

Your Vintage journal page is AMAZING,  the paper is perfect and your stamped detail works perfectly, Vicki P. talks about 'building clusters' on journal pages, using bits of ephemera etc,   you have done this perfectly. 

So you are very good at vintage as it happens 😉 

Thank you so much for a lovely card and a very inspiring journal page XXX

Maria

Maria's Description:

Hiya.

I had to make my mum a card tho so this is the one.

I have used a stamp from a stamping magazine and used my watercolor pens to colour it in. A few crystals in the flowers and a frame that I embossed.

I also thought of sending my sister in law a card after everything she has gone through the last month I don't wish on anyone.

I bought this set with three types of clips and a çurvy die at the Stamperama, I think it will be fun dies to use sometimes on cards. 

I really like the clipboard style card,  those clips look so realistic too, the colour is perfect.  I think that a couple of flowers in opposite corners would add a little extra detail.   I am sure that your Sister in law would really appreciate your kindness my lovely.  

Your card for your Mum is so pretty my lovely,  your colouring has really bought those flowers to life.  Your shading has given real depth to the flowers too,  the butterflies are beautiful 😍 

Thank you so much my lovely for supporting the blog, I really appreciate you XXX

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:  

Teddy's card:   Birthday card I made for Teddy.

I decided to make a Z fold card. The image, papers and sentiment were designed by myself on ChatGPT. The number 3 die cut is from Temu 😊

Journal page:

My journal page for Tea Lovers.

I found these images on Facebook: the majority are from Free Printable Designs page created by Patricia Joyce, and others from The Gentle Pallette. 

I saved and printed them, distressed and inked edges. I fussy cut the lavender, tea cup and wax seals - which I added glossy accents to give them a shine.

Sonia your card for Teddy is so beautiful,   I think its extra special that you designed the papers yourself,  so clever!  The image is perfect with it being a 'Teddy' too.  He will love it .

Your Tea Lover's Journal page is a perfect depiction of the description,   every element works perfectly,   your little cluster is lovely,   the wax seals a touch of luxury as well as a different texture.  Your composition works so well as your eye travels down the page, following the 'triangle' lay out.         It's so lovely to hear that you are enjoying crafting so much, it shows in your work.  

Thank you so much my lovely,  your card is amazing and for an inspirational journal page. XXX

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I hope that you all have a perfect Sunday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx

Mixed up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

What are you all up to this weekend?  We are starting to get a few bits sorted for our holiday and a few garden jobs.  

As always my lovely friends,  you are all of the above and so much more.  ❤️ 

Here are some of the lovely roses that we have been blessed with this year...

These pink ones are huge, you can see Paul's hand above as a size reference 

This climbing petunia 'Tidal Wave ' is like a miracle plant,  we bought 4 plants 3 years ago and we manage to keep them going over winter and they reward us in late spring/early summer.  I love them 💗 

This rose is on the front of our decking, it is so beautiful and smells so lovely,   the flowers all very from cream through pretty peach to almost a pink tinge.  We have a bumper crop of flowers this year. 

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

My love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

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