A Saturday Quickie

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

We are taking today as it comes,  we had plans to go to Costco and maybe Ikea at Reading,   but we are just going to play it 'by ear'.  See how I feel,  the headaches I have been having day in day out made me book an urgent GP appointment late yesterday afternoon,   turns out my sinusitis was mistaken for an dangerously high Blood Pressure 180/80.   Had I not have been holding the back of my head and I mentioned how my tinnitus was much worse than usual and my hearing is terrible,   he had already checked my temp, pulse etc,  but just at last minute decided to check my blood pressure!  

I couldn't be more grateful to our pharmacist,   gp had said he wanted me to start meds straight away,  but due to us being over 45 minutes late for my gp appointment due to an awful accident the chemist were not far from closing,  adding to the frustration the pharmacy in the surgery can't fulfil your prescription even as a one off,  so Gp suggested sending it to Stow pharmacy,  which is just up road from surgery,   paul ran up there but they had run out,  he asked them to send it through to the branch we use regularly so they did,  it was about 5.50pm and they close at 6pm,  so I rang them and explained that stow was sending script through, she said yes we just received it,  I explained that my BP was high and I needed them asap, at first she said 'we close at 6pm"  I said we are about 10 mins away and will do our best to get to them on time,  she then said 'don't panic I'll wait for you"  how lovely was that?  We got to them at 6:02pm so thankfully they didn't have to wait too long.  I will be taking them a thank you card next week. 

Lucy received a 'Flego' or Temu Dobby for Christmas and she finished him this week,  every brick is a single and you build it up as a hollow 'tube' like structure.  He's brilliant and quite sturdy.  The girls have had a few of these and they are a much cheaper alternative. 

Gina 

Gina made a last minute order from Craft Addiction as her plane was taking off last weekend and these lovely stamps were waiting for her when she got home.  

These will definitely chase away your post holiday blues Gina,  such lovely stamps,  so many stamps in each collection too including those lovely borders and background stamps.  

I cant wait to see what you made with them XXX

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

A new Ticketed Snippet

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

This week I can say I am truly thankful its Friday,  I think I mentioned yesterday about the mental stress of hospital appointments,  which I think is a combination of hope (for diagnosis and plan for resolving your problem) and stress and anxiety about what diagnosis could be etc.  Consequently yesterday I felt totally flat, exhausted emotionally too. 

We had a busy too,  we needed to get Lucy's tyre's sorted, after hours of phone calls we got Halfords to come out,  two tyres and £250 later she has a safe car,  although the lovely man that fitted the tyres said that that amount of wear in 8 weeks indicated something was very wrong with steering etc,  so we set out to get an appointment to get tracking done,   this was what Lucy and I spent 2 days doing last week,  but every garage was booked up,  no doubt to the disgraceful state of the roads around us.  Paul ended up driving down to the garage in Bourton on Water and said he'd just sit and wait to be fitted in,  luckily it didn't take long, they said the tracking was way out, probably due to hitting a pot hole.  Anyway she now has a safe car which is a huge relief,   as Paul said she uses it everyday so it needs to be safe.  He has shown them both how to properly check their tyres  and encouraged them to do it every or every other day,  they all stop at the top of the drive to open the gate and again to close it, he said that's when he checks ours, it takes seconds so they should make it habit.  

How perfect is today's Reminder (for me) today,  I am at that point of wanting to just pull the covers over my head and stay in bed !!! 

However today I am Soph's companion,  we are off shopping for red shrimp for her Aquarium that we bought her for Christmas,  she has had the tank set up for about a month,  the plants she has in are all growing nicely,   she is quite excited,  so no matter how I feel I will be beside her today.   😄

(Finally ) on to today's  'Ticketed Snippet',  I got my little Pink Pig Journal out to start putting my Thrinchies in and the one I picked up had Ticketed Snippets in,  so I immediately thought 'I need to make some more of those,   Tracy Evans released dies to go with her Ticket Stencil so creating the decorated Tickets will be even easier,  I suggested to Tracy that it would be lovely to see some more of the decorated tickets,  they would probably increase the sales of the die too,  that's if it isn't only me that struggles fussy cutting those ticket corners!  

I created some backgrounds for another project using Distress Oxides on my 3 x 5 inch Gelli plate,  they didn't turn out perfectly so I put them on my bit box pile,   so I grabbed one of those today and die cut 2 tickets.  So I had the background already made,  I added some stamping to the background using Salty Ocean ink (which was used in background).  I added some text and some small Snowdrops,  I then stamped and white embossed the larger Snowdrop from TE054 'One of a kind,  the Snowdrops on the Album page are from TE031 'Nature's Beauty'

I added the little birds on top of the Snowdrop on this Ticket,  I also stamped the bird onto the page of album to, so that the birds tail lined up.  I did add some white splatters but they don't really show up.  I added the word Spring to the journal page too and the other little Snowdrop.  

This is totally my own design,   its by no means perfect but I really enjoyed creating it.  

I hope that you all have a good end to your week  

Love and hugs,  

Sandra xxx 

The 2nd Thrinchie

Good Morning Ladies,  

It will be a quiet day for me today,  I felt so exhausted by the time we got home yesterday,   it was after 6pm,  I was awake half the night before stressing about the appointment.   It felt a little frustrating as I felt once again it seems like they only want to treat the symptoms rather than investigating the cause,   he did say that I should try the medication he has prescribed for 5 months and then he will see me again,  maybe my reaction to the medication will help them diagnose the issue!  I had to go and get blood taken,  now I have gotten much better at dealing with them, the nurses ar our practice are really good at taking blood,  the nurse who took my blood was very jolly,  but her technique was very painful, it hurt up to my shoulder!  Its left a lovely bruise too.  

Today's reminder:   You ALL matter, very much!!! 

I am sharing the second Thrinchie,  the pair to yesterday's Thrinchie,   it was created in exactly the same way.  I am temped to doing a full card version!  

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Snippet 69 my version

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

We have a long day ahead today,  we are travelling to Edgbaston, Birmingham for my long awaited Gastroenterology Appointment,  it's been about 2 years of repeated questionnaires asking if I still wanted/needed the appointment.  Fingers crossed we get some answers,   I've had a problem with this Bile duct for around 8 years.  I've had it scanned, re scanned,  CT scanned, MRI scanned and an Endoscopy,   so I am hoping I don't have to have any more diagnostics today.  

I started today's Thrinchie on Monday,   I die cut some little tags and adhered them to a Thrinchie,  for colour I used my Gansai Tambi Watercolours,  I used three different greens,  after spritzing the thrinchie with water (and the paint pans)  I started adding the colours to,  blending them together.  I then set them to dry.  

Yesterday I adding some more detail,  I used a Tim Holtz Watercolour pencil to the areas where the tags met,  then onto some stamping,  I added a couple of bits of die cut tags with stamping on, I used Tracey Evans stamp set TE45.   

The finishing touch is the pretty die cut Snowdrop, oh and some splatters of course 🤣😂

I hope that you all have a good day,  

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

A simple card

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

It was a bit of a dark & gloomy day yesterday,   mostly due to weather but partly due to be home alone 😔.   Paul would usually be home about '2pm ish' he then works for another couple of hours,  however he didn't get home until after 4pm  because they had an 'intruder' on Brize Norton,  so what they do is make everyone stay in the buildings they are meant to work in (most you have to show your ID to get in)  with everyone locked in their department anyone not in a building will be rounded up and arrested,  luckily it didn't take them too long,  which is lucky as it's a huge camp.   It's reassuring to know they are being vigilant.        I was happy to see him when he did get home,  rhe girls weren't far behind him.  

I love todays Reminder,  I followed along,  I will need to repeat it a couple of times to convince myself though 🤣

I had a very 'messy play' session,  using my small Gelli press (3 x 5 inch) I tried Distress Oxides, Distress ink and Gansai Tambi Water Colour paints.  I have enough for a Snippet or two and a couple of Thrinchies,  I look forward to playing with them today.  

I didn't finish anything off,  I was packing away at 6pm and had all my bits drying on the Aga, its such a great craft tool I totally recommend it,  it's quite bulky though 🤣😂

So today I am sharing a pretty card that I made on Saturday afternoon,   using only my Stamperia Secret Diary junk journal.  

I cut a piece of background paper down to fit my 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card blank,  I then cut out the faux Polaroid piece and popped the Bird on branch sticker on the Polaroid,   added some leaves to the end of branch and a faux cellotape piece on the top.  A simple sentiment,  finishes the card.  Those junk journals have everything you need to create at least 10 cards plus a couple of journal pages.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs,  

Sandra xxx 

A Fun Journal page...

 

So Incredibly true, for me my best cam vary from

Getting up and dressed being the 'best ' I can

 acheive, other days I can create something crafty, 

Cook for my family and write a blog post !  

But however different my days are they are always 

My Best! 

Good Monday Morning,  

Welcome to the start of a new week, the last week of February, which is crazy!  

We were treated to a gloriously sunny day yesterday,  Paul got lots of jobs done in the garden. 

Today I am sharing a Journal page that I made last Thursday.  I followed an old Vicky P video,  for this I used pretty all Tim Holtz products,  some I have had longer than I care to admit 😅 

I started by adding torn up rice papers to my blank page,  after I had dried that I added Twisted Citron & Mustard seed Distress Oxide spray,  followed by a spritz of water to encourage them to mix.  I edged the page with Vintage Photo distress ink and added some through TH Graduated Square Stencil.

For texture and interest I used the same Graduated Square stencil this time I used Glossy Translucent Paste.  I love how it catches the light.  

The main focus of the page is the Crazy Bird, I stamped coloured him with Distress inks,  but first I clear embossed hid eyes and then coloured and embossed his beak, so that they were protected from the blue inks.  I used Cracked Pistachio,  Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch inks which I blended over the bird.  

The focal element was placed on top of an old Ephemera tag, to which I added some gauze for some fun texture, then an old ticket,  which I stamped the bird on to so that when I fussy cut it I didn't need to include the legs and his curled feather on his head.  I tore up some Washi tape to ground the bird. To finish I added some inspirational words. 

I love the bright colours of this page, it's definitely fun! 

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

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Our makes from this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

We had a very mild day yesterday,   Paul got our mew Strawberry planters out and started filling them,  we actually took the plunge and ordered a couple of planters from Temu,  Paul was sceptical but when they arrived within two days and the quality was excellent he was pleasantly surprised,  he has given me his card and told me to order a couple more, I wonder if he'll notice if I added a couple of craft bits on the order too 😉🤣

Sadly I wasn't feeling great,  I feel like I'm rattling with having to take 10 antibiotics a day,  I did ask the pharmacist to make sure that Phenoxymethylpenicillin & Nitrofurantoin don't clash with each other,  I hope they don't upset my sensitive liver!   I also ordered a Nasal wash kit, which the pharmacist recommended,  as I am writing this I am putting off going to use it, although it would be great if it worked,  the odd thing is I don't have a congested nose at all, its all across my face that feels sore.  I will let you know how it goes !! 

I am having to take this reminder seriously at the moment ! 🤣  

In all seriousness,  it's another reminder that may sound obvious but it can be easily overlooked when we get caught up in our role as Mum, Wife, Daughter etc xx

 

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

Karen

Karen's Description:  

Here’s a simple card that I was inspired by Natalie Bowers

She used a curve die and a butterfly 

My curve die is too short for DL size

A piece of Clarity paper behind the white topper and Julie Hickey flowers

First time I have created my own glossies using a circle die and Glossy Accents

I absolutely love you simple card Karen,   those Julie Hickey flowers are so delicate and work beautifully with the clean and simple style of your card. 

Your glossies are brilliant too! 

Thank you so much for sharing your card with us and supporting the challenge XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Hi, here is my challenge piece for this week.

I used coffee lovers from the list.

Rice papers and cut outs from several Stamperia books, all junk journals.

Oh Lilian I love your jounal page, it's amazing how all of the different collections work together,  your layout is perfect,  the little dashes work so well and really draw your eye in.   

Thank you so much for taking part of the challenge my lovely XXX 

Maria

Maria's Description:

I went for a Camera and Vintage style for my journal page.  I used for a background a Yellow, Green and Peach Prism Glimmer mister.  Embossed and Stamped a bit and then put some stickers a sentiment down from Temu

 I love your jounal page Maria,  your background is so textured, the stamping is perfect and your focal elements work perfectly for the challenge.

Thank you so much for taking part XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

Card 1:  Birthday card I made for Marks mum, using Stamperia Quiet Days collection. The die cut dragon fly is Gummiapan and the little flowers from Temu. I didn’t make it specifically for the challenge, but it could come under ‘Birthday’

Journal pages:  Challenge, Photography/Camera.

I have used all images and sentiments which I printed from Pinterest. The photo negative strip is from Temu and the ‘Polaroid’ frame is from Maryanne creative (I think!) Stencil on background is also from Temu.

Your card for Marks Mum is so lovely,  I bet she absolutely loved it,  these Stamperia papers have us all addicted 😍

Where do I start with your journal pages,  wow 👌 your layout is incredible,  the little reminders and notes that you have added are so spot on and give so much more meaning to your design!  

Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring creations with us XXX 

Sue 

Sue's Description:

Finally finished my 1st journal page. I used Stamperia Silent Seas junk journal and followed a tutorial by Vickyp but didn’t realise until half way through that you had already followed the same one! I will stick it into the journal now I have finished it. Thank you for all of your help xx

Your finished page looks amazing Sue,   the twine you have used looks brilliant,  I can see you were in Scouting as your knots are perfect!   🤣

Thank you for sharing your first journal page with us XXX 

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

Maria:  just an idea,  you could get a bag of cat treats,  'Dreamies' are a favourite in our house,  just shake them and call her when you go in,   she'll warm to you in no time,  but take them with you when you leave in case she finds them,  Milo and Bella have eaten a whole pack on more than one occasion 😉 🤣😂

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday   

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx