A walk in our garden

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

I know its Monday and I usually share a craft project but today I wanted to share some photos I took in the garden yesterday. 

I had no idea that there were so many different colours and varieties of daffodils until ours started to open up....

The loveliest tulips, some many layers of petals 

These ones have really thick waxy centre petals that have really strong fragrance 

There are a few in the bamboo pots! 

These are my absolute favourite,  so delicate in both colour and look.  They look like they are made of tissue paper.

This one is pure white,  not even a hint of colour,  so beautiful,  especially when mixed with those lovely jewel toned tulips.

A more common pure yellow 💛 

This one is mostly white with the most delicate hint of orange, so pretty.

 Another pure white one with the outer petals turned backwards 

I am sharing these photos as I am so amazed at how far these have spread, they were 50p rescue plants from a garden centre. 

This is another 50p rescue,  I was delighted to see such an incredible display,  this rockery was totally bare, not one plant,  other than weeds!  We are slowly filling it up,  being able to do it on a budget is even better!  

I hope you didn't mind a walk around the garden today. 

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

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

Let's see what you have made this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Happy Easter my lovelies,  I hope that you all have a lovely Easter Sunday xxx

I think that most of us are testament to today's reminder,  you are all incredibly strong ladies 🥰

I really enjoyed creating each one of my craft projects this week,  lets have a look at what you have been making....

Karen

Karen's Description:

My version of number 13 Birds/Butterflies using my favourite A&C stamp #449 

Added some extra splats using a Stamperia stamp Touch of Ink

Triple embossed the butterfly and mounted on black cotton

Such a lovely page Karen,  the colours of the butterfly are beautiful, the work so well with the colours in the background.  The extra bits of stamping  really enhance the main image. 

Thank you so much for another inspirational piece XXX

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Here is my challenge piece for this week.

The theme is circus.

Didn’t have any circus ephemera so used Stamperia’s Master of magic instead. Some are peel offs but the big ones are cut out of piece of the papers. Background is is from the paper with some texture paste. This one I found quite difficult to get going. Think I will cut them out and mount them in a separate book.

It may have taken you a while to get started but it was worth it,  the images you have used are perfect for the category,  the colours are so pretty, some circus images can be really gaudy.  The soft pinks and turquoise blue work so well.  I love your stencilled areas, they have created the perfect spots to highlight the elements you have used.  

Thank you so much for sharing this awesome Circus themed page XXX

Maria

Maria's Description: 

I let the paper speak that I found in my clear out, a few stamped bits in black, splatters in white. A couple of roses that I coloured in and a sentiment but neither is stuck down yet.

Have a good weekend ❤️ xxx

Maria your card is so lovely,   your background is incredible, I love the script and the floral element in that background,  your added stamping has really enhanced that background.  I also like that you have let the that lovely background shine!  

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

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

Here’s my card I made for my sister in law. I used stamperia Quiet Days collection. The foam flowers I made the other day with you. Could have done with a bit more shaping but didn’t want them to get squashed in the envelope! The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Such a beautiful card,  I can't believe how perfectly those flowers you made while you were here match the papers, it's the perfect shade of lilac.  Your card is so pretty I bet your Sister in Law loved it.  

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

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

I hope that you all have a lovely day and hopefully a little bit of chocolate 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

The first day of the long weekend just disappeared for us,  we usually do go shopping on a Friday, however with it being a Bank Holiday it was absolutely ridiculous,  people seemed to be shopping like it was Christmas,   we noticed that supermarkets seem to be pushing the same things at Easter as they do Christmas,   alcohol, some of the food is exactly the same just with a rabbit on the tin rather than a reindeer!   Anyway the shopping took over 3 hours!   So today we are staying home,   the weather isnt forecast to be great for gardening though, especially with storm 'Dave' on its way!  

Karen did Charlie enjoy his birthday surprise??? I hope he had a lovely day ☺️ 

Sonia I hope that you and Mark have a lovely day with family today 😊

Brenda,Lilian,  Maria & Sue,   I hope that you have a day with a little less pain and suffering , sending hugs 🤗

Gina I hope that you get some time in your craft room this weekend. 😊

Maria

How beautiful is this Basket of Flowers Crystal Art that our Maria has made.  It is so pretty, the colours are so lovely, it perfectly depicts Spring and Summer.  

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing Crystal Art with us my lovely friend XXX

Sonia's Shopping 

Sonia's Description:

Craft buys this week 😊

2 memory albums, 230gsm cardstock and Stamperia flower stamps and dies. All from Amazon

What a lovely haul Sonia, I have those stamps and dies too, they make lovely flowers.

I can't wait to see what you create with your new goodies.

Thank you so much for sharing your shopping with us XXX 

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

A Stamped Tag

 

I absolutely love this sentiment and

the artwork that accompanies it. 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

What are you all up to this Easter weekend??  We are planning to get some garden jobs done,  we are dog sitting Boo on Sunday so we won't get much done then 🙄🤣

I had some good craft time this past couple of days,  Today's tag is one of the things I made. 

I started by using Mowed Lawn &  Salty Ocean Distress Ink to smoosh the tag in to,  I dried between layers of smooshing  which gives more interest. 

I then took Tim Holtz French Garden stamp and used a script stamp and a Berry Branch and used the same ink to add background detail..

Next came the main element stamping,  I stamped the flower and leaf in Versafine Clair ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  

I used the Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean ink to colour the flower and leaves.  

To add some extra texture I added some Clear Crackle paste, although it didn't really Crackle! 

This is before drying 

This is after,  although hard to capture! 

Some white splatters, a sentiment and ribbon coloured with Mowed Lawn distress ink, oh and a black mat finish the tag. 

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,  

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Alcohol Ink Background card 2

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies, 

Thank you for your lovely supportive messages yesterday,   I got through the day although it did feel very long though and unbeknown to me I have the same situation today 😔

I created a many layered journal page, using some Tim Holtz Ephemera that I have had for a good 10 years!  Then I used one of the Alcohol ink backgrounds that I made last week to make a card. 

This is the background, I used a stencil with some Alcohol Lift ink to create it.  

I cut part of it and used it behind a card front that I used a Tim Holtz background die to cut a decorative corner piece out of.  I raised the white card with foam pads cut into strips.  I used the remainder of the background to die cut a butterfly and the 'hello' sentiment. 

I am relieved to have found a way to use the background as I thought it was too busy for most designs. 

I hope that you all have a great Thursday,  

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

A stencilled journal page

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

Welcome to the first day of April,   March absolutely flew by, April is a busy month in the garden,  lots of sowing seeds and potting up and potting on to be done.  It's an exciting month, seeing the garden starting to blossom and bloom.  The birds are really active too, it'a so lovely watching them flitting about.  

It's quite a coincidence that this is todays Reminder as I am waking up to another day on my own,  both girls are off today but they have made plans to go Frisbee Golfing and taking a picnic lunch,  I certainly wouldn't want them knowing that I dread being on my own, as I would never want them to feel bad,  Paul us usually home on a Wednesday but he has a mid afternoon meeting so will be gone all day.  I guess that means I have plenty of time to craft !!    

The other thing that i am grateful for is that I can reach out and you lovely friends will be there to chatx   I hope that you all feel that you aren't alone too ❤️ 

Today I am sharing a journal page I made using my Bew Tim Holtz Wheel Stencil,   I blended Distress Oxide Mustard Seed,  Twisted Citron,  Broken China and Faded Jeans through the color wheel Stencil,  I was following a Vicky P tutorial but she used sprays and I found them too messy,  after spritzing with water and adding some splatters of the same colour inks I dried the piece.

This was before adding splats of ink,  after it was dry I added some stamping and stencilling with Black Texture paste,  which bought some drama and texture to the page.  The finishing touches were too plain white butterflies and the little sentiment strip, oh and some white splatters!  

I really love this stencil !! 

I hope that you have an awesome start to April, 

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra xxx 

Alcohol ink lift card

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Another great reminder today,  I had a bit of a struggle start to my day yesterday, I was on my own which never helps,  I also think that I went from a week with something on every day to a week with nothing on the calendar makes a difference too,  I do take great comfort in counting sleeps down to something exciting,  it definitely helps to have something to look forward to.  

I got a call from Warwick Hospital yesterday afternoon,   I thought they were offering me a cancellation but no,  they did a sleep apnoea risk form at me pre-op assessment,  after which I was deemed a low risk,   however they check your blood for something called 'Carbonate'  the normal range is 22 - 29 mmol/L mine was 30,   so I have to do a sleep study, then if that shows signs of sleep apnoea I will be referred for a CPAP machine!!!  The sting in the tail here is that I lay awake many nights because I am terrified that Paul won't wake up when he stops breathing while snoring,  he reuses to believe its a problem but I'm the one having to do the sleep study!  

Today I am sharing the card I made using the Alcohol ink Lift Ink technique.   I made a smooshed background with three different Alcohol inks and after it was dry I popped it into my stamp platform,  inked up my Tim Holtz stamp with Alcohol Lift ink and then I stamped it onto the smooshed background, I then took a piece of Inkylicious coated card and stamped the inked image onto it.  After it dried I added some splatters of the darkest ink   

I matted onto a narrow gold mat and then placed tje piece onto a card blank.   I placed a sentiment just for effect , as I haven't decided what to use it for yet.  

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all   

Sandra xxx