A look back at this weeks makes..

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

An exciting day in our house as it's Paul's 60th Birthday 🎂 🥳 

You wouldn't know it though as he doesn't want a fuss and despite being constantly asked he can't think of anything he wanted either, I have lost count of how many times the girls and Matt have asked me what he'd like!!  We have a few weeken d trips etc that we'd like to do and a couple of shows we'd like to see, so they would be good gift ideas. 

We are off to have Breakfast with Becca at her restaurant and then dinner tonight with all the family.  

I totally agree with this reminder,  sometimes you feel guilty when someone asks if you are 'ok',  you feel its easier to say yes I'm Ok, because you think they don't want to hear how you really are.           It's perfectly ok to say 'no I'm not OK' and not feel the guilt. 

Gina

Gina's Description:

My latest set of Diamond Christmas cards,  they come in sets of six so just two more to go.  

Wow Gina these are so lovely,  they would light ip any mantelpiece at Christmas,  I have a couple that the ladies have sent me i  previous years, I have popped them in a frame and get them out each year.  They make a lovely decoration too. 

Thank you so much for sharing them with us XXX

This is Gina's original photograph,  I just asked ChatGPT to remove the background.  X

Karen

Karen's Description:

My contribution for this week I’ve kept it very simple because I really liked the ChatGPT image I created 

I did edge the image with Frayed Burlap DO and stamped a a couple of JL snowflakes (from last years magazine) Added a bit of tape behind image (can’t remember what the tape is called) It’s also number 26 of the Aall&Create challenge

Such a lovely image Karen,  perfect for the Aall&Create challenge too! 

Thank you so much for sharing it with us XXX 

Maria

Maria's Description:

My mind has not been on crafting but I found this piece in my bit box, SW die, freshen it up a bit with my TH inks and put it on a piece of green glitter card and then onto black .

This was left over from a crafting class I went with Karen many years ago. 😊

I really love these stain glass style cards,  some of Sue Wilson's best designs I think.  I love the colours you have used and the green glitter card works really well.   

Well done to you for finally getting to use it 👏 

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

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

I used my Winter Countryside collection which was created in ChatGPT to make a shaker card. I have used Tim Holtz rock candy glitter for the shaker and added to the die cut poinsettias. The edges are inked with Milled Lavender distress oxide 🙂

Sonia,  WOW, how amazing is it to say "I have used my OWN 'Winter Countryside Collection' 

Your card is just adorable,  the fact that it's a shaker too is incredible,   such a brilliant design.  You must be so proud.   I am so pleased that you made the decision to buy a full size printer months ago when you were looking at the small thermal ones and we were shocked at how expensive the coloured ones were.   You absolutely made the right decision and you haven't looked back since.  Wether its designing your own collection or using ChatGPT to colour a stamped image you have aced it ! 

Thank you so much for sharing your card with us and for inspiring our lovely friends XXX

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I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

My love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

Did any of you ladies struggle more with the heat yesterday than you did on Thursday,  I definitely did,  I was up and down all through Thursday night as I was so hot,  I kept having to get up to go to the toilet and just had to cool down in the shower,  refresh my cool towel and go back to bed,  I did notice that I was going between sweating and having goosebumps /chills while sweating!  By about 4.30am I knew what the issue was another Uti,  my bladder had been 'niggling' all week but I think Thursdays bladder installation is what caused the full blown inflammation,  I did wonder if it was cystitis symptoms but I felt really unwell too, upset tummy and nausea which the GP  indicated it was infection probably the same ongoing bacteria,  the last antibiotic course will have subdued it but the weather makes it so much harder to keep fully hydrated, meaning my bladder wasn't flushed through enough,  I was shocked at the comment though as I have been intentionally drinking loads.  So we are trying a new antibiotic treatment called 'Fosfomycin ', you mix the powder with water and drink it, thats it, it is meant for use when other antibiotics have failed.  Fingers, toes and eyes 👀 crossed that it works. 🤞🤞

I don't need to tell you how VERY important you are, you all have families that let you know that all the time!  😘

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Gina's Crafts

Gina has made these lovely Crystal Art Coasters, 

Here is a closer look....

I cropped them do that we could get a closer look at the work that Gina puts into them.  I love the cat ones 🥰

What a lovely gift they would make.  

Thank you so much for sharing them with us Gina XXX

My Dahlia Update

How gorgeous are these Dahlias,   look at the gorgeous stripes of colour.  The deep red one us a new one this year, it is huge,  I got Lucy to put her hand over the bloom to show how big it is. 

I love the excitement of not knowing what you are going to get until they open.  🥰😍

I hope that today is cooler for all of you,  

Gentle hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Pretty Floral Tag

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

Well that heat was exhausting wasn't it,  I am so grateful that Soph's car has air-conditioning,  it was a lifesaver.   I will say that the nurses and all hospital staff deserve a medal for working in that heat with no air-conditioning, they had nothing more than fans to help keep them cool.   On the flip side when we went to checkout at the garden centre the lady on the till was (I will assume) menopausal,  her behaviour was unacceptable, the customer in front had a query,  she had such a temper, she was banging things and throwing folders,  then she stormed outside the door to scream swear words then stormed back in and continued her terrible behaviour, you could see the other staff felt uncomfortable but were too afraid to step in and offer to help.   

More lovely artwork and another great reminder! 

It means you have full permission to  grow,  alter your opinions or start over.  It reminds you that your past choices do not trap you, and it is normal to shift your mind, habits, or path as you learn new things.

Key MeaningsGrowth: 

You can outgrow old versions of yourself, old beliefs, or past ways of living.

Forgiveness: You can let go of past mistakes instead of using them to define your future.

Choice: You do not have to stay in a job, relationship, or mindset that no longer fits your life.

Today's Tag I made using Arden Creative Laurel Grove collection.   I used a piece of patterned paper and added some splatters of Dusty Concorde and Milled Lavender distress oxide, then I blended Villainous Potion Oxide around the tag,  I added rub ons in place of stamping, then created the cluster of ephemera, starting with a ticket and a stamp, a piece of gauze for texture,  I then layered the die cut flowers. The little fence covered the flower bottoms, finishing with a Butterfly,  Bee and some splatters ! 

I hope that today us more bearable for all of you, 

Love & hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Stamperia all around page

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Firstly let me apologise for the post that did go up this morning featuring Wednesdays card,  *note to self *.  .... don't attempt to write blog post in middle of night when you have insomnia and an upset tummy 😅

Today's page is made usual Stamperia 'All Around ' Collection,   it started with a piece of patterned paper, I added some ink, then texture paste through stencil,  the ivy is a rub on, the rest are die cuts from the journals in the collection. 

I really love how it turned out and I am thinking of using it as a journal cover, as the theme would work for an art journal. 

I have bladder clinic this morning which is last thing I need after last night but it's a necessity! 

I hope that you all have a good day, try and stay cool my lovelies, it's gonna be a hot one, 

My love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

White Christmas journal page

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

Well yesterday was exhausting, my goodness that girl can shop, we covered all the big interior shops, I was good, I only bought a big green plant pot in HomeSense, it was £23 reduced to £7 !  Oh and a pack of spatulas, exciting huh!!! I did have a quick look at the craft stuff in the Range but there was literally nothing other the children's craft bits.  I think that it's impossible to walk into a shop and buy good craft stuff,  unless you have one of the few craft shops that we see at shows on your doorstep.  It's sad to see the decline in craft shops,  I buy most of my craft stuff from either Karen at Charmed Crafts (stamperia mostly)  Buddly crafts (Tim Holtz stuff)  and Ben at In2Craft for Arden Creative.  I shop at a few others if these places don't have what i need,  these 3 have amazing customer service. 

Which shops do you all use? 

  No explanation required for this one, it may not always feel like it but you are all 'more' than enough xxx

Today's journal page I started Monday and finished yesterday,  it started with a sheet of patterned rice paper, I added some white paint using 'dry brushing' then I added some snowflakes by stencilling with white texture paste.  I dried it quickly and added a bit of stamping.  I took a tag from the White Christmas junk journal,  added an eyelet and popped some ribbon through.  I glued that tag down and added the little boy die cut, adding the little bird to sit on his hand.  Around his legs I added the birdhouse, some pinecones and flowers.

Some gauze torn and added along the bottom of the tag to look 'snowy', then the sentiment and a few splatters finish the page.  

I hope that you all have a good day, it's going to be up in the 30°'s so please take care my lovely friends,  

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

Bird themed Journal page

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

A different day for me today,  Lucy is at work, so thought it would be a quiet crafting day, however Becca called me yesterday and asked if I fancied going 'Loft Conversion Bedroom ' shopping,  so it will be the Range,  Honesense, Dunelm etc which sounds fine by me!   So no doubt I'll be fit to drop by 5pm !! 🤣😂

This is my the perfect reminder for me today!!! 🤣😂

Today's journal page I made last week using my Arden Creative Garden Chronicles collection.   I used a piece of background paper 

and added some of their amazing run ons

Next came some gold embossing...

Now onto the fun part which is choosing what to use to create your desired focus point cluster.  

I used a ticket and a stamp as the base, then added some gathered linen ribbon, secured with tiny attacher staples,  next came the bird and the branch so sit him on. 

A little button, a sentiment and white splatters to finish the page xx

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Stamperia Owls House card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,  

Welcome to the start of a new week,  another very hot one by the look of it.  So not planning anything much, I'll be next to a fan at all times,  with a 'cool towel' around my neck! 🤣

I think we will be reminding ourselves of this this week.  

Paul woul point at this and say 'I told you '  as yesterday I had planned a lazy day as I got very little sleep, I was still awake at 5am !! By that time I was too wound up and frustrated to relax enough to get to sleep.  

I had brunch and was sick of having the large tray on the end of the dining table with half of the houseplants still on it, so I started to sort through them, sat and trimmed all of the dead and dying leaves etc off,  I was delighted to see that the poinsettia perked up !!!! 😁  It took an hour to sort through them,  some needed repotting,  so I did that and then got paul to help me return them all to there original locations.  This took me until midday *ish*, I then cleaned the table where the tray had been,  noticed the windowsills had flies and dust on from the local farmers harvesting, causing crazy Sahara like dust and thunderfly clouds.  While I had the cleaning wipes out I cleaned front of fridge, then nipped to bathroom and remembered that Pauls shower head and pipe needed descaling in Citric acid solution,  so that was next, when I filled kettle I noticed it needed descaling too, so added citric acid to it when it boiled, left it for 20 minutes and used that to descale the shower head ( 2 jobs for 1 dose of Citric acid) 👍  

Thankfully it was late lunch time,  so we sat for an hour or so, decided on lasagne for dinner, so after lunch I started prepping that,  with Paul's help of course,  I made a lovely cheese sauce for it too, from scratch,  we prefer cheese sauce to bechamel as it gives more flavour,  I finally sat down on decking at 6.45pm !!!  Hopefully I will sleep tonight. 🤞🤞

I made today's card on Thursday,  I think,  it may have been Wednesday 🤷‍♀️

I discovered that my old Owls House collection had the same background papers as the new White Christmas collection,   so I decided to combine the two and make a card.  

I took a piece of lighter grey patterned paper that had snowflakes etc on, I added some stencilling using a script font stencil,   then layered onto darker grey paper and onto a cream card base as there wasn't much white in the papers.   Once I was happy with the background I picked out bits from the junk journal,  die cuts and some fussy cut bits. 

You can't really see it but there is a branch going across the page that the owls are perched on, I built the rest of the scene around them after browsing for some inspiration.   I was happy with the finished card.  I will add a sentiment when I know who it's going to. 

I hope that you all manage to stay cool and comfortable,  

My love and hugs to all of you  

Sandra xxx