Janet's Tuesday Treat

Good Morning Ladies,
Todays card is one of Janet's beautiful creations, so pretty with the blue's and the gorgeous bow and pretty stick pins, they do add a special touch to a card don't they.
Hopefully Janet is all unpacked and relaxed enough to come in and comment today.
Well I get two crafty days this week as Pat and Sue can't make the same day, so I have Sue coming to play today and Pat tomorrow, how lucky am I ?
I am excited for our Scottish Sisters, as they are all getting to meet up and Myra and Saba too,
wow who'd have guessed that 6 months ago?!
Its amazing isn't it, then in about 11 days there are a few of us who are getting to meet up at Ally Pally, I am really quite excited both to meet friends for the first time like Maria and also reuniting
with some lovely friends that I have met before, Lynda, Brenda, hopefully Cameeli, Littlelamb Brenda too, Alison (Barbie) if she is going to make it and hopefully many more of you too, its always good to have a quick catch up with Sue too!
I have a tip for you all, Make a Shopping List of all the things you are going to buy, then have a quick shop round on the internet and make a note on your list of the prices, so that when you are at the show you can compare the prices and make sure that you are getting the best deal.
I the last time I went I had to keep checking on my phone the average price of things, which was a bit of a pain.
Cheryl have you got your Storage 4 Crafts unit up and stocked up, I can imagine your excitement, I would be like a child in a sweet shop, don't forget the photos!
Well I am off for a shower, I need to get ready for my special guest today.
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx

Delicate Rose



Good Morning Ladies,
Wow what a wild and windy weekend, I hope that everything is calm for Janet's Channel Crossing
this morning.
Todays card was inspired by the colours of the beautiful beads in the Sue Wilson Stick Pin Collection, all of the colours are so delicate and pretty and match such a range of card colours.
I used a combination of the two sets of  the Noble Rectangle Dies by creative Expressions to create the layers. I used the Grand Sentiments from Justrite for the Sentiment, the ribbon I used for the bow is Sideshow Rose again by CE, I then added some complimentary pearls and two Stick pins from Sue Wilson's new range, they are gorgeous!
Using the largest of the Noble Rectangles to make the card base, I cut an existing 10 x 8 card by placing the very edge of the die over the spine of the card and ran it through the machine, I cut another single die cut of this size to Matt over the top and then built the card up from there.
I love the shape of the card, I just gives a bit more interest, what do you think?
Well I went to Poundworld yesterday to get my magnetic sheets, while I was in there i noticed they had packs of 3 reels of double sided foam tape, I have used this before and it is super sticky, I always add a little cosmic shimmer glue to it before the final positioning as it gives a little extra wiggle time, believe me when this stuff sticks there is no getting it off !  So that's my .....
Bargain Basement Deal..... 3 Rolls of  double sided foam tape.....£1
Also they had Craft Knives, three different handles and many different shaped blades £1
Both @ Poundworld !
Please remember to let me know about your bargains, should you find them!
Who left a cat in the Cafe last night, health & safety will be shutting us down!
I'll be in later to find out who's responsible!
Love & hugs
Sandra xxxx
Ps could someone pick up some kitty litter on their way in!

Uncle Colin's Card & tag!

Good Sunday Morning lovely friends,
I just wanted to finish Uncle Colin's birthday package, so we have this amazing card and tag created by Diane.
It looks like Diane has used several different techniques on this card, I love the woodpecker , the effect of the hills in the background and the birds flying off into the distance. This card together with the fabulous cake from yesterday, in my opinion make Uncle Colin a very lucky man.
Hopefully Diane will be in later to tell us how she created this amazing scene.
It was so lovely to have Cameeli visit us yesterday, such sad news about her craft room, I hope that things work out right with insurance etc, that way will see her on a shopping spree at Ally Pally!
Well this time next week it will be Easter Sunday, just where is this year disappearing to?
The only good thing about this is it will soon be OCTOBER! Have you all got your rooms booked?
I will just remind everybody and inform those that didn't read Steph's post yesterday about the Magnetic sheets that are printable and good enough to store your dies on too, they are from poundland & poundworld, none of you smart Alec's ask what the price is, right,! They are a pack of two! Thank you Steph, I think from this day forward we should have a Bargain feature, any if you that find a great deal or bargain on any craft item anywhere, just let us know and we can feature it!
What do you think, I know that we are all bargain hunters at heart!
Let me know what you think below, as always I love reading your comments.
I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, what ever you are doing, looking at the weather I don't think we will be gardening though!
Love & hugs
Sandra xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Saturday is upon us once again, do you realise

that it is only 2 weeks until Ally Pally!

I am so looking forward to meeting some of you.

 

First up on todays mixed craft day is

Norah's exquisite hand knitted Shawl, how beautiful is this

work of art, it is so special, perfect for a Christening.

Take a close look at how intricate the pattern is, it looks

like lace around the edge, Norah these are so beautiful,

what an amazing gift for any new baby, I look forward to seeing the

blue one too, although its the same pattern I bet it looks so different

with a change of colour.  Thank you Norah for sharing these

gorgeous works of art with us.

 

They must take ages to knit Norah, you will have the nimblest of fingers,

be lovely to see one with a baby wrapped in it.

 

 

Next up we have this masterpiece, created by Diane, just

take a look at how gorgeous this cake looks, all of the detail that

has gone into the hand tools and the gorgeous, perfectly formed

cabbages and carrots.  The shed looks a little like ours does at

the allotment! Every time I look I see more detail, like the seed

packets and is that a vinery die you have used as a border?

Thank you so much for sending me the photograph of this

gorgeous cake Diane, Colin must have been totally amazed.

 

 

 

Last up today we have Janet's beautiful embroidered tablecloth,

look at the intricate stitching all around the cloth.

 

This close shows all of the beautiful embroidered detail, every single tiny detail has been hand stitched by Janet, It must have taken you months and months to complete. 

 

This last shot shows the gorgeous centre piece of the cloth, how amazing

would this cloth looked with either just a beautiful flower

arrangement in the centre or a delightful afternoon tea.

Thank you Janet for allowing me to share this beautiful piece of

embroidery, the photographs show it off perfectly too.

 

Well what an amazing array of crafts for you to look at today,

you really are such a multi talented bunch of ladies.

I am so proud to be able to share the work of my lovely

friends, so keep the photo's coming in for me to share.

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oldie For Friday!

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I thought that today I would do the 'Oldie For Friday' idea that was started by a lady called Erika at

www.snappycrafts.BlogSpot.co.uk 

I think its a great idea to revisit some of our old makes as it can sometimes give us that 'mojo' boost that we all sometimes need. (well I definitely do).

Here's briefly what I did and used to make this card.











I have used the California Collection for the main element of the card, some felt flowers, cut out with Sue's Classic Rose Dies, and a silky crush ribbon bow, mounted on top of the Grand vinery cut out in white card, the background is embossed with the Heart Lattice Folder by Creative Expressions. The Italian Border die is used at the bottom of the card with a pearl trim laid over the top.
I hope you like todays card, would be perfect for a wedding or anniversary.

I bet you can all spot the mistake can't you?

Well its an easy one to make and I haven't made it since!

This card to me shows that sometime the simplest things are the most beautiful, there is something so 'perfect' about an all white card!

Well we have had an eventful week again in the 'Riley' house, Poor Matt left the house at 4.30 am and 45minutes later I get a call from him, very shaken and a little emotional to say that he had hit a Deer, it ran out in front of him and he couldn't stop, result one poor dead dear and £200 + worth of damage to his car, luckily he drives a big Ford Ranger so it protected him well but the bumper in it is huge and very expensive to replace.

Then Yesterday Becca is out driving in her little C1 and went on another mercy dash for Josh's dad, who was having a nose bleed, she was panicking and went down an enormous pothole which bent the wheel of her car, amazingly her tyre didn't burst as she would have panicked even more, she said she couldn't avoid it as there were cars coming the opposite direction. She has had the tracking re aligned on her car, luckily and very surprising these days her car came with a proper spare wheel, not one of those thin things, so the garage have swapped that for her and she is apparently having the wheel repaired.  The road it happened along , Sue and I have been travelling each week to get to Pats so I knew how bad it was, its a flaming disgrace, the Potholes are over a foot deep, if a cyclist or motorcyclist were to go over that they would be thrown off, so I rang the council today and gave them a piece of my mind.  We are now filling in a claim form so that she can get the money back for her repairs.  Apparently they have said that it costs them less to pay for the repairs of those that bother to claim than it does to repair the roads! What a disgraceful attitude is that!

Well I hope that you all have something exciting planned for the weekend , the girls break up for Easter Holidays today, so it will be nice to have them around the house, we haven't planned anything as yet.  When do you all start the Easter Break, I imagine a lot of you will be looking after your Grandchildren etc. 

I look forward to reading your comments, I need to make sure that we have all got booked in for the retreat weekend, I hope that Sam is back and well enough, we may have to ask him to hold a room for a couple of weeks, just in case.

I really hope she is ok bless her, I have asked Sue W to try and make contact too.

Love and Huge Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxx

 

Guest Designer Debut from.......Maria

Good Morning Ladies,
Just look at this amazing card, it has been created by the very talented to Maria, everything about
this card is gorgeous, the colour combination the composition of the card.  I think that Maria went
to a Craft Workshop with Julia Watts, I am not sure whether that is where she made this fabulous card.  She has also sent me two others that I will show at a later date, equally as amazing!
I love the beautiful and unusual sentiment too, but this is one of those cards that could be used for
so many different occasions with a change of sentiment.
Thank you Maria for allowing me to share this gorgeous card with our lovely craft family.
Well I don't know about you lot but the temperature seemed to have dropped and I was quite cold later on yesterday afternoon and evening.
Sue and I had a lovely day with Pat, we decided she could do with a trip out, so we went to a local
Garden Centre that (just by chance) has a Craft shop, albeit a rubbish one, we did manage to find a few things to buy and Sue our 'eager beaver' or should I say 'badger' managed to get a cracking deal on the card and paper we bought, so I will definitely be taking her again.  I can tell you already though that tomorrow is going to be a resting day, as I walked too many steps and I am now paying the price, well I started paying it yesterday afternoon, but please believe it was SO worth it!
I so love spending time with my two crafting Sisters, we just seem to 'work' together, we worked out last week that we have only been 'actual' friends since the beginning of August last year, but when I say that it feels like we have been friends forever, I mean it in the most sincere way!  In the same way I cannot wait to meet all of you so that we can extend out 'actual' friendship group even further, but we already know this is a forgone conclusion as I consider you all very dear friends anyway!  I know that because for years I have bottled thoughts and feelings up, but now like some of you I feel like I have good enough friends to share my thoughts and feelings with and I know I will get the love and support I need from you, in the same way that I want to love and support you too!
Oh I am so lucky to have this Blog, thank you all so very much for making it what it is!
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxx

Bright Blue Bloom By Sam and Gorgeous Glam card By Janet!































Good Morning Ladies,

I wanted to show this card as a special flower for our Sam who is still poorly, hopefully she will get to see it today and may even feel up to leaving us a comment about it, I really hope so, Sam we are really missing you, we all send you lots of healing hugs. xxxx

This card you have made is absolutely stunning, the lovely wedgewood colours of the background and then the gorgeous flower, stamped and coloured beautifully in that stunning Blue! Finished off with Sue's gorgeous flowers and the lovely stick pins. Thank you Sam for sending us this gorgeous card to share. xxxx

 







 

 

Next we have this gorgeous card by Janet, how amazing is this card?!! Janet has used a variety of Sue's dies to create this masterpiece, Janet I am hoping you will call in later and tell us all about what you have used and how you have created this fab card, I think I am going to have to copy your idea of the centrepiece, its gorgeous and I love it. Thank you so much for sending this card for me to share with all of your crafty sisters here in the Café! Hug xxxxx

 

Well what a lovely start to the day, gorgeous cards to put a smile on your faces, what are you all up to

today? Sue and I are off to craft with Pat, which will be fun, I think I may try and get Pat to try and make an Izzy Bag, watch this space!

Now a word to our absent friends:

 Theresa I was sad to hear from Steph yesterday that you are really under the weather, we have all been sending you get well wishes over the past few weeks and I want to add my heartfelt wishes again today my lovely, I can't for you to be well enough to be back amongst us, how is that shoulder? I hope that there has been some progress. hugs xxxxx

Sam, I wish I could make contact with you just for the reassurance that you are ok, I am sending you the biggest hugs, for a speedy recovery, love and hugs xxxx

Tandy, I hope you are ok my lovely, It seems ages since I have seen your name, I really miss your daily input in the blog, sending love and hugs your way xxxx

Anyone else who is under the weather or just feeling miserable is getting a hug to whether you want it or not, I am sending you some love!

I hope that all of you that are attending the weekend are booked ok, it sounds like none of us got to speak to Matthew yesterday, maybe he only answers to Hazel, there seemed to be a little confusion too, so hopefully we can get that ironed out today.

Saba I am wishing you a safe journey, let us all know when you have landed and you are home safe!

Well I am off to have a shower, I look forward to reading all of your comments,

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxx









 

 

 



Sapphire Anniversary !

Good Morning Ladies,
Today's card is a commission from a colleague of Becca's, she wanted a Sapphire Anniversary card
for some friends of hers.
I started with a 8 x 8 card blank and added a matt of navy blue card and then added a layer of white card embossed with the Heart Lattice Embossing Folder from Creative Expressions, I then used the
Spellbinders Floral Oval to cut some Navy card and added the sentiment that I had printed out onto white card, mounted this onto the background.  I then cut a Scandinavian Border out of Navy card and glued that to a satin ruffle edged ribbon and stuck it to the front of my card and added a strip of pearls down the centre. I arranged some navy blue and white flowers in the top left corner and added a Silky Crush Bow with a Navy Rose centre (by CE) and added a couple of stick pins and some pearls around the focal element and in the corners of the card.
I next printed the insert onto pearlescent paper and matted it onto
some dark blue patterned paper and added that to the centre of the card.

I made a Box for the card using Centura Pearl card and added a some silky crush ribbon and a heart shaped Dazzler, I placed a Laser Cut Matt from Papermania into the centre of the box lid and cut the Greeting with a Spellbinder Heart Die, I finished off with a few pearls.
I hope you like today's card, please let me know by leaving me a
comment below.
I hope all of those that are feeling poorly are starting to feel better and I am sending healing hugs to all of you.
Love and Hugs to the rest of you,
Sandra
xxxxxxxx
Ps Maria & Diane could I please have your email addresses. xx

Guest Designer Pat !!!!!

Good Morning Ladies,
After looking through some of my projects I have found a few cards that I haven't got around to
showing. This is one of them!
Pats card is  mix of different dies sets and different techniques, that came together to create this gorgeous card. Hopefully Pat will call in later to tell us what she used and how she created it too.
I look forward to seeing Pat back creating cards with Sue and I very soon!

Ally Pally is about three weeks away, we need to find out who is coming so that we can make arrangements to meet, maybe take over a corner somewhere or a table at least!
I can't wait to meet all of you that are going to be there. Should we be wearing something to make us stand out do you think, well I am pretty easy to spot, as Brenda (lello) will tell you!

Craft Weekend, Can all of you that are definitely coming to the retreat email me with your full name so that between Hazel and I we can get some bookings in place.  I also need to ask you if you would like to have access to a room to craft in? it would bring an extra charge of £10 each for the weekend
I personally think that it would be good to have a room to craft in, for a few reasons, one being that although we all 'know' I think having a place to sit around together will give something else to talk about, an Ice breaker if you like, if we are all sitting, crafting and talking everyone can be involved,
its also great to have space to share our skills, helping each other, as we all have different strengths and weakness's.  We will also then have 'our own room' where we can come and go as we please.
I am looking into trying to get us some free craft goodies to play with, I am going to write to different craft companies to see if they would be willing to send our group of ladies some samples of their products to use over our craft retreat weekend.  I already have some interest.
I am totally open to ideas, we can have some little games to break the ice if you fancy a bit of a giggle, maybe see if we can get some bits together for a raffle too.
But please feel free to send me your ideas, this weekend is about all of you having fun together, hopefully if its a success we can do it again next year.

Well its a funny feeling day today, all of my children have gone to 'work', as Sophie and Lucy start their work experience today, wow they are growing up too fast.
I hope you all have an amazing week ahead.
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxxxx

Double Designer Dad Card's Sam & Brenda (littlelamb) !

Good Sunday Morning my lovely Friends,

I thought that today I would bring you a couple of those cards that

give us a little more of challenge, that's right the Pesky

Man card!!!!

First card is courtesy of the very talented stamper ..Sam

Sam you have captured the feel of this scene amazingly,

your clouds look 3D, its a gorgeous card, almost looking through

a window at a scene in the distance, thank you Sam for allowing

me to show this masterpiece with our blog sisters!

This Fabulous card is courtesy of Brenda (littlelamb)

Again the background of the card is the perfect backdrop for

the Hot Air Balloons, which have been coloured to perfection,

I am not sure whether the background is a real piece of a map or

whether its a paper from a collection, either way its genius, I guess

if you use a map you could use somewhere that has meaning to the

recipient, where the live or a favourite place.

Hopefully Brenda will let us know whether this is a stamped image

(the balloons that is) or a decoupage image.

Thank you Brenda for allowing me to share your masterpiece with

your blog sisters here in the café!

Well Ladies our plans have unfortunately had to be changed as I was so

unwell yesterday I went for a quick nap and woke up 5 hours later,

I think It may be a result of so many sleepless nights and I do mean sleepless,

I was still awake when Milo came to visit to wake us up at between 3 and 4 am

every morning for 5 days, so I got up fed him and Bella and then went back to bed,

tossed and turned and was still awake when Pauls alarm went off and then when Sue's

blog went live at 6 am!  So I think that my body decided that yesterday was the day it neede

a catch up, I am sincerely hope that's all that's wrong, every time I tried to do anything

my heart was racing so fast it made me feel light headed, with a cracker of a headache

to boot, I layed me head on that pillow and that was it, you always fee rubbish after sleeping in the

day though don't you? So today we have to go shopping for the Girls Work Experience clothes,

which frustrates me a little, buying clothes for 5 days work experience, of course they

couldn't possibly wear anything they have, although they do mainly wear jeans and leggings!

So that's our plans, clothes shopping for twins! Wish me luck as we head off for the

joy that is Swindon! As I am not a fan of Oxford I'm afraid, to many tourists.

Oh and the girls won their match!!!! YAY

Well I hope you all have a fabulous day whatever you are doing,

Love and hugs to all of you!

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday is upon us once again!

Good Morning Ladies,

Mixed Craft Saturday is upon us once again

and boy do we have some treats this week!

First up we have Brenda (littlelamb)'s

Zentangle Bowl!

I love, love, love this Bowl, Brenda

I love the shape, the colour and most of all the style

its amazing and what a work of art, you are one very

talented Crafter, there are no ends to you talents

thank you for allowing me to share this with everyone today!

 

Next up we have this amazing Door Hanging Height Chart  by Cheryl

isn't it fabulous, just look at the amount of detail that Cheryl has put

into this Height Chart, the Giraffe has so much character.

Cheryl you are a very accomplished seamstress, what a WOW

for any little ones Nursery Door,

Thank you for allowing me to share your lovely project with

everyone on the blog today.

 

 

Next up we have this gorgeous Scrapbook layout from the very talented

Jess, I am guessing that she has made the Cupcakes too,

oh my they look delicious Jess, Your scrapbook layout is fabulous

Jess, you have really captured the colour and theme of the

photograph in your page layout, with the lettering and the

little cupcakes at the bottom of the page. I have to say someone

is sitting and waiting patiently in that photograph, to tuck into those

delicious looking cakes, If you are able to make it to out crafty weekend

away Jess please feel free to bring us some of your lovely cupcakes!

Thank you so much for allowing me to share your fabulous layout

with our crafty sisters on the blog Jess.

 

 

 

Well that concludes this weeks Mixed crafts, I need to keep some for future weeks,

I do need a lot more though my lovelies, I have a few more projects but mainly from

the same crafters and I do like to be fair and mix it up a little, so please have a rummage

through your cupboards and drawers to find those treasures that you made and have forgotten

about, anything and everything is acceptable, Sue, Christopher's 'Blanky' would be

perfect, did you get a photo, if not, get one quick before he starts sucking on it!

Well Ladies I hope you all have a lovely weekend planned, we may be going to the

West Midland Safari Park with Matt tomorrow, he took the girls for their birthday

and has a return ticket, so weather permitting, that's our plans!

Football this morning with the girls!

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 



My twist on a 'Sue' Card!

 Good Morning Ladies,
Todays card came about as I so loved the card that Sue Wilson made on her blog on Saturday,
I didn't want to direct copy it, plus I didn't have the stamp that Sue used on her card, so I made a few changes.
I used the fabulous new 8 x 8 embossing folder Scored Lines, by Creative Expressions to emboss a piece of white card ant matted it onto a piece of the purple card and then placed that onto an 8 x 8 white card base. I then used the Creative Expressions Times Square Die, the outside cut in purple, the decorative die and inside die (which I cut 3 of)all cut from white card. I used the decorative centre of

the die set to cut the aperture, I cut the plain square that is third die in the set in purple to mount the decorative centre on to. I mounted the large decorative die cut onto the purple outside, (this replaces the stamp that Sue used). The central element was stuck flat to the card base the outer square is raised on foam pads. I then cut the remaining two central decorative squares in half, and used to create the effect of a larger decorative square under the main image. I used the CE Pierced Flag die to die cut the sentiment,  I used Dusty Concorde Distress Ink to colour through the die. I shaped the flag (giving it a little flick at the end) popped a foam square under the centre for support and anchored the flag under the bow which is tied using the Amethyst Colour Ribbon from the new range of ribbon packs,
topped with a triple bow tied with the thinnest of the Off White Ribbon from the new Creative expressions range, I popped a lilac colour resin flower to the centre of my bow.
I added a few purple flat backed pearls to finish.
I would loved to hear what you think about my card.
Maureen I hope that David's continued monitoring goes well, no doubt George will want to be up and away to the hospital as soon as he can, sending love and healing hugs to you all.
Chery I hope your day of reflection and remembering yesterday bought you some happy memories x
Sheila and Nikki, I am sure you must both be emotionally exhausted, I guess today is the first day of many, it will feel very sad and lonely at first but day by day will get easier to bare. Whenever you feel ready, we are all here to help you along these difficult days as best we can. Sending love and hugs your way my lovely xxxx
Patricia and Hazel, wishing you Bon Voyage, have an amazing time, we all are waiting to hear you Irish Tales on your return! love and hugs to you both xx
Lynda, I hope you are feeling better, will look in on your blog later xxx
Brenda Little Lamb, I guess you must feel like if you shake your bum you sound like Maracas, I can just picture you shaking out a Mexican tune! hahaha! You will get used to taking all of those pills, and you will feel the benefit of it soon, love and hugs xxx
Barbie, I hope yesterday went as well as can be expected, I hope you have a bit of an easier day today, you seriously need a little bit of a slow down and relax, sending hugs xxxx
Sue & Pat I hope you both have a better day today, a little less pain and a little more fun, love you both millions xxxxx
Margaret, I hope you are well, you statement was so right last night, 'We do have a lot to thank 'Him' for' its always good to remember that, sometimes we only think about that during tough times, thank you my lovely, huge hugs xxxx
Brenda (mumma) hope you have a quiet day today, although its probably shopping day again, these weeks whizz round so fast. love to you xxxx
Maria & Myra, my late night ladies, you are the life and soul and entertainment of the blog. Along with Saba you have given so many a laugh and relief on an otherwise miserable day, love and hugs
to you all, thank you all for the daily smiles xxxxxx
Denise, how did the cupcakes go down, I bet there were none left!   I hope you enjoyed spending your vouchers, any bargains?????
Steph, Can you come out yet??? have you almost finished? you are going to be exhausted come sunday, take care my friend xxxx
Wendy,  hope you had a good birthday, will the celebrations last the weekend? I hope so, hugs xxx
Jess, I hope you and hubby had an enjoyable evening, you had better start saving for the big one next year! hugs xxx
Janice, I hope you get to pop In on your break xx
Michele, I hope you are ok after a week of very mixed emotions my lovely, love and hugs xxxx
Sam my lovely I so hope you are feeling better, I hate to think of you being in pain my lovely, sending big healing Hugs, I hope that Lyndon is looking after you and your gorgeous boys aren't missing you too much, (I bet Lyndon doesn't butter their toast as well as you do)! haha xxxx
Love and Hugs to all of you and any that I haven't mentioned.
Sandra xxxxxx



Very Special Guest Designer.....Sue (MrsB)!!!



Good Morning Ladies,
I feel so very privileged to be able to show this Bag today as Sue is very shy when it comes to showing her work and getting praise for it, so to me that makes the fact that she has allowed me to
show this bag today even more special. Believe me shy is not a word that comes to mind in any other way with Sue she is the funniest, Loveliest friend you could wish for.
I know Sue will be in later to tell you about anything different that she did but she pretty much followed Saba's instructions , there were couple of little changes but Sue can tell you about.
Well we have another person joining us on our Weekend Retreat, I am pleased to say that Sam has confirmed that she would like to come along too, which is brilliant news, the more the merrier!
It will also raise the numbers from 13 unlucky for some to 14, a much nicer, rounder number!
Anyone else fancy joining us just let us know.
Well that's it for now as Soph is waiting to use the Laptop!
I would just like to wish Sam a speedy recovery.
Sheila & Nikki, you are in our thoughts, sending you lots of love and hugs.
Steph, I hope you are almost at the bottom of the pile? I hope so, you need some chill time.
Theresa, I hope you are ok, sending you healing hugs.
Littlelamb, Brenda, hope you are ok to my lovely, hugs coming your way x
Pat it was so lovely seeing you laugh and smile, xxxx
Well that's me for now,
Sending lots of love and Hugs to each and everyone of you.
Sandra xxxxxxxx

Maureen can I please say that you will be in our thoughts and prayers, as a Mum of Identical twins
I understand totally about the remarkable bond that they have , they almost feel each others pain,
so I can totally understand the George must be absolutely devastated and worried sick about David.
Sending love and healing thoughts and prayers to you all.  Sandra xxxx

Myra's Marvellous Masterpiece!!!!

 



Good Morning Ladies,

Just look at this amazing Gift Bag from Myra, Its just gorgeous, you wouldn't be bothered if there was nothing inside its so pretty, it look likes it has taken you ages.

Did you make the actual Gift Bag too?

Myra, I look forward to you coming in and telling us all about your bag.

Sue and I are off to visit Pat today, we were planning to take her the elements to make an 'Izzy Bag',

but she had Physio yesterday, so she is exhausted. So we will just go sit and chat, I think we can manage that!

Well Patricia I hope you are all packed for your sleep over tomorrow at Hazels, do you think that there will still be St Paddy's Day Celebrations at the weekend?  Its a beautiful place as you know, you will love it, I always imagine you would come back from there feeling refreshed and revitalised!

But I guess that depends on what you go out there to do? My drinking days are in the past, I can manage a glass of wine with dinner, or an occasional fruit cider (I share one with Paul as I am too much of a lightweight to manage a whole one)! So my smuggled contraband probably won't be wine, probably Horlicks!

Oh girls have you seen the new 8 x 8 embossing folders from Sue, oh they are lush, I received mine today, from a company called Craftasmic, I can totally recommend them, I ordered them Saturday and they were despatched the same day and arrived yesterday morning, along with some of the new ribbons too! Despatched on a Saturday is unheard of and amazing! So please give them a look, often they have the things that JS has sold out of. Free Delivery too.

Anyway I must away and prepare for my day out,

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxxx

227 sleeps I think x



Guest Designer Sophie

 Good Morning Ladies,
Funny I think I can feel a buzz of excitement in the air, can't think why!
Todays drawing has been created by my very talented baby girl Sophie, the baby of the family,
well by a whole 1 hour 20 mins1.
Sophie got up on Mothering Sunday feeling a little better than she had on Saturday when she spent virtually the whole day sleeping due to a horrible bug she had, she hadn't eaten anything properly since Thursday lunchtime bless her.  Any way she got up feeling better and then felt bad that she hadn't made me a card, so she photographed my hands, I had no idea why, and then disappeared for a couple of hours, she then came and presented me with this work of art, I was absolutely blown away,
she is so very talented, the details in the shading on the rose are mid blowing, I had goosebumps and a lump in my throat.  She is going to show it as part of her GCSE Art work so I will have to wait to have it mounted and framed, the piece of paper she used also has a crease down the centre which is frustrating, I have bought her a large Portfolio for her work so I don't know why we are folding
pieces like this!

She has made my hands look very youthful!
Again the shading is very accurate.
So I guess you can say I was a very proud Mummy this Mothering Sunday.
Money can't buy things like this or Lucy's card yesterday.
I only wish I had an ounce of her artistic Skills,
we aren't sure where she gets it from as neither Paul or myself can draw at all.
My dad could though and my brother and Paul's brother had a degree in Art, so maybe its in the Genes.


Well I am not sure how many of you got to hear of the exciting news yesterday, Sam I don't think you did or Steph, Barbie, Theresa or Tandy, or Brenda H (littlelamb), CraftySue to name but a few.
We have kind of decided on a Time and Venue for our Weekend Retreat!
Hazel found an amazing venue, that have offered us a great deal too.
The Hotel is Hillscourt Conference Centre, Birmingham.
I am so excited I can't sit still, the thought of getting to meet you amazing ladies that have made a huge difference to my life, well need I say more, I hope as many of you can come as possible.
Do we want to include crafting? I am sure that between those of us not flying we could bring enough crafting stuff for the 20 odd of us that would be going, I have 2 GC and a Cuttlebug for a start.
I am not to sure if we will be too busy talking.
I believe it will 228 sleeps, but I may be a little out, who's counting anyway!
All Suggestions Welcome,
Love and Hugs
Sandra xxxxx

Guest Designer Lucy!!!!!!!

Good Monday Morning Ladies,
Just look at this amazing Mother's Day card that my Beautiful Daughter Lucy made for me, all by herself!  She even used 'Dusty Concorde' to add shading to the die cuts! Just listen to her, it just goes to show when the come into my craft room after school to tell me all about their day they do take in what I am doing, having said that they do always ask why I am doing something and what things are for! I was so amazed at how everything co-ordinated so well.  She did tell me I could retire now and she would take over!
Do you know the nicest thing about her making this card was how excited she was to show me, she was literally on a high all Saturday night and came bounding in to our bedroom yesterday morning to give it to me, I could have cried!
I did feel sorry for Sophie though, she has had some terrible virus since Wednesday, terrible

headaches nausea and terrible upset tummy, every sip of water went straight through her, this was right up until Saturday night, anyway she looked like a ghost she was so white, she came down Saturday night and was trying to secretly look back through the blog to find Saba's instructions to make a bag, but she couldn't work it out bless her, I told her I would sit and show her when she is better, anyway she got up yesterday morning, came in with Lucy to give me the card (that lucy had added Sophie's name to) she then asked me to cup my hands and she photographed them. 
The result of which I will post tomorrow. Anyway I hade a lovely day, I had chocolates, flowers and money to spend at Ally Pally. We had a trip out to a garden centre/craft shop in the afternoon and then everyone home for roast dinner, cooked by Paul of course, we had the usual extra child (Josh), who is Becca's boyfriend of the last 3 years, bless him he is a lost soul as his dad had a heart attack while working with Josh on Friday morning, he and his dad have a very close bond and you can see the pain in his eyes bless him, the are operating to put stents in tomorrow, its the one where they go up through your vein in your groin and wrist I think |Josh said,  so I will be thinking about them tomorrow. Major lifestyle changes needed there i'm afraid.
Right Ladies, Patricia and Hazel are hoping to fly down later on this year, probably to the Birmingham area (to be central to all of us) and we are hoping to organise a big meet up weekend, we need to decide whether to do hotel or maybe look at renting a cottage/house/bungalow, so it would be good to find out who would be interested in joining us and any suggestions you might have.
I have to say I am so very excited, I can't tell you.  Obviously we want it to be as cost effective as possible to make it accessible to everyone (even us poor relations)!
So please let us know if you would be interested, I want you all to come!
Well I must go,I need a cup of tea, its all the excitement!
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx

Subtle shades Sunday

 



Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
Todays card is made using a very subtle shade of aqua, its one of Anne Marie Designs new colours,
It is a beautiful colour, its just not showing up on here too well. 
I pierced around the edge of a piece of white card that measured approximately  7x 7 ins, I then used the Spellbinders Grand squares dies to cut a Matt of the 'aqua' card and mounted it on foam tape and stuck it onto the pierced background that had a small matt of aqua card behind it and then stuck onto

a white card blank measuring approx. 7.25 ins x 7.25 ins.
I then cut the Ornate Pierced Square Dies from the Noble range by Creative Expressions, I used the outside edge, the decorative insert and the inside edge to cut the first matt, I then use the middle decorative centre piece and its cutting edge for the centre piece, I put mounting foam (cut into very thin strips) under the outer die and a big piece under the centre square and mounted both of these onto the aqua card. I then stamped my sentiment onto a piece of the aqua card and cut it out using the very centre square of the die set.

I added aqua coloured pearls to the white card and white adhesive pearls to the aqua card, these dies have really good 'designated spots' to put the pearls on!  I then made a small arrangement of flowers to put in the top right hand corner of the card, using matching aqua & white roses.  In the opposite corner I tied a bow using aqua seam binding and popped it on a piece of white tulle with a couple of pearl stringy bits for a bit of movement, I popped another aqua rose and a couple of leaves on the centre of the bow.  I finished with a couple of complimentary coloured stick pins.
 
 I hope you like the card and I look forward as always to reading your comments.
I hope that all of you Mummy's out there have a lovely day. For those of you that are missing your mummy's my thoughts and prayers go out to you, I know you will be remembering what amazing times you shared with your mum, on this very special day.
Lots of love and Hugs
Sandra xxxxxx



Mixed Craft Saturday!!!!!!

 

Good Saturday morning Ladies,

Mixed Craft Saturday is upon us again!

Boy have I got some treasures for you today.

 

 

First up we have this absolutely Gorgeous pair from Janet

How fabulous are they, I think that they could be either pyjama

cases (and before mrs b pipes up, no I wouldn't need one!)

or they could be hot water bottle covers, which I would love.

Janet will hopefully call in today to tell us all about these lovelies.

Thank you Janet, xxxx

 

 

Next up this fantastic Altered Notebook is from Maureen,

It just proves that Altering doesn't always need to be dark and brown

and grungy, this is pretty and feminine, I love the embedded lock and key

 

It looks Just as beautiful on the back, I know that any one of my girls would

love this as a diary or notebook.

Thank you so much Maureen, I hope you can

stop in and tell us all about how you made it,

 

Saba has kindly sent me this gorgeous fabric box to share with you today

Wow Saba it is stunning and so neat, it looks as beautiful inside as it does out.

I love the way you have staged your photo too.

Thank you my lovely I look forward to hearing all about it.

This gorgeous back, almost matches Saba's box!

This gorgeous bag was made by Margaret, my goodness Margaret how

very neat, your patchwork is stunning and the fabrics are so well matched.

Again a bag that would work across the generations, thank you so much

for sending me your lovely projects to share Margaret.

 

I look forward to hearing all of your lovely comments on the amazing range

of crafts we have showcased today.

Thank you so much Ladies for giving me such beautiful projects to share.

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 



Guest Designer............Cheryl!!!!

Good Morning Ladies,
Goodness me its Friday once again, Mothers day this weekend too!
Todays lovely card has been made by Cheryl, lovely gentle colours and so pretty.
Chery will hopefully pop in later to tell us how she created this masterpiece!
Well the idiots who gave Becca the fright of her life last night were caught and their punishment
was a Caution! That's it, the were trying to hurt her, they criminally damaged her car, they were trying to tip the damn thing over with her in it, she was terrified and for all that they get a bloody caution!! I think that is where this world is going wrong there is no real consequence for crime, the guy left the station laughing and thanking them!
Anyway lets get off that subject and am trying to stay chilled out today, I am going to have tidy up in my craft room and put away my new flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, oh by the way for those of you that like using the American Seam Binding that Sue uses they sell that too, its a very good price too and you can choose the colours rather than buying them in packs colour groups!
I received mine and its exactly the same as the C E stuff.
I also have another snippet of advice, while we were at the Farnborough Show I bought a fine tip glue applicator, or so I thought! I got it home and on the Sunday I emptied all of the bits of left over Cosmic Shimmer Glue into the little pot and pushed the top back in, I used it to make some flowers
stuck the pin back in and put it away, when I came to use it the next day the glue was a lovely shade of orangey brown, the pin had rusted within hours of its first use! So I did a bit of research and discovered that there are many fine glue dispensers but actually only One Fine Tip Glue Applicator,
so I ordered one for £3.50 odd and it arrived today and there is no comparison, the whole thing is made differently, every part is top quality and looks like it would last for years!
So don't waste money buying cheap alternatives, its actually just a waste of money!
Anyway that's all for now,
I will pop back later to see what you are all up to!
I would like to thank Janet for yesterdays lovely card.
I would also like to say sorry for my whinging post yesterday and thank you for all of your amazing support!
Love and Hugs
Sandra xxxxx

Guest Designer Janet !!!!!!!

Good Morning Ladies,
Well just look at this stunning card from Janet, what a joy it would be to open a box and see this gorgeous card.
I hope Janet will be calling in later to tell us how she created this beautiful card.
Sorry for my absence this afternoon and evening, we had another eye hospital appointment for Lucy today (not made by the school this time), we had another appointment and we saw a Senior Orthoptist who after examining Lucy extensively, concluded that Lucy had no 'Fusion Processing' which is where the brain uses both of the eyes together at the same time to give 3 dimensional view.
This usually happens If you have had a brain injury, which Lucy clearly hasn't, we then had to wait another 4 hours to see a consultant who just confirmed what the orthoptist had said and has made an appointment for further tests in a months time.
We got to the hospital at 2.30 and left at 7.15pm, what a frustrating, afternoon and now we have been left waiting for answers, this orthoptist has said that all of the exercises and occluded lenses had all been a waste of  time as it is nothing to do with the muscles, so we have  been waiting for months and been given the wrong information all along!  It could literally scream! 
Then last night I got a call from a totally distraught Becca who after going out with her friend for a movie and then a coke at the pub, as she was leaving two men followed them out of the pub demanding that she be their 'taxi' she obviously said no and got in her car, so the two men started throwing beer glasses at her car, smashing them on her windows and trying to lift her car with her in it as she had locked herself in! Felt so helpless stuck here, just to add to the stress Paul is away!
Not one of my best days lets just say!
Hopefully you lovely lot will help get me through this day, its going to be a tough one!
Love and hugs
Sandra xxxxxx

My Attempt at an 'Izzy Bag'

 

 Good Morning Ladies,
Well this is my attempt at the infamous 'Izzy Bag', Sue and I had great fun playing yesterday afternoon.
Sue made hers just as a 'Prototype' so she wouldn't let me photograph hers, but I kind of knew that before I asked, I will get a Mrs B Guest Designer day one day!
We had a lovely couple of hours with Pat yesterday afternoon, it was so good to see her up and about
and eating too. 
Right back to the bag, I found some dark brown card that had a almost leather type pattern and feel

about it and cut and scored it to Saba's guidelines.  I them used some Cream card to make the top section, I embossed it with an Embossalicious Rose Embossing Folder, then used the Phoenix Die from the Gemini Collection from Creative Expressions, to cut the border on the flap of the bag,
I then cut the two side panels, and stuck them in, I think I noticed on one of the original bags that
you can score a line down the centre of these side panels and it allows some give in the side of the bag.  I cut the handles as per the instructions and decided to stick them on the front of the bag because for this bag it looked better.  I then cut the Itty Bitty Dotty Bow to make matching bows for the handles, I also cut another handle for the back to balance the design.
I the cut a whole Phoenix die to finish the front of the card and filled in the die cut areas with a matching peachy coloured card and finished it with a peach pearl.
So what do you think?
I Look forward to reading your comments as usual.
I am also looking forward to seeing all the photos of your bags as I am sure Saba is too.

Well I am away to make another bag, I have truly got the bug now, Thanks Saba, & Izzy of course.
Lots of love and Hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxxxx

Guest Designer.....Michele (pharmacy michele) !!!!!!!

 





Good Morning Ladies,
I hope you are all well, or if not I hope you are on the mend!
Todays Bags our the work of Michele (pharmacy Michele) Can I just ask why 'Pharmacy' Michele?
Anyway Michele saw Saba's brilliant post on Sunday and got straight to work on creating this lovely bag for her friend. I believe that's a Spellbinder Corner die that Michele had used to create such a pretty, lacy looking flap!


Here is another shot with the bag open, I think that
Michele used a Velcro dot to hold the bag closed.
It looks like you could get quite a lot of things
in this size bag, it would be a lovely way to give a book.
Michele said that she used a piece of A4 paper for this bag, as it was a little easier for the first attempt that is why it is little wider.

This is Michele's second bag, a little smaller I think and so pretty with the pretty edge and cute little flowers, this would be a great gift bag across a huge age range, from little girls all the way up to us big 'girls'!
It looks like Michele has used the Spellbinders edging dies for this fancy little front.
You have used lovely colour combinations too Michele.

I would love to know what the cute flower is that you have used Michele, it looks like it is multi-layered, very effective as the decorative element on the front of your bag!
Thank you so much Michele for allowing me to share your lovely bags with everyone, I hope that this will be the first of many Guest Designer spots for you.
If anyone else has got their bags made, please email me a photo so I can share it with everyone, especially Saba who simplified the instructions
for us, and maybe Izzy may stop in sometime to see what she has started!  I am more than happy for you ladies to invite her along.
Sue and I are going to have a go at Bag today, after we have been to visit Pat, you never know ladies I may even get Mrs B to show one of her designs, fingers crossed though!
Our lovely Patricia would like to donate the Sue Wilson Cornflower Die as a prize, so all you have to do is say whether or not you would like to be included in the draw for it.
It may be easier if I leave this as a comment and then you can all add your name in the reply box below, that will save having to go through every post.
Pat you are very kind and thoughtful, particularly as you have your own blog too!
You amazing ladies, warm my heart a little more every day!
On the down side, the laundry pile is getting larger, as a consequence of all the outrageous laughter!
But hey, I can live with that.
Love you all,
Sandra
xxxxxxx
ps to anyone looking through the window into this crazy place, just open the door and step in, you won't regret it, everyone here is so genuinely friendly. Come on!!!!