Michele's Pretty Happy Birthday & Siamese Cat cards

 

 

 



Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
Today's cards have been created by our very own Michele, (pharmacy)!
I know the Siamese cat card was a Commission, you did very well to find a specific cat breed Michele, I can that you have used Creative Expressions Pierced Flag Dies for your Sentiment too.
I am sure that the recipient was so amazed to receive such a specific card, so well made too, I must say I am always so amazed that people buy shop bought cards when you can quite readily source such amazing hand crafted cards that can be personalized with as much detail as you like, I find myself looking at people's mantel pieces and checking to see how many shop bought cards that they have that are the same!
Michele's other card was designed for a relative that lives abroad, Michele said she was keeping as flat as possible to help keep postage down, but I believe it was still over £3 to send, goodness knows how much it would have cost had she added some flowers or a big bow!
It maybe flat dimensionally but my goodness it isn't flat by design, that die cut shape looks almost like a lace doily and frames your coloured topper perfectly, the beautifully colour matched background, embossed with the Heart Lattice Embossing folder (Creative Expressions) finishes the card perfectly.
Thank you so much Michele for sharing your beautiful cards with all of us.
Hazel, I look forward to hearing what form of nature you get to see today, oh and look forward to the update on Operation Mountie Watch!
Pat I hope you and Pete have the perfect start to your Italian Adventure, I look forward to lots of updates, (I hope you remembered to pack the I Pad)! have an amazing time!
I hope that all of you left behind have a great day too,
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx

Welcome to Mixed Craft Saturday!

Welcome Ladies to Mixed Craft Saturday!

First up today we have the above Beach themed Welcome Plaque,

Created by Brenda (littlelamb), it was the fabulous project at

Brenda's Craft Group this week, all of the ladies at your

Craft Group must have been thrilled to go home with such a great

project, thanks so much Brenda for sharing it with us xxxx

 

 

This Beautiful Frame has been created by Janet

This was Janet's idea to display some special Vintage Buttons,

Well Janet I can tell you that it is absolutely beautiful and a perfect way

to display something very special, we all have something laying around that

is too special to pop on a card, or you don't get to see it stuck in a box or drawer,

Janet, you must tell us what the background is that you have used, it works

perfectly with the buttons and the frame, I kind just imagine this on the wall

of your beautiful home in Marigny, thank you so much for sharing it with us xxx

 

 

These two amazing pieces of Book Folding have been expertly created by

Janice, I know that this particular craft is really popular at the moment,

there are one of or two of you that have mentioned wanting to have a go at

this craft, but boy it looks really time consuming, it looks really effective though,

I think that anyone would be thrilled to receive one of these with their name

folded into the pages, Some people have been put off because its been seen as

ruining books, if you go to a charity shop or second hand shop books that don't

sell are often thrown away, so if you can transform something that was destined

for the bin into a work of art like these, I think you have made that book even

more special, I imagine you would have to be choosy and check the words first,

Some of the books around at the moment could send the recipient 'fifty shades of pink'!

Thank you so much Janice for sharing this very popular craft with us xxxx

 

 

Last but not least today,  Cheryl has sent us some photographs of

The adorable Milly-May !

Oh my goodness Cheryl she is so beautiful, but I have to say she

doesn't look like a new born, she looks so bright and alert,

she is just so perfect, this will bring a smile to so many faces today.

Thank you so Cheryl much for sharing your precious

Great Granddaughter with all of us today xx

Well that's it for this Saturday ladies,

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend,

Love and hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxx

 

 

 



Welcome to the World Milly May !!

Milly- May's Welcome to the World Wreath

Milly-May's card









Good Morning Ladies,

Today I wanted to share with all of you these fabulous gifts that

Cheryl has made for Darling Little Milly-May!

Firstly we have the Welcome to the World Wreath, using

a polystyrene ring, covered with pretty pink ribbon and then

decorated beautifully with flowers and then decorated with

flowers and a Banner, saying 'Welcome to the World', the ribbon

also doubles as the hanger.  I actually saw a tip about wreaths

the other day, it says to cut the circle in half, making the

wreath lay against the wall better and also giving you two

for the price of one!!

Next we have the gorgeous card the Cheryl has made to

celebrate Milly-May's arrival, so pretty!

I can some of Sue's leaves there and the new Peony Flowers,

complete and the open petals too, did you know that there are

stamps to match these dies too???

Cheryl has also added one of the Configuration die cuts down the

side of the card, I bought these and the 'configurations' were endless,

you could sit playing with them for hours, so many borders, corners &

edges from this one die set, I was very impressed.

Cheryl, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful creations

with us, I am sure that Lucy & Joshua must have been thrilled to

receive them, such treasured gifts from a very special Great Grandma!

I hope you all have a lovely Friday,

If you have the time pop over to Hope-chances.blogspot.com

Christine always explores a different Spellbinder Die on a Friday,

showing you the die at its best, its very inspiring and well worth a visit!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



















Happy 60th Birthday Sam!!! & Sue's amazing gift!

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY

SAM

 

We all hope that you have the most amazing birthday in Mauritius,

Love from all of your friends here on the blog!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

 Good |Morning Ladies,
I want to share with you today this amazing gift, from the most amazing friend!
I spoke to Sue soon after the 'phone call' last week, with Paul being away, I felt helpless but Sue had all the time in the world to listen and reassure me, like any lifelong friend would, she just listened and made me realise how ridiculous the comments actually were!
Between Sue and Pat both listening and giving me advice, I feel a little more comfortable about the situation, thank you my lovelies!
Anyway when we got over to Sue's today, we unpacked our things and Sue came across and gave me the biggest hug and handed me this amazingly created box, inside the box was this stunning card!
The reassurance of the message inside the card will stay with me forever, I tried my hardest to hold in my tears as I didn't want the floodgates open again this week, but it was a close thing, I had that ache in my throat, Sue you have no idea how much your kind words meant, thank you so very much xx

The leaves of the Ivy looked so realistic as Sue had coated them in Pinflair Glaze, a little tip from Sue here, she originally tried Glossy Accents but that started to draw the colour from leaves, but the Pinflair Glaze didn't do it, so that's always a good alternative to have on standby, I believe it comes in a little bottle like nail varnish (including the Brush), the gloss on the leaves just lifts the die cut so much!
Sue used the Californian Dies to make the focal element of the card and finished with the new Canadian Tag, from the Creative Expressions Canadian Border, Tag & Corner set.
Sue then stamped the little sentiment in the centre of the tag.
Now the box, looked like it had been bought, it was made perfectly, very sturdy too, the ones I have made using Centura Pearl can sometimes lack stability, this one however was good and strong.
It was so lovely to receive a 'just because' card, perfectly timed, such a huge lift Sue, thank you so much once again xx


Well that's it from me today, thanks for all of your hints and tips yesterday, some fab tips shared !
Yesterday was made special in other ways yesterday too, Obviously we had the news of Milly May's
arrival, Maria's birthday and the other fantastic news was Pat's Pete's PSA levels, would amazing news, so positive, the new drugs are clearly making a difference, so you can go off to Italy on Saturday, with a little less weight on your shoulders, I couldn't be more pleased, Have an amazing holiday together, take lots of photos!!
Do you think Hazel has come across any 'Mounties' yet???? Calm now Margaret!!xx
Have a lovely day everyone, must dash, bottles to make, lambs to feed!
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Birthday Maria !

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA!!!!!!!

Make a wish!!!

 







Good Morning Ladies,
Well as you can see its our Maria's Birthday, I hope you have the happiest of days, I also hope that you have been spoilt, just as you deserve!
I have put your cake behind the counter, remember to make a wish when you blow out the candle, I wonder what you would wish for?
Well I would like to hear as many hints, tips, storage ideas that you might have today.
I am pretty sure its this week the card is in Lidl, that's a bargain tip!
You can use Talcum powder (that can be bought from 99p stores) and a cheap paint brush instead of
anti static bags, they work for both stamping purposes and for dusting over your Tan (embossing )
mat, this prevents the card from sticking after embossing.
A storage tip that I use is for ribbon reels and bakers twine, threaded onto a cane of wooden dowel and supported by two cup hooks!
Do you remember when we had CD storage Wallets/folders, well buy cutting up a magnetic sheet to fit inside the individual wallets you have made yourself a perfect Die Storage Wallet !
Sharpen your Scissors by cutting up strips of sandpaper!
Well that's it for now, I look forward to reading some of your hints and tips!
Have a lovely day everyone, especially you Maria!!
Love and Hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxxx

Tuesday Cuteness from Margaret!

Good Morning Ladies,
Well where did that Bank Holiday Weekend go?????
I swear any day that Paul is off work the time goes twice as fast as normal!!  Its seems only five minutes since Thursday night, (maybe that's because I keep replaying that telephone conversation)!!
I can hear you all joining in Chorus to sing "Let it go", "Let it go"! haha, I am trying to let it go, honestly!
Thank you for all of the amazingly supportive emails, you are such amazing friends xxxx
Now to this fabulous card from our Margaret, I just love that cute little girl, cuddling her little dog!
Margaret you have framed it perfectly with that gorgeous die, the Butterflies  and the bow, trimmed perfectly with that little flower, finish the card, adding just the right amount decoration without over crowding the card, that border placed flat against the card gives that look of a lace trim, now usually I don't go for 'Mirri' card but on this card it works perfectly, it is just a hint and trims the edge of the card so neatly, picking up the gold beneath the Butterfly wings!
Margaret, Lesley must have been so thrilled to receive such a gorgeous card, thank you so much for allowing me to share it with our friends here in the café. xxxx
Now I have a bit of an idea, please feel free to say if you think it won't work, these ideas are just that ideas that come into my brain in those long periods of sleeplessness!
The idea is "Wise Words Wednesday" (we can change the name) but I thought that we could feature Hints, tips, storage ideas, cheap alternatives to expensive gadgets, anything thought, idea, bargain, that could save us all time, space and most of all Money!!!
What do you think, do you think that between us we can think up something each week??? we can have photos of your space saving ideas, or storage tips, if you like. 
I like my blog to be interactive as you know, so your opinion is very important to me!
Now Cheryl is still having trouble accessing the blog, which is driving me crazy as, as far as I can see my settings are all as open as possible, anyone can leave a comment, Cheryl has looked into the problems and it says I have to go to layout settings and click "revert widget to templates to default"
but I don't have anything that says that in settings or layout or anything, has anyone that has any knowledge of this kind of problem got any ideas, as we all want Cheryl back amongst us asap!
Please let me know if you can help, |Cheryl can read what we write but can't comment!
Well I am off to make the bottles up for our new temporary family members,  4 new lambs!!!
So cute, yet very loud!
Catch up with you all later,
love and hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx

Another Succesful Blind Date! & Janets Card

Maria & Karen

Good Morning Ladies,
I wanted to share with you today this lovely photograph of our lovely friends Maria (sitting) and Karen, taken during their 'blind date' on Saturday!
I must say it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when you are all getting to meet up for 'real' !
I hope that you can all find the amazing friendship that Sue, Pat and I have found from meeting up for that first coffee, in the local Co-op café 9 months ago, we now meet up every week and still talk for hours every week!
Now Maria Milton Keynes isn't that far from here, so maybe if Karen drives, you two could meet up with the three of us midway between you and here sometime soon? !!

 





I also would like to share Janet's gorgeous card, I love the unusual shape card that you have used Janet, It looks like you have used the embossing folder that I have had problems with, but your card shape looks fine, so you must not have the problems I have been having.  I also spot a lovely Gemini Die and one of the New York Squares, altogether a fabulous card, I love the colour too!
Can I please ask Janet, where you bought the Happy Birthday Die from, it looks so ornate and pretty!
Thank you so much for sending me your photos Janet, they were well timed too as I just couldn't concentrate to get one finished!
Well I am off for breakfast with the family, Paul makes a good breakfast!
Love and Hugs to you all,
Sandra
xxxxxxx

My New Tonic Celtic Dreams layering Dies!!

 



 Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
Well todays card was inspired by new Tonic Celtic Dreams Layering dies, I absolutely love them!
I must have loved them as I had to buy them from Create and Craft!! there was no p&p though!
But they had 'exclusivity' on it so you couldn't get it any where else until the end of June.

I used both Black and Cream card to build up the layers of this die, there are twelve different dies in the set, I finished with a black matt and added another new die set Britannia  'Happy' and Brittania 'Birthday' die set (you get two sizes in both words)! from Joanna Sheen.
Anyway back to the card, I added the sentiment after cutting in the cream card.
I them decided I would add some foliage and flowers, so I cut 4 of the Delicate Fronds Die by Sue Wilson,  and topped the foliage with a selection of flowers from my stash, I went for a purple theme!
I them hand tied a double bow in cream ribbon and topped it with a thinner ribbon in purple, also tied into a double bow and them topped it with a Purple Resin Flower from the Works.

I do hope you like it!
I look forward to hearing your comments.
I am so pleased that Maria and Karenlotty had a good day today, its so lovely that you are all making new friends through my blog.
Brenda (lello) I hope you have a wonderful family day today, don't go doing too much though!
Well I must go, but I will pop back later to see what you are all up to!
love and hugs
Sandra
xxxxx

 

Our Beloved Pets

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Today we are having a break from Mixed crafts and showing

Some of our Beloved Pets instead!

These two totally adorable Kitty's are Bella (tabby) and Milo !

They are 1 year old, and fill our lives with joy every day

(except when we have to take them to the vets) and then they

and a little pain to the joy!

This is our adorable little Diego,

(well he is our Grand-dog), he can be very mischievous, but

look at that little face, you can't be cross! 

This handsome little fellow is Margaret's Corgi Tomas

This is Margaret's other little cutie Amy

Amy & Tomas

Thank you so much Margaret for sharing your gorgeous

pets with us, they are both totally adorable xx

This Handsome Boy is Janice's dog Bracken,

He looks like he is a bundle of fun Janice, thank you for

allowing us to see your beautiful boy xx

Now these two handsome boys belong to Jess

meet Milo and Fudge, both 6 years old

I cannot get over how much your Fudge looks like our Milo!

thank you so much for sharing your handsome pair xxx

Oh My, these two are just so cute, they belong to Jean,

Ruby (laying down) is 18 months old,

Bonnie will be 4 in August

Jean they look like they are inseparable and also like they

would get away with just about anything, thank you for sharing

such cuteness with us Jean xxx

This beautiful girl is Steph's dog Cassie, she is just

so gentle looking and such a pretty girl.

I think this little lady likes to play, and she looks like she has

endless energy, how could you not smile at that face!

This is obviously the 'Please play with me' face,

Thank you so much Steph for sharing your amazingly

adorable Cassie with us xxxxxx

Lynda's Pet family are next, I think that this is Annie,

such a little cutie!

Aw just look at that adorable little face, how could you not

love such an angelic look, this is Bambi!

What a beautiful bird, wow Lynda Freddy is just such a

handsome fella, does he talk? What amazing eyes he has,

thank you so much for sharing your lovely pet family with us xxx

Thank you all so very much for sharing your pet pictures with all of us,

they are all just so cute and adorable, each and every one of them.

If any of you still want to add your photographs just let me know and

we can add them in, Sue, I see no photo's of Beardy's here??

Maria & Karen have a lovely morning, chose a comfy chair,

As the time will just disappear as you get carried away in conversation! 

 I hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend,

Love and Hugs

Sandra

xxxxxxxxxx

New Guest Designer......Janice !!!!

 



 Good Morning Ladies,
Whilst I was looking at Janice's pet photo last night I found some photo's of cards that she had sent
me previously that I hadn't seen!
So today I want to showcase this hidden treasure for you all to see, isn't it beautiful!??
So rich and opulent, the gold and bronze tones work so well together, the butterflies add that little finishing touch too, are they on Vellum I wonder??  I love the embossing too, not sure what Embossing Folder Janice has used but it is a pretty one.
All finished off with a pretty gold trimmed white bow!
Thank you so much Janice for allowing me to share your lovely card with our friends here in the café!
Can I please ask for your pet photos to be sent to me sometime today, I can hopefully then compile them into a Pet Post for Saturday, which I am really looking forward to.
I am going to keep this short today, I will explain later, all I will say is....thank goodness for
friends! I love and appreciate every one of you!
Love and hugs
Sandra
xxxxxxx
Also I would like to say a Belated Birthday to Diane, I am so sorry I missed your birthday, you weren't on my list. I hope you had a lovely day xxxxx

Something a little different today!

 



 Good Morning Ladies,
Firstly I must apologise for not making it back into the café yesterday, it was just one of those days!
Todays card....Hmmm I am still not sure about it to be honest, I was in love with the idea of it, but not so sure about the reality!
I used Spellbinders Grand Decorative Ovals for almost all of the card, the two smallest Ovals are Spellbinders Floral Ovals. 
I used Papermania Capsule Collection Parisienne Blue, to cut 3 ovals, I then cut the Grand Decorative Ovals in the three largest sizes out of Dark Blue Card and matted it over the patterned paper, I then cut the middle Sized Floral Ovals to cut a Dark Blue Mat and the next size down for cutting the sentiment, with I stamped in Blue the greeting and inked through the die with Antique Linen Distress Ink, using one of the new Sponge Eggs, them are great stress relievers!
I added a cream Bow to the right hand side of card and topped with a Creative Expressions Navy flower and then added a pearl to the centre, to brighten it up, the little pieces of accent ribbon on top of the bow came in the pack, so I used them to continue the colour theme through to the bow,  I the added a few pearls around the Navy frames and some tiny pearls onto the papers to highlight some of the flowers.
I know its a bit different, but what do you think?
Please leave your comment as usual.
Now back to my day, I had all of about 1 and a quarter hours sleep the night before, worrying about Bella and the lump, so I was very tired, in a lot of pain, I think it must be from walking to and from the Craft Room when Pat and Sue are here and we are crafting around the dining table, I have to see how things look together before I make the decision to use something, it seemed that everything I needed was back in the flaming craft room, you can almost see a groove in the carpet, please don't think I am moaning about us all crafting together as I would never do that, those two ladies mean the world to me, the have 'bought the sunshine back into my life'! But I am usually excited to show them things I have made or received, they were both very envious of my Plaque from Myra, also the card that you sent with the little flower on reminded me that I bought a load of it when it was on offer on C & C ages ago, so I suggested that at one of our meet up days we will make some flowers, I then remembered I had the Ranger Melt Pot and all the gorgeous powders that you put in to melt, they look like jewels! I like to use it with Clear embossing powder to drop handmade flowers in, they come out all shiny, when dry they stay shiny and very hard, so that's another idea for another weekly meet up, this week I had great fun helping Pat make up some 'Izzy Bags', she went home with the biggest smile, which made my day!
Now onto the vets, our appointment was at 4,45 pm yesterday, I had been sick with worry all day, we started getting things ready to leave at 4.30, I got the pet carry bag out, both cats ran in different directions! we decided it would be easy to put Milo's Harness on him and put his lead on and take him out that way, so Sophie got him sorted and asked me to take him out to the car, so I carried him out towards the car, he then decided he wasn't going to co-operate, sank his huge claws into the bottom of my neck, my arm and my side, at this point I wasn't holding him, he was fixed to me with his claws, he then went to push away but almost couldn't get his claws out of my neck and just pulled with all of his 4.9 kilo weight, resulting in the most painful line of about 6 lumps that are very red and sore at the moment, he scarpered into the back garden, I was in so much pain and stressed by this point I just burst into tears and went in to get something to stop the blood flow, meanwhile Paul and Lucy were still trying to catch Bella, who is the Houdini of all cats, I ended up calling the vets to explain we would be late, 40 minutes late, Paul was the next to be injured by a very stressed Bella.
he has to amazing scratches around his wrists, arms and up his leg! We finally made it to the vets, Milo on lead and Bella who had exhausted herself to the point of collapse was wrapped in a very decadent purple fleece throw! I believe that the vets must have some kind of magic spray in the air because as soon as we get in the treatment room the pair of them were totally compliant, Milo was weighed, checked over and given his booster, Bella was weighed, given her booster and then the vet gave her lumpy bits a good examination, the diagnosis..........a fat belly!!!! If you only knew who much I was worried about her, it is just where she has gained a little to much weight and as her body is tiny in comparison to Milo, she (like her mummy) is carrying her wait around her tummy and the lumps inside are just where the fat has gathered around her Mammories! (again like her mummy)!
We got home, all very battered and bruised to find Freya at the door for my scheduled hair cut, we finally got to eat at about 8pm and then needed to pop to shop as I will be home alone as Paul has gone away to Cambridge today. 
I will add something that will make you smile, when we went to bed last night, where do you think Milo slept?????? yes you guessed it, in the bl***y cat pet carrier, the whole night, curled up sleeping like a baby, little monkey!
PLEASE SEND IN YOUR PET PHOTOS BY FRIDAY EVENING!!
I think it will be fun to see every ones pets, so get snapping!
Love and hugs to all
Sandra
xxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Brenda's floral spray!

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Well I had to start off by showing Brenda (littlelamb)'s  homage to Sue's card, Brenda yours is just so fabulous in every way, you have put so much love and effort into this card, the flowers are so bright and beautiful, the Ivy looks real, how did you manage that?

The Noble Squares make such a perfect backdrop for you to add all of your pretty flower and foliage bits to! That cute little butterfly is hiding away in the corner, giving that perfect little touch of class.

I think you should be so proud as you have done an amazing job Brenda!

Can I ask you  what company your got your 'Happy Birthday' Die from, as I love the font and it is the perfect size for larger cards.

Thank you so very much for allowing me to share your amazing card with our dear friends here in the café Brenda xxxxx

Well an update on yesterday, the car, sadly failed the MOT, I think that the Bill will be in excess of £300, which is just so frustrating! It failed on a Wiper Blade, a rear break light bulb and a the Back passenger side Brake Caliper, which is the 'ouch' part, costing £110 + VAT and then fitting, that's £180 without the MOT fee, the other parts, oil and filter and cost of a intermediate service, a little worse than I was anticipating but that's life! I think that the thing that frustrates Paul is that cars these days are just not designed for you to work on them yourself, he has all the kit, ramps, jacks, tools, but every part seems to have a 'specialist tool' that is required to remove that particular part! Not like in the days we had a Mk 4 Cortina and I have a burgundy Ford Fiesta, gosh those cars just ran and ran with no problems did occur you got your Haynes Manual out and find out what you required to fix the problem, nowadays you have to take it to the local garage for a run on the 'Diagnostic' computer whizzy thing, pay your £40, get your sheet of results and are still none the wiser! Its back on the drive now so I will shut up and wait to see the posty struggling up the road with his huge sack containing our invoice! Maybe I should run a sweep stake on the nearest guess for the final amount to pay, answers below, winner will receive a small gift/card or something!

Somebody suggested that they would like to have a Pet portrait Gallery, if all of you with pets are interested please let me know and we could maybe put it in on Saturday to replace mixed crafts day, I await your decision.

We have the kitty's at the vets tonight for their Annual Booster and a check up, I am so scared about the outcome for my baby Bella as she has developed a lump on her belly, towards the back it seemed as though it was just flabby loose skin to start with, she has been spayed, so not pregnant, although I did wonder as she is eating more too, but otherwise she seems fine, she still wants to play and run about with Milo, but lumps are lumps and always worrying, so another day with 'something on mind',

On that note I will leave you in peace , have a good day whatever you are doing!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxxxxx

Portuguese Black and Cream

Good Morning Ladies,

Todays card was inspired by the Portuguese Background die that I cut while at Pats last week (she had been on a shopping spree)! hehe!

Anyway I cut the Portuguese Background Die with black card, the small inner die in cream card.

I mounted the black background onto cream card and then onto a black matt of card,  I stamped the 'Special Friend' stamp onto the inner cream die cut and mounted onto the background with mounting foam for a bit of dimension.

I took an 8 x 8 card blank and matted it with black and cream card, the cream card is embossed with the Scored Lines Embossing Folder, I placed the Portuguese Background onto the card base with mounting foam, I then cut a Gemini Collection Phoenix Die, out of black card and popped some foam tape on the back and lined it to the centre of the focal element.I then cut 3 mid sized Faux Quilled Blooms die cuts and offset them to create and fuller flower, I popped a black pearl into the centre and of the Phoenix die cut. I tied a bow with some Cream Ribbon and added a Black Dazzler into the centre and added some smaller black pearls to the corners of the card and some cream pearls to the corners of the focal element, also four tiny black pearls in the corners of the Sentiment plaque.

Two stick pins made in Black and Cream add the finishing touches!

All the dies used on this card are from Creative Expressions, designed by Sue Wilson.

What do you think ladies, does it work??

I was going for cleaner lines, no flower overload, I think that the Portuguese die gives that feel anyway, almost Art Deco in style, I think the die would make great man cards too!

I seem to be turning to cream card more often than white these days, I think it gives a softer contrast

to black than white card does.

Well I have got Sue and Pat coming over today, so that will take my mind off of the dreaded MOT!

I will pop in later when I get the chance,

Love and Hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxx

Margarets Pretty yellow flowers!

 



Good Morning Ladies,
I hope that this Monday morning finds you well, this weekend seemed to disappear super fast,
I am really looking forward to the upcoming bank holiday, we don't have any real plans, its just nice to have the extra day with the family, the girls are ready for the break too, they seem to be exhausted to the point that they seem to be constantly fighting off cold and flu symptoms, sore throats etc, I am glad I was 'mean mum' last Thursday and stopped them going to their football training, the fact that it was still on in torrential rain and the season is over seemed a little ridiculous to me, if the had upcoming important games then yes, but weeks before major exams then no, all of the girls are the same age and at the same important time in school, I wouldn't mind when the weather is fine as it is good for the girls to let of steam and relax with friends. I personally feel that there is too much pressure put on children these days with exams at all ages, with schools so focused on league tables and results, I think that things have gotten a little out of control, one of the teachers on Parent Evening starting talking to Soph about A levels, I just told them that I thought we should just concentrate on the GCSE's for now!
Now onto todays beautiful card, when I was scanning through the photos this one 'shouted' out to me because it is beautiful, bright and cheerful, I know the weather is forecast to be miserable today, so I thought the gorgeous flowers on Margaret's card would brighten our day!
Yellow roses are my favourite colour too, which is another reason it stood out to me, it just looks like roses laid upon lace! so pretty, I can also spy all of our very favourite Scandinavian Border too, I think that has to be one of Sue's all time best dies, I think that most of us own it, I have to try not to use it as I reach for that one every time!
Thank you Margaret for allowing me to share your stunning card with all of our friends xx
Bon Voyage Sam, have a totally amazing time, come back, tanned and relaxed!!
I need you all join together in sending positivity our way this week, the car is in for its MOT on Tuesday, she's getting on a bit now, sadly if it is a very expensive job we won't be able to afford a holiday this year, the thought of that is just horrible as its the one time Paul gets to relax properly,
in that he actually gets to sit and read his book, relax and have fun with the girls, a good couple of weeks of no television, no video games, telephones, just family time, board games and relaxing together! I will be very sad to miss out on that important time! We don't do luxury either, just a basic family holiday!! So please cross everything for us, thank you my lovelies xxx
Well I am off to upload my card to the Creative Expressions FB page and maybe blog if I can!
Love and hugs to all of you
Sandra
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Caribbean Blue and Cream!



Good Sunday Morning,
I hope that you have all had a good weekend so far, I had a lovely afternoon with Pat and Paul,
we went to a Craft/scrapbook shop called Maze Of Memories, it is a lovely craft shop, very well
stocked with a huge variety of different craft goodies! But sadly no umount, we decided to go as
Christine Emberson was there demonstrating Spellbinders, it was a fully booked workshop so we couldn't join in, they were making pretty wrappers for chocolate bars!  We got to have a good chat with Christine before she started, you will never meet a more kind, caring, genuinely lovely lady!
(she is very talented too check out her blog : hope-chances.blogspot.com
She is an ambassador for spellbinders too!
Christine, if you get time to pop in, it was a delight to meet you and your mum today!
Onto todays card, I cut the Caribbean Background Die out of cream card, and embossed it, I then
matted that onto a slightly larger piece of Periwinkle card I then cut two of the Scandinavian Borders in Periwinkle card and mounted onto the bottom of my card, which started out with a plain white 8x8 card, I matted some cream card and Periwinkle winkle card together, finishing with a cream layer which has been embossed with the Eternity Embossing Folder by Creative Expressions(CE)
I think added my caribbean focal element and decorated the centre with some matching colour
Paper flowers, some coloured stamens and some little bits of foliage!  I then added one of my Scandinavian borders (CE) with Dries clear glue, I then stuck the second on the top, filling up the edges for some dimension, I then ran a strip of little pearl flowers down the centre of the border!
I added a bow with some Cream a Ribbon and topped it with a matching blue blue thin ribbon!
A few pearls were added around the card to finish it off!
What do you think?
I am thinking of sending of sending a copy of this card to the Creative expressions blog page,
What do you think of that idea?
Well I am a bit sleepy tonight, that's what you get for being awake late!
Well I hope you all have an amazing day, however you choose to spend it!
Love and hugs to all
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Mixed Craft Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Well Saturday is upon us once again

I have some more amazing things to share with you!

This first stunning Plaque was created by the very talented Myra,

I am lucky enough to be the very lucky owner of this

beautiful work of art, it is hanging in pride of place

in my Craft Room

Thank you so very much Myra for the lovely gift xxx



This beautiful box has been exquisitely decorated by our Sam,

Sam both the inside and outside of the box are decorated

so beautifully, the flowers and pearls swirls finish the

lid off so beautifully, I can see that you have used lace to

trim around the rim of the box too.

Thank you Sam for allowing me to share your box with

all of our friends here on the blog. xxx

These two little beauties are our regular mixed craft Saturday

contributor and multi talented.......Brenda (littlelamb)!

These are her Tea Cup Candles, wow they are so pretty,

I love how you have matched the colour of the wax to

match the colours on the Tea Cups, I know that

you will be pleased to see these as they were the

topic of conversation the other evening, I am sure that

Brenda will be in today to tell us all about how to go about

creating these stunning gifts.

Thank you once again Brenda for sharing you crafts xxx

Well what do you think of todays line up???

We have some very talented people among us here in the Café!

I was hoping that Chery would have been able to sort out her

Computer glitches by now, Cheryl we really miss you!

Happy Anniversary Diane & Julian, enjoy your day together xxx

Sam I hope you enjoyed your pamper day and are all prepared to

go and join the most amazing holiday!

Please try and call in if you get the chance and tell us all about

your amazing room and hotel!

I hope that you all have an amazing weekend

Love and Hugs

Sandra

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Oldie For Friday!!

 

 

Good |Friday Morning Lovely Friends,
I thought I would partake in the 'Oldie For Friday' posts, I think its good to have another look at some of our older cards made with the favourite dies of the time!
With this card I definitely was in my 'California Collection' phase, I do still love these dies mind!
I used the Italian Collection Borders (Creative Expressions) two cut in black and two in Soft Gold,
The base of the card is white, embossed with the Heart Lattice Embossing Folder, also by (CE)

which is still also a favourite!
I layered the Italian Borders together at either side of the card and the Central focal element is made up of the Californian Collection, I used both Basic Frames A and Decorative Frames B to layer up the black and soft gold card and then stamped the sentiment and embossed with Bright Gold Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder.
I then added a soft gold colour bow, topped with a black dazzler and a black and gold coloured stick pin and in the top corner I used cream card and soft gold card to die cut Delicate Daisies (CE) all of the above dies are designed by Sue Wilson, such a talented die and card designer!
I am going to sit and play with the die cuts that Myra sent me yesterday,
I do love that Butterfly die, it isn't as big as I thought, so I think I may treat myself, I haven't decided on any of the new collection yet, I like almost all of them, I think that some of the Portuguese dies look a little similar in shape to some of the other collections, but that could be a bonus for using them all together!
I cannot believe the drop in temperature over the last couple of days, it rained here almost constantly yesterday, which in fairness was forecast, but goodness me the chill factor certainly set in, I was shivering until the heating came on!  I will be fetching my thick jumpers back out of the wardrobe!
Well whatever you are up to today I hope that you have a good one, I hope that all those of you with aches and pains find a little more comfort today!
Love and Hugs to all,
Sandra
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