Karen's Birthday card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that this chilly Tuesday morning finds you well, for those of you that aren't gentle hugs are on their way! xx

Today's card is the card I made for Karen's Birthday, I tried something completely different for a change.  I had some points left at the end of the SU year that can't be transferred so I used them to buy the 'Large Letter Dies', they arrived in perfect time for me to use them to make Karen's card.

I die cut three of each letter and laid one set on my stamp mat, I then gathered lots of small flower stamps from various Stampin'Up stamp sets, including: 'Happy Birthday Gorgeous', 'Jar of Love' and 'Beautiful Bouquet'. I decided to use 'Peekaboo Peach' as the accent colour and chose a few different complimentary colours to use to randomly stamp the letters.

I masked the top of the letters off to give a different look and then randomly stamped the bottom, trying to cover as much white area as I could, someone stamps even overlapped.

I then mounted the three lots of letters on top of each other leaving the 'Peach' one until last and then ever so slightly offset it to give a 'Drop shadow' effect.

I mounted the letters onto a piece of White card that I had embossed with the 'Tied Together' Embossing Folder, then added to a 7x5 base card matted with a piece of 'Peekaboo Peach' card.  Lastly I punched two borders using the Stampin'Up! 'Ribbon Border Punch' and topped that with some narrow white ribbon.

I think I will use this method again as it is a nice way to personalise a card.

Margaret is sadly unable to make it to the NEC on Friday so we have a spare ticket if anyone fancies joining us, just let me know.

Janet I hope that your journey has been smooth so far and that you arrive in good time later today, I imagine the first job will be to light a fire, time for you to relax and enjoy a few days of peace and quiet, I do hope Jim is on the mend too. XXX

I'm going to prepare another tutorial today for videoing, so wish me luck! 

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you have all had a relaxing weekend, did you manage any crafting?  I managed to film the video tutorial I have been trying to do all week. I will share it with you all later this week.

Now onto this week's challenge, now I don't want you to panic at the name of the technique, it's easy and you have probably been doing it for years!

So this week I would like you to make an card featuring a Silhouette.  

My example card above features a 'die cut' silhouette (Tim Holtz wild Flower thinlits). I will share some more examples to inspire you all, I first thought that Silhouettes had to be black but they can be any colour you like! 

These two cards both feature silhouettes, all though I didn't think about them as that at the time.

Karen's Challenge card from yesterday features silhouettes too.

If you need any further inspiration pop over to Pinterest, there are literally thousands of different examples of Silhouette cards on there, be prepared though, grab a cuppa before you start browsing! 

I really hope that you enjoy this week's challenge,  I can't wait to see your designs . XX

Janet, I hope you have and Jim have a smooth journey to Marigny, you both deserve a relaxing break XXX

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs,

Sandra 

xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

My Challenge Card

The challenge

Happy Birthday Karen

xxx

Good Morning Ladies,

I know how much you all love our Sunday Blog post, this one is extra special because it's Karen's birthday !!  Happy Birthday Karen, I hope you have an amazing day, filled with all of the things you love, including  Oscar and Salsa !! Sending you huge birthday hugs XXX.

Now onto the bit that you are all looking forward to........

Michele

Michele has made not one...but three fantastic cards for this week's challenge, 3 very different, fantastic Christmas cards....    Here is Michele's description.....

" Card No 1 was made using the free die from Diecutting Essentials, all I did was use some blue mirri card and white pearl card to cut the Merry Christmas/scene die out. I added stickles glue to create a snowy effect. Blue/Dry Embossing/Snow.    Card No 2 is using some very old Dovecraft papers and Creative Expressions Noel Die. I raised the Diecut using 1mm foam pads and added the gemstones. Blue/C+S/Designer paper."

Card number 3 made using Categories: Dry Embossing/Red/Green/ Colour with Markers. Oh Michele such a cute card, made with a Free Gift from a previous issue of Paperback Essentials magazine (so it is worth keeping all those little kits)!

I love how you have used the freebie Michele, a perfect Christmas card for your Nieces/Nephews. 

Thank you Michele for managing 3 fantastic Christmas cards for this week's challenge, I really do appreciate you .

XXX

Karen

Karen made 3 cards for this week's challenge, which is amazing!

The first card was made using Categories: Blue/Dry Embossing/Snow

Karen's description........

(For some reason my tablet wouldn't allow me to copy/paste so I had to screenshot/crop.)

Karen I love this card, perfect for its recipient too, every element works perfectly!

The second card uses Categories: Blue/White/Dry Embossing, 

Karen made this card and the 3rd card for Charlotte's Dance Partner who had a little boy this week, I adore that cute little bear, I particularly like that you have made him grey rather than going for blue, it somehow looks more realistic (fur), Sitting him in that offset frame was genius, I would have never have thought of doing that but my goodness it works! Thank you, again!

The third and final card uses Categories:Blue/White/Decorative Papers,  made for the same person as the card above but a totally different look, although equally amazing!

this card uses Sue Wilson Shadowbox dies, which are so perfect for such an occasion.

Three fantastic cards Karen, thank you so very much. Now go and Enjoy your Birthday! 

XXX

 Janet

Oh Janet, I love this card, you have used the Categories:

Blue/ Decorative Paper/Colouring Markers for your gorgeous birthday card, that die cut is just stunning Janet and the Newsprint paper works amazingly with that blue, the soft colouring of the butterflies works so well, any darker and it would have taken away from that beautiful die cut area.

Janet, thank you, another amazing Blog contribution, thank you so much for your continuous support, I really do appreciate you.

XXX

Margaret

Our Margaret managed two cards while playing nurse to 'Pops' and running around for others, you are amazing Margaret, 

The first card uses categories: Blue/White/Embossing, 

Such a pretty birthday card, again simply elegant, sometimes 

'less is more' I think, although I do love a totally OTT card too. 

I am pretty sure the 'recipient' will love it! 😉

The second card uses categories: Red/Green/White/Dry Embossing, this time Margaret has made a pretty Christmas card, I love that pretty Holly Wreath Margaret.

Thank you so much Margaret, I hope you enjoyed your crafting time.

XXX

Wendy

I can't tell you how excited I was to see that the lovely Wendy (aka Spanish Crafter) had made a card for this week's challenge, 

Wendy chose the Categories: Red/Green/Ribbon/Decorative Paper for her stunning Quilled birthday card, I just love quilling Wendy, you have really inspired me, Sue (Mrs B) made me a kit for my birthday a year ago and I loved making all the elements up, I just never got around to designing anything with them. I adore that beautiful flower! 

Thank you so very much for taking part and inspiring us all with something new.  I look forward to your next card. 

XXX

 Lynda

Lynda has designed a fantastic Christmas card using the Categories: Red/Green/Ribbon / Embossing.

Such a lovely Christmas card Lynda, it has a 'Scandinavian' look to it, obviously made for someone special!

Thank you so much for taking part Lynda 

XXX

Cheryl

Cheryl has chosen the Categories: Red/Dry Embossing/ white

To create her Clean and Simple style Christmas card, I love the simple elegance Cheryl, perfect card for 'batch making' .

Thank you so much for finding the time to take part this week, such a pleasure having you in the line up! 

XXX

Lilian

Lilian has chosen a Christmas card for this week's challenge using Categories: Snow/Blue/Colour With Markers.                          Lilian your card bought an instant smile to my face, who could help smiling at that adorable face?.  What a lovely stamp, which you have coloured beautifully, what did you use for his fluffy it's on his hat, was it the puffy stuff that you heat or just a snowy sprinkle stuff? Either way it looks amazing.                                   Thank you for brightening my day Lilian and taking part in this week's challenge.

XXX

Val

Val has used the Categories: Blue/Dry Embossing/Clean and Simple to create this amazing Anniversary card, such a lovely design Val, I may have to borrow your idea, I thing it would work with so many different die cuts.  It never ceases to amaze me how many different styles and designs you come up with and we only get to see a fraction of the cards that you actually make.  I would love to see a photo of all of your Christmas cards in their display in the Shop, as I'm sure the others would too (if you have time) x.

Thank you so much Val, I know you are struggling with your craft Mojo at the moment but you still manage amazing cards!!!  Sending extra big hugs.

XXX

Brenda

Brenda has designed a Stunning Christmas card for this week's challenge, using Categories: Blue/White/ Dry Embossing.

I'm glad it's not just me that's opting for Blue and White for Christmas cards this year, I love your card Brenda, those stars are almost an 'electric ' blue, the little bows finish the perfectly.  

Thank you so much for taking part Brenda.

XXX

Ladies, what can I say, you have really gone that extra mile this week, your cards are amazing, if only you could hear the sounds I make when I open the emails etc!  You all bring a smile to my face, it's nice to receive 'Happy Mail'.  I must go now and think of something for next week's challenge.                                      

Enjoy your Sunday Ladies,

             

  

Love and Hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Welcome to another 'Mixed Up Saturday'

I had planned to upload a Video Tutorial for you to follow but sadly we were

Delayed getting back from Colchester last night, we got in at about 10pm and

To be honest I just wanted to go to bed, the journey home was horrible, lots of traffic and hold ups, I'm not sure how much longer I can manage to do both journeys in one 

day for, it's just too long to sit in one position, I try not to jiffle about too much on the

Journey home as I would hate Paul to have to feel that he needed to rush.

Mum was ok, she was asleep when we arrived but soon woke up and had lots to 

talk about, we took lunch which she enjoyed too, her chest does sound congested,

We tried to explain the importance of using her inhalers today as she hadn't been using them regularly, I explained that she would end up back in hospital if she 

didn't start using them properly,  thankfully her antibiotics seemed to have 

worked their magic, I did take her a large pack of Bio Live yoghurts as she 

Says her mouth has been sore since taking the antibiotics, so hopefully they will 

Help restore some of her good bacteria.

Anyway onto today's crafts........

Michele 

Made this Card for Max’s 5th Birthday-I used a Spellbinders die for the card base and the topper is by Whizz Kids . I won a Whizz Kids bundle ages ago-there were stamps, papers & a decoupage book of toppers. I used the toppers as it made a quick card and the card folds flat for posting to the USA. Max has recently started to play “soccer “ so this topper seemed perfect.

Thank you Michele, now let's have a 

Look at your shopping. 

Some lovely new dies Michele, some 

Great dies to make 'Man cards' the first

Thought that comes into my head is one of those tool storage boards that my Dad had in his garage, that 'Peg Board will be really useful, I can't wait to see the amazing cards that you'll design with this haul.

Thank you so much my lovely.

XXX

Janet

Janet sent me a photo of another one of her amazing hexagonal 

Boxes to share with all of You, this one has been decorated with the Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.  Janet has added 

So much intricate detail including clocks, 

Stopwatches and potion bottles.

Then hiding inside is an amazing handmade teacup with the White Rabbit inside and Alice peering in.

Such an amazing work of art Janet,

Thank you so much for sharing it 

With all of us.

XXX

Karen

Karen has very kindly sent me some photos  of her newly organised Craft Room.

Karen you have so much space and everything is SO organised!

I will add Karen's description of things that are still to be done/added......

"Here are a couple of photos of my room

I still need shelving, curtains etc and when my sister in law returns our pasting table is going to go on the left hand wall My friend is going to help with making “something” to decorate a wall and I will be putting up some pictures"

Karen it will look amazing when you have added your

Finishing touches.  How many things did 

You discover that you had 'put somewhere safe'??

Thank you so much for sharing your room with all of us.

XXX

Thank you so much to all of you that took part today, I love seeing what you get up to in 

Your spare time!

Have a lovely weekend ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra 

XXX

Festive Friday

Good Morning Ladies,

These Fridays are certainly coming round super fast aren't they?
There are 8 weeks until Christmas Day!!  Now that is scary!
This time next week some of us will be meeting Michele at the NEC, I am really looking forward to it, if anyone else is able to join us you will be most welcome x

Now onto today's card, I have been wanting to try Dark grey with silver and white for a while, so I decided to use that combination to design a Clean and simple Christmas card.
I used the new Stampin' Up! Winter Wonder Embossing Folder to create the focal point of  the card, I die cut some snowflakes from the Season Layers Thinlits and Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits to embellish the card with.  I matted the embossed front onto Silver and then onto the Basic Grey card and then mounted onto a white 5 x 7 base card.  I popped one of the snowflakes into the centre of the embossed snowflake and then topped that with a silver faceted gem, I ran a piece of the Silver edged ribbon across the card and topped that with a piece of the amazing silver sequin trim (i love it)!
I then tied a box in the same ribbon, topped with a silver snowflake and a tiny faceted gem, the sentiment is from Stampin' Up! Teeny Tiny sentiments, which I punched out using the Banner punch, I layered this onto a little piece of the silver card too.
I quite like how it turned out, I hope you do too.

We have an early start today as we are off to my Mun's, she didn't sound too bad on the phone yesterday so hopefully she will be fine when we get there.  The girls are coming too as they haven't
been for a while as Paul and I have been going during the week as we are usually on Dad's Taxi duties at the weekend for the girls work run!
Sophie got back from Barcelona on Wednesday night, she looked really tired but she said she had had an amazing time, which I was so pleased to hear, your first trip away with someone close to you can be a 'make or break' situation, hers is the former thankfully, her only complaint was that her legs ached from walking around "the whole" of Barcelona!  Needless to say Lucy was very happy to have her 'other half' home.

I hope that all of you have a fun packed Friday,

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Chery' s Stunning Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Cheryl sent me the photos of the absolutely stunning card above that she made for her Stepdaughter 'Kayla's' 50th Birthday and I just couldn't wait to share it with all of you.

Such a beautiful floral themed card, Cheryl used a pretty pink frame as the starting point, building the rest of the design inside the frame. The beautiful floral 50 is the main element of the card, this Cheryl embellished exquisitely with that beautiful floral arrangement with gemstone swirls.

Cheryl used the inside piece of the if the pretty pink frame to decorate the top of the matching box, a complimentary floral spray and flag stamped with the sentiment finish the pretty box.

Thank you so much Cheryl for sharing Kayla's card with us, it's stunning and I am sure she will love it.  I always love your cards and look forward to seeing more of them. XXX 

We had a relatively quiet day yesterday, I was creating in my craft room, Paul was busy in the garden, mowing the lawn etc.

I spoke to my Sister yesterday and she said that Mum is really poorly with a chest infection, her GP said she would be admitted to hospital if she hadn't improved by Friday.  We are going over o  Friday to visit so hopefully she will have improved by then.

Val, I am so relieved that Helen had some positive news, Barrie must feel really relived too, it relieves his worries too, which will help him relax a little more, there is nothing that prepares you for how much you worry about your children, no matter how old they are. Sending hugs to you my lovely xxx 

Lilian, YES  you did it, now you have made that first trip hopefully you will be a little more confident next time.

How frustrating that you had a power cut, I am tempting to get one of those small die cutters just for when you want to cut a flower or a snowflake.  

Your news made my day  xxx

Pat, sorry to hear that you didn't get to go over to Bet's, I did wonder when you said you were going to pop over whether she would have a problem remembering you.

I think it would be a bit too much for you take on that level of care too, you've had a lot to deal with lately.   You should have called as you could have popped over. Xxx

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Two More Winter Wonders from Janet

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and those of you that are suffering I am sending gentle hugs to help lift your spirits.

I am excited to share two of Janet's amazing Christmas cards with you all today, both are completely different  and absolutely stunning.

The first card Janet has made using Die'sire Create-a-Card 'Christmas Cheer die, such a gorgeous die, so much detail, I honestly think that only the Gemini could manage that much detail in one pass!

Can I ask what you have used for the background Janet? its just stunning, I love how you have added the Deer and trees to the foreground, it gives the card real dimension and works perfectly scale wise, one of your best cards ever I think.

The second of Janet's Christmas cards has been made using Die'sire Edge'ables 'Bells of Joy', which Janet has die cut in white card and laid over Red Mirror card that highlights every tiny detail, Janet has finished the edge with a border of Gold Snowflakes, an absolute WOW card Janet, I really love how all of your cards are so different and individual, I myself like to make a different card for everyone, I get a little bored 'batch making' cards.

Thank you so much Janet for brightening our 'hump day' blog, mid week always needs a bit of extra cheer to give us a boost to last to the weekend. xxxx

Sue came over yesterday and we got straight down to crafting, it was nice to have the extra space to work on, but needless to say we soon filled it, Sue was busy making a challenge card, (I hope you get chance to finish it Sue)xx, I was working on an upcoming project, something that I hope you will all enjoy, Sue was enthusiastic about the project and surprised at how simple it was to make, so fingers crossed you will too.

Lilian how was the bus trip into town? I was thinking about you throughout the day, as Margaret said we were all with you in spirit, I can totally understand your anxiety, it's so very hard to overcome those nerves and go for it.  I hope you managed though, hopefully if you managed this first time you will find it easier next time. Sending love and hugs xxx

Wendy it has been lovely seeing you pop into the blog, I am excited to share your Challenge card on Sunday, its such an original design. xxx

Sending love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

My Challenge Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card is my take on this week's Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I chose the categories  

Blue/Dry Embossing/White 

I started by using the Stampin'Up! Woodland ' embossing folder, with Soft Sky ink brayered over the embossing folder, I embossed a piece of Whisper White Card. 

I then took a 5x7 card base and matted it with Soft Sky card, I stamped the sentiment onto Whisper White Card using Soft Sky ink, I then Die cut a circle out of the card to create an aperture, I used some Soft Sky card to create a frame around the aperture.

I put foam pads in the back of my front piece, added the embossed piece to the background and then popped the aperture over the top. To finish I die cut 3 little Red Cardinals and added them to the trees.

I hope you like my card and it helps inspire you into making your challenge card.

As promised here are the photos of my tidied craft desk, I moved a few things around added the storage shelf unit that Becca didn't want on her wall, which meant I could stack all my inks  punches etc, rather than having them stacked around my work area. It's all about trying to have everything to hand, the main thing is I have my Gemini on my desk so I don't have to move to use it.  There will be more room to craft with Sue and Pat too.  I even organised my Stampin'Up stamps in alphabetical order! 

We got Sophie and Lewis dropped off at Gatwick ok, Sophie 'FaceTimed' me to show me her lovely hotel room, she looked so happy, well worth the early morning! 

I hope that you all have a lovely day 

Love and hugs 

Sandra xxx 

Monday Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Michele's Challenge Card 

The challenge 

Good Morning Ladies,

I ended up having quite a productive day yesterday, I finally got my desk cleared enough to have my Gemini on my desk with plenty of room to use it and have room to film video tutorials.

I got so carried away that I forgot about today s challenge until after tea! 

I ended up being a lot more short on time than I first thought  as we had been asked to take Sophie and her Boyfriend Lewis to Heathrow airport, Sophie told us that her flight departed at 09:20am, so Paul did calculations and said that we needed to leave at a put 4:30am to give them plenty of time.  Then Lewis arrived and we asked which Terminal they were leaving from and he said 'South',  I looked a little confused and said that we were told Heathrow, he smiled and said that they were leaving from Gatwick South Terminal at 07:20 am!! 

So that's a whole two hours earlier than Sophie had confirmed and an Airport that's a good hour and a half further away!!!!  So I think I will be getting up before I actually manage to get into bed!!

The challenge ended up being a bit of a rush, I looked at a few Tic tac toe challenges and asked Michele to help me decide, we agreed on the one above as it worked for both Christmas  and non Christmas cards, meaning that those of you making their Christmas cards could take part and Val, who probably never wants to see another Christmas card can make any card she chooses! 

I am so very grateful to Our Michele who had a card ready and waiting for me to share with you as inspiration for the challenge, Michele chose categories:              Designer Papers/Red +Green/Ribbon

To make her card, such a pretty Christmas card Michele, thank you so much for helping me at the last minute. XXX

I will share some photos of my craft room tomorrow, I was more ruthless than I have ever been. 

I will catch up with you all later today when I can open eyes! 

I hope the storms have passed and left no long term damage. I think we have had enough of these storms now.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra 

XXXXX

Your Challenge Cards

My Challenge Card

My 2nd Challenge card

The sketch

Good Morning Ladies,

I actually quite liked this sketch and didn't find it too complicated to follow, I thought it would work for both Christmas and Birthday cards and you certainly proved me right!

So without further ado, here are your Challenge Cards.......

Janet

Janet has designed a beautiful Birthday card, with a real touch of elegance, you can't go wrong with pearls and such gorgeous, Lacey die cuts, they work so well with the polkadot background card, that floral panel is so pretty, I love how you have arranged the pearls to make it look like a tag! Genius idea! 

Thank you so much for taking part in this week's Challenge Janet.

XXX

 Lilian

Lilian has designed a Christmas card for this week's Challenge and what a stunning Christmas card it is, I really love that background Lilian, really unusual and works beautifully with your design.  Your Poinsettia is incredible, I love the shaping of the leaves and the colour, your stunning centre piece really sets it off. Edging your tag with peel-offs really makes it stand out. A stunning card, thank you so much Lilian, I hope "Brian" passes without too much damage to your area.

XXX

 Karen

Karen also designed a Christmas card, using Lidl card, Karen hand cut her tag, (very impressive, I would have ended up with a tag too small to see by the time I had trimmed it straight) lol, Karen's Snowman is a Creative Expression die and the stars are Spellbinders.  An absolutely fabulous Festive card Karen, thank you so much for taking part! Have you any pics of your new craft room?.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret has designed a Christmas card for this Sketch too, using Creative Expressions Snowflake Lattice Embossing Folder, a pretty tag trimmed with a pretty bow adorned with pretty stars.  A pretty snowflake and SU Label with the greeting complete Margaret's pretty Christmas card.

Thank you so much for taking part Margaret, you have had such a busy week either worrying about Pops or looking after him, I hope as things calm down and return to normal you find more time to enjoy your crafting. 

XXX

 Michele

Michele has made such a pretty birthday card for this week's Challenge, I absolutely live the gorgeous colours you have used for this pretty design Michele. I particularly love how you have used that Sue Wilson greeting die as part of the actual Sketch, very clever idea. 

Thank you so much for taking part Michele.

XXX 

 Lynda

Lynda has made 3 cards for this week's Challenge, 3 Amazing Christmas cards, I love that deer stamp you have used, it's do detailed, the first card has a pretty floral die cut background, the black gem in the centre really draws your eye into the detail of the card. 

Lynda' s second card used the same Deer but this time with a pretty embossed background and Tim Holtz Alterations Scribble Christmas tree and wreath, everything works perfectly Lynda.

The third and final card has been made using a Crafters Companion 3D embossing folder 'Silent Night', Lynda has embossed it into the card and then added Gilding Wax to highlight the details, the pretty poinsettias are such a lovely finishing touch Lynda, thank you so much for 3 Amazing Challenge cards.

XXX 

Ladies you are amazing, it makes me so proud to display your challenge cards each week, showing how you take a simple plan and turn it in to a work of art, thank you so very much. 

Love and hugs,

Sandra xxx