Karen's Beautiful Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Karen sent me this absolutely Stunning card that she made on Monday, I just love everything about it, that Navy Blue Spotty dress is gorgeous, such a beautiful image.  You would never guess that the dress was a die cut, it looks like part of the background, the two unrelated items work perfectly together.

Here is Karen's description:

''The background is from an old MCS CD-ROM and the die is Purdie from TL cut 3 times and the different colours and snipped and mounted together''

Thank you so much Karen for allowing me to share your gorgeous card today xxx

We ended up having a somewhat stressful day yesterday, which started with me needing to make an emergency appointment for Lucy, I was desperately hoping to get results either today or in the next couple of days, but No, she has been given a 14 day referral, so we all get to worry, she doesn't need the extra stress on top of revision for her A levels next week!  I tried in vain to explain that to the GP, why don't they ever seem to listen.
I spent the rest of the day in 'Auto pilot', I tried crafting to take my mind off of it but nothing worked and i just wasted card as everything went in the bin.
So sorry if I wasn't as 'chatty' as usual Pat, I just couldn't clear my mind.
I was trying to make cards to go in with my catalogues, I ended up using ones I had already made, the card and products on each of them are from the new catalogue anyway.  I also made some 'Page Toppers' to put in with catalogues, so that you can mark off your favourite products.

I have a busy day ahead, I have swaps to make for Saturday, I also need to make a 'wow' project for a display table, no pressure then!!  So I need to get my thinking cap on!

I hope you have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Serene Garden Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Yesterday turned out to be a lovely day, our lovely hairdresser and friend Freya came to cut mine and the girls hair in the morning, she bought her new baby Jasper, we were hoping for cuddles but him slept soundly, despite lots of chatter and laughter, never mind there's always next time. 
While Freya was finishing up Sue arrived, i was so pleased to see her as its been three weeks since we last met up, it was Sue's birthday in fact.
We did a lot of talking, more than crafting in fact, we had a lot to catch up on, it was so lovely to hear all about her holiday, it sounded amazing.

Today's card features another new Stamp set from the New Stampin'Up! Catalogue, its called 'Serene Garden', Omg, its a stunning stamp set...

Serene Garden

As you can see there are lots of elements to this set, there are Thinlets too which cut out that beautiful, graceful bird, the flowers from the main image, the larger flower and butterfly, also a corner piece to emboss that main corner image and another die that cuts out selected leaves.

I stamped the main image twice and embossed it, i then coloured the leaves with Old Olive ink and a blender pen. The flowers i stamped and did cut and coloured with Rich Razzleberry Stampin Blends, i placed them onto the image with dimensional adhesive pads, i stamped, fie cut and placed the larger flower and butterfly, added some sparkles for the butterfly trail and added the sentiment from 'Share what you love' stamp set.

I hope you like my card.

It's Pat day today, so more craft and chat, I so wish we could all craft together, imagine the noise! There would be lots of laughter too! 

Right, i must get on, I have a buge 'to do" list to wotk through.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Cheryl's Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

Cheryl made an absolutely gorgeous Challenge card, I didn't get to share it on Sunday so as I always promise, if you go to the trouble of making a card I will always share it on the blog.
Cheryl has used a combination of lovely decorative papers to create her challenge card, an embossed panel across the top of the card is the base for Cheryl's sentiment panel.  Pretty lace adds a touch of luxury, it's just peeking out behind that central border. A pretty layered floral topper creates a gorgeous focal point and that rosette created in a paper that matches the card perfectly gives a lovely finishing touch.

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

A bit of a dull overcast day here, hoping to get some crafting done, Paul was organised and made a 'To Do' list, he is wanting to sort out the Greenhouse that hasn't been used in quite a few years by the look of it, he needs to sort out the soil after getting rid of the weeds, he also planned to spend a couple of hours at his allotment, which he did on route to picking up the girls. No relaxing for us this weekend.


I hope you all got your garden jobs done, Michele I hope the nettles didn't win the battle!!  Have any of you ever tried Nettle Soup??
It's supposed to be delicious and very good for you!

I'm off into my craft room for an hour or two, have a lovely day ladies.

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and relaxed after a lovely long weekend, our weather brightened up yesterday lunchtime after some pretty torrential rain showers in the morning, Matt was frustrated as he was moving his sheep from one field to another, it was the first time that he had used his Dog Harley to help round the sheep up, he did really well, not necessarily going round in the right direction but for his first time I think he did well, the rain hampered the job though and turned it into a rather muddy experience! I haven't heard from Becca but I am hopeful that the sun shone down on the happy couple for their wedding ceremony.
I hope that you all managed to enjoy your plans in the sunshine too.

I thought that I would do a TicTacToe challenge this week, the categories are perfect for pretty floral Summery cards, you have the colours Green, Yellow and Pink, then their are flowers, leaves, circles categories to add shapes and embellishing your Projects.  I really like this challenge and can't wait to see your beautiful cards.

I didn't manage to get a card finished in time for todays post so I have used a card from a few weeks ago that works perfectly for the challenge it used
Categories:  Yellow, Green and flowers. 
I really love this Embossing Folder, it has a super deep emboss and looks really effective.

We are on Dad's Taxi duty for the girls work run today and we will go to the allotment for a couple of hours before we collect the girls from work, I will supervise while Paul is busy doing the heavy stuff!  Weather permitting of course!

Margaret, I hope you are starting to feel stronger each day, sending healing hugs XXX

Enjoy your day ladies whatever you are doing.

Love and hugs to all of you

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Challenge cards

xxx Happy Birthday Maria xxx

Good Morning Ladies,

First of all today I would like to wish our lovely Maria a very Happy Birthday, I hope you have a lovely day with your family and a lovely holiday xxx

This weeks sketch was more tricky than usual but that didn't stop you lovely ladies, just look at these amazing cards.....

Janet

Janet went for a Monochrome theme for her challenge card, I have actually got the pad you have used to make your card, I have no idea what it is called though.  I love your design Janet that stamp is lovely.

Thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

 Karen

A fantastic Christmas card from Karen for this weeks challenge, your design works perfectly for this weeks sketch, using that snowflake as your focal point is a fantastic idea.  

Thank you so much for taking part, congratulations on starting your Christmas cards! 

XXX

 Lynda

Lynda has made two amazing cards for this weeks challenge, both totally gorgeous, Lynda's first card is made with some lovely papers and that stunning Lace gives a real touch of luxury.

Lynda's second card is made with a selection of pretty papers that all work together perfectly, I love those colours, those pretty flowers really finish your card perfectly.

Thank you so much for taking part especially as you have had such a trying week.

XXX

Maria

Maria has made a beautiful birthday card, that butterfly is absolutely stunning Maria, adding lace as your border was a fantastic idea and works perfectly for this sketch.

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge. Have a lovely Birthday too.

XXX

 Michele

Michele has designed a super cute birthday card, I absolutely love that Hedgehog topper you have used,

again using Lace as a border is a fantastic idea and works perfectly with your design.

I am so grateful that you made time to make a card despite being so poorly and spending half the week at the hospital,

XXX

Val

WOW Val, your card is so beautiful, I love the gorgeous papers you have used and that Spellbinders border is stunning. A truly stunning card Val, this one will fly off the shelf!

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

A beautiful display of cards again this week ladies, thank you all so very much for taking part despite it not being the easiest of challenges.

We had a lovely day with Dannii and her husband Simon yesterday, they are staying for a few hours today too, I think Dannii and I are hoping to do some crafting,

Our Becca was looking a bit fed up yesterday as she was hoping that the weather was going to stay dry as she is attending a wedding that has a 'Picnic in a Meadow' theme in Dartmouth Devon, she is also camping as part of the wedding too, at a Horse Sanctuary, the weather forecast is looking like rain and after rain today it will be muddy, she was having a last minute search for wellies rather than wearing her new sandals. Fingers off for a spell of sunshine for the ceremony.  

Have a lovely day whatever you are up to, I think most of us will be inside!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Michlele's Magazine Review & Much more

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Come on,who stole the sunshine?? Michele and Janet is it up your end of the country??  I think we are forecast Rain but then there's always the Craft Room to retreat to.

Michele has written another fabulous Magazine review below, but first I want you to look at the absolutely amazing Fish Bowl card that Michele made for her friend, so much amazing detail it looks real, you must be so pleased with it Michele. 

XXX

Michele's Magazine Review

Simply Cards & Papercraft this month has a brilliant free gift-a set of Stamps, Dies & a stencil called “Coffee Break”. There’s loads of ideas & inspiration inside the magazine using this free gift. This is a set you could use all year round for many occasions.

Cardmaking & Papercraft has a lovely Stamp set plus an Embossing Folder and free papers Free this month. There’s an interesting feature on Border punches-something we’ve all probably bought and not used for some time

Papercraft Essentials has a great gift this month-perfect for making those difficult “Male” cards! There’s lots of ideas inside showing a variety of cards using the free gift. There’s also a great article on “Off the Edge Diecutting” -a great way to use your Dies to make a different looking card.

Making Cards magazine has a fantastic stamp set Free this month plus some coordinating papers. These would appeal to any cat lover -Perfect for my crazy friend who is a purple loving, cat obsessed person!

This is a Special edition of Diecutting Essentials (Issue 7) which has an alphabet die set, stamps, an Embossing Folder and some lovely papers. There’s loads of ideas inside the magazine-one great article is on Eclipse Cards.its very well explained and I think I might have a go at this technique having read the feature.

Papercraft Inspirations has a lovely oriental stamp set. Lovely ideas inside the magazine using your free gift. There’s a feature using Circle nesting Dies which has made me think how I can get more use out my sets of Dies. There’s also a feature on using Twine-I have amassed quite a collection of this & am never quite sure how to use it so this is a great inspiration for me.

Diecutting Essentials has a stunning free die this month -Pretty Quick stained glass Peacock. There’s so many ideas inside the magazine just using this die set. There’s another feature on Nesting Dies, different shapes in this feature which makes you realise how versatile the basic shape Dies are.

That’s all for this months magazine review.

Michele

Thank you so much Michele for another fantastic Magazine Review

XXX

Pat

Pat sat and made some Distress Oxide Backgrounds when she came over a couple of weeks ago to use behind her Groovi projects, they work perfectly Pat, so bright and cheerful.

Pat has shared some photographs of her new doors that divide her lounge and dining room, the top photo is the hole left after the removal of the old doors.  I must say Pat, they look like they let much more light in. Thanks for sharing the photos.

XXX

Maria

Maria has shared the cards that she has made for two previous challenges, the first was a Sketch challenge, you have made a fantastic card for that challenge Maria.

The second card that Maria has shared is for the Embossing Folder challenge from a couple of weeks ago.  I love that Embossing Folder that you have used , that cute ribbon rose is the perfect embellishment.

Thank you so much for taking part Maria.

XXX

Thank you to all of you that took part in todays post, the weekend blogs are for sharing all of your hard work, I love seeing what you all make.

Margaret had her operation yesterday afternoon, so fingers crossed she feels a little better today, sending love and hugs Margaret. XXX

Love and Hugs to all of you too,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Something Floral For Friday

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

Its so nice to think that we are at the start of another lovely long weekend, I thought that originally they said that the weather would be rubbish but they have changed their minds and it now looks like it will be lovely.  Which I am glad about as I am expecting a very special guest on Saturday....

Dannii, she called and asked if it was ok for her to come and visit, I was delighted to say the least, its so much nicer to be able to sit in the garden when the weather is good and you have guests, although I think the main reason for the visit is crafting!!

Today's card is another sneak peek at a Brand New Stamp set in the new catalogue, this set is called 

'Accented Blooms' and coordinates the 'Tailored Tag' punch from the last catalogue, it's great when they carry things like that over as you get more value out of your purchase.

I stamped the image and coloured the flowers with my Stampin Blends, in Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral and Old Olive, I stamped the sentiment in Old Olive too.  I then punched the sentiment out and added some dimensionals to raise it up a little.  I mounted this onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie card, added some Daffodil Delight Ribbon and mounted onto a die cut mat of Old Olive card and then onto a white card base.  I tied a bow with the same ribbon and finished it with a Glitter Enamel Dot in Old Olive.

What have you all got planned for this weekend?  

I want to send huge hugs to our lovely Margaret, I hope that they get you fixed up fast, I know that you will get frustrated laying there being unable to keep busy, we shall have to get Sue to organise you a craft kit to keep you busy, although I can't imagine what the cards will look like while you are on morphine! I am picturing a 60's hippy look! xxxx

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Pretty Floral Thank you card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, this week has gone so fast, it doesn't seem possible that it's Friday again tomorrow and we have another lovely long weekend, although I don't think we are going to be as lucky with the weather.

Today's card is in a new favourite colour way, I just love the Navy/Yellow combination, (Night of Navy /So Saffron).  I was inspired to use those colours by the beautiful new paper padvi was using.  The paper collection is called "Garden Impressions", it's 6x6 and has some stunning designs.  The good thing about Stampin'Up! Paper collections is that you always have the matching ink and card to hand, making the paper go further and your projects look amazing. 
The stamp set I used is  'Share What You Love'. Which has some lovely sentiments and pretty florals and a background colour wash stamp to, which I used on my card. 
I used the Triple Banner Punch to add some detail to my card and a few coloured pearls.
I hope you like my card. xx

I think Pat maybe popping over today inbetween appointments, which will be nice. Crafting is much more enjoyable when you do it with friends.

Sophie's University visit was a success she got offered a place on the spot, which is reassuring, she had a huge smile on her face when she came home.  Coventry is only about an hour away too.
They both have some big decisions ahead.

I am going to pack some Stampin'Up! Catalogues ready to send out, if you would like one please let me know.

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Lynda's been thumping!!!!

Good Morning Ladies,

Lynda has been doing a spot of 'Thumping' not to Captain Underpants of course, although I think she feels like it at times, hahaha! ' Thumping' is a technique, you use Markers to add ink to your stamp,

by tapping the or 'thumping' different coloured markers all over your stamp, you then breathe or 'Huff' onto your ink covered stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp the image, it gives a lovely marbled look.

I have done a YouTube Tutorial a while ago using this same stamp, I will add the link to it below...

My Thumping Tutorial

Lynda both of your cards are awesome, I love the colours you have chosen to give colour to your stamped tree.  Thank you so much for having a go at the technique and for allowing me to share your cards. XXX

Now ladies let me share with you the our Criminal 'adventures' from Monday night/ Tuesday early am.
Matt sold a car that Paul had bought him to get him from 'A to B' while his truck is off the road, it was a little Peugeot 106, it cost all of £150 but it did the job for a few weeks, sadly it failed its MOT so needed to be scrapped.  Matt advertised it and a man came to collect it 6pm on Monday evening, he seemed nice enough, he was buying the car for the engine to put in his late fathers car, he chatted for a good half hour or more and then left, using Trade plates to drive away, he was aware that the car had no MOT or Tax.  Anyway he paid the money Matt had requested and off he went.  We thought no more of it and went about our evening as usual.
Paul was just getting into bed and I was just getting a glass of water when there was a loud knock at the door and the door bell went off, I panicked to be honest as it was about 12.15am, thankfully all of my babies were in bed so I knew it wasn't about them.  Two policewomen were at the door and asked if they could come in, they then asked if we owned a silver peugeot 106, I explained that Matt had sold it at 6pm, they explained that it had been involved in a serious incident at about 11.30pm.  Paul went and woke Matt who showed the Police the portion of the Logbook that the chap had signed, they photographed it and passed on all information that we could give.  After calming down we all got into bed, although my heart was racing as was my mind, I kept thinking that the chap would come back because we gave evidence.. By about 1;45am Paul was asleep as well as all the others.  At about 2 - 2.15am there was another car on the drive and then I heard 'Its the Police" so I rushed (as much as I can) and opened the door again to two different Police Officers who were asking the very same questions, after a few minutes I asked why we were being asked again as we had been through all of this information with their colleagues after midnight. They tried to explain that they were having a super busy shift, I told him that they had called all the information in over their radios, including addresses etc.  The ended up apologising profusely and eventually left. By this time I was wide awake and my mind was in 'full' over thinking mode!  Therefore I got very little sleep.  Milo was restless too, I got up fed the cats and checked that our other Cars were still on the drive way, they were thank goodness!  It turned out that the car was stolen and used in a high speed police chase, driving 80 in a 40mph area, running red lights, going the wrong way around the roundabouts etc, they were on the run from the police, they were eventually stopped and detained.
All a little too much excitement for a Monday night in our sleepy village, Lord only knows what the neighbours thought!!

My day was soon brightened though by the arrival of my lovely friend Margaret, we did lots of chatting and crafting too.  Thank you so much for coming Margaret xxx

Our car did get fixed, so Paul and Sophie are off to Coventry today for her interview and tour of the facilities.  I was thinking of going but I want Sophie to enjoy the whole experience without worrying about wheelchair accessability.

I hope that you all have a fantastic day,

Love and hugs to all

Sandra
xxxxxx

My Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

Here is my Sketch Challenge card for this weeks challenge.  I made it using the 'Share What You Love ' suite from the brand new Stampin'Up! Catalogue, this suite is actually on early release so you could order it right now if you wanted to. I love the rich colours that work so well for summer as well as Autumn and Winter too.
All of the elements i used were from this suite including that gorgeous  Velvet Ribbon and the Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon both of which give that real touch luxury.

I finally got into my craft room about mid afternoon yesterday after seeing Paul's parents off, they seemed to have really enjoyed their stay, they love the house and the garden, which is where we spent pretty much all weekend, including eating our Roast beef dinner on Sunday evening.

A couple of days relaxing is on the cards for me, mostly spent in my craft room hopefully!
I have a very special visitor coming over today......Margaret is coming to do some crafting this afternoon, I can't wait, crafting is much more enjoyable when you have someone to share your excitement with.

Our car failed its MOT on Friday on the emissions part of the test, so today its going in to the garage to have sensors changed on the catalytic converter, its going to be a very expensive job, fingers crossed that it gets finished today as Paul is taking Sophie to Coventry University on Wednesday for an interview, this is a re-scheduled appointment from when we had snow earlier this year.

I hope that you have a lovely day however you are spending it...

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx

Monday Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and relaxed after a weekend of lovely weather.

I thought I would go for a sketch this week, partly because I was just too exhausted to think about anything else. I thought that this was quite a nice sketch that you can make as simple or embellished as you like.
I have some fab ideas in mind and I hope to sit and play later today after Paul's parents have left.
We had a lovely weekend, we pretty much spent the whole weekend sat out in the garden. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which makes it worth any pain and discomfort I am feeling, it was so lovely seeing Paul relaxed with his family xx

This week is Sophie and Lucy's last official week of 6th Form, I can hardly believe I will have no school age children, makes me feel old!! They are both excited and anxious about their future! I am looking forward to when they have finished their exams and we can get back to a relaxed family life.

Well I am off to wish our visitors a safe journey home, I may then have an hour to just relax and chill and then I will sit in my craft room for a couple of hours.

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Thank you all for another fabulous response to our weekly challenge, you have absolutely 'aced' this challenge with some stunning cards, all from recycled things too.

My card (above) was made from an old gift bag, I love how it turned out.

Anna

Anna's (from Dannii's fb group) took part in the challenge this week and made this lovely New Baby card, I will add Anna's description below..... 

"This is my take on the go green challenge i used a card some one gave me for the birth of grand childi did recycle the ribbon but i cant think what it was off"

 Thank you so much Anna for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Dannii

Dannii made this gorgeous little basket by recycling an old Grape tub, lining it with pretty paper and adding pretty pleated paper to the outside, finishing with some lovely Navy ribbon.

Thank you so much for taking part in our weekly challenge.

XXX

Janet

 Janet's first two cards were made using fronts from old cards, they look fantastic Janet, I am glad that this challenge inspired you to use them.
Janet's third project is a beautiful 'Book Folding', such a fantastic way to recycle an old book!
Thank you so much Janet for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Karen

Karen's fantastic card is made using some Recycled Tissue boxes, Karen has a friend that saves them for her.  There are some lovely patterns in your card Karen, I love the hexagon design too.

Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian's card is amazing, I love how you have used both the recycled map and an old Topper, both elements work perfectly on this card.  

Thank you so very much for taking part Lilian.

XXX

 Lorraine

Lorraine (Dannii's fb group) was inspired by Michele's tissue box idea too and made this absolutely stunning card, that was one pretty tissue box!

Thank you so much Lorraine for taking part.

XXX

 Lynda

Lynda made two projects for this weeks challenge, the first is a stunning card that started life as a Jiffy bag!! Lynda has worked her magic with the background, you would never guess that that card started out being that brown colour! A real work of art Lynda !
Lynda's second project was turning an old spice rack into a pretty storage rack for all of her embellishments, what a genius idea Lynda, it looks brilliant.
Thank you so much for taking part despite a rough week with hospital etc.

XXX 

Maria

Maria has made two lovely challenge cards, the first is a lovely Yacht scene, a great Man card.

The second card is super cute, Maria made both cards by using old toppers.  You would never guess that from looking at them, they look like they were made that way.

Thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Michele 

Michele made two cards for this weeks challenge, which is amazing after the week she has had!
Her first card is so pretty, the recycled part is that cute little sentiment topper, I love how you have taken the inspiration from that tiny little piece to make such a fantastic card.
Michele's card is the one made from a Tissue box, such a great design Michele.
Thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Once again I want to thank all of you that took part in this weeks challenge, what an amazing display of cards, all featuring things we would have thrown away.  I hope you won't blame me for making your hoard tissue boxes etc from now on! hahahah.

We had a lovely day yesterday with Paul's family, luckily the weather was beautiful and we spent all day in the garden.  I will admit that by the time Paul's brother and family left at 10pm I was about fit to drop, but it was worth it to see everyone having a lovely time.

A lazy day is on the cards today, well apart from cooking roast for 9, hopefully I can just 'supervise' some of it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx