my Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, it wasn't quite as cold yesterday thank goodness, still a bit of a nip in the air, I didn't hear Paul scraping the car windows this morning so I knew it was warmer.  That saves him at least 10 minutes, after all the sooner he gets there, the sooner he is home!

Today's card is my Challenge card for this week, I have used the Dashing Deer die set from Stampin'Up! and a background stamp to create the gold dots. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the card, when I dug out my 'Flitter Glue' it had set solid, it looked like a Crème Brulee!
So I had to use this stuff I have had for years called 'Mica Boss' which is like embossing powder but looks more like granulated sugar, so it doesn't work great, you use Versamark or Perfect Medium to stamp with then add the powder and heat set, the actual bits are too big to stick to the versamark, frustratingly!  I had gone so far with my card that I didn't want to give up though.  I actually forgot to say that I was using Gilding Flakes (which is why I needed the 'Flitter' glue, believe me, by the time I had banged my head twice and almost got stuck half way in the under stair cupboard trying to get the Gilding Flakes I was not, not going to use them!  I have more Flake and Glitter Glue on order!!
But you get the idea I was aiming for, I looks better in your hand, I just couldn't get a great angle to photograph it so that all of the detail showed up.

Sue is coming over today, we are going to be doing some crafting, we may make our ATC's, Sue is also bringing something new for us to try which I am very excited about, most of all I am just looking forward to crafting with a friend.

It's been nice having the girls home since school had finished for them both, Lucy is looking for a job, something that she enjoys, it's a struggle logistically though as there is no public transport to or from anywhere near here, so they will rely on Paul to take them.  It's looking like Lucy might not be able to drive either because of the ongoing issues with her eyes, we are just awaiting another appointment, she has moved on to the Adult Eye clinic now and been referred to a new Consultant.

Sophie is going to start her own little business doing something that she can continue when she goes to Coventry University next year, her business will be Portraits, she is hoping to do portraits of loved ones, pets and at the moment she is doing a portrait of her boyfriend Lewis's new Mini Cooper, I can tell you its amazing already.  I am going to have to replace a good few of the lovely Derwent Coloursoft Pencils that I treated myself to though as she has worn a few of them down to a stump, as they aren't cheap I think I will get her some for Christmas, maybe just a set of the basic colours to top up the worn down ones, which were the black, white etc, I really don't mind, I am glad that they are getting used, I certainly would never be able to get the results that she does. I will leave links to her page etc when she gets set up so that you can see for yourself how amazing her work.  She worked very hard to get that A* A level Qualification, it would be good seeing it reward her back.

Having them home all day is costing a fortune though, the kettle/coffee maker is on constantly and they seem to always have their head in the pantry.  I am thinking of making them do a packed lunch the same as when they were at school, it's easy to lose track of how much you are eating when you just graze!  They don't tend to eat rubbish though, they are either making smoothies, using lots of fruit, both fresh and frozen, which I don't mind,  buying 5 mangoes a week is expensive though!  Sophie loves Avocado's too, so she has one of those most days.  I did put my foot down yesterday though, when they have their boyfriends to stay over they always want to cook some fancy breakfast for them in the mornings, I tried to explain that if we have sausages in the fridge they are usually for a meal during the week, so I don't want them used for a non necessary breakfast.  I suggested that if they want to do something like that they could all go together the night before and buy the ingredients, I mean I don't mind them using eggs, we always have eggs in, there is also ingredients for pancakes etc that they also like to make and waffles. We'll see if they listened I guess.

I hope that you all have a lovely day, will you be crafting ????

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx