Happy New Year's Eve

Good Morning Ladies,

Whether you are off our Partying the New Year in OR having a quiet night in with family (like us), I would like to wish you a wonderful New Year's Eve, I think the last time that we went out to 'party' on New Year's Eve was when we turned from 1999 to year 2000, I was four weeks away from delivering Sophie and Lucy so I wasn't really doing much in the way of partying, but we were out celebrating with friends, it was fun but in all honesty I don't miss the hassle of getting ready to go out, worrying if I look 'ok' etc, these days nothing sounds nicer than having my feet up on the sofa cuddled up next to Paul with the girls draped over us in various positions, fire roaring up the chimney, watching a movie that they have all been dying to see, thats my kind of party!
I was surprised that the girls weren't going out, they are both 'home birds', they asked if we could have a nice Steak dinner ( we usually always have a Chinese but 2 in a week is too much)! They have also saved a film that they have been looking forward to seeing, as you probably know by now Paul and I will go along with anything for a quiet life!
I would love to here how you are all spending this evening too...…..

I would like to thank each and every one of you for popping in each day, whether you leave a comment or not, thank you for taking the time to have a look in and see what is happening.

Janet and Margaret a HUGE thank you to both of you for keeping our 'Cotswold Cafe' running day to day, making a welcome place for anyone to drop in for a chat and to hopefully see something inspirational. Your roast dinners have had our mouths watering every Sunday, what more could anyone want than a Calorie Free Cake and to sit among such lovely friends?! xxx

Thank you to all of you for taking part in the Challenges that I set every week, which gives us a great Blog post every Sunday, we have some fantastic viewing statistics for our Sunday posts!

Michele a Special Thank you to you for the Weekly Magazine Reviews that we all look forward to reading, You should receive some kind of reward from the publishers for increasing their sales figures. xxx

Ladies I wish you all the very happiest New Year's Eve, I am looking forward to another 365 Days of Blogging with you all.

Happy New Year my Dearest Friends,

Lots of Love to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxx

My Lovely Christmas from Brenda

Good Morning Ladies,

Oh I am so confused about what day of the week we are on, it seems that it is Monday, the very last Monday of not only this year but this Decade!  So we have to remember to change 2 digits in the date this time, it's bad enough for me trying to remember 1 !

Well sadly we didn't get to sample the delights of the local Red Lion once again!! Paul, Matt and Paul's Parents all set out for a walk early afternoon yesterday, they were going to call and see if we needed to book to eat on Saturday night (we didn't need to book before), the lovely new landlord showed them the only table that was left and it was tiny bench with a pew each side, there was no way all seven of us would have fitted on that, so we missed our chance once again!  Paul's Mum said that she quite fancied a Chinese takeaway so we had that instead, which was really nice and enjoyed by everyone.  Paul's parents left mid morning yesterday to get back before the shops closed and Paul and I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the sofa, I have to say that on the rare occasion we have had the TV on this past week there had been nothing on but repeats and rubbish! So we got started on our Annual Jigsaw puzzle, (we know how to party)! teehee!!

Today's card is a lovely 'Clean and Simple' style card, the main focus is that amazing Silver Mirror card 'Peace' die cut by Sue Wilson, Brenda's design was completed with the addition of that lovely 'Manger Scene' die cut in Navy, with the Star glowing brightly above.

I absolutely love my card Brenda thank you so much, thanks also for the inspiration, I have that 'Peace' die and I don't think I have used it in 2 or more years. XXX

I hope that you all have a lovely day,  thank you to those that have sent their favourite cards in, I am looking forward to writing this post.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Sunday

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

A bit of a different 'Sunday' blog post for us, I forgot to remind you all to send me your 'Favourite' card photo's, I only got Janet's so I decided to do our Saturday post on a Sunday and will do the 'Favourite' post next Sunday.

So the first card (above) is the lovely Christmas card that I received from Danielle, I love the embossing folder that she has used, adding the forest themed background paper was a really brilliant idea, the gold mirror card gives a real touch of luxury. I absolutely loved the car thanks so much Danielle xxx

Michele

Michele has shared her Crafty Christmas gifts with us, I love those 'Corinne Lapierre' animals, she seems such a lovely lady too.  You can't go wrong with Sue Wilson Dies, I love the font of those die sets Michele, such a versatile set of dies there, you will get lots of use out of those and the ink pads will be really useful with your Card-io stamps.

Here is Michele's Description:

''My crafty Christmas presents. Felt & book from my boss. Dies from my Dad (he had help) & ink pads from crazy friend. ''

Thanks for sharing your Gifts with us Michele, I look forward to seeing what you make with them xxx

Karen

Karen has shared some photo's of a local Craft Society's Advent Tree, a door is opened every day to reveal what's inside, all of the donations taken from viewers of this amazing project are Donated to the Young Homeless, what a truly incredible idea, such a lot of work has gone in to that piece, some people are so kind and give some much of their time to good causes, Thank you so much Karen for sharing this amazing piece with us.

Karen's Description......

"Just thought I’d send you these photos of what the Hertford Secret Society of Crafters have done this year raising money for Herts Young Homeless It is an advent tree A door a day is opened to reveal what’s inside"

The other photo's are of Karen's Christmas gifts,  The Craft bag, which is perfect for Karen's Knitting and Crocheting was from Charlotte....

"The bag is difficult to photograph You can turn it “inside out and have knitting needles etc on show or zip it the other way around and use"

That lovely Knitting patterns for Toddlers book was also from Charlotte, I bet there are so lovely patterns in there.  I can't wait to see your amazing Jumpers my lovely xxx

The third photo is of a brilliant matching Stamp and Die set designed by Julie Hickey, Karen said that they were a great deal, 'so why not' !!  I totally agree Karen, I think that that is a great set, really versatile, I love Julie's new designs.

Thank you so much Karen for sharing all of your lovely craft things with us XXX

*****

Our meal at Becca's place on Friday night was AMAZING, I had steak from the standard menu, which was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth, Lucy had a freshly 'Handmade' Pizza that was delicious and huge, she bought half of it home in a box,  Sophie had Fish and Chips, the fish was enormous and cooked beautifully with light, crispy batter and mushy peas!  Paul and his parents all had Pollock with Lyonnaise Potatoes with Samphire and a Caper Berry Beurre Blanc, needless to say there wasn't a scrap left on any of their plates, they all said how amazing it was. We forced ourselves to try dessert I had a Amaretto Crème Brulee with an Almond Shortbread that just melted in your mouth, Paul's mum had the same, Paul's dad had the Sticky Toffee pudding which he thoroughly enjoyed, Paul had a dark chocolate tart with an Orange Sorbet which was also incredibly delicious and the girls had icecream.

We had an amazing evening, the restaurant was really buzzing, the whole place has a lovely atmosphere, we can't wait to go again.

I hope that you have all had a lovely weekend,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

My Christmas Card from Janet

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Everything is slowly returning to normal here, apart from the food mountain, I don't think we will need to shop for a while, other than basics like bread and milk and fruit.
I always crave fresh fruit after the heavy festive feasts, so we stocked on Grapes, Apples banana's blueberries and pineapple (Sophie and lucy's choice).

Paul's parents arrived at around lunch time, I laid out lots of cold meat and cheeses with some fruit and vegetables fresh bread and crackers, it all went down very well

I am really looking forward to going out for a meal at Becca's Restaurant tonight, I think that  she is looking forward to everyone coming too.

Today's lovely card is one that our lovely Janet made for me, Janet you were clearly very organised as yours was the card I received first.
I love the colours of the card Janet, then scene is delightful too. The sentiment is lovely too.
Thank you so much dear friend xxx

`No magazine review this week as Michele hasn't been feeling so good, so a well deserved week off is just what she deserves, take care Michele, I hope that you are feeling better soon xxx

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.,

Love and hugs,

Sandra

My Lovely Card from Maria

Good Morning Ladies,

It was so lovely to read how some of you spent your Christmas day, I was glad to get into bed on Christmas day night I can tell you.

Yesterday was much quieter and very relaxed, Paul and I spent much of the day lounging on the sofa on our own as most of the family were back to work, Sophie and Lucy earned £16.30 an hour so didn't want to turn down the opportunity, Becca and Adam had the Pub/Hotel/Restaurant to run so it was an early start for them.  Matt's girlfriend Alex had a very rare day off, she is a Manager at B&M store and they have been extremely busy on the run up to Christmas, she worked up until 7pm on Christmas Eve and is back in today, so they went for a long walk with Harley and then decided to brave the sales, I had to chuckle to myself though, Matt popped home after a couple of hours with his 'Bargain of the day'  Asda had reduced their fresh Turkeys, so he bought a 6.2lb Turkey for £6, we haven't touched half of the Turkey that I cooked on Christmas Day yet!  He is so much like Paul in that resect, just can't pass a bargain, needless to say it will go into the Freezer for now, they were also giving away Carrots and Parsnips so he filled a trolley with Carrots for a treat for his sheep and bought a couple of packs of each home with the Turkey too.  So he was buzzing with his bargains.  I couldn't have forced myself to leave the house I'm afraid, I am quite sick of shopping.

We will have to pop out this morning for Milk, bread etc as Paul's Parents are arriving for a couple of days, we have plenty of food, just need the essentials really.  We are going out both nights that they are staying with us, first we are going to the Gold Pheasant (Becca's place) tonight, Adam is going to cook us up a treat, tomorrow we are going to the local Red Lion (at last), this is a treat for Paul's Dad's birthday.  So no cooking for me, YAY!!

Today I am sharing the lovely Christmas card that Maria made for me, it's such a beautiful scene that Maria has painted beautifully, I absolutely love it Maria and will treasure it, thank you so much my lovely xxx

I hope that you all continue to have a relaxed few days,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Good Morning Ladies,

Well, where did Christmas day go??? the day just disappeared in our house, Paul and I spent most of the day in the kitchen to be honest.

We tried a couple of 'new things' that delayed our usual relaxed and easy lunch preparation, I decided last minute (Christmas eve lunch time) that it would be a good idea to 'Brine' the turkey, so I found out a really large bowl, which I sterilised and filled with a brining recipe that I found on Google.

Basically a cup of salt to 4 litres of water and then you can add whatever flavourings etc that you like, I added some sliced lemon and orange, thyme, bay, onion, carrot and peppercorns, we then added the turkey to its little spa bath and left it overnight (we usually cook the turkey on Christmas eve).

When it came to preparing the turkey for the oven I realised what a huge turkey Paul had bought, I prepared it as I usually do and covered it with foil, we decided to cook it in the Aga as the turkey crown that I cooked to take to my mums was really moist and delicious, we had to drop the shelf to the bottom of the Aga oven to fit it in, I think that it may have been a bit large for the Aga oven, after 3 hours we decided to transfer it to the big main oven, to finish it off which only took another hour, luckily it was perfectly cooked and the brining seemed to add to the moistness of the breast meat too.

We ended up being about an hour later than we had scheduled but nobody seemed to mind, the three girls and Adam (Becca's Boyfriend) were happily playing games in the lounge throughout the day.

They loved their Christmas Lunch, and we spent the rest of the day and night playing games, Matt came home in the early evening with his Girlfriend Alex and joined in the games, I think that we all admitted defeat at about 10.45pm and everyone headed off to bed, (all three Girls have work today).

It was a lovely day, made special with all the fun and laughter xxx

I hope that you all had a lovely day with family and are doing the same today.

Thank you for you lovely comments yesterday, you all inspire me to get up and blog each day, even on my worst days I still feel driven by my commitment to all of you, so thank you for the encouragement my lovely friends xxx

Have a lovely Boxing day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Happy Christmas Ladies

Good Morning Ladies,

I would just like to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas, I know that for some of you it won't be the easiest of days, I hope that those of you that find it hard will enjoy the company of your loved ones.

Ladies thank you so much for your on going support, you all mean so much to me, you are like family, I wish we could all be sat around the same table, if only for one meal.

Enjoy this very special day my lovelies,

Lots of Love and the hugest hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

My Christmas card from Lilian

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, Lynda it was so lovely to see you back in yesterday, just where you should be, I do hope that Terry's chest is okay bless him.  Is he in charge of cooking Christmas dinner or will you wait for all the family to arrive tomorrow and get them to help?!
Michele, I hope that your back is a little easier today and that you can get through the day without too much drama, you do an amazing job sweetheart, you should be very proud! I hope that you and Phil have a lovely Christmas with family and some quality time together xxx
Lilian I hope that you and Roger have a lovely time with your family, enjoy being in such a lovely part of the Country xxx
Janet are you and Jim having family come to you or are you going to them? either way I hope you both have a lovely time. xxx
Pat I hope that you have a lovely Christmas with Karen and family and Doreen of course, fingers crossed lunch isn't too late xxx
Cheryl I hope that you have a lovely Christmas with your family xxx
Sue I hope that you and Chris have a lovely Christmas with your family xxx
Margaret I hope that you feel well enough to enjoy Christmas with Alan and your family xxx
Karen I hope that you and Alan have a lovely day, I bet you can't wait to see Oscar open his presents xxx
Brenda, I hope that you enjoy Christmas with your family, will you travel to them? Is your sister staying for Christmas too? xxx

Today's card is the Beautiful Christmas card that I received from Lilian, it is so pretty and really twinkles in the Christmas lights.  I believe that Lilian has used some Sparkle Medium in Gold and Silver through a beautifully detailed stencil that encompasses everything festive in the shape of a Christmas Tree. It is printed onto a lovely textured card that makes it look even more high end.
I absolutely love my card Lilian, thank you so much xxx

We have lots to cram in to today, the girls have the day off and want to do baking, which I will never say no too, I also need to pack the rest of my craft room away to make room for the dining table to be pulled out, the there's the Christmas day prep! It will be fun! x

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Karen's Cat card for her friend Kat !!

Good Morning Ladies, 

How many of you are braving the shops today?  We have to go and get a few bits, Paul has some shopping to do in town too, we only need things milk fresh milk and eggs from supermarket as we have bought everything else already, we picked veg up yesterday.

It will be a slow day today for me, my body is feeling the full effects of 6 + hours in the car and then helping my sister cook a Christmas lunch for 9, which would have been easier if Mum's cooker was a little more powerful,  for some reason even at full heat the oven took an age to roast potatoes,  parsnips, pigs in blankets and stuffing.  Luckily I had cooked the Turkey at home, otherwise we would still be waiting to eat I think.

It was lovely having everyone sat around mum's table, it seems a long time since we last did it, I think mum enjoyed it, she certainly enjoyed her dinner, it's good to see her eat though.

Today's card is one of Karen's, she designed this card for her friend Kat.

Karen made the pretty background using a combination of Pixie Powders in shades of blue and purple. The cat was created by Karen googling an image of a cat and cutting it out on why card using the Scan & Cut, she then placed the pretty Pixie Powder Background behind the cst aperture  

The card was finished with the greeting  and Karen  personalised it by adding her name too.

A few pearls finished the card purr-fectly.

Thank you so much Karen for sharing Kats Card with us, I was truly grateful to have a card on hand to use after a very long day yesterday,  I was able to write the blog while in the car on the way home! 

I hope that you all have a lovely Christmas Eve Eve,

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Your Challenge cards

Good Sunday morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all sorted for the big day and so you can relax and enjoy the weekend.

We are off to Essex today,  matt and the girls are coming too, it will seem strange having them all in the car, these days its only ever Paul and I. I am hoping it won't be too overwhelming for Mum having everyone all at once. It's going to be a long day, hopefully mum will enjoy it, all the gifts are wrapped and ready to be loaded up along with the Turkey etc.

Now let's look at your amazing shaped cards...

Lilian 

Lilian designed this amazing Castle card on her Cricut and used a Stencil to create the brick work. 

Lilian it's an absolutely amazing design, I bet it's recipient was over the moon with it.  I haven't used my Cricut for years! 

Thanks for sharing your Castle card with us my lovely XXX 

Karen

I was absolutely blown away when I saw Karen's first card, it is so beautiful and not Karen's usual style, it reminds me of a really pretty vintage tea plate, the paper you have used in the background is so pretty and you have enhanced it perfectly with the lattice work and the gorgeous little flowers. This card will definitely be on my 'favourites' list this year!

Karen's second card is one that Karen made a few years back, it hasn't aged one bit, that style is as fitting today as it was 3 or 4 years ago. I love your colour combination Karen, this would be a great card to make for a 'one die' or 'one shape' challenge! (I will start writing down ideas for next year).

Thank you so much Karen for 2 amazing Challenge cards XXX

Michele 

Michele has shared 2 very different cards with us for this weeks Shaped card challenge.

The first is such an adorable Owl, what a lovely card, just look at it's eyes, they would certainly make you smile on your birthday!

Michele's second card was made with a Sue Wilson die set I believe, just look at all the detail thats included, the panels on the door, the letterbox, that lovely railing and of course the two cute Scottie Dogs!

Two lovely Challenge cards Michele, thank you so much for taking part XXX

Janet

Wow, Janet your cards for this weeks Challenge are just stunning, they are both so incredibly luxurious.
Janet's first card was made with a Heartfelt Creations Die set, this is Janet's first 'Heartfelt' purchase, I would definitely say that you will be going back for more my lovely, the die set is definitely good for making your 'Stunning' luxurious cards. I love the colours you have used, the flowers you have used to embellish the front work beautifully.  The inside of the card is stunning Janet, that paper you used is so pretty and works perfectly with the colours of your card.

The second card is one of Janet's Tonic Dies, so much amazing detail in these dies, that shade of green works so well with the gold mirror card. Such an opulent card, you would feel so special if you received on of these cards.
Thank you so much Janet for taking part XXX


Thank you so much Ladies for taking part in this last Challenge of 2019, I am so grateful to all of you for taking part in the challenges throughout the year, I hope that some of the challenges will have pushed you into having go at trying something new, you have made some incredible cards this year, I will be sharing some of them over the next week or two.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday featuring Michele's Magazine Review

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all enjoying the weekend, today feels like the 'Calm before the storm'!  In our house anyway, I will be cooking a Turkey etc today to take over to Mums tomorrow for lunch, I have to buy and wrap a couple more presents for family today too, along with still trying to organise the gifts for our family.  I am trying to not 'overdo' things too because I want my body to get over this UTI as quickly as possible, the big thing to remember will be to drink plenty on the journey to and from Colchester! 

We are all looking forward to Christmas Dinner number 1 and spending the day with family xx

The first photo (above) is of the lovely box that I received from my Swap Partner Stacey over on facebook, I love the clever design of the box and the pretty decoration.

You will see from the pictures below that Stacey filled it with Chocolate, toiletries and Craft goodies, what more could you want!! 

Michele's Magazine Review

Hi Ladies, 


Making Cards & Papercraft magazine has some lovely papers this month.

This is the first collection of cards made using the free papers.

This is the second collection-don't they look stunning ?

Interesting article on using tissue & glue.

Nice feature on using Vellum.

Just look at the free stamps with next months magazine-so cute.

That’s all for this week -Happy Crafting.

Love Michele

Another fantastic review Michele, again some very useful features, particularly the one on using Tissue and using Vellum, they can both be a challenge to use but the results are generally amazing.
What a great free gift too, especially with the Digi Stamps.
Thank you so much Michele for another great review.
I would like to give you an extra special thanks for all the reviews you have given us throughout the year, I think this has been a fantastic additional feature to the Blog and I am so grateful that you take the time to write it every week, so thanks once again my lovely. XXXXXX

Thats all for today,  I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

My lovely Christmas card from Pat

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, are you all prepared for Christmas? We are getting there, still got nothing for Matt who can't think of anything he wants, I think that we all have one of those to shop for!
We are going to my Mum's on Sunday and I thought it would be nice for her if we had an early Christmas lunch, with all of us and my Sisters, we are going to take the Turkey and stuffing loaf and my sisters are doing all of the Vegetables and sides, it will be nice to have everyone together, not sure if mum will agree though, we'll play it by ear, the girls have taken the day off work and so has Matt so for the first time in a very long time we will all be going together.  We hope to persuade Mum to go down to the Carol concert on the Quay as she has loved to go to that on previous years.

Great News...Lynda is going home today!!! that news really made my day yesterday, you will feel so much better being in your own bed my lovely and you will then start to recover fully xxx

Today I am sharing the beautiful Christmas card that Pat made for me, it is such a beautiful shade of pink, so delicate.  The centre has a beautiful Robin that Pat has coloured and Picot cut out which must have taken ages to cut. The frame has pretty snowflakes embossed around it, that match perfectly the snowflakes on the background frame. The Sentiment has been embossed onto little tags and attached with brads.  Such a lovely Christmas card Pat, thank you so much xxx

Sue came over yesterday, I felt terrible as she had to be entertained by lucy for the first hour as I had an impromptu Doctors appointment as I knew I had the start of another water infection!  The Doctor I saw was a different one and he was very thorough and pointed out a few things to follow up on after the New Year, he also said that it wouldn't be wise to start taking Bisoprolol until my UTI has cleared up as it will interfere with blood tests etc. Sue managed to finish a card that she was part way through and I was clearing my desk and putting all my dies away. We also had yummy cakes, which make everything better, thanks for a lovely afternoon Sue xxx

Your Next Challenge

No real challenge this week because of Christmas & New Year, I expect that you will all be busy with your families.

I would however love it if you could send me a photo of your favourite (that you have made) this year, I always do my review but would love to see what your choice would be.

I look forward to seeing your photo's my lovelies.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx

A lovely Origami Christmas card

Good Morning Ladies,

Well the parcels are arriving thick and fast in our house, filling the house up even more, the girls are barred from our bedroom just in case they spot a parcel they shouldn't see!! We keep saying we are going to start wrapping and putting them under the tree but that hasn't happened yet, last night I didnt finish, making inserts and sorting envelopes and writing cards until 11.30pm, that was from starting early afternoon. After defrosting the freezer, I actually quite enjoy that job, seeing the built up ice disappearing is therapeutic and it looked so much better afterwards, as Paul was at work I got away with binning some of the older contents, some rather crusty looking Hot Cross Buns were first things out!!

Today's amazing Origami Christmas 🎄 Tree card was made by the lovely  Stacey Sugar, she was my swap partner over on our FB group.
I don't think I have ever seen that Fold before, what a brilliant idea!! Great for batch making cards, you could sit with a tray on your lap and make all the little Origami pieces and then have them ready for a marathon card assembly session.  I love this idea and I think I will definitely have a go at one myself.
Stacey sent me a lovely hand made box too, stuffed with lovely things, I will share that with you on Saturday .
I sent Stacey the Octagonal box I shared with you last Saturday which she loved, thankfully x

I think I will be having a huge tidy up in my craft room today, ready to pack my craft unit up for Christmas, funny to think that this time next week it will all be over!

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Karen's Beer Themed Birthday card

Good Morning Ladies,

From a very wet Wiltshire once again, I am just about sick of this cold and damp weather, it's playing havoc with my joints and everywhere looks so miserable, mud and huge puddles everywhere, which is making the girls nervous driving after Lucy drove me to 'Groovi Club' last week, she had no option to drive through a huge puddle that covered the entire road, she did everything properly, driving through slowly while keeping her revs high (as we had no idea how deep it was(its a tiny country lane), we got about half way through when there was an almighty bang, she had driven into the most enormous pothole that sounded like it had broken the wheel off the car!  We got through the puddle (well pond is a better description) and then got out to check all was ok, which thankfully it was, it really shook her up though bless her and I felt awful too. A similar thing happened to Becca last year where she did exactly the same but if popped her tyre and cracked her alloy wheel, I made her claim from the Council, which took forever, you know the chap on the phone actually said that it is easier for them to keep paying out repairs on peoples car than it is for them to pay out and get the roads repaired, this was in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire roads around us seem even worse, it may be because along the road opposite Fairford there are a lot of huge quarry pits, which means there are always huge lorries carrying the rocks etc away, having said that they don't come around our village and it's terrible around there too.

Funnily enough we have another 'Beer' Themed card today, Karen smiled when she saw that I had shared the Guinness Themed Christmas card that Michele had made for her husband Phil yesterday, as she had sat on Monday and made the 'Beer' themed card above! What were the chances of that coincidence?!  

Karen's Description:

The beer mugs/EF was a freebie from Papercraft Essentials. The aperture and sentiment is from a bargain die by Crafti Potential (that MICHELE told us about).

I edged the embossing with black soot DI I used CE Fluffy Stuff for the froth.

Such a brilliant idea for a card for a man Karen, love the background and the die cut sentiment aperture, brilliant design idea, thank you so much for sharing it with us today.

You know what they say about 'Great Minds Thinking Alike' !!! XXX

Still trying to get all the decorations etc up here, as well as having to make envelopes and inserts for my Christmas cards, lesson learnt there, next year I will be thinking more about the finished size of the card, making sure it fits into a standard envelope. So thats my plans for today.

I hope you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs,

Sandra

xxxxxx


,

Michele's Guiness Themed Birthday Card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, great news from Lynda, the Doctor came around yesterday and had a look at her wound, he was really pleased with it, so fingers crossed she can go home, although she will still have antibiotic IV in for a few days so a nurse will come out every morning to check that all is well, atleast there is light at the end of the tunnel now.  I can't wait for you to get home my lovely xxx

Today's card is the one that Michele made for her Husband Phil for Christmas, Phil is a real Guinness fan so Michele always makes a different Guinness themed card each year either for his Birthday or Christmas.  This one is just brilliant Michele with the 'Guinness Prints' in the snow, your attention to detail shows as you have used the same colours in your mat and layers that appear in the image.
Absolutely Brilliant card my lovely, thank you so much for sharing it with us XXX

I had a very busy day yesterday, fun though, Becca came over and we went shopping and had lunch out, then more shopping the time just flew by, we got home at about 5pm, Becca just unloaded shopping and then left while Soph and Lucy were about to leave for Asda and asked if I wanted to go  with them, I think it was about 8 o'clock by the time I sat down! It was worth the aches and pains to see the smiles on their faces though, I love spending time with all of them .

Sophie asked me to thank you all for your lovely comments, she was overwhelmed by your kindness, thank you so much ladies xxx

Pat is coming over today, I am hoping to sit and finish my Groovi card from class last week, I'm sure Pat will be doing some Groovi too.

I hope that you all have a lovely day

Love and hugs to all

Sandra
xxxxxx

Cheryl's Clean and Simple Challenge card

❤💚💜CONGRATULATIONS SOPHIE❤💚💜

Cheryl's Clean & Simple Cards

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

I am so very proud to share with you all some amazing news, Our Sophie handed in her first three Modules a couple of weeks back and has been quietly waiting for the results, one of the modules was to create a Comic with an animated panel (section of a page) and her other main module was an A6  Art Journal in which she recorded her first 6 weeks at University, for these two modules she received a First with Honours !!!! 

The last module was to create a Book Cover in Adobe Illustrator, for this she received a First !!!!

I can't tell you how proud both Paul and I are of what Sophie has achieved, we knew she would get a good grade as we watched all three modules come together, hopefully this will give her a bit more confidence as she goes forward. She was top of the class which is also a huge achievement.  All three of the modules were something completely new to Sophie putting her out of her 'comfort zone', this has proved that she can take on anything and succeed.  This was such amazing news to start our Christmas Holidays. XXXXXX 

Today's cards are Cheryl's 'Clean & Simple' Challenge cards that I just forgot to add to the list yesterday, I think that I was too distracted by the 'Strictly Come Dancing Final', OMG what an incredible final, the best ever I think, I'm not too sure if any of you have watched this series but we have all sat as a family every Saturday night and thoroughly enjoyed this series, there was something for every age I think as there was a 'Social Media' star and range of 'celebrities' from soaps, sports and TV presenters and comedians, every program was fun to watch but one star stood out throughout the whole series and he was a last minute substitution, Kelvin Fletcher who played 'Andy Sugden' in Emmerdale for over 20 years, although he had never danced or had and dance training he was always at the top or 2nd of the leader board, on Saturday night we sat having a celebratory dinner for Soph's achievements and watching Kelvin dance his way to Victory, perfect night!!

Back to Cheryl's cards... (I got a bit carried away with my excuse for missing adding Cheryl's card to the list).

Cheryl created a lovely set of stamped Christmas cards for last week's Clean and Simple Challenge.  I love the stamp you have used Cheryl, it has so much detail, making it perfect to use as the main focus of the card.  Cheryl stamped the image on the left hand side of the card, positioning it so that it flows down into that border strip, that has been highlighted with the addition of some coloured card, Cheryl has used the same colour ink as the paper that she has used to accent that border.

A lovely design Cheryl that would work for other occasions too.

Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us, I apologise for missing it on Sunday's post XXX

That's all for today Ladies,

Have a lovely day however you are spending it,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx