Mixed up Saturday featuring Michele's magazine Review

Link Below is for Video sharing these projects:

Inlovearts DT Projects Video

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Ooooh it's a chilly one, it makes it feel even more like the beginning of the 'Festive Season', I can hardly believe it's December tomorrow, so many people seem to have the decorations up so much earlier this year, it's crazy, don't get me wrong I love my tree but I would be really fed up of looking at it if it was for 6 weeks! Have any of you got yours up yet???

The first project I am sharing with you today is the Advent Calendar that I made with some of the dies that I received from Inlovearts.com, they sent them to me for free in return for me making projects with them for them to use on their website.

I sent them the link to my YouTube Video and I got an email back saying that my projects were 'amazing' and were exactly what they wanted, the included some item numbers of some new dies that they would like me to work with and sent me a voucher to spend in their shop for $35.  I was so relieved that I liked them and was pleased to think that they want me to work with them again.

The Advent calendar was made with made by using two pieces of thick board (from the back of paper pads) stuck together and covered with decorative paper for the front and back panels, they measure A4 in size, I made the binder for the calendar by adhering two pieces of patterned paper together (for strength), I scored it so that I had about an inch and a half border on the front and back of the calendar. I covered the edge of this border with a Braided Trim. I made the Poinsettia's using Sue Wilson Poinsettia dies, the flourishes were made with the fancy flourish part of the top of the hanging Bauble die that I received in my DT package. The border was made using a punch, I added a Ribbon Threader die to the centre of the gold punched border and threaded a piece of Red Seam Binding ribbon through, which ties at the side to secure the calendar.

On the inside I used the Box dies that I received from In Love Arts to cut 24 boxes and matching lids in papers from the same pad as the papers on the front and back.  I die cut the numbers in Gold Mirror card. The back cover is the same as the front minus the Poinsettias.

I quite like the idea of this Calendar I am sending it out as part of a swap, which isn't too bad as it is really light.  I think it's a fun idea that can be bought out year after year.

I hope you like it x

The inside of the Advent Calendar

The shows them with the lids off

This is the back of the calendar.

Michele's Magazine Review

Hi Ladies,

Cardmaking & Papercraft has a cut set of Stamps & coordinating Dies free this month.

Here’s some ideas of what’s inside the magazine.

This article shows how versatile the free gift is as you can use them all year.

Great feature on Aperture spinner cards. These would certainly stand out from most other cards

Inspiration on how to use those mini Dies we probably all have.

Great article on using border stamps to create patterned backgrounds & panels. It’s nice to see cards made using non traditional colours for inspiration.

That’ll all this week so....
Happy Crafting

Love Michele

Thank you so much Michele, I actually have this magazine but haven't had time to read it yet, the free stamp and die set isn't something that I think I will use but some of the sample cards that they share are really inspiring so I mat get round to having a play with them.

I hadn't noticed the article on ideas for using mini dies, that will be really interesting to read, we all have those dies tucked away.  

I really appreciate the time and effort you put into making this feature for the blog every week my lovely.  I hope that you have a lovely day celebrating Phil's Birthday. XXX

You will be pleased to hear that we passed the 'Property Maintenance Inspection' yesterday, with flying colours! She said that our home was 'perfect' which is a nice compliment.  I was massively relieved I can tell you, Paul was just 'I told you there was nothing to worry about' but you all know what I am like, she was a lovely girl who luckily loved cats and Harley, who will take all the fuss he can get.

So a nice relaxing weekend is in store for us I think, we won't be venturing in to town, I think it will be even worse this weekend.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend however you are spending it,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Next Weeks Challenge

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and looking forward to the weekend, it's the 'Actual Black Friday' this today so will any of you be shopping for bargains??  I think I read an article by 'Which' that said that 'Actual' Black Friday deals are very rare and very unlikely to be genuine, you often find the product cheaper two weeks after Black Friday as companies reduce things further in an effort to sell things before Christmas, so shop wisely my friends.!!

I thought that we would do a TicTacToe for our next challenge, we haven't had one for a while, they are a great Mojo boost, also great for those of us that are indecisive, I do find that just picking 3 options to work from does narrow down the products that we have in our stash and make it easier to choose what to use.
I hope you have fun with it xxx

We have another 'Property Maintenance Inspection' today, I called them to ask why we had to have another so soon after the last one, which was May, she said that all long term lets were subject to 6 monthly inspections, apparently they like to get them out of the way before December as its ''harder to inspect for damage with a Christmas tree in the way'', I think I have heard it all now, I am pretty sure it's got more to do with them being able to Charge the landlord for an extra visit!!
I will be glad when it's over, so will the girls as they have had a long checklist to tick off to make sure the upstairs was inspection ready, I have to say that Lucy was a great help yesterday, it's so nice when they help willingly.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend ladies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

New Acetate Front Card featuring Brand new Die

My Inlovearts YouTube Video

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, I had a very productive day yesterday finishing all the projects for the DT dies that were sent from Inloveartshop.com. Which meant I was able to make the video sharing all of the projects, I will leave the link for the video so that you can go over and have a look.   I will be sharing all of the projects on the blog in the coming week.

Todays card was made using their 'Snowflake Frame Dies'  the link for this die is :

Snowflake Frame Die

To make the card I cut a piece of card at 4 1/4  X 6 1/2, I score the card at 1 inch and creased with my bone folder, the 1 inch over hang was where I attached my acetate to, covering the join with the Die Cut Snowflake Border on the front of the card and on the inside (to cover the glue), I added another border at the bottom of the card both on the inside and out again to give the card front strength.
I placed a piece of light blue glitter card on the inside of the card and attached a die cut sentiment that was placed centrally, so that it could be seen through the acetate.
To finish the card I added little crystal gems to the centres of all the snowflakes.

Use the link above if you want the die, it's currently on Sale at £3.38

They have given me a Discount code to share with you all which gives you an extra 15 % off  that code is:  FSVCotswold

Sue came over yesterday, I made us some home made soup, Sue bought a loaf of 'Lardy Bread' to try too, I warmed it in the Aga to have with our afternoon cuppa, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.  We both got a good bit of crafting done in the afternoon, I was finishing my DT projects while Sue was doing some 'Groovi' cards.
Thanks for coming over Sue, XXX

I hope that you all have a good day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Another Challenge Card using Vellum and a bit of 'Groovi'

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and making the most of this milder weather, it's been nice not having to have the heating on during the day, i really dislike the stuffiness but my joints do like being cold and tend to make their feelings known!!  I did see on weather that we are supposed to have a very cold weekend!!

Today's card is the one that I made when I went to the 'Groovi' class in Witney a couple of weeks back, the design was done by Ronk Langton,  the absolutely lovely lady that ran the class, she couldn't have been more welcoming or helpful.  Which really helped me to be calmer and enjoy the class.
Take a look at my first Picot Cut edges, not bad for a beginner!!
I am already looking forward to the next one which is 12th December.

Pat and I had a lovely day yesterday, I made a card and finished off a couple of other projects while Pat was Picot Cutting a Groovi card that she had already made. Thanks so much Pat for coming over and sorry about the state of your car every week! Maybe we should suggest our local council provides us with a free Car Wash, maybe a local councillor could have that as part of his manifesto, get the quarry that causes most of the mess to pay the bill.  In all seriousness our roads are dire!XXX

I am hoping to see Sue today for some more crafting, I love Tuesdays and Wednesdays,  I hope that you all have a lovely day however you are spending it,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Cards With Acetate Fronts

Good Morning Ladies,

I chatted with Lynda through Messenger yesterday and she told me that she had her operation on Sunday, she had been up doing physio yesterday and will be doing it again today. She was a little frustrated as she was told that they found so Clots and she has to have some Blood Transfusions, so she will have to stay in hospital for around another 5 days.  I just told her to make the most of being waited on and that it's better to be where you can be kept an eye for all the unexpected things like the Clots and also her Blood Sugar isn't right, I'm guessing it's to do with medication and maybe lack of apetite thats affecting her Diabetes.  It's frustrating that we can't send flowers but I think I might send a craft magazine, that's someting that we all like to read isn't it.
Lynda if you look in we all send you our love and wish you s Super Speedy Recovery. XXX

Cheryl sending huge hugs to you my dear friend, such sad news about your Dad, I hope you manage to get through the their Doctor surgery, I had a right job trying to speak to anyone on my mum's behalf to get her the help that she needs, I am all for confidentiality but sometimes they take it too far.
Fingers crossed you can sort things to help ease your mind a little at least XXX

Now I was busy finishing my 'Big Project' yesterday and then lost 3 hours going to the Doctors for myself, I got a telling off from the doctor, he is the loveliest GP in that he really takes time to explain everything in the simplest way so that you understand exactly what is happening and when you should 'ACT' and not just lie there and wait for it to pass like I have been doing!  I explained that both the frequency and severity of my AF gotten worse, some leaving me really finding it hard to breathe and these caused what I thought was just my body reacting because I was so anxious, pains in my chest/shoulder and arm, he told me that if that EVER happens again not to lie there and wait until it passes, I have to call an ambulance, I think both Paul and I were a little shocked.  He told me to go and have an urgent blood test, which I went and booked straight away, the first available date was 8th December, can you believe that !!  I might call today and see if I can have on somewhere else.
Depending on the result I should be able to start a small dose of a different drug! Fingers crossed.
So basically I didn't get a card made for today's blog so I thought I would share these two cards that both feature the 'Caught in Crystal' Technique, so Acetate makes up most of the front of these cards.
I loved how these two backgrounds turned out, such a fun and satisfying technique.
I hope that they give you a little inspiration.

Pat is coming over today, nothing better that crafting with friends to keep your mind of your worries!

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Vellum Christmas Trees

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you all enjoyed the weekend, I was hoping to spend the day crafting yesterday but we ended up getting loads of jobs done around the house, you know the ones that you keep putting off, Paul had load of stuff to put up the loft, then I wanted him to use the Dyson cleaner to reach up and get all of the cobwebs, cleaned some windows, swap some cupboards around in the utility room and cooked a lovely roast beef dinner which we were all ready for by teatime! The girls were busy at the Wildlife park too which is unusual for this time of year, they were puffed up like peacocks yesterday as the had praise heaped upon them for their amazing Supervisory skills on Saturday, the got a message late on Friday night to say that there were no supervisors to cover Saturdays shift, so the girls thought that maybe the restaurant would close, they went into work and were told that they were going to be the Supervisors of both the Restaurant and kiosk, it didn't seem to worry them though, they said that they just put all the staff on jobs that they like to do and are good at and they covered the rest, the day went very smoothly, I think it did their confidence a world of good to be honest.
When they got into work yesterday they were thanked and were told that they had done a great job!
So they had huge smiles on their faces when they got home. xx

Today's card was made with the 'Snow is Glistening' stamp set that I shared with you on yesterday's post, I saw a similar card to this on Pinterest made with the one of Crafters companion stamps.  

I stamped my Christmas tree on to a piece of Vellum using Versamark ink, with vellum you must make sure that you use your anti static bag with vellum because it seems a lot more static than regular card or paper.  I then used some white embossing powder with a bit of glitter in, just to give a little sparkle to the tree, although it doesn't really show up on camera.  I then heat set the powder and then attached the vellum to a piece of leftover 'Galvanised' card with tiny silver brads.

I made my base card a little wider that usual so that I could add my very last piece of Dotted Tulle ribbon, ( I think I will HAVE to order more as I love it).  I attached the ribbon to the back of my mat with glue dots and then used another piece to tie a knot, I popped a tiny foam pad behind the knot to secure it, I topped that with one of the Snowfall Trinkets.  To finish the card I added a few clear, sparkly gemstones around the tree. I am going to have my sentiment on the inside of the card.

I hope you all have a lovely day, however you are spending it, stay warm and dry, we are forecast rain all week! 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Freebie Challenge cards

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all well and enjoying your weekend,  we made the mistake of going shopping yesterday,  OMG, people were shopping like it was the last weekend before Christmas,  it was crazy busy.  I think we will be keeping these weekend shops to a minimum!

We only went in yesterday because we had bought Sophie an Art Desk that we needed to collect.

Lets look at your amazing cards....

Brenda

Wow Brenda, two stunning Christmas cards, I just love the look of Ivy on cards, it works so well in any colour too, your first looks so luxurious with the Red and Gold, there is so much detail in that lovely flower that you have used too.

Your second card uses the same main feature but with a colour change and the addition of that really crisp embossed border it looks completely different.

 Brenda's Description:

''The freebie Ivy die and flower came with Die-Cutting essentials No 55 and the EF on the second card came with Cardmaking & Papercraft.''

Thank you so much Brenda for two fantastic challenge cards, I would love to see the cards that you made for Tierney and William too, that was quite a card making session you had!!
Enjoy your Sunday my lovely XXX

Janet

5 Fantastic Festive cards from Janet for this weeks 'Freebie' Challenge, not a die cut in sight, how amazing is that!!! Going back a couple of years there is no way that most of us would have thought that we would be making any cards that involved stamping only!!! 

Janet's Description:

" My first CC is made using stamps which were free with 'Crafts Beautiful'.

My second CC is made using stamps which were free from 'Pink Fresh Studio'

The third set of cards I made a few weeks ago using stamps from 'Crafts Beautiful'."

Thank you so much Janet for 5 amazing challenge cards XXX

Karen

Two lovely Christmas cards from Karen for this weeks Challenge. There is something about Cream and Gold that just shouts 'Classy'!!!

Karen's Description:

"Here’s a card made from the freebies from Nov Crafts Beautiful 

Ok I printed the sentiment! But the die and tree/pear stamp is from magazine

And the second one was made  using a freebie die from a magazine years ago"

Two lovely cards Karen thank you so much for taking part XXX 

 Lilian

Lilian's  Freebie Challenge card is so lovely,  i love those lovely filigree trees.

Lilian's Description 

"Here is my card for this week, the background is a freebie, stamped and used my perfect pearls which doesn’t show on screen but looks better in the hand. The little trees are also a freebie, sorry can’t remember where they came from, took ages gluing all the fine edges"

Thanks Lilian for taking part XXX 

Lynda

Lynda wasn't able to take part this week so I added the card she made for our last Freebie Challenge. 

Lynda's lovely card was made using a Free Embossing folder. 

Love this card Lynda, fingers crossed you get your operation today XXX

Margaret

Margaret's lovely card was also made for our last Freebie Challenge.

This card features a Free stamp and sentiment from a magazine.   Margaret has coloured the image a beautiful shade of orange.

Thank you Margaret for such a pretty card XXX

Maria

Maria has used a free stamp set to create her card, the beautiful background was created with Pixie powders.  

I love this design Maria, thank you XXX 

Michele

Michele used a Free set collection papers from a magazine to create this 10 card collection. 

I lmow I say it all the time but you amaze me every time you use magazine papers to make cards, as you really do get such a fantastic look with them, i usually bin them, apart from the old 'Making cards' magazine .

Thank you so much for taking part Michele XXX 

 Sue

Sue made this amazing card for her daughter Gemma, you always put so much thought into the scenes that you create on cards Sue, the grass looks so realistic and the giraffes are fantastic  too.

Sue's Description...

Here is my challenge card that I made for Bubs b day with freebie Giraffe stamp from Creative stamping issue 57 and the frame die is a freebie from Die-cutting essentials issue 57 (just noticed they are both issue 57!).

Thanks Sue, I love seeing your cards on our display XXX

Ladies, who'd have thought you could achieve so many amazing looks all from magazine Freebies, thank you all so much for making time to take part.

Have a lovely Sunday,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Mixed up Saturday featuring Michele's Magazine Review

Good Morning Ladies,

First thing to day I want to update you on our Lynda, I chatted with her last night and she didn't get her surgery yesterday, they were too busy, I think that this happened after her visit to the dentist on Tuesday. She is hoping that she will have her surgery today so that she can start on the road to recovery. If you are looking in Lynda we are all sending you the hugest hugs, make the most of having your feet up and having your meals bought to you (I hope that they are edible).
Wishing you a speedy recovery my lovely xxxxx

Our First craft today is a stunning set of Christmas Crackers that Danielle made for a Design Team project, she made them using only 6 X 6 papers, they are amazing and I really love the browns and golds they look so expensive, especially displayed In a box.
Danielle has done a Tutorial for these over on her ''Crafting with Danielle Rose'' facebook group.
Here is the link to her YouTube Tutorial:

Danielle's Cracker Tutorial

Absolutely stunning crackers Danielle, thanks for sharing them with us xxx

Sophie's Artwork

 Penny Farthing made from Ribbon Reel and Cotton Reel

In this picture the Crocodiles are made from 'Bag Clips'

 Gramophone made from one of my handmade flowers.

Javelin made from a Cocktail stick

These are the four remaining artwork pieces that Sophie created on Wednesday, the challenge was to look at Household Items and try to imagine them as something completely different, her imagination absolutely blows be away.  She photographed each of the 4 items and created the artwork that turns them into something new. So she drew the chap on top of the Penny Farthing and turned the Bag Clips into crocodiles and then drew the rest of the picture and so on for all of the items.

Sophie I am so proud of you, you are an incredibly imaginative artist xxx

Michele's Magazine Review

Hi Ladies,


Diecutting Essentials comes with a versatile set of Dies this month.

Here’s the details on the back of the Dies.

First feature using the free gift shows just how versatile they actually are.

Part one of using the Dies as a Bow.

Part two.

A great article on using Diecut shapes as a mask.

That’s all for this month.
Happy Crafting

Love Michele

Thanks Michele for another great Magazine Review,  love the using different shapes as masks feature.
Thanks again for taking time to put the feature together my lovely XXX 

Michele shopping 

Michele snapped up these bargains on Ebay, those little inks will be perfect for your new found love of stamping, they are a great size for the Card-i-o stamps, they are also perfect for anyone that has problems with their hands, as they are much easier to hold.  I know Sue likes them for that reason. I am so excited to watch your stamping journey take off xxx

Did any of you get any Crafty Bargains in the Black Friday sales???


I hope that you all have a lovely weekend

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxxx