Good Monday Morning Ladies,

Can you believe that today is the last day of August, I just can't get my head around how quickly this month, in fact this year has gone.  We went into The Range the other day and they were preparing to put out their Christmas Decorations, that just seems crazy right now.  Although I don't think anyone will be sorry to see the back of 2020.

We did venture out for a walk yesterday, Paul managed to push the wheelchair ok, we went very slowly and picked the route carefully, we wanted to walk around and spot all the Scarecrows around the Village Scarecrow Competition Route. the theme was 'Key Workers' there were some hilarious entries.                                                                                                                                                      We finished the weekend with a Roast Beef dinner followed by fresh Apple Crumble made from the apples from somebodies 'Windfall' bucket. When you start craving the big roasts and warming puddings you know we are heading into Autumn. The heating and Aga have been switched back on this weekend, which I am pleased about, I have grown to love cooking in the Aga, it's so easy having it there and on all the time, no preheating or anything, there is also pretty much always at least one twin draped over the front of it !

I have shared a couple of cards from the last couple of years that to me depict Autumn, in colour if nothing else.  Sunflowers on the first card remind me of our journeys through France, as we left to travel down to Spain the Sunflowers had their faces full up to the sunshine absorbing the warmth, on the journey home they all look so sad with their faces to the ground, awaiting harvest.

I hope the cards inspire you a little my lovelies,

I would say enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend but apart from Michele and maybe Sonia none of us are really aware of what day it is!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you have had a lovely weekend so far, we have had a very relaxed weekend,  not that we have much choice in that right now,  but its nice to  spend quality time together however you are spending it, although I would prefer a warm beach if I had the choice. !

Let's have a look at your cards.....

Brenda 

Brenda has used the HoneyDoo 'Floral Crest' stamp to create this beaufiful Birthday card, I love how you have continued the stamping over the frame Brenda, it's an amazing effect.

Brenda's Description:

Yor this card are used the Honey Doo stamp 'Floral Crest'  and coloured it with my Polychromos , I also used polychromos to colour a piece of white card in an ombre effect for backing my happy birthday sentiment. The categories are die-cut, stamping,  favourite colour

Thank you so much Brenda for taking part in this weeks Challenge XXX

Maria

Wow Maria, I absolutely love the paper that you have used for your Challenge card this week , I love the Script and the fact that its green just makes it perfect!! 

Maria's Description:

My favourite colour  Green / Heat Embossing and a Ribbon Bow

(the paper is more green then the photo shows)

Thanks Maria for an amazing Challenge card XXX 

Sonia

Sonia has designed a stunning Christmas card for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge,  I have to say I love the combination of Kraft Card and White together. 

Sonia's Description:

The categories are die cut/stamp/dry or heat embossing. The snowflake circle is a Magnolia stamp which I stamped and heat embossed. The deer is from Spellbinders, the snowy embossing folder from my stash, and sentiment from LOTV.

Thanks so much Sonia for a beautiful festive Challenge card XXX 

Lilian 

A beautiful floral card from Lilian for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge.  I love how you have layered the doily onto another die cut,  it adds to the fancy edge, your beautiful delicate stamping around the corners is a lovely touch Lilian. 

Lilian's Description:

Hi, here is my card for this week, die cut, favourite colour ( for flowers at the moment)
And embossing. Used stamping up birthday blooms. 

Thank you so much Lilian for taking part in this weeks TicTacToe Challenge  XXX 

Janet 

Two perfect Masculine cards from our Janet for this weeks TicTacToe Challenge . The background on your under the sea card is perfect Janet. 

Janet's Description:

For my first card I used eboss/fav colour/male

I have to admit it's a card I made earlier this year and have never used so it's waiting for a 'golfer' to come along.

My second card this week is for my Great Grandson Thomas who is going to be 7 in a couple of week's time.

I used fav colour/male/nautical.

Thank you so much for two amazing Challenge cards Janet XXX

Karen

Karen bought her future Son in Law a Bonsai Tree for his Birthday,  so in true Karen style she had to make a card that tied in with a theme, such a thoughtful touch.

Karen's Description:

Here’s a cc I used 

fancy fold - die cut - masculine 

I googled the image and used Serif for the lettering die cut with a circle It’s a simple fold back card 

Thank you so much Karen, your card is stunning XXX

Michele

Two amazing Nautical themed cards from Our Michele,  I absolutely love the composition of your cards Michele,  they work perfectly! 

Michele's Description:

Two challenge cards-good old Ella’s Design to the rescue! Masculine/stamp/nautical. The stamped part is the sentiment inside the card.                                                       

Thank you so much Michele for two amazing Challenge cards XXX 

Pat

Pat has had a really productive week with her card making, she has finished off 4 beautiful cards,  I have shared two of them , I wanted the other two to have a day of their own, I hope that's ok Pat.

Pat used Categories: Groovi/Embossing/Favourite Colour  for her cards.

Thank you so much Pat , its lovely to be sharing your cards on a Sunday XXX

***********************

Ladies, this challenge was a special one for me with it being my very first 'Cotswold Crafter' TicTacToe Grid, so it really made my day to see so many amazing Challenge cards, thank you all so very much xxxxx

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend, we are going to have a walk around he village as a lot of the locals have made Scarecrows for the Village Scarecrow Trail, we must take part next year!

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning, 

I want to start today by saying that I was incredibly overwhelmed by the huge pile of absolutely stunning Birthday cards, you all went to so much trouble to create stunning works of art, I adore every one of them, what amazed me was the amazing range of techniques and styles of cards, not one using the same products.

Thank you all so very much ❤ xxxx

The photo that opens the blog and the two that follow are photos of the Amazing Art Journal that Our Lilian made for me to use when coming up with ideas for the blog,  challenges etc. Lilian thank you so much, you put so much thought into the journal including using a combination of paper weights so that I can experiment with techniques. 

What an amazing Lilian, thanks so much xxx

This photo is of the inside of the front cover   Lilian has fussy cut that beautiful flower to create a tuck spot for those lovely tags. 

This photo shares the beautiful marching book mark and pretty pocket to leep ot in.

Thanks so much Lilian,  I love it xxxx

Michele's Mini Challenge 

Michele has been having a de-clutter and whilst sorted through her stash she came across a collection of  Plastic Desk Calendar Holders .

So she came up with the idea of sending one out to each of our Blog Friends,  along with a Calendar Tab, so that you can all make your own Desk Calendar and we will share them on the blog in a few weeks time.  I will do a draw and pick a winner out of all those that take part and will send out a little something to them. 

So if you would like to take part please let us know in the comments below. 

Thank you so very much for your Kindness Michele xxxxxx

That's all for today Ladies,  I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, 

Love and hugs to all of you 

Sandra xxxxxx 

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope you are all well, boy didn't it rain yesterday, we had thunder and lightening too, the only benefit is I didn't need to water the garden, every cloud has a silver lining!

Not sure what's on the cards today, I have a huge pile of cards to open which is super exciting, I usually have one or two on my actual birthday and the rest in September when we get back from holiday. I have to say I do wish I was going to be spending the day on the beach, after having a freshly baked croissant 🥐 fresh from the bakery, with some freshly squeezed orange juice!  We have booked to go out for dinner this evening which will be lovely. I still get to spend the day with my best friend, which is the best gift, even if he is a bit 'compromised'! xx

Your Next Challenge

We are continuing our 'Flowers through the Seasons' theme for this weeks challenge, I would like you to makes some Autumnal projects, it doesn't have to be flowers it can be Anything you consider Autumnal.                                                                                                                                                  I love autumn, the colours of the leaves as the turn all shades of orange to red!  I will definitely be including some leaf cards in my challenge cards.

I hope that you all enjoy the challenge, I look forward to seeing your cards x

Have a lovely weekend my dear friends,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Throwback Thursday Inspiration

 

Good Morning Ladies,

Well yesterday was just a blur, I have to say as days go it was an absolute shocker!  It started off with badly, hearing that someone very dear to me had some devastating news.  It went on to be one of the most frustrating hospital visits so far as Paul's eye clinic journey goes, after being able to go in to every appointment so far, this particular appointment that we fought so hard for was key as we had so many questions, when we arrived there was a snooty little madam on the door, that decided that I was not going to accompany Paul to his appointment, despite me pointing out the importance of the appointment as far as getting answers to some key questions about Paul's progress, Paul ends up in a lot of discomfort during some of the procedures that he undergoes, the drops are painful and they treat both eyes, leaving even less able to see, so remembering a whole list of questions (as he couldn't read them) was all but impossible.  He has to continue his restrictions for a few more weeks, no driving or returning to work until after his next appointment, which won't be for 4 -6 weeks!  (we are hoping that it will be within that time anyway)!  We are going to make an appointment with an optician to see if there us anything we can do in the short term. Needless to say I was glad when the day was done!

Today's 'Throwback' cards are both from Our Michele, I chose them as they work perfectly with this weeks TicTacToe Challenge, 

Categories for Both cards are:  Beach/Nautical/Dry Embossing/Masculine

I absolutely love your cards Michele, both of them use absolutely stunning Embossing Folders, I would love to know what that first E Folder is, its gorgeous and embosses beautifully. of course Nautical themes are really popular at the moment.

Thank you so much Michele for allowing me to share some of your older cards to inspire all of our friends XXX

I hope that you all have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Another Nautical Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that Storm Francis didn't cause any damage for any of you, it caused some damage to our Runner/French Bean frame, we went out and sort of resecured it, well we hope we did!  The girls said that there was chaos all over roads on their journey home from work, we live in a very rural area with trees everywhere,  so there were branches and small trees down blocking roads. Luckily there are lots of 🚜 farmers that are happy to clear roads.

Today's card is one I finished yesterday,  I used the stamps I got in the Phil Martin Magazine last month and the free papers from the Magazine too.

I took a piece of A4 card and followed instructions for a Shutter card, (I can detail that more in a Tutorial if you would like me to) .

I cut the paper to fit the shutter card, and added some stamped details all over, I also stamped some of the shells and embellishments on to white card, I fussy cut them and (here's a TIP) if you ink around the edges of your fussy cutting it hides any imperfections a bit!!

I arranged the embellishments around the shutter card and then Stamped the Yacht onto White card, inked around the edges,  added some birds and attached to the centre panel.

It's by no means perfect but its ok for a first attempt!  

I used Categories: Fancy Fold/Nautical/Masculine. 

Thankfully we have been given an appointment for Paul tomorrow,  I am so relieved!  So thats our plans for the day, Thankfully the girls have the day off so that worked out ok. 

Sending Love and hugs to all of you,  stay safe Ladies, 

Sandra 

xxxxxx

A challenge card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

We had a productive Monday,  I managed to get bed stripped and washed in two loads,(white 60 wash for sheets,  towels & pillowcases) and Normal wash for quilt cover, bath robes and quilted throw. We had intermittent showers so i dried mostly in drier, to be honest I would struggled getting it on line at moment.  

Todays card is a spare Father's Day card I made for Paul to choose from, I haven’t made Father's Day cards since losing my Dad but I felt ok about it this year.  I am almost finished a 'Shutter' card I started yesterday but I got side tracked making my First ever Album, under Danielle's instructions!

So this card uses Categories: Masculine/Beach/Die cut. 

To make the card I used a piece of cheap copy paper and cut an aperture through which I stamped the sea, I then die cut some tiny clouds and put some low tack tape on them and arranged them above the sea, I used the same 'Broken China ' Distress ink to blend across the clouds to create the sky.

I removed the scrap paper and stamped the birds in Black ink. I die cut the Beach chair in wood effect paper and added a touch of shading, I placed that in front of the 'Seascape' and added the 'Happy Father's Day  sentiment next to it.

To finish the card I added a mat of similar colour blue card and then adhered to a card base.

I hope to do some more to my album today and finish my Shutter card. That's after I have called the hospital to chase up Paul's appointment, wish me luck please X

I  hope that you all have a fantastic day, take care though we are due some Gale Force winds in the next couple of days!

Sending Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Man Card for Monday

 

Good Morning Ladies,

I would like to start the day by Wishing our Matt and very Happy 28th Birthday, I hope you have an amazing day XXX

I hope that you have all had a lovely weekend, it sounds like you were all quite busy either crafting or in the garden.  Storm Ellen caused the Bean from to partly collapse again, so the girls and I bodged it up again, we have had about 6 lbs of Beans so far so can't really complain, our beetroot has been a great success too, I would like to know other methods of keeping it other than pickling though.  It's supposed to nice roasted, so far I have been boiling them and then having them diced in salads, absolutely delicious with smoked mackerel and chopped crispy apple, lots of salad leaves and a nice dressing, this was our Sunday tea. Followed by my latest favourite dessert Creme Brulee !

Today's card is one of our Michele's, I thought it would be perfect for a Man Card Monday Feature,  this is one of the cards that Michele was asked to make, along with another which is equally amazing.

This card is for a 'Keen Golfer' that is turning 60 (but didn't want the age shown)!

I love the unusual shape on the front panel and the little silver corners are a subtle addition but make such a difference, drawing your eye in to the main focus of the card.

Thanks so much for sharing your card with us Michele XXX

Ladies, I am going to 'try' and craft again today, I am getting so frustrated as nothing is 'happening' when I go and sit at my desk, the last time I sat and crafted was 10 minutes before Paul walked through the door telling us he has lost sight in his eye!  Fingers crossed some inspiration pops up, or I will be having the largest Craft De-stash in history!!!

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had some sunshine mixed in with those showers yesterday,  the weather just couldn't make it's mind up yesterday,  by the time that we noticed the sun and got our shoes on ready to go and do some jobs, the rain 🌧 was back!!

We had a lovely relaxing day though, which is what the weekend is all about!

Now lets see your lovely Challenge Cards .....

Brenda 

A brilliant card idea from Brenda for this weeks 'Patterned Paper ' Challenge.   We all need ideas for Man cards and this is a great example,  you have the added option of personalising the card by making the Map an area relevant to the recipient. 

Brenda's Description:

 Both backgrounds came from a pad I’ve had for ever called ‘life‘s journey’ the map was coloured, so I photocopied it on the cream card Selected black-and-white print then I aged the edges of the map with SU crumb cake."

Thanks so much Brenda for a inspirational Challenge card XXX

Lilian 

Oh Lilian what a beautiful Christmas card, such a stunning card for this weeks Challenge. It's a perfect card for a 'Frozen' Lover !

Lilian's Description:

Here is my card for this weeks challenge, Stamperia winter collection and one of there chip board pieces. Will be for Mimi, she loves all things Frozen, so I thought this would suit. 

Thank you so very much for taking part in the Challenge this week XXX

Maria

Wow Maria, 3 Beautiful 'Decorative Paper' Challenge cards from you for this weeks Challenge, all three are just amazing.  The papers you used are gorgeous Maria.

Maria's Description:

''The window card was made thinking of the "spotlight" cards that we

made some time ago.

Happy Mothers day is a set from Wish, it's got some other little

greetings as Birthday, you, our, love etc. too to go with Happy.

The third card I used the frame from the other week but in black this time.

The card with flowers is quite shiny, think it was from a tissue box and my

thought for was the card to look like a painting :>)''

Thank you so very much for 3 stunning challenge cards XXX

Janet

Janet the papers you have used for your Challenge card are absolutely gorgeous.

The Papers that Janet has used are by Stamperia, which explains why they are so gorgeous!

I love all of the elements that Janet has used to embellish her card, they look like they are all part of the same Lavender Collection.

I have to say I am very tempted by this collection Janet, I love Lavender !

Thanks so much for taking part in this weeks Challenge my lovely XXX

Michele 

Michele I absolutely love this darling Hedgehog, she is so cute, I love how you have put a bow on her too.  Phil will love this card Michele x

Michele's Description:

My challenge card. Found this piece of patterned paper in my scraps box. The Hedgehog topper cam off an old card so all I needed was a sentiment & some bling! It’s for hubby for our Anniversary which isn’t until September.

Thanks so much Michele for such an adorable Challenge card XXX

Karen 

Karen had created an amazing Christmas card for this weeks 'Decorative Paper' Challenge, I love the paper you have used, I have to say that I REALLY love that 'Film Strip' style die cut you have used for your tag. 

Karen's Description: 

Here’s a cc I might do another 

The silver mirror card came out - only seem to use mirror card at Christmas these days 

Patterned paper is from my stash I printed the sentiment 

Dies SW flag and Memory Box bauble 

The silver bow was in a pack that was my MIL’s

Card 2: 

''Here’s another cc SW Square and tag dies, Patterned paper from Lidl

Thanks so much Karen for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX

Cheryl 

A beautiful 'Patterned Paper '  card from Our Cheryl for this weeks challenge. 

Cheryl made the card using the gorgeous paper pad from Sara Davies, I believe it was called 'Vintage Lace Collection. 

Thank you so much Cheryl for taking part in this weeks challenge XXX 

Sonia 

Two stunning cards from our Sonia for this weeks Challenge, the Heartfelt Creations pad you have used is beautiful Sonia, I have those Justrite Sentiments somewhere, I forgot how lovely they are.

Sonia's Description:

Thank you for this challenge, it made me dig out my very old Heartfelt Creations paper pad. I created two cards using the papers along with some Amazing Paper Grace dies and the Tim Holtz butterfly. The sentiments are from JustRite stamps.

Thanks so much Sonia for two amazing cards XXX

Ladies, thank you so much for all of your amazing challenge cards, stand back and look at what an amazing display you have all created.  I am so grateful XXX

Have a lovely Sunday My Lovelies,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday featuring Michele's Magazine Review

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the weekend, the weather isn't the best, for us though, that's an opportunity to craft!!!

My first picture today is just breathtaking , Sophie's best pet portrait so far!! This is Lewis's (Sophie's partner) dog 'Dexter ' 

Dexter is a Visla, Sophie has caught his personality perfectly,  the portrait is a gift for Lewis's Mum. I know she will love it. Amazing job Sophie XXX

Michele's Magazine Review 

Hi Ladies, 

Diecutting Essentials has a gorgeous free gift this month-a Lily Die complete with edger.

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

First of a few features using the lovely free gift.

More inspiration.

More ideas-nice to see something different than cards.

Interview with Christina Griffiths who designed the Dies.

Dry Embossing using nesting Dies-I’m sure we’ve had a feature like this in another magazine!

Great look using paper.

Brilliant way to use small stamps-very impressive.

Succulents are very trendy right now-at lest these won’t need watering!

That’s all from me.

I’ve made the decision not to renew most of my magazine subscriptions-this is the only one with a couple of issues left. I’ll probably just keep this one as it’s my favourite technique. I found that I rarely looked at the magazines again and if I was honest, wouldn’t choose to have “bought “ the free gift that came with the magazines. Most of the freebies are unused so it got me thinking about my craft room & how full it is. I’ve had a harsh look at everything & will be having a mega destash sometime. I plan to create enough space in my craft room for another table which I can use for alternative crafts like felting or one of the many kits I’ve been bought as presents.
Anyway-that’s the plan in my head, if it ever happens is another thing entirely!!!

This is a small selection of the other crafty items I’ve accumulated.

Happy Crafting
Love Michele

Michele, we are going to miss your weekly feature, I am so very grateful that you have given so much of your precious time to share this amazing feature each week,  you should have been on commission as many of us have purchased magazines on the back of your review.  I look forward to seeing the reviews that you are still able to do, there will always be a spot open for you on my blog my lovely.   It looks like you are going to be super busy with all of your new projects, maybe you could review some of the kits you have tried?!  No pressure of course. Thanks so much Michele XXX 

Ladies I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra                                                                              xxxxxx