Another TicTacToe Challenge card.

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Well to be totally honest with you I was convinced that today was Wednesday!!! 🤪 I have no idea why, I usually lose a day not gain one! 

I'm not sure were yesterday disappeared too,  I spent the whole afternoon in my craft room, you know when you get an idea in your head and it doesn't matter what you try the reality doesn't match up to what you imagined, I ended up with a large pile of inky card bases ready for different projects.  It was fun getting inky tbough!

Today's card was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest,  for this card I used the Categories:  Pink/Flowers/Twine/Tag

I used Tim Holtz’s Wildflowers 2 die set as the main focus of the card.  I coloured the flower with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide spray, the stem and foliage were coloured with 'Mowed' Lawn' Distress Oxide  I also used that green through a stencil to create some interest in the background, I pressed some ink onto my mat and spritzed with water and used a fan brush to flick so splatters over the background. I added all the flowers and popped a die cut Tag adorned with a Picked Raspberry heart. I added some twine through the tag. To finish the card I stamped a sentiment in the bottom corner. 

I hope that you all have a warmer day (it was so cold here yesterday, we 'almost ' put the heating on! 

Sonia I hope your first day back at work is a good one xxx

Sending Love and hugs to you all,

Sandra                                                                                  xxxxxx 

TicTacToe Challenge card 2

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are well,  did you all get some rain yesterday? The heavens opened here in the afternoon,  I wouldn't be surprised if there were floods tomorrow!! We always have weather in extremes!! Too hot, too wet,  too windy !!! 🤣

Sue came over yesterday morning for a Cuppa and a catch up, it was so lovely to sit and chat, the time just flew by though and Sue's time is precious at the moment, hopefully we can do the same next week. 

Today's card Categories: clean & simple/ Sparkle/ tag 

I really love this 'Boho Indigo' collection,  the other cards I have made have all been blue/ cream, so this time I thought I would go Green/Cream picking up the gold from the leaves to give sparkle/shine. 

I die cut the vase in Garden Green and popped a tiny piece of Gold behind the little cut out detail at the top. I added the vase lifted on a foam square to a stitched label tag, I then placed some of the die cut leaves with a little gold branch to pick out the gold again, I matted this onto a really narrow piece  of gold mirror card. 

I used a Very Vanilla card base with a mat of Garden Green and then an embossed piece of Very Vanilla card, to finish the card I placed my vase focal piece onto the card base and then added the 'thank you' stamp onto the tag and popped it under the vase. 

I do love a clean and simple card, I hope you do too. 

I hope that you aren't getting too much rain in your area, 

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx 

 

My First TicTacToe Challenge card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Maria, I hope that you & Christian are feeling better today my lovely  xxx

Karen I am so sorry your appointment got cancelled,  it's so frustrating when that happens especially if you are like me and have to mentally prepare! xxx

Sonia I hope that you managed to get Barney an appointment at Vets yesterday,  ear infections are miserable for dogs too, poor Barney xxx

I spent the whole morning and a good part of the afternoon having a really good sort out in my craft room,  I still have areas that need attention but I made a start and needed to stop to make a card.

Today's card was made on my newly cleared desk!  I used Pink Frog 'Festive Pinecone' stamp set (that O treated myself to last week).  It has a long pine bough that I stamped twice to create a wreath, I stamped first in Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide, I then stamped again adding Ground Espresso DO to the pine cones. I love this colour combination 😍.   I added the 'Seasons Greetings ' from the same stamp set in the centre of the wreath.  I created a frame for the card with Phil Martin's 'Double Debossed Inverted Corner dies.   Luckily SU Coastal Cabana Card matches Evergreen Bough Distress ink, so I used that to Mat & Layer with Pink Frog True Brown card. A quick bow and a Tiny Pinecone finish the card.                                       .                           I used Categories:  Colouring/Wreath/ Ribbon 

I hope that you all have a good day, gentle hugs to those of you that need them, 

Love and hugs,

Sandra                                                                                  xxxxxx 

First TicTacToe: My Birthday card from Karen

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

I hope today finds you well, I am having a 'Tidy/Reorganise ' my craft room day today, so that I can see what I have got and not end up having to die cut on a pile of stuff on my craft mat !! 

We didn't go anywhere yesterday,  which was a shame as it turned out ti be a beautiful day.  We just felt too guilty buying fuel that someone could be desperate for, if only everyone thought like that !! We have a little local petrol station that has a delivery once every couple of weeks as its so rural but yesterday they had a delivery as the girls were going to work at 08.30am and it was closed as it had sold out by 5pm!  It's just ridiculous he has a little convenience store on the forecourt,  selling milk, bread etc the essentials but as there is no fuel he won't get people buying milk and bread either, so he has closed the shop too.  

Today's card is my absolutely STUNNING Birthday card from Karen, it has so much texture and detail I Don't know where to start! 

Karen's Description:

Inspired by Tracy Evans The Sparkle is gold dots and the gold is gilding flakes

It’s for a very special friend whose favourite colour is green! 🤣😂

Categories:  stencil/ Colouring/ Sparkle

I absolutely love my Birthday card Karen, thank you so much ❤ XXX 

Maria, I hope you feel a little better today my lovely XXX 

Sending love and Huge Hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

Your Challenge cards

 

 xxx Happy Birthday Cheryl xxx

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I hope today finds you well, I  sending gentle hugs to those of you that need one.

Paul and I had a relaxed day yesterday,  we are hoping to go visit a National Trust house today but that will depend on whether we are able to get fuel for the car!  I have seen so many news items stating that there is no fuel shortage yet people are still 'panic buying ' filling not only their cars but petrol cans too, that alone is what is running the petrol stations dry!! So stupid,  it's like 'Toilet roll " drama all over again!  I have read comments where people are queuing hours just to top their cars up!  

On a lighter note let's bring a smile to everyone's face by looking at your amazing Challenge cards...

Brenda

Brenda's Description:

This is my offering  for this week, the card  was a project I saw on This is my offering  for this week, the card  was a project I saw on Sweet Poppies website, a few minor changes and this is my take.  The stencil, die and glitter are all Sweet Poppy.

 I liked the clean fresh look, so decided to give it a try. Hope you like it.

Oh Wow Brenda what a stunning, Fresh, Clean & Crisp  looking design.  I absolutely love everything about your design.  Thank you so much for taking part XXX

Lilian

Lilian's Description:

Hello, here is my card for this week, 

I used tumbled glass oxide ink

Lavinia stencil and small corner holly stamp. 

The central stamp is an old freebie from a magazine.

Happy Christmas is stamping up tiny messages.

Oh Lilian,  I love everything about your card, that background is stunning,  the colour is perfect, it looks like a frosty winter morning,  I cannot believe that that beautiful Robin stamp with the gorgeous wreath isa Freebie, its beautiful and youchave enhanced it with your colouring. The pop of red on the berries and that pretty ribbon bow really add a festive touch.  Thank you so much for a lovely inspirational Challenge card XXX 

Janet 

Janet's Description:

My Challenge Cards this week are all 6x6 in size. The Mirror Card is TONIC and the Doilies are from my stash drawer.

All die cuts are SUE WILSON and are from her First Christmas dies (I think).

Wow Janet,  four fantastic Christmas cards for this weeks challenge, I love that you went back to some of the original Sue Wilson Christmas dies to create your cards, I think we should all sort back through our old dies from time to time, we quickly forget how lovely some of them are!  Thank you for 4 amazing cards and for inspiring me to get my old die box out! XXX 

Karen

Karen's Description:

Sue Wilson on a simple DL card

Gold mirror shadowed with black

A very modern style Christmas card from Karen for this week's Challenge,  I love how the black shadow tones down the gold,  it gives a lovely Clean and simple design a modern twist. Thank you so much Karen, I hope you had a lovely craft day with Kat yesterday XXX 

Maria 

Maria's Description:

1) this card is made with wrapping paper and a stamped sentiment

2) easy card with a sentiment die and black card behind has a kaleidoscope

    look.

3) tried to make a little shaker card which will have a ribbon at the top so can be hanged in the tree or made into a card...

Maria thank you so much for 3 amazing Challenge cards, your ideas are so inspirational, what a brilliant idea to use a wrapping paper that you love to make a matching Christmas card with,  I love that dark red paper.  I need to know who makes that sentiment die please Maria, I love it, such a lovely Sentiment,  I love the modern design you have created with it too. Finally, how adorable is that cute fox image, I love that you have framed him in a shaker card, as you say it would work for a tree ornament or add a stand and have it as Shaker card.  Three lovely,  inspirational ideas, thanks again my lovely XXX 

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

On the first card, I part embossed a piece of Kraft card (using a Sue Wilson folder) and went over the embossed area with a white ink pad. I attached a piece of ribbon to cover the edge of the embossing and added two die cut snowflakes. The stamped sentiment and die are from Reverse Confetti. 

My second card is red and green. I used the Memory Box Catalina Wreath die, and Britannia Dies poinsettia. The sentiment is from LOTV.

As you know Our Sonia has been away this week celebrating her Silver Wedding Anniversary,  so I have picked out a couple of cards from a year or so ago, Sonia thank you for always supporting the Blog Challenges every week, I really do appreciate it XXX 

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

Thank you so much Ladies for a lovely display of Christmas cards, have any of you made most of your Christmas cards yet?  I haven't really started if I'm honest, just the odd few for Challenges.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, 

Love and huge hugs to all,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

What do you all have planned for the weekend?  We are having a relaxing day today and then hoping to do a National Trust house tomorrow, we will take a picnic lunch, the food was terrible at Dyrham park, I have never eaten such a stale Coffee & Walnut cake, it wasn't cheap either!  So the flask will be dug out of the cupboard, I love a Picnic if I'm honest. 

I have some amazing creativity to share with you all today 

Janet 

Janet has made these three beautiful little Christmas cottages,  They are so lovely, you have added some pretty embellishments that make them even more beautiful.  Thank you so much for sharing xxx

Janet's Description:

I have included a set of three Houses for Mixed Up Saturday which follow the Challenge theme for this week.

They are LABLANCHE and come flat packed (set of five in a pack).I covered each one with STAMPERIA papers and decorated with bits and pieces from my stash..

Karen

Karen made these amazing Bottle Tags  for her Daughters Friend, they are to go on top of a mini Bottle of Prosecco, so everyone can pop the cork when the baby arrives, what a lovely idea Karen.   I love your lovely design and the mixed font sentiment 😍 XXX 

Karen used her new 'Miss P Loves' (by Paula Pascual) Boundless Album die set to create this lovely mini album of her trip to Waddesdon Manor,  such a brilliant idea Karen,  we joined the National Trust before we went away so i could do one of these for each house we visit .  

Karen's Description:

At long last I have finished my mini Miss P Loves boundless journal 

It is very basic and made it before I bought the accessories.

I hope to do some with grandchildren days out.

They are the perfect size for photos of a day out.  Thanks d

So nuch for sharing Karen XXX 

Michele 

Michele & Phil went for a walk into Ainsdale the other day and Michele took these photographs of an omd derilct building that has been given a HUGE facelift by a local artist.  Michele says that this is the second largest Mural in the UK.  You have to enlarge them to see the incredible detail that the artist has included.  

Michele's Description:

The painting on the derelict building is really starting to look amazing-the 2 sand lizards are called Ainsley & Dale = Ainsdale! The artist was still working on it just now.

Thanks for sharing this amazing piece of artwork Michele XXX

That's all for today my lovelies, 

I hope you have a lovely weekend, 

Love and huge hugs to all of you  

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

I know its 'swear word' day for some of you,  I felt restless so got mine done yesterday,  which as it turns out is a good thing because Lucy has taken some leave days and asked if I would go to Ikea qith her, so I am really looking forward to that, I love going to IKEA,  no doubt I will find a few things to buy.

Your Next Challenge 

I thought that we would have a go at a TicTacToe for a change this week, mostly because I just couldn't decide on a particular Challenge, so get your thinking caps on girls! 

This particular Grid has some great choices, the Sparkle and Wreath could be perfect for Christmas cards,  colouring, stencil (which would also include masks etc) would work for absolutely ANYTHING . I have a few ideas rattling around in my brain, which is progress lately!! All i got to do is remember them now! 🤣😂  

I can't wait to see what you all create Ladies xxx

I hope that you all have as good a day as possible (bearing in mind its Housework day)!

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra                                                                              xxxxxx 

Another Christmas Challenge card.

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope today finds you all well, those of you that aren't feeling 100% I am sending gentle hugs your way. 🤗

I managed to get hold of the 'Muskat' Clinic (musculoskeletal clinic) to ask why they didn't call Tuesday 08 15am, they said that they did !! (They didn't), I said that I was sat with my mobile,  house phone and laptop and heard nothing, she said that they 'withhold their number' so my house phone 'probably didn't accept' their call!  I was so cross, because I was awake half the night stressing about the video consultation! I replied with "so I can receive calls from down town Kolkata in India, telling me that my Internet is going to be cut off or someone has used my Amazon account ' but my phone won't accept an NHS call??!! She didn't know what to say, she then said she'd look for another appointment, asked me if i was ok as i was heavy breathing!! I explained that stress exacerbates my heart condition,  so could she call me back with appointment,  which she did, 5 minutes later,  I answered and said 'oh it accepted the call ok' she went on to explain that they hadn't got any appointments at the moment,  so have put me on the waiting list !!  I honestly think that they had no intention of calling me on Tuesday,  by keep offering appointments and cancelling it looks on paper like you are being seen so statistically you aren't being kept waiting,  very sneaky and very bloody annoying!! 

Now on today's card, I have to say that I am relieved to actually get a card made for the first time since 16th of August,  I have been coming into my craft room but can't concentrate as there are so many reminders if my lovely friend in here and it just hurts. I am ok when Paul is in here with me as we obviously chat while we are both doing our thing.  Anyway I actually got a card made which is a step in the right direction!! 

I used the SU Tidings & Trimmings Stamp & Die set, the paper is from the same collection, its in lovely shades of green with a pop of Cherry Cobbler!  I used a new green card called 'Evening Evergreen' which is a lovely deep dark green for my base card,  I stamped some of the foliage sprigs onto the base card in matching ink for a bit more detail,  I did cut some matching foliage and added that too and then placed a raised mat of the Dsp on top, I stamped and die cut the Stockings and Ribbon and stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler onto a piece of super smooth card, I adhered the Stockings to the white mat and topped with die cut bow. For extra texture I added a piece of Evening Evergreen plaited ribbon and placed the top layer slightly over it.  I quite like the card, I love the pattern on the Stockings too.  The card was totally inspired by a Catalogue inspiration but you got to start somewhere when you're on a rut !! 

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to a of you, 

Sandra                                                                              xxxxxx 

Another Christmas Kit Card

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

Thank you for your suggestions yesterday I will give anything a try!! 

I was up ready and waiting for my appointment yesterday morning but heard nothing, no message, no call, nothing.   I went back and checked my NHS app and it just says 'Referral Expired ' , no evidence of my appointment anymore, I was bloody furious,  I tried 3 times before we went on holiday to book an appointment but it just kept saying 'No Appointments Available ' there is a number on the app so I will call today and try to get some answers.

It was lovely getting out with the girls yesterday,  we had our hair cut and had a look round the shops in our old town. We had to stop at the Bakers for a cake for afternoon tea, it would have been rudenot too!  We got home and relaxed for a couple of hours before going to the Cinema to see 'Respect' the girls are so excited to see it !  It was a lovely day 😊

Today's card is another Christmas card from the bargain 'Joy to the World' kit that I bought a while ago, sadly they are no longer available to buy. 

I chopped one of the card bases down to make a small square card, I used Real Red to create the mats and a different piece of Embossed card for the background to the Wreath, I used the Red twine in the kit to create a bow around the wreath, I used the 'Joy To the world'  sentiment this time as it worked better with the smaller card, I actually really like that sentiment too!  Another quick and simple card. 

I hope that you all have a great day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx 

 

Congratulations On Your Silver

Wedding Anniversary

Sonia & Mark

Good Morning Ladies,

Please join me in Congratulating our lovely Sonia and her husband Mark on their Silver Wedding anniversary.  Your little Lodge looked absolutely stunning Sonia, I hope you got to sit in that hot tub last night. I hope you have a truly lovely few days to yourselves xxx

I hope that you are well, we had another sunny day yesterday, so we managed to get a few more garden jobs done when Paul got back from work.  I went and sat in my craft room this morning, but being in their on my own just felt strange, I just couldn't get my mind off of Danielle, we would often Facetime while we were both crafting or if not that she would be on the phone on speaker and we would craft together, or in later times we would just talk. My craft room just feels empty and I don't know how to get past it, I thought about having a move around but there isn't that much room to manoeuvre. Any suggestions, I did sit and try positive thinking, I also put Craft Tv on as a distraction but it didn't help maybe it was because it was the first day. 

Today I have a Video Consultation for my Hip with a Nurse Practitioner at 8.15am and then we are going to have our hair cut, so today will be a little brighter (after the appointment)!! 

 

These cards I made using the free papers I got with a Papercraft Inspirations magazine, they are Trimcraft papers and in have to say they are an exceptional quality, I would definitely buy them.
I chose this particular paper as I thought it had a snowy background and would work perfectly with the 'Precious Marieke Winterfun Border', with its swirling snowflake design.
I took a white card base and added a mat of silver mirror card, then added the lovely decorative paper. I die cut two of the borders, placed them back to back across the middle of the card, I then added a piece of Foil edged ribbon across the centre and topped with a strip silver of sequin trim.  I finished this with a bow topped with a silver Snowflake.  A simple 'Merry Christmas' is all the finishing the card needed.

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

My First Christmas Challenge card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

Firstly today I want to Wish our Sonia and Mark a lovely holiday, enjoy the special time together! Send us some photos of Tintern Abbey, it looks amazing.  Enjoy your lunch too 😘

Back to normal in our house today, Paul's offin to work this morning,  he's on earlies though so will be home early afternoon!! We finally got our Day Two Covid Tests back over the weekend,  not sure how these 'Priority Mail'boxes work, the samples were in 24hr tracked boxes, we posted them Thursday morning,  the lab received them at 00.51 Sunday Morning!! We had to drive 5 miles to find a 'Priority Mail box' we may as well posted them in the village!!  The good news is they were both Negative ( which we knew)!  Janet, thankfully you won't have to do the expensive tests when you go!! I will be spending the morning at my desk I think, we'll see how it goes! 

Today's card is another card that I made before I went on holiday, I bought a SU Boxed Kit from the sale section, you get everything you need to make quite a few cards, including mini stamp pads, stamps, cards & envelopes and embellishments.  

I quite like the Gold shine on the Kraft background,  so I think I will be extra frugal and cut these base cards in half so that I can get two cards out of each base (by matting onto a plain base card).  The wreath die cuts are included you just have to stamp onto them (which was a bit of a faff)! I popped some foam pads on back of wreath and placed onto that lovely embossed white card, then onto real red mat and then onto base card. I added some twine and stamped the sentiment and matted and layered that too to complete the 'Love to You & Yours' sentiment.  Very quick and easy and quite effective I think. 

I hope that you all have a great Day,

Love and Hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                  xxxxxx 

Your Challenge Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

Here we are at your favourite day of the week, it's mine too, nothing gives me more pleasure than sharing your work. 

We spent yesterday getting the garden tidied up, the grass and brambles were out of control!  It was very satisfying seeing the transformation! 

Now lets look at what you have all been making:

Brenda 

Brenda's Description:  

"I’ve been busy making cards and notelets this week, my first card is 6 x 6 I made it for an elderly friend who had a fall recently, no serious damage but she was very shaken up.  My colour blending needs to be worked on, but as they say in primary school I’m working towards !

The stamp is from Honey Doo and I used my Copics to colour it.

This next set is for my sister she is always looking for low cat items as gifts.
Hope she likes these.  Characters from Lily of the Valley.
The notelets

This next set I gave her the cards and wallet a few weeks ago when I went up to Loughborough, they were for her to use as a gift, but she said she was keeping them for herself.

Brenda what an absolutely gorgeous collection of Cards and Notelets,  you can't go wrong with the beautiful Lilli Of The Valley images, they are so adorable and perfect for many different occasions.  I'm sure Anne was over the moon with them. Thank you so much Brenda for such an incredible collection of challenge cards  XXX 

Janet

Janet's Description:

My Challenge Cards for this week are all 6x6 in size.

The main pictures on the cards are from a 'VINTAGE PHOTO SET' from MIXEDMEDIA CRAFT O'CLOCK.

The backing die cut for my first card is a TONIC die.

The second and third backing die cuts are HEARTFELT EXPRESSIONS.

Janet I can totally understand why you love the vintage style so much, it's just timeless,  it's a style that has been around for years and just grown, yoy can keep it simple or add as much ephemera as you want and is perfect for a card no matter the season or gender!  Thank you for 3 amazing vintage challenge Cards. XXX 

Karen 

Karen's Description:

"Here are 2 cc

The first are 6x6 on Christmas cards - thank goodness for stamping platforms 🤣

Set 2:

The 2nd are 3x3 in pieces of card that I will turn into toppers or tags Tracy Evans Ticketed Snippets and the sentiment from a may

Two lovely Notelet sets Karen,  such an amazing idea to use the Tracy Evans Ticket stamps, they are the perfect size and the images aren't specific to one theme, so perfect for notelets. 

I love the die you have used for the first set too, adding the three little dots makes such a difference to the design too.  Thank you so much for 12 incredible challenge cards. XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

"Hi, here are my small cards for this weeks challenge. Had to clear my desk of all the clutter to find room to take pics.

Sorry they are old stamps that I have had for years, flowers coloured with water colour pens, lighthouse cards coloured with intense pencils plus some oxides for the background.

Two beautiful little Notelet sets, the first set with the beautiful floral spray, I love the idea of adding the matching colour ribbon to give the little touch of luxury.

The srcond set is so stunning,  I absolutely love that scene, like a view from a seaside cottage window, all beautifully coloured. Thank you so very much for taking part Lilian XXX

Maria

Maria's Description:

"

Oh wow Maria thank you so much for 4 stunning cards for this weeks challenge,  they are perfect, all so pretty, I love the Wisteria stamp, lovely colours and those little corners are the perfect finishing touch.  The butterfly is so atriking against that lovely coloured background,  such lacy wings too!! Card 1 is brilliant,  I love the modern mixed media style.  Finally that beautiful mixed media background embellished with the tone on tone flowers is amazing.   Thank you so much again my lovely XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

"I die cut a Memory Box flower and coloured some of the petals with Distress Oxides and placed them back within. I’ve used Pickled Raspberry, Speckled Egg, Mermaid Lagoon and Seedless Preserves. The sentiment is from The Stamp Market."

Oh Sonia Such a beautiful,  Clean & Simple design that really works, Iove how you have only covered some of the petals , it gives a more striking effect, a stunning card as always, thank you so much XXX

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

Thank you so much Ladies for such a stunning display of cards, so many lovely ideas, you are all so incredibly creative. 😍

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx