A real Sparkle & Shine Challenge card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

Thank you for all of your kind and thoughtful words yesterday, it's such a comfort knowing I have you all to talk to. ❤

I had a very lazy day yesterday,  partly because it was so cold but mainly because my body really didn't want to move, I think you just keep pushing your body but as soon as you stop your body just ceases up, well mine definitely did, I needed help to get to the toilet,  Paul bought me some tea and toast at 6.00am to save me having to get up, it was an early breakfast but I was awake anyway.  He thought the girls were going to work but the Park was closed due to ice and frozen hard snow, so I had them home to help me thankfully.  They are great company too, Lucy nade some Rocky Road Tiffin in the afternoon,  she enjoys baking where Sophie prefers cooking savory dishes, the perfect balance! 

Today's card I made when I eventually made it into my craft room yesterday afternoon!  I used Stampin Up Keepsake Ornaments stamps for the focal point, I stamped it in Misty Moonlight ink, I stamped the sentiment in the aame colour and I added some Diamanté Sparkles to the detail areas on the bauble, I added some Misty Moonlight/White sparkle twine to hang my bauble from and to make a triple bow for the top of the bauble, I trimmed it with a Diamante crystal too.  The final finishing touch was some tiny sparkles around the sentiment.

A close up of the sparkles ! 

Tomorrow I will sharing Our Lilian's Challenge card from last week, I totally missed it on Saturday,  maybe because I was writing the blog in the car on route to Devon! I am sorry I missed it my lovely,  Tomorrow it will be on display,  it's amazing! 

I hope that you all have a good day,

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra                                                                                  xxxxxx 

Hello Monday

 

Good Monday Morning, 

I hope today finds you well rested after the weekend.  To be honest Paul and I are both mentally a physically exhausted.  I think that when you are used to seeing a parent super fit and healthy it comes as a huge shock the first time you see them really suffering. When we arrived on Saturday, I could see Paul was shocked, in fact he really didn't say too much the hour we were there, quite understandably FIL was very negative too, he  wasn't open to any suggestions of things we suggested to do,  we thought (for instance) that we could get him a Tablet that had the Kindle App so that he could read books,  which he has always enjoyed,  we could get a stand to set it on so that all he had to do was swipe the screen to turn the page, luckily he is left handed, (the tumour has affected the right side ), so he can't hold a book, he always read the Guardian too but can no longer do that either, we suggested that we got him one with internet access so that so that he could read the Newspaper online, but he seemed to think that the home wouldn't like him to have Internet access ( I can't think why). I think i might call and ask as I think if he could Zoom, Facetime or Skype his family and friends it would do him good.  He was a bit brighter on Sunday afternoon,  a bit more chatty, he was saying that he would like to know his prognosis, they haven't given him a time (life expectancy) or how bad he will get, he said that he insisted on a DNR. His care and treatment do seem to have been poorly managed, he doesn't even know the name of the Cancer he has, how advanced it is,  there seems to be a habit of their generation that they don't like asking, for help or information.   We could see he was really uncomfortable yesterday, partly from his pressure sores but he said his neck was hurting from the angle he was sat at, Paul said do you want another pillow, he said it would be helpful so Paul went and asked the carers and got one, then readjusted him and he was much more comfortable,  I wonder why he hadn't asked?!.

Anyway let's move on to today's card, The sparkle is on the Dragonfly Wings, although proved impossible to show!  The stamp set is a SU set called Dragonfly Garden,  I stamped the background Script from Very Versaille stamp set in yellow and then added the floral stamp in Night of Navy over the top, I stamped the Dragonfly in Navy too and used the matching punch to cut it out  I added wink of stella sparkle pen to his wings and attached him with foam pads. I matted the piece onto Navy card and onto a white card base. 

That's all for today my dear friends,  

I hope that you all manage a good day,

Love and warm hugs to you all,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

Your Clean & Simple Challenge Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

Greetings from a very chilly Paignton, we set off in heavy snow yesterday but as we got on the M5 we needed our sunglasses on!  Never have been so pleased that our car has heated seats, firstly because they are leather so they are really cold to sit on early morning, secondly I found the heat quite soothing on my joints. I did have to turn it off after half hour as I was getting too warm 😳!!

The traffic around Cribbs Causeway was really busy but I imagine it was Christmas shoppers looking for a 'Black Friday ' bargain!! I have never known two words trigger Paul more, it seems to make him really angry, in his words 'We aren't American'!!

Did any of you buy any BF Bargains??,

Your Clean and simple cards 

Sonia

Sonia's Description:

1& 2:

I’ve used Tim Holtz snowflake die. The first card with Speckled Egg distress oxide inked on card behind the snowflake. The sentiment is from a Woodware stamp. I added a Pearl to the centre.

The second card I added a die cut star, and the sentiment is from my stash.

3:

I used a Penny Black cling stamp and added the die cut star. I thought it looked better without a sentiment.

4:

Ive used a selection of Inkylicious snowflakes, stamped and heat embossed in white. I inked my card with Dusty Concord and Tumbled Glass distress inks. I added the two vellum Christmas Roses from Chloe’s, inked on the backs in Milled Lavender. The sentiment is from LOTV, and the centres are peel offs.

5:

Not sure where the snowmen stamp is from, but found it in my stash! Coloured with ProMarkers. The hill border die is Mama Elephant (I think) The piece of backing card is inked in Stormy Sky distress ink. The snowflake is Joy Crafts and sentiment LOTV.

Sonia WOW!!! 5 stunning Clean & Simple Challenge cards.  They are all so beautiful from the gorgeous Simple Snowflake cards down to that adorable collection of Snowmen, you think a group is called a 'Flurry of Snowmen' ?🤣😂

Thank you so very much for an incredible display of cards XXX 

Karen

 Karen's Description:

Here are 2 quick and easy CC 

SueW die cut in white and copper card

Card 2:

Here’s a 3rd cc 

Another SueW edger die and sentiment on a piece of Clarity card that has been embossed with a CE folder

I was going to paper piece the poinsettia but then thought it wouldn’t fit CAS for the faffing

Karen I love your designs,  adding that embossed card under the Poinsettia card makes such a difference, the card looks more luxurious! I absolutely love the adorable Reindeer cards, the way the are arranged the deers works so brilliantly. 

Thank you so much for 3 amazing Challenge cards XXX 

Janet

A selection of amazing Stamped Clean & Simple cards from Janet for this weeks challenge.

I love al of these stsmped images, especially those lovely Snowmen! 

Thank you much Janet XXX 

Maria 

Maria's Descriptions: 

1/ Kraft card, Poinsettia red embossed, Snowflakes and Candles made in Silver card.

2/ Snow embossed yellow card, Ribbon frame and an old decoupaged teddy with flowers.

3/ well I planned a white on white card but it does not look right for me so I 

used some red pins and a ribbon with some hearts.

We don't give many presents anymore, only just Molly and Louis really but

I thought I make some 4"x4" cards for their prezzies this year so I started

off with some different colours of DO and then I stamped a Santa in the

red one.  Made a hot coffee in the purple one 

Bell on blue splodge of DO and the Butterfly on green(going to put some 

crystals down the spine) is going with the present for my sister-in-law for 

her birthday on the 1st of January.

Oh WOW Maria,  7 amazing Clean & Simple Challenge cards!!! They are all so lovely,  I love the cute ones for Louis & Molly ! Thank you so much for so many amazing Challenge cards. XXX 

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Wow Ladies, what an incredible display this week, so many amazing cards, all completely different,  you must all be making a dent in your Christmas card lists by now. Thank you all so much ❤ 

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

How are we all this Saturday Morning?  What are you all up to this weekend?  

We are all packed up ready to set off for Brixham, we are staying at a hotel in Paignton tonight, Brixham was mostly Guest Houses/B&B's that didn't cater for disabled/wheelchair customers,  there is no way I could manage stairs these days with the deterioration of my knee and left hip. So we have a hotel with a view of the sea, so expensive though, we are staying at a Travel Lodge, the one in Paignton is more expensive than the one we stayed at in Covent Garden! 

It will lovely to spend time with Paul's parent's though, it's sad to think they won't be coming and staying with us anymore.  Anyway I must go and get ready,  or we will never get on the road.

First up today is the Amazing card that Karen made for Paul to Congratulation him on getting his job, he was so touched by your kindness Karen, thank you so much xxx

Maria

Maria has shared some of her absolutely gorgeous Diamond Paintings, Maria I cannot believe how beautiful these are, so much detail,  I think my favourite is the Wreath one,  it would make such a beautiful Christmas decoration. The first one would like beautiful framed for a bedroom. How cute is that little Robin too, they have come on so far since the first ones I saw, the level of detail is amazing.

Maria's Description:

I have also made some A 4 x-mas cards

with crystal art and funny enough I got 2 of the wreath and it's pretty so might be keeping one on the fireplace 😉 with the other decorations .

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful Crystal paintings Maria XXX

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

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Your Next Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

Well here we are at the beginning of the last weekend of November, I literally can't believe it, November has gone so fast, it doesn't seem like it's been 6 months since Paul put all of the Advent Calendars etc up in the loft after last Christmas. We aren't going to do Calendars for all of them here this year, I am going to package the chocolates etc and their calendars in bags and they can have them at their own houses, mainly because they don't get opened here as the older two are too busy to keep popping in. So it will look sad this year just seeing Sophie and Lucy's Calendars with Paul's of course, I was thinking of doing one for Milo and Bella, just a single treat each every day, Paul and the girls looked at me like I had lost the plot when I suggested it !!!!

Your Next Challenge

I was really struggling for a Challenge Idea for this week, mostly because I was pre-occupied stressing about my  Covid Booster, I know it won't hurt but I am concerned about the after effects with my heart problems, as we are travelling down to Devon tomorrow! Fingers crossed I will feel fine !!🤞

Now the Challenge I eventually decided on is 'Sparkle & Shine', I chose this for the challenge because it can be used on cards for any occasion, you can use Glitter, Gilding flakes, Embossing powders, Glossy accents, Sparkle pens, Sparkle Sprays, as I look at the door that has all my mediums on I can see so much sparkle and shine!!  

You literally can make cards for any occasion, even mixed media like our Tracy Evans fans, we often add Glossy accents etc to those cards too. I have probably just about finished my Christmas cards (apart from a few Special ones) so I know that some of you might want to make cards for other occasions, on the other hand some of you might still have Christmas cards to make, so I think that this works for all of us. 

I just want you to know that I do try and think of you all when I choose the Challenges.

I want to send some Special Hugs today, to those of you feeling under the weather, to our Absent Friends too. An Extra Special Hug for Our Karen, my thoughts are with you today my lovely xxx

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                                                                                          xxxxxx

A Throwback Clean & Simple card

 

 Good Morning Ladies, 

How are we all this chilly Thursday morning?  We had a bright sunny day yesterday,  it was chilly though,  I saw a forecast that mentioned snow by the weekend,  if we do get any I hope its only light as we are driving down to Devon for the weekend to visit Paul's parents, Paul's Dad has not had the best treatment in his Nursing home,  he hasn't had an air mattress so has developed pressure sores, Paul's Mum has insisted on a meeting with his Consultant to lay out exactly what care he needs, on Sunday for tea he was given a bowl of Mashed Potato, nothing with it or on it, just dry mashed potato,  which he quite rightly complained about,  they said that he was down as only having 'soft diet' and that's all they had that was 'soft', he listed all the other things he had eaten in the few weeks he's been in there that wasn't 'soft'. Hopefully the zoom meeting with Consultant will sort everything out. So frustrating for everyone. 

Today's card is a 'Throwback' card that is definitely a 'Clean & Simple ' card. Here is a description of how it was made......

Today's card is quite a simple design, I die cut a large snowflake ❄ out of a 5 inch square piece of card, I then die cut the same snowflake in Mint Macaron glitter card. The next step was to cut my mats and layers, I used Mint Macaron as the first layer cut to 5 1/4 X  5 1/4, then my card base was 5 1/2 X 5 1/2. I adhered the layers together and then sat and started the painstakingly long task of placing all of the tiny little elements of the glittered snowflake pieces back into the little apertures. I did consider just adding a piece of the glitter card behind the front piece but I don't think it would have looked as 'finished'.  To finish he look of the Snowflake I added a clear diamante to the centre of the Snowflake.  The sentiment I have used is from the Snowflake Wishes stamp set, I think it worked quite well with the sparkly Snowflake.

I hope that you all have a lovely day, I have my Booster jab today, fingers crossed I don't get any side effects as we are going away on Saturday. 

Sending love and huge hugs to all of you, 

Sandra 

xxxxxx

CAS Challenge Card 3

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all well, I was relieved to read that we aren't the only ones that aren't organised as far as Christmas is concerned,  at the moment I'm not to worried about it, but I bet as soon as we hit December NEXT week!! I will be starting to worry!

Yesterday flew by, Sophie and I went to have our hair coloured in the morning and we were waiting for the Sky  engineer to come to fix our tv service, we haven't been able to watch a few channels for a few weeks, this last weekend it got a lot worse, bet eeh, the make you do so many things before you can get to the 'call an engineer ' stage, we re-booted, reconfigured,  re...put all the cables in and out again, then we got the booking! I said to Paul 'you are sure the Dish is ok on the side if the house, he said yes its fine, not obscured by anything!! The chap arrived, I showed him where the dish was and waited for him to come in to look at the Sky Box and Tv, well he came straight back in and said I know the problem,  I said oh, is something wrong with the dish?, no he said the dish is fine,  its the very tall Budlea bush infront of it thats causing the issue,  (I my head I was shouting Paul's name), anyway he said he would give the box a thorough check over  which he did, he even gave me a new controller, that you talk in to !! Technology EH!! He was a lovely man, he stayed and had a cup of tea and gave me a really useful tutorial,  so I am now the Sky Guru !!🤣😂🤣

Today's card is my favourite colour combination, I made a Poinsettia using vellum with my Heartfelt Creations Poinsettia stamp and die set to create the components for my Poinsettia.  I used Old Olive card to make the base card, I then used a Phil Martin die to cut the scalloped edge rectangle for the decorative part at the top of my card.  I stamped 'Seasons Greetings ' at the bottom of the card base and heat set with white embossing powder (same as Poinsettia). I then added my Poinsettia,  starting with the Old Olive foliage,  finishing with the vellum layers, I tried a few different options for the centre of the Poinsettias but most looked too heavy, so I used 4 small pearls. 

I hope that you all have a good day, wrap up warm my lovelies, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

CAS Challenge card 2

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

It was so lovely to read that so many of you also had a lovely relaxing weekend.   This whole year feels like it has been busy and rushed, I hate to say it but I actually enjoyed the forced restrictions of Lockdown when we were very limited to where we could go etc, meaning that we all had a lot more relaxation time, the only thing I missed was seeing our Matt & Becca.  Last year we couldn't go out to busy, crowded shops to do Christmas shopping and this year I really don't want to, I don't feel like we went without anything last year to be honest, so I think we are going to keep it simple this year too, it looks like it will be just the 4 of us again this Christmas which is perfectly ok with me, I think Matt felt bad when we were discussing Christmas this weekend but I said to him that he and Alex only have Christmas Day off together,  I know that he loves cooking too so it would be lovely for him to just the spend with Alex especially as she is back in work on Boxing day, Becca and Adam weren't sure if they are working or not, if they aren't they are going to Adam's parents, if Adam works and Becca doesn't she will come over for a few hours I think.  Have you all made your plans already??

Today's cards were inspired by Pinterest,  I made the large (6x6) first, used Anna Marie card for star behind deer, Deer is a SU die cut, I embossed the background of that card with the 'Timber' SU embossing folder,  I added a little vintage photo around the edges of the card and around the Deer 🦌.  I wasn't sure if I liked the larger version so I decided to make a 4x4 inch version, I used the 'Subtle ' embossing folder this time, (it gives card the look of linen). The wood effect paper is an old SU paper, the Reindeer is a Spellbinders die this time. I finished him off with a little red nose and a matching red dot on the embossed flourish on hos bottom! 

Two very simple cards, perfect for the Men in our lives, I would send this to my Brother for instance. 

I hope that you all have a good day, we are at Hairdressers this morning and have the Sky Engineer out this afternoon,  exciting day eh?! 

Sending love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra                                                                                  xxxxxx                                                                              

My First C&S Challenge card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that some of you managed to rest and recuperate over the weekend, we certainly did,  it did us both good, Paul made me laugh yesterday afternoon,  we were just about to go and start dinner (we have our roast late on Sunday as girls are working). Anyway he yawned and said (it's tiring this relaxing business ") I have to say I agree with him, we both just wanted to stay snuggled up on sofa, neither of us had the energy to get motivated.  But we did and we had a delicious roast beef dinner, with everyone's favourite bits,  the girls like Cauliflower cheese, (Paul adds double cream and extra mozzarella to his cheese sauce and the girls can't get enough), honey roast Parsnips and carrots, Roast potatoes (always in beef dripping), spring greens, green beans, a little bit of Mash (because that's mum's favourite with beef) and Yorkshire puddings and the best Beef gravy!  I always prepare something for dessert but we are always too full.  

Now onto today's cards, they feature a stamp that I bought from 'Inkwell Stamps', it's called 'Distant Trees', to me it's a following the 🌟 Star Christmas type stamp so that's what I have used it as, I have to say that I love the simplicity of the stamp design.  So I kept the card simple,  I stamped the image onto Night of Navy and Evening Evergreen card, embossed the Navy with Silver and the Green with Gold embossing powder, matted onto a piece of matching mirror card and then onto the same colour card bases, both cards measured 4 x 4 inches. A very simple design but I think it works.

I hope that you all have a positive start to the week,

Sending love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra                                                                                xxxxxx 

Your TicTacToe Challenge Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

I really hope that those of you that are exhausted after a busy week, whether it was working or just life exhausting you with pain or stress or a combination of the two get to relax today,  take some time for yourselves.  I had that kind of day yesterday,  we relaxed, did a few little jobs and I even did a bit of crafting.

So let's get to the best part of the week.....

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Here is my card for this week, I used Stamperia papers, and inks for the back drop.

What a stunning Santa, such a beautiful imaged, those papers are stunning too. The little trees are so detailed  perfect for your little forest scene.  Thank you so much for a lovely challenge card Lilian XXX

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:

Hi. Here’s my card 

Die cut/Patterned paper/Embossing 

The paper was from my stash, part of a 12x12 pad. I heat embossed Sue Wilson’s snowflake border, and the sentiment. The die cut houses and trees are from Mama Elephant, coloured with Stormy Sky and Iced Spruce distress inks. The tiny snowflakes are from a Tonic punch.

Sonia you are the queen of using your older dies and giving them a real modern twist, I have that SW border die but totally forget to use it, I love everything about your card from the amazing colour, the lovely stamped background and especially for how you have made that old die cut look like a fancy bridge, thank you for a stunning Challenge card XXX 

Karen

Here’s my offering for this week: 

Die-cut/colouring tool/embellishments 

I have used mirri, pale blue and pale grey for the glasses coming to the conclusion I like the pale grey from Lidl 

with chameleon pens and coloured glass for the drinks parts

I intend to write on the back what I used for future reference 

Karen has been playing with her new dies this week, I love their quirky look. I must say that your colouring with those Chameleon pens is seamless, so perfectly blended that they look printed.  Tjank you for taking part in the Challenge Karen. XXX

Janet

Two beautiful cards from Janet that are perfect for these week's Challenge:

The first card uses Categories : Green/Ribbon/Die cut.

Such a lovely Christmas card, you couldn't pick a better colour! 😉 that die cut is so detailed, the card needs nothing more than that simple bow. 

Card 2: Fancy Fold/Red/Die cut

Such a beautiful design Janet,  the background paper is so pretty,  the Poinsettias and Holly sprigs work perfectly to embellish it. Thank you so much for sharing two amazing cards, I hope you are feeling better my lovely XXXXXX 

Maria

Maria's Description:

Red/Fancy Fold/Embellishments 

Maria used her Bit Box for her Challenge card this week...

" I cut out the Fancy Fold card, used Red paper to cover and a small

  Twine ribbon to hold the Greeting"     

Maria you have more patience than I do,  I love the look of shutter cards but cutting the decorative paper to fit the very precise size is just too tedious for me, Don't get me wrong, they do have the Wow factor but they are hard work.  The red and gold paper you have used is lovely and the embellishments you have used work really well, thank you so very much for taking part my lovely XXX 

Brenda

Brenda has used Categories:

Red/Embossing/Ribbon

For her fantastic Challenge card, using that lovely embossing folder to create an ornate corner to use as a starting point for the lovely design, the paper you have used for the parcels is beautiful,  such a vibrant green colour too, as always with Brenda the bows are perfectly tied!! Brenda thank you so much for taking part, I wasn't expecting a card as you have had a lot on this week. Sending hugs, I hope you get to relax today XXX

Sue

Sue has designed a stunning Christmas card for our TicTacToe Challenge this week, using Categories: Twine/Red/Die cut.

Wow Sue what a stunning card, I love how you have used the Snowfall Acetate, what an amazing design,  that Sentiment is lovely too and is the perfect size to be the focal point of your card. That lovely red/white striped bakers twine creates the perfect edger with those snowflakes! WOW Sue, thank you SO much for taking part XXX

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Ladies thank you all so much for taking part, I know you are all getting busier as we get nearer Christmas,  so please know that I appreciate you more now than ever. X❤X

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

Sending Love and hugs to all if you,

Sandra 

xxxxxx