Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,

Well we've had so much 🌧 rain the Thames is at bursting point once again, we have rain forecast for most of this weekend too, apart from a brief window tomorrow afternoon.  So our garden plans have changed , we will have to 'pot on' all of the seedlings in the kitchen  luckily we have a big tray that you use in your greenhouse for potting up.  I don't want to leave them to get leggy or die off.  They are mostly herbs and Cat mint and some sweet peas.  We also want to sow some mixed salad leaves too.  Apart from that we have nothing much planned. 

Lucy shared this cute photo of Ceaser, she was laughing while she was telling us that they have been having fun with the Maids that clean there room, she says that they put ceasar in a chair or in the bathroom, somewhere fun,  she says that everytime they come back to the room the Maids have placed Ceasar in fun scenarios,  like this one, they placed him on the bed with Lucy's glasses, I love that they have put slippers on him too, he has his pringles and chocolate and the remote to watch Netflix.!  They said that they look forward to going back to the room to see what they have done with him.  

They went to the capital Funchal on Thursday and went on a Cable car 🚡 that goes from the coast up to the city.  While they were there they visited a beautiful Tropical Garden .......

She said it was beautiful,  it definitely looks it. 

Diecutting Essentials 

Issue 102

This months Issue 102 has a free gift from Christina Griffiths,  it's a Sunflower Border die, you can alter it with a bit of snipping to make it into a focal point die.

Nicky Gilbert has worked her magic and got the very best out of this die and the free downloadable papers, her cards are lovely, she has used Distress Oxides,  Brusho powders, embossing powders too, so lots of options, something for everyone.

This months Technique Showcase shows us how to make these lovely Swing cards.  My first thought was 'what a great way to use up all those pretty papers that we hoard !  A new technique for this weeks challenge too.  

This is a fun little technique,  using your dies to create stamps from those fun foam sheets.  I first looked and thought 'whats the point, just use the fie cut" but then if you want a totally flat card its a fun way to create interest, the second one that uses the back 'shadow' part of a sentiment die to create the stamped area to add the die cut sentiment to. It looks quite effective. 

Split Window cards are the Topic for this Month's Expert Guide, they have dove a little 'How-to ' to get you started.  The cards are like the swing cards, a great way to use up your patterned papers,  I mean I can't be the only one with a huge pile! 🤣😅

The Lady herself shares some lovely ideas using her die,  credit to her she has thrown every technique in, stencilling,  embossing,  watercolouring, Brushos,  fussy cutting! She has created some lovely designs. 

Do you all remember this embossing folder??  It was launched right at the start of Craft Stash becoming a company with their Apple Blossom dies, this was a freebie on a magazine and everybody wanted it as it was one of the first split design folders, they went on to go totally OTT though, creating so many it got boring, i still have mine, its nice to see some different idea. 

Bookmarks, do people still use them?? These cards are feature detachable Bookmarks,  a fun idea, I usually end up using a receipt or something, thats when I don't use my Kindle!  

Lastly some beautiful cards made using the free die, all designed by Sharon,  she has used some lovely colour combinations combined with the free downloadable papers. 

There is loads of inspiration for the Free Gift in this Issue, some great techniques and inspiration too. 

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I hope that you all have a lovely weekend, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx