Iiitttt's Christmas Challenge time

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Well, I will definitely be glad to see the back of this week !!  I was laughing with Lucy on Wednesday saying that we were lucky that we were invincible!  I was saying that if anyone would have caught it from Paul it should have been me not Soph!!  I felt unwell on Wednesday but tested negative, this was before lucy and I went out.  Yesterday I was messaging Sonia saying how 'humid/muggy' it was and she disagreed, saying the wind was cooler, I replied saying that I was sweating,  she replied "maybe you have covid", so I took a test and yes I tested positive, 5 days after Paul it got me, by bedtime I did feel rough, I think any flu like symptoms exacerbate your ongoing problems!         I am just hoping I don't get as poorly Paul and Soph did.  Poor Lucy says she's not got a chance,  I did remind her that she had it worse than anyone last October,  she was bedridden for a week bless her, so I said I reckon you have better antibodies! 

Our Next Challenge 

Well we had to start sometime 🤣😂, so for this next week or two our Challenge will be to make Christmas cards, any style, using anything you like, we have all used just about everything to make our Christmas cards over the years.  Maybe if we are posting our Christmas cards we should just use stamps, keep them simple.  I find that hard sometimes,  especially if its a card for special friends, you want to make your cards special too.  Maybe consider batch making your cards, particularly if you have lots to make.  I have you lovely friends to make for, family and our neighbours, so I need to get started. 

So dust off those Christmas stamps, dies and don't forget those embossing folders!! 

I hope that you enjoy the challenge x

Have a lovely Friday, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

A favourite colour combination

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

We have a grey start to the day here,  yesterday was sunshine and cloud, rain came in early evening and stayed most of night, which was a bonus as there was no watering needed.  It's a job that I physically couldn't do as a hose doesn't reach to the veg plot, so I am thankful for a bit of rain.  Although Paul was feeling a bit better yesterday,  which was a good job as he ended up having to go into work,  this is definitely the downside of being the only one capable of doing your job!                                              Poor Sophie got up feeling terrible yesterday morning,  sore throat and congestion etc, so she tested and was also Positive for covid, I cannot get my head around the fact that I sleep next to Paul, kiss him good morning and goodnight and I haven't caught it, yet Sophie who is never closer than 2 or 3 feet away from Paul has caught it, Lucy is also symptom free (well so far), her and soph lay in bed watching shows and playing games so fingers crossed her immunity keeps her healthy!                  Bless her she was devastated yesterday as her and Sophie NEVER get a day off together, they don't usually like them being off at the same time, they had made plans to go out for lunch and go holiday shopping,  covid put pay to all that !!  So she looked at me with her sad eyes and said "Wanna come out with me"  how could I refuse?, I wasn't feeling great so was looking forward to a lazy day.  We didn't go far but my goodness we found an amazing garden centre, its called 'Fosseway' its just in Moreton in the Marsh, about 20 minutes from here, they had an amazing display of Cactus, the biggest I've ever seen, Lucy loves cacti and anything quirky like air plants,  she really wants to set up a terrarium, so I think we spent an hour browsing around there, she ended up upgrading the shopping basket to a wheelchair trolley,  which we made great use of,  well there were loads of plants in the sale area it would have been cruel not to give them a home 😂🤣

I put todays card together when we got home, I used some new dies that I treated myself too, they go perfectly with my Spellbinders Bold Blooms,  these are called Mini blooms.  I took inspiration from the first card I saw (that actually made me want the dies in the first place) it was originally on Spellbinders Blog by a lady called Kim, it was featured in a post about the top 5 card making essentials, the card was picked for the sentiment it used (which I don't have) not for the gorgeous flowers.  The original also was Green & Black, which I wasn't as keen on so I tried it with lime green, Navy & white, I have to say that I just Love it !!!  I grabbed some card from my bit box and die cut a selection of flowers and leaves and arranged them in opposite corners,  my sentiment is a mix up, a SU thanks die and stamped sentiment is from Taylored Expressions 'Simple Strip Sentiments '.   

I hope that you all have a great Thursday,  no bladder clinic this week as we are now on fortnightly treatments, the next one is a week today which will be 1st of August !! 😲

Sending my love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra  xxx 

Navy & White Easel card

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

Well ladies they say you don't fully appreciate something until it's no longer there, never a truer word spoken, I am exhausted,  both mentally and physically,  Paul being unwell has had like a domino effect on the whole house, I had totally lost count of all the things he has taken on since I have been unable to do them, from emptying bins, cat litter tray to prepping dinner, watering garden, putting washing out and getting it in, the list is endless, the girls have helped a bit, the main problem being they don't want to go anywhere near where Paul has been for fear of catching covid, Lucy was so poorly with it last September I can understand why she is avoiding Paul like the plague, I've lost count of how many times the door handles, cupboards etc have been anti-bac'd !        He did get up at 5am yesterday to try and get ready for work,  he was struggling though, I did gently remind him that apart from him being not well enough to drive to work,  he would be taking  Covid into the office,  he said he thought he would be negative now, I got him to do a test and it was still strong positive!  He went downstairs then came up and said that thinking about it one girl was heavily pregnant and someone else's wife just had hip surgery, so it wouldn't be fair!  So he emailed in and told them he wasn't coming in!  Trouble is there aren't any clear rules with covid now. 

Today's card is one I made yesterday,  using an old stamp set called 'Art Gallery' I stamped randomly to create a background paper then layered that onto navy then white card and onto a Navy card base that I turned into an easel card.  I used the larger flower that I stamped and die cut to create the stopper. I stamped a sentiment on the inside and stamped a sentiment to go on the front that I added over a piece of matching ribbon. 

Karen, I totally forgot to change the Challenge last Friday,  so we can have a "Share whatever you make'' week this week, I look forward to seeing your milestone cards. XXX 

I hope that you all have a great Wednesday,  

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Same paper different style

Good Morning Ladies, 

A cooler day here yesterday but beautifully sunny all day.  Paul felt slightly better and insisted on working,  although he did need to take a few breaks and had a sleep on the sofa, this time its a very sore throat and congestion that are the main symptoms for him, he said his body ached yesterday but no so much today thankfully.  

I had a look at the calendar yesterday and discovered that there are only 3 weeks and 4 days until we go on holiday, so I really need to get making some cards. 

I'm sure you all have the same problem,  some days you can sit and make 2 or 3 cards but other days, despite your best effort you barely get one made,  I find it easier to narrow down what I'm going to use,  otherwise you end up searching for inspiration for hours. 

Today's card is a Pinspiration card, one lady that made it was call 'Pat's Stamping '.  There were a few versions though.  

I used Starry Sky cardstock to create my card base (as this is a colour featured in the paper design).     Next i die cut to lacy borders to go down either side of a strip if the Dainty Floral dsp.  I then adhered this to my card base and added my sentiment. A pretty card that looks totally different to yesterdays card. 

I hope that you all have a good day,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx

A quick card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend,  yesterday was a beautiful day, sadly we didn't get to make the most of it though as poor was really poorly, turns out he has Covid 😪.  I kind if knew thats what it was as he was so unwell and it takes alot to keep Paul down. 

I hope that you all got to make the most of the lovely weather. 

Today's card is a really quick one, I used a piece of the Dainty Flowers Dsp, the pretty oval wreath needed nothing more than a sentiment stamped in the centre.  I stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow and then layered the dsp onto matching blue card and then onto a Blushing Bride card base.   Simple but effective I think 😍

I hope that you all have a great day,

Love & Hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx

Your Pinspiration Cards

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I hope that your weekend is going well,  we have a very cloudy day yesterday,  it tried to rain a couple of times but it didn't come to much.  Today is supposed to be a better day,  we have plans though,  we will probably get some garden jobs done,  well when I say 'we', I mean I will be supervising of course!  🤣😂

Let's have a look at what you have been creating this week.......

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:  

Hi here is my card for this week, it’s one I’ve been meaning to make for years.

It’s from Pinterest, not quite the same. The poppy stamp is an old Penny Black, that I have never used, although I had a go when I first bought it to see what it was like. The little stamp is from Lavinia stamps.

Oh Lilian,  such a beautiful card, I love the linen/cloth paper that you are painting onto, the texture is lovely 😍  

The beautiful poppy looks so striking against your lovely background.  

I am so pleased that the challenge pushed you to create the card you have been planning to make for years,  its well worth the wait, that I can reassure you.  

Thank you SO much for supporting the challenge Lilian XXX 

Maria

Maria has created a lovely Pinwheel card for this weeks challenge,  the design is one that Maria was been inspired by on Pintetest.  Its a great design for using up scraps of your favourite papers or using up your bit box. 

Thank you so Maria for supporting this weeks challenge. XXX

Karen

Karen's was inspired by some Tim Holtz designs using his Pine Tree die.  

That inky background you have made is stunning Karen, it really does look like a snowy night sky.

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

***********

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday, 

Love & hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

This one made me laugh, so true !!! 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Ooh it was a lovely warm day yesterday,  washing was dry in about an hour, luckily our line isn't in direct sun so the towels don't get too dry.  I always tumble dry towels and undies anyway to fluff up towels and uncrease pants!   We could iron pants and socks like Paul's mum does, but nobody has time for that I feel bad watching Paul iron all his shirts etc I couldn’t sit and watch him iron my drawers!!  🤣😂 

I have done a little Tutorial for you, its for a 'Wiper ' card.  It's not the same as Gina's Wiper card though.  I think this ones name refers to the pop up mechanism that looks a bit like wind screen wipers. 

The flowers in the centre vase pop up when you open the car. 

Start by cutting  card base:  8 1/2 x 4 1/4  inch

                              Score at   :   1 1/2 & 3 inch

                             Z Fold Bar:  8 1/2 x 2 inch

                              Score  at  :   1 1/2 & 3 inch

Now onto our embossed layer, you could use patterned papers for this part too. 

1 x 5 1/4 x 4 inch 

1 x 1 1/4 x 4 inch 

Patterned paper for layering:

1 x 5 1/4 x 1 3/4 inch

2 x 1 1/4 x 1 3/4 inch

1 x 4 x /4 (for base card ) 

The pop up mechanism:  

1 x  1 x 1 7/8 inch  (Blue base card colour)

1 x  1/2 x 2 inch  Acetate 

Let's Assemble 

Start by burnishing your folds 

Adhere all of your layers to the base card and z fold bar.

Now onto the mechanism,  take your piece of card 

Fold the corner down so that it lines up with the edge of the card on the opposite side.

Burnish the fold 

This is what you should end up with 

 

Position the mechanism kind of central and at the top of the z fold strip.  

Then add the acetate piece onto the mechanism 

You now stick whatever you want to pop up onto that acetate strip.  You may need to play with positioning to get it spot on.

I waited to position my vase so that I could place it centrally to the flowers popping up. 

When you add your flowers or whatever your pop up is make sure that its sits within the width of the z fold strip or it will poke out of the bottom or top of the folded card. 

Adhere the Z fold bar to the bottom corners at each end of the card.

This is the other side adhered

I added vases at either end of the card for interesting and added the sentiment on the back panel. 

Here is a little video of the card opening. 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask x

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

Shopping 

Karen

Karen's latest purchase is these lovely Letter dies by Aall&Create,  I really like that they have the background and the detail letters

The other great features is that they are distressed, which makes them perfect for mixed media style projects too. 

I look forward to seeing these cut out Karen and to see how you use them.

Thank you so much for sharing them with us XXX

Maria 

Woo Hoo !!  Look what Maria won !!!! 

2 sets of Hunkydory Moonstone Dies,  really useful Dies too, you can't have enough basic shape dies and look how beautiful that Lace edging is. 

Congratulations my lovely,  I can't wait to see you use them.  Thank you so much for sharing them with us XXX 

Lilian 

Lilian had kindly shared the books that she cuts her beautiful flowers and background bits from.  They are from Amazon.  They look so incredibly detailed, so useful to have on hand to embellish a quick card.

Thanks so much for sharing them with us Lilian,  I now know what to look for ☺️ XXX 

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra

xxxxxx

Something Floral for Friday

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Here we are at the end of another busy week, we are definitely ready for a relaxed weekend.  We will keeping an eye up to the sky as its the big Air Tattoo at Fairford this weekend,  we are a lot further away than last year however we are a lot higher up, so hopefully we'll get to see a few fly pasts.  The roads around us will be absolute chaos due to the Air Tattoo on the Burford side and Bourton On The Water on the first weekend of the Holidays on the other, so travel is off the cards.  We will pop to shops today to get a few basics, I ordered a Box meal delivery thing from Gousto this time, it had a really good discount code if any of you want the code let me know.  It has five meala for 4 of us, it came to £43 which I thought was good value, they had so lovely choices too. 

Today I am sharing a card I made late yesterday afternoon after my bladder clinic appointment and then going with Soph to drop Paul off to pick up car from garage.  I picked out a die set that I wanted for ages, got it and used it once and put it away! 🙄 So I checked my files for the cards I had saved for Sizzix Geo Frames thinlet, I picked a simple design and added my own touches, like matting and adding gold mirror card.  I die cut the narrow frames and offset them slightly,  then die cut the flowers and foliage and arranged them around the frames. I die cut an old SW sentiment in gold mirror card and added a drop shadow to make it stand out. To finish I added some dark blue Glossies to the centres of the flowers to match the Navy card. 

I hope that you all have a good day,  enjoy that warm sunshine 🌞 

Love & Hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Who knew how perfect Kraft goes with Blue !

 

Good Thursday Morning Ladies, 

These Thursdays are whizzing round so fast, which means it's Bladder Clinic day,  I'm dreading it if I'm honest,  the initial excitement of that first treatment seems a distant thing,  as I have had to have antibiotics since the day after that first one,  is it just coincidence? I am hoping so, the last one was so painful too, I am going to insist on the numbing gel this time and cross everything that I don't end needing more antibiotics as my liver is starting to react to Trimethoprim the same as it did nitrofurantoin!                                                                 Now just to update you the Tea bags were binned,  I didn't have a great night though,  I got ready for bed around 10pm,  I was exhausted from Monday night, I dug out a nightshirt as Lewis was staying over and they have to walk past our bedroom to get to bathroom etc, Milo will barge our bedroom door wide open in the night and I'm paranoid that the sheet my slip and reveal my extremities ! 🤣😂         But my goodness that nightshirt made me that hot I just couldn't relax, I felt so restricted,  I ended up having to have Paul help me out of it at around 2am and bless him he put the fan on too.  Fingers crossed for a better night tonight.

Today I am sharing the card I made yesterday, I started out in a totally different direction, different colour combination and trying different inks.  I ended up using Distress Oxides to colour the flowers and leaves.  I was trying to see which colours went well with Kraft,  I decided to go with blues,  Distress Oxides gave me the nicest blend, so I think I decided on Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans. The leaves had just the tiniest hint of ink.  I embossed the white layer for the background and popped the decorated tag on foam pads.  I quite like how this turned out, I actually the colour combination though. 

I hope you all have a good day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra xxx