Saturday, 13 December 2025
Mixed Up Saturday
Friday, 12 December 2025
Sizzix Wreath stencil card
Good Friday Morning Ladies,
Busy day here today, I think I have most of the Christmas cards I need, I just need to sit and get them ready to post. Then I have to pack for our long weekend away, we are going to visit Paul's Mum on Saturday and then we'll continue the journey down to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project and see our Lilian, I am more excited about that more than the Eden centre.
We have waited to make the final decision wether to go based on my Blood results etc, the urine wasn't a 'certain ' clear, it keeps showing some Staph' cells, but no blood which is unusual for me, the blood showed that my liver was Ok too, which was a sigh of relief. The nurse said... 'because my liver is ok she has put a short course of Nitrofurantoin into the pharmacy for me to take away', I'm hoping she is just being cautious and isn't expecting it to flare up !!
I finally got around to using my Sizzix Wreath Stencil after so much inspiration from our Karen. I decided to use it on Kraft card for a different look, I used Distress inks Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Gathered Twigs & Festive Berries, I used the Festive Berries to colour the edges of a piece of card to create a mat, I stamped one of my Gina K sentiments and die cut it and popped it in the centre of the wreath. A few red sparkles finished the festive look.
I hope that you all have a great Friday,
Love and hugs to all,
Sandra xxx
Thursday, 11 December 2025
Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Gina K Christmas Kit Card
Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,
I think we have had more than our share of rain this past few days, it didn't stop yesterday, the wind was howling all night, so the rain was lashing at the window, it was so loud, poor Milo struggled to settle down too which makes for a fun night.
I have Blood Test today, to check that my liver is ok after taking Nitrofurantoin, fingers crossed it is but I am a little concerned that I can feel something pushing up against the bottom of my rib cage on the right side. We'll find out in a few days hopefully.
Today's card is the first card I made using the Gina K 'Christmas in July' kit I got at a bargain price on FB Destash group.
I have to say that I am so impressed with the quality of every element in this kit, the stamps are great, the dies too. The stencils are an amazing quality material, really sturdy not thin and flimsy.
I started by cutting 3 frames from 300gsm card, they measured 4×6 inch, the aperture was about an inch smaller. I adhered these three frames together, then cut another piece of 6×4 inch card and covered it with gold splatters that I created by using a little pea sized amount of Stamperia Gold paint with a little water added to loosen it so it would splatter evenly. I set this to dry and moved onto created those String Lights.
I stamped the wire part in Green ink and then stamped again with Versamark and added clear embossing powder and heat set, this gave the wire a shine that made it look more realistic, to colour the light bulbs you have a stencil, its super easy to line up, I used Festive Berries, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron & Salty Ocean Distress ink to colour the bulbs. After the bulbs were dry I die cut them, again the die lined up easily.
I stamped the sentiment in Festive Berries and stamped again using Versamark and heat embossed, I have added a close up so you can see the shine.
I created a top folding 5 × 7 inch card base, then adhered the stacked frame onto the gold splattered background then onto a gold mirror card mat and then the card base. I then added the string lights, I added glue to the pieces that sit in the frame and foam pads behind the bulbs that are inside the frame. I also added foam pads behind the sentiment and added to the centre of the card.
I hope that you all have a drier day,
Love and hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Tim Holtz Ephemera card
Good Morning Ladies,
I had what felt like a busy crafting day yesterday but I only finished two cards, I think I need to find some quick and simple designs!
I made this card on Sunday, it is actually a Vicky P' Journal page but I don't have this size Journal (8 ×4) inch. So I decided to use a card that I have and actually rarely use.
It started with a new technique, which is applying your paint to your background with a baby wipe.
Monday, 8 December 2025
A second Stamperia Christmas card
Good Monday Morning Ladies,
Welcome to the start of a new week, what have you all got planned?
How are you all doing with your Christmas shopping? I have done a few bits but I need to sit and concentrate to get the rest done! I need to see how many Christmas cards I have made, hopefully I will have enough, I have my doubts, I am guilty of making too many Journal pages when I should have been making Christmas cards ☺️ I will try and rectify that this week. I am only sending to my lovely Blog family and a couple more, the others be bought.
Today's Christmas card isn't traditional in colour etc, however I love this style, it does have Snowflakes, Christmas tree and snow though. All elements are Stamperia, mostly from the Owls House collection.
I hope that you all have the best week,
My love and hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Sunday, 7 December 2025
A look at our makes this week
Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
I hope that you are all enjoying a lovely relaxed Sunday.
I really love Blog Sundays, because I get to share your makes...
It occured to me that I always forget to add the TicTacToe categories to my descriptions, so here are the ones for this week.
Card 1: Trees, Flowers/Christmas/ Glitter
Journal page 2: flower/Glitter Sparkle/Journal page
Card 3: Christmas/Glitter/animals
Journal page 4: Snowflake/Christmas/Journal page
Karen
Lilian
Maria
Saturday, 6 December 2025
Mixed Up Saturday
Good Saturday Morning Ladies,
From a very very wet and windy Gloucestershire, my goodness did we have rain yesterday, it just didn't stop, the wind picked up throughout the day too, poor Lucy looked like a drowned rat when she got in from work, rainy, windy days make for a very long day at the wildlife park! Her day was measured by how many Sudoku she managed to complete! 🤣
I was sat playing with different Poinsettia dies to try and decide which ones I liked the best, the jury is still out. 🤔 I was distracted by Christmas shopping and Soph had my sewing velcro into a gift that she has personalised for someone 😉, the trouble was she bought adhesive backed velcro, so my needle really struggled to get through that tough adhesive backing that coated the needle with its stickiness with every pass! By the time I was done I had no feeling in my thumb and forefinger!
Whilst making some room in my photo album I cane across these photos that we took when we popped into Witney around Remembrance weekend, this spectacular Mail Box topper was knitted & crocheted by local ladies, what blew me away was the level of detail, look at those boots and the neatness of the helmet, the poppies are beautiful and even featured Purple poppies for the Animals lost in combat too.
Maria
Friday, 5 December 2025
Some more Festive Oldies
Good Friday Morning Ladies,
I hope that you have all had a good week and are looking forward to your first weekend in December, let's have a 'hands Up' how many of you are putting up your Christmas Tree this weekend??We will probably do ours next weekend. I am hoping that this will be the last weekend of feeling rubbish with Uti symptoms, I'm almost too scared to say that I think I can feel an improvement 😬! I don't want to jinx it.
We have been trying to plan a couple of days away together but I haven't wanted to go while feeling rough. I feel like we are running out of time before Christmas.
I have shared some 'Oldie' Christmas cards today, the girls have taken up most of my day this past couple of days, not that I'm complaining, I love spending time with them, although it was exhausting feeling a little on the delicate side. 🤣
I actually really like these three Christmas cards, I think the poinsettia one is from 4 years ago, the last two are from 2017 !!!
I hope that you all have a great day,
Love and hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Thursday, 4 December 2025
Stamperia Dewdrops Journal page
Good Morning Ladies,
How is it Thursday already?! This week has flown by.
Today's I am 'Reluctantly ' sharing a journal page that I started last week, the idea was based around a technique. You cover the page with a sealant like Gesso, allow it to dry then add ink, I blended 2 different blues to create a dark sky. Now here's where it went wrong for me, You place a stencil over the blue and use a baby wipe to wipe off the blue, I couldn't get it to remove only the stencil snowflake, it kept bleeding through the stencil, the ink would also smudge at the slightest touch (because it didn't seem to want to dry on top of Gesso. So I re-inked the background and used thick stencil paste instead, it still was a bit messy, but it still wasn't straightforward and doesn't look great but I had invested so much time into it that I wasn't going to give up. I allowed a couple of days for it to dry and layered the die cuts on Monday.
So here it is, no where near perfect but it's important to find beauty in imperfections! 🤣😂
I hope you have a great Thursday,
Love & hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Stamperia Christmas Card
Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,
Well I think I had a more successful day sorting medical stuff out yesterday, the Practice Nurse called and said that after discussion with GP, both of them had gone back through my notes and found that I had a blood test in April and my liver numbers were OK then, so they decided that they will prescribe Nitrofurantoin for seven days, hoping that it clears the infection, she made me an appointment for bloods for next Wednesday just to make sure that my liver is still ok. They also asked me to keep trying to contact Consultant as they are running out of options and don't know what to do next (which fills you with confidence)! I did eventually get through to Consultant Secretary, she couldn't see any update on the application for Uromune as he had done it on his personal laptop, which seems a bit odd, you'd think it would all be traceable on NHS computers! Anyway she was going to discuss my situation and get back to me.
So I have new antibiotics, I hope that they work.
Today's card is one I made using my Stamperia 'Owls House' collection, the inspiration came from Emilia Sieradzan on YouTube.
I added extra dots of glue and some fine glitter to give some extra sparkle.
I really like how it turned out something a bit different.
I hope that you all have a good day,
Love and hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Lovely simple Christmas card
Monday, 1 December 2025
Christmas Journal page
Good Monday Morning Ladies,
Welcome December and welcome to the start of a new week!
Do you ever have one of those 'why do I bother ' days, I finished the journal page that I am sharing with you today. I started another page 3 times and then gave up! Then I followed a Tracy Evans tutorial almost to the end was pleased with my achievement, I was on the phone to matt and getting Christmas shopping tips from Sophie at the same time, which was a recipe for disaster, the finishing piece was stamping an Owl on a sign post, of course I stamped it upside down, tried to rescue it but it wasn't happening! 😔 At that point I switched my desk lights off and walked away!
I used Vintage Photo & Festive Berries Oxide Spray inks and then dried with heat tool. I splattered some water over the background to add interest, then added some background stamping. To add some sparkle I added some stars, using Tim Holtz stencil and some gold glitter paste (although the gold glitter was hiding) 🤣, it did add some shine though.
Onto the fun part, picking out all of the elements to build the focal piece. I chose 3 main pieces and then added a ticket and cut a stripey label in half and added a bit to top and bottom. Then came the Santa and the poinsettia and little 25 sticker. The final touch was the splatters and the little sentiment.
I hope that you all have a great start to your week,
Love & huge hugs to all of you,
Sandra xxx
Sunday, 30 November 2025
A look at this weeks makes
Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
I hope that you all had a brighter day than we did yesterday. We had another early start as we had to be at Cheltenham hospital for my Urgent out of hours appointment, we drove through some incredible flooded roads on the way.
The GP appointment went ok, mind you I had to wait until after 2am for them to call me, they asked what time I wanted to go in, I asked what times were available, there were some virtually straight away, by this time Paul was sound asleep, which was no surprise after our long day on Friday, I didn't have the heart to wake him so I said we'll come for 8am, it's a horrible journey and weather was horrendous, so Paul wanted to leave extra early, so 6.30 we were up and getting ready. I felt so unwell, this one is the worst one I've had for pain and feeling feverish, I felt 'ok' through the day, the discomfort started in the car on the way home, then as the evening went on I went downhill, I went up to bed at 10pm, went to bathroom and it was all I could do not to scream in agony, I was shaking with cold, so got into my heated blanket then I was too hot and felt so sick! So called 111! I'm not convinced that another 14 days of same antibiotic will work, she advised me to call GP for further advice on Monday. I was literally bed/sofa ridden all day, if I tried to get up I felt sick abd dizzy! Fingers today will be better.
Let's look at what you have made this week.....
Karen
Karen's Description:
A very quick challenge card
Serif image/background
Sentiment I think from Temu or is it Anna Marie
Tree-Christmas-Card
I absolutely love the simplicity of your design Karen, the little Robin on top of the tree is so cute, the white splatters work perfectly as snow.
Thank you so much XXX
Lilian
Sonia
Sonia's Description:
Saturday, 29 November 2025
Mixed Up Saturday
Good Saturday Morning Ladies,
I hope that your weekend gets off to a better start than mine.
After having a lovely day out with some amazing friends we started the journey home, after about 20 mins into the journey I had over whelming need to use the bathroom, this was my first sign, Then came the altogether agonising part of uti, the pain on passing urine. I have a GP appointment
Now on a lighter note lets look at some craft goodies.....
I placed an order on Tracy Evans website on Wednesday and this lovely card was included in my parcel, Tracy created this card a couple of weeks ago , it's on her YouTube page. I have to say that her colouring is incredible 😍.
When I got home yesterday I had an envelope waiting for me, when I opened it it was Happy Mail from our Lilian! I asked which make the die was thet she used for her sentiment last weekend, so she very kindly sent me some die cuts. They were attatched to this beautiful Tag, Lilian has inked the background, added stencilling and then used a beautiful rub on. I have to say that my photo doesn't do it justice! It's so pretty. Thank you so much Lilian ❤️
Now onto some craft shopping.....
Sonia
Thank you Sonia for sharing your shopping, I'm secretly thrilled that you have bern bitten by the Stamperia bug! I absolutely love your stamps and that paper pad is next on my list!
My Shopping
I couldn't resist these new Tracy Evans stamps, I love those stags, the antlers are amazing, the berries and foliage are great background fillers too.
These new concept Tim Holtz Mixed Media stamp and stencil kits are a perfect way to dip your toe in to mixed media art. They have a small selection of stamps from a bigger stamp set, and a stencil thst has a combination of two different stencils on, they are a perfect size for cards and little journal pages.
Finally my latest Stamperia collection, these Junk Journals have a great selection from a particular Collection, they have die cuts, background pages, sentiment strips and lots of little Ephemera bits, I love their Allegro paints too, the blues in this collection are lovely.
***********
I hope todays post is readable, I had to write and re write bits of it so many times as I just couldn't string a sentence together. I started it at 11pm while waiting for 111 GP to call me, I had to delete and rewrite most of ot at 6.45am while on route to out of hours GP appointment 😭. They wanted me to go in at 3am but Paul was sound asleep and so where the girls, so I said I would wait a couple of hours. This is a really painful one though, the bacteria is clearly well embedded in my bladder and after nurse told me to stop antibiotics on Tuesday as bacteria was resistant to penicillin, the bacteria has gotten busy multiplying without antibiotics! I did ask if this would happen, nurse just said 'see how you get on' !!
I hope you have a good Saturday,
Love & hugs,
Sandra xxx
Friday, 28 November 2025
Former Festive Friday cards

































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