A shades of one colour card by Gina

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Well Wednesday was a bit frustrating as all of the dresses I ordered were no good, they looked awful,  so I'm back to square one, I am going have to go for a completely different style to last years dresses as my Hernia and inflammation from the Bile Duct have made my stomach more prominent.  So I think I will need a style that flares out from under my bust.  

Becca popped round to see the dresses I'd bought and get some more wedding admin done,  we have all the names now so we can create the Name Place cards. Lucy is also creating all of the signs for the wedding so she is going to be busy.

Today's card is one of Gina's that she created for our last challenge,  she forgot to send it before going to Weston-super-Mare for a few days.  

Gina's Description:

Thank you Gina for sharing your card, its so pretty, I love the style and that amazing fun fold   XXX

I hope that you a have a great day,  

Iove and hugs to all of you 

Sandra xxx

Throwback to this day 2019

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,

Yesterday started it out dreary and wet, I went with Lucy to the town we used to live in as she needed to have her Aircon checked and re-gassed, we dropped the car off,  luckily we put the wheelchair in as they couldn't do it 'while you wait', although he said he'd call us in about an hour, so we set off to walk the 10 mins into town and had a browse around the shops and charity shops,  for some reason shops/businesses just don't last long in that town, it's sad to see so many new shops that were closing down, we went to look in a bridal shop that's only been there around a year or maybe 18 months at the most,  it closes down in two weeks, she said they just don't get the business they need, now I think they may have missed a big opportunity,  its probably one of the largest military towns in the country (second maybe to Colchester), the Camp has atleast 6 Balls a year, Summer and Christmas for the different ranks,  so along side Bridal they could have had Ball Gowns and Prom dresses for the 2 local secondary schools, they didn't do Mother of the Bride either,  the shop is huge so they could have managed those extra categories no problem.  I remember having to drive miles to find Ball gowns.  Maybe it's down to people buying on-line that they haven't survived,  having said that you wouldn't buy a wedding gown on line without trying it on.                                                          We stopped for coffee and then hung around until 1pm when Paul picked us up,  we drove to the Aircon place where Lucy's car was and it had been ready for over an our,  he was supposed to call me, so that was wasted time! 🙄   Sadly for Lucy they couldn't re-gas her car, it has a leak somewhere and fixing it would be 'uneconomical' as it would take around 8 hours to fix and cost in excess of £2000.  She was disappointed but I said you can buy these fans that have an 'aircon' feature, I've seen people raving about them online,  plus we don't generally get that many days that are unbearably hot.  We never had it years ago,  her car is mostly used for commuting to work and that's only 15 minutes.    

 By the time we got home I was exhausted,  I sat and looked at more dress shops and gave up.  I got a few bits out that I've never used but I'm sorry to say that my 'mojo' has buggered off !!  I do hope it gets bored and returns quickly. 😬😔

So today's card is a throwback to this day 2019, 6 years ago! 

Here is the card description.....

Now onto my 'Spotlight' card, I used my 'Woodware Single Layered Collage' stamp, I stamped it out twice, I added embossing powder and heat set, which I think makes it easier to colour. I mounted one onto a piece of Gorgeous Grape card and onto my card base. I took the second stamped piece and fussy cut the section with the safety pin and flowers, I coloured the background with 'Soft Sky' Stampin Blends and the flowers with Gorgeous Grape and Granny Apple Green Blends, I made sure to include the bit above that sentiment strip to finish the look. I added foam pads to the back of both pieces and replaced it onto the stamped image.

So the 'Spotlighted area is the coloured area, I love this stamp and like how this card has turned out.

It was so sad looking back to a time when Margaret, Lynda & Janet were still commenting daily.  I do miss them x 

I hope that you all have a lovely Wednesday,  

Love & Hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Hollyhock die card 2 !

Good Morning My Lovelies, 

Well I couldn't tell you anything about the weather yesterday as I was sat in front of my laptop all day looking at dresses for the wedding.  What a nightmare I am having,  it just seems like you are looking at the same dresses on different websites.  I did eventually order a few, well over £600 worth,  I'm hoping one of them might work,  they aren't what I would have gone for but sometimes its surprising that something you wouldn't pick is the one you end up loving 🤞🤞

Today's card was a quick one that I made yesterday,  I had been on my laptop all day and my mojo and any enthusiasm had taken a hike!!  So I picked up the Hollyhock die that I used yesterday and an old background offcut from my bit box.  I made my card base and a mat that was 1/4 inch smaller,  I die cut a rectangle from it,  to make sure I got the piece of background and placed it over the aperture,  i used a bit of low tack tape to hold the piece in place,  I added adhesive to the background piece and lined the mat up on the base card a pressed the blue background into place,  I then lifted the top layer off added foam tape around that aperture and secured it in place,  I then took my die cut Hollyhock and arranged the pieces inside the aperture.                                                                             I stamped the sentiment and it smudged 🙄, so I had to stamp it onto a piece of card and die cut it.

A simple card with lovely coloured background. 

I hope that you all have a great Tuesday,  

Love and hugs to all,  

Sandra xxx 

My first card for new Challenge

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend, you all sounded like you had a busy one!  We had a more relaxing day yesterday,  we did a bit of weeding,  I dead headed all of my petunias,  geranium etc, it took forever.  The fun part of the day was tipping out the grow back we had new potatoes growing in, its so exciting, we got a good crop and had them with some of our own grown, fresh picked Sprouting Broccoli and some steak,  it was deliscious,  it felt like a celebration meal after watching the England ladies win the Euros against Spain, it was a tense match!  Great to see them win though. 

I made today's card yesterday afternoon,  using the Hollyhock die that I got from Amazon last week.  I created a white card base, added a white mat that I scored around the edge of....

This close up shows the embossing and the layers that I added under the embossed panel I used for the focal point.  I die cut a grass stalk in white and the Hollyhock in Garden Green,  then adhered them over the embossed panel.  I finished the diecuts with a twine bow.

Simple but effective I think. 

I hope that you all have a great start to your week, 

Love a huge hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Our makes this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

I'm not sure if it was just me yesterday but it felt muggy/ humid and horrible all day, it felt like we needed a good thunderstorm to clear the air.  I am hoping that you were all more comfortable.  I had a slight reprieve when we drove to Costco as I could have air conditioning on in car!   I spoke to Matt yesterday,  he is on a Nile cruise, he sounded like his chest was really congested, he said Friday was a right off as he was sick all day,  apart from that they have had a lovely time,  seen some amazing sights too, he said the 45° heat zaps your energy thou and he found himself needing a 'Nana Nap'🤣😂   They started off in a hotel, that had its own private beach, he was hoping it meant that they wouldn't get dogged by people trying to sell you junk,  that wasn't the case, he told me that one day he was offered by 15 different people to get a massage!  We joked and said, you won't get that on the ship,  haha how wrong we were,  these tiny boats with people on selling everything from the robes they wear to carpets,   he showed me them, they attach themselves to the ship with ropes and literally throw bags of their 'wares'up on to the decks,  if you want what they are selling, he said they stay tied on for miles!  I'm surprised the Captain allows it to be honest.  

Let's look at what you have been making ....

Karen

Karen's Description:

Here’s a challenge card played again in Serif aligning the 4 squares and taking the transparency down on 3 of them Printed sentiment Trimmed down to be a square Matted onto black and added 3 SueW butterflies

So pretty Karen, I can't believe that we both made the same style card at the same time.  Why didn't I do shades of one colour though??!   The shades of yellow you have used are soft and pretty. 

Thank you so much for supporting the challenge Karen XXX

Maria 

Maria's Description:

A little card this week for Sunday or any day as it's not completely one colour, sorry but mojo have gone on holiday for card making at the mo.  

Oh Maria it's perfect for the challenge as its shades of one colour!   I love your card, it looks like a complicated fancy fold, is it die cut?  I love the soft sheen from the card too. 

Thank you so much for creating a card for the challenge Maria XXX

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

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

It's Saturday...

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

We had a glorious day yesterday,  the sun shone most of the day, it was mid twenties too, Paul got the lawns mowed, I went out with Sophie in the morning,  we didn't find any dresses but she treated me to a nice brunch.  I spent the rest of the afternoon searching online, Becca suggested we go to Birmingham Bullring to look for dresses, the thought fills me with dread, so I must find something soon!   

Is it just me, or do you ladies dislike shopping for clothes and trying them on in store? 

Sophie

Becca & Adam want to make sure that Benji is included in their special day, so Sophie has created the Table Number signs,  she asked Becca & Adam what thier favourite films were,  she has then used images from the films and added Benji as the lead role,  they are so fun and will hopefully bring a smile on the day !  

Gina 

Gina created this amazing 'Eclipse' card, the image was created in Craft Artist using an image from 'Bing Ai' 

This card is amazing Gina, absolutely perfect for a Man card, what a beautiful scene!  

I'm sure that the recipient felt very special when the opened it. 

Thank you so much for sharing your card with us. 

 Enjoy your weekend away my lovely XXX 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Our Next Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies, 

Well Ladies yesterday was exhausting and so frustrating,  we seemed to be trailing from shop to shop for hours,  there wasn't anything remotely OK,  it got exhausting, it is also disheartening,  at least Becca could see my situation.   I have decided that I am just going to order a few different dresses to try on at-home,  where it is more comfortable, less pressure too.  Fingers crossed I can find a few to try. 🤞🤞

I thought we'd have a New Challenge,  so let's go for the New/Old Challenge 

So you can choose something New that you haven't used yet. 

Or

Something Old that you haven't used in a while, I'm sure that we all have plenty of dies, stamps and papers that we have hiding in draws and cupboards.  

I just want to get us using all of our stash! 

I hope that you all have a great end to the week, 

Love and big hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

The last of my One Colour cards

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

Yesterday disappeared in a blur,  we went for dress fittings for Becca, Lucy & Emily (Another bridesmaid), we were there a while, she is so clever though, she has created a perfect underskirt for Becca's dress, that is fitted in with poppers so that it's easy for Becca or me to take off for the evening,  she also added a tiny hoop that you can't see along a seam on the back of her dress to create a 'bustle hook' so that her train can be lifted and attached to the laced area of her dress for dancing etc, the dress still hangs beautifully when hooked up.  She also immediately found a solution to Lucy's worry, which was what bra to wear,  she is sewing in padded cups , which gives more shape to the top of her dress too, the girls are both skinny minny's and need quite a bit taking in on the waist of their dresses. The alterations cost more than their dresses! 

Becca came back to ours as she was desperate for Jacket potato cheese & beans,   so I made her that and then we did wedding admin, to do lists etc, Lucy created a few of the signs etc on Canva for Becca to get printed, so she was happy that we got some bits ticked off. 

Today Becca is taking me dress shopping, 🙄, I am looking forward to it, I hate shop changing rooms!  

Todays card is the last of the cards I made for while I was away,  this one is made in the same way that the other two were made.  A simple style but effective. 

I hope you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra xxx 

A card from IndigoBlu Magazine

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

I hope today finds you all as well as can be expected,  gentle hugs for those that need one, I needed one yesterday as I felt really unwell, my hernia had made a break for freedom in the night so I couldn't get comfortable, the GP gave me some strong peppermint capsules for bloating etc, so I took one of those, it didn't help, then just to add to the fun I got uti symptoms!  However I had promised Lucy we'd go out together so we had a slow morning and went out for lunch and a bit of shopping.  I went into Boots to see if I could buy some more of the Peppermint capsules without a prescription,  I found the same strength ones made by Buscopan, they were £14 !!!! I should have held out for a prescription!  Anyway I sat and read the back (smallprint) and it says you MUST NOT take these capsules if you have gallbladder problems, infected Bile Duct OR any problems with your Biliary Tree!!!  I should never have been prescribed them in the first place!!  I will be bringing that up with the surgery,  the GP that prescribed them was a Locum but he knew why I had the Endoscopy because I told him, he prescribed them for the wind pain after the procedure!  

Anyway apart from that minor blip we had a lovely afternoon,  lunch in M&S and we got a little cake to take home and share. 

Today's card I made using the IndigoBlu magazine & stamps,  I like a card that was similar to this and I initially started off making this card their way,   

I masked off a 6 1/2 inch square of card to go on a 7 x 7 card base ( that actually measures 6 3/4 ) but never mind !  Always measure bought card bases before you cut your layers.  

After masking off the squares I stamped the different images and sentiment and heat embossed.  I then used Scattered Straw,  Salty Ocean,  Mowed Lawn & Seedless Preserves Distress ink, to watercolour around the 4 images, leaving some white space.  

Here's where I changed things, as I removed the tape the colour had bled and I didn't like how it looked so I die cut the four squares out,  as I had die cut them I added black mats to the four of them and I added a black mat behind that front panel too.  I think it made the imsges pop more and there wasn't so much white space.  

I hope that you all have a good day, we have Wedding Dress fitting and Bridesmaid dress alterations for Lucy today, 

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra xxx 

A Shades of Green card

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

We had lots of rain and thunder yesterday,  in fact the rain was so hard at one point it set Soph's car alarm off, luckily Paul was working from home and managed to turn it off, I'd have no clue 🤣 

I had a very long and frustrating search for my 'Mother of the Bride' outfit,   I feel like there was a lot more choice last year,  the Autumnal shades (which are actually some of my favourites) that are the colour scheme of the wedding are just not in this years fashion colours,  I had to give up at about 2pm as it was getting really frustrated.  So I switched to crafting for a few hours, my first session since mid June!   

Today I am sharing one of the cards I made yesterday,   this is a quick and easy aperture card.   I cut my card base to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch (A2), just for reference I make most of my A2 cards by cutting down the length A4 card at 4 1/4 inch, then trim down to 11 inch  and score at 5 1/2 inch, this leaves the other 4 inch strip of card that I trim down to create a mat thats exactly 1/4 inch less than card base.  I took the mat and die cut a simple rectangle out of it, slightly towards the top of the card.  Before adhering the die cut mat to my card base I stamped a sentiment below the aperture in Versafine Clair Verdant ink,  I then took a piece of the patterned paper from my IndigoBlu magazine and cut a piece of the lightest part of the piece,  then I used a few different foliage dies to cut some of the darker part of the card.  I adhered the light piece to my card base, then added foam tape to the back of the top layer and added it to the base, I then arranged the darker foliage die cuts in the aperture.  

A closer look at the background of the card, the pattern had a huge butterfly on,  I didn't think I'd use it as the pattern is too big, but cutting it down like this really works. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

We had quite a bit of rain yesterday which the lawn was grateful for, I did chuckle at Paul's determination to get the washing dry on the line though he was in and out so many times during the afternoon, it still ended up needing to be dried,  its currently on the airer in the conservatory.                 I managed to get a few little jobs done, descaling shower heads, the kettle, coffee maker, water filter jug and my metal drinks bottle.  It started because I used Paul's shower downstairs and the spray was more of a 'spritz' and went in every direction but down!  So I put a couple of scoops of Citric Acid into a jug with boiled water and popped the shower head in, it literally fizzed like crazy, within 5 minutes it was clear and back to normal, the best part of using Citric Acid is that it isn't harmful to us or our rivers and it doesn't smell like vinegar, so I went on to do all the other bits too, our water is really hard. 

We got all of the holiday towels and bed linen washed dried, aired and packed away for next time. All of the plants that we collected together in large trays for watering while we were away are back in their usual homes.  

We have a big difference when it comes to our holiday clothes this year, usually they get washed, ironed and packed into boxes to go away for next year, this year for the first time we still have the rest of July and all of August to go, so we'll leave a lot of our holiday clothes out for a few weeks, just in case we get another heatwave! 

Today's card is another of my 'pre holiday ' makes.  I started by masking off a strip at the top of the card and took a long stamp block with distress ink smooshed on it, spritzed it with water and smooshed the ink onto the masked off area, after drying the area I stamped over the ink with a script stamp.  I then took my wheat stalk silhouette stamp and stamped over the inked strip.  To finish the card I stamped the sentiment,  although despite a few attempts it couldn’t get a perfect image (I'm pretending its a distressed sentiment 😉).

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

Love & hugs to all of you,

Sandra xxx 

Lets look at what we have been making this week

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

We had a better day than was forecast so that was a bonus, we managed to get 3 loads of washing dry, mostly towels too which was really handy as they take ages in the tumble dryer!  I got our bags unpacked and washing sorted, just have to wait for girls to do theirs, although they shouldn't have much washing as they lived almost everyday in Bikinis with a beach cover up over them, maybe a couple of t shirts from the nights we went out, I am hoping they don't just dump the whole bag out to be washed!  

Paul got the grass cut, although sadly it looks a bit brown and crispy, hopefully the rain that is forecast for tomorrow will help it,  we are on a hose pipe ban from Monday (i think) so it won't be getting a soaking other than rain.  

Let's have a look at what you have been making...

Lilian 

Lilian's Description:

Here is my art journal page for this weeks challenge.

Lavinia masks, indigo blue stencil.

Night of navy ink, also used a inktense pencil in navy blue.

So lovely in shades of blue Lilian,  what a genius idea using the vase stencil and filling it in with another stencil !!  Even with it all being blue every thing stands out individually,  you are so creative when it comes to scene building!  

Thank you so much for creating and sharing your journal page, especially in this ridiculous heat!  XXX 

Karen

Karen's Descriptions:

Card 1:

Last one for this week - shades of blue

Blue Serif background splattered with Posca paint

Sue W “Noel” die in navy and white xx

Card 2:

Another one for “shades”

….of grey

An image from Serif Have used a silver Sharpie on parts

Card 3 & 4,

Here are 2 challenge cards I had a play with the transparency button in Serif So created 3 rectangles and on 2 of them took the transparency down The images are from Serif and I printed the sentiment and cut with Julie Hickey banner die.

Wow Karen you have had a very creative week !!  You have made some amazing cards, all different too. 

Adding the paint splatters to that Serif background makes such a difference,  it transforms it from a printed background to something that looks more hand crafted,  brilliant idea ! 

Your second card looks 100% like you have stamped Julie Hickey flowers over the background,  I would never have guessed that it was a serif background!  

Again Wow For the last two cards, I'm not going to pretend that I understand the process but the cards you have created do not look like they are Serif created.  You are so blooming clever. 

Thank you so much for creating 4 amazing cards for this challenge XXX 

Maria 

Maria's Description:

I wasn't sure what to make this week but I went for,

Brown and Gold. I made a border with a stencil that I got with TH inks. I got this fun Waistcoat die last week so used brown and gold card and white for the shirt and collar bits. Hope it fits even if it is not completely one colour 🤭😊. 

Maria I love this card, that Waistcoat die is amazing and I love how you have used it,  that border works perfectly with the Waistcoat and everything ties together nicely. I can't believe the detail that die cut has!😍

Thank you so much Maria for supporting this challenge XXX 

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As always ladies, I want you to know how muchbI appreciate the time that you all put in to supporting the blog ❤️

I hope that today is a little less humid than yesterday and that you all have a lovely Sunday, 

My love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Mixed Up Saturday

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Our first weekend back, the garden chore list is endless,  the poor lawn looks half dead where its had no rain,  the weeds in the lawn are thriving though🙄.  The weekend before we went away I crippled myself when I got carried away moving the little stones on the rockery to get the roots of the bindweed out,  the time just disappeared while I was concentrating,  I filled a huge trug with bindweed roots, the first thing that I noticed when I went into the garden was the huge carpet of bindweed covering the rockery, thriving to the point that it was covered in flowers!!  Why can't plants that we want to keep thrive like that,  all of these genius scientists could surely extract the 'thrive in any condition' gene from  weeds and put it in plants!!  On the plus side we have harvested potatoes,  we have an abundance of courgettes and sprouting Broccoli, runner beans, kale & Spinach!  

What do you all have planned??

Gina

Gina's Description:

The Mechanism in the shutter card was made following Sam Calcots YouTube video from 5 years ago.  The images are from Serif Craft Artist.

Gina your Shutter card is amazing,  so detailed, I bet Max absolutely loved it,  you definitely can't buy anything with that personal touch.  Thank you so much for sharing your card with us XXX 

Karen

Karen's Description:

Mosaic blanket done I ran out of grey So it’s a bit shorter than pattern Just need to decide which charity to give it to now I’d like to keep it fairly local.

Karen it's amazing,  I love the Mosaic pattern although to me it looks way too complicated,  having that blue edging really finishes it off.  I think it will be instantly snapped up wherever you decide to donate it too. 

Thank you so much for sharing it with us xxx

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Chateau Du Rollin 

I absolutely loved the simple planted borders at the chateau we stayed at, mostly because of the beautiful Agapanthus,  the host a lot of weddings in the summer so I think the keep their borders fairly neutral so they work with all colour schemes. 

These Agapanthus are so beautiful, they remind me of those huge starburst fireworks, the colour of these ones was stunning. 

Beautiful borders x

I believe these are Standard Lavaterias, they look so much neater than the ones we used to have. 

Finally this Persian Silk or 'Mimosa' tree caught my eye, so unusual ....

The leaves are almost like fern  fronds and the flowers look like silky tassels.  

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,  

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra xxx