Clean & Simple leaves

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,

Welcome to Blog Post 4,001, can you believe we are at over 4 000 blog posts!!!! Thank you ladies so much xxx

I hope that you managed to enjoy the sun yesterday,  Lucy and I did some last minute shopping and the heat was ridiculous!  We were glad to get home and cool off  

Today's card I made using an old piece of background that I made using Spray Mica stain, so it has a lovely gold shimmer.  

Trying to capture shimmer is a task in itself!! 

I used Tim Holtz Artsy Leaves dies, to cut the background and then matt gold for the stems/stalks and sentiment. 

I embossed the background to give a linen like texture to add some interest.  Then mounted onto a cream card base. 

Clean & Simple / Masculine/ Card

I hope that you all have a lovely,  sunny day, 

Love & hugs,

Sandra xxx 

Clean & Simple card

 

Good Morning ladies,

It was a beautiful day here yesterday,  in fact I needed the fan on me all day to stay comfortable.  I was intent on making as many cards as possible, so that I have enough to cover while we are away.       We didn't get back until after 1am Sunday night/Monday Morning,  we had to drop the car off to be serviced on the way home, the girls were there to bring us home.  So we are all feeling a bit tired today.   It was worth it though,  spending quality time with Matt & Alex, the show was amazing too, apart from his hilarious songs Tim Minchin is an incredible pianist. 

Today's card is my latest TicTacToe card, I used categories:  Stamping/ Stencil/ Clean & Simple

I started by using a stencil and Bermuda Bay ink, I blended into the centre with Misty Moonlight ink.  Then I stamped the main image using Night Of Navy ink.  I set that to dry and stamped the sentiment onto the same card as the background, I die cut it and added foam tape and added to the card,  I used three gems to finish the card. 

I hope that you all have a good,

Sandra xxx 

A throwback Fathers Day card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

We had a very late night last night, hence the throwback card,  we went to Cardiff yesterday with Matt & Alex to see Tim Minchin as a treat for Matt's birthday and Paul's fathers day, we had a lovely lunch out, I tried a dessert that I'd hadn't heard of before, it was called Chelsea Tart, I guess it was like a Gypsy tart.  

It is like a baked Caramel custard, it was divine,  I enjoyed every bit of it.  I might have a go at making one.  

The card I am sharing today is a Fathers Day card from 2020, here is the description....

To make the card I used a piece of cheap copy paper and cut an aperture through which I stamped the sea, I then die cut some tiny clouds and put some low tack tape on them and arranged them above the sea, I used the same 'Broken China ' Distress ink to blend across the clouds to create the sky.
I removed the scrap paper and stamped the birds in Black ink. I die cut the Beach chair in wood effect paper and added a touch of shading, I placed that in front of the 'Seascape' and added the 'Happy Father's Day  sentiment next to it.
To finish the card I added a mat of similar colour blue card and then adhered to a card base.

The laugh is I sat and made 5 cards on Saturday,  but hadn't photographed them. 

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

Love & hugs to all,

Sandra xxx

Let's look at your TicTacToe Projects

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies, 

We had a mixed day weather wise, Paul was trying to get the car washed and cleaned out, he ended up stopping and starting for most of the afternoon,  he did get it finished in the end.  

We have a full on day today, Matt loves Tim Minchin, he's a comedian,  mostly known for his hilarious songs, he wrote Matilda the show too,  anyway he is touring at the minute and I knew Matt really wanted to go,  so I got tickets for tonight,  he bought our Tickets, so it's Paul's Fathers Day treat,  we are leaving this morning so that we get a couple of hours in Cardiff before the show.  

Let's see what you have been creating.....

Lilian

Lilian's Description:

Here is my card for this week.

So I used : stamping : colour cube : card.

The stamp is from indigo blue  and coloured with my inktense pencils. 

Oh Lilian I love your card, the colours you have used are spot on and those lovely greens work so well with gorgeous Mulberry shade. IndigoBlu stamps have so much detail, you don't need to add anything else. 

Thank you so much for inspiring us with your beautiful card.  I hope you really enjoy the weekend with your daughter XXX 

Karen

Karen created this paper in serif and used 

It to create the leaves 

Karen's Description:

Card 1:

At last! I think it can also be used for this week’s challenge 

Masculine - Color cube - card

So cut strips of card using the CMYK numbers to create the colours in Serif SW sentiment in white and shadowed with black

Card 2:

Another one for the challenge Is this OK? 

Stamping - Trees(leaves) - Color cube(same number as previous challenge 

It’s my go to Autumn card but used Aall & Create stamps and dies Plus heat embossed Phill Martin sentiment in Walnut Stain DO

I can understand why you wanted to perfect the first card before you wanted to share it, you have cracked it though, its perfect!  The colour match is spot on!  

The leaves on the second card look so incredibly realistic,  again the colour match is incredible, the card is amazing,  I love that embossing folder 😍

Thank you so much two incredible TicTacToe cards my lovely XXX 

Maria

Maria's Description:

I used the colours Grey, strong Pink and Honey / Orange to colour in the Hearts and the Sentiment. The background is a weaving Embossing folder .  

I'll let you decide to use it Sunday or leave for when you are away. 

Maria I love your card, it fits a few categories so please don't worry about that. I am more grateful than you will ever know that you made time to make a card for the challenge,  always remember that ❤️

Back to your card,  that embossing is incredible,  so deep and crisp,  this card would be perfect for my Becca,  all the lovely bright colours and patterns.  I love that you have matched the colours from the patterns in your sentiment too.  

Thank you so much for creating a card for the challenge my lovely friend XXX 

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

I hope that you all have a great Sunday, 

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

Happy Saturday, IndigoBlu Mag Review

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies, 

Maria sent me the great little quote above, I couldn't wait to share it with you,  I think that we all wish we had a craft room that cleaned itself!! 😀 

Lilian inspired me to get the latest IndigoBlu magazine, so I thought I'd do a review and share it with you .....

IndigoBlu 

Mixed Media Special 

Issue 9

There are so really lovely free gifts with this Issue of IndigoBlu magazine,  the stamps are so lovely,  there are both background and focul point stamps,  some that would look great on an inky background too. Some good journal stamps to finish your projects with too.

The other free gifts are a great 'Script ' stencil and some lovely dies that work brilliantly with the stamps. 

Last but not least there are some free papers, actually inside the magazine rather than having to download them.  

The papers are all lovely designs,  good quality papers too that you can ink and stamp on, my only criticism would be that the patterns are too big to be used on cards.  I will give it a go though! 

Lets look at the projects .......

Marie Jones has shared loads of ideas for using that great Script stencil, whether using a tiny little hint of stencilling or ink it in a bold colour and have it as the main element of your project.  

The project in the centre has a step by step guide to making that card, Marie has used 'slap it on' medium through the stencil which when dry will create a resist that you can ink over. You then stamp and fussy cut the Dragonflies to use as the main focus of the card. 

A bit late for Father's Day but we need Make cards all year round, Sarah has designed some lovely cards that would actually work for anyone using the magazine freebies.  

Glynis has gone for the 'Clean & Simple' theme for her feature, they aren't necessarily really clean, more simple ideas I think,  I really like them, I will definitely be creating some of these for the Blig while I'm away.  

Jane shares here step by step guide to creating this fun circular card. A really fun design that makes a change to a rectangular or square cards  

Karen Waterworth has created a Masterclass taling you through all the steps to create these lovely Mixed Media projects, I will definitely be having a go!  You wouldn't even consider the last card as 'Mixed Media ' as its such a simple design.  

I think Mixed Media sounds daunting but its literally using (in the case of the last card) patterned paper, a die cut, some ink and a stamped sentiment. 

Vanessa Hodgson has tried to get as much use out of the dies as possible,  she has designed some fantastic cards, something for everyone, for most occasions.  The last card has a step by step showing you how to 'stencil a die cut' 

Look at these incredible Mixed Media projects, all featuring IndigoBlu's 'Signature style elements ' 

These brilliant,  bright and cheerful looking designs are all 'quick' cards,  I can guarantee you will bw seeing some of these featuring on the blog in the coming weeks.  

Lastly I am sharing this lovely Sunflower card made using the magazine free stamps.  So bright and beautiful.  

There is so much more in the magazine,  my fingers were aching so I have left some to surprise you if you decide to buy the magazine.  

With so many ideas featured I think its well worth the £14.99 

Something adorable to finish with today....

Maria has shared her gorgeous Crystal Art with us, it features ths most adorable Huskie puppies,  it must have been so lovely to watch these little cuties come to life as you added the crystals Maria. 

Your sister will absolutely adore it my lovely! 

Thank you so much for sharing it with us, 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love & hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Black & Kraft colour Combination

 

Good Morning ladies, 

Ooh did we get some rain yesterday!  The garden will have enjoyed it more than we did, Soph and I were just leaving the place we had lunch when the heavens opened, it was coming down like the proverbial 'stair rods', I was wearing a thinnish dress as I'd been to bladder clinic, I had my light coat with me which I put over my head,  we got soaked!  Sitting in the wheelchair seems to make you more open to the elements, we laughed through it though! 🤣😂 

Today's card was a Pinterest inspired card, it was the colour combination that grabbed me, I found some black patterned paper and used SU Crumb Cake card (it's almost Kraft). I used a combination of SU stamps and die sets to create the card.  I used crumb cake ink to stamp the leaves on the background,  i stamped the flowers in Versamark and added white embossing powder, the die cut and layered 4 flowers together to create a larger flower, I stamped and die cut the foliage in black and white.  I stamped the sentiment in crumb cake to coordinate with the background.  A few gold pearls to finish the card. 

I hope that you all have a better day today, Lilian, Maria & Sue I hope you get a little respite from your pain. Karen I hope you soon get some relief from your tooth pain, toothache has to be one of the worst,  Brenda & Gina thinking of you too and sending you all my love, 

Sandra xxx 

Clean & Simple Emboss Resist card

 

Good Morning ladies,

I hope today finds you better than before, Karen who did dentis go?  I do hope you  you get sorted soonest!!!

It felt like I was on the go all day yesterday, I wasn't but it felt like it, my legs hurt so bad   

We had a Cat Sitter pop round yesterday,  so I welcomed her in and went into detail about what our fur babies need! 

Todays card is am emboss resist card, I stamped and embossed the border stamp that I have had for ages from IndigoBlu, heat set and set to dry, I then masked off below and above the stamped sentiment,  a little later I used Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon to blend across the that central border, then wiped off the excess ink over the white embossing.  I slowly and carefully removed the tape to reveal that lovely central band of inkin.

I hope that all you had a lovely day, 

Love and hugs, 

Sandra xxx 

Clean & Simple Masculine card

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

I went for a 'Clean & Simple' card for today for a change.

So I used Categories:  Clean and Simple/ Masculine/card. 

I used my Stampscapes 'Cottage on the water' stamp, I love how the reflection works, it adds so much intetest, even just in Black & White. 

I stamped the piece and added Clear Embossing powder to add the shiny  effect!   It now catches the light beautifully x

I hope that you enjoy Whatever you are up to today, 

Love & hugs to all

Sandra xxx

My Color Cube June TicTacToe card

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

I had a bit of 'marathon' card making session yesterday,  I was home alone, which is not my favourite way to start the week, but I got my head into gear and got ready for the day, I set my laptop up with YouTube playing for a bit of background noise and got stuck in.  Having the TicTacToe does help you focus your ideas a bit more.  I also picked out some stamps and was determined ti use them.  I think if you focus on one stamp set or a die of a colour theme its easier to get going.  I know you ladies are the same as me and have a huge range of craft stash in your room, so sitting down and picking one thing is so hard.  

I used categories:  Emboss / Color Cube / Flowers

I picked out Color Cube card 321 and matched the Grey (silver) , orange (peach) and pink ( hot pink) from card 321                                                                     I matched Distress Oxides :  Pumice Stone, Wild Honey & Kitsch Flamingo . 

I stamped and embossed the Inkylicious meadow stamp in black.  Then I masked off a rectangle and blended the three inks up the rectangle finishing with the pink.  I mounted the piece onto a black mat and then onto a white card base. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & Hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx