My Birthday card from Lucy

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you are all ready for the start of a new week,  although this is a nice relaxed start with it being Bank Holiday.

We were planning to go to a local carboot sale today but the weather has other plans,  I would struggle too much on a muddy field and to be honest I don't need any more clutter!  

Today I am sharing this lovely shadow box style card that Lucy made for me for my birthday,   I was blown away when I saw it,  she is so clever and I love that she is interested in crafting. ❤️

I hope the Bank Holiday weather is kind to you,

Love and hugs, 

 Sandra xxx

Looking back at our makes this week..

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

I keep forgetting that its a Bank Holiday weekend,  mind you the weather should be the biggest reminder, in typical Bank Holiday tradition the rain hasn't stopped,   we had the most incredible downpours yesterday,  it virtually didn't stop all day, the water was running down the roads like a river.  I really felt for the people at Reading and Creamfields Festivals this weekend,  the videos of them dragging their belongings through ankle deep mud just looked so miserable,  I'm afraid I'd have turned round and gone home, the thought of a whole weekend being wet and miserable is a no from me.   Annoyingly we were planning on going to a carboot salevon Monday for a look around,   I have been inspired by a lovely crafty lady that I follow on Facebook Lindsey Dickson,  I originally followed her for her craft content,  every Sunday she goes to Carboot sales and finds the most incredible bargains, whether its old books , bits of fabric, so many different bits and pieces and she never seems to spend more than 50p or £1,  she makes me laugh because if it's something handmade she can't leave it to be discarded.  I haven't been to a carboot sale in years, i remember them being mostly absolute rubbish.   If they rain continues the field its on will be just mud so we'll wait and see. 

I have definitely felt the love this past few days,  it's an indescribable feeling.  You are all loved beyond measure too ❤️ 

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

Karen

Karen's Description:

This card was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest by Ashley Fifes

I cut the card first - mistake number one and because I used DO for the background stamp first as they dull Versafine I didn’t get the angle quite right - mistake number two! 

I love how it is matted on very pale yellow “milk” card

Thank you Karen for reminding about this stamp set,  I had totally forgotten about it.  I love the stacked/overlapping placement of the individual pieces,  it looks amazing those three black gems finish the layout perfectly.   

Thank you so much for supporting the challenge my lovely XXX 

Maria 

Maria's Description:

Something that's flying cards that I put together this morning is coming here.

 Two crystal ones and one made with inks sprayed as the background and then I used a free stamp set from a magazine. 

I made it for my dad's, father's day in November. 

3 amazing cards Maria,  thank you so much ❤️  Your Dad will love his handmade card, the mixed media paper you have used has given love texture to the background.  Your two crystal cards are so beautiful,  the colours are so bright and vibrant,  I keep thinking I must try one but there are thousands to choose from!!  

I really appreciate you going out of your way to support the challenge my lovely XXX 

Sonia

Sonia's Description: 

1:  My First piece - a journal page. 

I’ve used Lou Collins Dragonfly Dreams collection. (Inspired by you using it the other day 😊) and sentiment strips. I’ve inked the edges with Dusty Concord distress ink. I added some 49 and Market white rub-ons 😊

2:  Here’s a tag I made for the mini challenge.

I’ve used Stamperia All Around collection, including the die cut flower. The gem is from Spellbinders 😊

Oh Sonia your Dragonfly Dreams journal page is beautiful,  so much detail, perfectly arranged, so that your eye is drawn from element to element, finishing at the sentiments at the bottom.  

Your Stamperia 'All Around ' tag is lovely,  the bird looks so realistic,  I love the quality of their artwork.   The little flower and sentiment tag finish the tag beautifully. 

Thank you so much my lovely for supporting the challenge XXX 

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Happy Saturday..

 

Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

Thank you all for my lovely birthday wishes and cards my lovelies,  they really made my day ❤️ 

We had a fun day out together,  we started out at a lovely garden centre that had lots of little shops too, then we went to Reading to Ikea for some storage bits and we finished off at Costco,  getting some yummy bits and pieces.  They surprised me with cake when we got home.  A lovely day 🥰

This is so true,  some times if feels like the 'cloudy' days can seem never ending but those clouds do part and the sunlight feels very healing ❤️ 

How fun is this AI card that Soph made for me, I so wish my body did look like that 🤣😂  I laughed so hard at 'Paul' wearing his 'scuba Steve ' snorkel mask!!! These annual cards of Soph's never fail to bring a smile 🥰😍

I can't wait to show you the other awesome cards that I received. 

I had some money from Paul's mum for my birthday so I treated myself to some dies from  'Craft Addiction '...

They have some lovely dies and stamps and their prices are really reasonable.  

I hope that you all have a lovely Saturday,  

Love and hugs to all of you  

Sandra xxx 

A quick & simple vintage card

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

I hope that you are all as well as can be expected,  I am sending gentle hugs to anyone that needs one. 

My day started off a bit gloomy and quiet, the weather was miserable,  Paul was in the office  Soph was off work but she was busy painting,  I woke after a really rough night,  I think that the heat/humidity combined with an insane thirst/dry mouth from the Turkish food had me unable to drink enough to quench my thirst and help with my dry mouth (my medications side effect is dry mouth too, without the added garlic and spices).  So after very little sleep I started the day with a miserable headache.  I reset my alarm and tried to get a couple of extra hours sleep.  I pushed myself to get up going,  Soph kindly bought my a cup of tea to get my day started off which helped.   My lonely day got brighter when Sue came over for a cuppa and catch up,  she also bought me some beautiful flowers and chocolate biscuits 😋.   Now if any of you ladies like a Tunnocks Caramel biscuit bar, then now have a version that is coated in toasted coconut,  I didn't think caramel and coconut went together but my goodness I was wrong, they are delicious,   they girls set their eyes on them and both loved them,  we will be looking out for them when we go shopping.  

Thank you Sue for coming to visit and for the lovely flowers.  

I literally don't know what I would do without the constant support that I get from you, my wonderful Blog Family ❤️

After chatting through the afternoon with Sue, I didn't prepare anything for today's post.   With my headache returning,  I couldn't think of what to create,  Lucy was in the middle of making my birthday card,  she came down asking if I had any patterned paper that looked like 'planks of wood ', I knew that I had some,  so pulled out a couple of boxes to look through,  thankfully I found a selection quickly,   whilst sorting through I found a couple of little 'Die Cut' books that I bought years ago from 'The Works ', I noticed that one of them had butterflies on,  so that was perfect.   I cut a 5 1/4 inch square card base and popped on the background piece from the book,  I edged the pieces with ink,  placed the vintage style photograph onto the background,  I only added glue down the centre to allow me to tuck things underneath it.  I tucked in the little bits and pieces that was included for this card.  Inking the edges of each piece.  I finished with the butterflies to tie in with our mini challenge.  

Not sure what our plans are for today,  we'll see what the weather is like.   

I am crossing everything that the headache and nausea have disappeared overnight as I felt quite unwell when I went to bed last night.  🤞🤞🤞

I hope that you all have a good day

Love and hugs to all of you,  

Sandra xxx 

Dragonfly Dreams card 2

 

Good morning ladies, 

We had an unexpectedly warm day yesterday,  Lucy and I popped to shops and it was showing as 29.5 ° in her car.  It just feels like we need a huge thunderstorm to clear the air.  We are forecast rain all day today,  it did forecast it yesterday but it didn't appear! 

Such a lovely reminder today,  even the hardest things in life are so much easier to experience when you have someone special that helps you through it ❤️

For today's card I used a piece of the patterned paper from the Dragonfly Dreams paper pad, I picked the paper that best matched the colour of the dragonfly that I fussy cut from the same paper pad.  I created a top folding card base (4 1/4  X 5 1/2 inch ) I then cut the front panel 1/4 inch smaller and used an old magazine freebie from years ago, I believe its by Paula Pascal, although that could be wrong 🤣😂  I die cut the chevrons out of the centre (ish) of the panel added foam pads to the back and adhered to the card base with the patterned paper behind it.  I added some sparkle to the dragonfly wings .....

If you look closely you can see the sparkle!  I put foam pads underneath dragonfly to lift it off of the panel.  I added a sentiment and some gems that look oddly yellow on these photos in reality they are aurora borealis.  

We had a late night last night as we had a Turkish Meal to celebrate both Matt & my birthdays.  

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx

Stamperia Butterfly Journal page

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies,  

Yesterday disappeared in a blur,  I realised at about 9am that I was home alone,  I had been busy chatting to Lucy and wondered why she wasn't answering,  so I went from bathroom to her room to ask why she wasn't answering me only to find her room empty and so I looked out to see her car had gone!  I messaged her to see where she was and she replied saying that she swapped her day off so that she was home with Soph and Paul for my birthday, bless her ❤️.   I absolutely hate getting down the stairs when I am here on my own,  so I put it off for an hour or so doing a few jobs upstairs,  then I went to sit on the bed to get my breath back before attempting those stairs and must have fallen asleep,  I woke up at about 11.20am.  I had a bit of a rough night so I guess I needed it,  although I never sleep in the day time usually.   I did consider waiting upstairs until Paul came home at 2.30 ish, but I had finished my water bottle and was a bit hungry,  so I just had to go for it,  my method is to hold on bannister with both hands, go down about 3 steps then lean back put my bum on the stair and go down like that.               I got down had some 'brunch' and sat at my desk, before I knew it Paul was home,  he was later than usual so good job I didn't wait upstairs!  I felt tired all day, which was so different to Monday morning when I woke up with a 'spring in my step'!!  

Look at that lovely artwork,  the sentiment goes without saying, especially as Mum's when we usually put ourselves last.  😘

I made this little journal page yesterday afternoon,  I used Stamperia Secret Diary collection for this page,  I used rice paper in the background with some stamping, I did use some Arden Creative Rub-ons in the background too.  The main focal point was made using the junk journal.  I finished with some white splatters and the very true sentiment 'Nature never goes out of style'.

I hope that you all have a good day and that the change in the weather doesn’t affect you too much. 

Love and hugs,  

Sandra xxx 
 

Dragons Card 2

 

Good Morning Ladies, 

We had a much cooler day yesterday,  quite breezy too,  it makes life a lot more comfortable though,  who knew we'd end up enjoying 'below' average August temperatures 🤣

This is actually a really good reminder,  most of us have no problem having plenty of patience with our loved ones, friends etc.  But when it comes to having patience with ourselves its a different matter.   This blooming CPAP machine is a prime example,  I feel pressure as the team that supply the machine monitor your progress wirelessly. Which is making me get so frustrated with myself,  I just don't think it's going to work out.  I am kind of 'ok' with the mask but as soon as the air comes on I go into a full panic,  which makes the situation worse because you need to take steady breathes,  to me the forced air is what stops me being able to breathe,  I have tried so many different methods of distraction but its still not working.  I end up getting upset and angry with myself.  I have no patience left in this situation 😔

For this card I used the 6 x 8 inch paper pad from TEXT{ures} by Lou Collins, its called Dragonfly Dreams,   I trimmed a piece of the paper to fit my card base with a narrow black mat, the papers have so much detail you don't need to embellish them at all really.  I simply fussy cut a dragonfly to add to the page, I added foam pads to raise it up away from the background,  a sentiment and some irredescent gems finish the card. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx 

A Clean & Simple 'Wings' card

 

Good Monday Morning Ladies, 

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend and that you are rested and ready to start a new week 😀 

We had a lovely relaxing Sunday, well I certainly did, I think Paul did some work down the allotment area,  so I think he wasn't as chilled as I was, although he ended the afternoon falling asleep while reading his book on the deck 😴

A very true reminder,  it may seem like you are ready to get back to normal activities, (speaking from experience) however a day or two later you become very aware that you didn't give yourself long enough to recover.   Your body can do amazing things, if you take time to heal, be it physically or mentally xxx

Today I am sharing a Clean & Simple style that I made yesterday,  using an oval stripe die and a couple of tiny Dragonflies.

This is the old bit of background made using the faux batik technique,  basically tissue paper, screwed up and adhered to a piece of card. I have run this one an embossing folder for a bit more texture.  I did add some gilding wax to highlight the texture.  

I used the oval die to create that aperture in the centre of the card,  positioned the coloured card behind the aperture and adhered to the base card,  I added foam pads under that top layer and positioned it over that background.  I die cut the two dragonflies out of the same background and positioned them opposite each other.   The sentiment die embosses the 'Happy Birthday ' into the card that you used for the background.  I finished the sentiment strip with a little die cut bow, topped it with a tiny silver gem.  

I hope that you all have a lovely Monday,

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Our Makes this week ...

 

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,  

We had the best day out yesterday,   we decided to go to a 'Pick Your Own' Farm,  found one nearby, well its 16 Miles from us,  we drove through some beautiful Cotswold countryside,  as we got near the farm we went through a gated area with cattle grids, we opened gate drove down the road and OMG, we were treated to the most spectacular views, you could see for miles in every direction,   the road was super narrow with passing places so we didn't get to pull over to take photos, so I found one online....

The area is called 'The cotswold way ' its just incredible (even though it wasn't as green as it is in these photos) 

Let's look at what Karen and Sonia have made this week....

Sonia 

Sonia's Description:  

Didn’t get anything Christmassy finished, so as I’ve started making tags, thought this one fits with the mini challenge.

I’ve used papers and ephemera I created on ChaptGPT 😊

Oh Sonia what stunning, vintage style papers you have created,  the combination of Lace, script and floral is always a winner, the addition of the butterflies really elevates it.  You must be so happy with how they came out.  The tags you have made with your design are amazing.  

Thank you so much for sharing your latest design with us XXX 

Karen 

Karen's Description: 

I made this background before we went away using a Sizzix layering stencil - Mozaic Flowers with Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers DO Added SueW NOEL die cut.

Karen that colour combination is gorgeous,  isn't it brilliant when you create a combination of inks that really works. It's also great when we get to use an old die, the new colourway and background gives that old die a new lease of life.  

Thank you so much for sharing your latest card with us XXX 

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

I hope that you all have a lovely Sunday,  

Love & hugs to all of you, 

Sandra xxx

Happy Saturday Ladies,

 Good Saturday Morning Ladies,  

I hope that you have all had a good week and are relaxed and ready for weekend.  

I had a follow up CPAP appointment,  I explained the problems I was having with Claustrophobia and wearing the mask, we have left it that I will continue with desensitising methods and will have another appointment in 4 weeks.  He did say I could call the Warwick Hospital and ask them to put me back on the list for Hernia surgery,  although I'm not sure why I couldn't have stayed on list anyway as they don't don't anything different during surgery, they just monitor you more carefully,  watching for when you stop breathing.  I think that makes me more terrified of having surgery.  I think sometimes you are better off not knowing!!   The chap did say that using CPAP could help revovery , so we'll see. 

Gorgeous artwork and lovely reminder ❤️ 

Another fantastic post box topper in Witney, how brilliant is the sand castle and bucket & spade!!  I think it's a shame that there isn't a little ticket saying who makes them.   You can't even ask in Post Office (behind) as its now a restaurant 🙄 

I am so glad that our Gina allowed me to share this hilarious photo of her taking advantage of the 'photo opportunity ' in her local garden centre!   You look like you are so much fun to spend time with my lovely,  I hope I get the chance to sometime soon 🤣😂😍

I hope that you all have a lovely day , 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Mini Challenge

 

Good Friday Morning Ladies,  

We had RAIN !!!!  Soph and I popped out to the very posh  Burford garden centre,  which we generally visit just for the lovely experience,  they sell divine cakes and pastries, which makes the trip even better as we always come home with some delicious treats.  

This reminder goes without saying, I am not only 'Happy' that you are here, I am so GRATEFUL!  

Lilian, I hope that you aren't too sore after your clip/stitch removal yesterday and that you can now get on and make a speedy recovery xxx

Sonia,  I hope that you aren't too sore after your laser treatment yesterday,   hopefully you are well on the way to feeling the benefits my lovely xxx

Brenda, I hope that you are recovering from your worrying episode last weekend. xxx

Today's journal page I made yesterday using my Arden Creative Laurel Grove collection,  I stamped the background then added some Lindys Gang powders to give a pop of colour to the background.  The focal point I made using a tag from the paper pad and a couple of the die cuts.  The main point of this journal page is the butterfly......

Because I want to have a 'Mini Challenge' the theme is WINGS 🪽 

So Butterflies 🦋  Bees 🐝 Bird 🐦 Dragonfly, Angels, Fairies  🧚‍♀️ Dragon 🐲 Bats, Aeroplane ✈️ 

I think it covers most occasions too,  Birds could be robins for Christmas,  Angels also work for Christmas.  Bats for Halloween.  Butterflies for any occasion etc. 

I will keep this a short challenge as I am planning a TicTacToe 

I hope that you all have a great day, 

Love & hugs 

Sandra xxx 

Maybe my last Christmas card for now..

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

We had a very cloudy, 'muggy' kind of day yesterday,  the temperature was around 23° but my goodness it felt warmer because of the humidity I think,   it tried to rain at around 4pm but didn't last 3 minutes,  it was forecast to rain all day, never mind maybe it will rain today.   We didn't do very much, popped to witney to get a few bits and had lunch,  then home.  

I love the artwork more than the sentiment,  of course you are all very capable,   it's something I often doubt, I'm sure you all do at times!  

I put this card together yesterday afternoon, using my Lou Collins Christmas Cheer paper pad and a piece of music sheet behind.  The sentiments are also dies from the same Lou Collins Collection.

I want to change the challenge but unsure what to change it to...any preferences?

Lilian I hope that your appointment goes well today,  I dreaded having the clips taken out of my hip reconstruction scar, there were so many,  luckily the area was numb so it wasn't painful at all,  the skin is still numb today.                                     I am hoping that you will be more comfortable after having clips and stitches removed my lovely XXX 

Karen you should be so proud of yourself going down the slide no matter the size, I bet the boys loved to see you having a go, did Alan have a go?  I could never workout how Paul always came out feet first and just stood up, no matter how i tried to stay sat up and facing forward, I came out backwards, disorientated with a boob almost on show!!! 🤣😂  Enjoy the rest if your week my lovely XXX 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love and hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx 

Simple inked Cards

 

Good Wednesday Morning Ladies, 

Did you all enjoy the slightly cooler weather yesterday?  It was lovely in the morning but by mid afternoon I was struggling, I think it was humidity rather than heat.  It felt like we were going to have a storm,  which didn't happen !

Lucy and I popped out to the Garden centre yesterday,  then came home for lunch,  not sure what's on the cards today !! 

I am relieved to read this as a reminder as its something I find is totally necessary!  

Today I am sharing a set of cards I made before we went away but didn't share.  They were cheap stamps from Amazon which I used to stamp into the strips of ink that I created with distress ink, blended onto the card inside the masked of strip.  Simple but effective. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day, 

Love and hugs to all of you 

Sandra xxx 

 

Arden Creative Christmas Cheer card

 

Good Morning Ladies,  

It was so much more bearable having the slightly cooler day yesterday,   it's the cooler nights that make the difference for me though.   We were forecast rain yesterday but it didn't appear.  

Karen I hope that you arrived safely at Butlins and that your room is lovely and that you are having a lovely time,  I smile thinking of you on those waterslides though 😀 xxx

Sonia  I hope that you have a lovely day with James taking Teddy & Scarlett swimming,  I can't wait to hear all about it xxx

This is one reminder that most of us have no choice in 🤣😂

Today's card I made yesterday using my Arden Creative Christmas Cheer collection,  the background is a piece of background paper from the 8 x 6 inch paper pad.  I trimmed it down to 5 3/4 inch square to fit on 6 x 6 inch card base.  I simply added a piece of die cut foliage and popped that inside the wreath to perch the little bird on.  I die cut the 'Christmas ' sentiment and added the 'Merry' tag from the collection.  I finished with some white splatters and 3 little diamantés. 

I hope that you all have a good day, 

Love & hugs to all, 

Sandra xxx