My Christmas Sketch Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card is my Christmas version of this weeks Sketch, I turned the sketch on it's side for this card.  I absolutely love the colours, Old Olive and Real Red, they work so well together.
The papers are new this year, it's called 'Under the Mistletoe', I have used two different patterns on a Real Red card base, with a mat of Old Olive.  I then uses a stitched border die to add detail to the border of Old Olive card, I then added a strip of Silver Edged Whisper White ribbon.
The centre piece I made using the 'Labels to Love ' stamp set, I punched this out with the 'Everyday Label' punch and placed that on the larger 'Stitched Seasons' thinlits die cut and added some Real Red ribbon.  I finished the card with some clear stones that I coloured a Red Stampin' Blend pen.

The girls and I had quite a chilled out day, we ordered the last few bits of clothes they need for holiday and I was looking at hotels for the Sunday night, initially we were going to drive down to Folkestone for a lunchtime ferry crossing but while I was laid awake pondering things as do most nights, it dawned on me that we would have to leave ridiculously early on Monday morning as we have to drive around the M25 passed Heathrow and Gatwick airports, which always have huge delays, probably worse with Monday morning rush hour traffic, we just didn't think about it before we booked it, probably because we usually go on a Sunday.
So I finally convinced Paul that we would be better staying at a hotel near to Folkestone on the Sunday night, rather than getting up at 4am to leave by 5am, the journey usually takes us about 4 hours, and you have to arrive an hour before you leave usually.  If we stayed locally we could just get up and have breakfast and make our way to the Eurotunnel in plenty of time.
We planned to make it a more relaxed journey this year as it is just the two of us in the car, as Soph, Lucy and Lewis are flying down and back.  We usually have to book two hotel rooms for 1 stop on the way down and 2 stops on the way back.
This year as we only have to have 1 room we have booked a nicer hotel and we are doing 2 overnight stops both ways.  We should hit Paris late afternoon on Monday and stay at Orleans just the other side of Paris on Monday night, then spend the day driving down to our usual stop at Millau on Tuesday and then leave for Spain on Wednesday morning. It should hopefully be more relaxed with the extra day travel time.  Paul would usually start driving at 5pm on Sunday and drive through till our stop at Millau Monday teatime, the only sleep being an hour or so on the ferry.  I also like to stay awake to keep him talking and alert! This time the journey can hopefully be a part of the holiday.
We might even get a quick meet up with our Lynda on the Sunday, that would be a lovely start to our holiday.

Well I am off to get some cards made for while I am away, I will try and schedule some posts as I won't be making them while I'm away but I will still be calling in and writing posts most days. The Challenge will still be set as usual. Michele has kindly agreed to 'Challenge you all' like she did last year.

Have a lovely day everyone,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxx

Monday Sketch Challenge

Good Morning Ladies,

Here we are at the start of another warm week, what have you all got planned this week?

I decided that my brain needed a bit of rest so I went for a Sketch Challenge this week, mainly because the hardest part of the card making process is done for you, it's a bit like 'card making by numbers', you still have a huge input into your actual version of the design though.
Remember that these are just a basic outline of a layout, its open to you adding bits and taking bits away.  For instance my first card will only have one handmade decorative paper,  not two different ones aa shown in the sketch, I will probably change the shape of the circle and have my sentiment its place instead of an embellishment.
Feel free to play with the design and have fun with it.

My card has a Berry Burst base, I made background a while ago and hadn't used it, it has stamps from 'Share What You Love ' stamp set amd I just used a water brush with a little ink from Berry Burst and Old Olive ink pad on and tapped brush on my hand to get fine speckles all over.
I made a border with the the Ribbon Border Punch, punched two strips, placed them on card and put some gorgeous Ruffled Edge Ribbon in Berry Burst, topped with 1/8 Whisper white ribbon on top.  The sentinent is stamped in Berry Burst and die cut with the largest 'Stitched Labels' die. I added a few pearls to finish the card.

I have to be strict with myself this week and get a good few cards made, how do you all motivate yourselves?
My main problem is too much choice, i walk in the craftroom and just cant decide what to make or what to use. So I think it might help if I maybe closed my eyes and picked a stamp set to play with that day, or number a few and get all of you to choose, I'd go with the majority!!
Or if there's anything you would like to see me make just ask, I am happy to try and inspire you.

As I am writing this post I am sat at the allotment watching Paul trot to and fro, fetching barrows full or leaf compost to spread over the allotment to try and keep the weeds down, they added a new drainage system down the side of our plot as the allotments were prone to flooding, well i think that this flippin pipe is doing too good a job as our normally wet sticky clay soil is now a mass of huge cracks, 3,4,5 inches wide and as deep as you can see, I guess it's where the clay has dried out , baked in fact, you couldn't grow anything. It will be interesting to see what happens when we do get rain.
Sadly the approach to the allotment used to be all field and countryside, now its s mass sprawl of houses, all identical, shoe horned in to cram as many houses as possible.
We used to walk through a long arbour of trees, where the road had woodland either side, now your drive past people's doorsteps,  they have  built thousands of new homes over the past couple of years, but they haven't built new schools or Doctors surgery, its  a ridiculous situation and explains the almost one month wait for routine appointments. The developers and councils that give them permission to build should be held to account.
Rant over, soap box back in cupboard, help yourself!

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs to all

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Challenge Cards

Good Sunday Morning Friends,

What better way to spend a scorching Sunday morning than browsing through and absorbing inspiration from an amazing display of cards.
Asda had an incredible deal on Magnums, you know those luxury double ones, I love the Raspberry and the Coconut ones, Paul went for Praline, they were £2 a box or 2 boxes for £3!!!  So I have stocked the freezers for you, grab one and sit and look at all of these amazing cards...…..

Amanda

Amanda has used the Stampin'Up! Very Vintage stamp set to create her beautiful One Colour Challenge card, the Blue is Night Of Navy and the matching Ribbon is Night of Navy Gingham Ribbon too (although it looks a lighter blue), that cute little sentiment was made using the 'Darling Label Punch' and the stamp is also from Very Vintage.

Such a lovely challenge card Amanda it has a French Country style, thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Karen

Karen made three lovely Challenge cards, managing the extra challenge of doing 1Christmas and 1everyday card, so thank you so much for that, less to make in December!  

That beautiful baby card is amazing and personalising it really does give it that 'Special' card status.

Here is Karen's Description:

"Here’s 3 cards for you
The New Baby card is for Charlotte to give to her friend MYAH was born last week and is currently in GOSH She had a heart op on Monday and seems to be doing very well
The butterfly is scraps of blue using a very old SW die and JL’s butterflies I’m on the lookout now for a nice butterfly EF because I think now I’ve photographed it it looks a bit bare
The Christmas is a mix of EF’s on scrap card cut with SW’s Pierced Flags and her new Mini Expressions die I think it looks quite effective all in white xxx"

Thank you so much Karen for making three amazing, inspirational cards.

XXX

Lilian

Lilian has designed another stunning challenge card, that stamp you have used is absolutely gorgeous, as is that stunning shade of pink, it looks like 'Berry Burst', the background paper you have used looks watercoloured and I love the way you have offset the two shades,  your cards always have so much beautiful detail Lilian. 

Thank you so very much for gathering the energy to take part, I know how hard it is in this heat, I am very grateful. 

XXX

Lorraine

Lorraine I absolutely love your card, such a simple design but boy does it work, that butterfly is so Majestic and your shading has added so much depth.

Lorraine's description:

"Beautiful Day created with Memento Black ink and the two Highland Heather blends."

Thank you so much Lorraine, I know you are suffering this weekend after your Chemotherapy my lovely, this heat can't help, sending you huge hugs.

XXX

Lynda

Lynda has made two lovely challenge cards this week, the first arrived Monday morning, so started my week off with a big smile, however it wasn't as big as the smile on my face after Lynda and I had a conversation about the second card!

Lynda's Description.....

Blended background with blueprint sketch distress oxide die cut is from the wish site JL butterfly sentiment is from SU blooming with kindness. 😍

Card 2

Second cc

Candied apple oxide ink
Woodware stamp
Tassel from my slippers 🤣🤣

The conversation we had was over my amusement at Lynda using her Slipper tassel, I went on to say how trendy they are at the moment, they are in all the High Street shops as Earrings and other accessories, we then went on to discuss what else we could 'use' them for! I will leave that to your imagination, I won't be experimenting with the cats around though, plus I'm not sure my back is up to it !! 😜 

Thank you so much Lynda for taking part and making me cry with laughter, so hard that tears weren't just running down my cheeks!! 😍😍

Margaret

I just love this gorgeous little Easel card that Margaret has made for this weeks challenge, she has used the Birthday Blooms stamp set for both the stunning floral image and the sentiment, both stamped in beautiful p

Michele

Our Michele managed two cards for this weeks challenge, I have every hope that this is the start of your enthusiasm for crafting returning my lovely. I love your design Michele and how it works for both categories. Those snowflakes are so pretty!

Thank you for taking part and doing the extra part of the challenge too! 

XXX

Val

Val has designed a beautiful birthday card for our One Colour Challenge this week, using four shades of pretty pinks to create that lovely blended background, Inspired by Danielle's card earlier this week, it gives so much interest to the background, highlighting parts of the embossing.  Your daisy is stunning with the black tips Val, I am guessing its John's Gerbera Die?! 

Thank you so much for taking part my lovely, if we are all struggling in the heat, I can't imagine how hard it is for you! 

XXX

Janet

Janet has designed three absolutely Incredible cards, all so opulent, the last two remind me of the tiles in Morocco, such intricate patterns, to use metallic embossing powders was an inspired idea Janet, those cards are really going to shine on the Mantelpiece!

Here is Janet's Descriptions:

Here are my offerings for this week's CC.

1.  Happy Birthday in Brown - I used the TONIC die 'DEVOTED DOILY'

                                               The Sentiment is from CRAFTER'S COMPANION.

2.  SHADES OF GOLD - I used TONIC 'CROCHETED DOILY'

                                      The sentiment is TONIC 'NORDIC CHRISTMAS.

                                      The Background -I cannot remember the name of the

                                       mask but I used COSMIC SHIMMER TEXTURE

                                        PASTE - 'NEW GOLD' by Phil Martin

3. SHADES OF SILVER- I used TONIC 'DAINTY DOILY'

                                        The sentiment is TONIC 'NORDIC CHRISTMAS'

                                        The background mask is TONIC '

                                           'LAYERED HEXAGON' and I used

                                        COSMIS SHIMMER TEXTURE PASTE 'SPARKLE

                                         SILVER MOON'

I hope you like them.

Loads of hugs xxxx  

Janet thank you so much for taking on both parts of the challenge and 'raising the bar', you are an inspiration my dear friend. 

XXX

Sue

Last but by no means least is this very Special Challenge card, made by my lovely friend Sue, 

Sue used the lovely 'Very Vintage' Stamp set to create that beautiful centre piece, die cut with an oval, Sue then die cut the mat with one of the Spellbinders Grand Decorative Oval dies, it has such a pretty lacy edge.  Sue then used a Happy Birthday stamp, cut with a SU label punch and placed upon a matching pink mat.

Such a stunning card Sue, everything works so beautifully together, Your Aunt will absolutely love this card, thank you so much for taking part, I love having your card on the Sunday line up!

XXX

Did you notice that we started and finished your card display with cards made with the same stamp set, Amanda starting us off with Very Vintage in Blue and Sue bringing us to a close with the same stamp in pink!

Thank you all so very much, we have collectively made 18 cards for this weeks Challenge, that's amazing 18 very different designs! You  have all thought up your designs and created your cards despite frustratingly high temperatures, some of you have a lot more to deal with as well as the heat, but you do this every week. You are all amazing and so very inspirational!

I hope that you all have a relaxing Sunday,

Love and huge hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Mixed Craft Saturday

Danielle

 Good Morning Ladies,

I didn't have too much to share as far as 'mixed' crafts go for todays blog, I will also own up and tell you that after our shopping trip, that I very much enjoyed with Paul and Lucy, I had a very long episode of AF and it fairly much wiped me out for the rest of the night. 

I will not let anything or anyone stop me from blogging however, so sheer determination got me through writing this post.  I am very grateful to Danielle, Victoria and Lynda who I called on very late in the day to give me something to share with all of you and boy are you in for a treat!

The first card on show today is a different kind of 'pop up' card, the inner panel pops up as you open the card, its nice to have that little element of surprise. The Double Aperture front gives you a sneak peek at the surprise you are going to get when you open the card. Danielle is going to do a tutorial on this card and when she does I will have a link on the blog.

Danielle has created a whole series of cards from Stamp set that was a new addition to the Stampin'Up! Catalogue this year

Little Elephant

It is such a cute stamp set and having a matching Punch make it so much easier to create quick and fun cards.

Danielle has also made these cards with this Stamp set....  

 These two cards show that this stamp set  does not only need to be used for children or baby cards, the top one features one of Danielle's lovely watercolour backgrounds.

The second card has the luxurious touch of gold, with gold embossing, gold card and lovely gold thread.  Everything about Danielle's cards work so beautifully together.  The laugh of it is Danni would tell you that she isn't really a card maker!!

Danielle you are an amazing card maker, your attention to detail and eye for design are as good as any card maker I know, thank you so much for allowing me to share your cards. 

XXX

Karlie

Karlie has treated us to another one of her Origami Pieces, this time it is a pretty dress, Karlie has used a really pretty paper and made sure that the pattern is small enough to work as a pattern on such a small dress, this all takes a lot of thought and consideration, which shows that you really have an eye for design Karlie.  Thank you for allowing me to share your dress with everyone, I think that this would make a great feature on a card, maybe you could ask your Mum to help you put one together.

Karlie has also shared a photo of the new Craft bits that her Mum treated her too earlier this week, you have some really pretty papers and matching pearls to start designing with, I hope you have fun with all of it and I look forward to seeing what you make.

XXX

Lynda

Lynda has shared a few of her crafty bargains with us this week, most of which are from Wish I believe, the rest I am sure was purchased with 'Lisa's Voucher' ;)-

The first item is that beautiful 'Daisy B' Flora stamp, such a lovely detailed stamp, Lynda has coloured has coloured her in for us and you can see all of the beautiful detail, highlighted by the beautiful colouring, the style reminds me of the 'Tilda' Dolls.

Lynda picked up a really cute Stampin Up stamp set, that features so many super cute images, I have seen simply hundreds of cards using these stamps on Pinterest Lynda, so if you need inspiration just pop over and type the stamp set name into the search bar.

A lovely selection of dies from Wish are next on the list, that large Sunflower card creator style die is lovely as is that Doily style die, that lovely decorative border die reminds me of the Sue Wilson Lyra dies. 

The Sue Wilson Border dies are beautiful, I love the Holly Berry Edger, so much detail, the Poinsettia Edger is lovely too, I can't wait to see these made into a card Lynda.

Last but not least is that gorgeous floral hessian/ribbon, it has such lovely colours in it, I can see this in the background of one of your masterpieces Lynda with the edges all frayed for that shabby effect.

You have bought some lovely goodies Lynda, thank you so much for sharing them with us.

XXX

Victoria

Coffee and Biscuits anyone???? 

Victoria has designed two fantastic gift package ideas for cheap and simple tokens of thanks, both of these Gift bags would have you as excited about the packaging as you were about the gift.

The coffee gift bag is simply a long piece of card that has been punched at either end with Stampin Up! Scallop Tag Topper punch, not only does it make perfect tags instantly, it can be made into so many other gift packaging ideas, I love this coffee one though, you could put the Hot Chocolate sachets in there too.

Victoria's beautifully decorated mini gift bag is a perfect way to present something as simple as a pack of biscuits as a real treat, Victoria has used Night Of Navy Card and one of the beautiful papers from the Garden Impressions 6 x 6 collection, I love the colours of these papers.

I will leave the link to Victoria's page below, so that you can go and check out her stunning crafty makes...…

 https://www.facebook.com/

Thank you so much Victoria for allowing me to share your amazing gift ideas.

XXX

Thanks so much again to Lynda, Danni and Victoria for today's blog content, so much inspiration on one little blog post!!

I hope you all manage to stay cool and comfortable,

Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Something Festive For Friday (My Christmas Challenge card)

 in

Good Morning Ladies

Today's card is my One Colour Challenge 'Christmas' card, I am trying my hardest to stick to my decision to make two cards for every Challenge.
I went 'Old School' for this card, using simple stamping techniques.  I masked off a rectangle in the centre of my card and added a light blend of 'Old Olive' ink, I then stamped my group of trees from the 'Lovely as a Tree' stamp set, I then placed the card in the Stamparatus Stamping tool and stamped my large Christmas tree (from the same stamp set), I re-stamped the tree several times to give a darker image.  I then added my sentiment which is from the new 'Colour Your Season' Stamp set.
I added a piece of narrow Old Olive ribbon and tied a simple knot, I mounted the decorative layer onto a piece of Old olive card and then onto a Very Vanilla card base.

Sue and I had a lovely day yesterday, it started with lunch and gorgeous Strawberry Meringue Fresh Cream cakes, omg they were so delicious!  We then went into my very warm craft room, where Sue made a her Challenge card, which was a beautiful birthday card for her Aunt, you will all get to see it on Sunday. (its worth the wait)!
I made today's challenge card, it looks simple but still took a couple of hours to complete, it was way too warm to rush.
I had a lovely day Sue, thank you for driving over to spend time with me, I really do appreciate it xxx

It's Lucy's turn to have a shopping trip with Mum today, I think that we will wait until Paul comes home at lunch time and go then, I struggled last week when it was just Sophie and I.  Lucy wants to look for clothes etc for holiday but sadly I don't think we will much luck as there was hardly anything last week, the stores all have all got their Autumn Winter stock in, which seems ridiculous in this heat.  The Bikinis online are all so expensive and you really do need to try them on as depending on the style the sizes can vary hugely, making buying over the internet more difficult.  I am looking forward to a couple of hours of shopping with her though.  I might ask Paul to stop at The Range on the way home, well it would be rude not too!

I hope that you ladies all have a lovely day and are looking forward to another warm weekend,

Sending Love and hugs to all of you,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Stampin for all TicTacToe Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card is the one I made yesterday for the 'Stampin For All' FB group TicTacToe Challenge.
I used a 4 1/8 X 5 3/4 Very Vanilla card base, to which I added a mat of Copper Foil card and then a piece of Blackberry Bliss, I then fussy cut a piece of the Delightfully Detailed Laser Cut paper and arranged it on top of the Blackberry Bliss card. To create the topper I stamped the decorative Circle from the Bouquet Blooms Stamp set (see below) in Blackberry Bliss ink...

onto Very Vanilla card and die cut with a circle die, I added a Copper Foil mat behind it and raised it up with foam pads.  I then stamped the circular 'Thank You' Sentiment from 'Stitched All Round'' stamp set onto Very Vanilla card using the same ink, then die cut a scallop circle mat in Blackberry Bliss and the onto Copper Foil circle. I added foam pads and popped it into the centre of the larger circle. To embellish I stamped and die cut a selection of flowers from the stamp set in the same colours as I made the card in, I added some copper foil foliage too. A few Blackberry Bliss faceted gems finish my card. What do you think?

Pat and I had a lovely day, Pat was very productive, using Distress Oxide Inks to make a selection of background papers for her Groovi pieces, she managed to put a card together and add some gems that she coloured with Stampin Blends.  We managed a fair amount of chat too, oh and lunch and Cream cakes of course! Thanks for coming to visit Pat xxx

Lilian this rain has made our grass spring to life too, so it will need cutting this weekend, the higher temperature seem to have returned today and it does seem to directly affect the AF, it just makes everything so much more of an effort, I honestly feel like I need to have an afternoon nap, mind you I had a couple of episodes when I first went to bed on Tuesday night so it took me a while to settle down, in some ways it was a good thing as I suddenly remembered that I had to write a DT post with the Tictactoe challenge, for the Fb group for Wednesday morning, that was at 1am, I couldn't rest then until I had done it, I didn't make the card until yesterday afternoon though.
I guess like you I am going to have to learn to pace myself.  Although I am sorry you suffer with this condition I am grateful to have you for guidance and support.  So thank you my lovely. xxx

I am hoping to see Sue today, I'm not sure if it will be before the Village coffee morning has finished, it would be nice to go if we can, I don't mind either way though, I am just happy to have the company.

Lynda I hope you have recovered from your very long day on Tuesday, hospitals drain you even on the shortest of appointments, so you and Terry must have been totally exhausted.  I hope that the injections give you some relief from your pain my lovely and that you enjoyed your Kentucky Chicken bucket, I don't mind it, but I have to take the skin off, which my lot think is crazy, I am just too fussy though, my favourite thing from there is their Chicken Gravy!  Sending you huge hugs my lovely, some for Terry too. xxxx

I hope that you all have a lovely day, however you are spending it,

Sending love and hugs to all of you

Sandra
xxxxxx

Danni's GDP#149 Card

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card is Danielle's entry to the SU Global Design Project, the Challenge was to make a card featuring the colours:

Night Of Navy
Lovely Lipstick
Bermuda Bay

Danielle has recently started experimenting with Blended Backgrounds, can you actually believe that she used a Dish washing sponge to do her blending?!   When you want to start something new you have to use what you have to hand, it just proves that you don't always need expensive blending tools.
Danielle started this card by stamping the gorgeous 'Very Vintage' stamp set in Versamark ink and then added White embossing powder and heat set, she then used the three colours to create a blended background, you then buff over the top to expose the white embossed images, the sentiment is from the 'Dandelion Wishes' stamp set, Danni then die cut it with Layering Oval die and added a scalloped Oval die cut in Bermuda Bay.  This was mounted onto a Bermuda Bay base card with a tiny white mat.
Such a gorgeous card Danielle, I'm glad I nagged you into making it, I promise to make mine today!
Thank you so much for allowing me to share your card xxx

Val it was lovely to read about your trip to Gaudalest, it sounds as beautiful as I remember, such a shame that the lake is as low as it is and it surprises me that it is still that beautiful colour despite being so low.  Your day sounded lovely and I have no doubt that you walked off the calories from that Ice cream Sundae with all the steps and climbing.  As you say its so worth the effort!  I hope that Paul can fix your camera.  Paul's are very handy to have around aren't they xxx

Pat is coming over today, so lots of chatting and crafting on the agenda, I wish I could get to craft with all of you xxx

Maria I hope your Dad is making a speedy recovery, it must be tough being so far away, sending you love and hugs xxx

Janet, how did the ladies and K & N enjoy your card??  I'm sure they loved it, did you get a new member? xxx

Michele, I hope that your Sciatica has passed, mine has eased off quite a lot thankfully, it's miserable isn't it, It must be so hard to work when you are suffering, sending huge hugs xxx

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

sending love and hugs to all of you

Sandra
xxxxxx