Mixed up Saturday featuring Michele's magazine Review

Good Saturday morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and enjoying the weekend.  I hope that none of you have to go out and fight for your toilet rolls and hand soap!  We went out yesterday afternoon as we usually do to get our shopping for the weekend, as we pulled into Aldi car park we saw too women with a trolley literally over flowing with packs of toilet rolls, tissues. hand soap, more than you would ever think of buying.  The problem is that people that are going in to buy their normal weekly shopping are unable to get the products that they actually NEED!  We were able to get both toilet rolls and hand soap that we have needed all week, we only bought what we needed though, I think that the Shops should put a limit on the amount of each product that people can purchase. Even the Prime Minister has put out a statement stating that there us absolutely no need to stockpile products!  I think that this problem has occurred because of the Press scaremongering!  

Our first delightful craft today is Janet's incredible Diorama, a beautiful scene inside a white frame, with extra images added to the front of the frame to give dimension to the piece. 

The box, backing paper and all laser cuts are from La Blanche, which I think has fast become one of Janet's favourite craft companies. I can totally understand why, their images are beautiful and everything looks so well made.

Thank you so much Janet for sharing your Diorama with us, its stunning xxx

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Karen

Karen bought this 'Crafty Roo' Stamp designed by Clare Horner at Stamperama, it's such a modern design and works so well with the Honey Doo Paint Splash stamp, Karen made this card for her Niece, who I am sure will love it.  I love that sentiment too Karen, perfect for young/teenage girls.

I look forward to seeing what other designs you come up with for this stamp, I imagine you can make it look quite different by using different colours and mediums. It would be fun to have Hairdryer/Brush/hairspray stamps or images in the background too. xxx

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Michele's Magazine Review 

Hi Ladies, 

Papercraft Essentials has a great free gift this month.

Here’s some ideas of what’s inside the magazine.

First of quite a few photos showing what you make using the free gift.

More ideas.

Even more idea's!

This look like a great technique that makes some lovely cards.

Interesting article on stamping.

I’m sure we’ve all got some lace that we could try using to create some of these ideas.

Lots of great ideas in this magazine.

Happy Crafting
Love Michele



Thank you Michele for another great review, those umbrella cards are lovely, so vibrant and cheerful.  I have a Stampin'Up! Stamp set with dies too, I might have a go at some of these.  They would be good with the Card-i-o stamps too.
I love the look of the Slider cards too and the Tone on Tone stamping, such a great idea and looks really effective.
I am a great lover of lace so that feature is definitely one I am interested in!
Michele I have bought 3 magazines that I wouldn't normally buy because of your Review, I am going to have to stop reading as I post! hahahaha. 
Thank you so much my lovely xxx


Well ladies that's all for today's post, I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Your Next Challenge card.....

Good Morning Ladies,

Yay it's Friday!! I am  ready for the weekend I can tell you, this week has been a long one!

Well everyone seems to be going Corona Virus crazy, we have always had Hand Soap in all three bathrooms and the kitchen and utility room, two of them are very low but could we buy any hand soap anywhere, the answer is NO!  I have actually seen a bottle of Care hand soap (normally around £1.00 - £1.50) On Amazon they are going for £35 a bottle, can you actually believe that?!
So I had to go to the under sink  cupboard and get my Wrights Coal Tar soap out, oh boy do I love the smell, it just smells proper clean!!
I know that we have to think about contingency plans etc but people seem to be going bonkers! Trolley's piled high with Bread, eggs and loo rolls! Have any of you started to stockpile ??

Your Next Challenge

Michele kindly sent me a list of ideas for our weekly challenges and this weeks challenge is one of them.

I would like you to make a Card ..…..With NO DIES, anything else is fine just no die cutting at all, you can use trimmers, guillotines etc. So you can still do your matting and layering.

A couple of years ago I could never have even thought about setting this challenge as most of us used almost exclusively Dies to create all elements of our cards, including the sentiment.

My card was made using my new Hero Arts Leafy Vine Stamp, I took a piece of Old Olive card, dusted with Anti-Static bag and then stamped the image in White Ink and then added white embossing powder and heat set.

I then stamped the sentiment, (I love that font) onto a separate piece of card and cut it with my trimmer and created a narrow white mat to lift it from the background a little.

I finished the card by wrapping around a piece of white satin ribbon and then placing the sentiment on foam pads on top.of the ribbon.

I think it looks really 'fresh' , I hope you like it too.

I will add some more cards to the blog tomorrow to give you all some inspiration.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxx

Another Old/New Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, hugs on route to those that aren't feeling 100% 

Yesterday was a much better day than Tuesday  thankfully but I was still feeling the aches and pains of the day before, I ended up going out in 4 different cars!  After we got back from Becca's drama, Sophie told me that Lewis was coming over and could we have pizza for tea, so we had to pop to Aldi as it was too late to let Paul know, so that was my 3rd car journey of the day.  The last journey was to the cinema, we have been wanting to see 'Dark Water' since it came out, its about the 'Dupont Teflon' chemical poisoning scandal, it was really eye opening to watch, you could clearly see how companies with lots of wealth can buy their way through any problems that may arise, DuPont  had politicians in their pocket as well as Scientists who told the general public that they water was safe to drink, when in fact this one guy proved quite the opposite, the chemical PF08 that was part of making Teflon was causing many types of cancer, Birth defects and wierd Tumours etc on animals, it was quite sad to see. He won in the end, he managed to get enough people to have Blood tests 69,000 + which was a record , the test was to see if there was a link between the chemical and their problems.  He won cases for all of those people that had medical problems and care packages for their future.  It was a really good film.

On to today's card, this is one that I made while Pat was here but it is a real 'throw back' to the cards that we used to make.  I used an old Spellbinders Ornate Label die for the outer most decorative edge, I then used a Label 8 die to cut a mat of the new Sara Davies Vintage Lace paper pad, I matched the paper with a SU card and used it for the layers of the card and to die cut some of the flowers too.

I used white card edged with a little 'Peacock Feathers' to create the sprigs of foliage.

I finished the card with a few coloured pearls and some sparkles in the flower centres.

It's funny to think that this is how we all used to make our cards, not a stamp in sight.

Hoping to see Sue today, fingers crossed that her chest infection is almost gone. 

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

My Messy Background Butterfly card

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and had a less stressful day than I did yesterday!

It started with the trip to the hospital, I am SO thankful that Paul took a couple hours off to take us as the route that we took was very RURAL, with some VERY steep hills, Soph is a good driver but it was a challenge for an experienced driver so lord only knows what my nerves would have been like.

We arrived at the hospital just in time for the appointment, which probably took 10 minutes from start to finish, the GP sent Soph to the Great Western for her Xrays and then to the Cheltenham General for her Consultant appointment, but the Cheltenham hospital cannot see any Xrays taken at the GW so they were a waste of time, her blood test results weren't there either so all in all a waste of time, she examined Soph and said that she doesn't believe it's Arthritis at this point but has given her an 'Open Appointment' to return if she needs too. She has to continue with physio and Consultant has sent a list of suggested medication should the pain in her wrists become unbearable.

We got home from the hospital and Becca called and asked if I would go to her house with her for support in case her EX was there, so I did, we went and he was there and it turned nasty just as I expected, she just wants him out as he has been living there with his new Girlfriend and their baby since September last year, while Becca has had to pay the £1000 Mortgage payment every month as he refused to pay and then declared himself bankrupt, he was shouting and bawling about never getting evicted because we has a baby etc etc.  My heart was out of control !!  I eventually got home at about 4.430pm after leaving the house at 8am !

Today's card came about after Karen suggested that we both had a go at recreating one she had seen on Pinterest, so this is my version.

I used Distress Oxide inks to create all of the colours on the card, from the stamped background to the coloured mats and layers, the whole card started out as white card.

I used Gorgeous Grunge Stamp set to create the 'paint splashed' look in the background, using Tumbled Glass and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide, it needed a darker shade so I added tiny spots of Seedless Preserves Distress ink (not oxide) as the original distress inks have a more intense colour.

I used the same Seedless Preserve ink to swipe over my Butterfly die cut to give it that rich purple shade, I used some Berry Burst card to die cut another layer as that colour looks very similar to Picked Raspberry.

I layered the two butterfly die cuts together and stuck them to my card.

I then used the Seedless Preserve ink to colour a 1/4 inch mat of card and then the Tumbled glass to colour the edges of my base card.

I was quite pleased with the result and I am looking forward to sharing Karen's too.

Michele and I also have a challenge between us, ours is to create 2 Card-I-O cards, I have done 1, just need to do 1 more.

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

xxxxxxx

Karen's New/Old Challenge Card and a RAnt

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope that you are all well, we have a busy day today, I am going with Soph to a Rheumatology Appointment in Cheltenham, she has been suffering with very painful wrists, with Matt and Becca suffering with Psoriatic Arthritis they are going to do some tests to rule that out.  Hopefully we won't be there too long.

Today's card is Karen's inspiration card for this weeks challenge, the 'Old' is the Sue Wilson Striplet Die, I love how Karen has paper pieced different shades of brown card back into the Striplet.
The 'New' is the Sue Wilson 'Happy Birthday' Sentiment Die.
I love the composition of your card Karen, it would work well for men or women.
Thank you so much for Inspiring us xxxx

I had some lovely 'inky fun' in my craft room yesterday after a trip out to the shops with Lucy, I do enjoy having 1 on 1 time with the girls, even if it is just shopping. Although we always end up with extra 'naughty' things in the trolley!

I want to have a RANT now, about being encourage to go 'green' and recycle!

I was talking about it to Lucy yesterday after we forgot the 'Bag for Life' when we went into Asda.
I started to tell her about how we used to shop etc years ago......

We had our Milk Delivered in Bottles that were collected and re-cycled, the vehicle that delivered the milk was electric/battery operated.
We went to the shops locally with a bag, the greengrocer put your potatoes straight into your bag and fruit was put in brown paper bags.
The Butcher wrapped your meat in paper.
We had the 'Alpine Man' Deliver 'pop' each week, collect the bottles the following and recycled them.
Corona Bottles had a monetary value if you collected bottles and returned them, we used to go round our village collecting them to get some pennies for sweets, in fact we used to go into the local pub which took the bottles in and we would spend our money on liquorice, they used to have a big box that they pulled from under the bar they opened the box and I distinctively remember waiting in anticipation as the peeled bag the waxed paper for you to choose which ever piece of liquorice you liked.  It's funny how those memories stick with you.
Anyway my point is that what they are suggesting as 'New Ideas' to save the planet, is in fact exactly what we were doing 40 + years ago !
Rant over, Soapbox stowed ready for the next rant!

I hope that you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra
xxxxxx

Gorgeous Groovi Birthday card

Good Morning Ladies, 

Here we are at the start of another week, fingers crossed we are on the countdown to Spring, I like March for that very reason, the garden starts bursting into life, this past week I have noticed the birds singing more (well in between rain showers )!  There is no better way to start the day than looking out and seeing all the spring flowers and watching and listening to the birds go about their day. 

We had a beautifully sunny day yesterday which makes such a difference,  it makes you want to go outside,  it was a little too cold to dry the washing but still a lovely change to see the sun.

Today's card is one that I made  for a very special friend.  It was one of those cards that just evolved and worked, I knew it looked ok when I saw Pat's reaction!  

The flower image is a brand new Groovi plate, designed by the lovely Tina Cox.

I embossed my image (using Groovi plate) onto pink Parchment,  i then turned the parchment over and used an eraser to take some of the colour out of the parchment before adding in a darker pink to the flowers and green on the leaves.

I looked at the shape of the spray of flowers and decided that it would look great with an Oval frame, so I die cut the parchment with my Oval Picot Dies and used the same dies to cut the card base.  I mounted the parchment onto pink card to enhance the white embossing  and then adhered it to the oval card base.

I am planning on making a couple of cards today, so I will be in my craft room for most of the day.

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

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra 

Xxxxxx 

Your Bright & Cheerful Challenge cards

Good Morning My Dear Friends,

White Rabbits !!!! Can you believe it's the 1st of March already?!!!

What a gorgeous display of Bright and Cheerfulness we have today, the Café must look beautiful Janet!! 

The wind and rain is trying it's hardest to destroy all of the beautiful Spring flowers in the garden, the daffodils are remarkably resilient, they look a bit sad after each bout of heavy rain but seem to shake it off and bounce back to life  in no time, the snowdrops are a in a more sheltered spot so thankfully.

We just don't seem to get a break between these flamin' storms, we were watching the One Show on Friday and the weather guy said that there could be another 'storm' on it's way for next weekend, but they are hoping that it might just miss us, fingers and toes crossed!! (Lynda you are excused from crossing anything as I don't want you falling over any more)! 😜😜

Now let's look at these stunning cards...….

😜Lilian 

Lilian, what an absolutely stunning card, that vase of Tulips stamp is beautiful and your colouring is beyond amazing!

'' Here is my card for this week, you asked for bright, so I complied!

Power poppy digi stamp, coloured with water colour pens.''

Which water colour pens do you use please Lilian/?

Thank you so very much my lovely, your work is just incredible and so inspirational xxx

Michele

Michele what a delightful display of Bright and cheerful cards, they are all so colourful and fun, you couldn't help but smile when you opened one of these!

''My set of 6 challenge cards-definitely bright!! They’re made using free papers from Making Cards magazine. I’m hoping to make some other cards using free papers from a different magazine, maybe tomorrow evening!''

Thank you so much my lovely xxx

 Janet

Janet, wow three absolutely amazing cards, what I love about your challenge cards is that they are always all completely different styles, so much inspiration!  

I love the Remy Mackintosh style stamp that you have used for your first card, the yellow really makes those roses pop!

Poppies, who doesn't love poppies?! Beautifully coloured and love the sentiment too.

Your vintage style cards are always amazing Janet and this one is no exception, the flowers give it a real pop of colour and warm the whole card.

Thank you so very much for always inspiring us with your designs, enjoy the rest of your Birthday weekend my lovely. xxx

Karen

Karen, firstly, tomorrow I will be getting my Honey Doo paint splat stamp out, you have really inspired me!!  I love how you have added the tubes of paint, you are a creative genius my friend !!

I just that beautiful feminine card that you have created, that border is beautiful and the touch of yellow in the border really does set the whole card off!

I really want those Julie Hickey Stamps, such lovely crisp images, I must point out your amazing blended background.

Card 1:  Card 1 is a Serif design I have made I highlighted the bag and shoes with the Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen.

Card 2:  Card 2 is using Honey Doo splodges -Picked Raspberry Squeezed Lemonade Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch
SW Happy Birthday shadowed with black
Tubes of paint Googled and double embossed and glossy accents Card 3:  Inspired by Julie Hickey using her Floral Frames I created a DO background using Picked Raspberry Squeezed Lemonade and Spun Sugar I stamped onto 2 pieces + white and then stamped them all again and fussy cut them
Added a typed sentiment edged with a black Sharpie Love all of your Challenge cards this week Karen, thank you so much 3 amazing cards xxx

Cheryl

A beautiful Vintage Floral style card designed by Cheryl for this weeks Challenge, that paper you have used is delighful Cheryl. your clever design has let the beautiful paper shine and be the main focus of the card, it is so easy to overwhelm a pretty image with die cuts and embellishments. The die cut that you have added tones in perfectly too, so adds interest without dominating the card.
Thank you so much for taking part in this weeks challenge, it is such a pleasure be able to include you in the line up my lovely friend. xxx

Pat

The beautiful colours that Pat has used to highlight the pretty flowers and foliage on her Groovi Design card really do add Brightness to the card those shades work so beautifully together too.  There is so much detail in this design yet everything works, from those little corner pieces to the 'Spellbinders label 1' shape in the centre, if you look closer you can see the extra swirls and flourishes that add those extra special finishing touches.

A stunning design Pat thanks so much for sharing your card with us xxx

Lynda

Lynda isn't quite able to get to her craft desk yet but I just can't bear not sharing her cards each week, so I looked back through the hundreds of cards in my 'Lynda' file and this one just jumped out at me, Lynda made this one with some 6 x 6 papers from Stampin'Up! The colours are just so bright and vibrant, Lynda added a centre border and embellished the card with some Butterflies, simply beautiful.  

Now Lynda I am getting more impatient than you are I think, I am really missing your inspiration, especially as I am starting out with my Gelli/Gel Plate. Please nag Terry into bringing your craft stash out to you, even if it takes over the whole lounge!  😜😉😉🤗🥰

Brenda

Two pretty designs from Our Brenda for this weeks 'Bright & Cheerful' challenge.

The first card could actually be used for our upcoming challenge with that old Striplet die, I believe the Daffodils are Honey Doo stamps, Brenda has combined the two to create a lovely card that would work perfectly for Easter.

Card 2 is such a lovely Birthday card, using SW Papercuts Happy Birthday die, which Brenda has die cut from beautifully blended DO background, which works so well with that green embossed background, a pretty die cut Ivy sprig adorned with Brenda's stunning hand rolled roses is such pretty 'Bright and Cheerful' colours.

Thank you so much Brenda for 2 fantastic Challenge cards xxx

Maria

Two beautiful cards from our Maria, I feel so honoured that you got up and made a card while feeling so unwell Maria, thank you so much.

Maria's first card was made by stamping the design and Maria coloured the image with Starlight Metallic Paint from Imagination Crafts, I really love the two part sentiment.

Maria's second card was made using the 'emboss resist' technique, Maria has embossed her beautiful stamped image and then blended Distress Oxide's over the top, adorned with a pretty bow.

Thank you so much Maria, I do hope that you are feeling better today my lovely xxx

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Ladies I can't thank you enough, you have once again blown me away with your incredible designs, your cards are absolutely stunning, so bright and beautiful.  What an amazing display, I cannot explain to you how grateful I am to all of you. 

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

Love and hugs on their way to all of you,

Sandra

xxxxxx