Mixed up Saturday

Mixed Craft Saturday

Good Morning Ladies,

Welcome to our Mixed Craft Saturday,

First up today we have :

Janet's stunning, boxed New Home Card, Janet it looks like you have used a

Fancy card fold for this card, I love how the middle section stands out

Fully displaying that beautiful die cut scene, of what looks like an

Alpine village, it looks as though you have stamped a scene behind too.

Such an amazing Keepsake, I love the box too, it makes a card more of a gift!

Thank you so much for sharing

XXX

Val's Fold back card, now I don't quite know how I missed this last Sunday but

I did and I always promise you that I will share what you make so

Here is Val's other challenge card, I love both the image and the sentiment, 

Sometimes it's hard finding a funny sentiment that isn't either too rude or too

Stupid, I think this sentiment is perfect, you could give it to anyone.

Thanks so much Val for sending your card in, I hope that the weather has 

Cooled down for you a little. 

XXX

Karen, you haven't changed a bit, what an amazing scrapbook page!

Here is Karen's description:

A couple of years ago, at my little craft club, we had a challenge, and the choice was "school days". I made this scrapbook page with my very first school photo! It was made with a Serif kit. If you look closely at my eyes, they look a little strange because my little sister decided to colour "me" in, hence the "red scribble". My dad was a brilliant knitter, he taught me, made the cardigan I am wearing and so, the template is a little nod to him and his job as a draughtsman.

Other ladies made things like an embroidered book cover to hide "Lady Chatterley's Lover", another made a beautiful model of an old schoolroom, complete with outside toilets!

Karen, thank you so very much for sharing 

XXX

Now onto Shopping :

Janet has bought some lovely new Crafters Companion 3D Embossing Folders 

And dies for her Gemini, such a fantastic selection Janet I would love to see them 

Die/cut and Embossed, looking forward to seeing what you make!

Thanks for sharing

XXX

Tracy has bought herself some of Sue's latest Christmas release die collection.

You have chosen some absolutely stunning dies Tracy, the background is really

pretty, I have one very similar from a year or two ago.

The snowflake is lovely too, I am really looking forward to seeing your 

Christmas cards, I think it's 22 Weeks now, so we must start soon .

Thanks for sharing my lovely

XXX

Lynda has bought some lovely new goodies too, some fantastic Stampin'Up 

Stamp sets, love the birds set, I have the Lace set and the Thank you stamp too, 

They all stamp beautifully, you will live playing with them Lynda.

Those stunning paper pads are from the Works, they are amazing quality too.

Does this mean you won't be using your Northern Lights pad this week?

Last but not least is the beautiful 'tuck in' die, perfect for adding little bits

Of detail to your cards without taking over the whole background.

Thank you so much Lynda for sharing your shopping

XXX

What are you all up to this weekend???

Not much on the cards here, we had the most tremendous rain storms 

here last night, the roads in town were totally flooded.

We popped into town to get some groceries for tea, we only usually

Shop in Aldi as they have most of what we need but we needed to pop into 

Morrison's die for some Tiger Bread as we were having Fish Finger sandwiches

for tea, Paul decided to park there and said we would just pop over to Aldi, 

Well to see the Heavens opened was an understatement, the rain was bouncing about

3 feet in the air, it was hammering it down, we waited in the Aldi entrance for about 

10 minutes then Paul decides it's slowing down so we will 'Go for it'!! I was holding

Onto my wheelchair for dear life, I can honestly tell you that the rain was stinging 

My skin it was that hard, it felt like being jetwashed with ice water, I've never squealed so much in public in my entire life, it took me a good two hours to warm 

up, I had to blow dry my hair too.  So I don't think we will bother with the allotment 

today, we have heavy clay soil so it will just stick to your feet, I am hoping the rain will help close up some of the huge crevasses that have appeared because of the dry 

Spell.

Michele I hope your sale goes well today XX

Love and hugs to all

Sandra

XXX

Definitely Dahlia

Good Morning Ladies,

Here we aren't the end of another week, they are flying by way to fast right now, the Girls school closes for Summer tomorrow, they have been home for the past week and a half though as they finished all exams and some of the Sixth Form group had Work Experience this past two weeks but the girls have decided to wait until next year to do theirs as the will turn 18 in February so they will have a lot more opportunities available to them.  

I had a visit from. Mr Brown yesterday, I swear he had a look of relief as Paul sent to the door and not me in my dressing gown!!

Anyway that meant I had some new goodies to play with.

This card is the result of that play session, I bought a pack of Stampin'up! 'Whisper White' paper in this last order because I got to use some at the weekend meet up and it is so super smooth it feels like silk and it stamps like an absolute dream, I have had quite a difficult and frustrating journey with stamping card since Ann Marie Designs stopped their amazing stamping card, they tried to replace it with something else and it was horrendous but still the same price!! 

Anyway I used a piece of the Whisper White card to stamp my new "Definitely Dahlia' background stamp onto, I used versamark and Clear Embossing Powder to create the 'resist technique' I then coloured over the top with 'Sweet Sugarplum' ink using a sponge, I love the results, I added a border of Sweet Sugarplum Striped ribbon with a lacy edge, made with the  New Decorative Ribbon Border Punch, I used the same Basic Grey card that I used in my layers. 

The sentiment came from the SU 'Beautiful Bouquet' stamp set.

I hope you like my card, it works with the Challenge too, Grey, Embossing and  die cut (label).  How are you getting on with yours.

Now I realised that you all don't have the Woodland Embossing Folder and /or a Brayer, I did mention that you could use a sponge to apply the ink or you can swipe the ink pad itself up the Embossing Folder.  I thought you might have a Embossing Folder that you could use to get the effect. It really isn't a problem if you haven't got anything it was just a bit of fun,  mostly to get you all trying the technique. 

I hope you all have a good day, the weather is forecast to be rather changeable over the next few days, so you will all have plenty of craft room time hopefully XXX

Love and hugs to all

Sandra

Xxxxxxx

Challenge card and a Tutorial

Tutorial for Technique

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's card is another Challenge card, (Wood, Embossing, Masculine) and it comes with a Tutorial too.  

When I first saw this stamped effect I thought it was a really complicated stamping technique, therefore it would be way above my stamping ability, how wrong I was, it actually couldn't be simpler, my first attempt was a success, I even did my own version of a happy dance (well more of a happy chair wiggle) 😉 teehee!!

I did several more times to make sure it wasn't a 'fluke' but it worked perfectly each time.

You simply ink up the side of the Embossing Folder that has 'sizzix' on (the trees are recessed) using either your Brayer, come on I bet you have one somewhere that you bought while watching Barb Gray on Create and Craft, I blew the dust off of mine that had sat, untouched since the day I bought it!! 

You can also use a sponge to ink it up just make sure you cover only the surface of the folder.  Once you have your background colour down you can stamp whatever you like onto the surface of the folder and it will appear behind the trees.  I saw a lovely card that had a vintage car in the background, another had the Beautiful You Stamp set lady, off for a walk in the forest, I am going to use a Deer Stamp, I think it would make a nice Christmas card, you could add some sparkle too for a Wintery scene.

Have fun with it, get messy and play, I just wiped my folder clean with a baby wood or run it under the tap, obviously I wouldn't recommend using a permanent ink.  I used Stampin'Up inks, but Tim Holtz inks etc would work fine too.

I am going to send out a little gift to the first, second and third person  that sends me a finished card using this technique, I can't wait to see them!!

Please watch the video if you have time, it's really short, if you like it please click the 'like' (thumbs up) button, oh and subscribe if you haven't already.  You can also leave a comment, I think you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page, it's so lovely reading your feedback.  

Could I ask one of you a huge favour too, would you click on the link to my Stampin'Up page in the description box under the tutorial (on YouTube) to see if it works please, my tablet connects automatically so I can't tell if it works from outside our internet, thank you XXX

Janet, thanks for opening up, I hope it's not too much of an early start for you now that you've sent Dobby back to Marketing, imagine the fun he's having in the house all alone!!  Sending huge thankful hugs xxx

Margaret, it was an absolute pleasure chatting to you, it was the highlight of my day, believe me sitting chatting craft to a lovely friend whilst flicking through the Stampin' up catalogue is not chore, when you love a product so much it's a pleasure sharing it with people that you know will live it as much as you do, thank you for the chat my lovely XXX

Lilian I hope your day brightened up, I was chuckling to myself at your Mum's description of a bad hair day,  I certainly have days that my hair looks like I'm an 'Owl Peeking out of any Ivy bush' . I look forward to seeing your new stamps from John Lockwood, hope today is brighter XXX

Maria, you will enjoy the Stampin'Up Demo, they are fun and usually have a 'Make and take' for you to have a go at, but just remember who YOUR demonstrator is! hahahah, only kidding it will be good for you to see it's not just me that's mad about everything too! Sending hugs, hope you aren't suffering too much my lovely XXX

Val I am not surprised those 'Pop Up Boxes' sold out so fast, they were stunning, something different too, they make a lovely display as well, I think a Christmas display would look amazing, don't worry I won't tell Lynn !!! Hahaha 

Have a lovely day ladies, 

Love and hugs

Sandra

XXXXXX

Ps thank you all for your kind words yesterday, I really was struggling, but knowing that you ladies are there really does lift my spirits xxx 

Pretty Sequinned Dragonfly

Good Morning Ladies,

I thought I'd change things today and throw in a randomly made card, while I had the Dragonfly Dreams set out on my desk I thought I'd have a play around with it using some different colours.  This time I chose 'Pool Party' and 'Blushing Bride' as the colours and used Timeless Textures for the background as that was out in my desk too.  I die cut the Dragonfly once in Pool party card and once in vellum and brushed both with a little "Wink of Stella" to add some sparkle, I also added some of the Stampin'Up 'Iredescent Sequin Sparkle' to embellish the Dragonfly and a few bits in the background.  

I hope you like it.

Another quiet day here, I felt quite flat yesterday to be honest I think it's as a result of two nights with no sleep at all and the usual aggro that 4 children bring to the table!! I ended the day feeling quite poorly which is a shame as I was so excited for Paul coming home.  I had to manage a bit more for myself while he was away too, although the girls were here, so I felt physically drained too, my own fault as I didn't want Paul coming back to any mess anywhere, I think we'd all be the same!

I hope you all had a better day than I did and that today is even better!! 

Love and hugs to all,

Sandra

Xxxxxx

Another 'Tic,Tac,Toe Challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,
  Today's card is another 'Tic,Tac,Toe Challenge card, this time I went for Grey, Yellow and Masculine.  In fact I sat and made another two cards but it dawned on me that I was using the Grey and Yellow every time, I just love the combination as they aren't two colours I would have put together before, I then found myself wanting to put grey with everything.

So today's card was made using ....

Smoky Slate Ink and card
So Saffron Ink and Card
Timeless Textures stamp set
Dragonfly Dreams

Sue and I decided between us that Thursday would work better this week as she has babysitting duties that would cut our afternoon short, so waiting until Thursday means we get longer to chat and play, which we always seem to run out of, last week we were crafting and chatting away and didn't realise that Chris was sat outside waiting for Sue, he didn't want to knock and cut our afternoon short bless him, I had no clue it was 5pm, I was thinking it was about 3pm !!

The girls and I had a quiet but fun day together yesterday, I made some cards while they did homework, this was after me having a very late start to the day as I had been up the whole night suffering the effects of anxiety about Paul going away, whilst trying to not let him know I was stressing as he had to leave her by 5am, I was absolutely  exhausted by then and in complete agony from being tense all night, so I dosed myself up with Painkillers and managed a couple of hours sleep.
In the afternoon, crafting and homework  done we decided to sort through our holiday cases, I have been taking about half of our holdall full of clothes that I haven't worn in years, just because they are in there from the year before, so we sorted through that and it can all fit in a smaller case! The girls couldn't find half of their stuff so that will be tomorrow's job.
We then decided to have lunch and the girls put Sherlock Holmes on  ( the TV series) with Benedict Cumberbatch, I had never fancied watching it when it was on TV, but the one we watched was brilliant, so we watched another.  It was lovely spending time together.

I hope that you all have a lovely day, I also hope that those of you suffering feel a little more comfortable today xxx

Love and hugs
Sandra
XxxXxxxx

Monday Challenge

My challenge card

Good Morning Ladies,

This weeks Challenge is a little bit different, Its called the Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I thought that this idea was fantastic, I sent it to Michele to make a card with to check how easy it was to follow, she chose Grey, Yellow, Happy Birthday and Hexagon.  I chose Grey, Yellow and Happy Birthday.

To join in simply......

Choose your categories, minimum of three but you can choose more if you wish, I followed a line like you would in a normal Tic Tac Toe, but I decided not to restrict you this first time.

Make your cards with your chosen categories, for example my choice was Straight across the middle, Birthday, Grey and Yellow.

I look forward to seeing what you choose for your challenge cards.

Let me know what you think about this challenge, I like to change things up to keep you on your toes, I don't want any of you getting bored just following sketches all the time.

I'm glad that the girls are home today as Paul has gone away on a course for a couple of days,  all these courses are to prepare you for employment outside of the services, it's quite daunting writing your CV etc for the first time in 33 years.  I believe this course is for Self Employment Awareness.
So I am hoping that Sue is coming over to tomorrow to keep me company!!

I was so happy to read that some of you had a lovely relaxing day yesterday, we did too, we had our first roast dinner in what seems like forever, I never fancy a roast when it's hot but it was so lovely to have lots of lovely vegetables (my favourite is dark spring cabbage with plenty of butter)! The girls were excited to have a roast too. I think they are sick of salad.

I hope you all have a lovely day,

Love and hugs

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Your Front Fold Challenge cards

Good Morning Ladies,

It's my favourite day of the week once again, WOW, you all did me proud this week, as you can see above I loved this Challenge and really enjoyed making the cards above, hoping to inspire you all a little.  As it turned out you didn't need any inspiration!!  Some truly amazing cards this week ladies thank you so very much, I always panic when it gets to about Thursday, I start wondering if I asked too much of you, then I think about your individual circumstances, a lot of you have got so much going on in your lives that I am always amazed on a Saturday when I see my inbox filling with emails from all of you, always brings a smile to my face XXX

Not that I would mind if you didn't manage a card, I know first hand what it is like to live with chronic pain 24/7, it really wears you down, I have to physically force myself to sit and make cards some days, which is why I am so grateful for my blog and all of you amazing, supportive, very dear friends, if it weren't for you I would still be laying in bed feeling sorry for myself, although there are days when that is all I can do, for the most part you are my inspiration to craft, which is hugely therapeutic, to hold something in your hand that you have made at the end of a day makes you feel like you acheived something, kicked your dark thoughts to the side and overcome your pain for that short period of time and actually acheived something, so once again thank you all XXX

Now on to the best part......your cards......

Brenda

Brenda such pretty, summery colours you have chosen for your Challenge cards this week, your papers are from the Stampin' Up Colour Theory designer papers, the die you have used is the Happy Birthday Tag' from Poppy stamps, the Balloons were cut using your Stampin'Up Balloon punch, the wooden embellishments are Stampin'Up too, two absolutely stunning cards Brenda, I love them both !! thank you for taking part . 

XXX

Janet

Janet it's so lovely to see some of Sue's original dies in use again, the New York Collection for the main part of your card and the pretty striplet for the folded panel, absolutely love the colours too.  I hope that both you and Jim have recovered from your journey home, we had the same luck, two years ago it was the farmers in Paris causing us to miss our ferry and have to wait 5 hours, last year they had closed the road into to Ferry terminal in Calais while the Police hunted down some immigrants, meaning we once again missed our ferry, the M20  home was closed while they repaired a bridge that had been destroyed by lorry carrying a dumper truck, it took us a good few hours more than usual to get home too.  

Thank you for entering a card this week, you are amazing !!

XXX

Lilian

Lilian, I absolutely love your Nautical themed cards, the just make me think of Summer by the sea, your embellishments work so perfectly with you Lighthouse image. Thank you so much for taking part Lilian.

XXX

Lynda

Lynda, it looks like you've been using your Northern Lights pad again, Sue's beautiful Butterflies work so well with your design, every part of your card ties together perfectly, thank you so much for taking part.

XXX

Margaret

Margaret, you are amazing, you have never made this style card before, the first card was your first attempt, it is a perfect Front Fold card, the second card is  amazing,

You have used the 'Stylised  Happy Birthday' stamp for your greeting,  the Daisy Punch for your embellishment, you have teamed the designer papers perfectly with the Mint Macaron and Tranquil Tide card, may I have your permission to share your card on the Stampin'Up Facebook group to inspire everyone? I couldn't have made the card better myself and I have been making cards for more years than I care to admit, lol , thank you so much !!

XXX

Maria

Maria your beautiful Flower Fairy topper works beautifully with the pretty yellow papers you have used, the peel off corners are a genius addition as the draw your eye in to the pretty Fairy, absolutely gorgeous card Maria, thank you so much.

XXX

Michele

Michele, these images look like you have actually watercoloured them, they are so pretty, as always with your cards the background works perfectly with your main image.  Two amazing cards, thank you so much, given your circumstances I didn't expect a card but I'm thrilled to get two!! 

XXX

Val

Val, if I'm not mistaken this looks like perfect 'Lily of the Valley ' card ?! Such a pretty die cut frame too, another amazing 'Val' card, it's no surprise that your cards fly off the shelves! Have you started your Christmas stock for the shop yet?? 

Thank you so much for taking part, you must have been exhausted after your trip to the UK, I hope you are keeping cool in the soaring temperatures out there, I trust you are wearing the "usual" craft room uniform?? ;) 😉

XXX

Thanks again ladies, your cards are simply fantastic !!!

I am disappointed to report that Josh & Becca didn't win the sealed bid for the house they wanted, their top amount was around £260,000 and it was valued at £238,000, it ended up going just over £300,000 which is just ridiculous, I guess the owners were happy as they got £62,000 more than the house was worth, there was easily £100,000 of renovations to be done including re-wiring, new windows, doors, heating etc.  They aren't too disheartened thankfully, they weren't surprised that they didn't get it, there was a lot of interest on the day.  I will keep you posted, Becca and Josh asked me to thank you for your kind good luck wishes XXX

Enjoy your Sunday ladies,

Love and hugs 

Sandra 

Xxxxxxx