Sara Sandberg

Wow! Look at this work of art!

As you may know, we are holding a domino swap on the site at the moment, and so I am getting some interesting shaped packages arriving in the post from around the world. One arrived in quite a big box from New Zealand - but on Wednesday the most humungous box was delivered!  And when I discovered what was in the box my eyes nearly popped off their little stalks!!!

This is probably just under half a metre high, and is thick wood. Netti bought it from a gift shop, and altered it as a gift for me! How kind is that?! I am so touched, she is such a talented crafter - it's amazing to have something so wonderful made for me!

There is so much attention to detail on it. You can see what the tree looked like originally on Netti's Blog. Basically, it was an almost luminous green all over! Look how beautiful it is now!

And not just on one side - both sides are like this!

Even the base is given special attention with this lovely stencilling. Thank you Netti so much for this fabulous gift. I am really touched.

Other news this week is that we have a new project on the site - a simple way of adding a frame to a card to finish it off nicely. It also shows you how a way of using the photos we have on the site.

You will find the project here.

News on the Sandberg Family front is that all equipment is up and running or replaced, so we are released from washing up duties! Actually, there wasn't really a 'we' about washing up duties! 'I' am now released from washing up duties!

I took the girls to see James Morrison a year or so ago at Wembly Arena and we had a lovely time - so when Holly saw he was playing at Southampton Guildhall she asked if she could get tickets for us to go and see him. The tickets arrived this week - and I quickly spotted they were for standing in the stalls. It made me realise that although the inside remains 21, the outside is rebelling as my first thought was that I wanted to sit down to watch him!!! I then realised that the minute we walked in there, the girls would abandon me to work their way to the front, and I would be stood there like Billy No Mates by myself!

I mentioned this to Nicole, who agreed this was exactly what would happen (she even said she had been thinking that we should go in separate cars!!) but said "Never mind Mum, you can just stand there and nod your head and sway like you usually do when you are enjoying the music and don't know the words!"  I shot her an indignant look - and then realised she is right, that is exactly what I do!!!

I have received my samples from the Design Team for next weeks project, and can't wait to show you!

Have a great weekend!

Smiles,

Ooooooo Arrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I think that's farmers talk for cheers!!! It is 6 pm on a Friday after all!

And here's my latest template - not for everyone I realise, but it was perfect for my little farming nephew!

You will find the project here if you have any young farmers around!

Exciting news on the home front - not so exciting shortly after my last blog post the microwave broke too!!! But it's been a good day today! A new dishwasher arrived this morning, followed by a new microwave - and the freezer part that arrived yesterday is in place and it is working fine!!! (I paid 2 people call out fees and they couldn't fix it, and I did it for £15.99 and Google!!!) If you are buying kitchen appliances it's well worth Googling prices - I got a microwave that steams veg too, and Which thought it was great, and it was £160 with free delivery from the co-op - and £375 everywhere else! I saved £160 from Curry's price on the dishwasher too (John Lewis were the cheapest there). Oh my goodness - I'm getting BORING talking about kitchen appliances!!!

I am really excited at the moment, as I have some fabulous new craft things in the pipeline. We have some lovely things to review and give away to our members - and I have so many ideas in my head I am struggling to get them all out to the design team quick enough!!!

During 2011 I started to give 10% of every subsciption payment to charity, and by the end of the year I had raised £500 for our local hospice. I have decided that the charity we support should be a more global one in reflection of our membership, and thanks to the Design Teams input have stumbled across what I think is a great and exciting idea! Watch this space!

So cheers to new exciting beginnings to a New Year, and long may my new kitchen equipment live! (Actually starting would be good - the dishwasher is stood in the middle of the kitchen, and EVERY counter space around it is filled with things waiting to go in it! There is no way I was washing up on the day the dishwasher arrived!!!)

Have a lovely weekend! Lots of love to you!

Smiles,

Back in crafty mode with a Watering Can Template for you!

I'm steaming back into crafty mode - I have drawn up a list of projects for the year, and can't wait to get started. Here's the first one;

The above example was made by Lainey, our new Design Team member. She has already blown us away with her beautiful work, and she has some great ideas. You can find the Watering Can project here.

It's been a funny week here in the Sandberg household. Holly has a reading week, so she came back from uni for our family visit to the Dentist - I feel like the Von Trappe family with us all traipsing up the stairs and going in one by one. One of the kids always ALWAYS comes in while I am lying there with my mouth wide open and a dentist nearly falling inside! I try and make my leg longer so I can push them back out of the door but it never works! When they were little Nicole used to walk round the room pressing any buttons she came across and picking up things asking "what's this" - the dentist and I were always nervous wrecks by the time my teeth had been checked!

Anyway, back to our household, where everything seems to be breaking. I know people say things happen in threes, and I steadfastly don't agree with that, as I am sure if you strongly believe this, then before you know it you have three things broken. Now I wish I had believed in this, as we have passed three, and are moving higher and higher! On Wednesday the dishwasher broke - and Holly promptly bought her return ticket to uni!!!  By the time I realised it was broken (I kept thinking "I'm sure I put the dishwasher on" putting another tablet in and starting it - it took 3 goes before my brain actually clicked that I WAS putting it on, it wasn't working!) there were dishes piled sky high!

The dishwasher doctor came and declared my dishwasher is well and truly deceased. He showed me all the gunky pipes at the back of it, and asked "Do you rinse your plates before putting them in?" 
"It's a dishwasher!" I told him!! Silly man, the clue is clearly in the name!
"Yes, it's a dishwasher, not a waste disposal unit!" He replied!

I was on the internet googling dishwashers as he wrote his bill and am now counting the 5 working days down until it is delivered. Flo in Australia gave me a lovely tea towel, and I think of her every day as I use it - so there are positives in every situation!

Today when I opened my laptop I found the screen is flickering and a blue tinge is covering everything. As it's not that old, it will have to go to back to PC world this afternoon - hopefully it will be quick to fix!

So that's the internet router, freezer, salt machine, dishwasher and now my laptop - and it's only 15th Jan!!! Fortunately there's not a lot left that can go wrong!

Have a lovely week! I hope your year is going well!

Smiles,

 

Nearly ready for the year to begin!

I've just taken Holly back to university. She doesn't have to be back for another week, but we mutually agreed that it would be better for her to go now! My thoughts were that I would like to get our holiday suitcases back in the loft - the entrance to which is in her room and with her stuff spread everwhere there isn't enough floor space to put the ladder down! Holly is sleeping until mid-afternoon every day, and really just going from bed to TV back to bed again, calling in to the kitchen for snacks along the way! I am quite happy with this as she is so messy, I figure the longer she is in bed, the less mess she can make around the house! For Holly, her friends all have gone back to university now, so there is no-one left to join her in her nocturnal lifestyle - and as her uni flatmates are all back, she would rather be there. So we are all happy!

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday. We all went to the sun for Christmas, and had a lovely family time together. It was lovely to just be all together for two weeks, no distractions. I totally indulged myself with my camera, getting up at 6 most mornings to go off and take photos!

And now we are back refreshed and ready for our new year!

The dominoes have started arriving for our swap. You can see our altered domino project on the site, and details of the swap here. I made another one this week using air drying clay, which is a great medium. It's amazing how light it is once dry!

The orange domino has friendly plastic decorating it.

I have a lovely new project to bring to you in the week, and our new Design Team member Lainey has made some beautiful examples for you to see. It's going to be a great new crafty year!

I hope you are all ready to get crafting again!  A belated Happy Crafty New Year to you!

Smiles.

Happy chill time!

I hope you have all had a lovely festive time! I’m sure you must all be enjoying the calm after the build up to Christmas.

One of the funny things I noticed before Christmas was the giving of cards amongst neighbours. We are very blessed to have lovely neighbours around us. Whenever I drive down the road I wave at them, and they wave back with lovely smiles. When I take the bins to the end of the drive, there is usually someone there to chat to, and we all chat happily to each other.

But the giving of cards is a funny thing. It seems we all like each other enough to wave and chat in the street – so much so that we like to give cards to each other at Christmas. But it seems although we want to give cards, we don’t want to be invited in!!!  This has caused me great mirth in the past few weeks, as we have a gravel drive, and security lights that blare as soon as someone steps foot in the drive – even if they step quietly in the shadows, and make it to the front door, there is then our two dogs who start barking as soon as anyone approaches the door, and don’t stop until five minutes after they have left!

Amazingly, several neighbours have managed to post cards in the letterbox undetected! I almost feel I should go and give them a prize for achieving this! Perhaps invite them round for a drink?!!

And what about me? Do I slink up the neighbours’ drives on my tummy in camouflage gear? No – I send the kids out with the cards!!!

And so now there is the lull after the storm – the time where everyone is entertained with their new presents, and you can grab a few crafty moments!  We have the perfect thing for you. Now the kids have new toys, you can have a clear out – and make use of the dominoes that have been hiding in a cupboard for ages! If you don’t have any hiding, check out the toy section of your local supermarket, or charity shops.

Then head over to Cardmaking Paradise, and take a look at our Altered Domino Project. Don’t just read it – have a go! I promise you, altering dominoes is very addictive! And they make great gifts too – you could make a batch of Christmas decorations now while you have the time, and put a note in your nice new diary or calendar for 1^st December 2012 that says “Surprise! Handcrafted gifts done!” – and don’t forget where you put them! We are holding a Domino Swap, so do an extra one and send it in to us - we have crafters all around the world joining in our swaps, so the domino you receive in return could come from anywhere! You will find all the details here.

I am looking forward to a crafty New Year! I am thrilled to have Lainey join our Design Team – she is incredibly talented and you are going to love her interpretations of our projects. Take a look at her blog here to see some of her amazing work.

I already have designs stacked up to bring to you – and of course you are always very welcome to email me if there is a specific design you are looking for. 

A very happy crafty new year to you all. Thank you all for the lovely messages you send me, and the photos of cards you have made using my designs - it is amazing to have contact with such lovely crafty people around the world!

Smiles,