"Thank You" Card, Water Droplets, Cats, and A Witch!

 This is the "thank You" card I made today, to give to the nurses once I have had my hip replacement operation on Tuesday.  Whenever I have been in hospital, I always send them a Thank You card for helping me.  This time I have made the card to take with me so I don't have to snail-mail it.  And it is a big cad with lumpy-bumpy flowers on, so it wouldn't have gone through the post easily.

I used my new Vintage Lace dies I got a few days ago.  LOOOOVE those dies:-)

 Below is one of the flowers off my Sugar Snap Pea plant.  It had been raining and it had all these pretty water droplets on it.  There are a lot of peas on it which I keep nibbling on ever time I go past it!

And below is one of my first Asters flowering!  I now have 2 purple flowers and one white one.  There are more about to open but as yet I am not sure what colours they are.  It will be a surprise!

 Below are some raindrops on a leaf.  Isn't it amazing how they form the beautiful round/oval shapes without sliding off the leaf!

 More raindrops!

Bella-Rosa was outside with me and he was watching some birds.  I got int he way of the birds and scared them off, much to Miss BR's disgust!  She wasn't happy with me!

Here's another raindrop, this one is on a Dandelion leaf.  Each one is so perfectly formed.  They look like big fat glass beads to me!

Romeo-Valentino is a totally indoor cat and he was watching Bella and I in the garden.  He is behind the screen door in this photo.

And here is (above) looking very cheeky and innocent!  Below is Bella-Rosa watching some birds.

Above is Romeo-Valentino behind the screen door, watching Bella!  Ok that's all for now, I don't think I will be blogging for a short time, as I am having my hip replacement done on Tuesday.  I will be in hospital for three nights and back home on Friday afternoon...on crutches for SIX weeks!

Have a SUNSHINE day, and thanks for dropping by!

{HUGS} from me to YOU:-) 

Oops!  I forgot to post my "Witch" last night!  This is a brooch I made a few years back for Halloween.  She is about 3 inches in height.  I made her from Fimo modelling clay and baked her in the oven!

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a great day:-) 

The Sky Is On Fire, and Vintage Lace Dies!

 I took these photos of the sky just as the sun was about to set one evening.  I happened to glance at the sky while I was putting away some dishes.  It looked as if the sky was on fire!

IRL the sky is a lot brighter than what you can see here.  The neighbours tree made a great silhouette against the sky!

I took these three photos in very quick succession, and literally milli-seconds later, the sky had turned  a dark grey and all the firey orange was gone!  You gotta be quick!  (And have your camera handy  and ready to GO!)

The 2 dies I used on this card are called "Vintage Lace" dies.  Yes, more ebay buys!  These were the most expensive so far...$3.96 NZD!!  I absolutely LOVE this set of (two) dies!  I have used the same die on the top and bottom of this card.  I used the second die to make the pink bit in the middle of the card.  It matches the bottom of the big die with all the vertical lines on.  SO much fun!!

 Here's a closeup of the bottom of the Vintage Lace die.  I added pearls and sparkly gems on top.

 And below is a closeup of the flowers and bow I added.  I also added a few bits of Arnold Grummer sparkly flake things.

Ok, that's all for awhile.  I have my hip replacement done on the 31st...three days, but whose counting?!   I am not sure how long afterwards before I feel up to crafting, but rest assured...I will be back!!  Knowing me I will have stashed something crafty to do in my bag, to take to hospital with me!

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  {HUGS} from me to YOU:-) 

"Thank You Card."

I just made this "Thank You" card this morning, using one of my $3 ebay buys!  The die is around 2 3/4's of an inch in width and height.  As you can see, it cuts and embosses.  

The "Thank You" stamp is one I have had for many years and is from a company called "Hooks Lines and Inkers" (DJ Inkers.)  I used a Birthstone Kaleidacolor stamp pad to stamp it.  That too is an old stamp pad and I am surprised it still works!

Here's a closeup of the corner with half pearls on it.  Below is the actual die I used.

White is a hard colour to photograph - too much light and it is just too white, and too dark and it looks weird.  If you double click on any of my photos, this will enlarge them so you can see the details better.

And below is my "Supervisor"..asleep on the job, again!  He loves his climbing tree but he needs much bigger platforms as he is a big bloke and not all of him fits on the platform!  He usually wraps himself around the pole and goes to sleep like that!  I didn't dare tell him his bum looks big on there!

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  {HUGS} from me to YOU!

New Cards and a Hip Replacement Operation for ME!

First of all, some good news...on the 31st of this month, October, I will be having my hip replacement operation!!  Yay! No more pain..no more disturbed sleep at night..no having to take pain killers every four hours!!  Yay!  I have only been on the waiting list for the op since July, so that isn't too long:-) 

Ok, so on with the CRAFT stuff now!  The card at the bottom of this post is another Christmas one I made over the weekend.  I have started off by showing you how I make it step by step.  So below is the first step.  I lay the die face down on the card one cm away from the edge and the top and bottom of the red card.  It will also measure one cm on the other side when I put the die on the right hand side of the card.  You'll see in the 3rd photo what I mean.

Below is what it looks like when I have die cut the card once.

Below is where I have placed the die on the right, measuring it so it is one cm from the top and sides of the red card.

Below is what it looks like after running it through my Big Shot Plus.

In the photo below I have cut the center piece of the red card out. I measure it with a ruler on the bottom so I get it straight...or TRY to get it straight!

In the photo below I have glued it to a piece of gold foil card..a slow job because of all the tiny lacy bits from the die!  I use "Glossy Accents" with a very fine tip to glue things like this.  It's easier and less messy than my usual glue.

 In the photo below I have glued the red and gold card to a folded red card.

 And finally, below is the finished card!  I have used some gold corner stickers as well as some gold lines around the edges of the card.  I love red white and gold together for Christmas!

 I added a white Poinsettia flower made from some vellum, and die cut some gold leaves as well as a hessian star.  I stuck this to the card using some 3d foam tape.  No, I didn't make the vellum flower, those were some I bought from a local store.  I actually spent about four days running round trying to buy white flowers and couldn't find anything that was the right size and shape.  Then I was out with a friend and saw these flowers so I bought 2 sheets of them!

Below is...you guessed it...another $3 die I bought from ebay!  And yes, all the dies I have bought from ebay are brand new, just un-branded.  This is such a pretty die and I had so much fun watching this card come together!

 I was lucky to have some sticky half pearls that were all connected in a long string.  By using these I was able to "curve" them as I wanted to, to follow the curve of the die.  A tad tricky and I (somehow) ended up with some pearls stuck in my hair!  #Note to self:  Tie your hair up next time so you don't get 'things' stuck in it!!  I also added some gold corner stickers and some sticky gold lines around the card.  The pink card inside also has four gold corner stickers as well as some sticky gold lines.  BTW, these sticky lines also stick well in my hair...don't even ask!!

Above is a closeup of the flower in the center, and some of the pearls.  I used the die on a diagonal angle for this card.

Above is the die I used and what it looks like when it is cut out. The die cuts and embosses at the same time.  I have to say, I find using these cut and emboss dies A LOT easier now I have the Big Shot Plus.  I always had trouble when I had my Cuttlebug.  The embossing never came out so well.

And above is "the Supervisor", (who only woke up for the photo!) the bloke who 'assisted' me with all my cards...he slept the whole time, in a box that was definitely too small for his bum, but he wedged himself in and had a darn good sleep while I slaved over my cards!!  ON my art desk, of course!  I know we both had a great time!

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!

{HUGS} from me to YOU:-) 

Christmas Cards, Snow Peas, More New Dies and Pretty Trees!

I made this card above using my Eastern Medallion dies from SU.  I LOVE those dies!  I also have the  matching  stamp set, which I also LOVE!  Below is the closeup of the medallion.  I had so much fun making this card!

Below is one of the two Christmas cards I made over the weekend.  I used one of my new ($3) dies I got off ebay.co.uk.

I am having a lot of fun with these new lacy dies and am finding new ways of using them each day.

Above is a closeup of the flowers in the center.

Above is another Christmas card I just finished this morning.  I used a different lacy die, also $3 from ebay.

Below is the die I used for both centers of the Christmas cards.  It is from a company called "Fancy That" from Australia.

Below is another set of $3 dies I got from ebay.  

And here is how they cut out.  They have "stitch" makes around the edges.  I love these too!  In fact, I love ebay!!  

Below is a sample I made up using some more $3 dies.  They also have "stitch" marks along them.

These (below) are the dies, there's four dies in the set.

Below is the die that I cut the houses off to put on the sample card above.

 And yes, her is yet ANOTHER set of three dollar dies from ebay!

They make up an ice block...but I want to use it to make Christmas Puddings!!  AS you can see!

 Here are the first of my snow peas!  There is about five or six on the vine so far, and I can't wait to eat them!  Yumm!

I just LOVE these beautiful white trees.  I see them in the distance across the road. In the photo below the sun was setting and it hit the white tree illuminating it among the other green trees.  I wish I had a better view of it, but there are too many trees in my way!

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a SUNSHINE day!  {HUGS} from me to YOU:-)