From Take Away Cup To Tissue Holder!

I saved my take away paper cup and lid that I had used, washed it out and dried it, and re-purposed it into a tissue holder!  I used a strip of burlap to go around the cup, and used a hot glue gun to stick it to the cup.

 Then I cut a hole in the lid.  I pierced it with some scissors and trimmed it to the size I wanted.  (Above)  I punched out a large daisy shape that fit perfectly onto the lid, and punched a hole in the center.  I then glued it to the lid.

I put two reasonably heavy sinkers into the cup then put the rolled up tissues in and pulled them through the hole in the lid.

As you can see, it makes a great tissue holder!  If you use Wet Wipes in the cup, place them in a small plastic bag when you put them in the cup.  This will make sure the cup doesn't eventually go soggy and fall apart!  Of course, if that happens, you'll have to go and buy another take away hot drink!  

If you don't have any sinkers, a small solid rock or pebble will work.  This is just to give the cup some weight so it doesn't fall over when you pull the tissues out.  I just used bits I had on my desk, so it was  quick and simple to do.  These would make great gifts and you can decorate them however you like!  Enjoy!

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

Stitched Flowers

I think this die set is from "My Favorite Things."  I am not sure which company the words are from.  Below is a close up of the flowers.  I used some scraps of card I had to make the flowers.  A nice quick and easy card to make!  I've just spent a couple of days in hospital, and I'm not feeling 100% yet, so I don't have the energy to make anything too complicated.  I just wanted to make something simple.  The dies had only just arrived a short time before I was taken into hospital, so this is the first time I have used them.

It's Labour Weekend here, so today is a holiday.  Not a lot of sun but it is quite warm, which is nice:-)  Summer is on it's way:-) 

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

Christmas Card and Blackbird

I just finished making this card this afternoon.  I placed a slightly smaller oval die than the one I stamped the words on, in the center of my white card, and lightly traced around it in pencil.  (The pencil marks don't show when the card is complete.)  Then I stamped some various tree branches and flowers around the penciled oval.  I used various coloured stamp pads.  I also cut out a few leaves in shiny gold card. (They look BROWN on here!  Oh no!)  I stamped the words on the white oval then attached the the cut out leaves.  This oval is slightly bigger than the pencil one, as it covers the pencil line I drew. I then stuck the stamped oval onto the card using some sponge tape to give it some height and dimension.  I lastly added some bronze coloured sequins and a splash of glitter to the tiny red flowers.  I also put three drops of clear Nuvo Crystal Drops on the stamped oval.  The gold card is really shiny in real life, but photographing it was a challenge!  The card may not be your typical Christmas card, but I like it:-)

The following three photos are some I took of Mrs. Blackbird picking up some Sunflower seeds to take back to her nest of babies.  I have to buy more seeds now as they have eaten the ones I had!  She is a lovely soft brown/grey colour, and I have noticed that in the sunlight she is more grey, but in the shade she is a soft brown colour. I think she is gorjuss:-)

She has seeds in her beak in all three photo's.  She was a busy bird!

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

New Cards, New Stamp Sets!

I had a busy day yesterday, but still managed to make a couple of quick cards.  The card above was made using the stamp set below.  I ordered the matching die set at the same time I ordered the stamps, but I'm still waiting for the dies to arrive.  I contacted the seller and am waiting to hear from them.  The Christmas trees (above) have some dots of clear Nuvo Crystal drops on them just to give them a bit of texture.  A quick and easy card to make!

The card above was made using some Stampin' Up! stamps.  The little "With Love" banner was from a pack I bought from the local $2 Shop.  I used Blackberry Bliss card stock and ink, as well as Orchid Opulence ink.  And I sneaked in some bronze coloured sequins too!

I stamped some words on the inside of the card, and they are from the stamp set below. 

As I said, I had a busy day yesterday.  I took two big shopping bags full of stamps, stamp pads, glitter and other old stamping stuff in to the Starship Childrens Hospital here in Auckland.  They were things I no longer used.  There were about 14 old SU stamp sets, as well as other stamps.  Plus about 14 old stamp pads.  They still had plenty of ink left in them.  I had donated stamps etc to the Starship Hospital a few years before, and they are so grateful for them.  When I was a child and in and out of hospital all the time, there was no Children's Hospital like there is today.  I know how lonely, boring and scary it can be when you are in hospital and unwell and have nothing to look forward to, except the next blood test:-(  

The stamps etc that I took in yesterday were really heavy and I had to carry everything in my shopping trolley!  There was no way I would have been able to carry them without the trolley.

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

Long Time, No See!

This is another Giraffe card I made recently.  I used water colour pencils to colour them in, and they both have some "Glossy Accents" on their spots. Thanks for dropping by!  Have a SUNSHINE day!  {HUGS}from me to YOU:-)

More Christmas Cards!

I've made some more Christmas cards during the week, using my cat stamp and dies.  I used my water colour pencils to colour the cats this time.  This is the first time I have used water colour pencils, so it was a learning curve for me!  I like the results:-)

 The Giraffe card below was fun to make!  He too was colured with water colour pencils. I sponged some Butterscotch ink on the bottom part of the oval, and then stuck the Giraffe on.  The card under the oval was also sponged with Butterscotch ink using a stencil I have.  The Giraffe stamps and dies is a "My Favorite Things" set I found on Ebay.  (I paid $8 for them which included postage!)

Below is Mrs. Thrush about to help herself to some banana I put out for her. She has babies up in my Camellia tree.  I sat out in the sun, on a chair and waited for her to come down.  I had been watching her from inside the house and decided to go outside to see if I could get a photo of her.  I didn't have to wait long before she came back for some more banana.  I'm hoping to eventually see her babies as well!  Watch this space!

A week or so back I dislocated my new hip, but luckily it went back into place immediately.  I had tried to lift something way to heavy and felt and heard the joint dislocate and go back in. My hip has been painful ever since, but is slowly improving. At the same time, I injured my neck, and that too has been  painful ever since:-(  I've had a headache every day for the last eight days, and I think it is because I have a cataract growing over my eye and I can't see clearly. I have tried to get in to have it fixed but the hospital said I don't fit the criteria (??) and so they won't do it.  It's SO annoying because while I am still making my cards etc, it is very hard to focus because I have double vision.  I can't not make cards, it's in my DNA to make cards!  I would go nuts if I couldn't do my craft work.  I need to get my GP to ask again at the hospital to get the cataract removed.  It is driving me crazy not being able to see clearly:-(

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

A Nest of Baby Blackbirds!

Well, what I thought was a nest of baby Thrushes, turns out to be a nest of baby Blackbirds!  I have seen the mother going in and out of the nest and she is definitely a Blackbird!  I feel blessed that they let me get close to take photo's:-)  This one, below, even hopped out of the nest to have a closer look at me!  I obviously passed the test because he let me carry on taking as many photos as I liked!

The nest is about four feet off the ground, and well hidden from cats.  I've been feeding them some cat food, and Mrs. Blackbird supplements that with lots of bugs she finds. 

 It rained last night, but I doubt the babies even felt it.  With the mother bird protecting them, as well as the thick bush, they probably stayed dry.

I have a headache, and my eyesight is not good because of having a cataract growing over my eye.  I wish they would hurry up and get it fixed because it's getting harder to see to do my craft work.  I struggle to see things clearly.  Pain in the you know what!

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

Water Colouring Success!

In my earlier post on Sunday, about not being able to get the soft look I wanted on some cat stamps, I have since had some success!  I found a great video on youtube, about water colouring and ended up getting myself my water colour pencils.  I like the results (above and below) that I got!  I will be doing more with the pencils:-) 

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

Baby Birds!

These three photos are of some baby birds (possibly Thrushes) that I discovered in a nest, deep inside one of my rose bushes.  I heard some cheeping and looked around to see where it was coming from.  I carefully parted the rose bush and there they were!  As far as I could see, there are three baby birds.  I leave some cat food out for the mother bird, and have been watching her take it back to the nest and feed her babies.  So cute!  

They didn't seem to mind that I was so close to them, poking the camera in their faces taking photos.  I couldn't resist getting some photos, and will watch them as they grow, and hopefully get some more photo's of them.  I know these three photos are pretty much identical, but the babies were so cute:-)

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