Dressing Up "Noof"!

So Lavinia Stamps are bringing out a new stamp release on March 2nd.  The theme is "Steampunk".  They will also have new stencils and other craft items too.  Just for fun I decided to dress "Noof" in  "Steampunk" style! I am not big on Steampunk but I had a go with what I had.  The only LS stamp is "Noof", the rest are from various companies. Just stamps I had on hand. She looks brighter and more sparkly in real life.  She is ready to party! It was a lot of fun making this card and I am happy with how it tuned out! 

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Pan Pastels Bookmarks.

I have used a yellow, and blue Pan Pastel for the circles on the two bookmarks above. All products used are from Lavinia Stamps. This was the first time  had ever used Pan Pastels, and I am totally in love with them!  As you can see, you can easily stamp over the top of them! I used small LS sponges and lightly swiped over the Pastel to get some colour on the sponge, then I swirled the sponge in a circle shape on the card, and bingo  had a lovely smooth yellow/blue circle!  The pastel is basically dry right away so you can stamp/emboss right on to it. SO much fun!  And YES! I have more Pan Pastels on order! You didn't think I was going to stop at two did you?!

 Above is another bookmark I made using the pastels. This was done on white card. Once I had the blue and yellow down, I used a LS stencil (Elegance) over the top. I used yellow pastel over the yellow parts, and blue pastel over the blue bit, if that makes sense?! Then I chose some word stamps and used Versa Fine Clair Nocturne (Black) ink to stamp the words. I tired to match the various word stamps to kind of make sense, if you get my drift?! Oh gee, it's turning into a weird day and it's not even daylight yet! I think it's6.30 am. My best time of day! I added the star stamp, then swipe (with a sponge) some yummy Versa fine Clair "Summer Time" (orange) ink around the edges of the card.  I found several balls of fancy wool in my never ending stash of 'stuff' and added some short lengths to the bookmarks. I have to say, I really love that ink colour! It's such a yummy Summer kind of colour! So this is what I have been up to in the last day or so!  I am very happy to tell you, my left arm is working very well now, not 100% yet, but very close to it!  So I am able to do more crafting (and more boring housework, but we won't mention that!) I had another order of LS goodies arrive yesterday, and the products used in this post were some of what I had ordered.  More coming soon - sshhh please whisper that! There are major road works right outside my place, as they put down new water pipes under the road. So this piece of the road had a huge 25 foot long 10 foot deep trench dug out of the road. Big machines everywhere and the road is blocked off o all traffic.  I had let the guys know that the courier was due and he would hopefully be dropping off my parcel to me. They said they will watch for him, and get my parcel off him and drop it at my front door.  So when the courier came, he had to park up the road a bit.  He got out, handed my parcel to one of the workers, who passed it on to another worker, who then run down my driveway and up to the front door and dropped it at my front door for me! It looked like they were plying a game of "Pass the parcel"! Ok, thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

New Embossing Technique!

To make the water on this card, I spread some green and white embossing powder onto a non stick sheet. You can also use baking paper for this technique.  I also added a sprinkle of white embossing powder and some blue glitter. Once I had the colours I wanted, I used the end of a chop stick to move the colours around.  I then folded the non stick sheet in half lengthwise and using my Ranger heat tool I heated the non stick sheet until the embossing powder was all melted.  Then I un folded the non stick sheet and let it cool for a few seconds, then with a flat kitchen knife, I carefully run it under the piece of embossing and lifted it off the non stick sheet. Mine was about five inches long, and you can break it or cut it to whatever shape/size you like.  It is very brittle so you need to be gentle with it.  Save all the pieces that break off because you can use them for another project! Here's a close up below, of the embossed piece I made with that technique. Once you have decided where you want the water/embossing piece, I used some craft glue to adhere it to the bottom of my card, so it looks like King Hopkins is sitting in a pond!

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!
 

Another LS Card & Cyclone Update.

 Darn, these photo's loaded up in the wrong way. The card was supposed to come up first. These are some photos of the Cyclone damage from yesterday.  We are right in the middle of Cyclone Gabrielle. Last night we had wind that was 140kkm and hour, extremely strong.  These are some photo's of some of the damage done close to where I live.  There's been no damage done o my property, thankfully.  The entire country has been declared a State of Emergency.  There are tens of thousands of people without power, and a friend of mine who lives further North has been without power since Sunday.  She lives on a farm and is in a rural area.  They've been told it could be two weeks before they can restore her power. Once again, roads have been flooded, there are slips all over the place, the Auckland International Airport was closed, multiple shops and businesses have had to closed due to flooding and/or no power.  Luckily I have power and running water. All the schools around the country have been closed for a couple of days, and will remain closed until the cyclone has passed, and the clean up has been done. As I said, these are a few photos of  some of the slips etc around here.

Ok, so I am still hooked on making these very simple cards using the LS heart shaped Sticker Stencil!  I'll get past it I'm sure, just not today!  My left arm is still not right, (excuse the pun!) I have issues grasping and holding things. I just don't have the same strength in that arm as normal. Even typing is a challenge as I keep missing a letter here and there.  Thank goodness for spellchecker! Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine right each and every day!

Using LS Heart Shaped Sticker Stencils

For the card above and the one below, I have used my LS Heart Shaped Sticker Stencil and brushed on some red (above) and Lavender (below) ink very lightly around the inside of the heart shape.  I stamped some tiny flowers and a tiny leaf stamp as well. For the card above I stamped two of the LS Hares in the center, and for the card below I stamped Rory and Darcy in the center of the heart.  There is some sparkly glitter on all these cards, but it just doesn't show up in the photo's. All these cards look much prettier IRL!

he card below is similar to the one I posted recently. I am slowly regaining the use of my left arm, but it's slow.  At the moment I am enjoying making very simple cards, something I would normally struggle with. But at least I am able to stamp!  Gotta get my arm back in full use as I have two LS stamp orders coming soon!

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

A Very Simple LS Card!

I managed to make a very simple and quick card, using LS products.  I still don't have full use of my left hand/arm, but I just had to have a go at making a card this morning. I used one of the LS circle masks to make the circle, brushing on some Versafine Clair Morning Mist pigment ink going 3/4 of the way around the inside of the circle mask.  I also brushed on some Elements Greensleeves dye ink over the top.  I then stamped the berry wreath LS stamp part way around the circle.

I coloured the red berries with a red gel pen.  There's also some glitter on the wreath, but it doesn't show on here.

Lastly I stamped 3 tiny butterflies using the LS stamp, Flutterbies.

Although this was a very simple card, it challenged me because of not being able to fully use my left arm.

If I over do things, my arm gets sore and very tired, so for now I'm just taking things easy.

Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

I

Heath Issue

Just letting you all know, I won't be posting anything here for awhile. Unfortunately I have had a stroke and it has affected my left arm. I am able to partially use that arm/hand, but the stroke has left my arm quite weak.  Typing this was a challenge, but I will be back again once I gain full use of my arm.  Thanks!

Severe Storm and More Rain!

 I got an emergency alarm on my phone around 5 pm last night. West Auckland and further North were to get MORE heavy rain and thunder storms over night.  We were warned not to leave our homes, unless it was an absolute emergency. I went to sleep last night to the sound of heavy rain, and woke to the same sound at 6 am this morning. No flooding right here and no damage to the house or property, thank goodness. I have been hearing sirens all morning, and the sound of chainsaws as well.  The rain has not stopped for more than ten minutes, since last Thursday evening!  I want Summer weather, not all this rain! I still have no cards to post here, I have ben living on adrenaline for the last five days, and just can't settle to make a card.  Even though I want to!  So instead of my art work, I am posting some of my photo's of the road works going on 5 houses away.

While I was taking photo's of the road works, a Police Helicopter was flying over head, so I took a snap of it!

This photo above is funny!  Notice the size of the truck, compared to the tiny red golf cart that my postman drives to deliver the mail!  He had to park there and walk up and down this part of the road delivering the mail by hand.  I saw the funny side and just had to take to take a photo!

Above, moving one of the steel water pipes going in under the road.

Once again, above shows one of the steel frames they put into the trench they have dug, to protect the guys working in the trench.  This frame stops the sides of the trench from collapsing and trapping and/or injuring the guys while they put the pipe in. They take the frame out once the pipe is in and they have then filled the trench with dirt and scoria.

Here is one of the frames being taken out of the trench.

Looking through one of the steel frames to where they are putting another frame in the trench. You can see how deep the trench is by the guy who is standing in the trench.  He's actually standing on side of the trench that has a bit of a ledge, so the trench is actually about two foot deeper than it looks in this photo.

One of the diggers off loading soil from the trench, into one of the trucks.

Moving one of the pipes to put it into the trench on the left of this photo. I took this early last week, and the road works were about 7  houses down from me.  Now they are a bit closer than this.  Because of all the rain we've had, progress has been pushed back.  They should e outside my place in around 8-10 days, maybe less.  It all depends on the weather! Thank you to Lorraine, and Andrea for your comments you left! Ok, thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!