Is This Me?!

Saw this and just had to post it here! This is so me this year! I have a Black Belt in "Partial Arts"! I have so many half finished crafts it's no wonder my desk is full of unfinished cards and things!! Deep sigh!

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

 

No! You're Not Seeing Double!

 Oh darn. These photos have loaded up in the wrong order. The cards (at the bottom) were supposed to be first! Oh well, "iiwii" - It Is What It Is!  So one of my neighbours , who is a professional photographer, gave me a new lens for my camera the the other day! So I thought I would take a few close up shots of one of the Agapanthus flowers that are in full bloom right now. Oh, and a Dandelion dead head. There is small breeze blowing, so it wasn't easy to get a good in focus shot, but I gave it a go! Darn that little bit of wind!

I have always loved the colour of these Agapanthus, ad these were not actually 'planted'. My stamping friend Margaret, who at the time, lived 2 houses around the corner from me, had asked if I cold dig some out of her garden, as they were taking over. She only had a small area of garden. So I dug some out took them home.  As I said, I didn't actually 'plant' them.  All I did was dig a slit into the soil, wiggle the spade sideways  and placed the Agapanthus plants on top. Every single one of them grew! They will not take over the garden as there is plenty of room for  them to spread out  as much as they like. 

So here's the  same cards I posted yesterday. The only difference is, I have layered them and finished them off properly. So NO! You are not seeing double! Although you cannot see it, I have added glitter to the center of each of the stars on here. It sparkles in real life!

For the card below I stamped LS stars around the white and black layers of card before I stuck each layer on. And yes I used my new Layering Rulers! I am still learning how to use them properly. This card too has some glitter on it!

That's it for today, its beginning to get vey hot and humid these days, and the humidity is making me 'wilt'! Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Two Cards!

Both of these cards were made after I watched video tutorials by Amanda Branston from Lavinia Stamps. For the top card, I used one of the Sticker Stencils to make the star. I rushed on some Milled Lavender Distress Oxide ink.  I then made the wavy lines using the same ink, and one of the LS Hill Masks, brushing the ink in an upwards motion. I inked a narrow black line across the star, and then stamped (in black ink) the tiny Pixi Houses, and the tiny tree ,all from LS. I then stamped the word "Peace" under the houses etc. Once I stamped the snowflakes (also in Milled Lavender ink) I hand drew the stitching lines around the card using a white Posca pen.

I also added some sparkle - gotta have some glitz! I will mat it onto a white card, nd then once again onto a black card.

I used a LS Hill mask, and various coloured ink pads to make the coloured swirl, making sure it was fairly even in the center. It crossed over as I went around the card. Then I stamped the word stamp. then the tree and finally the little stars! This was a lot of fun to make!

Ok I think that's it for me. "Santa" comes tight, and I hope he has an umbrella and raincoats for his Reindeer, because it is raining! It's very humid and the rain is not making it any cooler. Have a wonderful Holiday Season, however you celebrate! Be safe, be kind and have fun!

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

 

Another LS Christmas Card!

 I used my Dinkles to colour the baubles, and red gel pen for Eve's hat. There is glitter on her wings, but it doesn't show on here. I have  another three Christmas cards to finish and that is the end of my Christmas cards for 2023!  Of course, that may change, as there is often a card or two I have forgotten about! It was my Birthday yesterday, and I bought myself a set of the beautiful Mondeluz water colour pencils. I hope to try them out soon. I will post here when I do!

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

Christmas Card for a Friend!

 I'm really pleased how this card turned out. It's very colourful and very sparkly with Judi-kins Diamond glitter on parts of it. I used my new Layering Rulers for the layers, but mucked up the last (glitter card) layer. It was thicker than I had expected and the ruler moved.  Uff da, things happen! To be often I am finding this Christmas really stressful. So many things have happened, such as being in hospital eight times, and not being well. On top of that, trying to get a small loan from WINZ (who pay my pension)to get a heat pump installed, and being told 'no' at every step. I've done everything they have asked, from getting a letter from my Doctor confirming my health issues and how living in a cold damp moldy home is detrimental to my health, and now they want copies of the Family Trust as this house is in a Family Trust with my brother and I. Firstly, I don't have all the papers because the Lawyer holds those. To get copies from him would mean I have to pay around $500 plus, which I refuse to pay. I cannot afford to pay that much. WINZ have accused me of financially gaining from the Trust, which is not true. The only thing I have 'gained' is a roof over my head. They have not been pleasant at all to deal with. I'm giving you the polite version here. I have jumped through so many hoops with Winz that I am sure I am now a qualified Circus performer! It's been going on since June and it has given me  SO much stress. I have made and sent cards to a few people who are special to me, but have not sent as many as usual. I'm just too stressed. My case about the loan has now gone from WINZ to a disputes tribunal, so now I have to wait and see what happens from there. I cannot do anymore with WINZ, so the Disputes Tribunal is now advocating on my behalf. Sorry about all this, but I am stressed! While I LOVE making and sending cards, this year I just can't do it.  However if you are reading this, then you are on my  card list and WILL receive a card from me!  Don't panic! Some people I care about more than others. Apologies for all this! Hope you enjoy my card! Thanks for listening! Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Christmas Tree's and More!

These two photos are of Pohutakawa Trees growing nearby.  They are commonly known as New Zealand's Christmas Tree, because they flower around this time of year. They also grow close to some of our beaches as they quite like the sandy soil.  If they flower early in the season, it means that we are going to get a nice long dry hot summer - fingers crossed! These tree's are huge, think of an old Oak tree that's been there for a hundred years and that's the size of these. They have some yellow stamens in the middle of the flowers. Our beautiful Native bird, the Tui, loves these tree's and you can often hear them early in the morning calling to one another. 

I just wish I had been somewhere high up because I had to take these shots looking up to the tree's. 

Below are the new Layering Rulers from WRMK that I got recently. They help you make even spaced mats for your cards. Something I struggled with before I had these. Each ruler has a raised line that you hold against your card, so you can cut using a scalpel or exacto knife. I hope my explanation doesn't confuse you, I am not good at explaining things. I am much better at showing you. Below is the finished card with 2 layers of matting. (I need to finish colouring it)

The next photo show how I have matted it onto the pink card, and I'm now going to mat it onto the lavender card. The bonus is, if you put the card on to the lavender card, and it is crooked, it doesn't matter because when you place the ruler against it, and cut, you get a straight line.

The photo below shows my hand holding the ruler about to cut. There are raised lines on each side of each ruler, giving you different measurements so you can choose how wide you want each mat. Each raised line is there to hold the card from moving while you cut.

Below are the three rulers that you get in a pack. Each one has different measurements so you can decide how wide you want each mat. Apologies for the terrible photo, I should have turned the rulers over so you can actually read the numbers! Each ruler is 12 inches long. Oh gee, I am hopeless at explaining things in writing! I hope you can follow my explanation! Ask me for more details if you need to!  I absolutely LOVE these rulers, and fond them oh-so-easy to use! They have made my crafting a lot easier - no more crooked layering!

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

Birthday Card!

This is a 5x5 inch card I made. There's some sparkle on it which doesn't show up in this photo. There's also some colored sequins. I'm happy how this turned out! Sometimes you get a picture in your mind of how you want the card to be, and then it doesn't turn out how you imagined. Luckily, this one turned out right! I've had some cluster migraines lately, which has stopped me doing craft work. I am off to get an eye test just to check it isn't something more serious. Hope everyone is well and getting ready for Christmas?! Oh my gosh, how can it be almost Christmas?! Time has gone quickly i the last month. Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!