A (Quick) Cute Lavinia Stamps Circle Card!

I used my Sizzix Stamp and Spin Tool to make the card above. OMG! It is super quick and oh-so easy to use! I am addicted already! It's simple, easy, quick...and fun to use! I used some circle dies to cut it out and make into a card. It took maybe 5-6 minutes to do the stamping! I used some of the new Versafine Clair ink pad colours to stamp the flower. I think I will be making a lot more circle cards now! 

 

These are photo's of my Tree Dahlia. The flowers are quite large, about the size of a bread and butter plate. The plant has been there for many years, and has spread out across quite a big area. Unfortunately we had some rain yesterday which has made the plant droop, so much so that lots of the plant is actually on the ground. 

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

Lavinia Stamps Book Mark!

 

Here's a double sided bookmark I finished off this morning. I painted this side using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Granulating water paints. I wish it showed the colours better. There's five colours, but as I said, the colours aren't showing well. They're also sparkly. I used some of the LS Mushroom/Toadstool stamps. I used a pink Posca pen to add some dots around the images.

The photo above is the front and the first photo is the back. I stamped on some LS pre printed paper. The bookmark is much prettier in real life. I haven't done much stamping lately. I'm waiting on the new release to arrive. Have you seen them?! The Forest Realm is the theme, and the stamps are gorgeous! I can't wait for mine to arrive! They have arrived in NZ but have yet to be scanned through customs. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

FRAUD ALERT!!!

At the beginning of April this year, I made a online purchase of some clothing. This was from a company called "Pitatto.com".  (AKA Honest Concept Hong Kong.) I paid almost $50NZD. I received an email a few weeks later saying the parcel had been delivered at 12.12 am on April 24th. That's 12 minutes past mid night - I had no idea couriers deliver at the time of day? Well nothing had arrived and I contacted the seller. They advised me to contact the courier, who, you guessed it, said contact the seller. After many emails the seller offered to re-send the clothing using' a faster safer courier service', (their words) or I could have a refund. I chose a refund. The seller thsn said we can give you a 65% refund. I refused that and said I wanted a total refund. The seller then replied thy could give me a 65% refund, minus $10 USD. I told them I wanted a total refund. By this time I had been in contact with my bank saying I think this is a scam, and the bank began the process of recovering my money from the seller. I informed the seller of what was happening. Then I get an email from the seller saying they will get their bank to issue a total refund, which would take 7 - 10business days. I informed my bank and they put the refund process on hold and said they will contact me once the refund shows in my account, and stop the fraud process. Guess what? Fourteen days have passed and I still have NO refund. I emailed the seller this morning and have informed my bank to carry on with recovering my money. I am sooooooooooooo frustrated and have had sooooooooooooo much stress from this. No wonder I haven't done much crafting. I have all the emails to and from both the seller and the courier, and my bank has seen them as well. Just warning everyone know about this company - pitatto.com (Honest Concept -  Hong Kong) and letting you know the hassles I am having with them. Ok, now I have that off my chest! 

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

"Lavinia Stamps" Addicts Group!

I made some cute frogs using some Fimo modelling clay. I thought they looked like a bunch of stampaholics! I think I recognize myself...! Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Some More Zoo Animals, "Wookie", "Romeo" and Wilbur And A Useless Bus Shelter!

These two photos, above and below, are of Miss Wookie! I was holding my camera with one hand, and waving  piece of ribbon with the other hand. Not easy! She's so photogenic, and a bit of a poser too! She was in a card board box that she likes to play in!

This Elephant was so gentle with the two keepers. The keepers  kept themselves safe in a kind of open box thing that had metal bars to stop the Elephant harming them. Did you know, Elephants feet have built -in shock absorbers - pads of fatty fibrous tissue that cushions the impact of the foot on the ground? Most of the weight of the Elephant rests on the tip of their toes, and the fibrous pad under their heel. How amazing is that? It's like having your own built-in padded innersoles on your feet!

This beautiful Cheetah (above) freaked me out! Just as I took the photo, he turned and stared right at me! He looked agitated, and aggressive. Maybe too many people had been snapping photo's of him. There were a lot of young children around who were screaming and yelling. Maybe that annoyed him. Even though I shot this through some very thick glass, I felt anxious! Maybe I should have offered him some of my lunch?! 

Above is one of the Turtles at the Zoo. I love how they move so slowly, they seem so relaxed. I think we could take lessons from him! I'm sure Turtles are always relaxed! Below is a card I made this morning. On a white piece of LS cardstock, I brushed on 4 of the new Versafine Clair  ink pad colours. It took awhile as I wanted to build up the intensity of the colours, especially at the corners and edges of the card. I used all LS stamps/products. I stamped the Single Fairy Orchid stamp three times, and slightly curved the stem, once to the left and then again the right. I also stamped the Thistlecap mushroom stamp 3 times, and some smaller mushrooms on the other side of  the card. What you can't see is the clear sparkly gel pen on the flowers. (Frrrustrating!) I also stamped the open Thimbleweed LS stamp down the sides of the card. This too has sparkly gel pen on it. I used a small white circle of white Posca in the center of the flowers. When I was finished, I matted it on to a piece of pink card, and then on to a piece of purple card. I was trying to match the colours on the card.

Below is a photo of "Romeo" cuddled up to "Wilbur"! My soulmate won "Wilbur" for me when we were at Luna Park in Sydney. "Romeo" thought he would make a good cushion for his head!

Ok, here's my whinge for today...this is one of the bus shelters I wait at to catch my bus. About three months ago, someone smashed one of the large windows on the side of the shelter. So far, it hasn't been fixed. This piece of glass gets smashed on a regular basis. As you can see, the back of the shelter, is just open mesh. The side behind me is also a large panel of glass, still intact as I write this. The shelter is open at the front. The sides and back of the shelter are about 14 inches above the ground. If it rains, the seat you sit on gets wet. Very wet. The rain/wind comes in the sides, back and front of the shelter. This means you get wet where ever you stand. I stand there with my umbrella up to try and stay dry. It doesn't work. The wind blows the rain in at all angles. I'd LOVE to know who designs bus shelters? Do they every use them? They don't give you any "shelter", it's a joke. The other bus shelter across the road is the same. The old wooden bus shelter we used to have was brilliant! It actually gave you "shelter", and you never got wet. I want it back! Being an artist maybe I should offer to design a new bus shelter for them?! I'll get back to you on that...

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

 

Have You Seen These...

...magical colours?! They are the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Granulating colours! In tis set there are 5 colours and an empty pot for mixing the paints. I painted the card above using a different colour for each Dragonfly. I left the card (water colour) to dry over night, and in that time, the colours separate and you get a mix of different colours, all from ONE original colour! How cool is that! Excuse the background, it didn't go well! The photo below shows each of the colours, and the different colours you get as they dry.

I did the card below by using a very wet paintbrush dipped in various colours and making circles. Then I used a stamp to stamp over the top of each circle. I coloured the dots using a gold gel pen, and then a white Posca pen. Had no idea what I was doing, I just had fun! Once again, it was left to dry overnight. However, if it's a nice sunny day, once you have painted something, you can see the colours separate and change colours. Lot's of fun to watch!

On the card below I did a wash of purple, left it to dry overnight. It's not a good photo, as you cannot see how it has a pinky colour after it dried. I was told you get the best results if you leave the paint to dry, and NOT used a heat tool. I think the heat tool pushes the colours too much and you don' get a good colour. Something like that! You can stamp over the top once thepaint is dry.

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

 

Who Are These Guys!

I went to the Auckland Zoo yesterday, and spent some tie taking photo's. They are not the best as it was really too sunny which makes the photo's look a bit pale. However it was was a fun day!

These two photos above and below are of baby (Calf) Giraffes. Imagine being so tall that you have to bend your knee's to get a drink!

Tis pretty boy was busy stuffing a leafy branch into his nest when I snapped this! Oh, maybe he is a 'she'?! Children from a local school had pained the nesting boxes, which are as colourful as the birds were!

These two Rhino's were having a bit of a head tussle over some hay on the ground! Luckily it didn't end up in a full of head banging incident. I've seen them do that before and it's quite something to see. Makes you glad you are on the other side of the enclosure!

This bi mama Orangutan was strolling along the high wire with her baby clinging on to her tightly. She eventually disappeared into the tree's where she stayed. I guess she'd had enough of us silly humans oohing and aahing over her baby!

Those ropes are up quite high, and at each end there is a big tower thing where they can sit and watch everybody. They had many ropes like this, criss-crossing over a huge big area that had heaps of tall trees for the Orangutans to climb. I'm not sure how many of them were in this area, but I could only see three. I'm sure there were more in amongst the tree's and out of the sun. It was a really hot day yesterday.

OMG I have a massive fear of  Alligators! Being this close was as close as I ever want to get to them! Thankfully NZ does not have them in the wild. Because they love the heat, and even tough it was a hot sunny day, the Zoo Keepers have attached two big heat lamps to a couple of tree's for them, which the Alligators lay under to keep warm. I think I have a photo of one of the lamps. I was upon a ridge which crossed a stream in their enclosure. The Alligators (there were two that I could see) never moved a muscle all the time I watched them.

This beautiful Lioness (above) had her eyes on me while I was taking her photo! She watched as I moved around the enclosure, and then licked her lips.  Was she thinking I would make a tasty snack?! Most of the other Lions were under the shade of the tree's, so her photo's are the only ones I took. In every photo of her, she was looking directly at me! Their enclosure was surrounded by a big lake, which was kid of reassuring! Lions usually don't go in the water unless they are on the move with a Pride of other lions and they need to cross a river to get to better food sources. So I kept telling myself as I spent a fair bit of time taking photo of her!

I fell in love with this beautiful girl above! She was so gentle with the keepers, and showed her skill of doing a high five with them, as well as closing a door on the enclosure the two keepers were in! I wanted to bring her home and have her on my back lawn! She is an Asian Elephant, and I cannot recall her name! She even picked up a room the keepers had been using and twirled it around! She had such a kind gentle face, I just wanted to hug her!

Above is one of the Siamang Gibbons. This one has been drinking water from the lake. There were darker coloured ones as well. They were very 'entertaining' with their antics!

Below is one of the many Australia birds that were in this huge enclosure. There was like a huge forest where the birds can fly around freely. Way above was a massive wire netting 'roof', o stop the birds escaping, and to stop predators from entering their enclosure. This bird (Lorikeet?) almost took my head off a few times as he flew from one tree to another. The path way was between the tree's. He mimicked me when I whistled a tune!

Below is one of the silver Siamang Gibbons. He was sitting on a rock and had his back feet up on a branch! Oddly enough he too watched me as I moved around taking his photo!

Below is a Black Cockatoo. He was quite a big bird with beautiful copper coloured stripes on his feathers under his tail and wings. Another pretty boy!

I took a ton of photo's, and I will go back again one day. This time on a more cloudy day. I did miss a few animals, but with 40 acres to walk around, it was a long day for me. Especially carrying heavy camera equipment, lunch and a water bottle!

Ok, that me for today!

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