I Cleaned My Brushes!

I decided to clean my stencil brushes. Here's how I did it! I used and old plastic bowl and an old sieve thing that I don't use any more. (Photo above) The sieve fits inside the owl, which was a bonus. I added some warm water and added a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. I put the brushes in the water one at a time, and gently 'scrubbed' them on the sieve. The sieve I used has small fine steel netting and is very gentle on my brushes. Once I had finished I cleaned the brushes under some warm water to get rid of any dishwashing liquid on them. Below is 2 of the brushes before I cleaned them. I have the brushes in three sizes, these are the 2 biggest ones.

Below are the 2 brushes after I cleaned them. There's some staining on the black one, but there's no actual 'colour' left on the brush. I haven't cleaned my brushes for four years, so I think it was time to give them a  clean. They are now drying on the window ledge in the

sun. YES! We have sun today! After days of heavy rain we finally have a sunny day!

 

The next couple of photo's are of the rocks I have made and painted, so far. I really need lot's of dry sunny days, but being Winter I know that's not likely to happen any time soon. The Turtle below measures about 2 1/2 inches in length, and around 1 1/2 inches in width. I also have a much larger mold of him, which I didn't realize come with the smaller Turtle. I like this smaller size and once I get time I will spray on some sealant and put him in amongst my pot plants. 

The Bee Kind rock is one I found in my garden. It was smooth and easy to paint. The M&M was made using plaster of Paris, which I found easy to mix and use. Unfortunately it broke when I took it out of the mold - so it became a broken M&M! It was nice and smooth to paint. (I'm using acrylic paint and Posca pens to draw with.  The pink rock was one I hand created without a mold, just to see how easy it was. The mix was too wet and sloppy and dry in an uneven way. No big deal, I'm still learning! You can see it isn't smooth compared to the ones done in a mold. The red heart one was created using cement, so it is heavier than the POP ones. Of course, there's also the ones I've made which aren't painted. There's the Pig, five heart ones, some flat some more rounded, a crouching kitten which  has a hollow part you can grow a small plant in, as well as a Hedgehog you can put a plant in. I also did a gnome one. I also have a few more molds yet to be used.

To be honest, I don't know why I am making all these - I hate colouring in! Ok so these rocks are all painted, but it means I still have to 'colour' in some way! Which bring me to my next topic. I have lost my mojo for making cards. It disappeared some time back. I am selling some of my Lavinia Stamps, so if anyone is interested, please leave me a message in the comments (or email me) and I will get back to you and discuss details. I still check the LS FB pages but nothing there is inspiring me. To be honest, it's stress. Romeo has some sneezing and I think he caught it from Wookie. Romeo is a total indoor cat, where as Wookie is an outdoor cat. She was sneezing recently when she was inside and whatever it was I think she passed it on to Romeo. So I will make an appointment for him to see the Vet. On top of that, I have been unwell for about 10-12 days. I've got a sore throat that isn't going away, digestive issues, not feeling hungry so not eating properly and feeling tired - oh the joy of having an immune system that doesn't work properly! On top of that it's Winter which I hate. I'm always cold (I have Reynauds which means my blood doesn't circulate properly). Right now my fingers are so cold they hurt. Wear gloves? I hear you say! Sounds like a good idea, but they don't work because there is no blood circulation in my fingers. It would be like putting gloves on a block of ice. The gloves wouldn't warm to block of ice because it has no blood circulation. I know it's hard to understand, and you don't have to! I'm just having a bit of a vent! I will stop here and get his posted!

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

 

 

A Cold Foggy Wet and Dark Day!

 So I haven't made any more molds because of the horrible wet weather we're having at the moment. Not only is it wet, it was very foggy this morning until around mid day. Then the rain came and forgot to leave! It's been so dark I've had the lights on all day. Have I mentioned how much I hate Winter?? (For anyone interested, I suffer from mild depression, mostly in Winter. Its called SADS, Seasonal affective Disorder and is due to not enough natural sunlight.   Check out my post called, "The Cloud" 18 August 2015. I wrote it one day after having a bad day. I hope you enjoy it!) Anyway, here are some random photo's I found on my SD card. 

Below is a rainbow from a couple of days back. It hung in the sky for about half an hour before it slowly faded and the sun came out.

Below is a photo of the Heron that visited me recently. I forgot to post it with the original post I did. What you can't see, is "Wookie" to the left, running to try to catch him! The Heron looked so graceful as he took off, his body seemed too big to get off the ground, but he made it with plenty of time to get away from Wookie!  Watching the Heron fly off  and into the air kind of reminded me of how planes take off.  You think they are way too big and heavy to get off the ground, but they do. And, to me, they also look graceful as they speed down the runway and then magically and gracefully lift off into the air. The Heron was not in any hurry when he took off, it's just that he was quite  a distance from Wookie and knew he was safe once he was airborne! 

Below is a photo I took one day of a wild Dove. He wasn't too bothered about me with my camera, and just sat there as if he knew I wanted to take his photo! 

The photo below is a scrap book page I did a few years ago. I am NOT a scrapbooker and struggle with creating pages. The photo's are some I took of my father. Sadly he passed away very suddenly in 1982. I was 23 at the time. My dad loved fishing, and these are a couple of photo's I took of him with the fish he caught, before we cooked them over the barbeque for dinner! The 2 bottom photos were taken at Mangawhai where we had a batch my father built. It was right by the ocean, and I spent most of my childhood and into my 20's growing up there. My family and I spent the holidays and weekends there.  The top photo is of my dad, and my dog Tami, and my brothers stock car in the background.

I took this next photo (below) of what I sometimes see in my bathroom window at night. It isn't house lights, and it isn't street lights. Any  houses/street lights cannot be seen because of thick bush and tree's in the way. The 'dotty' things are on the glass. I've seen this image all my life, it's not something new. From my observations it seems to have something to do with the full moon, which is tomorrow for me. I think the image looks like some kind of religious image.  Anyway, I find it interesting and bit mysterious!

P.S...I have some new molds...!

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

'I'm Broken..."

As I mentioned in a previous post, some of the molds I made crumbled and broke. This was one of them. I kept it and created a half eaten chocolate M&M!! It's a bit rough, but I'm happy with how it turned out. It was fun to think how I was going to use it. I came up with the M&M idea after scrolling on the internet. I used cement ,which is much heavier than Plaster of Paris. I ordered a 5 kg bag of POP which is being delivered today. But I really think it is too cold and wet to make molds. The temperatures have dropped rapidly, and suddenly since Friday. We're getting loads of heavy rain, thunder and lightning, as well as low temperatures. I've noticed it takes a long time for the paint to dry as there is very little sun. Those who have followed my blog for awhile will know how much I HATE Winter. It's just so cold and wet, a dark. I suffer rom mild depression in Winter due to not enough light. I do my best but sometimes it gets on top of me.

These next photos are a side on view of the M&M. Because it broke when I took it out of the mold, I didn't want to waste the cement and throw it away, luckily I was inspired by something I saw on the internet!

An update on Romeo - he is a lot better than he was. He is on a new diet, which he loves! His bowels seemed to be ok. It was very challenging  giving him the paste stuff twice a day. The syringe it came in was large, and trying to hold him and open his mouth and give him the paste was a challenge. I ended up buying a small syringe (no needle) and putting the paste in that, then giving it to him. That in itself was also a big challenge. Romeo is a big strong cat, not fat, just a big boy, and trying to hold him was not easy! Anyway, he has finished the paste and is much better. I'm so glad he loves his new food, cats can be so picky - as Andrea said!

Ok, as I'm typing this there is a huge thunder storm raging outside, and it is LOUD! I hope the rain lightens because I want to go grocery shopping - sometimes I need food! I woke with a sore throat this morning, and am not feeling 100%. My nose is blocked and my head feels like it is full of fluff. I really don't feel like getting out of my pajamas today! I'm sure today is "International  stay in your pajama's" day! My hip is still painful from Friday and I'm sure the cold isn't helping.  Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Bits and Pieces

The flower in the photo above is one of my Christmas cactus which has just begun to flower. I have another one which has a red flower, which has several buds on it. I also have some similar to this, but it has long "stems' (?) and much bigger flowers on it. Not sure off hand what their Latin name is. I'll photograph them once they flower.

What's this? I hear you ask! Well it's a pile of broken cement. I used some rid dry cement in a couple of my molds, and this is what happened. The cement had str, or so I thought. When I took it out of the mold, it fell apart. A few of the molds were ok, but not this one. I had been told the rapid set cement would be ok in the molds, so I bought a small bag. I've since learned it isn't ideal for molds. So I ended up buying a big bag of Plaster of Paris, which does work in the molds, plus it is a lot lighter in weight than the cement. 

I haven't done any more molds yet,

I was back in hospital yesterday, but not as a patient! I had an outpatients appointment to have an echo on my heart, as I have a heart issue. It's nothing to be worried about at the moment, which is good! While I was there I took some cookies and a big bar of chocolate to the staff in the Emergency Department just to say thank you for their help when I was in hospital a few weeks ago. In spite of them being under staffed, I always get the best care from them. This includes the nurses as well as the Doctors. The nurse I spoke to was very surprised to receive my thank you gift as they very rarely get thanked. (I have often done this as I know how hard they work).I just wanted to let them know how much I appreciated their help. From there I went to the ward I ended up in after ED, and also gave them some cookies (we call them biscuits here) and a large bar of chocolate. They too were surprised, but thankful that I had taken the time to do this. From there I went to my echo apt.

I had to lay on my left side (because that's the side your heart is on) and it took about 45 minutes 

to get all the images done.

I told the technician that I had had a left hip replacement and could only lay on my left side a short time as it becomes  painful. When I had the hip replacement they told me not lay on my left when sleeping because it puts too much weight on the hip joint. Anyway the technician wasn't interested and so I had to lay on my left side for 45 minutes while he did the scans. By the time he had finished my left hip was really painful. 

It's worse this morning, and area I had scanned is also sore and feels bruised. 

I haven't painted anymore rocks as our weather has turned cold and wet, which means the paint takes days to dry, and  I want them to dry quickly! We are officially into Winter now, (June 1st) and the temperatures dropped a lot overnight yesterday, which had me putting on four layers of clothing before I went out! The wind was icy cold as well, even though the sun cane out. 

Ok, that's it for now. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

 

"OINK!"...

Is this pig cute or what! I made him yesterday using some Plaster of Paris. It took about 20 minutes to dry enough to take out of the mold. Having said that, he needs to dry out properly for another day or so to be sure he is totally dry, and then I can  paint him. 

 

Here's the heart I made (below), this is the larger size. This needs another day to dry enough so that I can paint it. As I mentioned, both these are made from Plaster of Paris. But I did buy a bag of rapid set cement while I was out yesterday, and will hopefully have a go using that later today. The cement cost $11 for a 20kg bag. In comparison, the bag of Plaster of Paris I had cost me $6.50 for a 1 kg bag. So the cement is much cheaper  and I have 20 kg of it! 

Romeo's visit to the Vet went well. She was not the same Vet as I  had previously (thank goodness) and she was really good. I have some paste stuff to give him twice a day to help his dysentery, and he has some "new" food which he loves! I gave him a very small teaspoon to start with, and he didn't hesitate to eat it. I also gave him some of his usual food. The new food is for Gastrointestinal issues. The Vet thinks he has a sensitive stomach.(That makes 2 of us!) He also had his pain killer injection while we were there. Fingers crossed that his dysentery settle down with his new diet.

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

 

They're Here!

Yay! My molds I purchased  have just arrived! I wasn't expecting them until the end of the week. I have to get a bag of rapid set cement so I can get creating. The 'pig' mold measures about 2  inches in height, and almost 8 inches around. The photo above is what it looks like. The mold is hollow.

I'm not sure when I will be able to use these molds, I'm taking 'Romeo-Valentino' to the Vet later today as he has serious dysentery from his pain killer injection. I'm hoping they can help him. He's in pain because I couldn't get him to his last appointment because I was unwell and in hospital. Then once I was home I still had health issues and wasn't well enough to get him to the Vet. 

I feel bad for him, I know only too well what having bad dysentery feels like. Hopefully we get a different Vet than last time. I wasn't happy with her advice as she said to give him 1x 42 gram can of a new cat food a day. Well his usual food is 85 grams a sachet, and he eats at least 3 of those a day. He is a big cat, and 42 grams of food a day is nowhere enough for him. He won't eat the new food so I will be returning it later today for a refund. 

Just poured some Plaster of Paris into my molds. Not sure if I got the mixture right, we'll see!

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

 

My Fairy Garden!

The photo's above are of my newly created Fairy Garden! It's on my back porch, which gets sun and shade and a sprinkling of rain. The Fairy ornaments were a gift from a friend some years back. A few of them have broken wings/legs which I have glued back together. They've been in storage for about 15 years. Unfortunately you can't see the lovely colours on them too well on here, although they have faded over the years. The plants are mostly Christmas Catcus (Epiphyllum Cactus). Once they flower I will photograph them and put them here. I am going to make a 'shelter' from some plastic to put over the entire garden so that if/when we get really heavy rain, I can pull it down to shelter the plants.

Below is a rock I painted!  I used some blue acrylic pain for the background, and then sketched the bee with a black charcoal pencil. Once I was happy with it I used Posca pens to draw and colour the image. My hands are still a bit shaky so some of the lines are a bit wobbly. The  rock is roughly 2 inches (5 cms) in size. I painted rocks many years ago, and have recently been keen to do some more. Instead of using real rocks, I have purchased some molds to create my own rocks. By using the mold I can create very smooth rocks which will be easier to paint. Real rocks can be rough and can ruin your Posca nibs. The molds are coming from USA, so they will be awhile getting to me. Watch this space!

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

 

A Tangerine Sunrise!

 

 I shot these sunrise photos through a closed window from my hospital bed on Sunday morning. I Was in hospital Saturday and Sunday. It was such a pretty view that I just had to take these shots! Sadly, a short time after taking these,  the beautiful tangerine colour faded into a dull grey and we ended up with a horrible dull wet day. How quickly the weather changes!

Yes, I even have  a card to post,  which I made last week. I will be entering it in the latest Lavinia Stamps challenge, "Secret Garden".  Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

I Have a Waterfall!

 

 I took this from the top step at my back door, the rain was easing and I wasn't getting too wet. It shows the rain water spurting out from under the window in my car port. It must have come in the carport roof and hit the window ledge inside the carport, and then somehow got under the window making the waterfall outside. I've never seen it do this before! It's not a sharp image due to how heavy the rain was.

Below is a close up of the water coming from under the window in my carport. I had my own 'waterfall'!  The rain lasted for about half an hour before it slowed down. I noticed the traffic had come to a halt while the rain was so heavy. Some of the cars had stopped on the side of the road outside my place. It carried on raining most of the night, but not heavy.  

When I got up this morning the rain ha sgone and we have blue sky and sun! Looking outside now you wouldn't know we had all that rain just a few hours ago! The weather is crazy!!  Another plus for this morning is, my pain has settled down and I didn't need to take pain killers this morning! Yippee, I hope it lasts! I am aware that the cooler temperatures and the wet weather makes the pain worse. Having said theta, we are having quite mild temps for this time of year. Usually by May it has become quite chilly, but not so this year. Well, not so far!

I do have a couple of creations to share, and will hopefully post hem here later today.

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

Who is This in My Back Yard??

 

I was casually looking out the kitchen window earlier, and spotted this on my lawn! Not having my glasses on, I wasn't able to clearly see what or who it was! I could tell it wasn't a cat as it was too tall.

As I put my glasses on I grabbed my camera and went outside onto my back steps. It was a bird! A bird with a very long sharp beak, and he/she (?) was busy strolling around my lawn as if he owned the place. He pretty much ignored me snapping photo's, and after about ten minutes he flew up on to the fence. Then I quickly went inside to check on some food I was cooking. When I went back outside again, he was further down the yard. I took a few more photo's and then I spotted Wookie in the bushes behind the bird! She started to run towards the bird, and he flew off. I doubt that he will come back, knowing there's a cat that wants him for lunch! 

He is a white faced Heron. He had seemed very relaxed and at home strolling around my lawn...until Wookie saw him. She LOVES birds, but not in the right way. 

Some of you may remember the photos I took last year, of a Pukeko (Swamp Hen) who was wandering around my back lawn. Well this Heron is about the same size, just with a different beak and different colours. Sadly it is becoming more common to see both these birds in suburbia. That's due to their natural habitat being demolished to build more houses. I usd to see both these birds by the creek at my horse paddock not far from here. Sadly the paddocks are gone and the creek has been piped underground. I know people need houses, but I feel so bad for the displaced wildlife. Both these birds are swamp or water birds. They can't just move to another swamp or creek because humans are filling in what is or was their 'homes' and nests. Sometimes humans really annoy me. 

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

Art and Sweets!

I did these two cards last weekend. I'm not sure I like the top one, I did the background (stencil from LS) too dark. I think it could have been a bit lighter, or maybe done in a more pale colour. Oh wee, it happens! The card below turned out bewtter, in my opinion! The problem was, when I created them I was in a  lot of pain. I wasn't happy and couldn't get rid of the pain. It was in my neck/back and shoulders and I KNOW when I have pain, my artwork doesn't turn out how I want it. But did I take my own advice...? Heck no! I am learning!

The photo below is some food for Romeo, and a small bag of sweets for me, and a sachet/tube of some sort of yummy flavoured paste for Romeo. Well I ate the sweets and Romeo ignored the paste! He sniffed it and looked at me as if to say "Eww, you want me to eat that?!"  So I gave it to Wookie. (She eats anything!)

Below is a photo of some sweets that I love...Crocodiles! They are my fave treats and there is only one supermarket I got to that sells them. I always get a couple a packets when I am there. They are chewy and have a slightly tangy taste.

Below is a photo of what they look like! Thank goodness we don't have real Crocodiles here in NZ. I have seen them at the Auckland Zoo and they scare me just looking at them!

They actually had heating going to keep their temperature at their correct level for them to survive. No they weren't in a cage or anything, they were outside in a stream/swamp area. The heat lamps were on a grassy bank above the Crocodiles. I was fascinated by them, but glad they were in a safe enclosure, even though it was outside!

Ok, that's all for now! Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

A

 

I Don't Want To Stamp, I Want To "Create"!

 

After seeing a card that Jo Rice (Lavinia Stamps DT) had created, I wanted to make one too! I used a LS Sticker Stencil for the buildings in the background. I used Graphite Elements ink, and lightly brushed it mainly around the inside edges of the stencil. Once that was done, I stamped the Hare (LS using Graphite ink. I am so sorry the photo is so pale. I have yet to master how to Edit my photo's using File Explorer. I will eventually download a better photo editing program. For the card below I was inspired by Eileen Godwin! Once again I have used a LS Sticker Stencil. These are sticky on one side of the stencil, which allows it to lightly adhere to your card so the stencil doesn't move. They peel off your card without leaving a sticky residue, and they don't tear your card.

However, I noticed that Eileen had somehow flipped the stencil over so the Hare was facing the other way! I scratched my head and wondered how she had don't that, as that would mean the sticky side of the stencil would be facing upwards, and not stuck to the card. Hmm, I wasn't sure, but I flipped the stencil over and held it down with low tack tape, and very carefully brushed ink onto the stencil. I was NOT easy by any means, and there were a few un-savory words muttered under my breath! However, I managed it and this is the result! I'm happy with how it turned out.

Then I decided to ask Eileen how she had created hers. She said she washes the stencil and carefully removes the sticky backing. Then when she uses the stencil, she holds it down with low tack tape. So that's how she can flip the stencil and still use it. I'm not sure I am brave enough to try it, yet, but watch this space!  So these are my latest creations, I hope you enjoy them! I had a bad reaction to a new medication over the weekend, and ended up in hospital Sunday/Monday. It slowed my heart beat down so much that I felt very light headed and thought I was going to faint. It also blurred my vision and raised my blood pressure way too high. On top of that my Doctor is away on holiday and I was unable to get hold of him. I'm a lot better now and have stopped taking that medication. 

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

A Surprise!

 

I recently mentioned on here, that I had ordered and paid for a Stamp set from the USA, and my payment had been credited back to my bank account. I also expressed my disappointment as it was a set I that wasn't available here in New Zealand.

About an hour ago I had a friend visiting. She said that the courier had just dropped something at my front door. Can you guess what it was??!  It was the stamp set I had ordered!! I was shocked and couldn't believe it had been sent, in spite of having my payment credited back to my bank account! The stamp set is in the photo above. I wanted it so I can stamp different sized frames for the cards I've been making, in the photo below. The stamp I have been using was limiting because of it's size. Now I can carry on making those cards and use a range of different stamps. After stamping the frames I will use my scan 'n cut to cut them out. Just a quick post today! Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

A 'Lightbulb' Moment!

Here's a card I made using some of the new Lavinia Stamps that were released in time for the opening of the Dreamatorium! I am loving those two cheeky mice! I can imagine them getting into lots of 'mischief' as time goes by! Here they are playing with some light bulbs, up on a bookshelf. Apologies that the photo is a bit pale, I haven't yet figured out how to edit photo's properly in File Explorer. When I figure it out I will re-pot this photo. Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

UPDATE! I managed to edit it so the colours are not so pale. I hope I remember how I did it, lol!