Snowflakes and Itty Bitty Babies!

Here is the card I made today.  I brushed a circle.  After punching out some vellum snowflakes, I adhered them to the card, in a circle.  I die cut the word "Sparkle" in shiny gold card and attached it across the circle of snowflakes.  I die cut 3 small white flower shapes and attached them randomly to the card.  I finally added some white sequins (they look kind of pink here!) and some clear glass droplets.  I attached the finished white card to a piece of shiny gold card, and attached that to a piece of pale blue card.

Below is the sentiment I stamped inside the card.  I attached the white card with the sentiment onto a piece of shiny gold card, and finally attached that tot he inside of the card.  The sentiment stamp is from Suzanne Cannon.  Her stamps and dies are available from Emerald Creek.  This card really sparkles in the light, and I am very happy with how it turned out.  I wasn't sure if I liked it when I started it, but I kept going and as it progressed I could see it beginning to "bloom"!

A tip about die cutting with intricate dies and vellum. When I first die cut the snowflakes, they stuck inside the die and ripped when I tried to get them out.  I ended up 'colouring' the die with a white crayon, and then die cutting the vellum.  It was then much easier to get the velum snowflake out of the die without ripping it.  A candle will do if you don't have a white crayon. It just waxes the die so the vellum releases easily.

Below is a photo of a new plant I have growing.  It's called, "Cat's Paw!"  

This photo below, is "Puddle-duck Boy", and HE is a SHE.  But I gave her the name before I knew if he was a she or a he!  She lost her mum some weeks ago when she was very tiny.  She hung around my place and I kept feeding her (cat food and other scraps suitable for a duck) and she has never left!  She has been here for weeks.  She knows my voice and greets me in the morning.  She is a very happy duck and loves to splash around in her "pool"!

And half an hour ago I found these below, on my front lawn!  Nine baby ducks and their mother!  Wild ducks have always come visiting, I have a large back yard and they know it is a safe place to visit!  (Or stay, as "Puddle-duck Boy" has!)  Maybe I should charge them rent?!

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

 

Comment Issues With Blogger.

It appears that some of us bloggers are not receiving email notifications when comments are left on our blogs.  This includes me.  I have spent some time going through my blog settings to see what is going on.  In the end, it turns out it has nothing to do with my settings.  The issue is with Blogger itself.  I Goggled the problem and discovered that a lot of bloggers are having the exact same issue.  Apparently Blogger is working on fixing it.  So if you are one of the many bloggers having this problem, know that Blogger are fixing it.  Hopefully.  I am now checking my "Comments" section in my blog settings each day to check for comments, just to make sure I am getting them.  Hope this helps!

Some Cards and A Visit To My Craft Room!

These 2 cards, above and below are both made using the SSS "Just Miss You" stamp set. It's such a fun versatile set, and I can mix it with other stamp sets I have.  These cards were stamped on normal card stock.

I'm not sure I got the clouds right on the card below.  Oh well, I had fun and that was my goal!

Below is the first photo of my crafting space - the dining room! Somehow I even have room for the TV!  I have three trestle tables and as you can see, they are messy!  

In the photo below I have a nice big window behind the desk, that lets in tons of light which I like.  I can't stand dark spaces!  There has to be light!                       

This is my other desk, below, and that has my stamp shelves I made, plus my card stock and a pile of craft dies and other bits.  The shelves underneath hold various crafty bits as well.

And two photos of my "Supervisor" who oversees everything I do!  (He thinks he's the boss!)   In the photo below you can see my (messy again!) table, my laptop and printer tucked away in the left hand corner.  So there is my craft room!  Yes it is messy, but the weird thing is, I know exactly where everything is!  Except for my sock that I lost a month ago...but that's another story for another day!

It's a weird world we live in at the moment.  Things as we knew them have changed, and there is so much uncertainty and anxiety around.  I know I have lots of anxiety about things, and when is it all going to settle down and we can get back to some sort of normal again.  This pandemic has almost consumed 2020, and I just hope that next year we can start afresh and get our lives back to some sort of normal, and be able to visit loved ones we have not be able to see during the year.

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

 

"Just Miss You" Card.

Below is a water colored card I made, using  a "Simon Say's Stamp" stamp set called,  "Just Miss You."  I stamped onto water colour paper and the used ink refills to colour it with a wet paint brush.  Once I had coloured it, I mounted it first to a piece of turquoise card and finally onto a folded red card.

Ok, so the card below is the same one as above.  I just added 3 clear glass droplets to the card and wanted to show it.  Blogger changed settings recently and I can't find how or where to delete a photo, so that is why this card appears twice!  It's not a case of, "Should of gone to Spec Savers...", I just don't know how to delete it! This new Blogger is doing my head in at times!

Below is the stamp set I used.  I just LOVE this stamp set!!  And it is perfect for making cards to send to loved ones who we aren't able to be with because of the pandemic.  It has multiple cute sayings that you can mix and match.  I am really impressed with the quality of these SSS stamps.  Every one of the stamps gives a very good clear and clean impression when stamped.  The stamps stick really well to my acrylic blocks, and are easy to clean in warm water.  Did I mention that I REALLY LOVE this stamp set?!!  I did?!

I am still trying to figure out how to use my gift bag punch board:-(  For some reason I get confused and then forget which step I am doing, and have to start all over again.  Maybe I have "Sunday-itis" and should leave it and try tomorrow, which will be Monday?!I don't know!                                                         Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  {HUGS} from me to YOU:-)

Any Suggestions?!

I have a Stampin' Up! Gift Bag Punch Board. I've never used one before.  I am unable to read the instructions because they are in such tiny print.  I have searched you tube for videos on how to make the bags, but so far, have not found any that I can actually follow.  One lady had a good video, but half way through the demo she made a mistake and had to go back to the beginning.  I totally got lost and just can't follow it.  Where can I find easy to understand instructions on how to make the gift bags??  Never having used one of the boards before, I find it hard to follow as the person doing the video goes too fast.  That's fine if you know what you're doing.  I don't.  Can anyone help please?!  Many thanks in advance:-)

UPDATE!!  Thanks to Andrea B I have now worked out how to use this bag maker!  Thanks Andrea!

An Apology and Trying A New Stencil!

I just got two new stencils in todays mail, and the photo above is one I tried.  I used a soft brush and a gold "Brilliance" ink pad.  I used a sheet of black card.  In real life this is STUNNING!!  And SO shiny!  I love the effect I got and can't wait to do more - and to make this piece into a card!  Ok, now for a HUGE apology to my awesome blog friend Lorraine!  I got a lovely email from her today, and she was concerned that I wasn't getting her comments she left on my blog.  She said she hoped I didn't think she had forgotten me.

I was surprised and went to check my blog settings to see if I could figure out why I hadn't got notification of her comments she had left on my blog.  

I always get an email notification showing a comment someone has left, and I always publish them, especially if they are from my blogging friends.

Well!  To my utter astonishment, I found 33 of Lorraine's comments all waiting to be published!  I had not received email notifications for any of them and they were just sitting there waiting to be published.

So I eventually figured out how to publish them, and let Lorraine know.  I also had some comments there from another friend.

I have no idea why or how this happened, there were so many comments.  But I know how and where to check from now on, so I have learned something today!

My deepest apologies Lorraine!  And please check Lorraine's blog = papervernissage.blogspot.com

She has some very creative artwork on her blog, and she does the most amazing zentangles that do my head in thinking about how she does them!!  I'm sorry I can't link to her blog, Blogger changed their settings recently and I haven't discovered how to do links any more:-(

I read every one of Lorraine's comments as I published them and they go way back to the beginning of the year!  OMG!  

Ok, that's me for now!  Have an awesome SUNSHINE weekend!  Thanks for dropping by.  {HUGS} from me to YOU:-)

 

A Snowman and A Cherub!

I saw this snowman card on Nancy Ferb's blog, nancyferbshares.com and liked it so much I made my own version of it!  Nancy is a Stampin' UP! demo lady and I met her way back in 1999 when I was in Illinois! She is the most bright and bubbly person and has some awesome cards on her blog.  Hope you will check it out!  The card is more sparkly than it shows on here. I had lot's of fun making him!

I made the rainbow on the card below by first sponging a card with different colours.  I used my writing guide for this ad then cut the strips of colour and arranged them on the white card.  I die cut some clouds and adhered those to the bottom of the rainbow, at the bottom of the card.  I stamped and hand cut the Cherub and inserted her in between the cloud layers. I also stamped and hand cut the sun and cut it in half so it looks like it is peeking out from behind the rainbow.  I added some clear glass droplets and the card was done.  This card, too, sparkles, but it is hard to see in this photo.

I am hoping my shimmer sprays I ordered will arrive today.  I want to add some to these cards.  So if I do I will re-post these two cards.

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