Two Christmas Cards!

I found a quick video from Jo Rice (Lavinia Stamps) on making these cards. She used Kraft cardstock, I have used Soft Suede from Stampin' up! One of my all time fave colours from SU! They really were quick and easy to make. All Lavinia stamps.

Now I have a head start for next Christmas, and hopefully won't have the same stress I had this Christmas. I had a quiet Christmas day and it was really nice. I had absolutely no stress in making thee cards, I made them because I 'wanted' to, not because I 'had' to. I might make some more cards today, I'll see how it goes! I hope your Christmas was fun and full of all the good happy things! Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Merry Christmas!

Here's a little face cloth Bunny I made for a friends Birthday. The box underneath has a bar of Lavender soap inside. Her Birthday is in about ten days, and I will be posting it to her, as she lives 3 1/2 hours North. I used to make these a few years ago and old heaps of them. They're fun, and easy to make! Thanks for dropping by! Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season! Stay safe and healthy! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Santa's Sweet Sleigh!

 

I made this sleigh yesterday. Gathering together different sweets, I used strong glue dots to hold everything together. To begin with, I added a small piece of red cardstock and attached the two candy canes using glue dots. Then I just added small packs of various sweets. I stamped and cut out the Santa image and coloured him using some markers. I "bent" Santa a the waist(or where I assumed his waist was, hard to tell with a plump cuddly Santa!) and once again attached him to the stack of sweets. I punched  a tiny hole in his mittens and added the gold cord.  I learnt a few things along the way,  and will make more of these as gifts. This was oodles of fun to create! Instead of a stamped image of Santa, you could use a small Santa ornament. Below is a photo of the sweets all stacked up ready for Santa to be placed on top! I'm going to check the $2 Shop today, to see if I can find some small Reindeer so I can add them to the Sleigh! That's the plan anyway!

And YES! I admit it, a couple of those mini Milky Way bars were consumed by me as I was creating this! Well I had to make sure they tasted ok...! Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

Here's Why I'm On Santa's Naughty List!

These are some of the items I purchased recently, the ones that got me on Santa's Naughty List!  

I love the style of writing on the stamps above. There are also matching dies in behind the stamps. 

Above and below are a set of banner dies. Five different sentiments. "Merry Wishes", "Let it Snow", "Happy Holidays", "Peace Love Joy," and "Merry and Bright".

The die below is called, Dashed Rhombus, and it perforates the card an cuts out the edges on all sides.

 

  The stencils I used on the card below is also new, so I am still learning how to use them!

 

Below is a new background stencil, called Snowy, I think. I also used the Dashed Rhombus stencil on the card. I popped the card (above) up on some foam tape then on to a folded white card. Below is what the Snowy stencil looks like. You can see what the Dashed Rhombus looks like, below. 

What is this, (below) you maybe asking! A good question! I also bought a Grip Mat, which is 8 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches, I think. OMG! It holds my stencils SO well while I'm using them! I really wasn't sure about it at first, but after watching a few videos on using them, I decided to get one. I chose this size because as well as the postage collage stencils, I have some bigger size ones, and  wanted to be able to use them with Grip Mat too. I love this tool! I have mine stuck to the lid of my stamping tool. The lid is detachable so it works well. I also clean the stencil I used with a damp cloth while it is still stuck to the mat. I find it easier than taking the stencil to the laundry to have to clean it. So that's what the photo below is! Hard to see it I know.

I still have a couple of things to come, but they may not arrive until net week, if I'm lucky! As far as I'm concerned, these are my Birthday gift to myself! Yes, it's my Birthday today- all day! Yesterday my beautiful boy, Romeo-Valentino, had his 15th Birthday, so we've had a 48 hour celebration!  So much fun! And on the topic of Birthdays, a big thank you to Andrea for the voucher she gave me to spend at Lavinia Stamps! (Yes, I still love Lavinia Stamps, and I love other brands of stamps too!) That was such an awesome surprise!  My laptop is doing some seriously weird annoying things as I am doing this post. I am a cat's whisker away from biffing it out the window!! I had 'issues' loading the photo's, it kept deleting them as I was loading them. On  top of that,  the space bar is a sensitive wee thing and will only put a space between words if  I press it directly in the center of the bar! And for some obscure reason sometimes it jumps up a line and before I now it I am writing in the middle of the sentence one line above! Grrr! I really don't want to have to buy anew laptop, or Santa will have me on his Naughty List for the next ten years! Ok, thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHNE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

I'm On Sana's Naughty List!

I stamped the (new) houses on some wooden stars, and coloured them using Posca's and water colour pencils. Lot's of fun creating these! I used Texture paste for the snow, it works really well for that. Before the paste was dry I sprinkled on a tiny bit of silver glitter. 

A couple of quick postage collage cards. On the card above I used a mix of the Poinsettia set, and the Gingerbread set. The snowflake was a free die I got with the Gingerbread set. It's just the right size for these cards!

So, yesterday I discovered that several craft places were having online 75% off Christmas sales! It was too tempting to resist... so I went shopping! My poor bank balance! Now I just wait for things o arrive in the mail! Then I had to go out to buy some ew summer thongs (Jandals) as my old ones were wearing out, and had become dangerous because they were too loose. Now for 99% of people, you just walk in to a shoe store and choose a pair of shoes off the shelf.  Not so for me! I have very small feet, and have big trouble finding something I like, that actually fits. I spent about 45 minutes in the shoe shop trying on multiple pairs of shoes. Everything was too big, too loose. Luckily I did eventually find a pair that fit, were comfortable, and I liked them. And they were on a 75% off the original price sale, as the craft stuff I bought online was!! So this is why I'm sure I'm on Santa's Naughty List - spending too much money! Ok, that's it for today. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

THANK YOU ANONYMOUS!!

 Thanks to 'Anonymous', I found the deleted post and have restored it! I will remember how to do it incase I do it again! It was an older post that I wanted to add an update, but somehow managed to delete it, oops! Sanity restored! Thank you Andrea...I think?!

Where?

Ok, so someone left me a reply on my last post. I am unable to find the edit, manage view thing on my blog. Can you be more specific please? Many thanks! you can email me here if you want to.

I Need Your Help Please!

 I have accidentally deleted a post from my blog. Does anyone know how to retrieve it? Many thanks!

Another Christmas Postage Collage Card.

 Having fun with this die and stencil combo! I made this last night, just using the block stencil and die. I used my stencil brushes to colour the blocks. At first I wasn't sure about the colours I used, but they have grown on me today! I stamps the images using a couple of the stamps from the SU Beautiful Baubles stamp set. Because I coloured the back ground, I left the stamped images bare. To finish the card I adhered the postage panel to a piece of  Fresh Freesia coloured SU cardstock. I LOVE this colour! I also added three sequins to the front of the card. I don't really (I think!) need anymore Christmas cards for this year, but when Mr. Mojo appears, you gotta seize the opportunity and make cards! Thanks for dropping in! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Oops! I Forgot The Snowmen Faces!

 

When I got up this morning I found another stencil which are  noses and buttons for the Snowmen! When I took the stencil out of the packet yesterday, I did not see the 2nd stencil as it is the same white colour as the packet! So I gave the Snowmen some noses and buttons! Oops. alway check the packet before you throw it away.

Busy day today, I went in to the city on the train  to see the big Christmas tree they have down town. To be honest, I was underwhelmed! I expected it to be all sparkly and glittery, and it wasn't. Maybe it looks better at night with the lights on. Anyway I'll post those photos next post. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

Postage Collage Card!

Ok, so heres the card I just made using my new collage stencils and die. I'm happy how it turned out! So much fun to make! I outlined the images with sparkly clear gel pen. It wasn't hard to make at all. It's a bit crooked in places, but not bad for a first time effort! Posting this on my phone so hope I've got it right! Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

A Tiny Christmas Card!

 

The last week or so have been very challenging. In spite of studying Psychology for five years, dealing with a close relative with mental health issue is not easy. I lost my mojo and I found it extremely hard to concentrate on any crafting. However, I have managed to make the card above! It is tiny, and measures 2 3/4 inches square.  stamped "Annie" and "Edward", 2 new Lavinia Stamps I got two days ago. (As ell as other stamps!) The star is also from LS. The wee cards are some new ones from LS. They are some of the new Scene Scapes cards from their new release. They have gorgeous backgrounds all ready printed, to stamp on. I love them! There are also some bigger sizes, as well as a new, absolutely adorable Scene Scapes pad of double sided paper. I know, I cold have taken photo's of all of those! Well, it's Friday (Fried-day!) and my brain is a bit fried today! Once I had stamped on the card, I backed it onto a piece of white SU cardstock. It reminds me of the old black and white photographs from years ago! Whoops! Showing my age here, lol! For those interested, I will be 68 in 13 days! Yippee, cake, champers and dancing for me! "Romeo-Valentino" was born the day before my birthday, so we share the celebrating! Ok, I recently bought a Postage Collage set of stencils and die from Waffle Flower. I have admired others cards made with these, (thank you Andrea!) and finally decided to get them. I think mine is the Snowman stencil. I've never used these type of things before, and I am really hoping I know what I am doing!

I have shed a lot of my recent stress, and even though my mojo still isn't quite back to normal, I am getting there. I have now sent all my Christmas cards, and just have a few left to hand deliver. I thank you for your patience while I navigate my way back to sanity! Thank you also to Andrea, who gave me some lovely positive feed back😊. Ok, that's me for today. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Feeling the Stress.

This is me being my authentic self...I have pretty much lost my Mojo. I have no interest in Christmas, or making Christmas cards. It stresses me a lot. I have sent 3 cards.  I have had a huge amount of stress, not only about Christmas and making cards, but also from someone who is experiencing mental health issues. They have dumped it all on me about two weeks ago. It was heavy stuff and I struggled to deal with it. The stress eventually put me in hospital. I don't want to know about their issues anymore and have done my best to back away.  I will let the person know I support them, but I won't listen to their issues for longer than five minutes. (We keep in touch via the telephone.) I have my own  health issues I need to focus on. I hope I have  made enough Christmas cards, because I'm not making anymore this year. I just find Christmas so stressful this year. I love Christmas but this year I'm struggling. A lot. If I don't send someone a card, am I being selfish?? And NOT sending someone card also gives me stress. What to do?? Does anyone else struggle with Christmas like this? I'd love to know! No cards to share today. Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

Hand painted Stars.

I made another card with the LS Robins on. Same design as the other one I made in a previous post. Below are some wooden stars I stamped on, then coloured with either water colour pencils and/or Posca pens.

Below is a close up of two of the wooden stars. Sadly you cannot see the glitter and sparkly bits on it. These were a lot of fun to create, and quick and easy.

I'm not in a very creative mood lately. My mojo has slipped and I find it hard to focus. I've also had a lot of stress concerning their mental health issues. It got too much for me, and I ended up in hospital for a short time. I'm fine now and am doing my best to back away from he situation. Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!