First Cards For 2023!

The card above uses a digital image from Lavinia Stamps.  They used to have it as a stamp, but now have it as a digital image you can buy and resize.  To resize the Zen Butterfly image I downloaded (for free) "My Craft Studio", and was able to quickly and easily resize the image.  The original size on the PDF was almost A4, so it was way to big to put on a card. The card measures 4 1/2 inches square. I have also entered this card in a card competition.  The theme is "Sparkle". I coloured it with water colour pencils, and blended some white ink on the tips of the wings.

The card above uses "Lavinia Stamps" stamps. I also made the card below with LS stamps, using Element ink pads, also from LS.

he next three cards are made using a new Stampin' Up! stamp set called "Love Cats". As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it!

Such cute cats and cute sayings, who could resist these cats!

You can mix and match the cats and sayings.

 For the past year or so I have been feeding the blackbirds with either raisins or sultana's every day. Above is a photo of Mrs. Blackbird is quite relaxed around me and doesn't mind me sitting there (about 5 feet away from her) and taking photo's of her.  Mr. Blackbird is a bit more wary of me, and I haven't managed to get his photo as yet.  They come several times a day, and sit on the hand rail at my back door, and chirp until I got out there and put some raisins in her dish. The Sparrows also come and sneak a few raisins too.

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

SU Mini Pizza Box Gift

I recently purchased some Stampin' Up! Mini Pizza Boxes in gold and white.  They measure 3 1/4 inches square and are about 3/4 of an inch in depth.  I decorated the box with some flowers and a cat using some punches/dies. The photo below shows what I packed inside.  A pair of white low cut socks, a lip gloss and two tea bags.  Everything fit perfectly!  I have a friend who has a Birthday early in the New Year, and wanted to send her a small gift.  We don't get to see each other very often as we live about 3 1/2 hours away from one another. We've been friends since we were ten, went through school together, and have been there for each others ups and downs through life.

In the photo above you can see what I have put in the box. These boxes are so versatile and you can decorate them as you like. This will be my last post before Christmas.  "Santa" comes tonight and I hope he keeps those reindeer quiet when he lands on the roof!  I did leave him a *polite* note asking him if he put slippers on the reindeers hooves before he lands on my roof to keep the noise down!  There's nothing more annoying than being woken up at mid night by 8 reindeer prancing and dancing on your roof! We'll see what happens!  Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!  Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!

 

Christmas With Mr. Squirrel!

 

All the stamps I used on this card are from Lavinia Stamps.  I used a stencil brush to make the pink/lilac background, brushing the ink in a circular motion.  I then stamped the Pinecone stamp three times to make the circle. I added the small oak leaf stamp to fill in the white spaces around the circle. Then I inked up Mr. Squirrel with Lavinia ink in Henna color and stamped him to the bottom left of the card.  I also stamped a few acorns for Mr. Squirrel, whom I have decided to call "Nutmeg", because for some reason he didn't  have a name!  I added some snow using my Stampendous Chunky White Deep Impression Embossing Enamel.  I love using this stuff, it's so much fun and gives a lovely snowy effect on my cards! The last think I put on the card was some Berry Red Nuvo Crystal Drops.  Because it was so hot and humid that day, as the drops dried they run together making them into a blob! I mostly used scraps to make this card as I had several card bits sitting on my desk so decided to use them up. I thought about lightly colouring the Pinecones, but decided that by leaving them as they are, it makes them look as if they have some snow on them. Ok, thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day! 

Lavinia Stamps "Snowfall" Card.

Another LS Christmas card!  Sadly the glitter and sparkly bits on the card don't show up very well in this photo. Not much to say about this card except that all the stamps I used are from Lavinia Stamps. The card is very sparkly and much prettier in real life!  Thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

 

'Lupin' -" Lavinia Stamps"

This is a 3/12 inch square ceramic tile I have stamped "Lupin" on.  He is one of the new October release stamps from "Lavinia Stamps."  I had bought a small box of random ceramic tiles way back at the beginning of whenever, for a couple of dollars, from my local Hospice Shop. This is the first I have used any of the tiles.  They are mixed colours, some darker and some lighter ones.  It was a challenge to stamp on the tile because they are slippery!  I had to be very carful not to move the stamp while pressing down on it.  I will be (hopefully) making more of these, and I plan on popping them in between my pot plants, which are outside on my front terrace. Semi sheltered from the rain, under the eaves of the house. I used some clear embossing powder over the top if the images and embossed them because I wasn't too sure if or how long the ink would take to dry being on a non porous material.  I used Versafine Clair Nocturne ink to stamp the images.  I used some Rhubarb coloured Nuvo Crystal Drops of the red berries, which have all run together. Bummer.  They were supposed to bee three small dots, not one big blob! It's quite  humid here today, so tat's probably why it all run together.  Oh well, shift happens, and I had fun! Thanks for dropping by!  Have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

 

More LS "King Hopkins" Cards!

Goodness me!  Two posts in one morning! So here I am, back with some book marks, and an updated version of 'King Hopkins'. I'm not sure which 'King Hopkins' I prefer, the one without the sequins, or the one with sequins. The two bookmarks came about because I had two small pieces of white card that I had cut off other cards. I wanted to use up the scrap card so thought I'd make bookmarks. Ok, thanks for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine bright each and every day!

 

Lavinia Stamps - King Hopkins!

This is a new 'Lavinia Stamps' stamp, and he is 'King Hopkins'!  I wasn't keen on having to actually colour him in, so used my LS stencil brushes and lightly brushed on some purple,  yellow and blue inks randomly on the white card.  I added some water droplets using my fan brush. Because I used water reactive stamp pads, I got a nice bubbly kind of effect on the back ground. In real life you wouldn't see me within cooee of a frog!  I really aren't into insect and bugs, but I do love King Hopkins! I am sure I will be making more of these cards, so watch this space! Thank you for dropping by, have a SUNSHINE day!  Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!