My Rubber Therapy Blog

My found garden chicks

Hi Friends

Well I am running out of pictures to show you.  But rest assured I have more to come.  I am waiting until I have a good supply before I remove from camera and resize and copyright mark them.  I was asked a few times if I allow you to use my photos to make cards.  It is very nice to ask me.  As long as it is not to make 3D images or other media to make cards for the purpose of making money in any way without my permission is not a good idea.  I also know that once it is out there on the internet it is public matter but I am asking you to mention where you got the photos from if you do so need to use them for personal use only.  If for any other reason please always email me so arrangements can be made.

I post them for the sole purpose of your viewing pleasure and if it is enjoyed I have attained my goal for the daily blog that I work on for you.

Here are the photos some of you have been anxious to see:

From my front yard.  This is a rose that bloomed 2 days after being planted in the ground from the nursery to here.  Now does that look like a plant in shock to you?  I have cut 5 roses already from it and it keeps on coming up every other day!  The one I planted in the back garden has does the exact same thing only, it has produced at least 8 roses.  I think I have a proper ground to rose roses...

That's the same rose (3 first ones after transplanting them)

Another one of my favorite color roses in a close up. Up above!

These below are the curled ones mini roses I get at the front, they come out in pairs and always look so similar and are good for about 3 days.  If I don't remove the dead ones no bloom shows.  But as soon as I remove the dead ones I see two more buds coming out of nowhere.  Weird but true.

Once you see those pictures you will wonder "what bad hair day?"  LOL I felt better after seeing a few of them with feathers all over the place hee hee.  But they were courteous to pose for me and Mom and Dad were not far watching and gotten used to see me go up in the round stair case every day and realise that I wasn't harming her little ones.  I was just enjoying taking pictures of them.

It took me over a week to realize that there wasn't just 3 birds in there but a shocking correction had to be made.  There were 5 of them and one egg that had never hatched.  I must say with all the bird nests we have around us and the little ones flying off the nest it is very very noisy and very unpleasant.  They fly over our heads when sitting and eating outside it has become a nuisance.  So we will be better prepared for next Summer. 

Look at the one in the back he was the volunteer to step out of the nest to leave more room for the ones underneath him.  He looked as if he was guarding his sibblings.

Remember me talking a bad hair day!  Well look at the one photo above

The day before they were ready to start learning how to fly they were all lined up on my Wisteria branches and I knew it was the last picture I had taken of all of them together.  Please note that the pictures are not in chronological order they were taken.  But you get the picture hee hee

 

 

 

 

To make a long story short after this family of bird had left to spread their wings and fly away they didn't.  They are staying here.  What I had to do is remove all of the nests built in my Wisteria.  We had poop galore all around the patio it was disgusting to step in that so we had to act before more little birdies would be born there.  I had to remove all of them.  6 of them were sitting there around the patio.  That would mean 30 more little birdie camping at our place for the Summer.  We couldn't have that it is way too disturbing.  In fact they are eating buds out of my fresh flowers and so on.  It has become a nuisance.  So time to move on and go spread your wings at other neighbors yards.  If anyone of you have any trick to keep the birds away or scare them permanently please pass the info to me.  I am sure others would also love to know how.

Now for the card to share:

I am a person who loves to play with inks and colors so don't be surprised to see more of similar cards to come in the near future.  I love this technique.

First you will need a stamp of choice mine was the tulips in this case.  You will also need a spellbinder shape of choice.  Mine was a long rectangle.  Or better yet, if you are not a Spellbinder fan, cut yourself a frame out of CS rigid enough to use as a mask.  You will need black ink for the stamped image and grey ink for the shaded areas.  If you wish to insert your sentiment into the image itself and you feel you have enough room for it, go for it! lastly you will need some Copic pen in red and some laquer on top of your red colored tulip and a sponge dauber you have on hand.

I used the white Bazzill CS (linen texture) I stamped my image direct to my card, (be sure to secure your card before stamping.  That would require some temporary tape or rub some tape on your clothes to accumulate lint so the tape will not tear your card's corners apart when you are done with stamping and shading.

Once your card is secure and the flap is not flapping loosely anymore you can stamp your image where you want.  Now it is time to mask your entire image.  You will need a shape that will hold all of the image.  For this card at least.  Then secure your mask frame with more not too tacky tape.  I still hold on to my Spellbinder shape while I am sponging the color around the shape. 

Note:  When you sponge daub around any shape you need to make a circular motion starting with applying some ink on your sponge (direct sponge to ink pad technique) then on a scrap piece of paper daub one time on your scrap paper to remove the too intense color and then you can start in circular motions starting on the outside of your frame and inside all delicatelly done so you don't get big blob of ink in some areas and not on others.  So I suggest if you are new at this to practice on another paper with your mask frame so you know what pressure to apply for a really nice soft effect around the innerframe.

I then color my flower of choice, apply some crystal lacquer for some dimension.  If there is room for my sentiment I add it there before lacquering.  After lacquering an image it must sit aside for at least an hour.  Better safe than sorry I say!

So this is your card for today and there is more of the same technique coming.  Like I said it is a quick, simple and so elegant looking card, who needs the frames and embellishments when a card can be so elegant with less.  Plus you can mail it without having to pay the excess thickness fees.

Enjoy!  If you make something similar please send it to my email so I can see what you made.  Perhaps I will share it here if you let me.

Have an exceptional day!  Take time to share a smile with someone today.  I promise it will feel awesome.

 

 

More to share yet!

Hi Friends

On this beautiful Wednesday morning I have more pictures of the garden to share and one card to show  with the recipe.

We are still working on the leak problem in our bedroom.  A plumber has been called and we will wait for the results as we already know it but we want to be playing safe and if not done right there will be a warranty on the job.  Then if all is fixed we will be able to close the whole wall by the end of the week.  Crossing fingers!

Our weather today is sunny, not a trace of clouds just yet and it is so comfortable outside at 9 am.  Not windy so I can use my shade umbrellas this afternoon when I soak my feet in the pool.

So here we start: 

First of all here is my porker frog, commonly known as a bull frog it was big.  I could not capture its size as much as I would have wanted but I was lucky to get this shot as he kept moving away from me as I was trying to approach slowly to take a good shot but that is what I got!  I don't know how it got here but it disappeared the same way it got here to begin with.  My guess is, at night he came up a block from the Rio Grande river and felt there was a pool and garden to die for and came in.  The how is still to be determined LOL.  Mytery as the property is gated.

A quick view of the pool and the jacuzzi covered,  We loved the natural landscape around the pool.

These are my day lilies I have so many, every day there is a new area that has some.  What's not to like about this garden, when something is done blooming, something else pops up so it is always pleasant to look at.  I have put in some Stargazer lilies this year and I see some blooms coming soon.  My favorite of all lilies.  A beautiful pink inside, I used to buy them by the dozen in China.  What a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that would make.  I would get a dozen at a very afordable price.

This one below is some view of one of the ponds.  Some fish are swimming around as they see me they think it is meal time.  But not always my little ones. hee hee

Now "La Piece de Resistance" is a beautiful water lily.  I could stay there all day to take pictures of the water lilies coming out.  I have two kinds. One is totally yellow and the other one is as follows in the next pictures.

How can you walk by a pond and not notice the beauty it has to offer?  I am stunned every day at about noon hour the sun is up high enough to have all thelilies of the day to fully open up.  Then it means, Nikky, go get your camera.  I have a few red dragonflies handing out at the pond as well.  It comes and sits on the edge for hours.  I guess it loves the environment it is at.  I told you it feels like an oasis.....

This is the front pond in the front garden.  I am trying to take pictures of the koi we have in there. Total of 3.  There is a yellow one, a yellow and spotted orange and a bright orange/red.  So I will let you try and see.

Do you see red?  There he is!

So there should be 2 more days of pictures to show you. So come back for more please.  I have the lovely birds I was talking about the first day I shared these pictures.  I could capture a few days of them growing up so very fast.

Now here comes the card of the day...

 Today I am sharing a masculine card.

 

I hope you enjoy the recipe

You will need Vanilla, brown CS + pattern paper I chose a plaid I had in my stash. 3 stamps: Birthday stamp, a frame stamp, and in my case I had a small bicycle.  Brown and black ink.  Chocolate colored ribbon from my SU collection. Some dimensional tape.  This is an easy card folks.

My base card is Vanilla I matted it with a brown layer, then added my plaid paper.  I stamped my bicycle in black memento ink and matted it with a slightly larger circle.  I used punches but I know that Spellbinders basic shapes has the circles in small or large you can use if you already have that.  If not use paper punches it is as efficient.

Then I stamped my frame and use a famous tool of mine called the Stamp a ma jig.  A plastic see through sheet with a tool to make sure when you stamp on the plastic with the help of the tool, you are going to stamp again where desired after taking the stamped sheet to where you want the Happy Birthday stamp on within the framed area. I chose the center of it. 

Photo here later (camera battery recharging)

Last step was to decide where to add the bicycle and the Happy Birthday frame.  As you can see the finished card no more explanation needed.

Enjoy!

Have a super fun day.  Make it a great one!

 

 

More to share

Hi Friends

I have more photos to share as I am nearing the end of the garden scenes.  I will continue to add more as time goes by as I take more pictures of new plants in bloom. Enjoy today's and tomorrow's but I will still have some sharing to do as I have bundles of cards to share again in a day or two.

Here are the pictures:

This is another plant we had there and it decided to bloom so it make it to my camera

This one is called Snowball it makes the cutest little balls and it also grows quite large

This is a tree we have and it is the messiest tree I have ever seen in my lifetime.  It sheds some white stuff all over which I have to sweep every day.  It also produces some small hard balls.  That fills up the front and can easily make you slip to the ground.  So I sweep that too.  It is a tree with long needles, so very unfriendly tree.  It is messy and can hurt you in many ways.  Makes me work a lot too! hee hee 

More plants in the front, it makes a nice entrance to the driveway.

This is looking like a shrub but produces the prettiest red flowers.  I have 2 like this one.  Please feel free to give me names if you know it.

This looks like it could be lavender.  I know there are many kinds of lavender and this could also be something completely different.  But I am learning hee hee

This is our hydrangea, planted a few weeks ago and is already blooming.

I love the look of this door!

I had to get this frog when I saw it.  I love frogs as you will probably start noticing :)

This is something that came out of the ground a few weeks ago and is growing slowly.  I wonder what surprise that will leav me with and what color it will be.  I love fun surprises like this.

There is my other guardian frog sitting with a grin, it makes me smile everytime I see it.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  I will have more tomorrow and then I will share cards.  So don't forget to come on a daily basis, who knows I may inspire you with my maileable flat cards.  Have a great day!

 

Garden photos + another card with recipe

Hi Friends

It is a lovely Monday here.  I hope you are all enjoying some decent weather depending on what season you are in at this time.  Knowing that it is Winter in Australia and Spring in UK and USA.  

Here are some garden photos to share and below the photos there will be another card I made to share with a recipe

More of my favorite color roses

Another beautiful flower

I love the look of Clematis over the pond, I was hoping to help it get together in a half circle but it is not growing fast enough to make it meet.  But I am working on it.

These roses are so cute and different, it looks like paper roses all the edges are folded, I hope you can see them well.

More roses, these are of a different color than the bright yellow ones I showed you a month ago.  Pale yellow is the color of this one it looks so beautiful.

A statue we found at the pottery shop a few months ago.

Colleen you were right it is a striving bougainvillea

This is climbing right now as I am still not sure what this will bring us but I like to entertain the idea that it may be some yellow angel flutes.  No time to check this out but I will show you as soon as I get a bloom and if it is what I think it is, I will be dancing my happy dance for sure!

Here is my next card to share

Tis' the season of Ice Cream in an form

You will need a stamp of ice cream cone, some copic markers or color pencils.  Another stamp for Happy Birthday.  An embossing folder of choice.  With the embossing folder you ink up the one side of the embossing folder before running it through the machine.  It will give you some color on either the embossing side or the debossed side.  Then I took another colored ink pad and with a sponge dauber I gently added the other color to the paper.  The CS used was white, so saffron SU.  I added some laquer to the cherry on top and that was it.  A simple card that makes you want to run for ice cream.  Some people love chocolate, my sweet sin is ice cream!

Enjoy!

Have a very sweet day friends

Here we go again, more garden photos and one card for sure with recipe

Hi Friends

As promised when I found some extra time I would put together a few more photos and one card with a description of it which I call a recipe.  So I hope you enjoy the next pictures and the card at the bottom of it all.

It is Memorial Day Weekend here in the USA so I have the pleasure to have hubby for 3 days.  We are hoping to get a fairly easy weekend but we need to fix the water damage in our bedroom first.  No wonder I was hearing cracking and weird noises at night when hubby was away.  It turned out we had a water leak in our bedroom none other than under our bed.  The wood is warped in some places 4-6 inches higher than the regular floor.  The fun part is to find out where the leak is from and that may take us a while to figure it out.  We have a pond I suspect that might be leaking from under ground as I have to refill it very often.  We also have a tap outside by that wall for my watering the flowers every day.  We have a drip irrigation system as well and the bathroom plumbing is also nearby.  The neighbor also mentionned seeing some water dripping from our side as well.  So I hope it is not too big of a can of worms coming at us.  But will keep you posted.

The pleasures of being home owners hee hee

Here are the photos and I hope you enjoy them!

 

Now for the card here is the photo accompanied by the recipe.  Please note since I am not endorsing or sponsering any specific company I am not feeling obligated to mention brands of products I use.  So if I am not mentionning an item you would like more details about please email me at craftynikky@gmail.com I will be more than happy to help you.

I apologize for the shadowish photo as it was later in the day when I took it and my light had gone bye bye.  But the next picture will kep you see a little better. 

 

Here is the recipe

You will need every card stock in white or pearl you can find in your stash.  Some CLD dies (Cheery Lynn Designs) a self-made template of a frame, an metal embossing plate for the circles in the frame or something you have that would look pretty some green CS of choice for leaf color.  A needle tool, a paper punch of a flower of choice a daisy that will be cut with scissors for the middle of the flower (one for each flower) the same green CS you have used for the leaves (small circle punch) for center of the flower.  A foam pad and a stylus to do some cupping on the flower.  A Spellbinder shape (I used square) for the frame.  Any leaf punch of choice will do.

Prepare your card by opening it and place the shape you want to cut out on the card's face.  Make sure you use measuring of the frame because once it is cut it is too late.  But I cut the frame first and while leaving the die cut in place I add some repositionnable tape on the die's corner (2 is enough) to pass through the cutting machine again, but this time, you will need to emboss it into the card to give you a perfect looking frame.

Next you will need the same shape only a little bigger because you will apply this piece of CS behind the frame and adhere the 4 sides with a tacky glue.  But first you need to either emboss lines or small shapes into the shape and then glue down and set aside to dry.

Next, if you have any flourish die cuts in your stash, pick one and die cut it or you can make yourself one of your own it doesn't ned to be intricate sometimes simple is better.  I picked CLD's die cut and I cut it in a pearlescent CS I had in my stash.  Then I adhered the ends and areas that are larger ie: leaves and swirl ends.

I then proceeded with the simple flowers and yet so elegant looking, anyone can do these flowers and the card will look so beautiful you will want to make more of them once you get the hang of cupping flowers.  I have punched out my 3 flowers.  With the help of my foam pad and stylus, I first, gently rub the middle of my flower to cup it in.  Then I turn the flower around to the other side and start always with the stylus, burnishing the edges of the petals.  If you see little creases at the end of the petals it is normal.  It means you are doing it right.  Depending on the thickness of your CS or paper, keep in mind to not press too hard on the flower until you figure out the strength you can apply pressure to your flowers.  For the center of the flower if you don't have a daisy punch similar to illustrated below, you can cut out a circle smaller than the flower.  With fine scissors, make slits in the paper as close as possible all the way around.  Not going to the center of the circle.  With a much smaller circle use the foam pad and stylus again and cup the circle until it looks like a rounded button.  

Time to assemble your flowers with some tacky glue, set aside to dry.  Now if you don't have a leaf punch, make your own and vein it with a needle tool.  Before adding your flower work to a card you have to go and build it on the card without gluing it on just yet.  Once you have the look you are after, start with the leaves applying glue under the leaf where the flower will sit on so you can still have freedom in forming the leaves later.  Add flower on top of the leaves, glue it down.

Done!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Are you up for more photos?

Hi Friends

It is a very windy day here making my allergies drive me up the wall.  As someone said in one comment this passed week YES the pollen around me is such that once it is mixed around I am grabbing my head and running for allergy relief.  I am so happy relief is just a spray away. hee hee

Anyhow, I have more photos to share with you.  If I have a card to show you it will be at the end of the garden photos.  Not sure yet if there will be one.

The pink and white clusters are a must stop for the butterflies fluttering by and are a delight for the nocturnal hummingbird moths.  So pretty to watch with the solar lights on...

This is a rose that grows in a high bush and gets totally covered with roses, you will see the photo of it on the last pictures shown here today.  It is gorgeous!

My pansees are striving, it is fun to see how they grow quickly when it gets hotter.  I will definitely get more next year as it is so pretty to have yellows and other great looking colors mixed with the roses

This is the rose bush I was talking about.  It is so humongous.  Filled with working bees too!  See the back where the fence is, this year we had too many things going on at once so we never had a chance to even start my vegetable garden but next year I may have a greenhouse in this area or, a temporary cover so the birds don't eat my flowers on tomatoes and pepper plants.  I found 8 nests around the lower part of the house and there were at least a dozen around the higher parts of the house where I could see them go in and out so they were after anything that was fresh and growing from February on.  I know better for next year.

Have a fantastic day.  I hope you have a fun weekend planned and you will enjoy the nice warmer weather.  Happy Memorial Day weekend to my fellow American friends.

More photos as promised

Hi Friends

I am just so happy to have read all of your comments you have left me.  If you have a blog you know how cheerful it makes you when you get comments from your visitors.  Well it never fails with me.  You make me so happy, that I want to do my happy dance! 

As for the garden pictures I am happy that it makes you feel as you are visiting my garden without leaving your home.  I try to make it so it is giving you a great idea of what I am surrounded with when I get my first coffee of the day and sit on my chair to enjoy the results of all this work so far.  How can anyone get tired of a lush environment called home.  By the way we are considered to be in the desert here.  Outside of our place not too many people have a green yard like ours.  So when they come in passed the gated area I get shocked facial expressions but always in a good way.  The feeling left is always one of, I don't want to leave it is so peaceful, comments.

The sound of the water falling in the ponds gives it a definite oasis feel.

Here are some more photos for you:

 

These roses are the best looking as you would think it is real velvet and it is always full.  This never grows higher than 6-8 inches at most.  Very appealing red.

Can you see the mountain in the backdrop?

This pond fountain's pump expired yesterday.  More expenses hee hee

In the middle of this patch there are strawberries to be freshly picked every day.  Yes it is yummy indeed!

This is a nice place to escape to at night and lay down on a chair to view all the stars in the totally black sky since we have no street lights it is pitch dark, therefore allowing for some shooting stars and other fantastic starry lights effects, we get no sore neck from looking up :)

Any new rose opening every day is a new smile on my face

Another butterfly captured while taking photos.  The natural fence you see on this photo is made out of branches dried out at the end of the Summer.  So pretty and so natural.

Have a great day and once again THANK YOU for all the great comments.  Here I go to make more cards to be shown soon.  I will release my newest flat cards for mailing purposes by the weekend so hang in there, I know some of you are waiting patiently, thank you for your patience.

Day 2 of photo sharing of our garden

Hi Friends

Day 2 of photo sharing

No idea what the name is but I love the look of the green straws growing well in front of the rock by the pool.

Tiny blue flowers are so pretty in that corner of the fence

Yellow rose galore!  It was gorgeous it bloomed like there was no tomorrow for 2 weeks and as quickly as they came as quickly it was all gone.  I see more buds forming so there is more galore to come.

A bag pot, I thought it was so cute I had to have one.  This one I am happy I took a photo of because there is no more flowers on it to this day.  For some reason even after following the sun requirement and all this plant refuses to grow as it should.  I am happy this is the only one I seem to have so much trouble with.

My Sombrero guy doing the siesta.  He looks perfect in this corner by the front gate. 

I know this speaks for itself, no need for explanation.  But it really looks lovely when the gate is open and we come down the stairs this is what we see first.

One of the yellow roses close up.

My lily pads are huge and the flowers are really coming out beautifully.  The pads are so shiny...I was thinking out loud the other day saying that all that was missing in the pond was a frog.  Well a day later I found a Bullfrog in my garden.  I spoke with a local person last week and he was shocked to hear that we had a frog in our backyard, I added not only that I was surprised to see one but we both were scared of seeing one another.  We ran in both directions.  I was running to get my camera so I could show proof that there was a frog here.  Still don't know how it got in here.  You will see it later on and will know what it was....

I really enjoy this flower but it doesn't stay nice too long.  It has a mid-day bloom and if it opens up again the next day the petals touching the water become stained.

This is the other color I have in the pond.  I never thought in a million years I would have lily pads on my property...I do now...

I beleive this is called a honeysuckle.  It is loved by butterflies, hummingbirds, and hummingbirds moths.  One night we were having a coffee in the garden when we could see something flying over the honeysuckle bush to find out that we had the smallest of all hummerbirds having dinner late at night.

Now you see where the honeysuckle is located and where the chairs are.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this set of photos.  There is so much more to come.  You have asked, you shall receive.  As soon as I find more time to resize the card photos I took of it all I will start sharing them with you.  Sorry it has taken so long, but sometimes some things just can't be helped.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone!

Hi Friends

Here we go.  I have so many pictures to share but I had to pick the best ones so I will have for weeks to share colorful and artsy pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I will add some cards in the mix in the days to come.  You will get to see why I have been so busy for the passed month or more.  But it is all good!

So today I will start with some photo updates of our ever growing garden.  Remember to click on the photo to see it enlarged.

The mix of the yellow and red is particularly stunning

That was my yellow rose tree a month ago.  Presently forming more buds.

One of the irises I had in my garden, how beautiful!

These are the tiniest of flowers and are so pleasing to the eye.

Note that I am not giving you names as I don't know them all by name yet.

This blue flower is also very tiny and lovely to have in the mix.

My pansees getting out of control the bright yellow is always something our eyes are drawn to.

The other kind of iris I had.  Later on I will have a photo of another iris.  This one is growing in the pond.

One of my so many roses.  We are basking in an oasis of blooms.  So soothing and so relaxing!

Don't miss the continuation of so many other flowers and some fun surprises I found while watering my gardens. 

Have a great day everyone

Waving Hi and hoping you had a happy Mother's Day!

Hi friends

I am sitting here waving at you and rolling my eyes in disbelief that it has been so long since I sent a post.  But I am in the middle of making so many cards I am finding so hard to leave and come to post images at this time.  But I see the light at the end of this tunnel for Thursday I should have time to post pictures of my garden updates.  Plus so many cards you will come here every day to see what I have made for at least a month if not 2.

So hang in tight I am not far, just far too busy.  Then I have to make more cards and start making cards for the Fall season and Valentine's Day.  I know, it is still far but one can't be prepared enough and in my case it is an understatement.  But I am well and smiling away!  I think you may like some of the cards I made.  But, just a few more days of putting up with my silence and you will be served with cards galore.  Just hang tight and thanks for following me and those who have stood by me all this way.  I am happy I didn't grow a second head because I would find the definition of being overwhelmed times two LOL.

Have a great week and come back on Thursday or Friday depending on where you live and I will have pictures and cards to share with you.  Hoping iy was well worth your wait.

Hugs, dear friends!

Thursday's chat

Hi friends,

I had wonderful intentions before I went on this trip to Phoenix AZ to taking pictures of some of my cards with me so I could blog one or two for you, but, in rushing while packing I left behind the photos I had specifically saved for the blog.  Talk about a Grrrrrrrrr moment that was.  Oh I am sure I will catch up with the blog when we go home tomorrow.  

I will take pictures of our view here, it is sublime and so zennish like!

I must admit I had a good fun chat with a very lovely Rubberstamp store owner yesterday.  She (Nic, her name) made my afternoon such a pleasant one.  I love her store, if you ever are in the Chandler AZ area go say Hi Nic, she is such a breath of fresh air, she is lovely, easy to talk to and knows her stuff.  The Store name is:  Stamp Works on Arizona Ave, Chandler, AZ.  Have a great day everyone.

Hugs 

Nikky