Don't panic, don't panic

I am very good at panicking.
Some things don't help.
Like the letter yesterday about the fact that my pension will be frozen as I am changing employer. Seeing that written down made it seem more real.
Then I realised that I only have 4 more services left in each of my current churches.
And my DBS clearance hasn't come through yet and I can't move without it, but I have had to give notice and
aaaaaargh.
Lets just put our trust in God. (But please, police, do my application next)

And perhaps focussing on  crafting would be better.
I still haven't blogged last weeks card and it was my turn and everything.
I chose "Buddha's birthday" as a theme, suggesting that people could go all oriental. I did it in the simplest fashion

I punched out oodles of flowers using a Stampin' Up punch that does three at a time (yay!) I cut them from watercolour paper so that I could paint the middles using Clean Colour watercolour pens. I did cut the branch using a Dienamics die and again used pens to colour it in.
The background is also diecut - a stitched rectangle and as this was watercolour paper I was able to use some different blue and purple paint colours (the Gambai set) that were blended together and spritzed with a perfect pearls wash.
The sentiment was cut out three times and stuck together. 
By this time the background was dry so I was able to put everything together. Some of my cherry blossoms were raised on foam pads and all of them had a little dot of Daffodil stickles in the middle

I've been trying to clear out some of my stash before the move. I'm not being too ruthless yet as I will be working with at least one school who might be grateful for cast offs. I threw out a lot of random die cuts that I had been sent with purchases and never used but I did find a massive word which I decided to hang onto. Lo and behold it turned out to be just the thing I needed for this week's dare which is all about using primary colours.
Yes, I did use watercolour paper, thanks for asking
but no, it isn't pen or palette - this time the colour comes from a rather lovely watercolour dye ink set I have had for about 8 years. Oh I have just found it online here. The colours are really vibrant and I still adore it

 On this card I just used the yellow, red and blue, allowing them to run a little bit. I then die cut the stiched square and attached the sentiment on top with foam squares. I decided the little red gem would be a nice finishing touch  but probably means the card will have to be hand delivered!

I was on a roll so I made another card, this time allowing the background colours to blend and create others. I also used a brand new WPlus9 rose die set on the top.

 the blue ink came up a lot brighter than it was when I stamped the sentiment - but I think it works better than black would have. (I know, I'm surprised I said that too)

I've made a few other cards this week in what Phil likes to call "old lady style". I couldn't resist buying some more WPlus9 flower stamps and they are a joy to colour combined with those Kuretake Clean Colour pens

 You can't really see the Wink of Stella but it is there

all shimmery and lovely

I've coloured the flowers using a few different mediums - but haven't finished off any of the others yet. It is amazing how different all the cards look