Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Sunny Days and Laughter...


Hey,

How I long for the Sunny Days I reference in the title of my post today..

I am really not a Winter person!

A while back a colleague and a friend in the London office left and I wanted to send her a little gift and it gave me the perfect opportunity to play with this gorgeous stamp set by Pink Fresh Studio (Let's Flamingle).

I CASEd one of the ideas I'd seen for using the stamp and heat embossed it onto watercolour paper, using gold embossing powder and then watercoloured it using distress inks.

It looked so lovely when it was finished, I was in two minds about giving it away LOL.

I added one of the sentiments from the set, as I thought it was perfect for the recipient.

Such a simple way to use a complex stamp.

Cx





Monday, December 17, 2018

Hip Hippo Anniversary..


Hey,

Only 5 more days of work for me before the Christmas break - I literally cannot wait.

December is the hardest month in my job, it's so intense getting everything delivered pre-Christmas and then planning for January, but it also feels pretty satisfying too, getting that much work done in such a short space of time.

I have good friends who celebrate their wedding anniversary in December, they got married the same year as Hubby and I and their wedding was one of my all time faves..

I bought this great Waffle Flower set 'Hip Hip Hooray' a while back and I hadn't used it, so I thought it would make a fun anniversary card for my friends - in part because they do a lot of things together and I thought these cute Hippos working out together summed them up.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the hippos. I stamped hearts all over a mini kraft tag (I buy these from eBay 2x3.5inch and you get 100 for $2) using embossing ink and then dusted perfect pearls over them to create a fun background.

I stuck with the purple theme and mounted the tag onto a purple card blank, add the hippos and stamped the sentiment in a deep violet.

A slightly different anniversary card, but I love making things that are a bit personal for the recipients.

Cx

Sunday, December 16, 2018

CAS(E) this sketch: Sparkle!..


Hey,

Happy Sunday to you!

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

I am very happy as we got bonus football yesterday.

Having been away from my desk for over 10 days, I thought it would be nice to play along with a challenge or two to ease me back in.

I loved the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch -


It immediately sparked an idea.

As you know JT and I do a Black Friday $20 challenge.. well many years later we are over the $20 tag and spend whatever we want (within reason) but we still add some 'rules' this year it was stars, stripes, fancy brand and florals.

JT bought me this awesome set by Sizzix and I thought it would be perfect for this sketch.

I started by die-cutting the white panel using a stitched rectangle die and then I added strips of glittery washi tape. I stamped the stars from the set using Dew Drop Galaxy Gold ink (my fave gold ink) and then I added a little stitched border - from an ancient Bo Bunny set.

Sadly, the top left stars haven't photographed that well...but that is always the downside of gold ink!

I stamped the main sentiment from the set onto black card using embossing ink and then dusted gold Pearl Ex over it (my new obsession) and then die-cut it out, using the die that comes with the set.

I LOVE IT!!! It was such a random thought it my head that actually came out perfectly. Yay!

Cx

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Sketch Saturday.. #544...The Paper Shelter...


Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is The Paper Shelter and they are offering 3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch the last one by me this year!!


I loved the Naughty or Nice image and for the first time ever I used the coloured digi - it is so beautiful coloured that I really didn't think I would do it justice if I coloured it!

I printed the digi and fussy cut it out. I created my background using a piece of red card and strips of glittery washi tape. I stamped the sentiment which I have had for years and I chose it because of the name of the stamp.

I used the same glittery washi tape to create the banner over the image, but I reinforced it by putting it onto a strip of white card.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

This is the last Sketch Saturday for 2018 it's been a fun year, hope to see you in 2019, we'll be back on 5th January.

This challenge ends on Friday 21st 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Christmas Card 2018: Reveal Wheel Fun..


Hey,

So earlier this year, we did a great class with Cheiron at The Inkpad using the Lawn Fawn reveal wheel and I loved it so much, I bought the stamps and the dies..

But shamefully, I just never used it.

Then Lisette bought me the Christmas reveal wheel sentiments and I realised that I should break out the set and make some cards.

I made both Cheiron and Lisette's birthday cards with it and it was SO easy that I decided to make cards for my Niece and Nephew.

The main photo today is of the card for Florence and the one below is for Otis.


For both cards I used the same idea for the front of the card, I stamped a Christmas related image and then masked it off and stenciled over it.

I added sentiments to the wheel and the front of the card from the Lawn Fawn sets - using a mix of both the regular and Christmas sets.

So easy to make and lots of interactive fun for the kids.

I'll be using this set more that is for sure!

Cx

Supplies -
Neat & Tangled - Beary Merry
Jane's Doodles - Mr & Mrs Claus
Tim Holtz - Tree Stencil
The Inkpad - Star Stencil
Distress Oxide Inks
Promarkers
Nuvo Drops 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Christmas Card 2018: Ugly sweater time..


Hey,

I am back FINALLY from my trip to London and Porto!

It was a fun 10 days, but it is seriously nice to be home.

I am continuing to show you some of the Christmas Cards I made this year.

I love making ugly sweater cards - and I have an ancient Simon Says Stamp set that I use every year. Last year in a sale I bought another similar set by Amuse Studio, because I liked the sentiments.

So this year to switch it up, I decided to die-cut the 'sweaters' out of some traditional Christmas papers that reminded me of ugly sweaters.


As you can see I then stamped over them with the sweater stamp from the Amuse set.

I kept the cards really simple, just a die-cut stitched rectangle background in either red or kraft and then I stamped a mixture of sentiments from both sets.

I mounted the sweaters onto the cards using foam tape.

I made tons and tons of these, as they were so quick to do, as I die-cut the sweaters in batches, as with a Big Shot you can die-cut at least 5 sheets of thin paper at once, if you use a metal shim. And I used x3 stamping platforms and set-up the sentiments so I could just make in bulk.

Tools have come a long way since I first started crafting..

Cx

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Retro Rubber Challenge #101..still time to play Holiday Theme


Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with the current Retro Rubber challenge.

It's our last challenge of 2018 and the theme is Happy Holidays, be inspired by the photo when making your card.

Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends December 14th.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Happy Holidays everyone and we'll see you in 2019!

Cx

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Christmas Card 2018: For the parents..


Hey,

To round of this week of Christmas Card fun (and a birthday card..), I wanted to show you the Christmas card to end all Christmas cards!

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents have given me a Christmas card from them and one of each of them individually, I am sure this is something to do with me being an only child..

So now I give them a joint card from Hubby and I and individual ones for each of them from me.

Today's card is the one I made as their joint card.

Isn't he gorgeous?!

I literally discovered perfect pearls a couple of weeks ago and I happened to have a purple pot of them and so I had a play and decided I liked them enough to invest in other colours. BUT then I realised how pricey they are and researched alternatives and came up with Jacquard Pearl Ex.

Pearl Ex need a fixative and Perfect Pearls do not, but Pearl Ex come in a large container for the same price as the teeny tiny Perfect Pearls ones..

So I bought x2 colours of Pearl Ex - Gold and Blue - I mean come on, my 3 fave colours are gold, purple and blue, so all good.

For this card, I stamped the Sizzix large snowflake stamp using versamark embossing ink and then dusted the gold Pearl Ex over the top, the result is just stunning. I've always been a bit meh about that snowflake stamp..no longer!

The large snowflake die is a set by Penny Black and I die-cut it from a shimmery red cardstock scrap I found in my red paper drawer. I used the smaller die from the set for the gold snowflake.

Then I die-cut a label and stamped my sentiment in versamark and dusted some Pearl Ex over it, so it matched the background. Cue approx 35 mins of ridiculous butter finger bow tying.. and the card was finished.

I can't stop staring at it, its so shimmery and feels super Christmassy.

I think my parents will love it.

Tonight we are heading back to London from Porto. Hubby and I fly home tomorrow, so I will tell you all about the trip next week.

Cx

Friday, December 7, 2018

Catch The Bug: Awkward Holiday Chaos...BINGO!!

Hey,

Happy Friday to you (from London)..

It's the final day of the Catch The Bug awkward holiday chaos challenge -



And we are going out with a bang with a freebie friday bingo!
We have this great Stella stamp as a Freebie today, go and grab her and play along.

I had so much fun playing with this image and I chose the 3rd vertical row - Sentiment / Non Trad Colours / Star.

I printed the image and the sentiment and coloured Stella using Promarkers and made her hat hot pink, not the traditional red. I then stenciled stars all over the panel using hot pink, lime green and electric blue - a fave combo of mine, but not at all traditional Christmas colours.

I love the end result, so much fun and a perfect way to end this week of fun!

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Christmas Card 2018: Monster Shaker..


Hey,

Happy Thursday from London!!

My card is a mini shaker that I made for Lisette for Christmas. I bought the MFT Shaker cups on sale and I haven't played with them yet.

They only fit the MFT circle dies, so I had to dig out a scalloped shaker circle die by MFT.

I die-cut the aperture first, so I could line up the circle with my background and stamp my little tambourine playing Monster (Monster Jam by Mama Elephant).

I added the bauble elements from a Tim Holtz foam stamp set, so the shaker looked like a dangling bauble.

The sentiment is stamped way lower than I had planned, but I forgot to stamp it BEFORE I put the shaker together, so had to stamp it on the foam tape - ugh.

Anyway, Lisette liked it and that's all that matters right?

Cx

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Happy Birthday Daddy!!


Hey,

Today is my Dad's birthday!

I am lucky enough for the 2nd year in a row to be here to celebrate with him.

We kick started the celebrations by going to a Football match on Sunday, meaning we got to spend some QT together.

I've written SO many posts about my Dad, so I'm keeping it to a minimum here. I love my Dad, he is awesome, funny and kind. Because of him I am a huge NFL fan and this season, we have done weekly pick ems' (including my Husband) and the trash talking has been hilarious!!

My Dad is one of the best at keeping in touch with me and I love him even more for that.

Tonight we are off to his fave curry house with a few surprise guests..

I am very pleased with his card this year, I used my latest fave star stencil and x2 distress oxide inks, I then stamped the sentiment over the top using Navy Blue Versamark ink.

The sentiment was made up of x3 stamp sets, the 'Daddy' was made up from Tim Holtz alpha foam stamps. The 'Happy Birthday' is by Concord & 9th and the 'You're a star' is by Lawn Fawn.

Happy Birthday Daddy, you crazy awesome dude.

Cx



Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Retro Rubber #101...Photo Inspired Happy Holidays!


Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Well wasn't that a fun 100th celebration?!

A big thanks from me and the whole team to all of the people that joined in the fun and left comments on our blogs.

The winner of my giveaway is Angel North (http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.com/). Congrats - Angel, use the contact me form on the right hand side of my blog to send me your address details - I'll be back on 10th of December and will post your package then.

This is our last challenge of the year and in spirit of the season we are wishing you Happy Holidays with this theme -


I went a bit off piste, so to clarify, I used the snow, hat and scarf to inspire my card LOL.

I decided to go all non-traditional colours, as I was using a Flamingo stamp! The stamp is by Inkadinkadoo and I've had it since 2016, the whole set is a lot of fun and not really traditional, which might be why I love it so much. It is no longer for sale, so here's a photo for you.


I dug out a sparkly tag from my enormous tag stash - if you don't know me that well, here's a bit of insight I am literally addicted to tags, I make my own using dies AND I buy them at any opportunity..if my Husband ever finds my stash, I swear he will divorce me!

I printed a piece of pink snowflake paper by Pink Petticoat that I have had for about 9 years..I love the subtle snowflakes peeking through. I cut it a bit shorter, so I could add a sparkly gold border to coordinate with the tag. Final touch was to add the sentiment from the same stamp set.

I love this overly girly Holiday card it makes me very happy.

Show us what the photo has inspired you to make and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends December 14th.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Christmas Card 2018: Non-Trad Tag Christmas..


Hey,

So this year (like most) I made a metric ton of Christmas cards between Aug 1st and November 1st. However this year I haven't really posted them here.

Not sure why, but this week, I'm gonna show you a few of them.

Starting with today's beauty. I went to the Works and Poundland with JT when I was in London in October and I saw these beautiful tags and thought they would make nice Christmas card embellishments.

I created a background using digital stamps by Alexia Claire (LOVE their digi stamps), printed it out, coloured it and die-cut it with one of my fave dies ever..which shortly after I made this card fell down the gap between my desk and the expedit - UGH. Essentially that is more hassle than it's worth, so it will now live there until I move (not happening anytime soon).

I added sparkly gold thread to the sentiment tag and I used a blue gem to cover the 'tag hole' on the Reindeer - clever right?!

I love the end result, totally non-traditional Christmas and feels very modern.

Cx

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Catch The Bug: Awkward Holiday Chaos begins..


Hey,

Happy Saturday to you - as this post goes live, I will be landing in London.

It's the first day of the Catch The Bug awkward holiday chaos challenge -


Today we are starting with a fun challenge to kick-start the week of Chaos -

I decided to make a special pop-up card for a friend, I am only showing you the inside, as the front is very personal :)

It was super hard to photograph my card, but I think you get the idea!

I used one of my all time fave Bugaboo images - Winter Bird Snow Globe, I've had it awhile and it comes out to play every Christmas.

First I printed, coloured and fussy cut the image. I then stamped the snowflakes on the 'backdrop' of the pop-up card and on the left corner..to cover an oops. I used MFT pop-up dies - love these, they make creating pop-up card a breeze.

The sentiment comes with the image and I think it works really well here, as this is a super personal card for a friend.

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes and be sure to join us all week for fun challenges and prizes.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #542... Star Stampz...


Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and greetings from London!

Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Star Stampz and they are offering a prize of 3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I actually had a choice of several digis for this card, but I loved Christmas Tangle when JT used it early this year and so I wanted a play too!

I printed the image onto a white panel and coloured it with Promarkers, then I added a red scrap to create the border. The joy sentiment is a Tim Holtz die that I have never used, so was pretty glad it finally (3+ years later) got an outing. I added a blingy gold star to finish it off.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends December 7th, 7pm GMT / 2pm EST


Cx

Friday, November 30, 2018

CASE: Kinda Eclectic..


Hey,

Happy Friday to you!!

Hubby and I leave for London tonight, part work, part fun. It is my companies annual Christmas trip - they take all of us employees and our partners on a 3 day European vacation - I know, unbelievable right?!

This year we are going to Porto in Portugal and we are leaving a week today, but before that we are heading to London for a few days with our families and a few days of working out of our London offices.

Today's card I actually made for a friend, then decided that it was too fussy for her (she is the Queen of CAS).

It's actually a CASE of a card I saw on Pinterest and realised that I have that stamp set!


The stamp set is Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up and I think it is discontinued now.

I kept most of the card as a straight CASE, but used a different large Butterfly (Clearly Besotted) and sentiment (Scrapbook.com own brand).

It's actually in my hand luggage, as I think my Momma might like it for one of her friends / colleagues.

Have a great weekend, I'll be napping, eating, hanging with my folks, going to SoccerBall with Poppa and missing my craft desk.

Cx

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Love and a Cat...


Hey,

I have friends who are cat people and some who are dog people..

So generally when I am making cards for these people I try and think about what they might prefer, as I tend to use critters / animals / monsters a lot.

I wanted to make a fun anniversary card for my friends who have been married for like a bejillion years! And remembered I have this fun cat stamp by Unity Stamp Co, that I have hardly used.

This was another super simple make, I stamped the cat and the sentiment (I added the Happy Anniversary part), coloured the cat with Promarkers and added a bit of sparkle pen to his bow tie and the heart.

Die-cut it out and voila! Anniversary card.

I love the sentiment, it's pretty true in my house.

Cx

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Big Birthday Stars...


Hey,

So I have been a bit blog lax recently, but it is all part of my 2018 promise to myself not to worry so much about a few gaps here and there.

But I realised that my 'to be blogged' folder is overflowing and it's time to share that bounty :)

Today's cards are super simple, quick makes that I did just before Vegas because I wanted to play with my new stencil. It's from The Inkpad and is one their random no label stencils that they sell, I like these a lot, as they are inexpensive and varied.

I love stars especially in stencils.

I used 3 colours of distress oxides for each card and then die-cut them out using a stitched rectangle die.

The Happy Birthday die is a new addition to my stash from a friend and it's by Stampin' Up.

Love the big impact of these simple cards.

Cx



Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Retro Rubber Challenge #100 ...Blog Hop to celebrate - still time to play

Hey,

There is still time for you to join in our first ever blog hop for the Retro Rubber Challenge.

We are celebrating our 100th challenge!

Here’s the scoop…play along with our celebration themed tic tac toe challenge!

Then hop around to all of the design team blogs and leave a comment!

Each team member is offering up some surprise retro (new but older than a year) goodies to one lucky person who leaves a comment on their blog.  That means there will be seven winners!*

As always, we will be listing the five top picks with the winning pick receiving a prize for this challenge only.

Next in line is the lovely Neva Cole and here is the full hop list for you -

Donna Idlet
Maria Rodriguez
Jan Clothier
LeAnne Pugliese
Jane Knudsen

I hope you are going to hop along with us AND make a card, don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Challenge ends November 30th.

Cx

*You do not have to enter the challenge to win but you must leave a comment on the design team blogs in order to have a chance to win!

**I'll be posting my goodies to 'my' winner after the 10th December, as I will be out of the Country until then.

Catch The Bug: New Release Tuesday..Sunbonnet Girl..


Hey,

I am back with the Catch The Bug team, I had a little break due to the trapped nerve issue.

As today is Tuesday, it is New Release day..


We are celebrating the Christmas season with a new Sunbonnet girl. I LOVE these stamps and had them all even before I joined the team.

You will be able to find her over on the Bugaboo home page.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and then fussy cut her out.

I have been itching to use the snowflake die by Penny Black (I bought it on super bargain sale a while back) and I thought it would work really well with this image.

I heat embossed the sentiment and it came together so well that I made a bunch of them!

I hope I've inspired you to swing by the Bugaboo store. Be sure to swing by the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes with this awesome release.

Cx

Sunday, November 25, 2018

CASology: Girl


Hey,

I hope you have had a fun weekend so far?

I have had a really nice time, hanging with Hubby, shopping and playing at my desk.

I wanted to play along with a challenge this weekend, so I had a look at a couple of my faves and picked out a few to play with.

First up is the CASology challenge - here is this week`s cue card -


I liked the idea of making a `Girl` focused card, I have a lot of girls in my life.

My card actually combines three stamp sets. The main girl stamp is by Unity Stamp Co `Today I am Happy`, I stamped it onto my watercolour cardstock and used distress inks to watercolour her, I added some sparkle with Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I built the sentiment using two stamp sets - I masked off part of the `Girl Boss` stamp, from the Sweet Stamp Shop `Girl Boss` set. The second part of the sentiment is from the Jillibean Soup `Friends` set.

I always default to blues or purples...

This little card will be winging it`s way to a good friend shortly.

Have a great Sunday, I am heading to the gym and then planting myself on the sofa for NFL Sunday!

Cx

Friday, November 23, 2018

Weird Piggies...


Hey,

Happy Black Friday to you!

If you are in America, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

I had a great day, hanging with Hubby - basically watching him cook :) He is the best ever. I made a chocolate cake which is fave and there ends my contribution to the full Turkey dinner. We also watched all the NFL on offer and caught up with my parents and gave Boscat a mini Turkey dinner treat - which she LOVED.

Today, I am showing you a few little panels I made a few weeks ago. They did actually become fun cards, but guess what..I forgot to take photos of them before I sent them out! UGH.

Anyway...

The stamp is awesome and by Paper Artsy and was a gift from Cheiron. The minute she gave it to me I knew it would work really well with my current fave thing - Andy Skinner dots stencil.

I stamped the winged piggy and then masked him off and used distress oxides through the stencil over him.

I totally love the bright, fun, slightly weird end result and I'm going to mimic it, in my art journal.

Have fun today if you are shopping. I did most of mine in Vegas (which was so much crazy fun, I can't even begin to explain) and online. Today I will be just hitting a couple of local stores that I like to go to.

It's been a great week of vacay, sad to go back to work on Monday, but it will be nice to catch-up with the ladies.

Cx

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Retro Rubber #100... Celebration Time..


Hey,

Welcome to the first ever blog hop for the Retro Rubber Challenge.

We are changing things up a bit to celebrate our 100th challenge!

Can you believe that?! I am amazed at how the time has flown by. I have been a part of the Retro Rubber team since the start and I can honestly say my teamies are pretty awesome!

Here’s the scoop…play along with our celebration themed tic tac toe challenge!


Then hop around to all of the design team blogs and leave a comment!

Each team member is offering up some surprise retro (new but older than a year) goodies to one lucky person who leaves a comment on their blog.  That means there will be seven winners!*

As always, we will be listing the five top picks with the winning pick receiving a prize for this challenge only.

For my card I chose the first vertical row - balloons / ink smooshing / glitter or sparkle.

I created my smooshed background using Distress Oxides (Wilted Violet, Stormy Sky, Picked Raspberry). I love Oxides and I love smooshing.

The balloon stamp is actually quite new, but I thought it suited the theme so well that I had to use it. I stamped it in Versamark ink onto my background and added WOW sparkly embossing powder, it is ridiculously sparkly in real life!

The Hippo 'holding' the balloons is by MFT and I have had him just over a year and the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp and I've had it since 2015.

Love a combo of old and new and if I was physically able to be with my teamies today I am sure it would be a fab party!

Next in line is the lovely Neva Cole and here is the full hop list for you -

Donna Idlet
Maria Rodriguez
Jan Clothier
LeAnne Pugliese
Jane Knudsen

I hope you are going to hop along with us AND make a card, don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Challenge ends November 30th.

Cx

*You do not have to enter the challenge to win but you must leave a comment on the design team blogs in order to have a chance to win!

**I'll be posting my goodies to 'my' winner after the 10th December, as I will be out of the Country until then.

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Sketch Saturday #540...A Day for Daisies..


Hey,

Happy Saturday to you, Hubby and I arrived in Las Vegas last night and I have no doubt that as you read this, we are sleeping off whatever mischief we got into last night ;)

Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is A Day for Daisies and they are offering a $12 gift certificate to their store.

Here's the sketch by me!

I love ADFD stamps, they are one of my absolute fave digi stamp companies. I fell in love with the Aloha Petals image and had to use her for this challenge.

I had this idea in mind about how to use an oval die (stitched ovals by MFT), but have the lady's hand poking out.. much research later and I FINALLY got it right (3 attempts).. I coloured the image using promarkers and added some detail to her swimsuit.

I used all paper scraps for this card. The heart papers are by Lawn Fawn and the sparkly blue paper is an offcut from a bigger sheet. The birthday banner is a random embellishment that I had on my desk and it had a longer sentiment, but I didn't want that, so I cut it down.

It's so bright and cheery, it made me long for Summer..sigh.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends November 23rd 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Friday, November 16, 2018

CAS(E) this Sketch - Colour Pop Birthday..


Hey,

Happy Friday!!

Hubby and I are leaving for Vegas tonight - WHOOP!! And then we are off all of next week, partly in Vegas and partly at home celebrating Thanksgiving.

I loved the sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch this week -


So before the NFL last night I had a quick play with it,

The minute I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to use the Avery Elle 'Brushed' set to create the two 'stripes'. I stamped all three brushstrokes from the set in navy blue ink.

I embossed the non-stamped part using a new Becky Higgins folder and then I die-cut the whole panel using a stitched rectangle die.

I found a random square of navy polka dot paper, so die-cut a circle from it and because I wanted the sentiment to pop, I die-cut it in red.  The rest of the sentiment is by MFT from their 'Label Maker Love' set.

A super quick and easy card, love, love, love this sketch and how my card came out.

Have a great weekend, bar a couple of scheduled posts, you probably won't hear from me until after Thanksgiving!

Cx

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Handsome Hipster Birthday...


Hey,

So today is a pretty exciting day for Hubby and I..after a 2.5 years we are off to our first Green Card appointment - WHOOP!!

I wanted to share a green card today, to fit in with the theme of the day :)

Today's card was made for JT's Dad for his birthday. I love the Tim Holtz Hipster stamps!

I blended a few distress oxides to create the background and then stamped the Hipster Goat. The sentiment is two stamps that I masked off to create the sentiment I wanted.

This card was so easy to make, I really should have made a bunch of them.

Only 2 more days until Vegas BAYBEE...

Cx

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Retro Rubber Challenge #99.. Anything Goes.. There is still time to play.


Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with the current Retro Rubber challenge.

The theme is anything goes!

Show us your makes and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 16th.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

And next week is our 100th Retro Rubber Challenge - WHOOP!! We will be having a fun celebration, so be sure to pop on over next Tuesday and see what we have planned.

Cx

Monday, November 12, 2018

The Daily Marker: 30 Days of Colouring Nov 2018


Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

Hope you had a nice weekend.

I am currently playing along with the current The Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge. Kathy Rac has mad skillz when it comes to colouring and I love playing along to see more of her wonderful work. But I also love seeing all the other talented colourers (a word?) out there. And I have made some friends along the way, as I believe this is my 5th time joining in.

Because of the shoulder issue I had at the start of the current 30 days, I decided it would be fun to use my semi-neglected stash of digital stamps as stamping with the shoulder was an issue.

So all my days look something like this -


The awesome weightlifting Monster is by Hambo - I love their digi's they are always humorous.

But yesterday I wanted to finish off a piece I have been working on (main photo) so used that as my Day 11 colouring.

I loved the sentiment, it was in a new colouring book I bought in London, so I recreated it using my lightbox, so that I could watercolour it.

I am super pleased with how it came out, I used Zigs, Aquamarkers by Windsor & Newton and a paintbrush to colour them.

I'll show you the full 30 days at the end of the month.

Cx



Saturday, November 10, 2018

MAWTT - Winter Animals...


Hey,

I wasn't planning on posting today, but last night I was browsing through JT's blog and I saw her entry for the current MAWTT challenge 'Winter Animals'.

I just happened to have the Avery Elle 'Caroling Critters' set on my desk, that I have been meaning to use, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I stamped and coloured 3 of the stamps from the set and added the sentiment and a couple of musical notes also from the set.

It felt a bit bland, so I added some glitter glue to the critters and lamp post and stenciled in some dots to feel like a snowy background.

I'm pretty pleased with my late night make :)

Have a great Saturday, I am off to meet a Colleague for brunch that is in NYC on vacation. I contemplated the gym, but I opted to do a 20 min online yoga thing and I feel ok with that!

Cx


Friday, November 9, 2018

CAS(E) this sketch...Birthday Tweetings..


Hey,

Happy Friday!

I have to say I am pretty glad this work week is over..it has been HARD!!

Now that the nerve in my neck is slowly getting back to normal (big thanks to Dr Fanto and my amazing trainer Wendell), I thought I'd play along with a challenge for the first time in ages.

CAS(E) This Sketch is a fave of mine and I love the versatility of this week's sketch -


I was really inspired by the sketch and decided to use my newest MFT set 'Mod Birds' alongside a super old doily stamp by Bo Bunny.

I love the Mod Birds set, the stamps are so pretty. He looks lovely mounted over the blue doily.

I added a simple sentiment by Reverse Confetti and a little bit of bling and BOOM! finished card.

Have a great weekend. I'll be doing some friend stuff, some gym stuff, some desk time, packing for Vegas and watching NFL with Hubby.

Cx

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Birthday melons...


Hey,

Today's card was made from random bits and bobs on my desk!

I love these Neat & Tangled 'Beach Day' stamps, but I actually don't own them, as I didn't think I would use them enough. Instead I borrow them from Jamey and Cheiron when I fancy a play :)

The cute little Hippo with her slice of melon I stamped forever ago at Jamey's and then I coloured it during the JUNE 30 days of colouring!! It has been on my desk since then.

I found the MFT birthday circle die-cut on my desk in white and coloured it in red to match the melon.

I added a circle scrap and a piece of MFT chevron paper to pull all the bits together into a card!

Love it when scraps and abandoned things become a card!

Cx