Circle Gelli Plate..

Hey,

So about a bejillion weeks ago I bought a circle Gelli plate.

I liked the idea of having a circle one and since I bought it, I have made quite a few fun things with it.

Today's cards were my first attempt with it and I decided to go with a black base and layer colour on top.

I think it worked out really well.

The blue card was made using a stamp by MFT and white ink, I die-cut the circle out using the largest circle die I have and then I added the die-cut sentiment using staples. The sentiment dies are both by Tim Holtz.

The purple card I made using a Craft Scraps stencil and 3 different colours of paint, green, blue and purple. I was actually surprised at how much it stands out against the black. Result! The sentiment was made using a Winnie and Walter birthday die and a Tim Holtz die.

I love playing with Gelli plates now I have mastered a technique that works for me - you can read more about that here.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #63..Photo Inspiration..there is still time to play...

Hey,

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

Show us what you can do with the colours, but first pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 2nd. Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun (and our rules) of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Happy Memorial Day...

Hey,

I think Memorial Day weekend is one of my fave 'holidays' in the US.

Partly because we always seem to spend it with the Nixon's (JT's parent's for those of you that don't know that) and they are an absolute hoot to spend time with.

My card today felt topical and will probably go to the Nixon's to thank them for their hospitality and for the fun times we undoubtedly had.

I love this stamp set, it is NBUS and called Flower Power by CAS-ual Friday's.

It is a bit of a labour intensive stamp to colour, but the end result is worth it.

As it so busy, I kept the card super dooper simple! Die is obvs one of my faves by MFT and the card blank is from my Target haul a few months back.

Hope you had a great long weekend, back to the grind tomorrow people..

Cx

Fun commission...

Hey,

So recently JT became an Auntie (her Niece is gorgeous), which is lovely, I love being an Aunt.

Her Sister got in touch and asked me to make a 'Will you be my Godmother?' card.

I was intrigued by this concept (a Google search tells me it's very popular) and so obviously said yes.

I decided that I would use a stamp by A Day for Daisies and rooted through what I had and looked at their website. I think their stamps are really sweet and fit the theme of this card perfectly.

I gave Dana a few choices and the image that you see is the one she chose.

I printed the image and the text out on my computer and coloured it using Promarkers, I added a shadow around the fairy girl and some Nuvo Crystal drops for sparkle.

I thought it would be nice to mount it on a Lawn Fawn spotty card blank.

I LOVE it, I did make a different version, which was going to have the text as a banner -

But I didn't love my colouring, the stickles on the wings or the die-cut...so basically I disliked the entire card.

It didn't go to waste though, I cut a load of banners and sentiments and sent it to Dana along with the main one and a few other blank cards, then if she loves it she can use it for something else.

I do like a surprise commission, it's fun to make cards that bring someone's idea / thought to life.

Cx

Wordless Sloth...

Hey,

Last Sunday I had a little Skype playdate with JT.

I mainly finished off things whilst gossiping, but I did manage to FINALLY break out the Lawn Fawn Sloth set (Hanging In There) and make a card.

I used a piece of Tim Holtz woodgrain watercolour stock and blended a load of blue distress inks to create the rich blue colour.

I did the same again with green so I could cut the grass.

Looks cool right?

I was a bit unsure what the sentiment should be, but I think I've figured out what it should be.

Cx

CASology: Loud...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I am super excited, long weekend ahead that Sam and I are spending with the Nixon's - whoop whoop.

Last week I got an Honorable Mention over at CASology - for my Warm card, how lovely is that!

The cue card this week seemed perfect as I have a piece of second-hand NBUS by CAS-ual Friday Stamps that would be perfect here -

I love this set, it's called Ka-Boom and I've been itching to use it, but didn't have the right occasion.

My card is super CAS for me..I was so tempted to add bling, but the simple black heat embossing on the kraft cardstock (super bargain sale from Paper Source) really popped, so I left it alone.

I was laughing to myself about this card, because I remembered that about 7 years ago, it was Christmas Eve and I was away and I saw a reasonably priced heat embossing kit, heat tool, powders and embossing ink. I tried it. I hated it. I sold the kit. LMAO..look at me now ;)

This is why I love cardmaking - I get to learn so many new things.

Anyway, I am super pleased with my card, I love working in the bottom right corner and the whole card is so clean..

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, whatever you are doing and wherever you are.

Cx

Hipsters...

Hey,

So last weekend I managed to get my hand on these awesome Hipster stamps by Tim Holtz..

I love them, they are so weird!

I promptly created x5 cards (one for a friend and a set for another friend).

They don't need much work, stamp and simple colouring. I added fun words from other stamp sets as well as using the sentiments that came with the set.

The white panel was die-cut using an MFT wonky stitched die and I coloured the Hipsters using Distress Inks and an aquabrush.

Here is a closer look at one of them -

Love these, more of these being made this week.

Cx

4 Cards, 1 Stamp Set: Avery Elle..

Hey,

Recently I have been inspired to pull out stamp sets and make 4 cards using the 1 set.

I plan on doing this a lot more and I have pulled out some older items so they get a bit of a new lease of life.

This time I used Hogs & Kisses by Avery Elle -

This is a reasonably new set for me, but I love it and have already used it a couple of times..

I'm pretty pleased with all 4 of my cards, but my faves are these two -

Cracking myself up with the floating Cow.. Balloon dies by Papertry Ink, gift from the wonderful Darnell

Background created using a Prima Floral background stamp with distress inks and water

All of the background were either previously made or papers. I coloured everything with a mix of distress ink, Zigs and Promarkers. All the panels were die-cut with MFT stitched rectangle dies

I am thinking I might leave these as a set and gift to a friend.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #63...Photo Colour Inspiration...

Hey,

Time for another awesome challenge with the Retro Rubber team.

This time, we have a colour challenge for you, use the photo for colour inspiration..

I picked out the grey, yellow and turquoise from the image and used these three colours to inspire my card.

I went nautical because the awesome digital boat stamps were already on my desk uncoloured. They are by Pink Petticoat and are part of the Beach Cottage set and I have had them since 2013.

I die-cut my panel using a MFT wonky stitched die first, so I could see where the waves should go.

I used a fave Simon Says Stamp set called Sailing from 2015 for the waves and the stars. I stamped both in the three colours from the image.

The boat I coloured using Promarkers and then fussy cut it out (despite hating fussy cutting I seem to do a lot of it..)

Final touch was to add the sentiment, which came with the digital stamps, I affixed it to my card using a tiny staple.

I love this card, the colours make me so happy. I recently acquired a penpal (LONG story) and so I think this will be going to her

I hope you are going to show us what you can do with the colours and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things my teammates have made..

Challenge ends June 2nd. Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun (and our rules) of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Craftgang May...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you.

Surprise! I am already posting last week's Craftgang playdate makes.

Funny I had felt it was a slow day for me, as I was helping out Jocelyn and her Mom Joanne, who are relative newbies.

It was a fun day, so much food! Lisette made the infamous Lemon Bars...they are like crack!

I made the top row of cards during the day and the two cat ones I finished off at home.

The new home card was made using a Sizzix stamp and die set that Ava gifted to me!! How awesome and it just so happened I needed to make a new home card.

The next two cards are using stamps I came across in Jamey's stash whilst I was nosying around for backgrounds.

The cat stamps are from Cheiron's stash and they are by Mama Elephant and called Nom Nom Kitties.

The background from the first cat card is from Gina's stash and the sentiments on both cards are mine.

Fun cards and a few of them have left my desk already.

Cx

Addicted to CAS: Pink..

Hey,

Hope you are having a good weekend so far.

I had a lazy one yesterday, I engaged beastmode at the gym on Friday and then went out with Hubby, so felt like taking it easy!

I decided to play along with the latest challenge over at Addicted to CAS -

I had the Hogs & Kisses stamp set by Avery Elle out on my desk already and I thought it would be fun to use the Pig for my card.

I die-cut a piece of Tim Holtz Woodgrain cardstock and stenciled on the hearts using Picked Raspberry distress ink and a Dutchdoobadoo stencil.

The Pig was coloured using Zigs and I stamped one of the sentiments from the set into the heart.

Super simple card, but so pretty!

I'm having a playdate with JT today and I am most excited, it's been a while!

Cx

Sketch Saturday #464..Vicky Gets Blue Hair..

Hey,

Welcome to another super Sketch Saturday.

Our sponsor this week is Crafty Sentiments Designs and they are offering a prize of 3 digis from their store.

Here is the sketch.

I decided to use Vicky and Violet, for some reason I really wanted her hair to be bright blue - I combined 3 shades of blue Promarkers to get the tone I had imagined!! I am very pleased with it, even it is a bit out there!!

I decided to use the colours from Vicky to choose the colour scheme for my card, I went with another piece of the great textured Dovecraft paper and die-cut coordinating blue strips, using Sizzix border dies. I stamped my sentiment (by Papermania) onto one of the strips and mounted them behind Vicky.

It was such a simple card to make..another accidentally bright card :)

Your turn to show us what you make with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 26 May 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

CASology: Warm..

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

This week has been a busy work and gym one, looking forward to a gym day of rest on Sunday!

I haven't played along with CASology in a while, I really liked this week's cue card.

Because I have been considering spending Christmas in a warm place this year, the Newton's Nook Sun Soaked Christmas set came to mind.

I chose the palm trees and gifts image from the set, I coloured it with distress inks and added some stickles here and there. The sentiment is an old one by Avery Elle.

I am really happy with how my card came out, pretty CAS and makes me even more keen on a beachy Christmas.

Also the weather in NYC has been amazing this week, we have hit record temps, so lovely to be in sandals.

Have a great weekend, I am having a lo-key one. My only plan so far is a Skype playdate with JT on Sunday.

I just want to say Hello!...

Hey,

I decided I wanted this card to have it's own post and not be part of the April craftgang bulk post.

I love it SO much. I found this great stamp set in Jamey's stash last month -

Eek! A Monster by My Cute Stamp

Isn't it cute!

I love monster stamps.

I stamped the monster with the flame coming out of his mouth.

When I got him home I coloured it with Zigs and die-cut it out using an ancient recently rediscovered scalloped rectangle die (bought in Amsterdam in 2012).

I thought it would be fun to stamp a cityscape around the monster, only problem was that I couldn't mask him off as I don't have the stamp.. cue the amazing lightbox, I traced around the image and cut it out to create a mask. BOOM. Gotta love that lightbox.

I used New York Tim Holtz cityscape stamp -

I love these stamps and I got them in a super bargain Black Friday sale..

The final touch was the sentiment from Your Next Stamp Silly Monsters set.

After I stamped the sentiment, I realised that perhaps the monster didn't mean to rampage across the city, he was just trying to say Hello! Yes. I am slightly bonkers.

Cx

Graphic Baby Quilt...

Hey,

So far I have been to the gym twice this week and my butt has been kicked - BIG TIME!!

Anyway, remember how I can actually sew and make things other than cards?

One of my London based work colleagues has been a great friend to me since I started my job and when I heard that He and his wife were expecting I thought it would be nice to make a baby quilt for them.

Jim is a designer...so this means he is fussy, he had seen my quilt (FYI, still not 'quilted') and told me that he wanted something similar.

So I hunted for a Moda charm pack that was girly, but graphic. I decided to add pink and grey solid squares because the prints are quite full on.

The backing I found in my fave quilt store in NYC, it was on mega sale and was a lucky find as it is normally $29 a yard - NO!

This quilt came together in 4hrs - honest from start to finish, I had planned to do it over the course of 2 days, but once I got into my groove I just kept going.

There was a small panic (aka hissy fit) when I realised I didn't have any binding for the edge of the quilt. A massive hunt through my sewing boxes ensued and I found an ancient reel of pink spotty binding (from Amsterdam), which meant the swearing could be now kept to a minimum.

Here are the work in progress / finished shots that I shared on Instagram over the course of the day I was sewing the quilt...with a lot of moaning as I loathe and detest pinning...

The creative process + my beloved Sewing Machine

This was the first time I abandoned my usual method of adding the trim and I am glad that I did, I think my improvised method was much neater and quicker.

I am still in shock at how easy this was, it's a record for me and I am SO happy with the end result, as were Jim and his wife.

See I do, do other things with my time ;)

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #62..Use Flowers...there is still time to play

Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with another awesome challenge over at Retro Rubber.

Show us what you can do with your older flower stamps, but first pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends May 19th. Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun (and our rules) of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Bunny Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a great weekend - fun times with Hubby and on yesterday's Craftgang session. I also had a great session in the gym!

Today's card I made on Saturday, as I was putting all the new things away (which involves, labeling and adding to my online stamp library) I was watching Vicky Papaioannou videos and she inspired me to create a scene card. Vicky is AMAZING at doing this.

I started by die-cutting my main panel using a Simon Says Stamp stitched die and then I stenciled the clouds. I used a Dutchdoobadoo stencil and Stormy Sky distress ink.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Bunny and the bike - both by Poppy Stamps from a set called Mail Delivery, it is very cute.

I wanted my card to be a birthday card, so I pulled out the Avery Elle Skating By set and used the mini present stamp and die and the sentiment.

As I was assembling my card, I decided there should be a road.. I used stamps from the Happy Trails set by Lawn Fawn to create the road.

I used so many supplies to create this card, but it was totally worth it as I am very happy with the end result.

Cx

Elegant Shaker Cards...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

Today I am hanging out with the Craftgang at Jamey's studio making stuff, gossiping and mainly eating!!

I thought I would share 2 cards that I finished off last weekend in my massive 'finish the half done projects on my desk' day.

These cards came about because I bought the MFT Peek-a-boo circle window dies and I thought it would be fun to make small shaker cards with them. I like that you get two different dies in the set.

Both of the shaker pouches were made using my Fuse tool and were just sitting around waiting to be used. Sometimes when my mojo goes on vacay, I make shaker pouches in all shapes and sizes.

The cards are actually quite small, as I used Target card blanks.

The anniversary card uses a Die-Versions die, a stamp and shaker contents by Simon Says Stamp.

I kept the other card simple and used a freebie Just a Note stamp, the shaker contents are also by SSS.

Elegant, simple shakers. And everyone loves a shaker card - right?

Cx

Cheeky Monkey....

Hey,

When I was in London recently, my Ma had all these craft mags for me. In the UK we get freebies with our craft mags, good ones too.

The set I used on today's card was Jungle themed.

I didn't like the leaf / branch stamp that came with the set and the Monkey needed to swing from something...

Cue a 2hr hunt for the perfect stamp (many trees were stamped during this time..) I finally settled on the one you see here, which was also a freebie from a magazine a long time ago.

The sentiment and the bananas are all from the same freebie Jungle set.

I had a lot of fun making this card, I kinda like bananas flying around all over the place and it will be heading off to the Son of a friend and he most certainly is a Cheeky Monkey!

Cx

April Craftgang Playdate...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Tonight will be my second Personal Training session - I have been going to the gym without my trainer too, so I am pretty tired this week! But it seems to be working, I feel stronger and can see results already.

As Sunday is the May Craftgang playdate, I thought I would FINALLY show you my April playdate makes!

All the image stamps (except the Waffle Flower Bear) came from Jamey's stash. The main card and the WF Bear card, I actually finished on the day at Jamey's - along with something I can't show you yet.

The rest of the cards I finished last weekend - I spent last Saturday finishing all the half done projects on my desk!!

I love the variety of the cards. The main card is obvs my fave, because I LOVE background stamps and Jamey's collection makes me so happy. The stamp I used is by Simon Says Stamp and I roughly coloured the 'flowers' with Zigs and then used an aquabrush to get the smudgy watercolour feel.

The card below makes me smile - I finally got my hands on the Waffle Flower Bird and Bear stamp set..I should have bought it when it came out, I procrastinated and had to wait 2 months!

I used one of Jamey's background stamps and I like that the bear looks like he is passing a wall on his travels.

The next 3 cards are the ones I finished last weekend.

Loved the dog and heart stamp. I used Lil Inkers wonky dies and Hero Arts sentiment, coloured with Distress Inks and an aquabrush  

I love Pigs!! My Hubby is from the home of Pigs LOL. I kept this one simple and close-up you can see the glittery bubbles.

Same dog set as above, but I used the sentiments from something else. Die I bought in London. Kraft blank from JT. Added clear Pretty Pink Posh droplets (of course)

Fun makes, I love the Craftgang playdates, they make me so happy.

The gym does not. But that is where I will be tonight and tomorrow morning - I swear I better look like Naomi freaking Campbell in my bikini this year!

Cx

Flower Challenge: CASE a DT member..

Hey,

I saw the latest Flower Challenge theme over at a friend's blog and really liked the idea -

I decided to CASE Karren J's card -

I really loved the stenciling on her card and the bold flower and sentiment. It felt like a card I would make.

I kept pretty true to Karren's card, I stenciled one half of my stitched die-cut panel, I used varying shades of green Distress Ink, starting from the bottom with the darker colour and moving up with the lighter shades. The stencil is a new Tim Holtz mini stencil (set #27) and is called Diamonds.

I love the Wheat stamp by Inkadinkadoo, it is part of a really beautiful set called Meadow that I have had for a while. The sentiment was a freebie with a UK card magazine and I thought it worked here - ok, I know that Wheat doesn't bloom, but you catch my drift right?

I made my panel bigger than Karren's and affixed it to a coordinating coloured card blank.

What a fun theme, a great way to mix old with new. I hope that Karren likes my CASE of her card.

Cx

p.s I am an idiot! As this posted I realised that my 'wheat' is not a flower (sobs) maybe I'll remake it over the weekend?

4 cards from one stamp set: CAS-ual Fridays....

Hey,

I recently signed up to start working with a personal trainer twice a week for 3 months. This morning is my first session - ugh...I will tell you how it goes tomorrow.

I have been watching lots of videos by Vicky Papaioannou - she is amazing. She does this really great series where she shows you how to make 10 cards out of the monthly Simon Says Stamp cardkit.

It has been triggering ideas for taking one stamp set and making a few cards.

I recently bought a great stamp set by CAS-ual Fridays called Whole Shebang. I love the giant HB2U and the fun accompanying sentiments.

I made 4 cards and they all use the sentiments from the set.

I varied the way I made them:
Cake - Papermania layering cake stamps (these are ANCIENT), Concord & 9th candles and star stamps, coloured with distress inks and stickles.

Spotty Background - this one was super simple, I just used a background that I had stamped from Jamey's stash. I added a couple of sequins here and there.

Pink Stencil - I wanted to play with a new Tim Holtz mini stencil - I like the slightly out of focus feel of the background. Here I used clear droplets (I know..obsessed).

Teal/Orange - I heat embossed the HB2U with my new sparkly WOW powder, it is stunning in real life. The orange ink is a new mini Archival ink. I liked the bright colour combo here and I decided to add little stars to this one.

All really simple cards, I think I'll be doing a few more of these, its a great way to maximise a stamp set.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #62...Use Flowers...

Hey,

Time for another awesome challenge with the Retro Rubber team.

I have a weakness for flower stamps, so my choice here was VAST!! I finally settled on an old fave by Stamping Bella - Pippa Loves to Plant. This was my first online purchase when we moved to NYC in 2013!! It was on sale at Walmart LOL.

Because the stamp is so detailed, I kept my card super simple. I really only had to colour the stamp (using Distress Inks and an aquabrush) and add the papers..
I used a MFT stitched rounded rectangle die for the stamp panel and I used a crop-a-dile on the pink paper to get matching rounded corners.

Your turn to show us what you can do with your older flower stamps, but first pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things my teammates have made..

Challenge ends May 19th. Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun (and our rules) of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Dirty Martini?..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I have the day off today, as Hubby and I are heading back from Atlantic City today, no doubt nursing hangovers...

I have had the I Like It Dirty set by Unity Stamp Co. for a while now, but I hadn't had a good reason to use it.

It is a friend's birthday this week and like me she is a lover of a Dirty Martini, making this the perfect stamp set for her ;)

I used Concord & 9th Background Blocks stamps with distress inks and spritzed them to get create the background.

Another super simple and fun card.

Cx

Heart Bouquet...

Hey,

Happy Sunday!

Hubby and I are off to AC today, we have the day off tomorrow - wah hoo! Let the fun commence.

I needed to make a card for a DT colleague recently and she LOVES MFT Pure Innocence stamps.

So as I recently acquired Heart Bouquet second-hand (my new fave way to acquire older stamps) I thought it would be perfect for her.

It also gave me a chance to work on my colouring of 'brown' people - I am SO bad at this LOL..considering my own skin tone, you think I'd be better at it, but nope I suck.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and I think this was a pretty good skin tone effort, following some tips from the fabulous Pocono Pam.

I thought that one of the gelli plate backgrounds I had on my desk worked really well with this cutie, I added a piece of shimmer washi and stamped the sentiment to finish off the card.

Another easy peasy card that I think will make the recipient smile.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #462..You Are So Sweet...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Sketch Saturday, to kick off the month of May. Also I am super pleased that we are welcoming my Craft Buddy and one of my besties JT, as our GDT for the month - yay!

Our sponsor this week is Paper Nest Dolls and they are offering a prize of 3 digis from their store.

Here is the sketch.

I went with Cupcake Emma, I really liked her boots :) I coloured her with Promarkers, fussy cut her out and mounted her with foam pads.

JT recently gave me a great textured paper pack by Dovecraft and I used a pink sheet for the background panel and die-cut my stitched ovals (by MFT) out of a blue sheet. I love textured paper.

The sentiment was a freebie with a magazine last year and the gorgeous pink bling was from JT.

I accidentally ended up with a bright candy coloured card, love it!

Show us what you can do with the sketch.

Check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 12 May 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Happy Cinco de Mayo Lemons...

Hey,

So it is that time of the year when we drink Margaritas and celebrate Mexico or something!

It is also that time of year when we wish the Wife aka Lemon a very Happy Birthday!

The photo today was taken of 'the family' on our recent trip home to London, before we went on a night out. We all look so happy!

I'm not going to write another post about how awesome Lemon is or how much I miss her, instead I will point you here and here to read more about this fabulous creature.

Instead I am simply going to say - I love you Melons, Happy Birthday.

Cx

p.s I couldn't show you her card because I forgot to take a photo of it!!

HLS and a Red Lady...

Hey,

I can't believe it is May already!! So much has happened this year and I guess being out of action for 6-8 weeks explains why this year is whipping by!

I made a card at the weekend, that totally fits this month's Happy Little Stampers watercolour challenge -

The April Hero Arts Card Kit arrived whilst I was in London, so last weekend was my first chance to break it out and have a play.

I really wanted to stamp one of the ladies over a watercoloured background..so I mixed up some distress inks, applied water and smooshed my background and added a few extra streaks and splodges with a brush.

I was careful to only add colour to part of the card, as I didn't want her head to be in the background and I die-cut my panel (MFT Stitched Wonky die) before I started applying the colour - makes it easier to understand the space I am working with.

I stamped the skirt, legs, body and head before I stamped and die-cut the skirt in RED!! How lucky was that ;)

As the body was stamped over the watercolour background, I used Zigs and a white gel pen to colour in the top, so that the background wasn't peeking through.

I left her legs alone, as I like the idea of the colour swirling around her legs and feet?!

Super simple card and I had a lot of fun playing with the various elements from the card kit.

The card is actually for a work colleague that is leaving, I am so sad to see her go and she is most certainly one of a kind!

Cx