MFT Space Balloons....

Hey,

I have been using the current 30 days of colouring to ink up and colour NBUS.

Thanks to a serious Black Friday haul, $20 challenge and Christmas gifts I have a LOT of NBUS, right now. It's actually nice to have the time off so I can play with it all.

I love this set by MFT 'Space Explorer' and I needed to make a card for a little boy, so it seemed like a good time to colour the space boy with balloons.

The sentiment is a big win, I can see me using this a lot.

I'm now waiting for the dies to come, because I really want to play with this set more, but fussy cutting - ugh.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #79.. Love is in the air..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

The theme this time is one of my faves  -

I decided that the stripey plate would be my inspiration.

I created the fat stripes using a Heidi Swapp stencil and Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry with a giant dauber from Tsukineko. 

I had always planned to stamp the sentiment over the stripes, but I had intended to add a bit of colour to the word. Change of plan once I saw it. Too gorgeous to add colour..

The Love stamp is "Typography Love" by Woodware and I have had it since 2014. It actually says 'with love' but I masked off the with part.

I love a simple card like this..I might make a bunch for Valentine's day.

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

Challenge ends February 9th. 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

Polar Bear Hi...

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Hope you all had a nice weekend, I had a nice relaxed one with Hubby, following a rather epic drinking session on Friday...

Today's card uses some NBUS that I got over the Christmas break (naughty, naughty), it's called 'Polar Bear Pals' and is by MFT. Dies are on their way...

I stamped the bear onto white card and coloured him using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens. I stamped the sentiment just under his feet/paws, so it looks like he is standing on it.

I love the tiny bucket of fish stamp and just had to add it here.

To give it a more wintery feel I added some dots using a Tim Holtz stencil and Distress Oxide Broken China ink.

Love the end result, feels very wintery.

Cx

Get your happy on...

Hey,

At the moment I am playing along with the 30 day colouring challenge. Hosted by Kathy Rac.

She is SO skillful and seems super sweet too. Every time I do the challenge I am reminded how nice and soothing it is to sit and colour something larger. So with this challenge I have deliberately chosen a few larger stamps to colour.

The one on my card today is by Mama Elephant and actually belongs to Ava and she lent it to me - very sweet of her.

I love these cats, so much fun to colour, you can go crazy. I stamped a bunch of these when I had the stamp for future use.

For this card I loved the sentiment by CAS-ual Friday's, it seemed to suit the group of cats.

I am also loving these 4-bar card blanks right now, not too small, not too big.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #498: A Day For Daisies...

Hey,

Happy Saturday.

Today we have another fun sketch for you from the Sketch Saturday team.

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

Here's the sketch..

I love ADFD stamps and have quite a few, so it was fun to choose another one to play with and I went with 'A Lap Full of Kittens' it's SO cute.

I thought it would work perfectly in the circle. I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and added a bit of Nuvo clear glitter aqua flow pen here and there.

The patterned paper is by Stampin' Up and the yellow piece is a scrap. I am determined to use more patterned papers this year!

I have always disliked the banner die I used here, but for some reason it worked out perfectly this time!! The sentiment is by MFT.

Super simple card, but super cute.

Now it's your turn to show us your interpretation of the sketch. Don't forget to go over to Sketch Saturday and check out what the rest of the DT have made.

Challenge ends on Friday 2nd February at 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

CASology: Late...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

I thought I'd play along with the latest CASology challenge..

I very rarely forget a birthday, but when I do, I pull out the 'Naughty Nautical' stamp set by Simon Says Stamp, it was actually one of the first things I bought from SSS when I moved to the US and discovered them.

The CAS theme suits this set so well, I mean when you are apologising you probably should keep the frou frou to a minimum..

I stamped everything onto a while panel, but it was off centre and it upset my OCD side! So I die-cut it out using a Lil Inkers dotted tag and popped that onto a white panel..much better!

I usually stamp the 'Oh Ship!' in red ink to make it pop and add a bit of interest, but I opted for blue this time.

A card for my stash, that I hope I don't actually have to use.

Have a great weekend, I will be hanging with Hubby, going to the gym and watching the ProBowl!!

Cx

Shopping..Cheaper Than Therapy

Hey,

Last week Lisette and I went and had a little playdate with Jamey in her craft space..

I love it when we go there, I get to rummage through all of Jamey's stamps and play with all kinds of things.

I came across this great set by The Ton Stamps 'Retail Therapy' and I had to colour the lady holding the bags (I also feel the need to own it).

I stamped the sentiment first, so that it would look like she is standing on it.

I coloured the image using Jamey's Copics..personally I still prefer Promarkers.

I added some Nuvo glitter pen here and there.

Keeping the whole thing simple really showcases the image.

I love playing with other people's stash, one of MANY reasons why I miss JT.

Cx

OMG..Time to Celebrate..

Hey,

So I found out late on Monday that I was the Grand Prize winner over at the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash!!

I am gobsmacked, not only do I get $130 prize for the Bugaboo shop, but I also get to be GDT for 4 months - yay!!

AND if that wasn't enough I also won the main prize for the Day 1 Birthday Bash challenge.

AWESOME!!!

Isn't it great when happy news comes at a time when you are struggling.

So to celebrate I am playing along with Bugaboo's current sketch challenge -

I won the last Bugaboo anything goes challenge and so I decided I would use one of my new stamps that I bought with my winnings.

Bug Girl Sitter with Cat is very cute. I printed and cut it using my Silhouette. I love that I can do this with Bugaboo stamps.

I coloured her using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens.

I wanted the girl and the cat to look like they were on a wall, so pulled out a piece of Recollections fancy brick style paper.

I die-cut the 'frame' using a Lil Inkers die and then I hand-cut the aperture, so that you could see the wall through it. So that it fit the sketch, I added a piece of acetate - 2 layers, but one being clear!

Particularly pleased with my genius idea here..

I die-cut Avery Elle pennants for the small ones you can see and I added a stamped and punched sentiment banner. I thought the sentiment was perfect for the card. It's by Market Street Stamps, I don't think they are around anymore, I bought a bunch of their stuff second hand last year.

Super cute and perfect for my Aunt.

Cx

Retro Rubber #78 White on White, there is still time to play..

Hey,

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

White on white with a neutral, come on, give it a go!

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

Challenge ends January 26th

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

MFT Pure Innocence Hula Hoop Girl...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

Still no work permit for me, but I am putting the enforced time off to good use.

We are entering week 2 of the current Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge and it's really got me enthused.

I got the great Pure Innocence stamp and die in the MFT Black Friday sale and I only inked it up a week or so ago!!

I coloured her with Zigs and a paintbrush (I prefer paintbrushes and a waterpot these days). I added some spots with a black marker to her trousers for a little bit of interest. I added some shimmer to her top and socks using Spectrum Noir sparkle pens. I coloured a bunch of these and put them back in their stamp storage pocket. I do this from time to time, so if I need an emergency card I have some pre-coloured / cut things. I often do it with new stamps, as I am so excited to colour them.

I thought she contrasted well with the beautiful piece of spotty background paper  - this is my year to try and use as much of my patterned paper as I can. It's going pretty well so far and I'm finding it fun to dig out some old faves.

A simple stamped strip of paper for the sentiment,finishes the card off nicely because this little lady doesn't need much.

Cx

Camera Background..

Hey,

So every year JT and I do the annual $20 challenge.

We do it around Black Friday and you have to spend $20 on crafty things for the other one. You also have to have one ridiculous bargain item and then add themes, but you are not limited by the themes.

This year the themes were stars, stripes and Margate inspired.

I did a pretty good job with JT's haul, Studio Calico had the most ridiculous sale ever, so I went crazy there for both of us. The haul I got from JT is pretty impressive and I am slowly working my way through it.

JT bought me this awesome camera stamp, she was right I do have a few camera stamps, but I love the detail on this one.

I thought it would be fun to make a background using the stamps and pigment inks. I chose pigment inks because you get a much more vibrant colour.

Fun right?

I have only made 1 card out of this background so far, I decided to keep the other piece for another time.

To make this card, I die-cut the background using a stitched square die, I stamped the 'you're' using an MFT label maker stamp and the die-cut 'awesome' is by Neat & Tangled.

The background works so well on this mini kraft background, I'm feeling very pleased!

Cx

Stash Play: 4 Coverplates...

Hey,

I made a promise to myself this year that I would try and curb my craft spending (gulp) and dig through my stash more and really utilise what I have!

So you'll be seeing more 'stash play' posts from me.

Today I'm showing you the fun things I made using coverplate dies. I really like coverplate dies, but I didn't have a lot of them before 2017 black friday because they are SO expensive. I got some good deals on new and used coverplates.

I thought it would be fun to create distress oxide smooshed backgrounds to use with the coverplates and then I also decided I would add metallic spots over the backgrounds using my fave Penny Black 'Dots in Space' stamp. I use this stamp at least 3 times a week!! I am surprised it hasn't fallen apart.

I created two different coloured backgrounds, I thought it would be fun to have a mix of colours. Here are the backgrounds completed with their heat embossed metallic spots -

I then die-cut everything using the 4 chosen coverplates (clockwise from top left) -
Papertry Ink Harlequin and Mama Elephant 'Friend'
MFT Chevrons and Neat & Tangled 'Awesome'
MFT Peek-a-boo Polka Dots and Simon Says Stamp 'Heck Yeah'
Hero Arts Star Confetti and Spellbinders 'Hooray'

So that the cards would be versatile, I added a one word die-cut. Meaning later on I can add more text to them if I want, for different occasions - for example 'friend' could be 'happy birthday friend' or 'so glad you are my friend'. Its a technique I use a lot.

I love the end result, they are so pretty! And as a happy bi-product I got a little stack of glittery joy for use in shakers.

Close-up of the heat-embossed spots and the remnant shaker bits..

I had so much fun making these cards and they are a bit different and I got lots of fun leftover bits and bobs for use on other things.

I also thought that as these cards are pretty amazing and the stamped element is integral, I would enter the Craft Stamper January 'Take it or Make it' challenge, which is anything goes.

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 7...

Hey,

So I literally just got back from class at the Inkpad! Taught by Cheiron..

Fun to unexpectedly see the Craftgang, but sad as our friend Ava is not well at all, hence my last minute place. I am sending her positive vibes for a speedy recovery.

I wanted to post my Day 7 card today, as the rules are they have to be up by 7am tomorrow!!

I was overjoyed with the colour palette - so my colours and I decided to use the stamp shown in the image above (Birthday Bird 1).

Sprinkles threw me a bit, so I added a little bit of red bling - does that count as sprinkles?

Simple 'recipe' for my card, I printed and coloured the stamp using Promarkers,stamped the sentiment, die-cut it and the background paper using Simon Says Stamp stitched square dies.

Add a mini kraft card blank and some bling and voila! a pretty, colourful card.

Again, this has been oodles of fun..back to normal posts from tomorrow.

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 6..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!

I didn't manage to post Day 6 yesterday, I ran out of steam after the gym, errands, etc.

I've really enjoyed this week playing along with the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash, it's made me dig through some old favourite stamps and make friends with newer purchases :)

Here is the theme for Day 6 -

Easy peasy..we all know I love bold colours, so I added my other fave thing to this recipe - Monsters.

Another really easy card that was actually all about the colouring of the Love Monsters stamp (I have Monster Birthday too).

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and Nuvo Aqua Flow pens in bold colours, then die-cut it to shape using a stitched rectangle die.

To fit the recipe I used a kraft card blank and added the bright blue strip of paper to add a bit of interest before I added a piece of precious We R Memory Keepers glitter ribbon..I have two rolls left (approx 9 years old) and it is seriously rationed..

Final touch was to stamp the sentiment, I love these vertical greetings from Stampin' Up, they are really useful.

Hope you all have a nice weekend, gym, food, hangs with hubby and NFL divisional playoffs are on my agenda for the weekend.

Cx

The Paper Players: You're how old!!!!

Hey,

So it's going to be another 2 post day today, as I really wanted to play along with the current Paper Players challenge -

I was delighted to make the Cut Above last week, it was a nice way to start my craft year!

I love the colours this week and I thought they were quite 'male' and so would make a nice card for my brother-in-law.

I bought this Hero Arts stamp in Jenn's destash last year and I LOVE the numbers, colouring them is a dream -

I used Promarkers that were the right colours for the challenge to colour my numbers. I really wanted to add a cheeky sentiment to the numbers and finally settled on 'you're how old?' Considering my BIL is 2 years younger than me, this is quite cheeky!

For some interest I added some enamel dots and teeny tiny gems. I added a gold one, as I thought it worked well and we are 'allowed' another colour.

I actually stamped a bunch of these when I was making this card, I like the 3 colour look. I left off a sentiment, then I can decide how to use them in the future.

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 5..

Hey,

Two posts today, as I managed to make the Day 5 card in a timely fashion!

This week I am playing along with the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash.

For Day 5 you have to feature a cupcake on your card..

I remembered that I had the Cupcake Tag stamp and I thought this would make a perfect mini square card.

I die-cut the stamp out and coloured it using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens.

I used a scrap of a beloved piece of paper, it works so well here against the mini kraft card blank.

A super simple card.

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 4..

Hey,

Hope you saw the first Retro Rubber challenge of 2018 yesterday.

I'm back again playing along with Bugaboo Stamps 8th Birthday Bash. The theme is Birds, Butterflies and Birthday's for Day 4 the additional twist is a bingo board -

This bingo board was full of possibilities, but I went with the middle row - Cake/Cupcakes - Bugaboo Image - Bold Colours.

I chose the BugBdayBird2 stamp (a new addition to my collection..), I coloured it using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I die-cut the Avery Elle horizontal stripes cover plate in lime green and added a die-cut hot pink celebrate - I think that's bold enough!!

The 'It's Your Birthday' is by Simon Says Stamp and I wore out the original stamp I had and Cheiron kindly gave me her set.

Love the bright, fun end result.

I'll be back later with Day 5..

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 3

Hey,

This week I am playing along with the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash challenge.

Today I am showing you my make for Day 3 and the theme is the same, birds, butterflies and birthday but the twist is 'Anything but a card..create something you'd make for a party'-

I decided to make invites using the Make it Snappy Happy Birthday stamp..

Not a hard project, but actually lots of fun. I printed, coloured and cut out the stamp. I then added a patterned Happy Birthday paper to the front of a flat card and then stuck the stamped panel to this.

I added some Nuvo drops and used their aquaflow pens to add shimmer to the cake filling..but the pen overflowed, I decided to tidy it up the best I could, but decided not to start again..handmade right?

For the reverse, I die-cut a white panel and then added invite details to it and a few balloons to liven it up.

I've decided it might be fun to CASE my own idea and make invites for a little craftgang gathering at my house!

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #78 White on White..

Hey,

Welcome to the first Retro Rubber challenge of 2018, I'm excited to be back with the team.

We have a fun theme for you this week -

This is a tricky challenge for me as I love colour!

I am pretty pleased with my card, as it's a touch out of my comfort zone.

I die-cut the polka dot cover plate by MFT and that really formed my base for the card. I decided that black would be my neutral. So I stamped and die-cut the beautiful flower by Paper Smooches. It is from the Best Buds set and I have had it since 2016 and I overuse it. The sentiment is a fave of mine and is by Concord & 9th "You're My Person" set.

Very easy card to make and it totally eased my fears about white on white.

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

Challenge ends January 26th. 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

Bugaboo Stamps Birthday Bash: Day 2

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Today it is MLK Day here in the US, so I have spent the day with Jamey and Lisette at Jamey's studio. I really didn't make anything, just spent oodles of time stamping Jamey's stash!!

This week I am playing along with the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash! The theme is Birds, Butterflies and Birthdays (I may have missed that slightly yesterday..)

Today for Day 2 there is a sketch -

Great sketch..I love sketches.

I printed and coloured the Birthday Bird 4 stamp and die-cut it out using a stitched circle die.

I love the background paper, it's by Crate Paper and like most of my paper I have had it a while.. (don't judge me, 2018 is my year to use..). I added a plain green strip to make the birdie pop.

I added the sentiment by Avery Elle, which is a perfect fit here and some Nuvo drops for a bit of shimmer.

Love the end result.

I'll be back tomorrow with Day 3 AND the first Retro Rubber Challenge of 2018.

Cx

Bugaboo Stamps Birthday Bash: Day 1

Hey,

I really love Bugaboo stamps, they were one of the first digital stamp companies I used when I discovered digi stamps.

Recently JT gifted me a few of their stamps and as I am still off work and have more time I thought it would be fun to play along with their birthday bash.

Today my card is for Day 1 -

Go bold & bright they said..so I did exactly that!

I used Mouse Balloons - this is such a versatile stamp. I coloured it using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I die-cut the mouse and pink panels using MFT rounded dies - not stitched which is unusual for me. Don't worry I brought out my stitched die for the stripey green panel (paper by Lawn Fawn).

I dug through my newly sorted pre die-cut alphas and found the congrats in the right colour!! I ran these through my mini xyron sticker maker, so that they are easier to add to my card.

It felt a bit flat, so I popped up the pink and mouse layers with foam tape..much better.

See you tomorrow for Day 2, which also happens to be the first day of the new 30 Days of Colouring challenge - whoop whoop.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Bugaboo Sketch Challenge..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you! A rare double post from me today..

I am having an awesome weekend.

I won the Bugaboo Anything Goes Challenge (10 digi stamp prize!!) AND I made 'The Cut Above' over at The Paper Players for my Punny Valentine.

How awesome is that! I had already made the card for Bugaboo's latest sketch challenge -

I decided to use one of my fave Bugaboo stamps (Party Pig Trio), I always have this stamp printed out at the correct size for my cards and it gets used A LOT.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle markers, then die-cut it using a scalloped rectangle die.

I went with a glittery paper that I found on the floor in my craft room recently for the strip on the left and the 'happy' banner is an ancient print out from one of my fave digital companies Pink Petticoat. For a bit of interest I die-cut the banner using a die by Sizzix, kindly gifted to me by JT.

To finish my card I added the 'Birthday' sticker and some Nuvo crystal drops here and there.

You'll be seeing a lot more Bugaboo from me this week, as I am going to be playing along with their 8th birthday bash. I love their stamps and it's always fun to play with digi's.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #496 DSB...Happy Day!

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the first sketch of the year for me for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Digi Stamp Boutique and they are offering a £10 gift certificate to their store.

Here's the sketch...

I really liked Shopping Kate, I thought She would work really well with the sketch and I also really wanted to colour her!

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and then I fussy cut her out. I kept the papers pretty simple and created the simple sentiment banners using a stamp by Market Street which I heat embossed onto the punched banners (punch by Stampin' Up). I added a simple piece of grey bakers twine to fit the sketch.

Love it and it's already on it's way to a friend!

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 19th January 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx