Shopping Our Stash: No Ink...

Hey,

Happy Good Friday,

I saw Lauren Bergold's card for the current Shopping Our Stash challenge and I was intrigued by the idea of no ink!!

I mean, no ink at all, no markers, no ink pads, no sprays, etc...

So I decided to rise up to the challenge and shop my stash to make a card.

The starting point for my card was the awesome Llama sticker from Michael's, I bought it a while ago and it's just been sitting on my desk staring at me!

Also on my desk were 3 scraps of paper that I also used on my card - the lilac strip, a pink piece (Happy die) and a green piece (Birthday die).

I embossed a piece of turquoise paper using a leaf embossing folder - also from Michael's - to use as the central piece of my card.

I love the crazy, bright, weird card I ended up with.

I am betting whoever I send it to is going to be a little bit surprised by it's craziness.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Thank You Hearts...

Hey,

I recently bought a new heart coverplate die (generic craft company on Amazon) and I haven't had a chance to play with it, so last weekend I got it out to have a play.

I blended Picked Raspberry distress oxide ink and then spritzed it with water to get some bleachy spots. Then I die-cut it. The hearts have been saved for shakers, etc.

I decided it was a bit flat, so splattered some black ink over it..much better.

After mounting it onto a black cardblank, I added the fun Thank You stamp/die from AC Moore..I only bought this last week and it's already been used several times. It feels like something that I was missing from my stash.

I love the fun, modern and simple end result.

Cx

Craftgang Baby...

Hey,

So I promised you I would tell you all about my weekend!

One of the Craftgang (Tiff) was having a baby shower over the weekend and I thought it was on Sunday. So I spent Saturday morning frantically finishing off her baby quilt....

After it was finished, I patted myself on the back and got my clothes ready for the shower on Sunday.

I noticed that my phone was going nuts and it was the Craftgang asking me where I was..yep, totes got my dates wrong and the baby shower was on Saturday!!

Cue, me getting washed, dressed, make-up on, gift wrapped and in a taxi in 15 mins flat!

I am so glad I checked my phone and made it in time for at least part of it...

Then we all wake up on Sunday morning to the news that Baby Sophia made her entrance into the world at approx 8am on Sunday morning LOL!!! I am guessing she 'saw' all the beautiful clothing she had to wear and decided to get on with it!

So on Sunday I made the new baby card - which is the main photo today. I decided to do something a bit different and broke out my Silhouette Portrait and used a Lori Whitlock Elephant card template.

It was so much fun to make. You cut the card blank, the x2 elephants and the trunk hearts and ears. Super easy to assemble and I added brads for the eyes. The papers I used are by American Crafts and I have had them for years and only used 1 sheet!! I also used a purple cardstock for the card blank, ears and hearts, because Tiff loves purple.

So that was my Saturday and Sunday was spent at my desk pretty much going 'what happened yesterday?' LOL.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #83.. Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have everyone's fave - Anything Goes..

I love the 'Skating By' set by Avery Elle, and I have had it since 2016, so I thought it would be fun to pull it out for this challenge.

I decided I'd go for bright neon-like colours for my card. I coloured all the stamps using Promarkers and touches of Spectrum Noir sparkle pens. I added some white gel pen dots to the girls skirt and bow.

I assembled the base of my card using some great Recollections papers - they are from a Christmas 2016 set that I got on sale and I love the brick and the sparkly pink together.

Once it was all assembled, I figured out where I wanted to stamp my sentiment and used a stamping platform to make sure it was in the right place.

I then added all the other elements to the card and a little flag with the rest of the sentiment.

I loved making this card, it was so much fun.

Over to you, to show us what you make and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 6th.

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

The Male Room: Space...

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I had a fun weekend, but I'll tell you all about that later on this week!

One of the entrants over at Retro Rubber this time had entered her card for our challenge into the latest challenge over at The Male Room and the theme is totally me, as I love Space / Science.

I have been loving masking off circles recently, so thought that would be a good place to start with my Space themed card. First I stamped and heat embossed the stars in white and then with my circle mask in place I used Faded Jeans distress oxide ink and blended over the stars.

I decided to use the MFT Space Explorer set and I had planned on using one of the Boy Astronaut stamps, but then wanted to use the 'Have a blast' sentiment and so felt the rocket worked better.

The rest of the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp and is one of the most overused things in my craft room.

A fun make that will be leaving shortly for a Man/Boy that likes Space as much as me!

Cx

Sketch Saturday #506..Paper Nest Dolls ....

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Paper Nest Dolls and they are offering 3 digital stamps from their shop.

Here's the sketch...

When I saw the Party Chicks stamp I thought it would work really well with the sketch.

I chose my background paper first, so that I could colour the image to match. I love the soft tones I ended up with and I added some Nuvo crystal drops here and there for a bit of sparkle.

The sentiment is by CAS-ual Friday stamps..I love their stamps and I thought it would be nice to stamp it in colour and not black.

I outlined the 2 white panels using a Copic BG10 marker - it's the only Copic marker I have because it is super handy and there really isn't a Promarker equivalent.

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 30th March 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Happy Birthday Die..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I made today's cards right at the start of my 'enforced hiatus', but never got round to posting them.

I loved the Happy Birthday circle die by MFT, I thought it would be super versatile.

I cut a bunch of them in white, so that I could colour them anyway I wanted.

For the main card, I took a die-cut white panel (Stitched Wonky dies by MFT) and stamped just a section of the Unity Stamp Co. Star background stamp. I coloured the HB circle using Picked Raspberry distress ink and a paintbrush. I thought it would be fun to use the Reverse Confetti Alligator here and I think the end result is a fun card that would be suitable for any age.

With the next card I used the same technique for the HB circle, but with Broken China ink. I hadn't used the awesome Reverse Confetti scalloped die yet, so I thought it would work really well here and I added a MFT Hippo.

Both cards are a bit different but I think they both work for all genders / ages.

Have a great weekend, I will be finishing the baby quilt tomorrow for the baby shower on Sunday..why have I left it to the last minute!! Tonight is date night with Hubby..yummy prime rib, here I come!

Cx

CASology 292: Foil

Hey,

Last night I thought I'd look at the current CASology challenge.

I am so glad that I did..I love foiling.

As I don't have a laser printer, I use a really fun and simple method to add foil to my cards.

I use a Deco Foil adhesive pen and Deco Foil sheets.

For this card I drew some uneven stripes and added a bit more adhesive to the right side. You need to let the adhesive dry until it feels a bit tacky, then add the foil and press down. Run it through your manual die-cutter to ensure the foil is sticking. Then pull off the excess foil.

I love the grungy stripes I got here and they really pop on the black background. I used a new stamp and die set that I got at AC Moore.

The end result is yummy and I made a couple more in different colours.

Cx

Shimmery Heart Congratulations..

Hey,

I am back from my trip, it was SO much fun, despite the travel difficulties.

I'll tell you all about it later in the week, but I was very sad to say goodbye to JT and to the crafty ladies that we spent 2 days with.

Today's card is actually for Cheiron's Sister, she got engaged recently and I wanted her card to be fun and a teeny bit girly.

I used a Simon Says Stamp Mosaic Heart stencil and mixed glittery texture paste with Picked Raspberry distress ink. IRL it is super shimmery.

I was a bit indecisive about the sentiment, I tried EVERYTHING and finally settled on the Simon Says Stamp 'Congratulations' die, which I cut out of kraft paper to co-ordinate with the card blank.

A pretty simple make and because I had so much of the pink paste mix, I made a ton of the stenciled panels for use another time.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #82.. Tic-Tac-Toe..there is still time to play...

Hey,

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

We have a great tic-tac-toe board for you this time.

I can't wait to see which row you choose and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 23rd.

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

Today is going to be awesome..

Hey,

JT and are probably checking out of our hotel in Boston as you read this, heading to CROP ON THE CAPE..whoo hoo!!

Roughly this time last year I got a lovely lightbox - you can read all about him here.

I love colouring and even though I am a crafter and a lot of what I make needs to be coloured, I still like to colour random imagery for no actual use.

The last year has been a lot of fun for me, as I can now trace the pages and/or parts of the pages of colouring books into my mixed media sketchbook and colour with any medium I like. It also means I can mix and match imagery to create one big image.

My page today was made using a new Target colouring book ($2) and I used imagery from x3 of the pages in the book to create mine.

The photo above shows you Mr Lightbox, the 3 pages I used and the final drawing pre-colouring.

Fun right!

Cx

New Home for the Cats...

Hey,

First full day today in Boston with JT!!

One of my colleagues in London who is also a good friend, is moving into her new home on Saturday.

She reminded me that she would be on the look out for 'her card' LOL.

I specifically bought the BugKittyHomeScene stamp from Bugaboo to make her card. She has x2 Ragdoll cats - Francois and Bianca, and they rule the roost.

Bianca and Francois

I coloured the stamp to a) match the cats colouring and b) my fave red chair that my friend and her husband own (shown above..)

It's all pretty simple, just coloured using Promarkers and Nuvo Crystal drops. I added white gel pen dots to the blanket on the chair.

Bugaboo have a 'All Creatures Great and Small' challenge this week, so I am entering my card.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #82 Tic-Tac-Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

New for 2018, we are going to do a few Tic-Tac-Toe challenges, starting with this awesome one created by Jan.

I chose the first vertical line - Pink, Twine and Birthday.

I stamped the large number stamp from 'Birthday Bisque' by Jillibean Soup, I've had it since 2016 and it was overused and then neglected a bit. I coloured it in 3 shades of pink and then die-cut it using a large pennant die.

I added a bit of twine to the top of the pennant.

I fiddled about for ages trying to decide where to stamp happy birthday and I finally settled on stamping directly onto my card blank, below the pennant.

I love Tic-Tac-Toe, so many possibilities.

Can't wait to see which row you chose and don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 23rd.

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

Inspired by Street Art....

Hey,

Happy Monday!

A couple of weeks ago Hubby and I were on the way to brunch and this happened -

I was so inspired by this gorgeous piece of street art that I decided to create something similar for a friend. She had seen the photo above and said, I bet you could make that for me!

I started by creating the background, using watercolour paper smooshed in distress ink, dried and then punched using a hexagon punch.

I took a piece of heavyweight card and added rows and rows of double sided tape. I find when I am doing these kinds of projects this is a good way to work, as you can add more tape as you need it, so you can pause and not worry about the glue drying out.

I wanted it to be a bit more grungy, so I added some stenciling, some paste, edged some of the hexagons in silver and tiny splatters of gold and silver paint.

Final touch before adding my Mermaid was to stamp the words (Tim Holtz Foam Alpha Stamps), they looked a bit flat, so I added a shadow to them using a gold pen, very happy with the outcome here.

The mermaid is a digital stamp by TiddlyInks. They come in a set and are called 'Cat Shark Mermaids'. The one I used is a 'Leopard Shark'.

I think my project will be a great entry for the Mixed Media challenge over at Happy Little Stampers. It's for a friend and I the sentiment reminds me of all the encouraging things this friend has said to me over the years..

I am wiggling with excitement today, as tomorrow I leave for Boston, where I will be meeting JT (who is flying in from London), we are spending 3 days in Boston (JT's Alma Mata) and then heading to Crop on The Cape - where we hook up with x2 of the craftgang Jamey and Cheiron - EEEEE!!!! SO EXCITED!

Cx

Happy Mother's Day...

Hey,

Today is Mother's Day in the UK.

In the last few years I have started making a card for my MIL.. Hubby is not a card guy and his Mum is ok with that..but for me as a cardmaker it feels really really wrong.

I actually haven't seen my Ma yet this year, as I was off work for 2 months (unpaid) so I haven't managed to get back to the UK yet. But we talk a lot and that helps - because I miss her a lot.

Just as I was thinking about what cards I would make 'The Mothers' x2 new sets arrived in the post.

My Ma's card (main photo) was made using the Avery Elle 'Mardi Gras' set. I don't have the dies yet, so I had to stamp and cut out the mask and then trace around it with a white gel pen onto the black card and then cut that out.

Because I don't have the dies yet, I didn't want to use all the little mask elements that come with the set, so I dug through my dies and came up with the beautiful flourish die by Simon Says Stamp. I die-cut it out of DCWV glitter cardstock and I think it works really well here.

I added some bling and gold marker to the eye area of the mask to complete it.

I had planned on stamping the sentiment directly onto the white panel, but I dropped the stamp and made a mess, cue a hastily heat embossed banner to cover my oops. To finish the card off I added a few gold stamped stars all over the panel.

I love it, can't wait to play with this set more.

For my MILs card I used my new Neat and Tangled 'Bloom' set, it is SO pretty.

I stamped and coloured the flowery panels using Promarkers and after die-cutting them out, I added a few drops of stickles here and there.

The sentiment is from Paper Source and I bought it on super bargain sale, because I loved the handwritten feel.

Because the flowers are so fussy, I decided to use a simple piece of spotty paper for the background. I love Lawn Fawn papers (Jenn Shurkus you enabler you.)

Both completely different from each other, but they suit the personalities of 'The Mothers'.

Happy Mother's Day Momma and Mandy.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #504: Sasayaki Glitter..

Hey,

Happy Saturday.

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

Our sponsor this week is Sasayaki Glitter and they are offering a prize of 1 digital stamp from their store.

Here's the sketch that just happens to be by me!!

I decided to use Tea Mouse, I have a thing for teacups and I thought it worked well with the sketch. I coloured it using Promarkers and fussy cut it out.

I discovered that cutting a semi-circle freehand was a BEAST. So I modified it slightly and made it smaller and the strip to the left longer AND rotated it.

The striped paper is by Lawn Fawn, the sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co. and everything else is random and from my stash! I think the flower bling came from JT eons ago.

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 16th March at 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

Hip Hop Hooray....

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

Following on from my post on Weds, here is another stamp that I made using the Silhouette Mint.

You can buy imagery in the Silhouette store that can be used to create stamps.

The minute I saw the Bunny image I knew I had to make a stamp, so I could write 'Hip Hop Hooray'.. awesome!!! I suspect Cara might want this stamp...

I kept the card super simple, just using x2 of a set of scalloped square nesting dies I have and layering them up.

Because I was being so specific, I decided to write out the rest of the sentiment by hand..a rare thing for me and it does work here, so I'm alright with it.

I'll be prepping for Boston and the Cape this weekend, along with seeing Cheiron for brunch and wiggling constantly with excitement at seeing JT for 6 whole days - ALONE!!!

WHOO HOO, bring on Tuesday.

Cx

Happy 16th Birthday...

Hey,

Ever have one of those days, where the events of the day make you realise how OLD you are!

LOL.

Today my Godson Ben is turning 16, I can totally remember the day he was born, I can't believe he is already 16 and that his Mother and I have been friends for 30 years - EEEK!!!

Ben is totally into fashion and so I wanted his card to reflect that.

I smooshed a piece of watercolour paper in some distress ink and dried it off, I repeated this several times until I was happy with the background. I then stamped some stars randomly, to add a bit more interest to the background.

To tie in with the fashion aspect, I added a Dina Wakely Scribbly Man.

I didn't want to cover the beautiful image / background, so I heat embossed part of the sentiment (freebie from AMuse) onto Vellum and added a die-cut for the rest of it.

Super happy with this, I think it's perfect for a fashion forward 16 year old.

His gift is the same thing that I give all my godchildren at this age - a weekend away with me - Ben I think has drawn the lucky straw, as now that we live in NYC, this gift means he is coming here.

Cx

Be a Pineapple...

Hey,

Whilst I was off I managed to get my hands on a Silhouette Mint - on super bargain sale - obvs!

With the Mint, you can make your own stamps. It's fun, simple and means I can now have some items that suit my potty mouth!

I decided not to start with something rude and went with a phrase that I have seen around a lot - 'Be A Pineapple. Stand Tall, Wear a Crown and Be Sweet on the Inside'.

Once you ink up the stamps you get quite a lot of impressions, so I stamped a bunch of these and then had a play.

For the main card and the one below I used the bear from the Simon Says Stamp 'Warm Weather Animals' set. I coloured the bears using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I dug through my stash and found a crown (yes!) in the Newton's Nook 'Newton Loves London' set.

I added a pineapple background (by MFT) to the second card..not sure, maybe it's a bit busy now?

The card below was actually the first card I made, it is super busy, but I love it. Not least because I got to use Faye Monkey by Waffle Flower. Funnily enough there is also a Claire Monkey and opposite number in the London office is called Fay....I feel a logo coming on...

I used the great Concord & 9th 'Pop Art Pineapple' set - I LOVE this set, I totally overuse it. The background paper is by Studio Calico.

I am loving the Mint and I have made a few stamps that I will show you soon.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #81.. Feeling Sketchy..there is still time..

Hey,

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

This time we have a sketch for you.

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

Challenge ends March 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

Alcohol Ink Playtime...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend. I did! Hubby and I great fun on Friday night and I got to hang out with Lisette on Sunday (obvs we hit Macy's...).

I am a big fan of alcohol inks, you can make amazing backgrounds. I always felt that I hadn't mastered them and then recently they seem to make a bit of a come back and it has been fun to watch various crafters videos with tips and techniques.

I have just found Rubeena Naz - thanks to Cheiron and she is the latest in my very long list of craft crushes. She did a whole series of playing with Alcohol inks and I found her tips to be really useful.

I also FINALLY bought some Yupo - why did I wait so long?

As Yupo is seriously expensive....like SO expensive. Seriously. I used 3 sheets and created x3 backgrounds experimenting with colours. The middle sheet I did something a teeny bit different. Instead of letting it dry naturally, I patted it dry with a cloth, hence the muted more mottled look, which I really like.

Once they were dry I die-cut the same size panel out of each sheet, which still leaves me with x3 more backgrounds for future use.

I really wanted to show as much of the backgrounds as possible, so kept my embellishing to a minimum.

I like the purple card-bases, they show off the backgrounds really well. I cut these myself using Simon Says Stamp cardstock and this colour is Blue Violet and is my default coloured card base stock.

All three cards are a bit different - the first one just has Tim Holtz stickers, the middle one uses a bit of Vellum, so that the sentiment die is legible and the third one uses a Avery Elle heart die and some fun labels - made using this Dymo Labeler (which I ADORE).

Here is a better shot of the anniversary card, which is already on it's way to it's new owner -

I love it when I get to play with older things and learn new tricks.

Cx

Old Fart....

Hey,

So no doubt Hubby and I are a bit jaded after last night's festivities!!

I thought I'd share the quick card I made for a friend recently.

He happens to be only 7 months older than me, so making him a card that says old fart is pushing it a bit!

I kept it super simple, the background is a stamp by Prima Marketing, I love their background stamps.

The sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co and is part of the most hilarious sentiment set ever (Frankly Said).

The pretty die is by Reverse Confetti and I thought it was a soft touch to my cheeky card!

Cx

CASology: Fit

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I loved being back at work yesterday...weird right!!

Tonight Hubby and I are off out on the annual bonus dinner night, if Hubby gets a bonus, I get a fancy dinner and a night at a hotel - sweeeet!

I'm playing along with CASology today -

I love this cue card.  Fit means a lot to me, I have been on a getting Fit journey for 9 months now and it's totally changed my life.

So I decided to use an old Simon Says Stamp set 'Work Out' because the girl reminded me of me in the gym, but I might be a bit sweatier - lol!! I coloured her using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens. I decided to add a bit of detail to her top, because most of my work out clothes have a little bit of a pattern..I LOVE work out clothes

I wanted to anchor the girl, so I broke out a stamp by Studio Calico and Hello Forever, that I hadn't used yet.

I like how this little addition transformed my card.

Final step was adding the sentiment, I thought this one summed up how I feel about being Fit.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Adventure Awaits...

Hi,

Welcome to March and my first day back at work.

About a week ago I decided to have a play with a stamp set that I got in last year's $20 challenge from JT.

It's a bit arty, so I thought it would go nicely with one of the Dyan Reavely 'Ladies'.

I chose a piece of Ranger manilla paper, I thought it would suit the various mediums I wanted to play with.

I stamped the lady first and coloured her using Dina Wakely scribble sticks and a paintbrush. I dried it all with my heat tool for speed.

Then I used the stencil that came with the Fancy Lady stamps.

I then layered over this with the stamps from the Momenta Art-C set from JT.

I loved the end result, especially the pop of orange from the brightly coloured Lady.

I die-cut it out using a stitched square Simon Says Stamp die and also cut a blue panel the same size, so I could layer them on my kraft card blank.

Fun card, very different for me. I like to step out of my comfort zone now and then.

Cx