CAS Colours and Sketches: A playdate..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I didn't feel that great on Friday night by the time I got home and when I woke up on Saturday I felt like I had a cold.

I rested, but sadly had to cancel my plans.

I felt well enough yesterday to make the playdate I had planned with JT. We only did an hour, but we had fun and made quite a few things!

Our main focus was the great sketch over at CAS colours and sketches this week.

It's so versatile, we could not stop playing with it.

The main card today is my entry and I used a MFT Happy Birthday circle die-cut, smooshed in Faded Jeans distress oxide ink.

I stamped, cut and coloured the Lawn Fawn Dino and popped him up inside the circle.

I kept the rest of the card simple, just two blue panels from my stash.

A super CAS card.

I made two more cards using this great sketch -

I love the card above, the Pig makes me so happy!! I only bought this set (Go hog wild) by AMuse Studio because of the Pig (and the Cow). I die-cut the circle using an MFT peek-a-boo die. The balloon and the sentiment came with the set. The paper is SUPER old by Papermania and I am really happy to be using it.

My final card had JT and I in hysterics as the paper is a freebie from a magazine at least 6-7 years ago!! I can't believe I kept it. It was perfect for the first use of my Stamping Bella 'Rosie and Bernie in London' stamp. The sentiment is by Newton's Nook.

The last two cards aren't very CAS, but that's ok with me. I am SO using this sketch again.

Cx

Pretty Pink Posh: Hummingbird Cards

Hey,

Do you ever get a new stamp set, but are at a bit of a loss as to how to use it?

I fell in love with Hummingbird Thanks by Pretty Pink Posh, but I struggled a bit with ideas. So I did a google search and came up with the idea for my main card, which is a CASE of a card by Umichka (Anna).

I love masking and I thought her card was gorgeous and it inspired me.

I stamped all the Hummingbirds first, then using die-cuts, I masked them off and blended over the panel using Distress Oxide inks. I coloured the Hummingbirds using Promarkers and added some white gel pen like Anna to their wings.

I added a piece of tracing paper, a die-cut word and a sentiment banner to finish my card off.

LOVE the end result.

I made three more cards, using a simple formula - masked circle, Hummingbird die-cut or stamp and a large sentiment (all from a Freebie set that was a gift from JT)

A great 4 cards from 1 set solo playdate and has given me food for thought with some other stamp sets.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Catch the Bug GDT: Photo Challenge

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

I'm back with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge. 

Can't believe my April GDT stint is over, but don't worry I'll be here for another 3 months :)

This week we have a photo inspiration / colour challenge for you..

I love the Rose Flower Can stamp..infact ALL the flower can stamps are faves of mine.

I coloured the image, using the bulk of the colours, but added a grey for the watering can. I use Promarkers to colour and despite being exposed to Copics, these are still my fave alcohol markers.

I thought it would be fun to die-cut the panel that my image was on using a tag die. I love tags...

I couldn't believe my luck when I stumbled across the pretty background paper, that just so happened to have all the colours from the inspiration photo on it!

I stamped the sentiment in dark green ink onto a pink panel.

This came out far more elegantly than I had expected and as usual has already left my desk!

Hope you will be playing along too. How will you be using the colours? Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

The Paper Players: Critter Crew...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I am looking forward to the weekend, I get to see most of the Craftgang this weekend, as we are helping Ava pack up her craft room, as she is moving out of NYC (sob). We are sad, but happy for her.

I was lucky enough to make cut above in last week's Paper Player's challenge.. How lovely is that!

I love the sketch for this week's challenge.

The minute I saw the sketch, I knew what I was going to make..

I used the Avery Elle Critter Crew stamp and die set for my shape. I coloured the Critters using Promarkers and added Spectrum Noir glitter pens and Nuvo drops for shimmer here and there.

The paper background paper is by Stampin' Up and was a gift from my Retro Rubber teamie Debbie Mageed.

I used a scrap for my border and added a sentiment from the Critter Crew set and the Happy Birthday is also by Avery Elle.

A pretty cheerful and fun kids card I feel.

Great way to end the week.

Cx

Fangtastic...

Hey,

I realised there has been a Monster shortage on my blog recently :)

So today's card remedies that!

I bought the great TV stamps and die set by Jillibean Soup when JT and I were in Cape Cod.

I stamped a Reverse Confetti and Clearly Besotted monster onto the white panel, so they were showing on the 'screen'.

The sentiments were a mix, the fang-tastic part came with the same Reverse Confetti set that the monster is from.

A super simple make that worked well for a Male friend..

Cx

Message in a Bottle...

Hey,

I recently managed to get my hands on a second-hand Stampin' Up set 'Message in a Bottle'.

I've been doing this more and more, to try and keep my craft expenditure down and it's also nice to 'shop someone else's stash' LOL.

This is my first card using the set and I love it!

I thought it was a perfect fit for the current Shopping Our Stash challenge - Mythical & Magical.

I stamped the bottle first, then added the mermaid and masked off the edges of the bottle, so I could add a little bit of water 'in' the bottle.

The sentiments are also from the set.

I die-cut it using Lil Inkers wonky stitched dies and did the same with the already embossed and coloured anchor panel (which has been staring at me for weeks). No idea where the anchor embossing folder is from, probably Darice or Sizzix, I have a lot of embossing folders by them.

Simple card for one of the many mermaids in my life.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #85.. Vintage..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Over the Christmas break, we had a bit of a theme overhaul and Debbie suggested this lovely one -

The minute I saw this cue-card I knew that I had the perfect stamp for it. It's called 'The Gorgeous Bride' and is by All Dressed Up. She feels so very Vintage with her nod to 1920's style.

I actually combined a digital stamp with a physical stamp here - it's allowed as long as they are both older than a year and there is some physical stamping too!

This card has a random story attached to it. I actually made the card and was a bit up in the air about which sentiment to use. Then a friend (male) who is getting married (secretly) asked if I could make him a card to give to his wife to be on their wedding day. He said 'give me something smooshy, with feeling' LOL..sure ok!

And then it came to me...I have this beautiful sentiment by Unity Stamp Co. that I got in 2016 and I thought it would work here and fit the brief of my friend and weirdly enough the lady on the card actually looks a teeny bit like the Bride.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens and the background paper is ancient and is really pale pink, with subtle bits of text on it.

My friend loved the finished card and I was super pleased that my card went to a great home and could be a little gift for my friend.

Show us your interpretation of the sketch (and maybe even share a random story) and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends May 4th.

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

CAS Colours & Sketches: Creative..not messy..

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

It was an early start for me today..7am PT session in the gym - blurgh!

I loved the colours over at CAS Colours and Sketches this time -

I actually have a few Stampin' Up inks and one of the colours I have is Flirty Flamingo, so that was fun to be able to use that. The other two colours are by Tsukineko.

I have recently bought a few things from a newish company called The Ink Road, I love the simplicity of their stamps and the set I used here 'Full Circle' is totally a new fave.

Keeping my card super CAS, I  randomly stamped the circles in the 3 colours around the sentiment, in the bottom 2/3rds of the card. The sentiment also comes with the set and made me smile.

I thought this would make a bit of an unusual thank you for a fellow crafter, so it will be leaving my desk later today.

Cx

Freshly Made Sketches: Circle Smile..

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

I've been having a fun weekend, gym, hangs with Hubby, some retail therapy and plenty of desk action.

Just like Narelle, I love circles, so her sketch for Freshly Made Sketches this week was perfect for me to play with this weekend -

For the circle element of my card I used a great Simon Says Stamp die set 'Hexagon Pattern Circle' that was a gift from JT a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun for one of the circles to be a bit unusual.

As I was going to use the new to me (bought secondhand) MFT Little Shutterbug stamp I went with camera paper by American Crafts for my second circle.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and added some polka dots to her dress for a bit of fun.

I popped the girl up using foam tape and added the die-cut smile (MFT freebie) to finish my card.

I love how well the circles work and it came out less busy than expected!

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Saturday Challenge - Bingo

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

I'm back with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge.

This week we have a great Bingo grid for you..

I chose the first vertical line - Die/Punch / Bugaboo Image / Ribbon.

The new Flower Garden images are a lot of fun to work with and I especially liked the sentiment that comes with the set.

For my die element, I used two different sized stitched rectangle dies (MFT) for my panels - I love stitched dies, so very versatile.

The ribbon was a gift from a friend and I thought it coordinated quite well here with colours in my image and the background paper.

A lovely, elegant card, that I used to thank a friend for inviting me to an event.

Hope you will be playing along too. Which row will you choose? Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #510..Have a fantastic day!

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Star Stampz and they are offering 3 digi's from their store.

Here's the sketch (by me!)..

I loved the cheery Spring Sun Shine image, I thought it would be fun to colour and I was 100% right.

My background paper choices and the sentiment banner were influenced by the colours I had chosen to colour the image with (using Promarkers).

Both of the background papers are ancient and another dent in my large patterned paper stash, that I vowed I would use more of in 2018.

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

Challenge ends 27th April 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

I'll be back later with my third GDT card for Catch The Bug.

Cx

Pink Fresh Studio: April Challenge...

Hey,

I love Pink Fresh Studio, I discovered them last year and I can't stay away from their stamps.

I thought it would be fun to play along with their Monthly challenge for April -

You can follow just the sketch or just the colours OR combine them.

I opted to use just the sketch, but sadly until I started cropping my photo I didn't realise that I had got a bit of flare on the gold sentiment sticker and the card has already left my desk.

I decided to get creative and I KNEW that a couple of my Simon Says Stamp kits have a few PFS items.

I finally found the papers I was looking for, the black and white patterned piece, isn't it gorgeous! I added a duplicate size die-cut rectangle in black.

For the border I used a piece of pink embossed cardstock and added the great gold dot banner by Recollections.

I added a Squirrel die-cut because why not and I think he is by PFS..but I can't be sure. I added a fun stamped branch, this is a new to me stamp from 'Itty Bitty Elements' by PFS - which is going to be totally over used this weekend!!

To finish my card and turn it into the thank you I wanted I added a gold sentiment sticker from Hema.

I really love the card, it's not my usual style..but next month I'll be using more PFS items.

Cx

Bunnies like Ice-Cream..

Hey,

I discovered that it was my Insta buddy - Miami Kel's birthday last month and so I wanted to make and send her a card.

She is such a lovely warm person and her cards are DOPE.

I decided she would appreciate the awesome Studio Calico Bunny / Ice-Cream set that I spent 2 years tracking down...

I used it in a slightly different way here and pulled out a Simon Says Stamp fave set - Scribble Flowers and used the circles to outline the ice-cream scoops.

It's a fun bright card, perfect for Kelly's fun personality.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #84 - April Showers...there is still time..

Hey,

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

The current theme is a photo inspiration.

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

Challenge ends April 20th.

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 Paper Players..Magical..

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a fun weekend, I hope you did too.

I liked The Paper Players theme this week -

I love Unicorns and I especially love the large sentiment stamp I used here by Unity Stamp Co. It always makes me smile and I love making random cards with it to send to friends.

I masked off a small area, so I could blend some oxide ink to create an anchor for my sentiment and the Unicorn, but also to add a bit of interest whilst keeping my card CAS.

Sadly you can't see all the gold shimmer on my card, as I spritzed it with a gold shimmer spritz before adding the unicorn (Mama Elephant at Michaels).

To finish my card, I added a few clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh..

Fun card, love it when a challenge make comes out this well!

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Saturday Challenge - Rainbows and Unicorns..

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I am back again with the Catch The Bug team for the Saturday Challenge.

This week we have a Rainbow and Unicorn theme...

I mean this is SO me.

I love the Birthday Unicorn set and had a lot of fun creating my card with it.

I printed the cupcake/cloud image onto white card and then die-cut it to shape, I liked the idea of it hanging off the edge.

I coloured and fussy cut the Unicorn holding a balloon and popped him up, so he looks like he is sitting in the clouds.

I couldn't believe my luck with the amazingly appropriate sentiment (after an extensive root through my stamp collection!).

The final touch was to mount it all on the pretty Lawn Fawn card blank.

As always this card has already left my desk and is making someone else's day magical!

Can't wait to see what you do with the theme. Be sure and check out the store and look at all the fun things the rest of the DT have made.

Please post your project to Catch the Bug, by Sat Apr 21st at  6:00 AM EST to be entered a random drawing for three digi prize packs (yay). 10 free images (using a Bugaboo image only),  seven  (7), or four (4) using any image!
 
New projects only please.

Cx

Happy Baby Shower!..

Hey,

As you know last weekend I was 'stealing' more of JT's family and her Aunt asked to make her some baby shower cards..

I know one of the babies is a girl, but wasn't sure what else she needed, so I made girl and boy focused cards.

I used a slightly neglected Unity Stamp Co stamp - Angie Girl 'Sweet Sixteen' - I thought the balloons were perfect, as I could colour them to suit the girl/boy theme.

In my BF haul last year I got a Pink Fresh Studio stamp set that has Baby Shower in it - awesome and surprisingly handy, now I live in the US!!

I decided that I would die-cut the word Happy using a Tim Holtz die and sparkly papers.

These cards are so delicate and pretty, perfect for a baby shower I think.

Cx

Hey Girl...Happy Birthday...

Hey,

Recently my desk has been a bit of a hot mess..

So I decided to give it a tidy up and gather a few of the items together to make a card or two.

I actually ended up with 3 cards with the one I am showing you being my fave.

I had a big stack of Heidi Swapp journaling items that I got on sale - that is the white, lined and tabbed item. The doily is actually only half of one. The pink tag is glittery and I had it out for a baby shower card and changed my plan. The Hey Girl die-cut (die is by Studio Calico) was also cut for something else but was languishing on my desk.

I layered it all together and added pop dots to the 'Hey Girl' and stamped Happy Birthday and ended up with this super fun girly card.

Love it when my slob like behaviour turns into something good.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #84 April Showers..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Time for a photo inspired challenge -

I love this image, too cute. It gave me lots of food for thought. Cue multiple stamp sets on my desk..

The umbrella was my cue in the end, once I saw the 'Harmony Girl' stamp by Unity Stamp Co., I've had it since 2016. It's quite a long stamp, so I went for a long skinny card design.

The background paper is ancient and I thought it toned really well with the colours in the stamp, which I watercoloured using distress inks.

I have a great die by CAS-ual Fridays and I thought it looked a bit like a cloud, so I die-cut a blue piece of paper and heat embossed the sentiment onto it.

Sorry that you can't read my sentiment, I photographed this card a million times. If you click on it, you'll see it clearly - it says 'Don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain.'

I like the skinny design, a bit unusual for me.

Show us what the photo inspired you to make and pop over to Retro Rubber and get even more inspiration from the things my awesome teammates have made.

Challenge ends April 20th

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

Circles and Dots..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I had a great weekend in Long Island, with old and new friends.

It was so nice to be out of the city and blow away the mental cobwebs.

Today I am showing you a fun card that I made with a couple of new sets that I have.

The smaller patterned circles (Full Circle) are by The Ink Road stamps - if you have not bought any of their stamps yet, you have to, they come so beautifully packaged.

The bigger sketchy circles that have the bigger black dots (Bokeh Dots) are by Ellen Hutson / Julie Ebersole and strangely enough this is my first ever EH stamp set.

I wanted to make a more male focused card and thought these circles would work well.

I added a die-cut Awesome by Neat and Tangled and the word stickers are by Tim Holtz.

I added some stamped dots for a bit of interest - loving these new teeny tiny dot stamps from the EH set.

Cx

Pink Flamingo Club - reunion

Hey,

A very good friend of mine used to live in California and whilst she was there she made some buddies and they call themselves 'The Pink Flamingo Club'.

Awesome name for a posse (pretty pleased to be a Honorary Member).

I saw on Instagram that she was heading to California for a visit, so I asked her if she wanted a little batch of Pink Flamingo Club cards.

The answer was yes!

I recently found a great 12x12 stack of Recollections papers that I had forgotten I owned (the shame), I thought it would be fun to use them here.

You know how you always get that sheet of 'project life' style cards, well I cut them all down and choose the 3 most suitable ones for use on these cards, then I stamped 'Pink Flamingo Club' onto them.

The background papers are all from the same set, the Pink Pineapples are my fave. I added a pink flamingo paper border strip to all of the cards.

I felt like they all needed more Flamingo! So I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Flamingo by Lawn Fawn. Much better.

Final touch was to add a bit of bling, I was going to colour them all, but I didn't love the green one (on the right) so left them as they came.

Fun cards for a fun friend.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #508 - Kitty Bee Designs..

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Kitty Bee and they are offering 1 digi stamp from their store.

Here's the sketch...

 

I loved the Flower For You Bunny stamp, I already had in mind that I would use a Spellbinders scalloped circle die for my main circle and thought this little cutie would fit in there perfectly.

At Crop on The Cape, there was a destashing table and I dropped off quite a lot of stuff there, but I also managed to find a few things that I wanted too. And among these things were a few sheets of the wonderful paper I used on my card today.

I love that it lists out lots of flowers and kind of negated the need for a sentiment, I can totally add one at a later date if I change my mind.

I went with a bright yellow strip for the border, to match the flower and my card blank. I used flowers (a gift from JT) and some gems to match the sketch.

Love this bright and cheery 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.

Challenge ends Friday 13th April, 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Saturday Challenge Anything Goes..

Hey,

Happy Saturday everyone.

There will be two posts from me today, as I am April Guest Designer over at Bugaboo challenge blog - Catch The Bug.

Super exciting for me, as I LOVE Bugaboo Digital stamps and I am really honored to be in such talented company.

This week's challenge is Anything Goes - everyone's fave right?

I loved the new BugAKVBFlies image and it was perfectly suited to creating a square card.

I coloured the image using Promarkers and then die-cut it using a stitched square die. I die-cut a piece of purple patterned paper (that was one of the first papers I ever bought as a cardmaker!!) using the same die and arranged them jauntily!

I decided that the girl looked like she was having a fun adventure chasing butterflies and chose the sentiment stickers by Tim Holtz as my finishing touch.

Hope you are inspired to play along, go to Catch The Bug blog and upload your make.

I'll be back later with my Sketch Saturday Challenge post and back next week with the Catch The Bug team for another great challenge.

Cx

Potty Mouth Friday...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!

Later on today I am off to Long Island to 'steal' more of JT's family :)

I am hoping my post title alerted you to the fact that there will be swear words on my cards today!

I have a potty mouth and sometimes my cards do too...

I made this batch of cards for JT and the rest of the gang that we hung out with at Crop on The Cape.

I used the free papers that we got given at the Crop and added the awesome sentiment by Unity Stamp Co.

The die-cut panel that the sentiment is on, is a fave of mine, it's by Lil' Inkers - Wonky stitched rectangles and I chopped off part of it to fit on my card and so the beautiful papers are not covered up.

I haven't had a chance to gather all of the March trip with JT photos and make one post, so here are a few photos for you.

Me, JT and Jamey at our Crop table

Me + JT and the family I am stealing this weekend..

From bottom left clockwise, JT, Amy, Kathy, Jamey, Liz, Cheiron, Me

Have a great weekend.

Cx

CASology: Start..

Hey,

I love the CASology challenge. The cue cards usually spark lots of ideas in my head.

Here is the current cue card -

'Start' made me think of myself and the year I have spent getting in shape. Earlier this week I had really, really hard PT session - for the first time in 11 months I really wanted to quit part way through and I had to focus hard to keep going.

It really was the prompt for my card, which will now live on my pinboard!

I have used this 'Work Out' set by Simon Says Stamp before for a CASology challenge, this time I used the yoga lady.

I coloured the lady using Promarkers and I added a touch of stenciling behind her to anchor her a bit (Arrows by Tim Holtz). I added a couple of blingy gems just because I fancied some bling on the card!

The sentiment really spoke to me and is a reminder that I have to think about why I started this journey and not how hard it can be at times.

Love it when a challenge makes you think about life lessons!

Cx