Happy 14/9 Hubby...

Hey,

Happy Halloween! AND Happy Anniversary to my Hubby.

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary and yesterday was the 14th anniversary of our first date. This is my fave post that I have written about Hubby and I and it's hard to top.

So I am not going to try, I am just going to say Happy Anniversary Hubby, you are awesome in so many ways and I'm super lucky to have found you ;)

Today's card is actually for Hubby, we are both massively geeky/nerdy and this set by Technique Tuesday (Favorite Human, no longer for sale), made me laugh, especially the little robot with a bow tie. I also LOVE that it came with 'beep' in a speech bubble, for some reason the word 'beep' makes me crazy happy!

Also Hubby always eye rolls me when I show him punny cards, which always makes me laugh, so I am looking forward to an eye roll later on when I give this to him.

I thought I'd share some photos from our wedding day, I was looking through them the other day and these ones made me smile ;)

Top left - Me with my Parents (why is my Dad so grumpy!), Daddy and our Dog Oscar, Bottom right, Me with my bridesmaids laughing, Me + Hubby laughing at my Dad's speech, Me + MIL laughing at the Best Woman's speech

We are heading to a new place for dinner tonight, which is fun (or foolish), we don't normally deviate from our 'spots' on Anniversary night.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #98.. Harvest Time.. still time to play!

Hey,

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

The theme this time is harvest, using the photo above to inspire you.

I am loving the cards already in the gallery, now it's your turn, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 2nd.

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

PFS Background Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

As I said yesterday this week my blog will be taken over by Anniversary cards.

Today's card was made quite a while ago.

I created the background waaay back in June as part of the Daily Marker 30 days of colouring (which starts again on Thursday!). The stamps I used are by Pink Fresh Studio from the 'Itty Bitty Elements' set - I am a big fan of Pink Fresh Studio, their stuff is a little bit different.

Despite my multiple stamp platforms, I always use blocks when I am creating backgrounds like this.

It actually took a seriously long time to colour and I was a bit over it towards the end! So with that in mind, when I came to make a card using it I kept it simple.

I die-cut a stitched rectangle panel in a colour that coordinated with the birdie, because I knew I wanted a red sentiment. I used arrow sentiment dies by MFT for the sentiment and cut off the arrow tips, as they were too fussy here.

I love this card, so rich and a bit of a mix of traditional and modern.

Cx

Anniversary Week...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

Hope you have had a good weekend so far. I had a seriously hard session in the gym yesterday, it was my first trip up to the secret weight floor and it was hard, but rewarding.

Today I have made Sausage and Cheese & Onion rolls and Hubby and I are drinking mimosas and watching NFL Sunday.

It's our wedding anniversary on Wednesday and Tuesday is the anniversary of our first date :) This year we are celebrating 14 years together and 9 years married..pretty big, I don't know where 14 years have gone.

I have had lots of anniversaries recently, so this week feels like my blog is going to be full of anniversary cards!

Starting with this little Monster cutie I made for friends using a new set from Unity Stamp Co. 'Nicest Place to Be'.

I kept this card super simple and just coloured the stamps and added some hearts. I mounted the panel onto a Lawn Fawn card blank to make it pop.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I am going to eat more rolls..

Cx

Catch The Bug: Saturday Challenge Colour....

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

I am back this week with the Catch The Bug Saturday challenge and we have a colour challenge for you this week.

I worked mainly with the blues and the oranges for this card.

As it is almost Halloween, I thought it would be fun to use the Best Witches image and make a non-traditional Halloween card.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and die-cut it using a stitched circle die. I used a piece of glitter cardstock for the background, that I thought tied into the colour scheme nicely and added a bit of sparkle.

Hope you will be playing along too. Can't wait to see which image you choose to use and how you use the colours.

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

Cx

PFS Floral Squares..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

I have been very under the weather this week, hence the lack of posts from me :(

As I am feeling a bit better, I thought I would show you a set of pretty cards I made for my Boss before I left for London.

I really really really wanted these amazing Pink Fresh Studio Floral Square dies -

I had this idea that they would look great die-cut out of smooshed scraps.

It worked out so well, they really pop, some colours worked better than others, I think vibrant scraps are best.

I kept the cards simple and just added a simple thanks sentiment by Stampin' Up.

I am thinking that I will try them with kraft paper next.

Have a great weekend, I will be at the gym, getting my oven repaired (finally) and watching NFL Sunday (GO HAWKS!!).

Cx

Retro Rubber #98.. Photo Inspired..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Here in NYC the weather has taken a bit of a rapid turn towards Winter, which I don't love, but it does mean that I am able to break out the new Winter puffer..

This week we have a photo inspiration for you.

The minute I saw this challenge I knew that I would be digging out a neglected Newton's Nook set 'Wagon of Wishes' that I have had since 2015.

This set is so versatile, but doesn't come with dies..which often leads to neglect, as I hate fussy cutting.

When I was in London recently I was able to have a playdate with JT and we basically CASEd this idea that we had found on Pinterest. I love creating masks and this is SO easy. Just mask off the bottom of your card and blend the top. I decided to use a leaf stencil to add a bit of interest to my blended area and it adds another element from the photo.

I've pretty much been overusing this 'new' technique!!

Now it's your turn to show us what the photo inspired you to create, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 2nd.

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

Scandinavian Background..

Hey,

So I keep seeing all of these great cards that are essentially a stamped background that is made up of lots of little stamps.

They always feel so Scandinavian to me - hence the title of my post.

I thought I would have a go and my own version and I am so in love with this, that I haven't made it into a card yet, I just want to keep looking at it!

I used the Pink Fresh Studio 'Dream On' set that was a piece of NBUS from Black Friday last year, pretty shameful as Thanksgiving is not far away..

I actually bought it because I love the bird / circle stamp.

I coloured it using Liquid Watercolours, which is a new medium to me and I am falling in love with it rapidly..I only have a few colours, but I like to try new things and having a few colours as a test is a good idea - full set syndrome will come.

I love making these kinds of backgrounds, it is a great way to use the teeny tiny stamps you get in sets.

I am actually thinking I might frame this and keep it..what do you think?

Cx

Sketch Saturday #536 MMendel Illustrations..

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is MMedell Illustrations and they are offering 3 digis from their store and a whopping 50% discount for the rest of the year in their store! WHOOP!

Here's the sketch...

Another fabulous sketch from our leader Kel. I loved the idea of a super large sentiment with a delicate image. So I chose Fox with Umbrella because I've always really liked it.

I kept my card pretty simple to fit the sketch, printed and coloured the stamp and then die-cut the white panel. The great sentiment stamp is by American Crafts and it was one of the first things I bought when I moved to NYC in 2013.

I added some co-ordinating twine to finish my card off and I'm super happy with how well the idea in my head came together.

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 October 26th 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Vintage is in!!

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I am looking forward to being home in NYC this weekend and getting some QT at my desk AND watching NFLSunday with Hubby.

I was lucky enough to be in London to celebrate my friend and colleague Harry's birthday. None of us understand how he is only 30!! He has a wise head on his shoulders.

I thought it would be fun to use one of the LePetiteMarket 'Mermaids and Sailors' stamps, as Harry has a beard and I felt sure he would love to own a pipe (he confirmed this when he opened the card).

I printed the main part of the sentiment on my computer and added the 'Harry' the 'Vintage is in' sentiment is new and by Scrapbook.com I bought it as part of my birthday haul and the set has all these awesome birthday phrases.

I especially love 'have cake for breakfast' I can't wait to have a play with it!

It's always fun to make a card with someone in mind.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Monster Hugs from Me to You..

Hey,

So I am back in NYC now. I had a fun time in London, lots of work, but lots of hangs with some of my fave peeps and my family.

I didn't blog much whilst I was away and I'm learning to be ok with not posting every single day..it's an internal struggle, but I am getting there!

I made today's card before I left for London. I saw something on Instagram that sparked this idea and I am pretty pleased with the end result.

I love Monster stamps and having a stamp and die of the word Monster is just amazing!

I used the Neat & Tangled 'Little Monster' set for the large word, large Monster and the sentiment. The other Monsters and stars are by Clearly Besotted and Mama Elephant.

I felt pretty brave with the overhanging word!

As JT said when I showed it to her over the weekend, the stars really make the card and I only added them because I wasn't a 100% happy with it!

Goes to show a small stamp can add a lot.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Humour Me Wednesday..

Hey,

I am with the Catch The Bug Humour Me Wednesday challenge today.

We love to celebrate a 'holiday' with humour. I decided my card would celebrate today's National Chocolate Cupcake day!!

The Stella Kiss It stamp made me laugh and it handily had cupcakes in, so I could colour them to look chocolately, tying in nicely.

I coloured the image and then cut it out, leaving a white border, so it would pop against my pink papers. I have had these coordinating papers for AGES. I love the cake paper so much, it has been hoarded.

Hope you will be playing along too. Can't wait to see which image you choose to use.

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

Cx

Floral Anniversary...

Hey,

I am still in London and SUPER excited today.

I am off to watch the NFL at Wembley with my Dad and it's going to be great, we always used to try and get to the London games when I lived in London.

It will make up for not being able to watch a ton of games from my usual NFL Sunday sofa position.

I thought my card today was topical, as I made it specifically for my Parents wedding anniversary on 8th October. Top fact, my folks have only been married for 14 years..but together for approx 47 years!!

It was a great excuse to play with a piece of NBUS. The stamp is 'Heart Bouquet' by Laurel Burch for Stampendous.

I stamped it onto watercolour paper and used liquid watercolours to colour it and added a ton of Nuvo drops in a few colours. I added a simple sentiment, as the stamp is very fussy.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and my parents liked it too.

I am heading home to NYC tomorrow - Yay! It's been a fun week of parties, work, catch-ups and even a crafty playdate with JT, but I will be happy to get home to Hubby, Boscat and my desk.

Cx

Retro Rubber #97..Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a tic-tac-toe board for you created by Jan, I LOVE tic-tac-toe.

I also love masking, so I went with masking - birthday - flowers.

My advice for you if you are creating a masked scene is to either stamp it all first without the masks or to plan it by laying all the stamps on top of each other. This way, you only have to create masks for the things that are really going to need masking off.

I love this set by My Cute Stamps 'Spunky Nature' I bought it second-hand at the start of 2017 and I combined it with x2 MFT flower sets from 2016 and a freebie sentiment.

I created x3 masks for this card - bird and x2 large flowers. My go to inks are Dew Drops by Tsukineko because the colours are always so vibrant. I love how bright and cheery this card is and it works so well with the sentiment.

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

Challenge ends October 19th.

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

Sketch Saturday #534.. 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 Designs and they are offering 1 digi stamp from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I love the cute Kitty Bee Panda's and it was hard to choose an image, but I settled on Pumpkin Panda.

This sketch by our awesome leader Kel is so much fun. I loved working with it. First I printed and coloured the stamp, then I die-cut it using a stitched square die and the black mat was cut with a regular square die.

I went to town on the banners, I have these teeny tiny little banner dies by Avery Elle and I really haven't used them that much, so I got them out and die-cut a bunch of scraps to create my banner fringe :)

I heat embossed the sentiment and added a bit of orange bling to finish off my card.

I think I need more Kitty Bee Stamps..

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 October 12th 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

The Paper Players: A harvest of blessings..

Hey,

I like to play along with a challenge before I go on a trip.

I am off to London tonight, so I thought as I love tic-tac-toe I would play along with the current The Paper Players challenge.

I chose the patterned paper - pumpkin - orange/rust row.

I've had the MFT 'Harvest Mouse' set for a while and have barely used it, so I thought it would be cool to use the cute little Mouse carrying the pumpkin.

The patterned papers are from my fave Lawn Fawn 'Sweater Weather' paper pack..I love this pack and it always reminds me of my first ever Jenn Shurkus loft art retreat. It holds sentimental value, because thanks to Jenn I got my NYC family :)

I stamped a sentiment from the sent onto some orange card and then added the Mouse using some foam tape.

And to keep with the orange theme I used a orange card blank.

A great way to spend the last night at my desk.

Have a great weekend, see you in London next week.

Cx

Birthday Monster Thanks...

Hey,

I had a great birthday. It was a lot of fun and I got throughly spoily by my people.

As you probably know by now, I like to create themed thank you's for Christmas and Birthdays.

This year I kept it super simple (I always over complicate these..).

I created the sentiment on my computer and printed it out, then I die-cut it using the awesome second-hand scalloped die I have.

The singing monster made me smile and think of all the fun I had on Friday night with my peeps. She is by Your Next Stamp 'Silly Monster Rockstars'. I have loved their monsters since I first saw them about 4 years ago and have all the sets - there is one more I 'need'.

Tomorrow I leave for London for 11 days, looking forward to seeing my family, friends and work crazies AND Poppa and I are watching the Seahawks in London - awesome.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #96 Get your sketch on..still time to play..

Hey,

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

This time we have a sketch challenge for you.

We can't wait to see your interpretation of the sketch, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 5th.

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