Sunny Days and Laughter...

Hey,

How I long for the Sunny Days I reference in the title of my post today..

I am really not a Winter person!

A while back a colleague and a friend in the London office left and I wanted to send her a little gift and it gave me the perfect opportunity to play with this gorgeous stamp set by Pink Fresh Studio (Let's Flamingle).

I CASEd one of the ideas I'd seen for using the stamp and heat embossed it onto watercolour paper, using gold embossing powder and then watercoloured it using distress inks.

It looked so lovely when it was finished, I was in two minds about giving it away LOL.

I added one of the sentiments from the set, as I thought it was perfect for the recipient.

Such a simple way to use a complex stamp.

Cx

Hip Hippo Anniversary..

Hey,

Only 5 more days of work for me before the Christmas break - I literally cannot wait.

December is the hardest month in my job, it's so intense getting everything delivered pre-Christmas and then planning for January, but it also feels pretty satisfying too, getting that much work done in such a short space of time.

I have good friends who celebrate their wedding anniversary in December, they got married the same year as Hubby and I and their wedding was one of my all time faves..

I bought this great Waffle Flower set 'Hip Hip Hooray' a while back and I hadn't used it, so I thought it would make a fun anniversary card for my friends - in part because they do a lot of things together and I thought these cute Hippos working out together summed them up.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the hippos. I stamped hearts all over a mini kraft tag (I buy these from eBay 2x3.5inch and you get 100 for $2) using embossing ink and then dusted perfect pearls over them to create a fun background.

I stuck with the purple theme and mounted the tag onto a purple card blank, add the hippos and stamped the sentiment in a deep violet.

A slightly different anniversary card, but I love making things that are a bit personal for the recipients.

Cx

CAS(E) this sketch: Sparkle!..

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you!

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

I am very happy as we got bonus football yesterday.

Having been away from my desk for over 10 days, I thought it would be nice to play along with a challenge or two to ease me back in.

I loved the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch -

It immediately sparked an idea.

As you know JT and I do a Black Friday $20 challenge.. well many years later we are over the $20 tag and spend whatever we want (within reason) but we still add some 'rules' this year it was stars, stripes, fancy brand and florals.

JT bought me this awesome set by Sizzix and I thought it would be perfect for this sketch.

I started by die-cutting the white panel using a stitched rectangle die and then I added strips of glittery washi tape. I stamped the stars from the set using Dew Drop Galaxy Gold ink (my fave gold ink) and then I added a little stitched border - from an ancient Bo Bunny set.

Sadly, the top left stars haven't photographed that well...but that is always the downside of gold ink!

I stamped the main sentiment from the set onto black card using embossing ink and then dusted gold Pearl Ex over it (my new obsession) and then die-cut it out, using the die that comes with the set.

I LOVE IT!!! It was such a random thought it my head that actually came out perfectly. Yay!

Cx

Sketch Saturday.. #544...The Paper Shelter...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is The Paper Shelter and they are offering 3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch the last one by me this year!!

I loved the Naughty or Nice image and for the first time ever I used the coloured digi - it is so beautiful coloured that I really didn't think I would do it justice if I coloured it!

I printed the digi and fussy cut it out. I created my background using a piece of red card and strips of glittery washi tape. I stamped the sentiment which I have had for years and I chose it because of the name of the stamp.

I used the same glittery washi tape to create the banner over the image, but I reinforced it by putting it onto a strip of white 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.

This is the last Sketch Saturday for 2018 it's been a fun year, hope to see you in 2019, we'll be back on 5th January.

This challenge ends on Friday 21st 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: Reveal Wheel Fun..

Hey,

So earlier this year, we did a great class with Cheiron at The Inkpad using the Lawn Fawn reveal wheel and I loved it so much, I bought the stamps and the dies..

But shamefully, I just never used it.

Then Lisette bought me the Christmas reveal wheel sentiments and I realised that I should break out the set and make some cards.

I made both Cheiron and Lisette's birthday cards with it and it was SO easy that I decided to make cards for my Niece and Nephew.

The main photo today is of the card for Florence and the one below is for Otis.

For both cards I used the same idea for the front of the card, I stamped a Christmas related image and then masked it off and stenciled over it.

I added sentiments to the wheel and the front of the card from the Lawn Fawn sets - using a mix of both the regular and Christmas sets.

So easy to make and lots of interactive fun for the kids.

I'll be using this set more that is for sure!

Cx

Supplies -

Neat & Tangled - Beary Merry

Jane's Doodles - Mr & Mrs Claus

Tim Holtz - Tree Stencil

The Inkpad - Star Stencil

Distress Oxide Inks

Promarkers

Nuvo Drops 

Christmas Card 2018: Ugly sweater time..

Hey,

I am back FINALLY from my trip to London and Porto!

It was a fun 10 days, but it is seriously nice to be home.

I am continuing to show you some of the Christmas Cards I made this year.

I love making ugly sweater cards - and I have an ancient Simon Says Stamp set that I use every year. Last year in a sale I bought another similar set by Amuse Studio, because I liked the sentiments.

So this year to switch it up, I decided to die-cut the 'sweaters' out of some traditional Christmas papers that reminded me of ugly sweaters.

As you can see I then stamped over them with the sweater stamp from the Amuse set.

I kept the cards really simple, just a die-cut stitched rectangle background in either red or kraft and then I stamped a mixture of sentiments from both sets.

I mounted the sweaters onto the cards using foam tape.

I made tons and tons of these, as they were so quick to do, as I die-cut the sweaters in batches, as with a Big Shot you can die-cut at least 5 sheets of thin paper at once, if you use a metal shim. And I used x3 stamping platforms and set-up the sentiments so I could just make in bulk.

Tools have come a long way since I first started crafting..

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #101..still time to play Holiday Theme

Hey,

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

It's our last challenge of 2018 and the theme is Happy Holidays, be inspired by the photo when making your card.

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

Challenge ends December 14th.

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.

Happy Holidays everyone and we'll see you in 2019!

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: For the parents..

Hey,

To round of this week of Christmas Card fun (and a birthday card..), I wanted to show you the Christmas card to end all Christmas cards!

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents have given me a Christmas card from them and one of each of them individually, I am sure this is something to do with me being an only child..

So now I give them a joint card from Hubby and I and individual ones for each of them from me.

Today's card is the one I made as their joint card.

Isn't he gorgeous?!

I literally discovered perfect pearls a couple of weeks ago and I happened to have a purple pot of them and so I had a play and decided I liked them enough to invest in other colours. BUT then I realised how pricey they are and researched alternatives and came up with Jacquard Pearl Ex.

Pearl Ex need a fixative and Perfect Pearls do not, but Pearl Ex come in a large container for the same price as the teeny tiny Perfect Pearls ones..

So I bought x2 colours of Pearl Ex - Gold and Blue - I mean come on, my 3 fave colours are gold, purple and blue, so all good.

For this card, I stamped the Sizzix large snowflake stamp using versamark embossing ink and then dusted the gold Pearl Ex over the top, the result is just stunning. I've always been a bit meh about that snowflake stamp..no longer!

The large snowflake die is a set by Penny Black and I die-cut it from a shimmery red cardstock scrap I found in my red paper drawer. I used the smaller die from the set for the gold snowflake.

Then I die-cut a label and stamped my sentiment in versamark and dusted some Pearl Ex over it, so it matched the background. Cue approx 35 mins of ridiculous butter finger bow tying.. and the card was finished.

I can't stop staring at it, its so shimmery and feels super Christmassy.

I think my parents will love it.

Tonight we are heading back to London from Porto. Hubby and I fly home tomorrow, so I will tell you all about the trip next week.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Awkward Holiday Chaos...BINGO!!

Hey,

Happy Friday to you (from London)..

It's the final day of the Catch The Bug awkward holiday chaos challenge -

And we are going out with a bang with a freebie friday bingo!

We have this great Stella stamp as a Freebie today, go and grab her and play along.

I had so much fun playing with this image and I chose the 3rd vertical row - Sentiment / Non Trad Colours / Star.

I printed the image and the sentiment and coloured Stella using Promarkers and made her hat hot pink, not the traditional red. I then stenciled stars all over the panel using hot pink, lime green and electric blue - a fave combo of mine, but not at all traditional Christmas colours.

I love the end result, so much fun and a perfect way to end this week of fun!

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

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: Monster Shaker..

Hey,

Happy Thursday from London!!

My card is a mini shaker that I made for Lisette for Christmas. I bought the MFT Shaker cups on sale and I haven't played with them yet.

They only fit the MFT circle dies, so I had to dig out a scalloped shaker circle die by MFT.

I die-cut the aperture first, so I could line up the circle with my background and stamp my little tambourine playing Monster (Monster Jam by Mama Elephant).

I added the bauble elements from a Tim Holtz foam stamp set, so the shaker looked like a dangling bauble.

The sentiment is stamped way lower than I had planned, but I forgot to stamp it BEFORE I put the shaker together, so had to stamp it on the foam tape - ugh.

Anyway, Lisette liked it and that's all that matters right?

Cx

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Hey,

Today is my Dad's birthday!

I am lucky enough for the 2nd year in a row to be here to celebrate with him.

We kick started the celebrations by going to a Football match on Sunday, meaning we got to spend some QT together.

I've written SO many posts about my Dad, so I'm keeping it to a minimum here. I love my Dad, he is awesome, funny and kind. Because of him I am a huge NFL fan and this season, we have done weekly pick ems' (including my Husband) and the trash talking has been hilarious!!

My Dad is one of the best at keeping in touch with me and I love him even more for that.

Tonight we are off to his fave curry house with a few surprise guests..

I am very pleased with his card this year, I used my latest fave star stencil and x2 distress oxide inks, I then stamped the sentiment over the top using Navy Blue Versamark ink.

The sentiment was made up of x3 stamp sets, the 'Daddy' was made up from Tim Holtz alpha foam stamps. The 'Happy Birthday' is by Concord & 9th and the 'You're a star' is by Lawn Fawn.

Happy Birthday Daddy, you crazy awesome dude.

Cx

Retro Rubber #101...Photo Inspired Happy Holidays!

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Well wasn't that a fun 100th celebration?!

A big thanks from me and the whole team to all of the people that joined in the fun and left comments on our blogs.

The winner of my giveaway is Angel North (http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.com/). Congrats - Angel, use the contact me form on the right hand side of my blog to send me your address details - I'll be back on 10th of December and will post your package then.

This is our last challenge of the year and in spirit of the season we are wishing you Happy Holidays with this theme -

I went a bit off piste, so to clarify, I used the snow, hat and scarf to inspire my card LOL.

I decided to go all non-traditional colours, as I was using a Flamingo stamp! The stamp is by Inkadinkadoo and I've had it since 2016, the whole set is a lot of fun and not really traditional, which might be why I love it so much. It is no longer for sale, so here's a photo for you.

I dug out a sparkly tag from my enormous tag stash - if you don't know me that well, here's a bit of insight I am literally addicted to tags, I make my own using dies AND I buy them at any opportunity..if my Husband ever finds my stash, I swear he will divorce me!

I printed a piece of pink snowflake paper by Pink Petticoat that I have had for about 9 years..I love the subtle snowflakes peeking through. I cut it a bit shorter, so I could add a sparkly gold border to coordinate with the tag. Final touch was to add the sentiment from the same stamp set.

I love this overly girly Holiday card it makes me very happy.

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

Challenge ends December 14th.

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

Christmas Card 2018: Non-Trad Tag Christmas..

Hey,

So this year (like most) I made a metric ton of Christmas cards between Aug 1st and November 1st. However this year I haven't really posted them here.

Not sure why, but this week, I'm gonna show you a few of them.

Starting with today's beauty. I went to the Works and Poundland with JT when I was in London in October and I saw these beautiful tags and thought they would make nice Christmas card embellishments.

I created a background using digital stamps by Alexia Claire (LOVE their digi stamps), printed it out, coloured it and die-cut it with one of my fave dies ever..which shortly after I made this card fell down the gap between my desk and the expedit - UGH. Essentially that is more hassle than it's worth, so it will now live there until I move (not happening anytime soon).

I added sparkly gold thread to the sentiment tag and I used a blue gem to cover the 'tag hole' on the Reindeer - clever right?!

I love the end result, totally non-traditional Christmas and feels very modern.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Awkward Holiday Chaos begins..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you - as this post goes live, I will be landing in London.

It's the first day of the Catch The Bug awkward holiday chaos challenge -

Today we are starting with a fun challenge to kick-start the week of Chaos -

I decided to make a special pop-up card for a friend, I am only showing you the inside, as the front is very personal :)

It was super hard to photograph my card, but I think you get the idea!

I used one of my all time fave Bugaboo images - Winter Bird Snow Globe, I've had it awhile and it comes out to play every Christmas.

First I printed, coloured and fussy cut the image. I then stamped the snowflakes on the 'backdrop' of the pop-up card and on the left corner..to cover an oops. I used MFT pop-up dies - love these, they make creating pop-up card a breeze.

The sentiment comes with the image and I think it works really well here, as this is a super personal card for a friend.

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes and be sure to join us all week for fun challenges and prizes.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #542... Star Stampz...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and greetings from London!

Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Star Stampz and they are offering a prize of 3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I actually had a choice of several digis for this card, but I loved Christmas Tangle when JT used it early this year and so I wanted a play too!

I printed the image onto a white panel and coloured it with Promarkers, then I added a red scrap to create the border. The joy sentiment is a Tim Holtz die that I have never used, so was pretty glad it finally (3+ years later) got an outing. I added a blingy gold star to finish it off.

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 December 7th, 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx