Retro Rubber Challenge #103.. Ribbons of Love..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we are combining love with ribbons (for some of us that is the same thing LOL)...

Inspiration hit me the minute I saw this one and I dug out the Heart Confetti set by Clearly Besotted, that I have had since 2017. It comes with tons of different hearts and I used 7 of them to create the top part of my card.

I die-cut a red heart and added a little ribbon bow, but before I affixed it to the white heart stamped panel, I stamped the sentiment by Unity Stamp Co. that I have had since 2015.

This came out so well that I gifted it to my work colleague to use as her Valentine's Day card for her Hubby.

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

Challenge ends Feb 8th.

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

Big Bear Thank You...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

So I made a whole bunch of Monster thank you's to say 'thank you' for my Christmas Gifts.

But I had ordered this awesome Holiday Thank You stamp set by Waffle Flower and so waited for it to arrive, so I could make thank you card for my NYC work colleagues.

He's pretty detailed, but was SO much fun to watercolour.

As the stamp is quite big, I had to make custom card blanks and envelopes.

I've seen all kinds of ideas on Pinterest using this set, so I think I'll be trying some of those next, using only part of the stamp.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Saturday Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

Hubby and I are heading upstate this weekend to go hiking..might be a tad chilly, so it might just end up being a cosy weekend in a hotel bar :)

This week over at the Catch The Bug Saturday challenge we have a colour challenge for you.

I am a big purple fan, so these colours made me very happy.

I decided to use the Circle Sentiments - Warm Wishes stamp, as I thought it would look lovely in the colours.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and die-cut it using a scalloped circle die. I added some purple sequins to the image.

I found a matching spotty card blank and to anchor my circle I added a strip of gold glittery washi tape.

It turned out perfectly and is going to a friend who left NYC behind for the warmer climes of Florida (yes I am jealous).

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

Sketch Saturday #548 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 a prize of 3 digi's from their store.

Here's the sketch...

The image I used is called Glittery and Sparkling and it worked so well with the sketch.

I printed and coloured my image using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens. Then I die-cut it using a stitched circle die.

I decided to add a sparkly border to match the sketch and chose a powder blue piece of sparkly powder to match the coloured image.

It took me a while to settle on a sentiment, but then I remembered I had some great chipboard phrases by Tim Holtz.

To match the sketch, I added some blue bling around the image.

Fun card, that is winging it's way to my Aunt.

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 Feb 1st 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

Less Is More: Sketch...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

This week I am having a lot of fun entering challenges.

I didn't really have the time or the mojo in December, but now everything seems to be aligning and I can play! Yay!

I LOVED the sketch over at Less is More, so many possibilities..

I masked off the x2 triangles and blended some Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick ink into the masked off space. I then ummed and aahed - stencils or stamps over it. So I decided to pause and look for a sentiment to inspire me..

I remembered I had a great set by Unity Stamp Co. 'So Very Grateful' and I chose one of the sentiments from the set.

Then I stamped hearts over the inked panels and then stamped over those hearts with an outline heart stamp (notice my oops..ugh.).

It's so simple, but so impactful. I think I have to save this sketch and use it again.

Hope you have a nice weekend, I am going to the gym at 6am today, then out with my ladies and then tomorrow Hubby and I are heading to the Hudson Valley for a short break.

Cx

Sending Hugs Your Way...

Hey,

Some of the Craftgang had a really rough end to 2018.

I wanted to send one of the girls a card and I saw this Group Hug stamp by Waffle Flower and so I bought it, because there are 6 of us in the Craftgang and this stamp felt like us :)

I stamped and coloured it using Promarkers and die-cut it out.

The background I created using stencils, Pearl-ex, distress inks and shimmer spray. IRL it is SUPER shimmery.

A really simple way to send a virtual hug.

Cx

CASology: Smile..

Hey,

I had some free desk time last night, so I decided in honour of my first HM of the year over at CASology I would play along with this week's cue card.

I have this great stamp by Waffle Flower 'Picture Perfect' that I thought would be great to make a semi-one layer card.

I stamped and coloured the image and then trimmed it out, so I could mount it onto my white card blank..

And that is pretty much it LOL. I mean it can't really get any more CAS than that - can it?

I love the cheeky monkey and her little friends, I have a friend in mind who I think will love this card.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #102... Black and White..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 black and white only on your card.

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

Challenge ends January 25th.

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

Whale Hello There!! ....

Hey,

I am a big fan of nautical / sea themed stamps and recently I have acquired quite a few new ones - some have been gifts :)

Lisette found a set that I have been looking for and gave it to me for Christmas :)

It's by Recollections and they made a few fun sets last year and I have most of them, but this one eluded me..

Last weekend, I decided it was time for a play..

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the whale from the set and I chose all the background papers from my stash.

I was a bit thrown by how to anchor my Whale and add the sentiment, I tried waves stencils and didn't love that. So I was looking through my dies and saw the stitched arch dies by MFT and in the die wallet was a yellow one all die-cut and ready to go and it worked, so I die-cut 3 more to coordinate with my backgrounds.

I did a variant on the sentiment and added 'birthday boy', as I thought the cards were quite masculine!

I love how they came out, they work really well as a set.

Cx

Addicted to CAS: Friends..

Hey,

I saw the codeword for the current Addicted to CAS challenge and knew I had to play along..

I had the sentiment (Jillibean Soup 'Friends') that I used on my card out on my desk, so it felt like fate!

I decided to pull out a fun stamp by Stamping Bella 'Rosie and Bernie in Hawaii' as I thought it complimented the sentiment really well.

I stamped onto watercolour paper, so I could colour the stamp using distress inks and a paintbrush.

And even though the image is quite busy, I think that the whole thing has a really CAS feel because there is so much white space left on the card.

Even the busiest image can become a CAS piece if you handle the rest of the card right :)

Cx

CASology: Cloudy..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you.

Sad times ahead, tomorrow is the last Sunday of NFL before the Superbowl, meaning the season is officially over..what will I do with my weekends now?!

To ease the pain I decided to play along with the latest CASology challenge -

It's been a while since I played along at CASology and I liked the idea of making something 'cloudy'.

I remembered that I have this great set by Neat & Tangled 'Clouds', I think it was one of the first ever N&T things I bought and it got a lot of use in 2015 when I bought it, but it's been a bit neglected since then.

I stamped and coloured 3 of the clouds from the set and then I fussy cut them out (blurgh..)

I mounted two of the clouds onto a white panel using foam tape and then I added a sentiment from the set and a few sequins to finish my card.

Wonderfully CAS and perfect for a friend.

Cx

Make some noise...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you.

In keeping with what has been a week of Monsters, I thought I'd share a couple of cards I made last weekend.

I bought the Mama Elephant Monster Jam set ages ago and got a bit annoyed that I hadn't bought the dies too, as the stamps are teeny tiny. I managed to get my hands on them at BF, so I am very happy.

I wanted to keep these cards simple, so I created a scalloped circle mask and blended some oxide inks in the circle and added some random spritzes of colour for interest (the purple one worked better).

The first line of the sentiment is from the set, the other part is my fave sentiment stamp ever by Simon Says Stamp, I use it SO much.

The white panels were die-cut with MFT wonky stitched rectangles and the card blanks are by Lawn Fawn.

Super simple, cute little cards.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash..Freebie Friday...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today it's freebie Friday, so you get to use the awesome Birthday Monsters stamp...

I decided to stick to a limited palette for my card and I am really pleased with the end result. The great Kathy Rac always says sticking with 4 colours can give you great results.

I added a Hero Arts sentiment, some Spectrum glitter pens and voila! Final monster card!!

Today is the last day of the birthday bash, I hope you have had fun playing along.

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash.. Thursday Colour Challenge..

Hey,

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today we have a colour challenge for you -

I love the Love Monsters stamp and it is one I pull out a lot for Anniversaries. This time I coloured it to match the colours in the challenge.

I love these weird Oval window dies, but I rarely use them, but as I wanted to add some washi tape behind the image, I thought they would be perfect.

The amazing sparkly tapes that accidentally match the theme were a gift to me from JT.

The sentiment is by MFT and felt like a great fit for this card.

It's going to make a perfect Valentine's for someone,

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times with a project using the colours above. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash...Wednesday Make Us Laugh..

Hey,

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today we have a make us laugh challenge..

I love the Birthday Monster Present image and paired with the great sentiment by Unity Stamp Co it made me laugh a lot.

It kind of reminds me of my Hubby when he is trying to wrap gifts :)

This card was super simple to make, I coloured the image and mounted it onto a die-cut blue mat and added the sentiment banner and stamp.


Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times using a project made with the bingo grid. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #102... Black and White...

Hey,

Welcome to the first Retro Rubber challenge of 2019.

I'm excited to be back and I hope you are.

Sadly we said goodbye to Donna over the break, we will miss her amazing cards and fun personality.

This time we have a black and white challenge..

I instantly knew I wanted to use my fave Heidi Swapp stencil to create stripes for this card. And I could not resist adding a little black & white monster. I had to add googly eyes to all of his eyes!!

I love the monsters by Your Next Stamp and this one is from their 'Silly Monsters', set that I have had since 2016.

I stamped the sentiment, also from the set onto a white stripe.

LOVE how this came out, b&w can be so very impactful.

Show us your black and white creations and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends January 25th.

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

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash.. Tuesday Bingo...

Hey,

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today we have a great bingo challenge for you..

I decided to use the Monster 3 stamp on my card and I chose the top row - Die Cut/Sentiment/Texture.

I have some Sizzix embossing diffusers, essentially it means when you emboss you can mask of parts of your paper and only emboss certain areas. Cool right?

I used a circle diffuser and a Sizzix large dots embossing folder and got that great focused texture you can see on my card.

I die-cut the teal embossed panel with a stitched rectangle panel and I added my fussy cut monster to it.

The sentiment made me smile and I thought it was perfect for a 3 headed monster.

Love the simplicity of this card and the bright colours.

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times using a project made with the bingo grid. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Addicted to CAS: Snowflake..

Hey,

So I thought I'd play along with a challenge tonight.. and I was looking at some of my faves and this popped up over at Addicted to CAS..

Just so happens I had a gorgeous Penny Black Snowflake die sitting on my desk :)

I thought it would make a great CAS card for a friend.

I die-cut the snowflakes (there are x2 pieces to the die) out of scraps of gold paper. The black background was die-cut using a stitched rectangle die and the card blank was a lucky find in my stash, it's a bronze/gold-ish colour. WHOOP!!

I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp 'Four Seasons Saying' using Versamark embossing ink and used gold Pearl-Ex over the top (still learning, hence the shimmer in the photo!). I then die-cut it out using a tag die.

Once I had affixed the snowflakes and the tag together, I punched a hole and tied it all together with a piece of gold thread.

I love how simple and impactful my card is and it was a great way to use a Snowflake not on a Christmas card.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash... Anything but a Card..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I am back again with another project for the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

As it is Monday, today we are asking you to make anything but a card..

I made a fun little bookmark for my journal / notebook.

I used the Monster Pocket stamp (not currently available in the store), I've had this stamp for ages and I use it a lot.

I coloured and fussy cut the stamp and then attached it to a strip of paper, so that it can slot into my journal / notebook

Super easy to do and it's really useful, as I can go straight to the page I need each day.

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times with a non-card project. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash - Sketch Sunday...

Hey,

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today we have a sketch for you.

I decided to use the Birthday Monster Balloon stamp on my card.

I coloured the stamp first and used the colours to inform my colour palette.

I used scraps of spotty orange papers and a green scrap to fit the sketch. The sentiment is from a great set by Create a Smile.

To finish my card, I added 3 green pearls.

I love this cute little Balloon Monster card.

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times using the sketch above. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #546 meets Bugaboo..

Hey,

Today's post is a lot of fun.

I am combining my DT challenges - whoop!

Sketch Saturday obviously have a sketch for you - the sponsor this week just happens to be Bugaboo..

Here's the Sketch...

Over at Catch The Bug we are kicking off our Annual Birthday bash and this year it's all about the MONSTERS!!! You know I love Monsters.

I'm using the Freebie Friday Monster from yesterday.

I coloured this awesome Monster using Promarkers and die-cut the white panel with a stitched square die. I added a coloured mat and then found some superb yellow heart paper in my stash that JT gave me a million years ago..

I stamped and die-cut the sentiment using a banner die and added a giant piece of bling.

I love the bright cheery nature of this card.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

If you want to join in the Sketch Saturday fun, go over to Sketch Saturday and see what the rest of the DT have made and link up your project. Challenge ends Friday 18th January 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Anything But a Card...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you.

It has been a hard weekend for Hubby and I, as we had to put our beloved Boscat to sleep on Friday. We are a bit of a mess, to be honest, but time will heal us. She was 13 and we know that she is better off, it just never feels like that!

It is a welcome distraction to have work and my blog to thing about.

Today I am with the Catch The Bug team for the Monday ABC post.

I love elaborate gift wrap and the Birthday Cake Tag stamp is one of my all time faves and I thought it would work really well with this little gift for a friend

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and die-cut it using a stitched circle die. Punched a hole and added a little piece of ribbon.

I hope my little tag gives you some inspiration of how to use the Bugaboo images in different ways.

Go over to the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

Oh Heck!...

Hey,

Happy Saturday,

It's been a short work week, but a long personal one.

Boscat is rather unwell and it's really stressful for Hubby and I, especially Hubby as she is the kitten he always wanted and they really bonded over the last 13 years.

I thought it would be nice to share a card I made for a friend. I forgot her birthday and she is totally a 'oh heck' kinda gal. I normally use a Simon Says Stamp 'Oh Ship' stamp for belated birthday cards, but I found this little beauty at Michael's and it made me smile.

The border is a stencil by The Crafters Workshop..I love it and I've played with it a lot.

A simple card but impactful.

This weekend Hubby and I will be watching wildcard games and hanging with Boscat and I bought a new unit for the craft room, so I will be slowly assembling that and transferring stuff into it (hopefully).

Cx

Welcome to 2019 and a Playdate...

Hey,

Welcome to 2019!

I hope you had a great end to 2018.

Whilst JT and I were on Christmas break, we managed a pretty epic playdate. We pretty much used most of the Black Friday challenge NBUS and any other NBUS we had lying around.

I'm super pleased with my output..

The main photo are some of my Christmas thank you cards. I used new Lil Inker monsters (Monsters Ink) and a new spiral die by Sizzix that JT gave me as part of our annual $20 challenge.

I love these, they look really good and were super simple to make.

Next up some Tim Holtz magic.. this set comes with the man stamp and the harlequin stencil... a super quick way to make some male oriented cards.

Two randoms - the cake is a CASE of my own card because I love it and the fish card I made because I got these Hero Arts stamps on super bargain sale and I wanted to have a play. The background behind the aperture was stamped using Neat and Tangled stamps.

Last up is a card that I hadn't finished yet (it is now finished and posted and I didn't take a photo..) I have wanted this Unicorn Dreams set by Pink Fresh Studio for ages and finally got it in their BF sale. The flower stamp is by Christine Adolf.

A super productive day and it has given me lots of ideas for the new year..

Back to work tomorrow after a 10 day break - ugh.

Cx