Hello Winter Baby..

Hey,

At the end of January our friends had their first baby, after a really difficult set of stillbirths. I think it's ok for me to reference that, as they are advocates for talking about it and support several charities, that bring this subject to forefront of people's minds.

To celebrate the arrival of Baby Rowan, I went baby stuff crazy and sent them a flat rate box of goodies and I am working on another project for them.

I also made today's card to go with the box of goodies.

As Rowan was born during the Winter, I thought it would be fun to make a Winter focused baby card.

I started by smooshing some distress ink onto watercolour paper. Then cue much fussing and fiddling trying out all of the background elements!

The Polar Bear stamp is by MFT and is one of my all time fave sets (Polar Bear Pals).

I love how it came together and is a really nice twist on regular new baby cards.

Cx

Less is More: One Layer Crown...

Hey,

I was just getting ready to write about this card I made for a friend and realised it made the perfect entry for the latest Less is More challenge.

One of my work colleagues is also a friend and she's quite sassy and I thought the sentiment worked well for her.

My Insta friend Kelly, sent me the stamp last year and I have loved it using it.

This time I decided to keep the card simple, so it would be the focal point, I smooshed some distress ink onto my watercolour paper and dried it and repeated this several times until I got the colour I wanted. Then I added some splatters.

In lieu of a gift I sent her this inside the card -

Yes it is a crown..hahahahaha. Paper Source had a big sale shortly after Kelly sent me the stamp and they had these cards with crowns in on super bargain sale, so I bought all of them and now I send them when I make cards with this stamp.

I love it all and I am super happy I got to enter it into a challenge.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #105...Sketch Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge with a little twist this time, as we are partnering with Try Stamping On Tuesday!

We are featuring their sketch as our challenge.

You know how much I love a sketch and a challenge, so this is double the fun!

You can link up your entry with both challenges. Check them out at Try Stamping On Tuesday!

I had so much fun creating my card. First I masked off half a sheet of white card and created the blue part of my blended background, once that was complete I moved the tape a bit to create the green part.

I die-cut it out, so that I would get more blue than green to help me create a mini scene.

I used the grass and Cow stamps from a great AMuse Studio set 'Go Hog Wild' that I have had since 2017.

I mounted that little scene onto a spotty card blank and added the banners and the sentiment.

Love it! It's a bit off the wall, I mean how often do you see a birthday Cow scene?

Show us your interpretation of the sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and Try Stamping On Tuesday 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

Splattery Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Well that was a weekend and a half!!!

I went out with the girls on Friday night and did not get home until 3am and then had PT at 10am. Man that sh*t was HARD!!

Then I hung out at home and played at my desk, making all kinds of fun things.

Today's card, I made as an experiment, sadly it didn't photograph very well, because you can't really see the pale pink watercolour wash behind the sentiment.

The sentiment stamps are by Studio Calico and I stamped them over my watercolour wash and then added some blue ink splatters.

I love the simplicity of it, brought alive with the awesome card blank.

Have a great week, I am going to be working out a LOT this week, ahead of my crafting weekend away with Lisette, we are going on a road trip to do a couple of Jenn Shurkus classes in Conneticut.

Cx

Flowery Thanks...

Hey,

It's been a while since I played along with The Flower Challenge.

I liked the theme this month -

I have had this Christine Adolph flower stamp for a couple of months and it really hasn't had much use.

I coloured the orange one first, but got so excited I coloured another one!! I used distress inks and a paintbrush - I used to use aquabrushes, but I realised how much I prefer a good old fashioned paintbrush and so switched and now I watercolour with them all the time.

The Thank You stamp / die is from a shop call The Works in the UK.

Super simple cards to make and I now need more flower stamps by Christine Adolph, as it was a dream to colour.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #552 Mmedel Illustrations...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Mmedel Illustrations and they are offering a bumper prize of x2 digis from their store and a discount coupon - WHOOP!!

Here's the sketch by me!

A few of the DT decided to use the Unique Unicorn image..I'm a fan of Unicorns and I am overjoyed that they are so popular right now.

I decided to mix some spotty papers to match the sketch, I thought they coordinated well with the Unicorn. I used the sentiment that came with the image.

I added a fun foam star to finish it off.

A really easy fun make, that has already left my desk/

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 1st March 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

A little puff...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Gotta love a short week right!

Today I am showing you a pair of cards I made as a CASE. The card below is the one I CASE'd by a fave of mine Amy Kolling..

The set is Sea-prise by Avery Elle and I love it and it has been used a lot.

I haven't really used the Puffer Fish much and was looking around for some inspiration.

To create my holes I used a great die by Simon Says Stamp that a friend bought me, it only has 3 holes, but worked just as well.

I traced around the holes onto my card blank and blended the 'sea' and stamped the fish and waves onto the card blank.

I added clear droplets just like Amy and stamped a sentiment from the set.

I love how cheeky they are and they make create fun cards for adults, both of mine were used for men. RESULT!! I mean how hard are male cards!

Have a great weekend, I am going out to party a bit with some of my girl squad tonight and then into the gym tomorrow to be brutalised by Wendel!

Cx

Peacock Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy Thursday!

There has been a bit of a post gap from me, I was on vacation for 6 days with my Hubby in Tampa and when we got back, we collected our new cat Clint!

Isn't he gorgeous! We are in love already and he has settled in really well.

I made today's card a while ago. I bought the awesome Peacock set by Avery Elle over Black Friday..

It actually comes with a 'Happy Valentine's Day' sentiment, but for my first use of it, I wanted to make an Anniversary card.

I stamped the Peacock repeatedly onto a piece of white card to create the background and because I wanted my bright and colourful Peacock to pop, I left them all uncoloured.

I added two different kinds of hearts and the sentiment to complete the card.

I love it, it was a good decision to leave the background uncoloured.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Sunday Sketch Challenge..

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you!

Hubby and I are currently sunning ourselves in Tampa!

Today I am with the Catch The Bug team for the Stella Says Sketch challenge

I decided to rotate the sketch and use a fave stamp of mine - Margaret Morning People - I feel her pain..

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and trimmed it out, so it had a border. I used a fun chevron embossing folder, for the bottom half of my background and in my blue scrap box, I found the blue glittery strip and the scalloped piece.

It reminds me of one of my bestie's so it will be winging its way to her soon!

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

Happy Birthday Man..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Bit belated, but I wanted to wait until JT had a chance to open her card.

It was so good to spend some QT with her last week unexpectedly, as she came to NYC to visit the office.

I love this stamp by Unity Stamp Co.

The sentiment and the sassy lady reminded me of JT, especially when she is in fierce boss lady mode.

And sometimes I think people forget how hard her job is, because she has such a sunny, happy personality and rarely lets things get to her.

I thought she would appreciate it and the awesome stencil that I used, because a passion for crafting is one of many things we share.

I love to gush about my friendship with JT, she is so special and I am so lucky to have found her and we are SO similar it's like having an identical twin born 11 years later..

Every year my post is titled the same thing, so check out last year's post about my awesome sister friend, because I think I said everything I think and feel about her perfectly then.

Happy Belated Birthday Man.

Cx

Happy Valentine's Day...

Hey,

I normally do a Valentine's Day card series, but this year because I have been sick and super busy at work, I just didn't find the time to get the posts ready.

Hubby and I are not into celebrating Valentine's Day, but I do love making the cards, so I send them to my girlfriends.

Every year I make Hubby a pun-tastic card, because he is not a fan of the punny cards, I always get an eye roll from him when I make them.

I bought the awesome Newton's Nook 'Pina Koala' stamp because I knew that Hubby would be all 'why?' hahahaha.

I printed out part of the sentiment, leaving a gap for the Pina Koala stamp. I stamped the cute Koala and then die-cut the whole panel using a Lil Inkers die. 

I mounted the white panel onto a Lawn Fawn cardblank.

Fun right?

Hubby and I are en-route to Tampa as this posts, 5 glorious days of sunshine and RR.

Cx

p.s I did make 10 VDay cards for my girls, but didn't photograph them..

Retro Rubber Challenge #104... Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a Tic Tac Toe board from Jan -

I went with the top row, Butterflies/Green/Textured Embossing.

First I used a diffuser plate to create the circle of embossing you can see on my card, the big spot folder is ancient and my fave ever embossing folder by Sizzix, then I stamped the sentiment (by Newton's Nook from 2017).

I dug through my stash and found x2 butterfly embellishments (top and bottom). The middle one, I die-cut myself from a ink smooshed piece of paper using a Clearly Besotted die from 2016, I had planned to stamp this butterfly, but it just didn't work!

I love all the different tones on my card - earthy but with that bright green to liven it up.

Which row will you choose? Be sure to stop over at 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

Sketch Saturday #550 LeAnn's World...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is LeAnn's World and they are offering a prize of 2 digital stamps from their store.

Here's the sketch...

One of the DT chose the Thessa image that I used on my card.

I decided to rotate the sketch. I printed and coloured the image and die-cut it using a stitched oval die, to compliment the sketch. As Thessa is a Mermaid, I decided to use nautical papers - the starfish paper is digital and ancient from the now defunkt Pink Petticoat, the striped paper is a scrap from a beloved MFT 6x6 stack!

The sentiment is by Stampin' Up.

I added a teeny tiny blue pearl to anchor it all.

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 15th Feb 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Twofer Challenge time...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

This week has been crazy!!! Being very unwell last week left me with a backlog of work and personal things.. AND JT was here for a few days, so I really wanted to spend a decent amount of time with her.

I did manage to make a twofer card this week :)

I really wanted to play along with both of the current Less is More and Addicted to CAS challenges and I felt that they combined really well.

I love bird stamps and the most recent set I purchased Mod Birds by MFT is fast becoming a fave. I stamped all of the birds from the set in navy and yellow ink, fitting the LIM theme. I wasn't sure which of the birds I wanted to use and tried them all until I settled on the one you see.

I like masking off shapes so I can ink blend into them and so now I have a ton of ready to go masks - fun tip, I use the card inserts that come in stamp sets to create masks out of :).

I used Fossilised Amber Distress Oxide ink for my circle and added some stars by Studio Calico in navy around the edge of my circle.

The sentiment stamp is a magazine freebie and fit the overall theme perfectly I thought.

I'm pretty pleased with the ONE card I have managed to make this week.

I'm looking forward to some serious desk time this weekend.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Thursday Oldie But Goodie...

Hey,

Happy Thursday to you..

I am with the Catch The Bug team today.. Thursdays are when we encourage you to go back through your older Bugaboo Stamps and give a neglected oldie some love..

Bugaboo Stamps were the first digital stamps I ever bought when I started crafting and Jodie's amazing Flower Jar stamps sparked a love of all 'flower jar' style stamps. I have TONS of them in digital and physical formats.

I love that on this one the label on the jar is blank, so I can add whatever sentiment.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and die-cut out the panel using a small stitched rectangle die. I used a pink card blank and two scrap pieces of coordinating pink papers for my background layers.

A fun card, that has made me want to break out all the Flower Jar stamps..

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

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #103..Ribbons of Love..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 to use ribbons on your love themed card.

Show us your cards / project and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends February 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

Snarky Work Calendar..

Hey!

Happy Monday!

I have been absent from my blog for a few days as I was horribly unwell last week. I am on the mend now, but sadly Hubby now has the lurgy..

I thought today I would share my fun calendar that I made for my work desk..

JT (who incidentally is here in NYC right now - WHOOP!) bought me the awesome Tim Holtz snarky stickers as part of our BF $20 challenge and I thought they would make a hilarious calendar.

Here's a close-up -

My particular fave is 'Of course I talk to myself..Sometimes I need an expert opinion.' LOL.

Cx