Happy Purr-thday...

Hey,

I am always seeing stamps that I really really want, but I normally wait until they are on sale or something. Because a) I want to not spend all the money I have on craft stuff and b) To gauge if I really want it.

I didn't do that with this beauty from Newton's Nook - 'Newton's Birthday Balloons' - I bought it and the matching die the minute I saw it LOL.

I had this idea in my head and it came out exactly as I wanted it to.

I stenciled the background using a fave cloud stencil by Dutchdoobadoo - they make the most amazing stencils.

I stamped, coloured and cut the stamp and before I mounted it onto the card, I stamped a sentiment from the set so I could figure out where to mount it.

I love the end result and used it as a birthday card for a kitty loving friend.

Cx

Hello Sunshine...

Hey,

Well it certainly is sunny in London, which has been a pleasant surprise.

Today's cards I made a couple of weeks ago.

I really wanted to play with a new to me MFT Pure Innocence set 'Beach Cutie'. I stamped, coloured and die-cut the stamp - I only used x4 colours to colour with and I love how they came out.

I wanted to use the 'Hello, Sunshine' sentiment that came with the set, so I hunted around for a die that would compliment it and pulled out a great freebie die that came from my old die-cutting magazine subscription.

I used cardblanks that coordinated with the stamp colouring and got really OCD by choosing my top panel and embossing powders to also coordinate!

I love the end result - they are both so pretty and were super simple to make.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #107.. Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge, I am currently in London, this is my second day in the office, it feels like it's been forever since I came home!

We have another Tic Tac Toe board for you, created by Jan..

Tic Tac Toe boards are so much fun. I went with the middle horizontal row - Thank You, Leaves, Repeat Stamping.

I dug into the archives for this card :)

The leaf  (Lace Leaf from 2016) is by Concord & 9th and I loved it SO much when I first got it, then it got a bit neglected.  I stamped the leaf first, then used the additional overlay panel to get the splatter. I didn't want to cover any of the leaf. So I hunted for the perfect sentiment stamp.

I remembered that I had this ancient (2014) Simon Says Stamp handwritten sentiment banners set and finally found it and it worked out perfectly here. Thank goodness for stamping platforms, meaning that I only had to move my paper not the stamp.

Fortunate that I happened to have a green card blank available, it helps that white panel pop a bit.

Which row will you choose? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 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

Monster Happy Mail..

Hey,

Happy Monday, live from London!!

Hope you had a good weekend? I had a fun one hanging with Hubby and my parents. Yesterday my Dad and I went to the first test game at the new Tottenham stadium - which was so amazing and epic for us.

In case you didn't know I am a life-long Spurs fan, thanks to my Dad and before I left for NYC, we were season ticket holders.

We have been waiting for this stadium a very long time, I'll show you a photo, later on, this week when my phone files have backed up.

For now, you will have to make do with x2 cards I made using a little cardkit my friend Kelly sent me. It was a totally unexpected piece of Happy Mail and she sent it to me because I said how much I loved her Monster stamps (that I had never seen before).

Kelly had stamped the Monsters and their sentiments and provided the patterned papers and the twine. So all I had to do was colour, cut and assemble..oh and add some googly eyes - OBVS.

I love random Happy Mail..unsurprisingly it makes me happy.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #556 My Besties...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is My Besties and they are offering a prize of x3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch by me!!

We had a choice of x3 images to play with this time and I loved this cute little girl (image 694)

My sketch made this whole card SUPER easy! I printed and coloured the little girl, then I created a pink matt behind her, to match the pinks in her outfit.

The sentiment felt right for her smiley face. I added a die-cut stitched rectangle piece of teal card, again to match her outfit and I completed the whole thing with a large pink enamel dot.

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 29th March 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Colouring is therapy...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Hubby and I are leaving for London tonight. I'll be gone for just over 2 weeks, as I have a week off - but next week I will be working.

Because this week has been so hectic with work, getting ready to leave for our trip, a gig and introducing Clint to a new face, I felt overwhelmed and couldn't really craft.

So I coloured a lot.

I have a colouring book that I really like, it's quite old and I dug it out this week and tore out a few pages and sat at my desk for 20 mins every night and coloured away. It was lovely and therapeutic and it was bliss to colour with my Tombow Dual Brushmarkers, I almost have a full set..

I thought I'd share my colouring, as it's all so pretty.

After Kathy Rac (aka the world's most awesome colourer ever) said that she finds using 4 colours to colour with much easier, I have been using that as a guide. It really works and helps make the colouring pages look less busy.

Have a great weekend, I am looking forward to hangs with my parents.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #106 Use Stripes...

Hey,

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

The theme this time is to use stripes on your card.

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

Challenge ends March 22nd.

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

Ninja's...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

So today's card is an example of me being super lazy..

I made this card for one of my Godson's - LAST OCTOBER...

Yep, I am just getting round to posting it.

I wanted the MFT Ninja-mazing set for AGES, but waited until it was on sale.

I love this card, but it was a beast to colour. I stamped all the ninja's and the ninja stars onto a piece of watercolour paper and then slowly over a 2 day period watercoloured it. UGH.

After all that hard work, I didn't want to cover up my ninja's. So I heat embossed the sentiment onto a piece of vellum and affixed it to my card using staples.

Perfect card for a manga / ninja loving boy.

Cx

CASology: Peas on Earth...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

Today I am playing along with the current CASology challenge.

I had toyed with a couple of options, but decided to go with a punny card.

I love the 'Peas on Earth' set by Ink Blot Shop. I got after Christmas last year, so I'll be making some Christmas cards with it this year.

But for this challenge, I thought it made a nice simple CAS card for a friend. I fussy cut the peas for a bit of dimension.

It made me smile a lot today..Hubby not so much, more eye rolling from him.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Stella Says Sketch..

Hey,

I am sad to say that this is going to be my last post with the Catch The Bug team, I have really enjoyed my year with them. But I am getting swamped with work and other personal commitments and something had to give.

I'll be playing along at CTB in the future no doubt, as I love Bugaboo stamps.

This week over at the Catch The Bug it's time for the Stella Says Sketch challenge.

I rotated the sketch, I think I always do this - no idea why!!

I loved the Kidz Bella Watermelon Peeker stamp, I decided to pair the cute image with some Watermelon paper I recently acquired. And the green fringe is a notebook die that I got creative with.

I added a simple sentiment by Mama Elephant and love the sweet simple feel of my card.

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

Slay Today...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

It's been a great week, but I am looking forward to the weekend and only 1 more week before I go to London.

Today's card I made for a friend, who I know will love the 'Slay' badge.

There is an amazing Japanese bookshop / stationers here in NYC and by the checkout they have a whole box of these awesome kitty badges. I normally resist buying them, but when I saw this one, I knew it would make an awesome card.

I wanted the papers to tone with the badge, so I used a piece of paper from a 6x6 stack by American Crafts. I die-cut a star out of coordinating spotty paper, affixed the badge and affixed that to the card.

The 'today' sticker is from a set by American Crafts and IRL it's gold and shimmery.

A fun card for a super fun friend.

Have a great weekend, I'll be doing some eating, gyming, crafting and packing.

Cx

Spring has sprung...

Hey,

Happy Wednesday!

Today I thought I would show you some NBUS!

I loved this Impression Obsession Sunflower die - one of my Retro Rubber colleagues used it a while back and I fell in love and bought it.

It has languished in my NBUS bin for a few months now and I finally broke it out..

It die-cuts like a dream and used a wonderful piece of ancient gold / yellow DCWV shimmer cardstock. I blended a bit of green distress ink directly onto the card blank and then I affixed the Sunflower die-cut over it.

Because I wanted to frame it, I pulled out a MFT stitched scalloped rectangle frame die and die-cut that in yellow and affixed it over the Sunflower.

The happy birthday banner I bought in a pack on super bargain sale. I know I can stamp these things, but sometimes I like pre-made banners.

I love this springy card, it made me super happy.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #106... Use Stripes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we want you to use stripes on your card.

This was a super hard one for me, as I LOVE stripes and I had to go through all of my stash and narrow it down, as there are a lot of stripey things in there!

I settled on a fun but neglected set 'Eat Cake & Celebrate' by Concord & 9th. I stamped the striped block twice using distress oxide ink and added the sentiment stamps from the set. Obviously, I couldn't resist using a Monster and this cheeky one is by MFT from their 'More Monsters' set. I've had both sets since 2017.

This card made me so happy when I made it that I made a few more of them, using different monsters.

Show us how you earn your stripes and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 22nd.

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

MFT Stamps: Colour Challenge - From me to you..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I had an awesome weekend. Starting with a great class with Cheiron at The Ink Pad on Friday night.
Then after the gym on Saturday, I got to have brunch with a good friend that was in town and a few other friends, then dinner with Hubby.

The clock change on Sunday threw us off a bit, so it was a bit of a slow morning, but then we had a great dinner with the same friends and it was a great way to round off the weekend.

I haven't played along with the MFT Colour Challenge in a while, but the colours this time were so me that I had to join in.

I created a smooshed background using distresss inks that matched the Tropical Teal and Sour Apple, then I die-cut it out using an MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frame die.

I used one of my newer Pure Innocence stamps 'Surprise' that I don't think is available any more.

I coloured the girl and the gift in colours to match the challenge, I love that giant teal bow!

Before I popped her up on my card, I stamped the two-part sentiment from the set.

I love playing with colour challenges, I get to be creative with how I used them and I always love a bit of ink smooshing :)

Cx

As You See It: All Askew...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

I hope you are having a good weekend so far.

Hubby and I got to catch-up with a good friend yesterday that we haven't seen in forever, so that was nice.

I have been looking around for 'new to me' challenges and I realised that x3 of my Retro Rubber teamies are on the As You See It challenge. So I thought I'd give it a whirl. And it just so happens that the current challenge is right up my street!

I love a sketch and I really like placing elements on my cards at jaunty angles, so perfect.

I REALLY wanted to use one of the stamps from my new 'Sweet Deer' set by Sizzix and Jen Long and I think it worked out really well here.

The papers are both by American Crafts from 6x6 pads and I die-cut them to size using stitched rectangle dies.

Because the Antler stamp has a little space for a sentiment I decided to tie it into my little banner and stamped 'Yay!' onto it.

I added some Nuvo crystal drops here and there for a little bit of sparkle.

I love the funky mix of patterns and especially the florals.

Fun card for a fun challenge, I will totally be playing along again.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #554 Fabrika Fantasy...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Fabrika Fantasy and they are offering a prize of x3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I rotated the sketch to work better with the fun image I chose to use 'Happy Doggy'.

I decided to make my card a bit off the wall and coloured the image in non-traditional Dog colours.

I used an ancient piece of lime green star paper for the backing and I added an embossed star teal piece of paper to fit the sketch. The strips across the middle are so old I can't remember how long I have had them, but they came in a pack with plain and glittery ones. I added a sentiment to the balloon.

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 15th March 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

CASology: Funky...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I love the cue word over at CASology this week -

I have quite a few stamps that could be considered Funky, but I really wanted to use 'Oh Deer' by Dylusions because I have wanted it for a while and finally got my hands on it this weekend on super bargain sale.

I also bought a set by Sizzix and Jen Long 'Sweet Deer' and that sparked an idea for me.

I stamped and coloured the Deer from the Dylusions set and then stamped 'Oh Deer' from the Sizzix set and added the final part 'I forgot your special day' from a Pink and Main set.

Love it when I get to mix stamp sets.

I am super happy with my funky belated birthday card.

Tonight I am doing a class with Cheiron at the InkPad - whoop! It will be the start to a super fun weekend.

Cx

Catch the Bug: Oldie But Goodie.. Clyde...

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..

I love all the Clyde stamps, but Clyde Birthday is the one I have had the longest!

I decided to use the version without the birthday sentiment, as my Aunt loves Dragons and I owe her a piece of Happy Mail, so thought this would be a great opportunity to make her a card.

I printed, coloured and fussy cut Clyde out. I then embossed a coordinating piece of cardstock, using a fave Craft Concepts Star embossing folder. I left the bottom panel hanging out of the folder, so I could heat emboss the sentiment on it.

Such a simple make, which reminded me about my Clyde stamps.

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

Cx

Kitty Kat Thanks...

Hey,

I had to make a thank you card for a friend recently and she is a cat fan too.

I thought it would be a good excuse for using an older stamp I love by Your Next Stamp 'Happiness is You' (no longer available).

I kept it super simple and let the stamp shine. I added some gel pens details to her jumper.

I love making thank you cards, they are so rewarding, as I always feel you can personalise them so much.

Cx

The Paper Players: Happy Spring!...

Hey,

I thought it would be fun to try and enter a few challenges before I head to London on 22nd of March, as I won't have a full kit there, so it won't be possible.

Today I am entering the latest The Paper Players challenge -

Last year when my Momma came for a visit, she brought all the freebies from a couple of craft magazines that I had subscribed to. It was basically x2 years of goodies from x2 magazines = 24 freebie packs - YAY.

I was going to use a new stamp for this challenge, but then I remembered the big batch of goodies from Momma had a fun Spring scene in it.

I had great fun, playing with this little set. I die-cut the 'scene' die in white and then coloured the flowers and leaves. I die-cut it again in brown, so I could cut out the tree trunks, as I didn't really want to colour those in.

I die-cut the Fox, Rabbit and Butterflies and I added some details to the fox, as his face didn't really show up that well.

I used the scalloped circle mat die that came with the set, but added a smaller circle die of my own to create a frame.

To put my card together, I die-cut a piece of blue paper using a circle die and affixed that to my card blank, then I added the Fox, Rabbit and Butterflies to that.

I popped up the panel with the scene on it, so that I got some dimension. Foolishly I didn't add the sentiment before popping it up - ugh.

It's so out of my comfort zone, but I loved making it - really fun to make almost an entire card without any stamping and I have a recipient in mind.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #105.. Twofer Sketch, there is still time to play..

Hey,

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

The theme this time we have teamed up with Try Stamping on Tuesday to bring you a twofer challenge.

To play along with both challenges you need to use the sketch and stamps that are over a year old.

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

Challenge ends March 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

Creative Chick Classes..

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a great weekend. Lisette and I went on a mini roadtrip to Conneticut, to attend x2 Jenn Shurkus classes at the Papercraft Clubhouse.

We had a ton of fun, eating, shopping and creating.

It is always awesome to be taught by Jenn and play with the super cute Lawn Fawn stamps. Jenn always mixes up the sets and that helps me to remember to do the same with my stamp sets. I am getting better at it, but a reminder is always great!

It was my first time at the Papercraft Clubhouse. Tracie and her team are AWESOME and they had an off the hook clearance section, so there was a fair amount of spendy spendy..

Here are a few of the cards close-up.

If you haven't done a class with Jenn before, check out her blog to see if she is coming to your local store, even if Lawn Fawn cards aren't your style, it is SO worth it, for all the great things you will learn from Jenn.

Cx

Pinata Birthday..

Hey,

Happy Friday and welcome to March!

As I am heading to the Papercraft Clubhouse this weekend with Lisette to make Lawn Fawn cards (taught by Jenn Shurkus).

I thought it would be fitting to post a little Lawn Fawn card I made for my Nephew's birthday.

I love the Lawn Fawn Year Seven stamp set and thought I could make a fun card for Otis using it.

I die-cut an oval out of the centre of my white panel and then stamped all the fun pinata bits over the white panel and coloured them in. I used a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir glitter pens.

I then stamped, coloured and cut the pinata and suspended it from my white panel using clear wire thread.

I mounted the whole panel onto a teal card blank and when you wiggle the card, the pinata moves, in my mind giving the illusion of the pinata bits falling out - no? Ok.

Anyway, have a great weekend, I know I am going to.

Cx