Avery Elle: All of Us...

Hey,

I fell in love with this fun set by Avery Elle 'All of Us'.

I didn't really think about how I would use them and then I saw this awesome idea on the Avery Elle Blog - 

Awesome right!

So I coloured all x3 rows of critters using watercolours and I fussy cut them out and then cut the rows of critters in two, so I got x2 rows for my 'polaroid'.

I used the awesome MFT Selfie Frame die to die-cut the polaroid frame out of x3 different papers.

It was all super easy to assemble and with the addition of the 'hand' that holds the sentiment banner, they are just too cute!

Honestly, I have made at least 15 of these cards..they are so easy to make and suitable for everything.

Cx

MFT: Polynesian Paradise...

Hey,

I thought it was about time that I had a play with this set I have had for a while by MFT - I got it second-hand in a grabbag.

I bought the coordinating dies, as I prefer to have dies for things.

It's called Polynesian Paradise and it's a bit different to my normal style, but I love the way that the x3 cards came out.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut most of the elements from the set.

I thought it would be a good idea to try and use a 'formula' for creating the x3 cards. I settled on a patterned paper background and a die-cut scalloped circle frame (by MFT).

I grouped together the coloured and die-cut stamps and created x3 little scenes. The sentiments are all by Taylored Expressions using their simple strip stamps and dies.

Fun cards that pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit.

Cx

Retro Rubber #129.. Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have everyone's fave - Anything Goes..

I decided to use this challenge to make a card for JT's birthday and it was a little CASE of an amazing card I had seen on Pinterest. I realised that I had the awesome Haute Books set by The Ton and it has barely been used since I bought it in 2017.. such a crime.

First I created the background, using distress oxide inks and water.

Then came the hard part! The stamping of the books, they are all individual and it takes AGES to stamp these bad boys. I stamped the vase onto the top of the book and the flowers I stamped on a separate sheet. I fussy cut the books and the flowers - yeesh.

The books and the flowers got added to the background using foam tape and then I drew in the stems and added the sentiment and the bling.

It came out so well and I know that JT loved it, so all the work was totally worth it.

I'm excited to see what stamp set you have dug out for your anything goes make, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 6th.

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

Pun Cards: Let's Sea-abrate...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!!

Let's start the week with a great pun!

I had been waiting quite a while for this great set by Avery Elle - Seal-abrate, essentially if I don't really 'need' it (it's relative) I try and wait until it goes on sale..but boy I really had to wait for this one!

The card is actually super simple, as I wanted my Seal's to be the standout part of the card. I have used this set a bunch since I made this card. This card was part of my pun-card project.

Thanks

Cx

Snarky Sketch: This Could be Vodka..

Hey,

It's so nice to be home and back at my desk.

I thought I would combine two challenges today. I loved the idea of the Sunday Stamps sketch and tag challenge combined with The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers 'C is for Cat'.

I thought my newish papers by Craft Sensations would work really well with the sketch and I love tags and thought it would be great to use one of my all-time fave dies - Lil Inkers dotted tag die.

I really like The Cat's Pajama's stamps and the set I used here 'It could be Vodka' always makes me smile. I stamped the cat onto the tag and coloured it using copic markers. I stamped the cup again onto a scrap of patterned paper and die-cut it and arranged it so it hangs slightly off the tag.

I keep ALL the ribbon that I get on gifts, this particular piece was from my Christmas gifts from my in-laws 2 years ago.

I love the sentiment - I mean who knows what the Cat is sitting in!

Cx

Happy Gotcha Day - Clint Catwood!

Hey,

After losing Archie 3 years ago and then Boscat so suddenly last January, I really didn't know if my heart would mend fully..

It was SO silent in the apartment that we only waited 5 weeks after the passing of Boscat before we got another cat.

We chose 'Pantera' who promptly got renamed Clint Catwood - aka Clint.

Clint is approx 3 and he has Feline FIV - which really isn't that dramatic, we just have to keep an eye on him if he gets sick, as he doesn't have a good immune system.

We really lucked out with him, he is the most gentle creature we have ever met, he loves to be picked up and carried and held. Snuggling is the thing that he loves the most and he has this weird meow bark that he does to demand snuggles. The strangest thing is that he loves to lay on us for hours, I have had a lot of cats and this has never happened before and I have to say, I'm rather enjoying it!

Clint has turned Hubby and I into even bigger softies than we were before!

It's not easily to lose a beloved pet and it can be hard to welcome a new one, but we have had a super smooth ride with Clint, it was like he just wanted to be with us!

Hope you like my little collage of photos of our beautiful boy.

Cx

Kitty Cat Thanks..

Hey,

As tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of us owning Clint I wanted to share a card I made for our amazing Vet.

They are amazing, they were wonderful when we had to put our beloved Boscat to sleep. When we got Clint, they gave us great advice to help us understand what having an FIV positive cat would mean.

Late last year Clint got an infection and it was our first time dealing with illness in him and the first time after the loss of Boscat, so to say we were a teeny bit antsy is an understatement.

Fortunately they understood and guided us through it all and Clint is fine now (he did get another infection earlier this year, but we are learning how to deal with this now).

So I made them a card to say thanks and to apologise for our slightly manic behaviour!

I used the awesome Picket Fence Stamps 'I love your face' set - which I had discovered when Cheiron made us a 'Congrats' card for the arrival of Clint, using the same set. How cute is the cat in his bandana?!

The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I created the fun stenciled background using a Tim Holtz gradient diamond stencil (mini version).

I love how the card came out and they loved it too.

If you are looking for a vet and you are in the East Village area of Manhattan, I would highly recommend Urban Vets Animal Hospital - they are kind, caring and super friendly.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #128.. Love is in the air!

Hey,

Hello from London and welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you - that fits the Valentine mood..

The minute I saw this challenge I knew that my Pink Fresh Studio 'Heart Bouquet' set (now retired) was going to get an airing. When I bought this set in 2017, it got SO much use..but then I moved on, I'm such a magpie!

I stamped and coloured the lady and the bouquet, I coloured it using Copics and Sakura glitter pens. I was a bit stumped for a background and didn't feel like masking to use a stencil. So I broke out my ruler and drew my own background!

I left it sentiment free, because I thought it could be used for several occasions and that perhaps one of my male friends, might like it for their lady :)

Show us how you romance the colour combo and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends Feb 21st.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, which is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Pun Cards: Let's Taco about...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend?

I am in London this week working and I am going to be doing some fun stuff with my family and friends too.

In January when I was last in London, I finally delivered the huge pun card project that I was working on for most of last year. Polly (my Husband's bestie) was delighted and was so happy it made me really happy too.

There were so many of them, that I still have a few to share and I'm going to do that, as they are so fun.

Today's card was made using Lawn Fawn's 'Year Nine' set. I love this set, it makes me laugh so hard!

I kept it super simple (as you do when you are making 55 cards), I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Taco, the candle and the little party hat. I stamped the sentiment from the set onto red paper and cut them out.

Could we just pause for a moment and talk about how good my Taco colouring is?! I am pretty happy with it.

The background paper is by Avery Elle and came in the grabbag I bought from them last year.

I love the fact that the Taco has a face - Lawn Fawn are great at including little faces, thus bringing random objects to life.

Cx

Unicorns and Rainbows...

Hey,

Hello from London!

Last weekend, I decided I would have a fun playtime with x3 sets by Ellen Hutson and Julie Ebersole.

I LOVE how Julie draws Unicorn, they have a really feminine feel to them.

I used these x3 sets - Over it, Unicorns 'n Rainbows and Pure Magic.

First I stamped, coloured and cut all the unicorns I wanted to use, then I used them to decide where my sentiments would go. I should mention that right now I am obsessed with Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pens, they are AMAZING..so much shimmer.

For two of the cards I added clouds / rainbow behind the unicorn and I stamped and coloured these, before adding my unicorns, that I mounted with foam tape.

I love how simple these cards are and how much they POP on the hot pink card blanks.

Cx

Happy Birthday Man...

Hey,

As I land in London it is JT's birthday!

I am super excited that I am going to get to do hangs with her next week and we'll see if I can make her bday party tonight (possible jetlag tbc).

JT and I have been friends for 8 years. But to me it feels like she has been a part of my life forever and quite frankly I am not sure what I would do without her.

She is a force of nature, hilarious, kind, crazy and if you are her friend, she will love and take care of you for always.

Keeping this short and sweet, as I gush about her every year and it might just be getting a teeny bit embarrassing! Her card will be posted in a few weeks as a Retro Rubber make :)

Read more gushing about her in my 2019 and 2018 posts.

Happy Birthday Man - you are one of the best chosen sisters any girl could ever ask for.

Cx

Tic Tac Toe Challenge: Llama Garden..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I am heading to London today for 10 days, for work mainly, but I will get to hang with my family and friends too.

My teammate from Retro Rubber - LeAnne is on the DT for Tic Tac Toe Challenge and I was so happy to discover that there is a dedicated TTT challenge, that I am diving straight in.

Here's the current board -

I chose the top row: Flower-Die Cut-Yellow.

I love the Llama Garden set by Flora & Fauna and I wanted to make a fun card for a work colleague's birthday, so I stamped, coloured and die-cut all the elements from the set.

As the elements are SUPER busy, I thought a simple background would be good, so I die-cut an MFT Stitched Arch die in white and stenciled the tulips on to it. I used a different technique for my stenciling here, as I taped down the stencil and used Copics to colour the tops and bottoms.

I assembled it all onto a yellow card blank and finished it off with a die-cut Happy Birthday (dies by Simon Says Stamp).

I love how it came out, it's so fussy and different for me - which is always nice. It's now waiting on my desk to be handed over to my colleague.

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

Cx

The Paper Players: Love you pig time..

Hey,

This weekend I had fun creating Valentine's cards for a few of my girlfriends.

I saw the Paper Players challenge this week and thought my card(s) would be perfect.

I love making Valentine's cards and if I wasn't leaving for London on Friday, I would have made more than 8 of them!

I bought the cute little Pig set last year in the post Valentine's Michael's sale and this is the first time he has been inked (I wanted to write oinked..) up.

I stamped, coloured and cut 6 of the Pigs and the coordinating sentiment, which had it's own die - WIN. I dug out some random small square card blanks and used that as a template for which size heart die I would use.

The heart die is pretty new, I bought it at the end of December when I was in London, I just loved all the details - stitched, scalloped and dotted - swoon.

I wanted these cards to be super quick makes and so I grabbed an ancient 4x4 paper pad and just choose 6 papers I liked!

They came together so easily and I love how silly they are!

I think Valentine's Day is silly, love is a 365 day a year thing and we shouldn't celebrate our love for our partners, friends, family on just one day, we should remember that life is very short and we should celebrate love every day. It sounds silly, but I tell my Hubby every single day that I love him, even when I want to murder him.
All of this said, I still love the card making part of Valentine's Day - silly, overblown declarations of love and that is partly why I love being a card maker, for the silly moments in life.

Cx

Seize The Birthday: Narly..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend?

I had a great one, loved the Superbowl this year, but it's always bittersweet as it means the season is officially over.

Today I am playing along with the current Seize the Birthday, with topping!

I have TONS of creature stamps.. but I decided to use the super cute 'Winter Narwhal' by Lawn Fawn that a friend gave me late last year.

I just had this idea in my head for him and it came out exactly as I had imagined!

I stamped, coloured and fussy cut my Narwhal. Then I cut waves out of x2 kinds of blue scrap papers using the Newton's Nook 'Sea Borders' dies. The polaroid die is by MFT and I used it to die-cut the cloud paper to fit the window and for the frame, I used a piece of embossed white paper for the frame, to create a bit more interest.

I decided to pair the sentiment from the set with a little birthday die-cut.

I think it looks like my Narhwal is surfing and that makes me happy.

Cx