Retro Rubber Challenge #138 Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

It is time for everyone's fave - anything goes!

This was the perfect time to combine old with new!

I started with a new Visible Image butterfly stencil (Butterfly Ink) and I blended Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmelade distress oxides through the stencil. Then keeping the stencil in place I stamped over the blending using a great Bo Bunny text stamp from their 'It is Written' set - I bought this set in 2014 shortly after I'd moved to the US and discovered I could get cheap stamps occasionally from TJMaxx!!

I heat embossed the giant friend from Mama Elephant's 'Friend Indeed' set, I've had this sent since 2015 and it gets a lot of use.

I built the rest of the sentiment using stickers.

I love the combo of old and new, making all parts of my stash work hard!

I can't wait to see what anything goes means for you, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 10th.

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

Paper Smooches: Challenge Anything Goes

Hey,

OMG work is kicking my butt, I have a HUGE project on the go right now and it's taking all my time.

BUT I have been carving out little spaces after work to make one pretty thing!

Last night I realised that despite my love of Paper Smooches stamps, I have never actually played along with their challenge, which is so odd as we all know how much I love a challenge!

As I mentioned in a previous post they are closing the store at the end of July. I bought a few things in the retirement sale. One of these things was the 'Falling for You' set - perfect for me, as it has a bat and a Monster, x2 of my fave things.

I wanted to play with the bat for this challenge.

I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the bat, then I blended some tumbled glass distress ink to the top of my white panel and then stenciled in hearts using picked raspberry.

I drew a little line so my bat could 'hang' off of something. I finished the card with a sentiment from the sent and some Tim Holtz stickers.

I don't really want to give him to anyone, he's so cute, I just want to keep it on my desk!

Cx

Hello, goodbye and thank you...

Hey,

I was sad to hear that Paper Smooches are closing their doors.

Their stamps are some of my faves and some of my earliest purchases. In fact, I used their 'Best Buds' set to teach my first ever class (it's also how I met President Clinton..)

When I heard the news, it made me want to pull out my Paper Smooches sets and have a play.

I forgot that I had the awesome 'Word Up' set that I had bought second-hand from Cheiron.

I love the big bubble sentiments in the set and decided to pair the hello stamp with my newest Monsters by Taylored Expressions (Little Monsters set).

I masked off a circle and blended some Twisted Citron distress ink to create a little anchor for the super cute monster.

Very quick and easy cards, a reminder that a big sentiment can make a card.

Cx

4from1: Avery Elle.. Peek-a-Boo stamps and more..

Hey,

Hope you had a good weekend?

I love a 4 from 1 and as you might have noticed there have been quite a few of these posts from me recently. 

Lockdown has really made me dig through my stash and make multiples from one set - or even a combo like these.

For these cards I wanted to combine the Avery Elle Peek-a-Boo stamps that I have. I have Scary Pals, the car and the balloon.

I mixed and matched all the sets and I just LOVE the Yeti in the hot air balloon, it's just ridiculously cute. And the little cloud from the balloon set worked so well as a subtle background.

All the stamps are so fun to colour. I had a lot of fun making these.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #137.. Sketchy Collab..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge. This time we are teaming up with Double Trouble.

Our challenge is a sketch challenge so all you have to do for Retro Rubber is to make a card using our sketch and at least one stamp older than a year.

The Double Trouble challenge requirements are:

Thing 1 – Trouble Maker: 3-2-1 Recipe: 3 colors – 2 embellishments – 1 old stamp

Thing 3 – Twisted Sister: Follow our RRCB sketch but do not use ovals, circles or rounded corners.

Thing 2 – Double Dare (Optional): If you used the RRCB sketch and the 3-2-1 Recipe be sure to link your card Double Trouble’s challenge to receive an additional chance to be in Double Trouble’s random draw.

I combined the challenges like this - 

Thing 1 - 3 colours (gold, blue, yellow), 2 embellishments (x2 little blingy gems), 1 old stamp (Prehistoric by Neat and Tangled, that I have had since 2018).

Thing 3 - Use the sketch, but no rounded corners (I used a hexagon)

Thing 2 - Combine both - yay!

My background was created by smooshing distress inks, the vertical paper strip is SO old, I believe that I bought that paper with my Momma BEFORE I got married 11 years ago.. The hexagon die is by Spellbinders and was a gift from my friend JT, because I love Hexagons so much. I die-cut it from a glittery gold paper. The 'rawr' banner and the Woolly Mammoth are from the Neat & Tangled set and I got them second-hand from my friend Cheiron. The white banner is one of the awesome Taylored Expressions simple strips.

Show us your interpretation of the double challenge or just our sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and Double Trouble to get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 26th

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

Cake is the Answer..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Slow post week for me, work is kicking my BUTTSKI right now!

Anyway, how fun is this card!

I loved the sentiment - because I pretty much live my life believing cake is the answer, so I managed to track down this fabulous Stampin' Up 'Piece of Cake' set - now retired.

I love it when I see cards with a plain panel, that divides the card front, but I just don't do it enough. I think it worked out pretty well here.

I opted to stamp the cake and the sentiment onto a tag and coloured the cake and the lollipops with Copics and Sakura Gelly roll Starburst glitter pens. It looked a bit lonely, so I added a zig zag scrap!

The ribbon is pretty special, it is one of the last pieces from a mega batch of ribbon that JT bought me during one of first ever '$20 challenges' and it was also chosen by her Dad, who I didn't know back then, but now I consider him a very close friend!

Have a great weekend, I hope you get to eat cake, I know I'm gonna ;)

Cx

4from1: Flora & Fauna

Hey,

It's been a bit crazy in my work world, so my posts have had to take a back seat.

But today I thought I would share 4 great cards that I made using a mix of Flora & Fauna 'Llama Garden' (now retired) and Taylored Expressions 'Whole Llama Love' - which is a sentiment set.

I started by creating the backgrounds for each card. Two of them I created a fun masked, blended circle, One is a full blended panel and the final one was blended around the edges and I stamped flowers and leaves for a bit of interest.

I used the flower/leaf edge technique on one of the circles too.

The backgrounds came out so well, it was then really easy to add the Llamas to them and the fun sentiments. I am really loving adding glittery accents to my cards using Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst pens - they are SO glittery and they work really well on blended areas, meaning you don't need to colour the whole stamp/image.

I often find it easier to start cards by creating a focal point or a background, then I can decide which stamps I want to use.

I also tend to make cards in fours, it means I get a lot of use out of a stamp set in one go. I have forced myself more and more to use all the little stamps in a set, not just the bigger ones that made me buy the set in the first place.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #136 Summer Theme...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun summer theme for you this time!

I loved this theme, as it meant I got to break out one of my all-time fave stamp sets! This set always reminds me of trips to the fishmonger with my Nana when I was little to choose a Crab and I would say to her that the Crabs were smiling at me.

I masked off a circle and used the awesome Palm Tree stencil by GRS Stencils with some Twisted Citron Distress ink to create a little backdrop for my Crab.

The Crab and the sentiment are by Your Next Stamp from their Flippin' Fabulous set, that I have had since 2016. I love this Crab he is so funny and such a delight to colour.

I couldn't resist adding googly eyes to the Crab!

What Summer project will you be inspired to make? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 12th.

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

Shopping Our Stash: Sticker Lion..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend?

I am starting the week off with another challenge entry, I had an epic challenge playtime at my desk on Saturday.

I was lucky enough to get a top 3 spot over at Shopping Our Stash from one of their recent challenges, which was a nice surprise. I love their current theme 'Stuck on You' - use your stickers!

I have been saving the awesome Lion sticker, for something, I was never sure what and then SOS came along with this challenge and I felt it was time for him to shine.

I bought a random pack of Project Life stickers ages ago on sale and I have used quite a few of them, but most are just sitting around needing a home..

I die-cut x2 panels using scalloped, dotted, stitched rectangle dies from The Works in London. I went with a yellow palette as I felt it coordinated nicely with the Lions crown.

I stamped part of the sentiment onto the yellow panel and the other part I stamped into the speech bubble and fussy cut it out. The sentiments and the speech bubbles are both by Avery Elle (Rawr and Speech Bubbles sets).

He came together so well and it makes me so happy to see the sticker finally on a card.

Cx