Fusion Card Challenge - Mother's Day

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Mother's Day' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

As I am English, Mother's Day was back in March for me - why are they different dates?! So I went with the sketch and a more generic sentiment.

The stamp I used is new to me and I love it, I think I am slowly trying to own the entire MFT library! I am a sucker for little stacks of animals!

I chose the paper for my tag, before I started colouring so I could coordinate with it. I added two little banners (that were already cut in the correct colours - WHOOP!!) and used a sentiment from the same stamp set.

I popped the whole thing up using foam tape and added it to a white card blank, it pops off of white so nicely.

I used -

MFT - Birth-Yay!

MFT - Banner dies

Lil Inker - Dotted Tag dies

Make sure you check out all the rest of the inspiration by the DT over at the Fusion challenge blog, and play along with your own creation! When playing along you may use the sketch OR the photo to inspire your makes. OR, if you are feeling adventurous, you can fuse them together (see what I did there!).

Can't wait to see your makes. 

Challenge ends on 11th May.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #157 Time to get your Sketch on...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time, created by me!

You know how much I love a sketch!

I actually can't provide a link to the stamp I used here, as it was a free gift from a Mama Elephant event in 2016 and I couldn't actually make it and my friend Lisette gave me hers, as she knows how much I love a monster!

I love this stencil cloud technique (stencil is by MFT and I have it in both sizes) - it is getting some serious overuse LOL. 

Here I stamped and masked my Yeti - I am a big fan of masking and then I blended the clouds in. I decided at the last minute to add the stars and little birds, but it worked out fine. The sketch is so simple I just used little scraps of patterned paper and an enamel dot to complete my card.

I'm crushing on this card a teeny bit!

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

Challenge ends May 7th

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

Digital Scrapbooking: Flower Queen...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

A bit of a longer absence for me than planned, but I was very, very unwell last week. I am on the mend now!

I wanted to share this beauty that I made for the Sweet Shoppe Designs monthly passport - April prompt was 'Inspired by Flowers'.

So my friend Lisette and I took a road trip in early March this year and on our way to Foxwoods (the resort we were staying at), we stopped at a craft store that had this amazing flower section. I convinced Lisette to pose up a storm for me and ended up with this amazing photo of her.

I really really stepped out of my comfort zone here, with the blending and the giant cluster. There was a lot of anxiety, but I am so pleased at how it came out and it got a GSO, so - yay!

I used -

BLOOMIN LOVELY V.1 | PAGE DRAFTS by The Nifty Pixel (heavily modified)

River Rose - Golden Glow Bundle

That Friyay Feeling Bundle by JoCee Designs and The Nifty Pixel

REMEMBER THEM | BUNDLE by The Nifty Pixel

Digital Scrapbooking: Designed by Soco March...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I thought I would show you a couple of my fave layouts that I made as part of my Designed by Soco creative team commitments in March.

I actually made about 10 layouts, but didn't want this post to be crazy, so chose 2 for you :)

The main photo made me laugh, the minute I saw the 'Weekend Vibes' words and cards, I knew I had to use this crazy photo of Lisette and I that we sent to Hubby to let him know that we had arrived at Foxwoods safely. I used - 

Hello Weekend Words
Hello Weekend Pocket Cards
Cards & Words No.7 template

The next layout makes me smile everytime I see it, as I did an impromptu photoshoot with Hubby and Clint Catwood to get the hilarious photo shown here!

I used a new release - 

Happy Here Mini Kit (add on - Memory Pockets Monthly) 

And I used it with a fave Designed by Soco template that I rotated.
Cards & Words No.7

Fun layouts, I am really enjoying my guest slot with Soco and her team, I'll be sad to leave when June comes around.

Cx

Critter Crowd Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you!!

This set is one of my all-time faves - Critter Crowd by Simon Says Stamp for Stamptember 2019.

I love using it, it makes such gorgeous cards. These ones are for charity, Scrapbook.com run Cards for Kindness and I like to send a bumper box of approx 150 cards every 3 months. This time they were requesting kids birthday cards. This set is perfect for that subject.

Pretty easy to make, I stamp and watercolour them (watercolouring bigger batches of cards is much quicker for me than colouring with markers), blend the bottom of the panel, stamp the sentiment and then assemble.

I always make a few extra for myself, but I am running out of little kids....

Cx

 

A surprise gift...

 

Hey, 

Happy Friday!

So over Easter weekend I got a surprise parcel from my Aunt in Texas.. I was literally blown away by it.

I suspect that she doesn't have a lot to spare, so that made it even sweeter. But it was also super thoughtful. I mean I am the vainest person I know, so a stamp of my face = YAASSSS. But not only that, there were gift cards, stamps, planner clips, tape, a little purse and gifts for 'my 2 legged and 4 legged nephews' hahaha.

All 3 of us were very happy with the parcel and it made our weekend.

Obviously I had to break out one of the stamp sets and make some cards. I decided to pay it forward and use the lovely gift to make some cards for charity - I added the 'Buzzing by to say' sentiment by Honey Bee stamps. I believe the stamp set is called 'Nature Icons' and is from Joanns.

Cute right? I love how they came out and that fancy die really finished the card for me.

Have a great weekend, I will be watching the Gran Prix at Imola on Sunday.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Poppies

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Poppies' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I was inspired by the Poppies in the photo. I love Poppies, Hubby bought me white ones last year in my Anniversary bouquet and they were gorgeous.

This stamp by Unity Stamp Co 'Poppy Girl' is one of the most overused things in my craft room. She is so much fun to watercolour (which I did here) and is just so impactful, I use her all the time.

I added a simple sentiment (Avery Elle) and used a fancy die to add interest.

Make sure you check out all the rest of the inspiration by the DT over at the Fusion challenge blog, and play along with your own creation! 

When playing along you may use the sketch OR the photo to inspire your makes. OR, if you are feeling adventurous, you can fuse them together (see what I did there!).

Can't wait to see your makes. 

Challenge ends on April 27th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #156 Colour Challenge - Pastels...

 

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you - use pastels on your card.

I do love a pastel on a card, especially if I am watercolouring. This time though, I decided to use markers.

My stamp is by Studio Katia 'A Cup of Thanks' that I have had since 2019 - I find it to be very versatile and I have used it for birthdays, get well soon and other things, alongside its intended use of 'thanks'.

I used Copics to colour the cup and the flowers and it actually reminds me of one of the vintage cup and saucers that my Momma collects.

I used the Lawn Fawn 'Petite Dandy Day' paper for the background and for the top layer of my 'thanks' die-cut. I love these papers, but full-disclosure, I do not need any more paper, so I refuse to buy anything patterned. And one of my amazing friends decided I had to have it and bought it for me. So sweet.

I cut the 'thanks' die - also by Lawn Fawn and my fave thanks ever, using 1 piece of self-adhesive white foam (by Scrapbook.com) and cut the top out of a scrap of the Dandy Day paper. I rarely do this, because I can't be bothered LOL. BUT I love how it looks, so I invested in some 1/8 inch self-adhesive foam and now I just can't stop doing it!

I can't wait to see how you use pastels on your card. Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 23.

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

Digital Layouts - Love Our Designers - The Lilypad

 

Hey,

Happy Monday, hope you had a great weekend?

Today I wanted to share just a couple of my fave layouts from the Love Our Designers feature that The Lilypad did during Feb and March.

I find with digital items, that I am drawn to the same designers over and over again, especially if they run a challenge that I can play along with. But every now and then I buy things from other designers. The two layouts shown here were made from kits that I couldn't resist.

Main photo uses a kit by Valerie Wibbens - I love her whimsical illustrations and I fell in love with this 'Let's Get Lost' kit and had been itching to use it. I used one of Valerie's free templates and it came out just as I had imagined - don't you love it when that happens.

The layout below was for The Paislee Press. Their stuff is so clean and elegant, it always reminds me of CAS cards. I used mainly their 'For Like Ever' kit, perfect for one of my fave Wedding photos and just SO clean.

In the year that I have been digitally scrapping, I have learned so much and realised that there is a lot of my cardmaking me in my layouts. I love CAS cards so very much, but I love critters and pattern mixing too and I find I can always sneak these into my layouts!

Cx

Koala Hugs..

 

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Recently whilst in Connecticut, we dropped into Papercraft Clubhouse - LOVE Tracie and Jona.

I saw the sample for the Avery Elle 'Sending Hugs' set - I am a big Avery Elle fan and the sample made me NEED this set LOL.

It is so much fun, as the envelope is actually x2 pieces that you sandwich the Koala (or other critter from the set) between.

I added a Gina Miller cover plate and watercoloured the stamp. Teeny bit fiddly, but somethings are just worth the extra effort.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, I'll be brunching, desking and relaxing.

Cx

Happy Easter (A bit late...)

 

Hey,

Today I have a couple of Easter focused layouts for you.. bit late I know, but better late than never right?

Both were made as part of my Creative Team duties, but I love them both SO much.

The first one was for The Nifty Pixel and I just love the  HAPPY GO LUCKY | BUNDLE and the BLOOMIN LOVELY V.2 | PAGE DRAFTS. They paired so well with my silly photo and I think it is the first time I have attempted a cluster of this size!!

Next up is this beauty for Designed by Soco and it also features me and bunny ears and a silly selfie. 

The great templates Hippity Hoppity were on sale last week (still available in store) and it was great to use them with a non-traditional Easter kit - Sunset Memories - also by Soco.

Two very different layouts, but both equally fun!

Cx

Dolphin friendly...

Hey,

I saw this stamp on sale and thought it was just too cute to pass up!

I love the little flower spray on the Dolphin's fin.

I stamped it multiple times to create this cute background and coloured the Dolphin in various shades of blue. Add a stamped banner and voila! easy quick card.

The stamp is by Impression Obsession.

Cx

 

Cat-Cactus aka Catus...

 

Hey,

Happy Monday!!

I have been neglecting my blog a bit, so over the next couple of weeks I am hoping to bring you a few more posts ;)

Starting with today's punny beauties.

On a recent trip we popped into numerous craft stores and these amazing Cat-cactus stickers were on sale.

So I turned them into super quick slimline cards and added stickers for 'Catus - get it...

LOL.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Bees

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Bees' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I loved both, so I fused them!

I loved the sketch and the Bee and I had a completely different idea in mind for this card. When I sat down to make the card, it kind of felt right to create a piece of 'paper' using the Bee. 

It came out really well and was very easy to colour, a bit of yellow and some shadow on the wings. The Bee stamp is a fave, as it was a gift eons ago from my bestie and craft buddy JT.

It's not obvious in the photo, but I used a scalloped border die to create a decorative edge, love these dies, they are so handy.

The sentiments are new, I bought the set, because I love a pun and I actually have quite a few Bee stamps that are being a bit neglected.. so now I have all these great puns for them!

I used -

Creative Impressions - Bee

Honey Bee Stamps - Buzz Words

Simon Says Stamp - Scallop Stitches dies

Make sure you check out all the rest of the inspiration by the DT over at the Fusion challenge blog, and play along with your own creation! When playing along you may use the sketch OR the photo to inspire your makes. OR, if you are feeling adventurous, you can fuse them together (see what I did there!).

Can't wait to see your makes. 

Challenge ends on April 13th.

Cx