Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #197 - Merry Christmas - photo inspiration...

Hey,

Welcome to the last Retro Rubber challenge of 2022!

Where has the year gone?! I just got back from 17 days in London and it feels like boom Christmas is nearly here. 

I hope you have had fun playing along with us this year.

We have a Merry Christmas photo-inspired challenge for you this time.

I love mugs and cups in any form, so I was always going to be inspired by the mug in the photo.

I used a NBUS Unity Stamp Co stamp 'Warm Fall Hugs' that I got in September 2021! I think with the move last year it just got forgotten about! I decided to heat emboss it onto black watercolour paper, so I could use the amazing Iulie watercolours. If you have never used them, get a set on sale you will not regret it, the shimmer is amazing!

I then painted in all the details using the watercolours and then fussy cut it out. I wasn't sure what to do for a background and then I remembered the awesome Spellbinders wreath die that I had, it always elevates everything! I added a little bit of red bling and a tiny sentiment (die by MFT, sentiment by Clearly Besotted).

It is so pretty, it made me super happy when it was finished.

Here is a close-up, because I just loved all the little details.

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

Challenge ends December 16th and then we will be on our Christmas break returning in January with more fun challenges for you.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Chalkboard...

Hey,

Welcome to the last-ever Fusion Card Challenge.

It has been a privilege to work with Karren and the team, some of them are my OG cardmaking heroines and it was so amazing to be in a team with them.

This time we have 'Chalkboard' 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 was inspired by the chalkboard effect and wanted to recreate that.

I cut a circle using a die and then cut it in half. I stamped lots of the icons and sentiments from the Tim Holtz 'Merry & Bright' mini set for Joann's - using the special ink for perfect pearls. Then I dusted silver perfect pearls over it to create a chalky look.

I always love how this turns out.

It looked a tiny bit flat, so I stamped some stars around the half-circle and it really added a little flair that I like!

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 December 13th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #196 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge - the penultimate one of 2022! That went fast!

We have a fun tic tac toe board for you this time.

Tic tac toe boards are so much fun! I went with the first vertical row - Orange/Pens/Pattern Paper.

How cute is my sledding Yeti!? I love this stamp set 'Baby It's Cold Outside' by Evelin T Designs... sadly I have had it since Sept 2021 and despite cutting him with Big Sexy (Brother Scan n Cut) he has never ever been inked!!

I recently sold all my Copic markers, as I decided I preferred Altenew's markers and that is what I used to colour him, along with my fave Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst pens, that add a ton of shimmer.

I added some glittery snow paste through a Clearly Besotted stencil (snow day) for a bit of additional interest and created the hill using a Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside'. The stripey paper is actually from a Halloween kit!

I love it and he is actually going into my 2023 Christmas card stash..

I can't wait to see which row you choose! Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends December 2nd.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Gingerbread..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Gingerbread' 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 love gingerbread, so gingerbread men are my faves!! I love the 'Tis The Season set by Ellen Hutson. I bought it second-hand and used it a lot this year for my Christmas cards.

To match the sketch, I stamped a row of gingerbread men, I used Rocky Shore ink by Altenew, I thought it was a good gingerbread colour. I kept it super simple and stamped the sentiment over the row and then coloured the bows using a Sakura glitter gelly roll pen.

So fun and easy.

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 November 22nd.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #195 - You had me at Ombre...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have an ombre theme for you..

Recently I have been working with these strip dies and I decided to make the ombre part of my card using these.

I have a bunch of the Michaels colour tone pads, which are great for this kind of card. I used the 'Pink Buttons' one here.

After I had applied all the paper strips to my white card, I had to stamp my sentiment and I was a bit nervous about stamping over the beautiful ombre! But this is where a stamp platform is your best friend!

I used the Waffle Flower 'Oversized Smile' set that I have had since it was released in April 2021 and this is its first use (shame..).

It came out well and makes me smile to look at it!

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 November 18th.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - So Berry Sweet...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind the last week and a half. We bought a house and finally moved in last Friday. The craft room and my work desk were the first things I unpacked. The craft room is not finished, but it is totally open for business ;)

This time we have 'Thanks Strawberries' 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 knew I had a set by Studio Calico that had fruit in it!! Fortunately, I packed my stamps in their bins, so it was easy to find!

I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit the front of an A2 card blank and stamped the strawberries on the piece that would appear below my glittery border. I coloured them using Altenew markers. The sentiment is from the same set and echoes the 'thanks' sentiment in the inspiration image.

I am super pleased with the first-ever card from my forever craft room.

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 November 8th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #194 - Colour Challenge - booyah! It's the 90's...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have colour challenge for you this time.

I love these colours together, they work so well.

I used an old layering stamp from The Works in the UK, I have had it since 2017. I stamped the bigger flower in yellow and the x2 center pieces in orange and brown. The little strip is by Taylored Expressions and I trimmed it down so it was a bit smaller, as I thought that worked better here. I added a red heart and some twine to finish it off.

I felt it was missing something, so repeat stamped happy birthday and that made me happy!

I can't wait to see how you use the colours, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 4th.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Kitchen...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I decided to use the inspiration image only this time. I used a Clearly Besotted 'On the shelf' set it has all these great rows of items, they make super quick and fun cards.

I used the 'kitchen' row here and coloured it with Altenew markers. I love the sentiment that comes with the set, mainly because a friend and I are always messaging each other to 'spill the tea'. LOL. I finished it off with a MFT 'Wonky, Stitched' rectangle die and chose a card blank that coordinated, so my colouring would pop a bit more.

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 October 25th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #193 - Anything Goes....

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time it is everyone's fave - Anything Goes!!

I love this card, I play a little challenge with a couple of my cardmaking friends and this was for 'National Batman Day'.

Taylored Expressions have this set called 'Sarcasti-Chick' and you can buy add-ons for it. I love it and use it a lot since I bought it in 2019.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Chick and added the superhero outfit from one of the add-on sets. The sentiment is one of my all-time faves, because I am pretty darn lazy!

Can't wait to see your makes, which part of your stash will you use? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 21st.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Autumn Leaves...

 

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Autumn Leaves' 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 was inspired by the colours and the leaves in the inspiration photo. I love this set by MFT 'Harvest Mouse'. It gets a lot of use!

I coloured the leaves to match as closely as I could to the colour palette and then used fun Autumnal coloured patterned papers to create my background. I finished it off, by adding a little glitter strip and one of the sentiments from the stamp set, which I cut up to work with my card layout.

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 October 11th

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #192 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun tic-tac-toe board for you this time -

I went with the first vertical row - nautical-embossing-stars.

I love this set by Stampabilities 'Sail Away' all the stamps are SO cute. I have had it since Jan 2021 and it hasn't been used as much as I would have liked. I stamped and fussy cut it and coloured it using Copics.

I recently got this amazing dimensional stars embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp, so it was perfect for using here!

The sentiment is one of my faves, by Jillibean Soup from their 'Whale Done' set that I have had since 2018.

The whole card came together really easily and it's so cute!

Which row will you choose? I always find it fun when you use the same row as me, but the cards/makes are so unique to each of us and our supplies.  Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 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

p.s If you are in Florida and under the hurricane alert like me, please be safe and follow all the guidance being issued.

Fusion Card Challenge - Front Porch...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I loved the inspiration image, as I have a front porch and I love sitting out there. But I didn't have the right stamps for the image in my head.

The weightlifting monster stamp is by Whipper Snapper Designs and is ancient and one of my all-time faves, I always smile when I use him. I used one of my many on-hand smooshed distress ink backgrounds and added a strip of glitter paper to mimic the sketch. The little sentiment banner I created using planner stickers. I think these little stickers are so handy when you want a small sentiment.

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 September 27th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #191 - Sketch Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time.

You know how much I love a sketch!

It took me a minute to decide how I wanted to interpret the sketch. Then I remembered that I have this awesome star coverplate die by Mama Elephant. I die-cut it, added acetate to the back, and created a shaker!

I added the super cute and fun 'Little Agenda Dinos' by Mama Elephant that I have had since 2020. The sentiment is a mix of companies and I think it worked really well and the whole card ended up as a fun interpretation of the sketch.

Here is a little close-up for you.

Show us your interpretation of the sketch. Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends September 23rd.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Pinwheel

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I loved both, but I didn't have anything even remotely related to a pinwheel in my stash.. gotta remedy that!

So I went with just the sketch and as I am in the midst of Christmas 2022 makes, I decided to make a Christmas card.

I just got the fun candy-striped papers and so wanted to use them. I cut a contrasting panel to match the sketch and die-cut circles in black, so my words would pop. I used some leftover sentiments from the  Lawn Fawn 'Winter Big Scripty Words' set and it worked out so well.

To finish it off I added a little bit of bling!

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 September 13th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge Blog - #190 - Tag, you're it...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Our long-time teamie LeAnne is stepping down, we really will miss her and her beautiful creations. Best wishes to you LeAnne, I am sure I'll see you around in blogland.

This time we have a 'use a tag' challenge.

I love tags, shop-bought, handmade, or any kind. I have a big bin full of them, so I was super excited to use one of my faves here.

I chose the tag first - it is from Michael's and has a great holographic effect, so when it catches the light, it feels a bit like the ocean to me! Hence my stamp choice 'Mermaid's Crossing' by Newton's Nook, I have had it since I took a class using it in 2016!

I never bought the dies, but this is where my awesome Brother Scan n Cut aka Big Sexy comes in handy!

The image below shows how I stamped and cut a bunch of things all at once. I even cut out the sentiments, just draw a pencil line around them and erase after.

I coloured my mermaid using copics, I am pretty pleased with her pink hair. After mounting the tag onto the card, I placed the mermaid and the sentiment and then added some of my all-time fave Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets.

I love it so much, that I am not sure I want to send it to anyone LOL.

How will you use a tag on your card? Make sure that you pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends September 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

Fusion Card Challenge - Colour Palette - Seagull Beach

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Colour Palette - Seagull Beach' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I did not use the sketch, instead I was inspired by the image and the colours

I dug out an old fave by Newton's Nook 'Hey Gullfriend' and then created a background of clouds and sea using MFT cloud and wave stencils with distress ink. This sentiment always makes me laugh. I love punny cards.

SUCH an easy and fun make!

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 August 30th.

Cx

Fusion Challenge - Front Porch

Hey,

Welcome to another wonderful Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I was planning on fusing the sketch and the photo, as I have a front porch and I LOVE it!!

But I couldn't find the stamp to create what I had in my head. So I went with just the sketch.

The weightlifting monster is one of my all-time fave stamps by Whipper Snapper and it always makes me smile when I use him. I used one of my many on hand smooshed backgrounds and added a strip of glitter paper. The little banner I made using x2 stickers that are for planners, but I like to use them as small sentiments on cards.

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 September 27th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #189 - Gnarly...its the 80s...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

It's time for another fun colour challenge - this time 80s colours!

I love these colours!!

I used pink, mauve, blue and grey. I stepped out of my comfort zone with a little bit of paper piecing!! The background stamp is 'Looped Flower' by Hero Arts and I bought it second-hand from Jenn Shurkus around 2015!

I stamped the girl from the 'Jane Girl' set by Unity Stamps that I have had since 2018. I masked her off and added Altenew inks in my chosen colours to the background stamp and stamped it onto the white panel, over the masked girl. I then coloured her with copics and stamped her onto the grey chevron paper for my final colour choice. The chevron paper is 'Calm & Cozy Chevrons' by My Favorite Things.

The sentiment is one of my favourite go-to Taylored Expressions sentiment strips, I have a container of these and they are so handy.

How will you use the colours? Pop on over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends August 26th.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - Cheese & Wine...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Cheese & Wine 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 was inspired by the wine bottles. I have this amazing set of stamps by Creative Expressions that my bestie gave me. They are all sentiments and they are hilarious. I thought the one I chose to use paired really well with the lady by Unity Stamp Co.

The paper is another digital paper by Little Butterfly Wings and I printed it off and cut it down to suit the sketch.

This is going to make a hilarious birthday card for a friend!

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 August 16th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #188 - Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time it's everyone's fave 'Anything Goes'.

The amazing animal print die on my card, is new and I found it in a local Tuesday Morning for $2! It is by Momenta. The minute I saw it, I knew it would play nicely with one of my fave stamps by Ellen Hutson 'Brave Hearted' that I have had since 2020.

Super easy card to make, just die cut the background, stamp, colour and cut the lion and his crown. And then I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment, so it looks like it is coming out of his mouth.

What golden oldies will you use for your Anything goes? Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 12th.

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

Catherine Pooler - Mug Shots...

Hello!

I cannot resist a mug stamp, because IRL I LOVE mugs and it's a good job I have hubby to rein me in, otherwise we would have a bejillion of them.

This great set by Catherine Pooler 'Mug Shots' has gotten so much use since I got it last year. I love pairing it The Rabbit Hole designs Caffeinated sentiments set.

These cards are pretty similar, just a bit of ink blending to anchor the mugs, because they are so pretty they need to shine!

I think the Corgi mug above is actually my fave!

Hope you enjoyed these simple, elegant beauties.

Cx

 

Colorado Craft Co - Happy New Year Mice...

Hello!

I love Colorado Craft Co stamps. I am not a big fan of mice IRL, but they make them SO cute.

This set is called 'Happy New Year' and what I really love about it, is that it is one long stamp that comes with x2 dies, so you get 2 cards in one

I kept these super simple, as I really wanted the mice to shine. They were both coloured with distress inks and a paintbrush (I don't like aquabrushes).

And I added the cheeky Tim Holtz snarky stickers for a bit of fun.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Beach Tiers..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I loved both, so I loosely fused them!

I started by rotating the sketch, as I thought it would work with my image better. The pretty beachy paper is digital and by Allison Pennington, I LOVE her digital kits, I use them a lot in my digital scrapping. I didn't want to hide too much of the paper, so I used a piece of vellum for the other strip.

The cute girl is one of my fave from My Favourite Things 'Beach Cutie', the sentiment in the photo made me smile and this set came with that sentiment, so I got to use it here!

The card has left for my bestie, as we are beach girls..

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 August 2nd.

Cx