Retro Rubber Challenge #233 Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a tic-tac-toe board for you.

I went with the middle vertical row - Gems/Sequins-Embossing Folder-Stitching.

It's 50th birthday central in my life right now. As I was born in September, the school system opted to make me wait a year before I went to Secondary School (High School) and so most of my friends are a year younger than me!

I love these number dies, I have no idea who they are by, I bought them second-hand from Cheiron. I use them SO much. The embossing folder is ancient, I think I bought it on my very first trip to Joann's when we moved to the US back in 20213.

I love using the sentiment stamp for milestone birthday cards, it's pretty much how I feel about getting older. It is from a set by The Ink Road 'Just a Number' I have had it since 2018. I added a little bit of bling to each side of the sentiment - didn't want to overdo it, as this card is for a dude!

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 3rd.

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

Retro Rubber Challenge #228 - Sketch Time..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time, we have a sketch to inspire your creativity.

Personally, I'm a big fan of sketches, and I had already planned out the central portion of my card based on this particular one. 

However, I hadn't given much thought to the rest of the card, so I decided to create an embossed panel for the background, and added a sparkly paper stripe for some extra fun. For my flower spray, I used the 'Simplest Gestures' stamp set by Pink Fresh Studio, which I've had since attending Crop and Create in 2021. This stamp set is particularly enjoyable to use, as you have to stencil in the coloured parts of the flowers.

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 April 19th.

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

Memory Pockets Monthly - April 2024 - Genuine - Cards part 1...

Hey,

Happy Good Friday to you!

My office is closed today, so I am planning on spending most of it at my craft desk.

We have a new MPM release over at The Lilypad today - 'Genuine', it's gorgeous! 

I was inspired to create cards that use journal cards as the focal point.

Journal cards are so pretty, sadly I am not a journaler, but I figured out a way to incorporate them into cards.

Main photo - I used a 4x4 journal card, die-cut using a square stitched die from my stash. I anchored the card using a strip of paper from the kit and popped it up using foam tape, the sentiment is by Ellen Hutson. I made x2 of these. I think you could easily hand-cut these out and skip the stamp or handwrite a sentiment.

Photo above - I used x2 different journal cards here and I let them help me choose the backgrounds. The bird card has 'hello' on it and that inspired my stamp choice. The 'go your own way' card made me think of arrows, so I used a Dyan Reaverly stencil to create the background. Also very easy. You could also use papers from the kit for the backgrounds if you prefer.

Photo above - I went with a small square card, mini square cards are very cute! Again used 4x4 journal cards. I used dies to cut the cards and the larger paper squares. The papers are from the kit. You could always cut the squares by hand. 

I used -

MPM April 2024 - Genuine Kit

https://the-lilypad.com/store/GENUINE-April-24/

From my stash - stamps, dies, stencils, Distress Oxide inks, black ink, foam tape, die-cutting machine, paper trimmer, double-sided tape.

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #227 - Colour Challenge..

 

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun colour challenge for you.

I loved working with these colours.

I saw an idea by Susie Moore using the set by Pink Fresh Studio 'Birds & Bows' that I have had since 2018. So I thought I would CASE it. Mine is a bit different as I stuck to the colour palette for the challenge and I used less bows!

I added a cake from Ellen Hutson's 'Wish Big' set - another one from 2018. The sentiment is by Mama Elephant from 'Mixed Birthday Sentiments'.

I love how it came out and it was fun to CASE a card.

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 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

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #226 - Theme

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

Ths time we have a spring theme for you.

I love flowers and now I am slowly becoming a gardener spring brings much excitement!

I have these pretty orangey-red flowers in my front garden (no idea what they are, the landscaper for the builder added them) and they inspired my colour palette.

I used 'Mondo Sakura' by Ellen Hutson that I have had since 2019. I heat embossed the stamp onto watercolour paper and then watercoloured it using Altenew Watercolour brush markers. The sentiment is also from the set and despite having used this set a lot, I have never ever used this sentiment combo!

Which spring flowers do you have in your stash that will inspire you? 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

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #225 - Tic-Tac-Toe

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun Tic-Tac-Toe board

I think everyone loves a Tic-Tac-Toe.

I went with the last vertical row - Pattern Paper - Gnome - Floral.

I have had the 'Spring Gnomes' set by MFT since 2022 and this is the FIRST time I have used it!! I am not normally a Gnome fan, but I love Easter stamps so I remember really wanting these! 

I stamped and coloured my cute little Gnome using Altenew markers, I actually cut him out using my Brother Scan n Cut, I don't normally do that for just one stamped image, but he was too cute to mess up with my dodgy fussy cutting LOL.

The Gnome Grown sentiment is from a set by Stamping Bella 'Oddball Gnome Family Sentiments' from 2022. I love the pun here and I added 'gift for you', which I created on my computer and then printed out.

The papers are both from my stash and I have no idea who they are by, because 3 years ago shortly before the move to Tampa, I started cutting my papers to 4x6 so I would use more of my ENORMOUS stash.

So that the heart and the floral paper didn't clash too much, I added a piece of die-cut vellum. I like this as a trick.

A super cute card that will accompany a gift for a friend.

Which row will you choose? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and 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

Retro Rubber #224 - Sketch Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge. Fun fact, I forgot to write this post before I left for the cruise! So wrote this whilst on the deck on my lounger. Isn't technology amazing! 

Sketch time! You know how much I love a sketch and this is one of mine :)

I love this set by Avery Elle 'Sweet Swines' that I have had since 2020. It is always easy to make pretty cards with it and the pig on the scooter is my fave. I used bling to mimic the hearts in my sketch and the sentiment is by Stampin' Up from 2022 'Sweet Conversation' set. 

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 February 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

Retro Rubber #223 - Colour Challenge - Winter Blue Ombre..

Hey,

Welcome to another fab Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you.

I like creating ombre backgrounds. This time I did something a bit different. I stamped the rainbow (Rainbow background by Momenta 2023) onto watercolour paper and heat embossed it in white to create a resist. Then I used 3 different blue Distress Oxide inks with water to add colour to the panel, fading out to white at the bottom.

The unicorn is one of my all-time fave stamps by Pink Fresh Studio 'Unicorn Dreams' that I have had since 2018. I stamped it in blue ink here onto watercolour paper. The sentiment is from the same set.

I love how it turned out, the blues are so pretty.

I'm excited to see what you will create. Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends February 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

Retro Rubber Challenge #222 - Winter Theme..

Hey,

Happy New Year! And welcome to the first fun Retro Rubber challenge of 2024.

This time we have a fun winter theme for you.

I decided to use a set 'Snow Day' by Clearly Besotted, that I have not used that much until Christmas 2023. I made a bunch of Christmas cards with it, so it was front of mind.

I created the little scene by masking the house and hippos from the set and then I blended distress oxides to create the wintery background. I added some white gel pen to give it all a snowy feel.

I love how this came out.

Which wintery stamps will you use? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends January 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

Happy 2024 and New in HNM Store!

 

Hey,

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2024.

I had a mixed 2023, but it ended really well and that is good enough for me.

The HamnMule store has been growing slowly and I hope to dedicate more time to it next year.

I just popped these super cute mini notecards in the store. There are x8 in the pack and you get free mini sentiments too, so you can make the cards a bit more personal.

Cute right!

And the best bit is they are only $4.00 + tax and shipping.

Thanks for looking.

Cx