Beach Please...

Hey,

Welcome to September!

I can't believe it is my birthday month already, this year has flown by!

I thought I would share a card that I made a while back during a coloring challenge. 

I love the Hero Arts mini stamp and die set 'Beach Please' it makes me laugh every time I see it, with the dog on the towel! The umbrella and the pineapple cocktail are separate stamps and dies and there is also a suntan lotion bottle!

I used a fave Dutchdoobadoo stencil for the clouds, I added a little Lawn Fawn stitched hill for the sand and a Lil Inker sun.

I always love how these cards turn out.

It also seemed appropriate to share it now, as I just got back from x4 days at the beach with Hubby and Lisette.

We had a wonderful time and it was SO good to get out of NYC and our apartment, even for a short time.

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Anything Goes...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

May already?! Hubby and I are celebrating 5 years in NYC this weekend in Atlantic City.

I'm still with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge. 

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

I thought it would be fun to use the Frog Hi stamp, it's one of the newer releases and I really like it.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers. I decided to stencil some clouds into the background and it worked out well. The cloud stencil is my fave by Dutchdoobadoo. I love their stencils.

Hope you will be playing along too. Can't wait to see which image you choose to use.

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

Little Dino Rawr...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City tonight for the weekend..whoop whoop. It has been a while.

It's funny that I started the week with this little guy.

I love the Lawn Fawn mini stamp sets, great vfm.

My card is super simple. I used the stamp and the sentiments from the set - except the Happy Birthday, that is by Avery Elle.

I made a few of these in different colours, as it was so easy to do, once I had all the stamps set up on my x2 stamp platforms. I love stamp platforms.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Helen Dardik inspired...

Hey,

I'm feeling slightly jaded today, yesterday was our 5 year anniversary of living in NYC, so Hubby and I went to dinner and too much wine might have been consumed.

Today's card I made a couple of weeks ago. I don't know who the Lion stamp is by, I bought a grab bag of stamps on Etsy and got this in it.

It reminded me of Helen Dardik's work (I have a MAJOR crush) and so I created a background for the Lion using some of the stamps from Helen's collaboration with Waffle Flower.

It came out much better than I expected and I felt rather brave leaving the lion uncoloured.

The sentiment is by Heffy Doodle.

Cx

CASE brush strokes and abstracts..

Hey,

Happy Sunday, hubby and I are on the way to Atlantic City, I'm actually writing this post on the bus!

I saw this great card by Julie Ebersole, using her stamps for Ellen Hutson -

I realised that I had some similar products (brushstrokes by Simon Says Stamp and landscape textures by Neat & Tangled). So I thought I'd have a play.

I'm pretty pleased with both cards. I actually dug out the few pigment inks that I have, so I'd get really rich and bright colours.

The first card I made was the bottom one, I really love the rich colours and the Misti made it super easy to do, I actually left the brushstroke stamp in one position and moved the paper. The sentiment on this one is a mix of a great stamp by Waffle Flower and a Tim Holtz sticker. I added a few enamel dots to finish it off

I decided to get all brave with the top card and only use a few brushstrokes and add in more of the abstract elements. I like it, feels like I could stamp happy birthday inside...

Fun cards to make, quite time consuming for 2 cards, but totes worth it.

Cx

Dirty Martini?..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I have the day off today, as Hubby and I are heading back from Atlantic City today, no doubt nursing hangovers...

I have had the I Like It Dirty set by Unity Stamp Co. for a while now, but I hadn't had a good reason to use it.

It is a friend's birthday this week and like me she is a lover of a Dirty Martini, making this the perfect stamp set for her ;)

I used Concord & 9th Background Blocks stamps with distress inks and spritzed them to get create the background.

Another super simple and fun card.

Cx

Heart Bouquet...

Hey,

Happy Sunday!

Hubby and I are off to AC today, we have the day off tomorrow - wah hoo! Let the fun commence.

I needed to make a card for a DT colleague recently and she LOVES MFT Pure Innocence stamps.

So as I recently acquired Heart Bouquet second-hand (my new fave way to acquire older stamps) I thought it would be perfect for her.

It also gave me a chance to work on my colouring of 'brown' people - I am SO bad at this LOL..considering my own skin tone, you think I'd be better at it, but nope I suck.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and I think this was a pretty good skin tone effort, following some tips from the fabulous Pocono Pam.

I thought that one of the gelli plate backgrounds I had on my desk worked really well with this cutie, I added a piece of shimmer washi and stamped the sentiment to finish off the card.

Another easy peasy card that I think will make the recipient smile.

Cx

Snail birthday CASE..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Hubby and I will be heading back from Atlantic City today, no doubt with hangovers...

I have many craft crushes, one of them is Marion Vagg..I love her cards and she also seems to be a really nice person too.

I recently saw this tag she had made on Instagram -

I loved how she used the snail and having recently purchased the Avery Elle I'm late stamp and die, it seemed like a perfect time for a CASE.

I used a stencil by The Crafters Workshop for my sunburst with Oxide Distress Inks..I haven't been in love with these so far, but the Craftgang loves them, so I thought I'd try again and this is the first thing I have made using them where I love the results. The bleachy spots are great, so I am semi-onboard now!

I coloured the stamp using zigs and added some white gel pen spots to the shell, just like Marion's card.

I die-cut the panel using an MFT rounded stitched rectangle die, I die-cut it before adding the sentiment because I thought the Ohmygawsh might be too long..

The sentiment made me LOL, it is a combo of a CAS-ual Friday's stamp and a Simon Says Stamp one.

I love it, so bright and cheerful, a great interpretation of Marion's awesome card.

Cx

p.s Marion said on instagram that she loved it..swoon...

Freshly Made Sketches..Hipster Birthday..

Hey,

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City today, we are gonna party party and we have tomorrow off - whoo hoo!!

I really liked the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, so versatile -

I've been dying to use a new stamp from Technique Tuesday 'Hipster Birthday' and I recently dug out my MFT chevron dies, so I could have a play with them, they have been neglected..

The sketch seemed to speak to both of those items.

I started by die-cutting 3 chevrons in coordinating papers. I affixed them to some white cardstock and then die cut the panel using a MFT wonky stitched rectangle die.

I decided to use a blue circle for my stamp and I stamped it using navy blue ink.

The whole thing came together super quickly..love it when that happens.

I love it, maybe the circle is a bit big, but I still love it...

Cx

30 Days of Colouring March 2017...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Sadly it is the end of the latest 30 Days of Colouring..hosted by Kathy Rac and her blog - The Daily Marker. Kathy is awesome, she has mad colouring skills and I love that she unites a whole community with the simple art of colouring.

I LOVE these 30 day bursts of colouring, it helps my mojo a lot!

Today I am showing you some of my fave things that I have made with the colouring from the last 30 days. This is not all of it, some of it warranted individual posts, coming next month.

I find colouring a small image sparks a lot of creativity.

Newton's Nook Snow Day stamps, coloured on an actual snowday, background made using distress inks and water

Newton's Nook Cake stamps and Reverse Confetti dies

Avery Elle stamps, Oxide Ink background

Avery Elle Band Camp Kangaroo stamp, background by Neat & Tangled

I love the fact that the ideas for all of these cards came out of a simple piece of colouring.

The main photo is a digital stamp by Tiddly Inks and she is a Catshark - I LOVE these images, you get x3 in the set and I have been overusing them.

Most of these cards have already left for their new homes, I love it when a big batch of making gets used immediately.

Have a great weekend, I am off to Atlantic City with Hubby - YAY!!

Cx

Flower Monkey Slider...

Hey,

Happy long weekend..whoop whoop.

It is Memorial Day weekend here in the US and in the UK it is the Whitsun holiday.

Hubby and I went to Atlantic City on Thurs night, it was a one night of madness thing..

So today I am showing you the famous (well to me and mine) Flower Monkey Slider card that I made for JT, following our weekend in Providence.

We got drunk and somehow came up with this crazy idea, which I then brought to life!

It made me smile so much and it's totally hideous, but fun.

I also learnt that my Stampin' Up label punch can be used to create sliders..clever.

The Monkey is by Waffle Flower, the flowers are by Altenew and stamped with Dew Drops and Distress Inks, the sentiment stamps are by CAS-ual Friday.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Cx

Take Us to Your Cake...

Hey,

Happy Long Weekend - whoop whoop.

Today is recovering from last night in Atlantic City day and tomorrow is closet tidy day for me - boo.

I recently bought the great Alien Invasion stamp set from Gerda Steiner Stamps.

I saw a couple of cards made with it and the sentiments really caught my eye.

This is the first card I made and I made it quickly the night the stamp set arrived..could not resist.

I saw JT playing along with this week's I love Promarkers challenge - which is anything goes and thought I'd join in the fun too :)

I used Lime Twist, Orange and Frosted Jade Promarkers to colour the aliens..I added the spots using the orange Promarker.

I love masking things right now, it works so well if you want to blend the background.

This is such a fun set, I can't wait to play with it a bit more.

Cx

Bye bye Momma Bear...

Hey,

So my Ma left to go home a little while ago..sad times, but man did we have fun whilst she was here.

DC was awesome fun - hot as hell, but amazing to see everything and its so clean!!

We loved having her with us, but you know it's always nice to reclaim your tiny 1 bedroom apartment :)

Main photo is Ma outside the White House - waaay smaller than we expected:)

This photo is of Ma the converted slot machine player in Atlantic City...

She is a lot of fun my Ma!

We also had a great lunch date with JT's folks - Mike and Sally - they are amazeballs and I love them to pieces. So glad that Ma got to meet them. Whenever Hubby and I are with Mike and Sally we take a selfie..so here is the one from yesterday..

Cx

Atlantic City Fun...

Hey,

So Ma, Hubby and I had a fun Sunday/Monday in Atlantic City..

We introduced Ma to the joys of wasting your money in a Casino :)

Fortunately we managed to come home up ($264 in my case).

We also managed to hit the outlet shops (Hubby had a nap..) and do some damage.

We had a great trip and it was fun to see Ma in one of our fave places in the US, having a ball.

DC later in the week..

Cx

Reunited...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you all!

I am super happy today, as my Ma arrived last night from London, she is here for 10 days and as from tonight, I will be off work, so I can hang out with her :)

Whoop Whoop!

Today's card is just something that I ended up with when I had a play at my desk one night with whatever was die-cut and on my desk!

Pretty much sums up how I feel today :)

I used a Lawn Fawn stitched square, a MFT stitched rounded rectangle, 2 Stampin' Up hearts - created using a die/emboss Framelits thingy, a mini staple and a stamp by Paper Smooches. All papers by Recollections.

It came out pretty well, so I made another similar one..

Today is also my Grandma's birthday - here is the card I made for her, using an April Tim Holtz Tag...

Have a great weekend..Hubby, Ma and I are off out to Vamos! tonight with our friends and then we are heading to AC for the weekend..

Cx

Simon Says Stamp.. Clean and Simple...

Hey,

Hope you are having a great weekend so far.

Hubby and I had a fun flying visit to Atlantic City on Friday night and are now having a low key Sunday at home :)

I was most excited when I saw the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Clean and Simple.

The DT are using Hero Arts products and I just acquired a new Hero Arts stencil that I thought would work well for CAS.

I cut a piece of watercolour card to fit my black card blank and stenciled parts of the stencil using a dauber and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink..

I'm working on a DT make right now using a freebie stamp set I have. It includes the chinese word stamps and I thought they would look nice on my card.

I added a Stampin' Up Navy marker to my Distress Marker Spritzer, for a little splatter and voila! finished card :)

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself right now, this card feels so CAS and fresh!

I am going to use it as an Anniversary card.

Cx

WOYWW #286 - Almost time for Turkey...

Hey everyone,

Happy WOYWW to everyone, I missed last week, as I worked a bejillion hours on Mon/Tues, went home passed out and went back to work...

Anyway, enough of me banging on about that - it's fun to be playing along with Julia and the gang over at her blog Stamping Ground, for the weekly desk nose.

My desk is quite funny this week - everything I am working on seems to be to the left of my craft mat?! There is a random card on my mat along with my mouse and that is it! Funny thing is I really don't remember leaving my desk like this?!

As always here is a card for you -

This is one of x5 identical cards for the card swap group I am in, thanks SSG. I really like them and they are based loosely on my bee card from a couple of weeks ago. The yellow background behind the stamp was done using Gelatos and an Aquabrush.

For those of you in the US, heading out for the Thanksgiving holiday, have a safe journey and a happy holiday with your families. Hubby and I are heading to Atlantic City for some crazy fun!

Cx

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Hi,

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Hubby and I had fun in Atlantic City, getting an early start on his birthday celebrations.

We are going to take advantage of Summer Restaurant Week here in NYC and go and have dinner somewhere special tonight.

My main card is for Hubby..a watercolour background with calligraphy writing...the nib was wrong so the text is a bit fine, but I still like it.

I actually made another one quite similar to this for my Auntie Connie, the calligraphy is better here. I love the orangey / red tones I used here, it feels really summery.

Auntie Connie's Watercolour Birthday

I chose this style of card for Hubby, because a few weeks ago I was working on watercolour cards and he said how nice he thought they were and how he likes the clean feel of them. I made his a bit special by using corrugated card for the Happy.

Hope he likes it!!

Have a great day.

Cx

Using neutral tones...

Hi,

Happy Friday!!

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City tonight, to start his birthday celebrations.

Last weekend, I decided I would work with only papers from my overflowing 'brown' paper drawer!!

I am really pleased with them both. The main card has an added bit of texture with the corrugated card. I like all the layers and different papers. I used pearls and bling for the cake and the corner of the card. The cake stamp and die and the sentiment are by SSS.

The next card has a funny story associated with it..I used my shiny new Memory Box feather die to make the card and then promptly lost the die...I kid you not, I cannot find it anywhere?!

Feather Birthday

Well, at least I got to use it once!! I made a small mistake with the heat embossing, as you can see, I kind of knocked the top off of the word happy! I love the little bunch of feathers, they are so cute..shame that I won't get to do this again until I find/replace the die..

Have a great weekend everyone..

Cx

WOYWW #256....using that new haul....

Hey there WOYWWers..

Hope you are all good - can't believe how quickly this week has gone, partly because my Bestie Lemon arrives tomorrow to celebrate her 40th birthday with Hubby and I :) Atlantic City here we come!! It seems like we have been planning it for ages and now it's time already!

Before we move on to my desk - which is busy this week. Let's talk about WOYWW shall we? For those of you still in the dark, join Julia our wonderful hostess over at her blog Stamping Ground for the weekly chance to coo and fuss over other lovely desks from all around the world.

My desk is busy, obviously because I don't have enough to do I took 20 orders for Mother's Day cards from my work colleagues (11th May here in the US) and now I am racing to get them done before the arrival of Lemon. You can see one standing up, some more on top of a box of cards that I was too lazy to move! Another one in progress, my ATG, foam tape, buttons for the cards, paper twine, pencil, scissors, mouse, tweezers and my coffee cup.

Last week I had a big haul of new stuff on my desk, so I thought I'd show you the 2 cards I have manged to make so far with some of this booty -

Hippo Birdie to you

Ha ha love the sentiment and my friend Kerry will love it too, so it will be heading her way very soon. The stamps and dies are by Lawn Fawn, coloured with Promarkers and I used my new distressed chevron stamp by Bo Bunny. I also used new Simon Says STAMP! inks..which are yummy.

This card is actually for OWH, hence the lack of bling :)

You Tickle my Fancy

The stamp and sentiment are by Technique Tuesday and the spotty card base is by DCWV..I recently realised that the DCWV boxes of patterned cards work wonderfully for OWH.

Sorry for the long post..but if you knew me, you'd know chatting is something I could get a gold medal at :)

Cx

p.s Hubby and I went to our first Baseball game last night..it was good fun.