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

Retro Rubber Challenge #166 - Inspiration Image...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

I am SO glad that I made a few of my RR cards before I started the packing for the move to Tampa, it was total chaos. As this goes live, we have moved (30th Aug) and we now officially live in Tampa - WHOOOOP!! We move into our new home at the weekend.

Anyway, this time we have some photo inspiration for you.

I was inspired by the flowers and I love this stamp by Scrapberry's 'Thinking of You' I have had it since 2018 and I love the idea of the cat and the mouse gifting someone flowers!

I kept this card really simple and just stamped the image, coloured it with Copics and Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst pens. The sentiment is a mix of random sets.

Super simple and cute and has already left my desk.

What will you be inspired by? Head over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends September 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

Fusion Card Challenge - Beach..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

We have a great Beach-themed image for you this time and of course an amazing sketch. You can fuse them together or just use the theme or the sketch.

Which will you try?

Oddly for me, I did not fuse my card, I was instead, inspired by the hat and the bag in the image.

I LOVE RongRong Devoe stamps, they are so fun. And I knew the minute I saw this image that I would be using a stamp from her 'Just Relax' set.

I stamped the lady first (isn't her dress fab?) and then I masked her off, so I could stamp the dots over the top (MFT Lots of Dots background). I then used Copics to colour her and added a sentiment from the set.

I love how it came out, the contrast of the green against the yellow is perfect!

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 July 6th.

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

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

 

Retro Rubber Challenge #155 Somewhere over the Rainbow...

Hey,

Welcome to a colourful Retro Rubber challenge.

Love the inspiration photo - this time we have use Rainbow colours or images.

I remember when I first saw the blog post about these stamps by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson and I knew I had to have them. They are SO versatile and not neglected at all, they live out on my desk and get used over and over and over. I probably should buy a 'spare' set. The sets are 'Unicorns & Rainbows' 'Over It' and 'Pure Magic' and I have had them since 2019.

I stamped and coloured the rainbow and added the hilarious sentiment, I then stamped, cut and coloured the Unicorn and clouds. Before popping them up with foam tape, I die-cut the panel using a The Works stitched, scalloped, dotted die.

Really simple, but so fun.

Can't wait to see your rainbow makes. Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 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 #154 Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

By now you are fully aware of my love of Monster stamps. I am a very lucky girl, because all my crafty friends know this and I am always being sent Monster stamps by them. As yet I do not have a single duplicate - just how many Monster stamps are there?! So generally for a anything goes challenge, I dig out a neglected Monster stamp!

You also know I am a fan of creating my own background and I love this Mama Elephant 'Monster Jam' set and the little Monster with the tambourine is my fave, so I created a background using just him! I coloured them all using Copics and Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst glitter pens.

The sentiment is from the set and it's pretty small, so it didn't cover too much of my fun background.

What will you dig out of the archives? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 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 - Cocoa

Hey,

Welcome to 2021 and the first Fusion Card Challenge, of what we are hoping is going to be a much improved year following a tricky 2020.

We are kicking off the year with Cocoa..

Which will you try? As always I loved both, so I fused them!

I was inspired by cute cocoa mugs in the photo and I always love a sketch!

As I tend to do, I rotated the sketch to suit my stamps better. I decided to mix up the stripes, by using my ancient MFT chevron dies, I love these dies. I die-cut them in plain red and spotty papers. 

Then I added a fun scalloped circle die that is from one of my fave shops in the UK - The Works. The cute Fox is 'Winter Fox' by Lawn Fawn, I added spots to the mug to match the paper used, and I think it might be one of the first things I ever bought from Lawn Fawn. I added a sentiment by Concord & 9th from 'Winter Wear'.

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 January 19th.

My Retro Rubber teamie LeAnne, told me about the current Card Concept challenge and I realised my card is perfect for the challenge, as per Fusion, I am 100% inspired by the mugs of cocoa.

Cx

Masking and Stencil overlays...

 

Hey,

Happy Christmas Eve!

As it is Christmas Eve, I am showing you a card that I made for a friend who celebrates her birthday today.

She is a big fan of the Moomins (I mean who isn't?!) and I always think the gorgeous Hippos by Clearly Besotted look like Moomins.

I love using masking with stencils to create fun backgrounds. This card was a super easy version. 

First I stamped the Hippo and the drink and then stamped it again onto a sticky note and fussy cut it out (even if I have die's I tend to do this, so there is no white border). Now I have a mask.

I blended the grass first and then added the sunrays. Here is what it looked like.

Then all I had to do was colour in the image, stamp the sentiments and die-cut the panel to size. 

A very easy card that looks like it took way more work to create.

I used - Clearscraps - Sunburst stencil. Clearly Besotted - Coolin' Off stamp set. Distress Oxides in Squeezed Lemonade and Mowed Lawn.

I hope that you are having a great Christmas Eve wherever you are and it might not be exactly as you had planned/hoped, but if you are safe, well, and warm, it will be great.

See you next week, I'm having a few days of NFL over Christmas and not crafting..

Cx

Punny Dogs...

 

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I hope you all had a good week. Mine was a bit crazy at work, but I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving with Hubby and Clint Catwood that I didn't mind too much.

During my recent vacation in November I made 100 cards for charity. I really love doing this, it's nice to do something for others and I have fun whilst I am doing it.

This time I was determined to trawl through some older neglected stamps and use them with some of the newer things in my stash.

I came across these awesome freebie dog stamps (they came with a craft magazine in the UK) and I thought that they would work really well with the newer Taylored Expressions 'Woof' simple strip sentiments. I love a pun, so these worked really well, as did the ones that came with the stamp set (main photo).

My amazing friend Lisette has the banner dies that coordinate with the strips and she cut me TONS of them, so kind.

I had previously made a card using these stamps and I coloured some of the dogs in random colours and others I left blank. I really like this as a technique and I believe if you just colour one, it is considered 'spotlight' stamping.

Here are a few more of the cards - 

Fun right?!

Have a great weekend, I am having a playdate with JT and watching endless sport on Sunday - WHOOP!

Cx

Say yes to cake...

Hey,

Can you believe it is going to be Thanksgiving this week?!

2020 has whipped by!

I thought I'd share a couple of the things I made for the card drive that Ricky was doing.

When I was making the 100 cards for this drive I decided to properly play in my craft room, so that meant I used old faves or things that had only had 1 use.

I love the sentiment stamp I used here. It's by Stampin' Up and from their retired 'Amazing Life' set, I had to track it down :)

I paired with two different sets. The main photo actually uses a new to me Wendy Vecchi set 'Birthday Bash' it was a birthday gift and I love it. I coloured the cake with Copics and added nuvo drops in blue for a kind of 'royal' icing look. Royal icing was always my fave growing up, I loved it when my Momma made cakes using this technique.

The second card uses the Taylored Expressions 'Gus and Gertie' set - I love that Gertie is in a party hat here.

I loved how these came out, so I made doubles and kept them for my stash. 

The best thing about making for charity is being able to rediscover all of my stash, as there are not really hard and fast requirements, so you can make what you like.

If you are considering making cards for charity, Scrapbook.com run an all year round card drive called Cards for Kindness. I donate cards to them approx 3 times a year. I bet if you are a card maker you have a bunch of cards you've made for challenges, etc, donate them and share the joy.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #148 Birthday...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge - can you believe it is nearly Thanksgiving?!

This time we have a birthday challenge for you - 

I think we all love making birthday cards, they can be so very personal. And if you know me, you know I love Monster stamps and they generally find their way onto my birthday cards!

This one is a fave of mine (his teeny tiny hands are just amazing) and is by Ink Blot Shop 'Party Monster' he was released in August 2019 and I have had him since the minute he came out, I have a built-in Monster stamp radar!!

First I stamped the sentiment, as I wanted my Monster to look like he was sitting on top of it. After stamping him, he was coloured with Copics and a teeny bit of Sakura gelly roll starburst glitter pen. 

The sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co, from their 'Frankly Said' set that I have had since 2018 and it comes with the most amazing choice of sentiments. I bought another one of it and I gift the individual sentiments to my crafty friends.

The white panel was die-cut with my fave Tim Holtz + Sizzix deckle edge rectangle dies.

Have you got a fave style of birthday card? Can't wait to see what you make. Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 27th

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

Dancing Queen...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend?

I am a big fan of Clearly Besotted stamps and I was super happy when I saw this cute set 'Cha Cha Cha' was on sale.

I good friend of mine is a Disco DJ and she loves to dance and has a glitter ball.. so obviously, I had to make her the first card using this set.

I decided to do a loose CASE of this card -

I have the mini Cha Cha Cha set and so I needed a light beam. One of the things I really like to do is 'stretch' my stamps. So I used the beam from the Lawn Fawn 'Beam Me Up' set.

This card came out so well and my friend was very happy with it - I love #happymail!

Cx

Be Happy...

Hey!

One of the downsides to being on design teams is that when you go to comment on cards, you discover all the goodies you didn't know you needed!

Or is that just me?!

During my first Fusion Card Challenge I saw a card with the amazing Zebra planter and I was like - gotta have it!

The stamps are Be Happy by Penny Black, such an awesome set. 

I stamped and coloured x4 of the images from the set and used a mix of sentiments from the set and others from my stash. I kept the cards pretty simple, as the images are so gorgeous when coloured, they really need nothing else adding.

I don't need an excuse to be enabled when it comes to stamps...

Cx

 

MFT: Picture Perfect Party Animals..

Hey, 

Happy Friday!

Hope you have had a good week?

I love the Birdie Brown for MFT Picture Perfect sets, I have the original set and when this one (Picture Perfect Birthday Animals) was released I had to have it. I already have the dies that match the selfie squares, so it made it all very easy.

Colouring them was a blast! I used all scraps of paper to create the frames for each card and I used the sentiments from the set and stamped them using Altenew inks. The sentiments on a banner, are by Taylored Expressions and are their simple strips - genius!

I got creative with the Lion below and he is actually a shaker. These x2 cards are my fave images from the entire set. The Hippos are just too much and I think I eat my cupcakes like the Lion!

 Have a great weekend, gym, NFL and desk time for me.

Cx

Balloon Car..

 

Hey, 

Happy Friday!

If you are in the US, you are probably dancing for joy at the long weekend ahead of us (Labor Day). BUT it does mean that the Summer is officially over, which makes me so very sad.

I am excited for the weekend, as tomorrow, I reunite with most of the craftgang for a fun socially distanced playdate at Tiffs house! Yay! We haven't all been together since FEB!!

I am a big Avery Elle and own a TON of their stamps.

I really loved their Journey set, even though the car looks like it should be only used for Weddings, the set comes with sentiments that mean you can use it for birthday's too - which is what I did here.

I love that you can stamp in the license plate slot!

These were really easy cards to make, I stamped, coloured and die-cut the cars. I die-cut the white background panel - the die is from The Words and is one of my current faves. 

Before I added the cars to the card front, I stamped some fun confetti, streamers, and stars in coordinating colours. 

So simple and fun. And a bit of a surprise for the recipient.

Have a great long weekend.

Cx

Final Paper Smooches Challenge...

 

Hey,

So I am playing along with the final Paper Smooches challenge - 

One of my colleagues recently moved house and I made this card for her using the Paper Smooches Abode set.

I love the chair, it has so many possibilities and it is the reason I bought the set, during the closing sale.

I masked off the chair and stamped the shelf, so it is sitting behind the chair - love masking!

The whole card is super simple, I coloured it with Copics and added some Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst glitter pen touches here and there, most noticeably to the chair cushion.

So sad that it took me until PS were closing to find the challenge, how did I miss that all these years?!

Cx

Paper Smooches: Birthday Fishes...

Hey,

Its official Paper Smooches are no longer, sad times, but happy times for Kim the owner as she goes on to the next phase of her life.

The challenge (which I have foolishly only recently discovered) is still alive and well!

The current challenge is a birthday challenge 

I love the 'Birthday Buddies' set by PS. Once again I opted to use the fish to create a background. I can't tell you how many times I have done this with this set!

This time though I colored them using just x2 colours and I added googly eyes!

The sentiment I heat embossed onto a coordinating piece of card stock.

Such a simple, but effective card. I love using this idea to make cards, stamping my own backgrounds, and colouring them is like creating my own colouring book pages!

Cx

4from1: Avery Elle Hot Dog!

Hey,

A few weeks ago Avery Elle had a great offer on their site and so I bought a few things, always feels nice right now to support a small business, especially one I am super fond of.

Today I am showing you my x4 cards made from the 'Hot Dog' set - I don't have the dies yet and I am a super reluctant fussy cutter, so no dimension on these cards. I used BG10 instead to create shadow and the illusion of dimension ;)

I had a bunch of white panels all ready die-cut on my desk, so I just utilised these for my cards, hence the variety of sizes.

I stamped all 4 cards including their sentiments in one big batch! I knew I wanted to heat emboss the sentiment for the top right card - what I didn't know is that my heat tool would overheat (and effectively die) mid emboss and leave me with a patchy mess. I try not to waste things, so I fixed it as best I could with a white gel pen. It's not perfect, but it's not in the trash.

All the cards are pretty similar, coloured with Copics and Sakura Starburst glitter gel pens. They have a nice mat behind them and are either on A6 or 4bar card blanks.

They are so pretty as a set!

Cx

Pawsome Love..

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

Hubby and I have the week off next week. It was supposed to be our week to de-clutter the apartment ahead of our move to Tampa. We are probably not moving this year, given the CV-19 pandemic, but we are still going to de-clutter.

I made today's cards right at the start of the lockdown because the Simon Says Stamp 'Pawsome Love' set arrived and I just had to play.

For the main photo I combined the cute kitty with clouds and house dies by Avery Elle. The card blank is by Concord & 9th and I love these.

I am so happy with how this came out and even though you can see a paw below the cloud (a mistake), I quite like that!

I had this cover plate die out on my desk and was determined to incorporate that into my card. I just wish I had used a more neutral paper behind it. I am loving the glittery hello die cut though - that die is also by Simon Says Stamp.

Have a great weekend.

Cx