Retro Rubber Challenge #277 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

Tic tac toe is always a lot of fun!

I went with the diagonal row - Sparkle, Your Choice, Flowers. For your choice, I went with no markers!

Yep, my card was made with only inks. This ancient set by Concord & 9th 'Hello Lovely' that I have had since 2016 comes with a bunch of random shaped stamps that you can use to add colour to the stamped image.

My sparkle is a bit of bling dotted around and some wink of stella; sadly, I don't think you can see the shimmer and sparkle in my photo :(

Also my sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp and is from 2015!! 

Can't wait to see which row you chose, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 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 5 challenges, including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #270 - Theme - Singing in the rain..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun theme for you - 

Being English, I am not a fan of rain, but I do like the imagery associated with rain - boots, umbrellas, droplets, etc

I dug the 2 Simon Says Stamp sets that I used for this card out of the archives. I have had both of them since 2015! Big Birthday Wishes and Abby's Spring Showers.

I added a pearl to her hat as fun little touch.

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

Challenge ends May 1st.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge, and please only enter 5 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #263 - Anything Goes...

Hey,

Happy 2026!! 

The Retro Rubber team are back with a new blog! Jane our amazing leader has done such a great job getting the new blog up and running.

We had a few glitches this week, but we will be back to publishing a new challenge every other Tuesday starting January 27th.

Welcome to our first Retro Rubber challenge of 2026.

This time we have everyone's fave challenge Anything Goes!

In 2025 one of my new work colleagues got married. She also lives in Tampa, so I wanted to send her a card. 

She is a fan of animal print, so I thought the embossing folder was perfect, but in white to make it more wedding. I dug out my all-time fave wedding stamp set 'Married' by Simon Says Stamp, and I have had it since 2014!!!

I should have stamped the sentiment before I embossed, but I made it work. I love the delicate flower spray, it is one of my fave elements of this set.

The card was well received and my colleague and her husband have now been married for 5 months!

What will you find in your stash that needs an outing? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends January 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 5 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #251 - Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Anything goes is always a popular challenge, it gives everyone a chance to dig deep into that retro stash!

I recently got my 'new' stash organised and so I now swing by there first before making anything. Some of it is shamefully quite old...

Today, my stamp set is by Concord & 9th 'Umbrella Turnabout'. I bought it on sale in 2023, and I have never used it. Which is such a shame, as it's gorgeous.

I stamped it using my Altenew stamp wheel, which is perfect for turnabout stamps. I used Altenew inks too - Mountain Pine, Pink Diamond, Eastern Sky and Rocky Shore. I used my colorcube cards for inspiration and blended 2 cards -

I love these colorcubes, the first one was bought for me as a gift and I use them for cardmaking and quilting to get perfect colour combos.

To finish my card (which I made for my Aunt), I added a piece of glitter cardstock and a Hello die-cut (by Simon Says Stamp).

I love how this turned out and I ended up with a large leftover piece of the umbrellas, perfect for another card.

What will you find in your stash to play with? Pop on over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 4.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge, and please only enter 5 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #229 Tic-Tac-Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a tic-tac-toe board, everyone's fave!

I went with the middle vertical row. Stencil-Summer-Green.

I used the fun palm tree stencil by Carta Bella that I have had since 2017 to create my background (sorry it was hard to photograph!). The cute little flip-flop stamp / scalloped piece is by Pretty Pink Posh and was part of Ellen Hutson's 'Summer of Stamping' in 2021. I love this set, it is so fun to colour. I used green to colour the towel and the flip-flops and I added a little smudge of yellow ink to the edge of the scallop. Final touch was the fun sentiment, by Simon Says Stamp from their 'Flip Flop Season' set that I have had since 2015.

I love this summery card, it is too cute!

Which row will you choose? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends June 28.

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 #217 Anything Goes..

Hey,

I am back, after my birthday hiatus. My birthday was crazy fun and I'll write a post about it soon.

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I love these 'Mod Birds' stamps by MFT and it has been a while since I got them out for a play! I have had them since 2018 and I love bird stamps! these stamps are super easy and fun to use, you stamp the main outline and then pick a colour and stamp the detail parts.

I mixed and matched the sentiments for these simple cards, they are 2 stamps, one by Hero Arts 'Take Note' from 2017 and the other by Simon Says Stamp from a 2016 cardkit (I think..).

Can't wait to see your anything goes cards, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 20th.

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 #199 - Tickled Pink!

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

It was fun to see so many people in the gallery for the last challenge. I hope you will love this one too. This time we have a colour challenge for you.

I went with pink, white, and silver (I am using creative license here with my grey cat counting as silver).

This is one of my fave stamp sets - 'Pawsome Love' by Simon Says Stamp, I have had it since 2020. It has a great range of sentiments and critters. I really like the Palentine's Day idea, as I love to send Valentine's cards to my girlfriends.

I got all fancy and created my OWN folding banner using an ancient MFT banner die.. I have always felt the banners are too long and finally learned to fold my own!

Which colour combo will you use? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends on February 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 - Hello Hat..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Hello Hat' 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 hat and I was going to go with a hello sentiment, but after I decided to use the super cute Budgie from Clearly Besotted 'Making Budgie Plans' I went summer-themed.

I used a fun pineapple embossing folder for the yellow panel and after I had stamped my sentiment on the white panel, I added a bunch of stars just for fun. The sentiments are both from Simon Says Stamp 'Warm Weather Animals' - this is one of my all-time fave sets.

I love how fun and summery this card is!

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 19th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #183 - Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Hubby and I are heading to NYC this weekend!! So excited to go dancing in our fave spots.

It's time for Anything Goes! WHOOP!!! I love Anything Goes.

I decided to do something that I rarely do and went with a mix of brand new and old. I tend to stick with my older stamps (as there are 2hundred million of them), but this was so pretty I just had to use it here.

The floral stencil is new-ish (released this year) by Taylored Expressions and is one of their 'create in quads' (or thirds for mini slim like this one) range. I LOVE them. SO easy to make a quick batch of cards.

I wanted a really big sentiment, but I wanted it to be delicate, enter a set that I had TOTALLY forgotten about by Simon Says Stamp 'It's No Secret' I have had it since 2016 and it has not had the kind of use it deserves - doesn't it look great?

I made x3 of these cards all at once using the same sentiment stamp, because it's just fabulous.

I can't wait to see what parts of your stash you choose to use. And pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 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

Fusion Card Challenge - Cloth Bunnies...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

You know I love to 'fuse'!

I love Bunnies! This 'Bunny Hugs' set by Unity Stamp Co is my FAVE of all my Bunny stamps. I think she is so elegant! I haven't been using her much, as I hate fussy cutting, but with the arrival last year of Big Sexy (my Brother ScanNCut) I have been able to cut her out a lot!

I love the white space in the sketch and tried to remain as true as I could to that. I stenciled a circle using a Tim Holtz heart stencil and cut it in half. The glittery strips are scraps from my desk (winning) and the sentiment is another all-time fave by Simon Says Stamp 'Square Sayings', so over used it has to be swiped with water to stick to the block!

Such a cute card and I loved it so much, I made two, well I did have the other half of the circle after all!

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 12.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Bauble Triangle...

Hey,

Welcome to the penultimate Fusion Card Challenge of 2021! 

How quickly has this year whipped by?!

This time we have a fun 'Bauble Triangle' theme for you. As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

I went back to my normal ways for this card and fused both the sketch and the inspiration image.

I used the colours and the Christmas theme from the image as inspiration for my card. 

I had a different idea in mind, I was actually going to put the circles over the top of the grey and white panels, but I didn't love that! So I got out a fun die by Simon Says Stamp that cuts 3 circles in a row and that created the look I had envisioned!

I am a big fan of the Flora & Fauna sets that feature a VW Camper Van, they are always so quirky! And this one features various things for you to dress up your van with! I went with Antlers (of course). I mixed in the snowflake and the sentiment banner and I opted to keep them all black & white, as I think the red base that is showing through the circles makes them pop.

I used - Flora & Fauna 'Driving to the Holidays', Pink Fresh Studio 'December Days',  A-Muse Studio 'Ugly & Bright', Simon Says Stamp 'Tri-Circle' die and the papers are all from my stash.

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 23.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #164 - Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

It's everyone's fave this time - Anything Goes!!

Anything goes is great, it truly is the time to dig out some of the super neglected stamps.

This card uses x2 of my all-time fave stamp sets. The birds, the line and part of the sentiment are by WPlus9 from their 'Happy Birds' set that I have had since 2017 and the 'It's your birthday' stamp is the most overused thing in my craftroom, so much so I have a spare one! It is by Simon Says Stamp 'Big Birthday Wishes' that I got in a kit in 2016.

I decided this was a perfect time to create another stenciled cloud background (I can't stop doing this), using the MFT mini cloud edger with distress inks.. If you don't have one of these, you need it in your life.

The rest of the card was super simple, stamp and colour 2 of the birds from the set and stamp the line, so it looks like they are sitting on something.. rather high up LOL.

This is one of my fave makes I think this year!

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

Challenge ends August 13.

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 #160 Summer Breeze...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we want to see your Summer inspired cards.

I am 100% a Summer girl, I hate being cold.

I dug a fave Summer stamp set out of the archives. 'Flip Flop Season' by Simon Says Stamp, I have had it since 2015.

I love to create backgrounds using imagery or smaller stamps from sets, this time, I added a little twist, by only stamping the flip-flops on half of the white panel. I added some glitter gel pen to the straps. I also blended a bit of Kitsch Flamingo Distress oxide around the edges.

The sentiment is also from the set and was die-cut using a MFT stitched, sentiment strip die.

Love a fun Summer card and life is indeed better in flip-flops.

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

Challenge ends June 18.

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

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

 

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

Christmas Comes Early...

 

Hey,

Most people that know me, know I start making my Christmas cards on 1st of August (my Momma's bday) and they have to be mailed by 5th December (my Poppa's birthday). 

I LOVE sending Christmas cards, but I really hate making them... So I devised this system several years ago and it really works for me.

Because I start so early I miss all the fabulous Christmas / Holiday releases. BUT it does mean that I can get things in post-Christmas / New Year sales.

This year I ended up with a HUGE pile of Christmas sale goodies. So in January, I made at least one card with each of them.

The main card uses a set by Avery Elle 'Santa Jaws' - this was a must-have for me, I love Sharks and all things nautical. And the punny sentiment - just too much!

This set is by MFT 'Happy Llama Days' and I bought it second-hand because I loved it so much! How fun are these festive Llamas.

My friend and amazing teacher Jenn Shurkus, sent me a Christmas card using this set 'The Man, The Myth, The Legend' by Simon Says Stamp and I was like WTAF?! I have to have that. Isn't it amazing?!

The last two photos are of the cards I made using the Dino-Mite Christmas set by Ellen Hutson. I LOVE Dinos and they played so nicely with a bunch of scraps I had!

I actually made multiples of all of these cards and a few more, that I will show you at some point ;) and ended up with 40 cards - LOL. Yes, I am insane.

Cx

Paw You...

 

Hey,

Just before Christmas 2020 my work colleague's small Daughter got Covid (she is fine now).

But it was rather upsetting for the whole family and I thought a small child would be very confused by what was going on. So not to downplay the situation, I made and sent her this little card, in the hope that a piece of mail just for her would cheer her up.

Apparently, it worked and she carried the card around for a while, how sweet is that?

I LOVE Clearly Besotted stamps and this cute 'Paw You' set was perfect for this card. I have this amazing die by Simon Says Stamp that cuts 3 circles in a row, so I cut it twice to create the 6 aperture's for my card.

I blended over the panel and then stamped the cats and the sentiments into the openings.

For a quick, random make it came out well and I liked the doubling up of the die.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #152 Let's get Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

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

You know how much I love a sketch!

I decided to make a Valentine's card and I just so happened to have a bunch of scraps on my desk that were the right size for the sketch. So it got a bit pink there for a moment, but I fixed that by colouring the cute Dinos blue and blending the die-cut circle in blue!

The Dinos and the top left sentiment are by Recollections @Michaels and I have had them since January 2020 (just squeaking in there..). The Valentine's Day sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp 'Pawsome Love' set and that is from late 2019.

I think the best thing about this card is that I was able to use a bunch of different dies. The fishtail banners and sentiment banners are by MFT, the hearts are from a heart confetti set by Avery Elle and circle is 'Brilliant Rings' by Poppy Stamps.

Another wonderful VDay make that went into my personal stash.

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 26.

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 #150 Winter Wonderland

Hey,

Welcome to 2021 and the first fun Retro Rubber challenge of the year AND our 150th challenge!! 

The majority of the team have been here since the beginning and I am super grateful for their talents and friendship. Big love to our leader Jane too for all of her hard work!

We love to start the new year with a Wintery challenge for you - it's pretty Wintery here in NYC (ugh!).

I really loved the quote from the Simon Says Stamp 'Winter Sayings' set that I have had since 2018 and barely used. It inspired my card and I paired it with 'Cute Snowflakes' also by SSS and it's one of my older sets, I've had it since 2016.

I stamped the background using 3 different colours of ink. I heat embossed the quote onto vellum - my fave thing to do if I want to show as much of the background as possible. The frame is actually from a tag set by MFT. I dug out an ancient freebie snowflake die, because I thought it looked a bit bare and then at the last minute I added some serious bling!

Here is a close-up for you.

I am super happy with how this came out. I love creating my own backgrounds.

How will you make a Wintery card? Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends January 29.

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

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