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 #187 - Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I went with the central vertical row - Birds-Green-Embossing.

I love this set by Vicki Boutin 'All the Good Things 2' it was a gift from my friend in 2018 because she saw it and knew I was looking for it :).

I stamped, cut, and coloured the bird using a minty green Copic and a green Sakura starburst glitter gel pen. I used MFT 'Bold Greenery' dies for the foliage and a spotty green paper. The background I stenciled with a stencil from The Range in the UK and Mowed Lawn distress oxides.

For my embossing, I used a very old Cuttlebug star embossing folder - hands up who has a Cuttlebug still? I die cut it using a stitched circle die from The Works in the UK.

The final touch is the sentiment strip from Taylored Expressions.

Such a sweet card, I am so happy with the outcome.

Which row will you choose? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends July 29th.

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 Bird...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Colour Palette Bird' 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 birds, I have become a bird nerd since moving to Florida! I have tons of bird stamps, but decided to use one of my faves by Pretty Pink Posh 'Hummingbird Thanks'. I love Hummingbirds and have a couple in my new garden!

I stamped and watercoloured the birds using distress inks, I got as close as I could to the colour palette. Then I used a couple of different colours to create the background clouds, which I created using my fave MFT 'Cloud Edger' stencil. The sentiment is actually from a Woodware set 'Paper Birds' that I got as a gift from a friend, perfect for this card.

I am so happy with it and it will be leaving soon to accompany a gift.

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 March 1st.

Cx

Together is the best place to be...

 

Hey!

I am starting to wonder if I am ever going to be able to show 2021 makes here, as I made SO much in 2020 LOL.

This cute card was for my Goddaughter Amy's first wedding anniversary. She is a big fan of Dogs and I thought she would like this.

Also, her plans for her future had to shuffle a considerable amount in 2020 because of Covid and I wanted the card to be a reminder to them, so early in their married life, that together is all that matters, the what and where is irrelevant.

I used my fave MFT cloud edger stencil to create the background, the dog and bird are Gus and Gertie by Taylored Expressions, the together sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co.

I love creating these cloud background it is addictive!

Cx

Happy (belated) Birthday Momma..

 

Hey,

So my Momma's birthday is 1st of August (I didn't forget..), but that was just as I was coming out of a crazy work period!

I love to make her cards that are a bit more involved for her birthday. This year I went with a bird slider! My parents have an amazing garden and they get all kinds of birds and I thought she would like this. 

She did (phew).

Here is a photo showing it after the 'slide'

The cute birds are by Elizabeth Craft Designs 'Feathered Friends' and the slider mechanism is also by them, from a set with all different kinds of slider channels. The papers are by Lawn Fawn and the sentiment is MFT with teeny glitter stickers.

I love easy interactive cards.

Cx

4from1: Neat and Tangled.. Later Alligator..

Hey,

A few weeks ago I gave the craft room a much needed clean and went through the newer items and rediscovered this awesome set by Neat & Tangled that I had bought second-hand from Cheiron. It is now retired.

I was inspired to make a few cards and this wonderful card by Kay Miller inspired me to get CASing!

I stamped, coloured and die-cut all the elements from the set that I wanted to use. Then I created the x3 backgrounds by smooshing distress inks.

They all came out so well and my colours are actually as vivid as Kay's but they got a bit muted with late night photography! My fave is totally the main card - with his little bow-tie! Meaning that snappy has a double meaning - he's a 'gator and he's also snappily dressed ;)

It's always fun to play with a stamp set for the first time and I always try and make a few cards, so that it gets a full use!

Cx

Lots of little birdies...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I can't believe that it is nearly July!! This year is whipping by.

I have been a bit patchy with my posts recently.. SO much going on.

Today's card is a bit old and has been sitting waiting patiently to be posted..

I love this stamp set - it's by Scrapberry's and there is a whole set of them and someone sent them to me in the post?!

The birdies are all individual stamps and I stamped them all over to create a mini scene. The sentiment stamp is ancient and by Hero Arts.

I added little white dots to the scarf for a bit of extra detail.

I love a simple card like this and I think the sentiment means that the card could be used for a variety of occasions.

Cx

Little Red Wagon Challenge: Happy Bird-Day...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

As I am recovering from something nasty, I have spent some gentle QT at my desk this weekend. When I am feeling a bit delicate I like to turn to challenges.

One of my Retro Rubber teamies has been playing along with Little Red Wagon and so I thought I would look them up and I loved the current theme which is - Happy Bird-Day, use a bird somewhere on your birthday card.

EASY PEASY!! I love bird stamps.

I decided to go waaay back to a stamp that I neglect, but when I pull it out, I love using it so much that I make a bunch of cards (that happened this time too..).

The stamp set is 'The Flock' by Whipper Snapper Stamps. I stamped it onto watercolour paper and used distress inks to watercolour the birdies.

Then I die-cut the white panel and added the sentiment by Reverse Confetti from 'Toucan of Friendship'.

Super simple make, but so pretty, I love the rows and rows of brightly coloured birdies.

Cx

Peacock Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy Thursday!

There has been a bit of a post gap from me, I was on vacation for 6 days with my Hubby in Tampa and when we got back, we collected our new cat Clint!

Isn't he gorgeous! We are in love already and he has settled in really well.

I made today's card a while ago. I bought the awesome Peacock set by Avery Elle over Black Friday..

It actually comes with a 'Happy Valentine's Day' sentiment, but for my first use of it, I wanted to make an Anniversary card.

I stamped the Peacock repeatedly onto a piece of white card to create the background and because I wanted my bright and colourful Peacock to pop, I left them all uncoloured.

I added two different kinds of hearts and the sentiment to complete the card.

I love it, it was a good decision to leave the background uncoloured.

Cx

Twofer Challenge time...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

This week has been crazy!!! Being very unwell last week left me with a backlog of work and personal things.. AND JT was here for a few days, so I really wanted to spend a decent amount of time with her.

I did manage to make a twofer card this week :)

I really wanted to play along with both of the current Less is More and Addicted to CAS challenges and I felt that they combined really well.

I love bird stamps and the most recent set I purchased Mod Birds by MFT is fast becoming a fave. I stamped all of the birds from the set in navy and yellow ink, fitting the LIM theme. I wasn't sure which of the birds I wanted to use and tried them all until I settled on the one you see.

I like masking off shapes so I can ink blend into them and so now I have a ton of ready to go masks - fun tip, I use the card inserts that come in stamp sets to create masks out of :).

I used Fossilised Amber Distress Oxide ink for my circle and added some stars by Studio Calico in navy around the edge of my circle.

The sentiment stamp is a magazine freebie and fit the overall theme perfectly I thought.

I'm pretty pleased with the ONE card I have managed to make this week.

I'm looking forward to some serious desk time this weekend.

Cx

CAS(E) this sketch...Birthday Tweetings..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I have to say I am pretty glad this work week is over..it has been HARD!!

Now that the nerve in my neck is slowly getting back to normal (big thanks to Dr Fanto and my amazing trainer Wendell), I thought I'd play along with a challenge for the first time in ages.

CAS(E) This Sketch is a fave of mine and I love the versatility of this week's sketch -

I was really inspired by the sketch and decided to use my newest MFT set 'Mod Birds' alongside a super old doily stamp by Bo Bunny.

I love the Mod Birds set, the stamps are so pretty. He looks lovely mounted over the blue doily.

I added a simple sentiment by Reverse Confetti and a little bit of bling and BOOM! finished card.

Have a great weekend. I'll be doing some friend stuff, some gym stuff, some desk time, packing for Vegas and watching NFL with Hubby.

Cx

Retro Rubber #97..Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a tic-tac-toe board for you created by Jan, I LOVE tic-tac-toe.

I also love masking, so I went with masking - birthday - flowers.

My advice for you if you are creating a masked scene is to either stamp it all first without the masks or to plan it by laying all the stamps on top of each other. This way, you only have to create masks for the things that are really going to need masking off.

I love this set by My Cute Stamps 'Spunky Nature' I bought it second-hand at the start of 2017 and I combined it with x2 MFT flower sets from 2016 and a freebie sentiment.

I created x3 masks for this card - bird and x2 large flowers. My go to inks are Dew Drops by Tsukineko because the colours are always so vibrant. I love how bright and cheery this card is and it works so well with the sentiment.

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

Challenge ends October 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

Catch The Bug: Saturday Photo Challenge...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

Hubby and I are heading to Philly this weekend to celebrate a good friend's 40th birthday,

This week over at the Catch The Bug Saturday challenge we have a photo challenge for you.

I decided to pull out the colours and work with reds and greens.

I love the Cherry Bird stamp and thought it worked really well with the photo.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and die-cut it using a stitched circle die. I decided that it would be fun to stamp leaves onto the red background, again matching the leaves in the image.

It accidentally turned out to be a fun Christmas Card!

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

Toucan of My Thanks...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I am pretty glad this week is over, it has been mentally and physically exhausting. 

My very sweet and well raised Godson Ben sent me a gift to say thank you for his 16th birthday trip (to visit Hubby and I in NYC for x5 days).

He obviously paid attention to who we are, as he sent us this amazing fridge magnet to go with the rest of the hideousness on our fridge - 

It fits perfectly!

Then he sent me a few crafty things, very well chosen and so thoughtful. The journal is lovely and he knows I love journals, we looked at a LOT of them when he was here LOL.

It was all accompanied by a thank you note, that made me a teeny bit emotional. It's all so very thoughtful and kind and personal. Love that a 16 year old boy can be so comfortable in his own skin, it bodes well for the future.

I obviously had to make him a thank you card, so I broke out the Toucan die that came in one of the gifts and went to work.

The background paper is from the massive stack we got given at Crop on The Cape. I love the Spellbinders Thank You die, it is one of the most used things in my craft room. It wasn't popping enough, so I added a piece of velum.

The Toucan was fun to put together and as I used my mini die-cutter to die-cut the 3 pieces to make him, I used a spotty embossing folder and if you look at Mr Toucan carefully, you will see the dots. Obvs, I added a googly eye. No creature is safe from my tin of googly eyes.

I hope Ben likes it and recognises 'his' Toucan.

Have a great weekend, Hubby and I are heading to Philly tomorrow for a friends 40th birthday.

Cx

p.s could not resist the punny title - Lauren Bergold would be proud x

Retro Rubber #93.. Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

I got back from London late on Friday, I am very happy to be back home with my Hubby and Boscat..only 2 weeks until our Summer vacay - yay!!

This time we have one of my faves - Tic-Tac-Toe and the grid was created by our very own Jan.

I really was torn with this one, I wanted to make all the rows LOL. I finally settled on the first vertical row - die-cut or punch / stripes / birds.

I got a twofer with my die choice as it is also stripey - WIN!! The die is by MFT and was part of their May 2017 release. I smooshed a bit of paper in 2 colours of distress ink and then die-cut it. I love the patchy watercoloured feel you get when you do this.

I thought that one of my fave Bird stamps (Kinda Sorta Miss You - I have had it since it's release in 2016) would work really well here, it's by Unity Stamp Co and I liked the idea of blending a bright colour to show through the circle and just stamping my birdie onto that.

The sentiment is from the same set as the bird and is one of my faves.

Can't wait to see which row you choose to play with and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 24th.

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

Catch The Bug GDT: Christmas in July - baby it's cold outside..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

This is my penultimate post with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge. 4 months of GDT has flown by and it has been SO much fun, I am very sad that last week will be my last one.

This week we are kicking off the CTB team's - Christmas in July - a week of fun Christmas related challenges.

Today we are starting with -

Make a Christmas / Holiday card and use the theme 'Baby It's cold Outside'.

I love the Winter Birds and have all of them (oops) and so I chose Winter Bird Skate for my card - the cool bird wrapped in his scarf sums up 'Baby It's Cold Outside' for me! 

I coloured the image, using Promarkers. I dug out a fave snowflake embossing folder and embossed a piece of shimmery sparkly silver paper, to use as my background. To anchor my image, I added two little strips of paper, one is super glittery and sheds everywhere!

Hope you will be playing along all week!

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes and the rules for this special week.

Cx

p.s Today is also Hubby's birthday..more on that tomorrow or Monday!

The Paper Players: Toucan of Friendship...

Hey,

Sad day today, as my Momma leaves after being here for 2 weeks. It has been SO much fun hanging out with her and I'm super sad to see her go.

Momma and I in Philadelphia

So I love bird stamps, so when I saw the challenge over at The Paper Players this week, I knew I had to enter!

I wanted to use the great 'Toucan of Friendship' set by Reverse Confetti. I stamped and coloured one of the Toucan's from the set using Zigs.

I was a bit indecisive about the background and then came across some tags that I had forgotten about (from Paper Source) and I thought it would make a great backdrop for the Toucan. So I cut off the 'tag' part as it is a super long tag!

I stamped my sentiment also from the set in the top right corner and added the Toucan using foam tape..

I love him, he's so cheerful and is going to accompany a gift for a friend.

Cx

Pretty Pink Posh: Hummingbird Cards

Hey,

Do you ever get a new stamp set, but are at a bit of a loss as to how to use it?

I fell in love with Hummingbird Thanks by Pretty Pink Posh, but I struggled a bit with ideas. So I did a google search and came up with the idea for my main card, which is a CASE of a card by Umichka (Anna).

I love masking and I thought her card was gorgeous and it inspired me.

I stamped all the Hummingbirds first, then using die-cuts, I masked them off and blended over the panel using Distress Oxide inks. I coloured the Hummingbirds using Promarkers and added some white gel pen like Anna to their wings.

I added a piece of tracing paper, a die-cut word and a sentiment banner to finish my card off.

LOVE the end result.

I made three more cards, using a simple formula - masked circle, Hummingbird die-cut or stamp and a large sentiment (all from a Freebie set that was a gift from JT)

A great 4 cards from 1 set solo playdate and has given me food for thought with some other stamp sets.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Love birds..

Hey,

With my birthday money from my Parents, I bought a ton of Zini's and Jofy's by Paper Artsy - Cara enabled me totally not my fault!

I decided to use the Lovebirds stamp to make a fun anniversary card for my friends.

So cute right?

I kept it all really simple by just adding more hearts and I even coloured it very similar to the image on the stamp packet.

I love these mini stamps by Paper Artsy, there is so much you can do with them, I have a few more cards to show you with these later on this week.

Cx

CASology: Fly..

Hey,

So a late post from me, I got back from Rochester yesterday and I felt the need to scratch my craft itch by playing along with the current cue card over at CASology..

I thought it would be fun to play with my Reverse Confetti 'Toucan of Friendship' set. Top fact, Toucan's DO fly, but only very short distances, so it counts!

I coloured the Toucan and the leaves using distress inks and an aquabrush. The panel was die-cut using an MFT stitched wonky die, the sentiment is from the set. I added a googly eye, I like googly eyes.

The card blank is new, as Paper Source are discontinuing certain colours in their stock, so I have been buying all these fun card blanks in different sizes.

It was fun to be at my desk, I think tonight is going to be a late one..

Cx