Retro Rubber Challenge #236 - Sketchy time

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

I am super excited today, as my Goddaughter and her mother arrive today for a visit, fun times ahead!

This time we have a sketch with a twist. Time to make a slimline card.

I tried slimline cards, but I felt they were too big for my style, I am pretty CAS and they always felt a bit empty! Once I discovered mini slimline I was hooked.

For this card I rotated the sketch. I love this stamp set by Papertrey Ink 'Stacked Sentiments' I have had it since 2020 and it always stamps beautifully, you also get a large thanks, hello and today and a bunch of mini sentiment stamps to use along side the bigger ones, which I have done here. 

To create the border I used x2 of the tiny detail stamps that come with the set in the same colour ink and I added some bling to represent the little circle detail in the sketch.

It came together really well and I just love that Jelly Donut ink by Taylored Expressions.

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

Challenge ends August 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 #211 - Tic Tac Toe!

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a tic tac toe board for you.

I love these boards, so many ideas!

I went with your choice (bling) - die cut or punch - stencil.

I love stencils and I am a big fan of these 'create in quads' ones by Taylored Expressions, you layer the stencils over letter-sized paper and end up with x4 different stenciled panels. Clever.

The one I used here is from the TE Quad monthly club and is called 'Pattern Party'.  I decided it was the perfect background for one of my fave Monsters by 'Your Next Stamp' the set is 'Way Cool Monsters' and I have had it since 2019. I am sad to say goodbye to YNS as they are closing their doors after 14 years, they are the reason for my love of Monster stamps. I added some googly eyes to my Monster.

My die-cuts are obviously my Monster and the yellow panel.

I stacked the sentiments, because I wanted to use the Favorite Human stamp by Technique Tuesday, I find that this sentiment always works well with Monsters! It is from their 'Favorite Human' set and I have had it since 2017.

Because the background is so busy, I didn't want the 'your choice' element to get lost, so I went with large blingy gems, so they would stand out and not get lost.

A fun cheery birthday card.

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

Challenge ends July 28th.

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 - Wheel Wreath..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I went with the inspiration image this time.

I was inspired by the wheels and the wreaths. I love this Star Wreath die by Avery Elle, I find it can be used for any occassion! The bike is by Clearly Besotted from their 'Happy Days' set. I wanted to use the typewriter sticker for my sentiment, but it didn't pop off of my card blank, so I added a teeny tiny piece of glitter washi tape. Final touch, add a few bling bits!

Sadly you can't see how sparkly my wreath is, but you can see all the glitter that fell off it onto my card :(

Anyway, I love it and it's off to my friend who is a keen cyclist.

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 June 21st.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Green

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

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

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

I was inspired by the green circles and so I created a background in multiple greens. I love using glitter paper and I had some scraps from Christmas that fit perfectly here. I actually wanted to use an oval for my sentiment, but it was too big! 

It felt a bit bland, so I added the gold twine (my all-time fave $1 Target purchase) and some bling to liven it up!

I used -

Concord & 9th - Dotty Turnabout stamp

Craft Smart - Shake Chic sentiments

The Works - Dotted, Scalloped, Stitched rectangle dies

Altenew Inks - Parrot, Hunter Green, Just Green, Minty Mint, Sweet Leaf

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 1st.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Purple Night...

Hey,

I'm back with another awesome challenge for the Fusion Challenge.

This time we have a Purple Night theme for you - alongside the sketch.

Which will you try?

I loved both the sketch and the inspiration image, so I fused them!

I just loved the purple, so I used purple papers to build half of my card. The dark/blackness at the bottom of the inspiration image works so well with the purple that I used a piece of black card stock for the other side of the sketch.

I heat embossed the sentiment from one of my all-time fave stamp sets by Mama Elephant 'Friend Indeed', it also comes with the large friend die and I die-cut that out of purple sparkly vinyl! I have all this great sparkly vinyl that a friend gave me and it works really well on cards!

To finish it off I added some bling here and there.

I love how it came out, I thought that sketch might be trixsy, but it was super easy.

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. 

The challenge ends on October 27th.

Cx

Floral Hi..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

So last year I really really tried to exercise restraint over Black Friday - but it was SOOO hard.

As I couldn't help myself, I am in a NO BUY zone for January, to extend into Feb (possibly).

This means I have to play with all the beautiful new shiny things I have..

Today I am showing you a card I made using the amazing Spellbinder 'Floral Hi' dies. I fell head over heels in love with it when I saw it on their site.

It's pretty simple as a set of dies, but whooo it's a lot of work to put together! But so worth it. I made x2 cards at the same time and die-cut all of the pieces first, mainly out of scraps, before I assembled both cards.

I added bling for the flower centers and added some dots of gold stickles around for a bit of interest.

I wish they made this die as a Thanks.

Cx

Mr & Mr...

Hey, 

So around the middle of August my work colleague, Emma asked me to make her a Mr & Mr card.

I immediately knew what I wanted to do as I had just bought the awesome 'Furry Friends' set by Concord & 9th and had seen this idea -

So with a few modifications I CASE'd it - LOVE how mine came out, it was so fun to make and the stamp set is so versatile.

I was so happy with it all that I made JT and her Hubby their anniversary card using the same premise.

The background papers that I used for both of the cards are by Pink Petticoat (no longer open) and are digital, so I just had to print off a sheet of each colourway - it comes in 48 colours - amazing!

Cx

Less is More: Love Your Face...

Hey,

Twofer post from me today...

I really like the current Less is More challenge -

I love typography, I think that has to do with the fact that I work in advertising / marketing. The creatives I work with do such awesome things with type.

I decided to use a fave technique of mine - freezer paper masking.

I die-cut the Lawn Fawn 'Scripty Love' die out of freezer paper - making sure that the shiny side would be face down.

Then I ironed it onto my cardstock - I know sounds weird, but it works - just put a cloth over the freezer paper and you won't scorch your cardstock.

Then I added a patch of watercolour over the top and dried it with a heat tool. The freezer paper then just lifts off to reveal the word  - like a resist.

Easy and fun. I added the 'your face' stamp - which I had to mask off, as it says 'Love Your Face'.

I die-cut the panel, affixed it to my card blank and added a teeny bit of bling to finish it all off.

Super simple and I have a recipient in mind.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #570 Paper Nest Dolls...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is The Paper Nest Dolls and they are offering 3 digi's from their site.

As it is 5 week month, we get to choose which sketch we would like to use. I loved sketch #294

I thought it would work really well with the Mermaid Ellie w/Seahorse image.

I decided I would create a square card and I used an ancient piece of sparkly DCWV paper for the bottom half of my card and used a plain blue piece of scrap paper for the top. I stenciled in some dots to cover a tear that happened as I affixed it to the card blank. But I think that just improved my card :)

I coloured Ellie using Copics and Nuvo shimmer pens and die-cut her out using a rounded stitched rectangle die.

To match the sketch, I added a middle strip of paper - which is super shimmery and also ancient DCWV and I used two sets of bling instead of semi-circle's and I like how that came out.

The sentiment is by Market Street Stamps (no longer in business) and it was already on my desk as I had used another one from the set.

Love how sparkly and shimmery the card is in real life.

I can't wait to see which sketch you choose, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends July 5th 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Sketch Saturday #568 Mmedel Illustrations..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Mmedel Illustrations and they are offering a fabulous prize of x2 digis from their store and a discount code.

Here's the sketch...

I love working with angles..

I loved the Towel Girl stamp, especially as it is Summer, so it's time for going on vacay and relaxing.

I printed and coloured the stamp, using Copics. Then I die cut the white panel using a stitched rectangle and placed it at an angle over the yellow panel and the smaller gold piece. Once I trimmed off the excess I affixed the whole thing to a card blank.

I added the little sentiment banner and I kept my sentiment simple, as I felt like this card could be used for a variety of occasions.

I ended up with so much white space that I added a giant piece of bling to anchor the whole thing a bit better.

Love how it came out, I love angled cards and the simplicity of this one works so well.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first, check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 21st June 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

CASE: Sooo many candles...

Hey,

So I saw this great card in the gallery when I entered a challenge and I had to CASE it -

It's by Ishani (aka Quillish) and I thought the idea was so clever, that I had to CASE it.

I went on a hunt for a stamp set that had candles and a die - I settled on the Concord & 9th 'Eat Cake & Celebrate' set.

I stamped some of the candles onto the base of my white panel and I also stamped some onto a scrap piece of paper, so I could die-cut them and mount them with foam tape. It give the card such great dimension.

I added a cheeky sentiment from the 'Fun Birthday Sayings' set which is from Scrapbook.com's own range of stamps.

A little bit of bling finished the card off nicely. I KNOW I'll be making this card a lot!

Cx

Sketch Saturday #564 Star Stampz..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Star Stampz and they are offering a prize of 1 digital stamp from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I thought this stamp (Balloons and Ice Cream) was so cute and would work well with the sketch.

I printed and coloured the stamp using Copics. I die-cut it to size using a stitched rectangle die and used scrap papers from my stash to create the background to match the sketch.

I chose the sentiment because with balloons and ice cream how can life NOT be beautiful?

I hunted high and low for my photo corners punch, but couldn't find it, so created fancy corners using bling instead..I think I like that way better :)

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends May 24th 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Happy 50th Disco DJ Diva...

Hey,

Welcome to April!!

Today I am heading to Lille with my Momma for a 2 day break, we will arrive just in time for lunch, so we are super excited about that.

I can finally share the card I made for my friend Marie's 50th Birthday. She is a dj and loves disco, so I really wanted her card to capture that and her fabulousness. She is so fabulous that Hubby and I asked her to sing the song (Disco Inferno) for our first dance at our wedding and she was amazing.

So I found a great digital image and retouched it a bit to get the look I wanted. Once I printed it out, I added bling, sequins and sparkly gold Thickers numbers.

It came out even better than the vision I had in my head.

Marie posted a photo of the card saying how much she loved it and that made me really happy and pleased that I nailed it.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #548 The Paper Shelter..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is The Paper Shelter and they are offering a prize of 3 digi's from their store.

Here's the sketch...

The image I used is called Glittery and Sparkling and it worked so well with the sketch.

I printed and coloured my image using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens. Then I die-cut it using a stitched circle die.

I decided to add a sparkly border to match the sketch and chose a powder blue piece of sparkly powder to match the coloured image.

It took me a while to settle on a sentiment, but then I remembered I had some great chipboard phrases by Tim Holtz.

To match the sketch, I added some blue bling around the image.

Fun card, that is winging it's way to my Aunt.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first, check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends Feb 1st 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

Catch The Bug: Awkward Holiday Chaos...BINGO!!

Hey,

Happy Friday to you (from London)..

It's the final day of the Catch The Bug awkward holiday chaos challenge -

And we are going out with a bang with a freebie friday bingo!

We have this great Stella stamp as a Freebie today, go and grab her and play along.

I had so much fun playing with this image and I chose the 3rd vertical row - Sentiment / Non Trad Colours / Star.

I printed the image and the sentiment and coloured Stella using Promarkers and made her hat hot pink, not the traditional red. I then stenciled stars all over the panel using hot pink, lime green and electric blue - a fave combo of mine, but not at all traditional Christmas colours.

I love the end result, so much fun and a perfect way to end this week of fun!

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

Cx

Sketch Saturday #522 Just Me Digital...Christmas Llama..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Just Me Digital and they are offering a prize of two digital stamps from their store.

Here's the sketch...

[about my image choice, include link to the digi]

I rotated the sketch, as I thought my Llama would work better that way and I printed the stamp and the sentiment that comes with it.

To create the scalloped border, I used a red spotty scrap paper and I broke out an ancient border PUNCH!! I honestly have forgotten about punches.. I added a strip of glittery paper behind the punched border for a bit more interest. 

I die-cut two white panels using Lawn Fawn Stitched hills dies and layered them just over the Llama. I added Nuvo drops to the hills and teeny tiny gems to each side that are my take on the stars in the sketch.

I love this card SO much, it's such a fun Christmas card.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 20th July 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Pink Fresh Studio: July Watercolours..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Today is a bittersweet day for me. It's the last class for the Craftgang at the Inkpad for a while, as Ava is moving to Florida. No doubt there will be a few tears (mainly from me, I cry at everything).

I am a big fan of Pink Fresh Studio stamps and I like to play along with their challenge from time to time.

This month it's watercolours -

I like to stretch my stamps and as soon as I saw the colours here I knew that the December Days stamp set by Pink Fresh Studio could work really well as a birthday card.

First I created the orange and yellow watercoloured background. I added splashes of orange, yellow, purple and pink to my background.

I die-cut it to size using a scalloped die, that I recently bought second-hand.

I stamped and die-cut the banner image from the set and watercoloured it. I added a fun sentiment by Unity Stamp Co.

Now that my banner was ready, I could stamp the leaves from the set onto my watercoloured background, I needed the banner, so I could position the leaves where I wanted them. I stamped them in purple ink.

I used foam tape to mount my banner in place and added green and red gems for the other colours and some interest. I also added green stickles to the flower centres.

I'm a little bit in love with this card, it's a bit off the wall, but it's also a great way to use Christmas stash for other things.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Daring Cardmakers: July Elemental Challenge...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

I am obviously quite happy with the current World Cup situation, my nerves will be shot to pieces on Wednesday though, during the semi-finals!

I found this awesome challenge Daring Cardmakers yesterday and I LOVED the cue-card -

I am loving yellow right now.

You have to use at least 3 of the elements from the card above on your project.

I chose, Flowers, Foliage and Colours (Pink and Yellow).

I love flower vase stamps and especially the ones by Unity Stamp Co. The one I have used today is from the 'First friend, best friend, forever' set and it is totally overused!

I watercoloured it using distress ink and then stamped the sentiment (from a freebie set). I then used foam tape to mount it to my card base.

I added sequins, gems and glitter glue for some extra sparkle.

I love bright and cheerful cards like this. A great addition to my stash.

Cx

Double Challenge Fun...

Hey,

Happy Memorial Day!

So happy to have a 3 day weekend and it has been lots of fun so far.

I stayed up waaay too late last night playing at my desk.

One of the things I made was a dual challenge card..

Color Throwdown had great colours this week and I thought combined with the CAS Colours & Sketches sketch, I could make something fun.

I used the great 'Stars of Worn' background by Unity Stamp Co. to create the bigger panel from the sketch.

I played around with lots of ideas for the smaller panel, but decided it would be fun to partial stamp the sky scene from the new to me 'Super' set by Avery Elle. I used the sentiment from the set and stamped it in red.

For some more touches of red, I added a small strip of glittery tape and some red bling.

I'm pretty happy with this little make and I think there is totes enough white space for it to count as CAS.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #87 Feeling Sketchy..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

You know how much I love a sketch!

I decided it was time that a Monster stamp set got featured on one of my Retro Rubber cards, I swear that I haven't used one yet..which is so rare for me!

This Monster drummer comes from the 'Silly Monsters Rockstar' set by Your Next Stamp.. I love their monster stamps and I have had this one sine 2016 and sadly, I don't believe the drummer had been inked up yet.

I coloured him using Promarkers and then die-cut him using a stitched oval die by MFT. I decided to go for clashing papers for the background and border/banner strip. Weirdly they are from 2 different companies, but coordinate so well.

I decided to stamp 'on' onto the drum, so that (well in my head..) the sentiment would read 'Rock On! Do what you love, love what you do'. The sentiment stickers are by Tim Holtz.

Final touch was the large piece of bling and a handy masculine card (why are male cards so difficult..).

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 June 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 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx