Retro Rubber #275 - Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you. This palette was chosen by me, I love ceramics and the plates really drew me in!

I thought this cute set by Avery Elle 'Rawr' that I have had since 2020 would work well with the colours. I basically built a collage of rectangles in the colours, creating a background for my sweet Dinos. I coloured the Dinos using colours/tones from the palette. The banner die is also by Avery Elle, but is ancient and from 2015!!

I can't wait to see how you use the colours, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 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 5 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber #271 - Colour Challenge - Cotton Candy Spring...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you - pretty springy candy colours!

These colours were so much fun to work with!

Of course, I had to grab my fave MFT Mini Cloud Edger stencil to create a pretty sky for the card I had in mind. I added a Taylored Expressions grass die-cut and then die-cut the whole panel using a stitched rounded rectangle die.

I love this Mama Elephant 'Little Line Agenda' set (I have had it since 2024). It's always so cute. I coloured one of the lines using the colours from the challenge and added a bit of grey for the bunnies. It's very easy to fussy cut, so I did that and popped it up with some foam tape. I mixed a couple of sentiments to get what I wanted.

How will you use the colours? I can't wait to see! Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends May 15th.

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 #255 - Colour challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun colour challenge for you. 

These are my kind of colours!

When I was digging through my stash, I found the amazing piece of patterned paper that you see on my card, it's like the colour palette for the challenge was built using this!

I stamped the sentiment (by Stampin' Up 'Best Butterflies' I've had it since 2022) onto a piece of coordinating solid cardstock using Altenew Lagoon ink. I dug out an ancient set of Happy dies by WPlus9 - I've had them since 2014 and they were my most overused dies for a while. I cut the Happy from lime green to coordinate with the palette.

Simple, easy card. That I tucked in my bestie's luggage before she left on Sunday :) She has been here for 3 weeks and it was lovely to have her here for so long!

How will you use the colours? Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 30th.

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 #243.. Colour Challenge

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

Hubby and I had a totally awesome anniversary week in Mexico, and I am thrilled to have returned to a new job!

This time we want you to use all the colours on your project.

I thought these colours would look really good smooshed together to create a background. So that is exactly what I did, I used Distress Oxides and it's so pretty. I added the sentiment by Neat & Tangled from their 'Awesome' set that I have had since 2016.

I can't wait to see how you use the colours, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 15th

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 #179 - 60's Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun colour challenge for you this time, use 60s colours!

I thought it would be fun to use this awesome set by Penny Black 'Be Happy' that I have had since 2020. I saw someone use it in a challenge and had to have it. I love all the fun animals that it has!

I chose the fabulous unicorn for this card, because I thought it would look great in the 60s colours. I used bright yellow, bright pink, bright green and add in a bright blue for a bit of extra punch!

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 April 8th.

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 #171 - Fall Colours...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Another fall-inspired challenge for you, use fall colours on your card - limited to purple, orange, yellow and brown.

Love this colour palette.

It was fun to pull out one of my fave sets by Ink Blot Shop 'Botanical Borders' I have had it since 2019 and it was hard to decide which border to use here.

But I love this one, it actually feels a bit like the foliage outside my new home!

This card was super simple, I stamped the border and then watercoloured it using Distress Inks (Fossilized Amber, Expresso, Wilted Violet and Carved Pumpkin).

Stamped the sentiment and boom! super pretty, quick card.

Looking forward to seeing how you use the colours, and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 19.

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 #146 Colour me scary....

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

It's almost that time, so we have a little scary colour theme for you...

I love working with a limited colour palette, so this was definitely the challenge for me!

I hand painted the background using Brea Reese orange glitter ink - here is a close-up because IRL it is SO sparkly..

Then I heat embossed the crazy bats and the sentiment in white onto a black panel. The stamps are 'Little Batty' by Unity Stamp Co AND shame on me, I have had them since 2018 and they are NBUS. So I was very happy to use them here.

I popped that panel up onto my background and added black enamel dots here and there to finish my card.

It was the first one of MANY Halloween cards that I made this year!

What will you use the colours to make? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 30th.

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 - 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

Sunday Stamps: Colourful Mask..

Hey,

I cut it close, but I made it!!

I really wanted to play along with the current Sunday Stamps challenge.

I made Top Cup at the last Sunday Stamps challenge, which was awesome and I was super pleased, this is one of the reasons I wanted to play along again. It's always nice to play along after a win or a mention, that's what makes the challenge community so nice.

The colours and the image really spoke to me and were a perfect match for one of my fave stamps sets - Mardi Gras by Avery Elle.

I heat embossed the mask onto purple paper, weirdly I thought I had some darker purple in my stash..I don't - mental note to buy more purple paper lol. I love Liquid Platinum embossing powder by Ranger, it is my fave - you get such a smooth finish. I die-cut the feathers out of gold and green glitter paper.

I have seen a lot of people recently creating backgrounds using strips of paper, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I didn't want too much gold, so used more black strips.

I decided to add a Tim Holtz sentiment strip and I think it worked out really well.

I am pleased with the end result, it came out exactly as I pictured it.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #128.. Love is in the air!

Hey,

Hello from London and welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you - that fits the Valentine mood..

The minute I saw this challenge I knew that my Pink Fresh Studio 'Heart Bouquet' set (now retired) was going to get an airing. When I bought this set in 2017, it got SO much use..but then I moved on, I'm such a magpie!

I stamped and coloured the lady and the bouquet, I coloured it using Copics and Sakura glitter pens. I was a bit stumped for a background and didn't feel like masking to use a stencil. So I broke out my ruler and drew my own background!

I left it sentiment free, because I thought it could be used for several occasions and that perhaps one of my male friends, might like it for their lady :)

Show us how you romance the colour combo and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends Feb 21st.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, which is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Tic Tac Toe Challenge: Llama Garden..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I am heading to London today for 10 days, for work mainly, but I will get to hang with my family and friends too.

My teammate from Retro Rubber - LeAnne is on the DT for Tic Tac Toe Challenge and I was so happy to discover that there is a dedicated TTT challenge, that I am diving straight in.

Here's the current board -

I chose the top row: Flower-Die Cut-Yellow.

I love the Llama Garden set by Flora & Fauna and I wanted to make a fun card for a work colleague's birthday, so I stamped, coloured and die-cut all the elements from the set.

As the elements are SUPER busy, I thought a simple background would be good, so I die-cut an MFT Stitched Arch die in white and stenciled the tulips on to it. I used a different technique for my stenciling here, as I taped down the stencil and used Copics to colour the tops and bottoms.

I assembled it all onto a yellow card blank and finished it off with a die-cut Happy Birthday (dies by Simon Says Stamp).

I love how it came out, it's so fussy and different for me - which is always nice. It's now waiting on my desk to be handed over to my colleague.

Have a great weekend, see you in London next week.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #125 - Still Time to Play.. Colour Challenge..

Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with the current Retro Rubber challenge.

The theme this time is a great colour theme, alongside your Christmas makes.

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

Challenge ends December 13th and it's our last one for 2019, so be sure to join in.

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

NND InkyPaws - Ornamental Newton..

Hey,

Hope you are well and had a good weekend.

I am currently playing along with Kathy Rac's 30 days of colouring and Carabelle Studio's 30 days of ATStamps. Busy, but a lot of fun. I'll show you both of them at the end of November.

Today I wanted to join in the fun over at Newton's Nook. I really like their Inky Paws challenge and I was sad to hear recently that Newton had passed away. Always sad when we have to say goodbye to fur babies.

The current challenge is a colour one -

I love non-traditional Christmas colours and so I thought these colours would make a great holiday card and work really well with the lovely 'Ornamental Newton' stamp set.

I stamped snowflakes in green and teal (Snowflakes are by Simon Says Stamp) and die-cut the panel out.

I added a big teal piece of card to hold my sentiment and anchor Newton.

I love the bauble, so big and bright in the 2 shades of pink that I used. I hope it's ok that I coloured Newton in Grey?!

I added a few teal sequins here and there to finish off my card.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge.. #119 Fall Colours...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun colour challenge for you..

Fall - or Autumn in my English world..is one of my fave seasons in NYC. It's always so beautiful here, a riot of colour and especially where I live (I live in 80 acres of parkland..)

So I thought the MFT Harvest Mouse set (that I have had since Jan 2018) would be a fun set to use for this challenge.

I started by stamping and colouring my little Mouse. I love that he is in such a hurry that berries are falling out of his basket.

The background paper is by Lawn Fawn and from their Harvest paper 6x6 pad (circa 2014) and this was the last piece of it (sobs).

I added a red banner to hold the sentiment also from the Harvest Mouse set.

How will you use the colours? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends September 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 #115 - Colour Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we want you to explore what you can do with a few colours...

Purple is one of my fave colours, so this little combo really worked for me.

I dug out a fave Lawn Fawn stamp set 'Year 7' - they release a birthday stamp set every year on their birthday and this one is from 2016.

I stamped the little candies all over my white panel and added some of the confetti stamp too. I coloured the candies using the purple, yellow, green colour combo.

Then I die-cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die and then again using a circle die to remove the central piece.

I coloured the pinata using the colours and put a piece of purple cardstock behind the die-cut circle so that the pinata would stand out. I used a piece of clear acetate to affix the pinata to my card and you can barely see it.

Final touches were to add Nuvo glitter drops to the confetti stamping and to add the sentiment, which I stamped onto scrap pieces of purple paper.

I love this layout I use it a lot for cards and it worked really well here, it was a lot of fun to dig out my neglected stamp set.

Show us how you use the colours and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 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

Dotty Whale CASE...

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I'm super excited today, as tonight Hubby and I are off to the Opera, which was my Christmas gift from Hubby..I will be finally hearing Placido Domingo sing..

I have become obsessed with Alex Syberia's method of dot colouring..

I have been practicing, but essentially my versions look crap LOL!

Then I saw a post of Alex's where she used a Whale for her dotty colouring and I love Whale stamps and have a few, so I thought I'd give it a go and FINALLY it all clicked.

Mine are by NO means as awesome as Alex's, but it's a start and I am super happy with the end results.

You really have to try it and even if you don't, do check out Alex's work.

I used a ton of supplies..
Whale stamp/die by Recollections
Birthday Fishes sentiment by Waffle Flower
Fintastic Sentiment by Newtons Nook
Mini fish shoal by Kaisercraft
Single fish by MFT
Clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh
Stencil by Andy Skinner

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #108... Colour Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we are all about the rainbow colours..

I struggle a bit with using all the colours on my cards LOL. BUT this was SO easy.

I used scraps of Lawn Fawn spotty papers - they release different ones all the time and if you don't have at least one pack you should!

I trimmed all the papers to roughly the same width and adhered them to my card (whilst singing 'red and yellow and pink and green..'). Then I trimmed the whole panel to size using a MFT stitched rectangle die.

I decided to use one of the sweet mice / cats / critters from a 2017 Stamptember set by Simon Says Stamp and Mama Elephant.

No longer available, so here is a photo of it -

True confession, I bought this set in 2017 and have never used it, because it was a little bit too cute for me!

Because my card and the challenge are all about rainbows, I chose to use the sunshine and rainbows sentiment.

It's so cute, I love it and it came out exactly as I had pictured it.

Looking forward to seeing your rainbow creations, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 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

MFT Stamps: Colour Challenge - From me to you..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I had an awesome weekend. Starting with a great class with Cheiron at The Ink Pad on Friday night.
Then after the gym on Saturday, I got to have brunch with a good friend that was in town and a few other friends, then dinner with Hubby.

The clock change on Sunday threw us off a bit, so it was a bit of a slow morning, but then we had a great dinner with the same friends and it was a great way to round off the weekend.

I haven't played along with the MFT Colour Challenge in a while, but the colours this time were so me that I had to join in.

I created a smooshed background using distresss inks that matched the Tropical Teal and Sour Apple, then I die-cut it out using an MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frame die.

I used one of my newer Pure Innocence stamps 'Surprise' that I don't think is available any more.

I coloured the girl and the gift in colours to match the challenge, I love that giant teal bow!

Before I popped her up on my card, I stamped the two-part sentiment from the set.

I love playing with colour challenges, I get to be creative with how I used them and I always love a bit of ink smooshing :)

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

Catch The Bug: Saturday Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

Hubby and I are heading upstate this weekend to go hiking..might be a tad chilly, so it might just end up being a cosy weekend in a hotel bar :)

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

I am a big purple fan, so these colours made me very happy.

I decided to use the Circle Sentiments - Warm Wishes stamp, as I thought it would look lovely in the colours.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers and die-cut it using a scalloped circle die. I added some purple sequins to the image.

I found a matching spotty card blank and to anchor my circle I added a strip of gold glittery washi tape.

It turned out perfectly and is going to a friend who left NYC behind for the warmer climes of Florida (yes I am jealous).

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