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

ATC Swap Fun...

 

Hey,

And welcome to June FINALLY.

It was a super busy May for me, work wise and personally. 

I have loved getting back out into NYC, as things open and my friends become accessible again!

My little Craftgang and I started doing a ATC swap this year.

The first theme was Beach.

And as I am heading to the beach this week and the ATC's have all arrived, I thought I would share the ones that I made.

I had such a fun time making them. 

I smooched a large piece of watercolour paper to create the background for the ATC and then cut them to size. I then blended in a bit of yellow for the 'sand'.

The stamps were perfect and are by Hero Arts 'Beach Please' I added a teeny tiny Lil Inker Sun die.

They came out so well.

Here they all are together. 

Clockwise top left, Lisette, Me, Cheiron, Tiffany

Love it when we get to make fun things for no reason.

Have a great weekend. Hubby is in the UK - WHOOP, finally we can go home, I am here with Clint Catwood, having a fun solo week off.

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Thank You

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time with have 'Thank You' as a theme. As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I loved both, so I fused them!

I liked the idea of a 'Thank You Dog', so I used the awesome Avery Elle 'Hot Dog' set, I think this stamp with the dog carrying a gift is my fave one.

I stamped it onto a die-cut circle - the die is 'Brilliant Rings' by Poppy Stamps and Jennifer Maguire 'enabled' me to buy it last year with her 'Fave Dies of 2020' video. This set of dies get a lot of use, I love the extra detail on the edges.

I paired my image with x2 paper scraps to match the sketch and added one of my fave go to's - a simple sentiment strip by Taylored Expressions.

Love this fun and simple card.

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 May 25th.

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

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

Beach Please...

Hey,

Welcome to September!

I can't believe it is my birthday month already, this year has flown by!

I thought I would share a card that I made a while back during a coloring challenge. 

I love the Hero Arts mini stamp and die set 'Beach Please' it makes me laugh every time I see it, with the dog on the towel! The umbrella and the pineapple cocktail are separate stamps and dies and there is also a suntan lotion bottle!

I used a fave Dutchdoobadoo stencil for the clouds, I added a little Lawn Fawn stitched hill for the sand and a Lil Inker sun.

I always love how these cards turn out.

It also seemed appropriate to share it now, as I just got back from x4 days at the beach with Hubby and Lisette.

We had a wonderful time and it was SO good to get out of NYC and our apartment, even for a short time.

Cx

Woven heart...

Hey,

Happy Monday and welcome to August!

July was a hard month and a sad one too, we said goodbye to our family Dog Oscar on Friday, so hard losing a pet, he was the heart and soul of our home.

I have been loving all the paper weaving cards that I have seen around.

So I had a go myself. It is a LOT of work, but actually easy, just time consuming, the results are stunning, as you can see!

I kept it all super simple once it was finished and just added a simple glittery love die-cut.

Don't you just love simple cards!

Cx

CAS Colours and Sketches: Nice Things..

Hey,

Yesterday I had a fun playtime at my desk.

I decided to play along with a bunch of challenges.

I really love sketches, so the current CAS Colours and Sketches was perfect for me and a new stamp set..

The very cute Gus & Gertie set by Taylored Expressions arrived on Friday and I thought it would be perfect to ink it up for this challenge.

I stamped, cut and coloured the stamp and die-cut a stitched circle and scalloped square in coordinating colours and layered them and the image up.

The sentiment came with the set and it's just so cute! I am sure all dog/cat owners can identify with it!

Super quick and easy card that made me smile.

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

You're Pawsome..

Hey,

Hope you are all well?

One of the things about being home permanently is that can do more crafting.. it is starting to look a bit like Hallmark in my house though!

It also means that I have been putting the NBUS and shiny stuff aside for the most part and digging through my stash using older things.

My bestie Lemon, loves dogs and tolerates my cats LOL. So I thought this great 'Best Friends' set by Studio Katia would be perfect to send her a thank you for some stuff.

I love the heap of dogs and cats and it's a lot of fun to colour, for this version I watercoloured using distress inks.

As it's obviously quite busy, I kept it simple with a die-cut thanks with an additional sentiment from the set.

She loved it and I got to play with something that had been a bit neglected.

Wake Up Hug Dog...

Hey,

When I was back in London in February, I managed to get my hand on my fave cardmaking mag.

Making Cards Magazine. I always love their freebies and they do a great set of free digital stamps all year.

I actually managed to get both February and March magazines. You have already seen the March cards.

The Feb set was awesome, all dogs and great sentiments -

When this whole virus thing started, it kind of became apparent quite quickly that this wasn't coming to an end soon. So I wanted to make some cards for my people.

I made a whole batch of the one that you see today. I love that Poodle stamp and colouring it in randomly and in non-dog colours really worked well. And who could resist that sentiment 'Wake Up, Hug Dog, have a Good Day' I NEED A DOG.

I like to heat emboss sentiments onto vellum, when I have a big interesting background - I mean why cover it up if you don't have to!

Cx

Cards for Colleagues..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Tomorrow Hubby and I leave for Mexico - WHOOOP!! So excited, can't wait to feel the sun on my body again. Summer seems to have gone by so quickly.

I thought I'd show you a batch of cards I made a while ago for a few of my colleagues in the London office.

The first one was a leaving card and the colleague in question loves a Llama. I forgot all about the great wooden Llamas that I had bought in London earlier this year and it seemed like the perfect time to use one. I kept the card simple. The sentiment is by A-Muse Studio.

The next card is for a colleague who got promoted, she has a French Bulldog, so I thought she would appreciate the headphone wearing dog. Again, kept super simple with a negative die-cut out by Tim Holtz.

The final card was also for a colleague that was leaving - yes you guessed it, she likes Cats! The stamp is from the same set as the dog above and I added the great self-adhesive sunnies! The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

3 really simple, but impactful cards.

Have a great weekend. I know I'm gonna!

Cx

Christmas Cards 2019: Howly Holidays..

Hey,

So Christmas card making is in FULL swing in my house..

I really don't love making Christmas cards and I try and keep them simple, bar the initial ones to get my creative Christmas card mojo going!

Last weekend I spent oodles of time at my desk making Christmas cards.

First up is a fun card that I saw by Flora & Fauna, so I bought the set and had a little CASE.

Photo Credit: Ellen Hutson

It looked super easy and it was!

When I am making Christmas cards, I like to do as much of the prep as I can, before the fun colouring part. So I die-cut all the white panels and stamped the sled and the dog onto all x8 panels.

Then I created a mask for the doggie and added the dots and the sentiments to each panel. Here is a work in progress shot for you..

The Wendy Vecchi 'Stay-tion' makes things so easy...

One of the best bits about this card for me, was the fact that the spotty stamp is from a Simon Says Stamp ice-cream set from 2014 - love it when I get to stretch my stamps like that.

After the prep, I coloured them all in, added the little hand-drawn 'string' to join the sled and the dog and affixed them to my card blanks - easy peasy.

Love a easy peasy Christmas card..

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #117 Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have everyone's fave theme this time -

Anything goes is always fun, but it does give me a bit of stage fright, all the things I could use!!

I had a fun playtime making my card today, it actually ended up spawning x2 cards!

It all started with this fun background that I made using a Dina Wakely stencil and distress oxides.

I used my newest tool the Wendy Vecchi Stay-Tion - it is amazing for stenciling.

I used a stitched rectangle die to trim down the stenciled panel, then I used a semi-circle die to cut a window. After I cut the window I decided that this card had to be a shaker!

The Dog stamps are Party Time by Hero Arts (no longer available) and I have had them since 2016 - true confession, this was their first-ever use..the shame.

I stamped the sentiment from a set I just bought second-hand (Pink Fresh Studio set) - directly onto the card blank. I love the sentiment and I thought it went perfectly with the happy dancing Dogs. I created the shaker piece and affixed it to the card blank. Then I added 3 of the dogs around the window.

I love it and I already sent it to a friend as a birthday card :)

Remember I said that I made x2 cards? Well here is the second card using the piece I cut out to create the shaker window and another one of the HA Dogs.

Looking forward to seeing your anything goes makes, be sure to pop on over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 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 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Bulldog Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Thursday to you.

This is my last post for a week or so, as Hubby and I are leaving today for his 40th birthday trip to Ibiza and London - WHOOP!!

I made today's card for a good friend - she loves Dogs and has x2 enormous Staffies!

I totally forgot that I had this Tim Holtz set of Dog stamps and when I rediscovered them, I made a bunch of fun cards including this one.

I had stamped and coloured the Dog and added the sentiment, but it all felt a bit boring, so I added the teeny triangle background by Avery Elle and I think ti totally brought the card to life.

See you in 10 days!

Cx

Always My Rockstar...

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I had a fun weekend helping Hubby celebrate his 39th birthday..I feel like he is never ever going to reach 40!!

We had a blast with our friends on Friday night and so Saturday was a rather slow start.. But we managed to make it out and go for a birthday lunch - nothing fancy as originally planned, just a nice low-key lunch at one of our fave spots.

I had a specific idea in mind when making Hubby's birthday card, but sadly I couldn't find the right stamps to execute it..

So I went with plan b..

We both like Bulldogs / Pitt Bulls, etc and one day we hope to own one, so my Brutus Monroe 'Rockstar Pets' stamps were a perfect fit, especially as Hubby likes to mix music. Bulldog wearing headphones = perfection.

Hubby liked it - his exact words were 'that is an awesome stamp'.

Cx

Just us girls...Puppy Love..

Hey,

So as I get back on my feet, I am spending time at my desk and this week I am playing along with various challenges to help inspire me.

My friend Jen played along with Just Us Girls this week and I loved her card and the inspiration word, so thought I would join in too...

As I am in the midst of making Valentine's cards for my people..I thought this was the perfect time to play with a new Recollections Valentine's set called Puppy Love.

I die-cut a piece of Pink Fresh Studio heart paper for my background.

I stamped the Puppy, the sentiment and the hearts from the set, coloured it and die-cut it out using a Simon Says Stamp stitched circle.

I mounted the circle onto the card using foam tape.

I love how this came out, more puppy love cards for me!!!

Cx

Awesomesauce...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

Happy for me as I have Monday off, so I can hang with Ma before she heads to Philly and we hook up again next weekend..

Today I am playing along with this week's Shopping Our Stash challenge 'Say What?!'

I have had the Dachshund stamped (by Scraptastic Club) and sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to colour him and use him finally!!

Anyone that knows me knows that Awesomesauce is a most overused word in my world.. So I couldn't resist using it here - it's from a cute TAWS set that had not seen ink yet..

I mounted the Dachshund panel onto a spotted Lawn Fawn card blank and voila! completed card.

I am super pleased with it and the fact that I finally used what has been lurking on my desk.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cx