Did Somebody say Cake?..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

I hope you had a good weekend? I spent mine having a Zoom call with the craftgang, doing more of the Spring Card Camp over at Online Card Classes and doing a ton of digital scrapping. Busy! I also managed to watch a few films with Hubby and Clint.

I made today's cheery card a few weeks ago, partly because I wanted to play with the great 'Swell' background stamp by Avery Elle that I got from a AE grab bag last year.

I thought it would pair well with the shark from their 'Sea-prise' set.

I stamped the background and cut a circle out of the centre, so I could house the shark. I went backwards and forwards on what background should go in the centre. ugh. Eventually I settled on the scrap of Lawn Fawn spotty paper.

Because my whole life is about cake during this lockdown, I thought my shark would be popping up looking for a piece of cake!

It all came together really well and I believe the recipient loved it!

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

Random Desk Pile: Daisy Birthday...

Hey,

Today I am showing you card no 2 that I made from the random desk pile.

I got the Unity Stamp Co. 'Daisy Girl' before I left for London and I coloured her using TomBow dual brush markers..

I bought the July TomBow VIP box, which is awesome and came with an awesome storage box for my pens.. LOVE a storage box..

The background paper die-cut, the striped washi tape and the sentiment rub-ons - yes rub-ons, were all in the pile too!

Another quick assembly job and the addition of the clear droplets and voila! another finished card.

Cx

Katya - INKED..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I've had a pretty awesome social week this week, work has been tiresome, but that happens right.

The fun continues tonight with the Craftgang at class with Cheiron.

I made today's card about a week ago, using my April INKED subscription stamp (Katya) - you get a stamp every month and I prefer this to Cardkits, as I really have no need for all the paper, ink etc. Great idea by my new fave company The Ink Road.

I love this stamp, the girl looks so chilled out.

The whole card was a pretty simple make, watercolour Katya, stencil some dots, stamp a large sentiment by Paper Smooches and add some clear droplets for fun... boom done!

Hubby leaves for London later, he will be going straight to MY parents..so I am a teeny bit jealous, but I have fun Memorial Day weekend plans, so I'll be too busy to be jealous LOL.

Cx

The Paper Players..Magical..

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a fun weekend, I hope you did too.

I liked The Paper Players theme this week -

I love Unicorns and I especially love the large sentiment stamp I used here by Unity Stamp Co. It always makes me smile and I love making random cards with it to send to friends.

I masked off a small area, so I could blend some oxide ink to create an anchor for my sentiment and the Unicorn, but also to add a bit of interest whilst keeping my card CAS.

Sadly you can't see all the gold shimmer on my card, as I spritzed it with a gold shimmer spritz before adding the unicorn (Mama Elephant at Michaels).

To finish my card, I added a few clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh..

Fun card, love it when a challenge make comes out this well!

Cx

Christmas Card 2017: Critters for my Niece

Hey,

Today is the Holiday Card Extravaganza with Cheiron and the Inkpad, super excited to be in class all day and with my craftgang. We haven't crafted together in a while, so it's going to be a hoot.

Following on from yesterday's special Christmas card post, I thought I would show you the beautiful card I made for my Niece.

My Niece is such a character, she attracts your attention and I have this vision of her ending up with a random posse of peeps eventually, so this stamp really made me think of her.

It's by Avery Elle and is called Sledding Critters, I bought it because I loved their Birthday Bus stamp so much and this is the same 'gang'.

Because the stamp is so detailed I wanted to keep the background simple.. Doesn't look it at first glance right?

It is just one easy cut, as it is a die by Simon Says Stamp 'Birch Tree Window' and I love it, I waited AGES for it to come back in stock.

I went with a more child friendly sentiment and I like it. As a final touch I added a couple of clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh and voila! Christmas card.

I love it, it's going to be hard parting with it, but I know that Florence is going to love it, so that makes it easier LOL.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #476..I miss that face..

Hey,

Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Star Stampz and they are offering a prize of 3 digi stamps from their store.

This week, the sketch was drawn by me - YAY!! Hope you love it too..

I loved the My Sweet Sunflower image and toned all my elements to match the Sunflower.

The stamp was so much fun to colour! All the papers are actually super old scraps, that I made excellent use of here. The hilarious sentiment is by Hero Arts and I added clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh to spice it up a bit!

I love it and I know exactly who it will be going to :)

Your turn to show us what you make with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 18 August 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Happy Bird-Day...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

It's been a fun week here in NYC, one of the owners of the company I work for was here along with x2 other colleagues, so there has been much eating, drinking and gossiping.

I am excited as Cheiron is teaching two cool classes at Westbeth this Sunday and I am going to both.

I have a super early PT session tomorrow - ugh, but I am feeling better, stronger and smug, so totally worth it.

I made today's card for my colleague and friend Natasha, I adore her, she is my kinda people.

I thought some smooshing would be a fun backdrop for the birdie, but once I put it together I felt like it needed something else.

So I created a 'flower' using a scalloped circle die and a stitched circle die, I am much happier about how it looks!

The birdie and the stamped sentiment are by Wplus9  - this set is still out on my desk for a four from one playtime and the giant happy die is by Simon Says Stamp.

I am so happy with this card and it arrived safely and Natasha told me she loves it!

Have a great weekend.

Cx

April Craftgang Playdate...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Tonight will be my second Personal Training session - I have been going to the gym without my trainer too, so I am pretty tired this week! But it seems to be working, I feel stronger and can see results already.

As Sunday is the May Craftgang playdate, I thought I would FINALLY show you my April playdate makes!

All the image stamps (except the Waffle Flower Bear) came from Jamey's stash. The main card and the WF Bear card, I actually finished on the day at Jamey's - along with something I can't show you yet.

The rest of the cards I finished last weekend - I spent last Saturday finishing all the half done projects on my desk!!

I love the variety of the cards. The main card is obvs my fave, because I LOVE background stamps and Jamey's collection makes me so happy. The stamp I used is by Simon Says Stamp and I roughly coloured the 'flowers' with Zigs and then used an aquabrush to get the smudgy watercolour feel.

The card below makes me smile - I finally got my hands on the Waffle Flower Bird and Bear stamp set..I should have bought it when it came out, I procrastinated and had to wait 2 months!

I used one of Jamey's background stamps and I like that the bear looks like he is passing a wall on his travels.

The next 3 cards are the ones I finished last weekend.

Loved the dog and heart stamp. I used Lil Inkers wonky dies and Hero Arts sentiment, coloured with Distress Inks and an aquabrush  

I love Pigs!! My Hubby is from the home of Pigs LOL. I kept this one simple and close-up you can see the glittery bubbles.

Same dog set as above, but I used the sentiments from something else. Die I bought in London. Kraft blank from JT. Added clear Pretty Pink Posh droplets (of course)

Fun makes, I love the Craftgang playdates, they make me so happy.

The gym does not. But that is where I will be tonight and tomorrow morning - I swear I better look like Naomi freaking Campbell in my bikini this year!

Cx

Throwing down some bright colours...

Hey,

I had a fun day hanging out with the craftgang at Jamey's studio today.

As usual I ate too much, but I had a very productive day, more about that next week.

Tonight I am entering the latest Color Throwdown challenge -

I fell in love with the super cheery and bright colours.

I decided it would be fun to use the great watercolour brushstrokes background stamp by Stampin' Up to create my focal point.

I recreated the colours using Distress Inks - Barn Door, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed. I die-cut the awesome (by Frantic Stamper) out of a piece of purple cardstock.

Once I had positioned the awesome die-cut in place, I stamped 'Hey Friend' (by Impression Obsession).

As I am OBSESSED with Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets right now I added a couple to my card.

It's going in the post to a friend tomorrow.

Cx

Craftgang March Playdate..

Hey,

I am a bit late posting these cards, especially as the Craftgang monthly meet-up is this Sunday!!

Jamey has a great craft studio space in Hoboken and once a month the Craftgang (there are several of us!) meet up to eat, gossip and make stuff.

It's also a great opportunity to play with everyone else's stash, especially Jamey's.

As I have mentioned before Jamey has the most awesome collection of background stamps and I always like to play with those when I am there.

I generally take NBUS with me, because then I get inspired by the gang and they can play with the new stuff that they might not have.

The main card today uses the Lawn Fawn Year Seven stamp and die-set. The background stamp is one of Jamey's and I stamped it and spritzed it to get a bit of movement. The small stitched rounded square die is also one of Jamey's - DO WANT.  I knew I wanted this card to go on one of my fave mini square craft blanks and so waited until I got home to assemble it.

The next card uses a great stamp set by Unity Stamp Co, it comes with several awesome sentiments. I think the bird is a lot of fun too and would probably make a great mixed media piece in my art journal. The background I stole from a stack of Oxide Distress Ink backgrounds that Jamey had previously made, it works perfectly here.

I am a bit obsessed with Reverse Confetti right now.. My friend Jen used the Later Alligator set recently and I had to have it!

I didn't buy the dies, so I fussy cut the Gator and the cake, both are coloured with Ava's Zigs, as I left mine at home! I used dies I found in Jamey's stash and some fun papers also from her stash. I added a few of the clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh (the Craftgang liked these..) to finish the card off. I like the crazy mix of patterns and colours.

Final card today sparked much laughter, as I decided to use the teeny tiniest letters that I could find in Jamey's stash..it was an exercise in patience applying them!

This was the first time I had used the snail by Avery Elle and it was before the die arrived. The background piece consists of a die and a stamp again from Jamey's stash.

I love the variety of cards I get when we have a playdate and I also love all the food we eat!

Cx

Hello You....

Hey,

Recently I wanted to make a quick card for my Goddaughter, as she sent us a save the date for her wedding (2019!) and wrote me a letter.

I always think a handwritten letter deserves a similar response.

Obviously I have a large stash of ready made cards, but I wanted this one to be special.

I pulled out the Neat & Tangled 'Hello You' stamp set, I like the large sentiment and the star and the heart stamps fit what I wanted to make.

I stamped the star and heart using Broken China Oxide Distress Ink, then I spritzed it and patted it dry with a paper towel. I like the slightly bleached, smudged effect.

I die-cut the panel using a MFT stitched rounded rectangle die, then stamped the sentiment before affixing it to the card blank.

I am OBSESSED with the Pretty Pink Posh droplets right now, they seem to be making their way onto everything I make LOL.

Super quick and simple card, I love this set, it needs to be used more.

Cx

CASE Laura Fadora...

Hey,

It is Good Friday today, I am still in London, heading up to my in-laws in MM today to reunite with Hubby and hang with his family for a couple of days.

I love Laura Fadora, she is totally one of my craft crushes, I love how she uses colour. She is very inspiring.

I loved this card she made -

I have the Give Thanks stamp set by Concord & 9th, that Laura used on her card and it has been a bit neglected, so I decided to have a play.

I made mine into a colourful birthday card. The Happy die is by Wplus9 and this is my first time using adhesive foam for dimension. I really like the effect you get and I am super happy with my card, I love the different shades of colour.

I use Tsukineko inks, I have nearly all of the memento dewdrop colours, they are easy to store as they are small and I love the colours. I do have the odd inkpad by other colours, but these and distress inks are my default. One day when I have more space I would love a set of Lawn Fawn inks..

Here is a variation using Amazeballs stamp set by CAS-ual Fridays.

Slightly different as the stamp is not solid, gives a more subtle effect..

Cx

Just Add Ink: Colours..

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Today I am playing along with the Just Add Ink colour challenge -

I thought the colours would be great for a baby card.

I am a little bit addicted right now to using the Neat and Tangled Skunk for baby cards..

I stenciled some Turquoise ink onto my white panel using a Tim Holtz grid stencil and then added the pink spotty washi tape and a scrap of grey paper. Then I ran the whole piece through the Big Shot using a Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle die.

I coloured (Zigs) and cut the Skunk out, as always using artistic license with the colour...

The Skunk is popped up using foam tape and the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

I am loving the Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets right now and so added a few here for a bit of interest.

I am really happy, such a sweet card, I love making baby cards.

Cx

Happy Mother's Day..

Hey,

In the UK it is Mother's Day today.

I thought it would be nice to make my Ma and my MIL Mother's Day cards.

My Momma was a rockstar when I was having my op and the week after. My MIL was great following the complication with her daily updates.

Making their cards using a mix and match of my MFT flower sets. I love these stamps and I have four of the sets..for now..

The main card is for my Ma, I used Flashy Florals and Tropical Flowers. I stamped and die-cut the flowers first, then die-cut the white panel and set that up in my MISTI. I positioned the flowers and worked out how to stamp the leaves. The sentiment is an old wood stamp and I added clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh as a finishing touch.

A new thing for me, I only popped up one flower and I think it really works.

Here is the card for my MIL, different for me as it is one layer..

I used Bold Blooms  for all the flowers and leaves on this card and I added the sentiment and the hearts by Lawn Fawn. For a finishing touch I added Nuvo Crystal drops.

I am really pleased with both the cards..I love playing with these stamp sets.

Cx