Retro Rubber Challenge #273 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I love a tic-tac-toe board and I gave this board to my friends on our recent playdate and we all made fun cards.

I went with the 1st vertical row die-cut, blue and stencil.

I used blue distress oxide ink through an old faithful fan stencil by Dutch Doobadoo. I've had it since 2016 and the birthday sentiment is from 2025 by Scrapbook.com

I added a little blue glittery strip to lift the sentiment off the stenciled background.

Fun card, kinda feels masculine.

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

Challenge ends June 12th.

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

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

Retro Rubber #134.. Spring Flowers..

Hey,

Happy Cinco de Mayo (and Happy Birthday to my bestie Lemon).

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time it's all about Spring Flowers..

If you are anything like me, then you have a TON of flower stamps and this was quite hard for me to decide which ones to use LOL.

I decided to use the amazing Waffle Flower x Helen Dardik 'Enveloper Hugs' set. I love Helen Dardik's work and these stamps always make me smile. I have had this one since 2018.

I stamped and coloured the main image and x3 of the other flower images in the set. I used Altenew watercolour pens to colour the stamps. I die0cut all of the coloured stamps and layered them onto my stenciled cloud background (stencil by Dutchdoobadoo).

I created the sentiment by combining two of the Waffle Flower x Helen Dardik sets.

A really fun make that went to a good crafter friend for her birthday, as I knew she would appreciate it!

Show us your Spring Flower makes and 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 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

NND Inky Paws - Fintastic..

Hey,

Welcome to September!

It was supposed to be a fun start to my birthday month, with a trip to Florida with my craftgang, but sadly due to Hurricane Dorian we had to cancel. I am sad that we had to cancel, but happy we are all safe and our friend in Florida did not get hit by the hurricane. And we did manage a playdate, I'll show you the makes from that later this week.

My thoughts go out to those that have been affected by Dorian.

On to nicer things..

I love Newton's Nook stamps, dies and stencils and weirdly, I have only recently discovered their challenge blog (Inky Paws)!

I love sketches, so the current challenge was a must enter for me -

I had a great idea the minute I saw the sketch, but Sue T on the DT had the same thought LOL. So I had to go back to the drawing board...

I pulled out 'Mermaid Crossing', which is a very overused and fave set by NND.  I used my newest NND purchase 'Sea Borders' dies to create the waves. The clouds were stenciled using a old fave stencil by Dutch Doobadoo.

I love how it came out and the best bit is that I can add it to my Pun card stash - I am making x1 pun card from each of my punny sets for a friend as a surprise.

Cx

Unleash the Kraken!

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a fun weekend.

I unexpectedly went to see Billy Idol and Bryan Adams in concert, which was surprisingly awesome!

I am a big fan of the Kraken myth and when I saw the great Legendary stamp set by Avery Elle, I knew it had to be mine.

I stamped the Kraken and then masked him off so I could add the clouds, using my fave Dutchdoobadoo stencil.

Sadly as I started colouring him, one of my Copic's belched and did this -

Ugh..I mean ugh. There was no way that I was going to redo this entire thing... So I decided that my Kraken was bringing a cake to celebrate 'your' birthday. Nice save, even if I do say so myself!

To finish my card, I mounted it onto a white card blank, then I used a Lawn Fawn wave die to die-cut the top of my embossed 'sea' panel and added the cake and the sentiment.

Fun card, much more Kraken based cards to come.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #114.. Christmas in July...

Happy July!

Here at Retro Rubber, we are starting off this month with a bang (because it’s July, after all)!

We are starting our challenge a day early so that we can team up with the Double Trouble Challenge!

Our theme is Christmas in July so all you have to do for our challenge is to make a Christmas card using at least one stamp older than a year.

Here’s the cool part: by teaming with Double Trouble, you get to play along with their challenge as well. All you need to do is follow their requirements which are super easy and fun!

• Thing 1 – Double Trouble: Make a square card, scrapbook page, gift box or use squares on your project.
• Thing 2 – Double Dare: Use a rubber or acrylic stamp older than one year. (Sweet – that’s us!)
• Thing 3 – Twisted Sister: If you create a beach scene with Santa you can earn an extra chance to be in Double Trouble’s random draw.

Be sure to visit their website – Double Trouble Challenge – to get all the details for their challenge to make sure that you are following their requirements as well!

So here we go! Double the fun! Double the Trouble!

For my card I decided to use an all time fave stamp set by Newton's Nook 'Sun Soaked Christmas', I love this set and I've had it since 2016 and it has been used every Christmas since. I did the x3 things as required and I made a square card, my set is older than a year AND I created a beachy scene.

I created my background for Santa by using an MFT stencil to create the waves and then added in some clouds using my fave Dutchdoobadoo cloud stencil. The little sun die is by MFT and a new addition to my stash.

The sentiment is from the same set as Santa.

Fun card AND my first Christmas card of 2019.

Pop over to Double Trouble and Retro Rubber and see what the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 12.

Cx

Happy Purr-thday...

Hey,

I am always seeing stamps that I really really want, but I normally wait until they are on sale or something. Because a) I want to not spend all the money I have on craft stuff and b) To gauge if I really want it.

I didn't do that with this beauty from Newton's Nook - 'Newton's Birthday Balloons' - I bought it and the matching die the minute I saw it LOL.

I had this idea in my head and it came out exactly as I wanted it to.

I stenciled the background using a fave cloud stencil by Dutchdoobadoo - they make the most amazing stencils.

I stamped, coloured and cut the stamp and before I mounted it onto the card, I stamped a sentiment from the set so I could figure out where to mount it.

I love the end result and used it as a birthday card for a kitty loving friend.

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: Fa La La La Llama..

Hey,

Llama's are everywhere right now.

I loved the 2017 Fa La La La Llama by Neat and Tangled and Cheiron managed to get hold of it for me.

These cards are a bit fussier than my normal Christmas cards. When you have a list of approx. 120 people..bulk easy make is best.

But these were the first ones I made and so I stamped and coloured the Llama's and the presents, which was a lot of fun.

I die-cut them all out and added them to my stamped and stenciled backgrounds (Falling Flakes by Neat and Tangled and Spiral Dots by Dutchdoobadoo).

I stamped the sentiment in different positions, depending on the background.

Fun cards. Love it when a stamp I really wanted turns out to be awesome.

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Anything Goes...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

May already?! Hubby and I are celebrating 5 years in NYC this weekend in Atlantic City.

I'm still with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge. 

This week we have everyone's fave - Anything Goes.

I thought it would be fun to use the Frog Hi stamp, it's one of the newer releases and I really like it.

I coloured the image, using Promarkers. I decided to stencil some clouds into the background and it worked out well. The cloud stencil is my fave by Dutchdoobadoo. I love their stencils.

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

Sending warm fuzzies...

Hey,

I wanted to send a friend who has not been too well a little card.

As she loves a Bunny, I thought why not recreate this card I made last year.

Instead of a gift in the basket, I added a bottle of wine and a glass - both by Heffy Doodle Stamps.

I also did a way better job with my cloud stenciling this time. Probably because I am totally addicted to this stencil (by Dutchdoobadoo) and have overused it since I got it last year!

The Bunny stamp and bike are by Poppy Stamps and again I added a road using Lawn Fawn stamps.

I have constantly got the Jenn Shurkus voice in my head when creating cards like this - you have a teeny tiny stamp somewhere that will be perfect for that basket.. It's a lesson she has taught me well and I totally stretch my stamps by mixing and matching way more than I did before I met Jenn (who is a legend and if you haven't been to one of her classes..find one and GO).

Final touch was the sentiment, I considered 'get well soon' or 'thinking of you' but I decided that 'Sending warm fuzzies' was perfect for this fuzzy card.

Cx

CASology: Heart Confetti..

Hey,

Happy Christmas Eve.

I am feeling slightly jaded today after a fun night out with a work colleague and her boyfriend, they are in NYC for Christmas and it was nice to hang out with them.

I decided yesterday to play along with the last CASology of the year -

CASology has been great for me this year, it's been really integral to pushing my mojo when it has been a bit on the wane. I've also been lucky enough to get several Honorable Mentions and a win!! I have only really been playing with CAS for a couple of years, so this is all wonderful and makes me feel like I am actually learning!!

Anyway.. today's card uses a fave stamp from the Hero Arts 'Acts of Kindness' set. I decided that it would be fun to stencil hearts onto my card to give a confetti feel to match the sentiment.

The stencil is an overused fave by Dutchdoobado - I love their stencils. I used Picked Raspberry distress ink with a dabber.

I am really pleased at how crisp the sentiment is over the confetti hearts and to add some shimmer I went over the hearts using a Nuvo aqua flow glitter gloss marker.

Now it is time for Christmas Eve NFL and hotdogs, later we are going to a fave restaurant to have the Feast of the Seven Fishes..YUMS.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cx

Stencils and Distress Oxides..

Hey,

Over the extended Thanksgiving break, I decided to have a little play with stencils and Distress Oxides.

I am really loving the oxides, they are so buttery and blend so well that they make it look like I have nailed this blending thing, which I totally haven't!

The main card uses a stencil I picked up a while back from The InkpadNYC and is by The Crafters Workshop, I used Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans and Broken China oxides through the stencil.

The Monster stamp is by Bo Bunny and was a surprise gift from my friend Jen Wills, I coloured him using Zigs and then fussy cut him. The fun sentiment is by Waffle Flower.

I love the funky end result and he will be heading to a friend for her birthday (she likes Monsters too).

The next card uses a fave stencil of mine by DutchDoobaDoo, I totally overuse it..

I love how this came out, I think the colours worked out really well and I particularly like the flashes of pink and blue. I added the awesome sentiment from A-Muse Studio.

Both were really easy and fun to make, I love using stencils for backgrounds and making them the focal point of the card.

Cx

Unicorns, Balloons and Clouds...

Hey,

Happy Black Friday!

I have been 'crafty' shopping all week, so today I am off to the gym (working of Hubby's delicious Thanksgiving dinner) and then going to do some Christmas gift shopping.

We had a really nice relaxed Thanksgiving and dinner was amazing, actually a dual effort by Hubby and I. We had a friend join us for dinner and it was just really nice and simple.

Today's card is for a friend's Daughter who turns one next week.

I created the background first using a cloud stencil by DutchDoobaDoo and Broken China Distress Oxide ink.

The Unicorn and Balloons are from different Mama Elephant and Hampton Arts sets I got at Michael's on my recent jaunts around America (Tampa/Doylestown).

I used the sentiment from the Unicorn set..not sure I love 'eternal happiness' but it is what it is now.

I added a tiny number one, I like to make number card for the toddler years..

Pretty pleased with the end result, the balloons actually look like they are lifting the Unicorn.

Cx

Happy 40th Birthday Girl...

Hey,

So my friend Mel turned 40 a couple of weeks ago.

As I am in London I am seeing her tonight to celebrate.

As she is a designer I wanted to make her a bit of a chic / edgy card.

I decided to use Bo Bunny glitter paste through a fave Dutch DoobaDoo Stencil (which is in my bag for the Margate adventure this weekend).

It came out WAY better than I expected and I decided to just go with simple giant numbers and no words.

Loving these giant number dies, they are so useful.

Cx

Addicted to CAS: Pink..

Hey,

Hope you are having a good weekend so far.

I had a lazy one yesterday, I engaged beastmode at the gym on Friday and then went out with Hubby, so felt like taking it easy!

I decided to play along with the latest challenge over at Addicted to CAS -

I had the Hogs & Kisses stamp set by Avery Elle out on my desk already and I thought it would be fun to use the Pig for my card.

I die-cut a piece of Tim Holtz Woodgrain cardstock and stenciled on the hearts using Picked Raspberry distress ink and a Dutchdoobadoo stencil.

The Pig was coloured using Zigs and I stamped one of the sentiments from the set into the heart.

Super simple card, but so pretty!

I'm having a playdate with JT today and I am most excited, it's been a while!

Cx

Bunny Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a great weekend - fun times with Hubby and on yesterday's Craftgang session. I also had a great session in the gym!

Today's card I made on Saturday, as I was putting all the new things away (which involves, labeling and adding to my online stamp library) I was watching Vicky Papaioannou videos and she inspired me to create a scene card. Vicky is AMAZING at doing this.

I started by die-cutting my main panel using a Simon Says Stamp stitched die and then I stenciled the clouds. I used a Dutchdoobadoo stencil and Stormy Sky distress ink.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Bunny and the bike - both by Poppy Stamps from a set called Mail Delivery, it is very cute.

I wanted my card to be a birthday card, so I pulled out the Avery Elle Skating By set and used the mini present stamp and die and the sentiment.

As I was assembling my card, I decided there should be a road.. I used stamps from the Happy Trails set by Lawn Fawn to create the road.

I used so many supplies to create this card, but it was totally worth it as I am very happy with the end result.

Cx

Gelli Plate Backgrounds...

Hey,

A couple of weeks ago, one of my art crushes Kim Dellow showed a great way to use your Gelli Plate on Instagram.

I had to try it out that day and I am so pleased I did.

I have been using the Gelli Plates with varying degrees of success, but I think now with this simple technique I will be getting much better backgrounds.

All you have to do is cover the Gelli Plate in a colour using a brayer, then stamp that onto paper (I chose to use watercolour paper). Then clean the plate and put a stencil over it and then add paint over that using a brayer. Remove the stencil and stamp over your solid colour - voila! amazing backgrounds.

Here are mine -

 Aren't they pretty?

From left to right clockwise, the stencils are by Dutchdoobado, Tim Holtz, Dina Wakely, Dutchdoobado and Recollections.

I have only made cards using 3 of them so far, the main photo is my fave, it makes me laugh.
I thought that background looked a bit Jungle, so it needed a Dinosaur (The Alley Way Stamps, sadly no longer in business) and I added balloons that are a mix of dies and punches. I coloured the balloons using distress stains and the Dino using distress inks. The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

The next two cards use roughly the same idea, giant die-cut sentiment, finished with a stamped sentiment.

Wplus9 happy die, Neat & Tangled birthday stamp

Winnie & Walter birthday die, Neat & Tangled happy stamp

I'm pleased with the colour combos here and JT helped me choose the yellow for the scalloped background as I couldn't decide.

Cx

CASology: Romance...there you were...

Hey,

Happy Friday, back to work for me on Monday, after 5 weeks off. It's been an uphill battle, but I am well on the way to recovery and ready for work!

I love this week's CASology cue card -

It made me think of a stamp set  bought last year by Unity Stamp Co..I bought it simply for the sentiment that you see on my card today.

Looking through disarray and seeing the one you love, that's romance to me.

I used some texture paste through a heart stencil (Dutch doobadoo) and once it dried I went over it with Festive Berries distress ink and then die-cut the panel using an MFT stitched wonky die.

I wanted the sentiment to shine, but I didn't want to lose the hearts, so I die-cut a piece of vellum using MFT oval stitched dies and stamped the sentiment on to it.

Fortunately I had pink staples in my stapler already ;)

Simple and pretty romantic to me..I wonder can I use it as an Anniversary card..

Cx

Ohmygawsh you're on fire...

Hey,

My Auntie Connie LOVES Dragons and I mean LOVES them...

So when she saw one of my Instagram posts announcing the arrival of the MFT Magical Dragons set, she was all 'when am I getting one' LOL.

To throw her off the scent, I sent her another Dragon card using a Bugaboo stamp..

Last weekend I had a play with the MFT Dragons and created this card for her.

I coloured the Dragon and the flame using Zigs.

I die-cut the stitched square panel first, then I used a Dutchdoobadoo cloud stencil and distress ink to create the background.

The 'Ohmygawsh' is by CASual Friday stamps and I recently bought the set that it comes in second hand, mainly because it had 'AH-Mazing' in it and I say that all the time!

The second part of the sentiment came with the Dragon set.

Once I had put the card together, I added glossy accents to the flame.

I hope she loves it, it should arrive any minute now..

Cx

$20 Challenge haul playdate..

Hey,

Last week as both JT and I were on Christmas break, we had an epic 5hr Skype playdate.

It also meant we could open the $20 Challenge BF haul we bought each other.

Here is what I got from JT -

Didn't I do well. I love it all and I am really looking forward to playing with it all a bit more this year.

All the cards today were made using the new goodies - I made two other cards, but one is a DT make, so you'll have to wait a while for that one and the other I already posted.

The main photo today used this awesome chevron die plate and as with all these bigger die-plates it was a beast to cut, but I am liking leaving parts in. I affixed it to a lime green piece of paper and added it to my card blank. The sentiment is ancient and a firm fave by Woodware. I added some coordinating enamel dots. Feels like a 'man / boy' card to me and I love it.

This card uses the great Your Next Stamp 'Silly Monsters Too' set, which I gave to JT as part of the BF haul. The gorgeous Hexagon Circle die is from JT and by Simon Says Stamp.

You get the background circle too, so I blended 3 green distress inks and die-cut the hexagon part using a shimmery green paper. I wasn't intending on a green monster, but JT preferred him to the blue one and she was right, so I went with it. I ADORE these mini square kraft card blanks and I cannot get them in the US, so JT buys them for me..

The final card uses the awesome mini Crazy Birds by Tim Holtz, this set is from Michael's and comes with bird stamps, sentiment stamps, dies and an embossing folder. I surprised JT I think with my delight at getting this set, I have been holding it and touching it for MONTHS, but was being mean about buying it..good job eh!

I created the background using a great stencil by Dutch Doobadoo, I love their stencils. I used tumbled glass distress ink through the stencil. The birds I coloured using Zigs and the sentiment is from the set. LOVE this card, it's so fun and was super easy too.

Great haul, love it all. Craft buddies that happen to be one of your besties are the best kind of friends..

Cx