Retro Rubber Challenge #137.. Sketchy Collab..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge. This time we are teaming up with Double Trouble.

Our challenge is a sketch challenge so all you have to do for Retro Rubber is to make a card using our sketch and at least one stamp older than a year.

The Double Trouble challenge requirements are:

Thing 1 – Trouble Maker: 3-2-1 Recipe: 3 colors – 2 embellishments – 1 old stamp

Thing 3 – Twisted Sister: Follow our RRCB sketch but do not use ovals, circles or rounded corners.

Thing 2 – Double Dare (Optional): If you used the RRCB sketch and the 3-2-1 Recipe be sure to link your card Double Trouble’s challenge to receive an additional chance to be in Double Trouble’s random draw.

I combined the challenges like this - 

Thing 1 - 3 colours (gold, blue, yellow), 2 embellishments (x2 little blingy gems), 1 old stamp (Prehistoric by Neat and Tangled, that I have had since 2018).

Thing 3 - Use the sketch, but no rounded corners (I used a hexagon)

Thing 2 - Combine both - yay!

My background was created by smooshing distress inks, the vertical paper strip is SO old, I believe that I bought that paper with my Momma BEFORE I got married 11 years ago.. The hexagon die is by Spellbinders and was a gift from my friend JT, because I love Hexagons so much. I die-cut it from a glittery gold paper. The 'rawr' banner and the Woolly Mammoth are from the Neat & Tangled set and I got them second-hand from my friend Cheiron. The white banner is one of the awesome Taylored Expressions simple strips.

Show us your interpretation of the double challenge or just our sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and Double Trouble to get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 26th

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

CAS(e) This Sketch: Cheers...

Hey,

So I was really happy to have made the favourite's list over at CAS(e) This Sketch last week.

I was going to play along with this week's sketch anyway, but then the sketch featured a hexagon (swoon).

For some reason I LOVE hexagon's, I have no idea why, I just do.

So I broke out my fave Spellbinders nesting hexagon die set and went to work :)

I had an idea, as the 'Cheers' die by Winnie & Walter, was sitting on my desk. So I die-cut two hexagons in black and purple cardstock and die-cut the cheers out of a scrap of Lawn Fawn plaid paper.

I bought the Waffle Flower 'Currently Drinking' set on a whim 2 years ago, as I thought it would be handy and honestly it is one of the most used things in my craftroom.

I used x3 of the stamps from the set to create a little background on my purple hexagon.

I affixed the black one to the card blank and popped up the purple one and the cheers.

To finish it off I added some adhesive green pearls.

Fun card, suitable I think for both men and women.

Cx

Inspired by Street Art....

Hey,

Happy Monday!

A couple of weeks ago Hubby and I were on the way to brunch and this happened -

I was so inspired by this gorgeous piece of street art that I decided to create something similar for a friend. She had seen the photo above and said, I bet you could make that for me!

I started by creating the background, using watercolour paper smooshed in distress ink, dried and then punched using a hexagon punch.

I took a piece of heavyweight card and added rows and rows of double sided tape. I find when I am doing these kinds of projects this is a good way to work, as you can add more tape as you need it, so you can pause and not worry about the glue drying out.

I wanted it to be a bit more grungy, so I added some stenciling, some paste, edged some of the hexagons in silver and tiny splatters of gold and silver paint.

Final touch before adding my Mermaid was to stamp the words (Tim Holtz Foam Alpha Stamps), they looked a bit flat, so I added a shadow to them using a gold pen, very happy with the outcome here.

The mermaid is a digital stamp by TiddlyInks. They come in a set and are called 'Cat Shark Mermaids'. The one I used is a 'Leopard Shark'.

I think my project will be a great entry for the Mixed Media challenge over at Happy Little Stampers. It's for a friend and I the sentiment reminds me of all the encouraging things this friend has said to me over the years..

I am wiggling with excitement today, as tomorrow I leave for Boston, where I will be meeting JT (who is flying in from London), we are spending 3 days in Boston (JT's Alma Mata) and then heading to Crop on The Cape - where we hook up with x2 of the craftgang Jamey and Cheiron - EEEEE!!!! SO EXCITED!

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

Stampin' Friday...

Hey,

Happy Friday everyone!

I thought it would be fun to show you some cards made using some of my new Stampin' Up products that I chose as part of my demonstrator kit.

I love Stampin' Up products and I am excited to be a demonstrator, but I am also craft crazy and have an enormous stash of other products too. Everything works together, which is the great thing about crafting.

I used the Brushstrokes background stamp and added distress inks to the stamp using ink daubers. I pressed the paper onto the stamp and rubbed over the entire stamp with my hand, so I could get a good impression.

I stamped 2 different colourways so I could make 2 kinds.

LOVE the watery effect of the stamp and my ink application was random, so I got some bleed which makes it feel more natural..

I also stamped and punched some of the stamps from the Six Sided Sampler set - I love hexagons and I have had this particular Stampin' Up punch for AGES..

Putting the cards together was fun, I just scattered the hexagons around until I liked what I saw and then I secured them to the background.

The main photo today is my fave..I added an Awesome die-cut, coloured in a matching Cracked Pistachio ink and stamped a Woodware giant Happy Birthday. Fun times..

I kept the card below simple and just used the simpler hexagon stamp from the set and a sentiment.

I mounted both cards onto black card blanks, as this really made the colours pop.

Super easy to make and fun to play with the Brushstrokes stamp.

You can shop with me if you want to for any of the Stampin' Up products - using this link.

Have a great weekend, I am going to be playing, playing at my desk.

Cx

Inchies...

Hi,

Happy Friday.

This post is the last one from my 2 days of fun at my desk last weekend.

A while back I posted this beauty onto a Pinterest board of mine -

Inchies card from Ellen Hutson blog c.2011

It's actually quite an old make, but I love it and thought I'd dig through my scrap box and make a few variations of it.

I stuck with a colour theme for each card and the main photo today is 'brown'.

I decided as I don't have an inch square punch, that I would use my scalloped 11/4 inch punch. All the inchies are cut from scraps and all the embellishments on the squares were either already punched (butterflies from JT's punch) or laying around on my desk waiting to be used.. The happy sentiment was cut a while back with my Silhouette and has been languishing on my desk..

Here are the Pink and Green versions.

Green Inchies card

I decided to stamp the sentiment for the green card..not my best idea ever, but it kind of works! The heart is left over from the watercolour punch outs that I did using an 'oops'. The sentiment stamp is by SSS and from the July card kit, the enamel hearts are from My Minds Eye.

Pink Inchies card

The pink card is already earmarked for someone. The big blingy heart is from JT and once again uses one of the butterflies she punched for me.

All the patterned papers I used are by American Crafts and Recollections by Michaels, all plain papers are just from my stash.

This is so simple to do and putting a big die cut word really makes the cards pop.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Playing in the Craft Room...

Hi,

I've had a few cards to make for friends and family recently and so I dragged out some new kit, some old kit and sat down to have a play..

The main card today uses a new Gorjuss stamp that JT kindly sent me :) I had wanted it for ages. She mentioned that I was lucky she posted it, as she fell in love with it.

I coloured her with Promarkers, stenciled the background to match her dress and added some ribbon and a hexagon for the sentiment. As you can see it started life as a Hello..it has now been modified to be Happy Birthday.. The stencil is by Simon Says Stamp, the spotty paper tape is from The Works in the UK and the gold ribbon is from Target..love craft supplies for $1

The next 2 cards use my new Big Eared Bunny stamps by Zlota..I love these bunnies and tracked them down, after seeing a few crafters using them.

Big Eared Bunny - Balloon

This is my second attempt at paper piecing...such a clever technique and one that has always terrified me a bit! But I really love the results here - this card is actually an OWH make, that has a duplicate for a friend. The balloon paper is by Pink Petticoat.

Big Eared Bunny - Rocket

I used a precious piece of Bo Bunny 'Blast Off' paper for this card, I love the little mini rockets around the big one. Once again this is an OWH make that has a dupe for a friend..the other card has glitter glue in the flame, which I can't do for OWH.

I love the variety here. I will show you more cards that I made using my 2 new Gorjuss stamps next week.

Hope you have a Happy Friday and a lovely weekend. I am off to Atlantic City with Hubby this weekend, the Nixon Seniors were coming, but their plans have had to change..due to some fantastic news. 

Cx

Moving Along With The Times...Father's Day..

Hi,

The Team B MAWTT challenge this week is Father's Day.

I am really pleased with my card..a bit different than the ones I showed you earlier in the week.

I stenciled the background, using a Tim Holtz folder and distress inks - , the hexagons were punched using 2 different sized punches and the sentiment is by Inkadinkadoo - but I masked off part of it, as I'm not mad keen on it!

I added some blue pearls and teeny bits of bling for fun.

Join in the fun over at MAWTT and check out the rest of Team B's wonderful creations.

Cx

Freestyling butterflies..

Hi,

I am very happy it is Friday, it has been a hard week :(

To celebrate I am entering Card Concept #7 - Use a Butterfly theme -

I decided to give 'Freestyle Collage' another go - once again I hope I have interpreted it right, because I have only attempted this a couple of times..

The main photo today is my entry - I know I always say how pleased I am with things, but this little beauty really put a smile on my face!

I used the colours of the butterfly in the inspiration photo as my starting point. I decided to use a hexagon Silhouette file I have and because I wanted the hexagons that sit inside the frame to be different colours I cut 3 of the hexagon file - meaning I have 2 to play with another day - YAY!

I rooted through almost all of my paper searching for the right backing paper, the piece I have finally settled on is by Studio Calico. The butterfly was trial and error - I tried different sizes before settling on what you see now and they were cut with a xCut die. I added bling and a peel-off sentiment.

Here's an angled view for a better look at the butterflies.

Angled view

I love it - it's fun, it's bold and it's a bit different - freestyle I hope :)

Happy Friday everyone.

Cx

Just in time..

All week, I have wanted to enter the Mojo Monday challenge...but time and lack of inspiration just seemed to get in my way.

Here is the sketch -

Finally at around 6pm (in NYC) my inspiration kicked in :)

The main photo is my card - made using American Crafts papers, for the background and the flag strip. The hexagons and the tag were made using DCWV papers, the button is by DCWV too. The sentiment stamp came free with a magazine.

Not a bad effort I think for a close to the wire entry :)

Hope you have had a good Sunday - I've mainly been on Skype and watching football (NFL)

Cx

p.s Big thanks to Hubby for the awesome photo tent, how awesome is this photo despite it being very, very dark in my Craft Room!!

Playing with Hexagons..

 Hello, I hope you all had a good weekend.

Hubby and I went out with our new friends on Saturday and had lots of fun.

I have been looking at lots of cards with hexagons lately and I really love the idea of using hexagons. I have a punch, a stamp and an embossing folder (thank you JT), I wish I had a smaller hexagon die or punch, but for now what I have will have to do. I spent Sunday having a play with all my hexagon kit and here's what I came up with.

The main photo is my entry for the CAS-ual Friday challenge for this week - CFC106: Create a Clean And Simple card with an element that goes off the edge of the cardfront. I like the simplicity of this card and the unusual sentiment. I initially wanted the hexagon to hang off the edge, but couldn't get it to work and thought the hearts would be a nice touch instead.

I made 5 other hexagon themed cards - 

1 - A happy birthday card using greens - I like the contrasting patterns and spotty embossing folder. The peel-off is one of my faves and sadly I have almost run out and I don't think I can get them here in NYC.

1 - Happy Birthday

2 - This card uses my hexagon embossing folder. I embossed a piece of pink cardstock and then chopped it up for a bit of an unusual effect. Being thrifty I used the outside of the punched hexagon from card 1 and added a pink tag, a butterfly and some teeny tiny alphas to make the sentiment. This one is a bit strange, but I like it :)

2 - Hello

3 - I bought a set of stamps that came with a honeycomb/hexagon mini stamp and I have wanted to use it, but been at a loss as to how it could work. Here I stamped it 4 times in 2 colours and then relief cut around it to make a border. Once I had the border I was a bit like ?! and then I thought if I added flowers it would look like a trellis...a bit far maybe?! Anyway I think it's cute, maybe a bit busy?

3 - You are the best ever

4 - I had the card with the purple strip stitched on in my scrap box and thought it would work nicely with some pink / purple hexagons. I love corrugated card and I think the hexagon here looks lovely.

4 - Thank You

5 - The final card is a bit of fun, I am sad that the Rock Star stamp didn't come out too well, but I like the glittery hexagon against the Pink Petticoat quatrefoil background and the bright blue stars tie it all in nicely.

5 - Party like a Rock Star

I enjoyed playing with hexagons, now I just need to get my hands on that smaller hexagon punch as there are lots of ideas I want to try out, but my punch is too big...

Cx