Retro Rubber Challenge #239 - Colour Feeling Fallish..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have some lovely Fall / Autumn colours for you..

I thought palette would work really well with a Concord & 9th turnabout stamp. I settled on 'Wreath Turnabout' - this is their OG wreath turnabout and I love it, I bought it in 2020 when Jenn Shurkus was having a destash. Autumnal colours are lovely, I don't really get these colours here in Tampa, I do miss that.

I used inks by Taylored Expressions (Lavender Glaze, Jelly Donut) and Alternew (Marigold, Chamomile).

I was a bit stuck about what to do for a sentiment and I settled on the hello die by MFT from their 'Hi, Hello, There' set that I have had since 2021.

I'm thrilled at how pretty this is and it was SO easy, I love turnabouts, especially when I use the Altenew stamp wheel which is perfect for these stamps.

Show us your interpretation of the colours, pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT has 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

Happy Travels...

 

Hey,

Happy Friday!

At work we are doing weekly fun crafty things, each week we can do a photography challenge and/or a craft challenge.

This week the craft challenge theme was Travel.

I thought it was a great opportunity to use a piece of NBUS from 2020 - Happy Travels by Clearly Besotted.

I stamped all the iconic buildings/statue's in different brightly coloured inks, which was a lot of fun and I used a variety of my inks, Colorbox, Tsukineko, Altenew and Concord & 9th. I tend to use blocks for this kind of stamping, I love using acrylic blocks for certain things, I have a big collection of them and I am very particular about how clean I keep them. I added the little sentiments from the set in black for stand-out.

I had a bit of a smudge with the orange Eiffel Tower, so I die-cut one and popped it up, it actually added a bit of fun interest.

Hope you have a great weekend, I will be at my desk tomorrow and watching my Buccs in the Superbowl on Sunday - GO BUCCS!!!

Cx

You Are Amazing...

 

Hey,

Looks like it's going to be a Clearly Besotted week on my blog :)

I really like rainbow stamps and this cute set by CB creates lovely painty edge rainbows.

I added the stars from a Taylored Expressions rainbow set and the sentiment is by MFT.

This was a great way to play with my newish Concord & 9th inks, I'm not sure if I love them or not. I do like the colours, but the mini pads leave marks, so you can only use a certain kind of stamp.. more investigation needed methinks!

Anyway, the end result was a pretty, simple very CAS card.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #144 Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

I am counting down to VACAY!! I have my birthday week off next week, there is gonna be a whole lot of eating and crafting!

But before then, we have everyone's fave Anything Goes..

By now you should not be surprised to see a Monster pop up on most of my cards, I LOVE Monster stamps and I am so lucky that my friends are constantly gifting them to me. To date I have not had a duplicate, which is amazing.

I chose this Hero Arts 'Eat Cake All Day' set (I've had it since 2017) deliberately because it was given to me by my friend Cheiron, who I was introduced to by Jenn Shurkus who was the previous owner of the MFT Birthday Speech Bubbles set (Jenn bought it in 2016).

I love these ladies and I thought it would be fun to make a card that combines things from them :)

As you know I am a big fan of Altenew inks and I used x3 of them to stamp the bubbles here - Starlight, Tide Blue and Sea Breeze.

It felt like the Monster needed something and so I hunted through my dies and came up with a bow-tie for him from the Elizabeth Craft Designs 'Party Accessories' set. Perfect!

Your turn to dig out something neglected and show us what you can do with it. Also, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 2nd.

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

4from1: Craft Smart time to party...

Hey,

Hope you had a nice long weekend? 

Today Hubby and I go back to work after a week off - ugh!

I finally got around to inking up this stamp (by Craft Smart from Michaels) during the first weekend of our vacay.

I bought it mainly for this giant sentiment, that I thought would make fun CAS cards and I think I was right!

To add interest I inked the stamp using minimum of 3 colours, sometimes to create a vignette and others just for the solid colour. I used Memento Dew Drop inks for this, as I wanted to use a mix of colours, smaller pads are better for this technique.

Simple and easy. All they needed was some coordinating enamel dots and bling and they were done. Very very easy makes.

Cx

Monsters: Repeat Stamping..

Hey,

Welcome to March!

You must all know by now that I LOVE Monster stamps!

A few weeks ago, I decided to pull out a couple of Monster stamp sets that haven't been used in a while and I chose Flonzcraft Monsters and Microbes and Jane's Doodles Monster Squad.

I thought a bit of repeat stamping would be fun.

The main photo uses the stamps by Flonzcraft, these are too much fun and were a gift from Lisette. I decided to just use x3 colours and x3 of the stamps - you get approx 20 stamps in this set!

I love how fun and bright it came out and it really pops against the orange mat, my sentiment pops more IRL.

Next up is my fave Jane's Doodles monster - I think I love him because you can use a large googly eye! The background for this card was created using an arrow stamp that came with the Monster set and I stamped it using Altenew inks - I have the Shades of Purple set - I LOVE their inks.

Super easy and fun monster cards.

Cx

CAS(e) This Sketch: Happy Birthday..

Hey,

It's been a while since I played along with CAS(e) this Sketch.

This week's sketch immediately sparked an idea -

I had the Simon Says Stamp 'Brush Stroke Messages' set out on my desk and I thought one of the brushstrokes would work really well.

I stamped the smallest brush stroke in x5 colours of Dew Drop ink - these and Altenew are my fave inks.

I masked off part of one of the sentiments from the set to stamp 'birthday' and then added the Happy die-cut - the die is also by Simon Says Stamp.

Super quick and easy card to make.

Cx

Giant Hug..

Hey,

So a while ago my boss asked me for some cards that were 'thinking of you' in style, but didn't actually say that.

Pretty clear brief.

I made a ton of cards for her, but the ones I made using the Altenew Leaf Medallion set are my faves and they all used sentiments from the A-Muse Studios 'Fierce' set.

I fell in love with the Altenew set and had to have it, I love the variations that you can get from one set (praise the lord for stamping platforms) and I also love that Altenew always gives you a short ideas/instruction leaflet with their stamp sets.

The green inks are also by Altenew. I have x3 sets of their oval inks (greens, pinks, blues) and it took me a while, but I LOVE them now, the colours are so rich.

I've remade this card so many times and used lots of different sentiments in the centre.

Cx

Altenew Leaf Medallion...

Hey,

I happened to have a long weekend a couple of weeks ago and so I pulled out a few things to play with that were 'kinda' new - aka, had one play.

One of those sets was this great one by Altenew 'Leaf Medallion'.

Altenew make great floral layering stamps, but I am waaay too lazy for that amount of effort, so rarely buy Altenew stamps. This one, however, grabbed me, as it comes with so many awesome sentiments.

I used the 3 smaller leaf stamps to create my cards and I used Altenew Inks (got them on sale, in love with them), I used 2 of the sets that I have - Deep Blue Seas and Cherry Blossom.

I love how they came out and the gradient of colour by using the inks dark to light is lovely.

I was originally going to go with the same sentiment on all 4 cards, but decided to go with 2 different ones.

Happy Birthday Wishes - Happy die is by Simon Says Stamp and Birthday Wishes is by Mama Elephant

You Are So Awesome - Stamp and die by Neat & Tangled.

Love exploring what I can make with one stamp set. I think I need to resurrect my 4 from 1 series...

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #107.. Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge, I am currently in London, this is my second day in the office, it feels like it's been forever since I came home!

We have another Tic Tac Toe board for you, created by Jan..

Tic Tac Toe boards are so much fun. I went with the middle horizontal row - Thank You, Leaves, Repeat Stamping.

I dug into the archives for this card :)

The leaf  (Lace Leaf from 2016) is by Concord & 9th and I loved it SO much when I first got it, then it got a bit neglected.  I stamped the leaf first, then used the additional overlay panel to get the splatter. I didn't want to cover any of the leaf. So I hunted for the perfect sentiment stamp.

I remembered that I had this ancient (2014) Simon Says Stamp handwritten sentiment banners set and finally found it and it worked out perfectly here. Thank goodness for stamping platforms, meaning that I only had to move my paper not the stamp.

Fortunate that I happened to have a green card blank available, it helps that white panel pop a bit.

Which row will you choose? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 5th.

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 #104... Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a Tic Tac Toe board from Jan -

I went with the top row, Butterflies/Green/Textured Embossing.

First I used a diffuser plate to create the circle of embossing you can see on my card, the big spot folder is ancient and my fave ever embossing folder by Sizzix, then I stamped the sentiment (by Newton's Nook from 2017).

I dug through my stash and found x2 butterfly embellishments (top and bottom). The middle one, I die-cut myself from a ink smooshed piece of paper using a Clearly Besotted die from 2016, I had planned to stamp this butterfly, but it just didn't work!

I love all the different tones on my card - earthy but with that bright green to liven it up.

Which row will you choose? Be sure to stop over at Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 9th.

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 #99..Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

It's that time again for another fantastic anything goes challenge..

I have made no secret of my love obsession with MFT flower stamps..

As I have several sets I thought it would be fun to pull a few of them out for this challenge.

I used a Paper Smooches 'Denim and Daisies' set for the pocket die, the sentiment and the small leaves. I've had this set since 2016 and it gets a ton of use. The pocket was die-cut out of felt, from a set of felt sheets that my work colleagues gave me for my birthday - so much fun to use.

I used x3 of my MFT flower sets 'Large Desert Bouquet (2016)' 'Bold Blooms (2017)' and 'Pretty Posies (2017). Everything was stamped using Tsukineko Dew Drop inks. I love the rich colour these inks give.

I have the matching dies for all the sets, so I stamped everything and then die-cut them all and stamped leaves and dots directly onto the white panel before assembling my bouquet.

I love how bright and happy it is, just what I need in this dreary dull time of year!

Looking forward to see which older stamp(s) you use, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 9th.

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

Pink Fresh Studio: July Watercolours..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Today is a bittersweet day for me. It's the last class for the Craftgang at the Inkpad for a while, as Ava is moving to Florida. No doubt there will be a few tears (mainly from me, I cry at everything).

I am a big fan of Pink Fresh Studio stamps and I like to play along with their challenge from time to time.

This month it's watercolours -

I like to stretch my stamps and as soon as I saw the colours here I knew that the December Days stamp set by Pink Fresh Studio could work really well as a birthday card.

First I created the orange and yellow watercoloured background. I added splashes of orange, yellow, purple and pink to my background.

I die-cut it to size using a scalloped die, that I recently bought second-hand.

I stamped and die-cut the banner image from the set and watercoloured it. I added a fun sentiment by Unity Stamp Co.

Now that my banner was ready, I could stamp the leaves from the set onto my watercoloured background, I needed the banner, so I could position the leaves where I wanted them. I stamped them in purple ink.

I used foam tape to mount my banner in place and added green and red gems for the other colours and some interest. I also added green stickles to the flower centres.

I'm a little bit in love with this card, it's a bit off the wall, but it's also a great way to use Christmas stash for other things.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Chalkboard Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you.

Momma and I are in Philly right now for a few days, tonight we are having dinner with JTs parents, tomorrow Ma is going to visit a friend and I am having lunch with a friend. Fun times.

Whilst Hubby was away in London I got to indulge in some late night craft adventures..which resulted in me finding a box of backgrounds that I had made and die-cut?! I seriously have no recollection of this, but yay!

So I made x2 cards using a couple of the backgrounds I found..I also found the chalkboard tags that you can see on the cards - there were at least 10 of them in the box and they have different patterns on.

I used a scripty stamp (Avery Elle 'Brushed') and white pigment ink to get that chalkboard effect - I'm super pleased with how the sentiment came out.

The two backgrounds I used were both made using Tim Holtz stencils and distress stains.

Here's the other card -

Won't it fun when I have a big enough craft room to keep everything sensibly organised (sigh).

Cx

The Paper Players: Tea Party..

Hey,

Today I am playing along with the current Paper Players challenge.

As I am English and tea is like blood / oxygen to us it seemed like a theme for me. It also felt like a great opportunity to use a bit of shameful NBUS...I have that this pretty stamp set 'Warm Solutions' by Clearly Besotted for over a year and it has seen no ink..

I don't believe that they sell it in the format I have it in anymore, but they do have lots of other versions of it.

I didn't go with the vintage tea-cup colours for my card, I decided that my tea-cup collection would be shades of blue!

I stamped the sentiment first, then stamped the first cup and saucer and masked the cups as I went, so I could create a little stack of cups.

I decided to add the little 'steam' heart and I'm glad I did, it really finished off the card nicely.

Cx

CAS(E) This Sketch: Miss that face...

Hey,

It's going to be a challenge fueled week for me!!

As I was away over the weekend, I made up for lost time on Sunday and got my challenge ON!!!

Today I am playing along with CAS(E) This Sketch -

I really like the simplicity of the sketch.. so many possibilities.

I pulled out a couple of super old sets to use - the stitching is by Bo Bunny and the loopy border is by American Crafts. Both are from 2013. I decided to break up the 3 lines with the cute kitty from the Impression Obsession 'Planner Pals' set.

I wanted to send this card to a friend and that is how I ended up choosing my sentiment, this is a firm fave by Hero Arts.

Question is do I have 4 lines and not 3, as per the sketch?..maybe...

Cx

Helen Dardik inspired...

Hey,

I'm feeling slightly jaded today, yesterday was our 5 year anniversary of living in NYC, so Hubby and I went to dinner and too much wine might have been consumed.

Today's card I made a couple of weeks ago. I don't know who the Lion stamp is by, I bought a grab bag of stamps on Etsy and got this in it.

It reminded me of Helen Dardik's work (I have a MAJOR crush) and so I created a background for the Lion using some of the stamps from Helen's collaboration with Waffle Flower.

It came out much better than I expected and I felt rather brave leaving the lion uncoloured.

The sentiment is by Heffy Doodle.

Cx

CAS Colours and Sketches: A playdate..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I didn't feel that great on Friday night by the time I got home and when I woke up on Saturday I felt like I had a cold.

I rested, but sadly had to cancel my plans.

I felt well enough yesterday to make the playdate I had planned with JT. We only did an hour, but we had fun and made quite a few things!

Our main focus was the great sketch over at CAS colours and sketches this week.

It's so versatile, we could not stop playing with it.

The main card today is my entry and I used a MFT Happy Birthday circle die-cut, smooshed in Faded Jeans distress oxide ink.

I stamped, cut and coloured the Lawn Fawn Dino and popped him up inside the circle.

I kept the rest of the card simple, just two blue panels from my stash.

A super CAS card.

I made two more cards using this great sketch -

I love the card above, the Pig makes me so happy!! I only bought this set (Go hog wild) by AMuse Studio because of the Pig (and the Cow). I die-cut the circle using an MFT peek-a-boo die. The balloon and the sentiment came with the set. The paper is SUPER old by Papermania and I am really happy to be using it.

My final card had JT and I in hysterics as the paper is a freebie from a magazine at least 6-7 years ago!! I can't believe I kept it. It was perfect for the first use of my Stamping Bella 'Rosie and Bernie in London' stamp. The sentiment is by Newton's Nook.

The last two cards aren't very CAS, but that's ok with me. I am SO using this sketch again.

Cx

Bunnies like Ice-Cream..

Hey,

I discovered that it was my Insta buddy - Miami Kel's birthday last month and so I wanted to make and send her a card.

She is such a lovely warm person and her cards are DOPE.

I decided she would appreciate the awesome Studio Calico Bunny / Ice-Cream set that I spent 2 years tracking down...

I used it in a slightly different way here and pulled out a Simon Says Stamp fave set - Scribble Flowers and used the circles to outline the ice-cream scoops.

It's a fun bright card, perfect for Kelly's fun personality.

Cx

Old Fart....

Hey,

So no doubt Hubby and I are a bit jaded after last night's festivities!!

I thought I'd share the quick card I made for a friend recently.

He happens to be only 7 months older than me, so making him a card that says old fart is pushing it a bit!

I kept it super simple, the background is a stamp by Prima Marketing, I love their background stamps.

The sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co and is part of the most hilarious sentiment set ever (Frankly Said).

The pretty die is by Reverse Confetti and I thought it was a soft touch to my cheeky card!

Cx