Color Throwdown: Hey Girl!

Hey,

So my friend Jen shared her card for Color Throwdown and I loved the colours so decided to play along too!

It also seemed like the perfect time to have a play with the 'Daily Wear' set by Concord & 9th - I bought it in their big blowout sale earlier this year. It comes with all different things that you can put the girl above / in to. I chose to use the letterboard.

I stamped the letterboard and the girl. I coloured them both with Copics and then I heat embossed a sentiment from the set onto the letterboard. I love this WOW! Embossing powder in Primary Yellow, it is so bright.

I pulled out a fave sentiment by Unity Stamp Co from their 'Kinda Sorta Miss You' set and heat embossed that onto grey paper using the same powder.

I decided to go with offset layers and the yellow spotty paper is by Stampin' Up.

To add a bit of shimmer, I went around the edge of the letterboard using a Sakura gelly roll glitter gel pen.

I'm pretty pleased with how this card came out, not bad for an impulse make!

Cx

Coffee gets me Kracken..

Hey,

Even though I am in a crafty no spend zone, that doesn't mean I don't have new shiny things to play with!!

This is WHY I am in a no spend zone LOL.

JT and I did our annual Black Friday $20 challenge, which over the years has crept up to be way more than $20, but whatever we are besties, so it's all cool.

This year among other things, I got these 3 really cool dies / die sets from JT.

I knew that I had to pair that splash / splotch die with an awesome Rabbit Hole Designs set that my friend Jen sent me for my birthday, that I hadn't got round to using yet.

Don't they work well together! I love that Caffeinated Octopus. And it was really easy to make, just die-cut the splotch, stamp the x2 sentiments where I wanted them to be and then, stamp, colour and die-cut the Octopus. I popped him up using foam tape.

I used the Caffeinated Reindeer to make Lisette's Christmas card last year. They are SO fun.

Love it when I get to combine things to make fun cards.

Cx

Color Throwdown: Monster Birthday Hugs..

Hey,

Today my Momma arrives for 2 weeks and I have next week off - whoop!

I saw the colours over at Color Throwdown this week and had to play along..

So many possibilities with this combo.

Of course I had to use a Monster ;)

I cut a black card black and adhered my coverplate die-cut to it (MFT Peek a boo dots).

I embossed part of a pale blue piece of card and added that to my card to anchor my Monster and the sentiment.

The Monster is from the Bo Bunny 'Monsters' set and was a gift from my friend Jen. I coloured him with promarkers and fussy cut him.

I added the sentiment using my label maker and a MFT die..

I love how it came out and the pale blue really pops against the black and white.. I think I'm going to make a whole bunch of stuff with this combo.

Cx

Try it on Tuesday: Stencils and Dies and Monsters...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I found a new to me challenge this weekend.. Try it on Tuesday.. I liked the current theme, Stencils / dies or both and so I decided to play along.

I went with both stencils and dies - I made a ton of gelli plate backgrounds a while ago using a fave Neat and Tangled circle stencil and distress paints.

I dug one out and die-cut it using a mini triangle cover plate - which I bought second-hand on a Facebook group, I think it is by MFT.

I love the end result, the big circles with the random triangles works so well.

No card is complete without a Monster..and for this card I decided to break out one of my faves by My Cute Stamp (a gift from Jen). I love this Monster so much, that I stamped him, scanned him in and die-cut a bunch on my Silhouette, as he has no dies.

For the final touch I added a sentiment by Hero Arts - which came in this set and was also a gift (from Cheiron)..my friends gift me Monster stamps all the time, they are WAAAY too kind.

I have just noticed that my Monster matches the pink background LOL..honestly that was an accident.

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

Playdate Oxide Masking..

Hey,

Happy Monday and Happy Birthday to Cheiron!

Yesterday I had a fun playdate with JT, I mainly gossiped and finished off bits and bobs, it has been forever since we did this.

JT had seen this fun distress ink masked striped background with a black image stamped over it. So we gave that a go, she has posted her makes today too.

The main card is my first attempt - LOVE Distress Oxides for this, they are so buttery and blend so well, Wilted Violet is my fave colour. I added a Zini and a sentiment by Simon Says Stamp (thanks Jen) to make a cheeky card for Cheiron.

Next card I got all brave!!

Yes I double masked and used RED ink over the green - big girl pants firmly pulled up.

As it felt so Christmassy it, it felt right to add the Avery Elle Santa and sentiment.

Love a playdate with my girl, especially whenI get to try out new fun things. We are now both officially Oxide fans, we really didn't see the point, but after I did a class with Cheiron and passed on the knowledge we love them. Classic case of read the manual right?

Cx

Margate Craftathon 2017: Part One...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you!

I am having a fun weekend hanging with Hubby watching NFL pre-season games and of course the boxing..

I figure it is going to take me several posts to show you the Margate makes..which is cool as I am heading to Mexico on Sautrday and so will need to schedule some posts.

Today's post is a mix, because I used some new things in Margate that came in the post 2 days before I left from my friend Jen. So the main photo is the thank you card I quickly whipped up using Lil Inkers Cat Treats set and a Concord & 9th sentiment stamp.

I LOVE Monster stamps, I think most people know that and to be honest I do come home to little surprise parcels with Monster stamps a lot more than I should...I am a very lucky girl.

Here is the little haul I got from Jen - 

Awesome right?!

So it made sense to shove them into my case and take them with me.

The first card I made on Friday was based on a card JT and I were using as inspiration to get us started. I used the Hero Arts 'Eat Cake All Day' set from Jen -

Super simple card to get me started. I love the monster he looks so happy..The sentiments in the set are fun too, I really like 'I could eat you up' ha ha ha.

I have actually wanted these Paperartsy Monster stamps for a while, but never got round to buying them..

I thought it would be fun to make a set of cards, using four of the stamps from the set. They were all coloured using Distress inks and the sentiment is by Clearly Besotted.

Happy Birthday Bermuda Style...

Hey,

Happy Friday..semi-live from London.

I think I am still in the air as this posts!!

It was my friend Jen's birthday last week and I didn't realise..how bad is that.

I wanted to make her a fun card that pulled in some of the elements of Bermuda where she lives. Then I remembered I had this cool un-inked stamp by Sweet Stamp Shop that would work perfectly.

The stamp is called Hello Florida! It is so much fun to colour and I used watercolour paints here.

I added some fun patterned paper and MFT label sentiment stamps to complete my card.

Hope that Jen likes it - bringing her a gift from the UK, I thought that would be fun.

Have a great weekend, I am gonna be hanging with my Parents, before I head to work on Monday.

Cx

4 cards 1 stamp set: Wplus9 Happy Birds..

Hey,

So today is fun, as I am linking up with my friend Jen to show you the cards we made using the Wplus9 Happy Birds set.

Before we get into the cards, let me talk a bit about Jen.

She has been one of my online craft crushes for a long time. Then last year she reached out to me via my blog and BOOM huge friendship - she is awesome and her messages / emails make me howl with laughter. She is totally my kind of people. Thank god for the internet. We get to meet face to face in 4 weeks - OMG so excited I am wiggling as I type this.

You might remember her being mentioned here before as she sent me the Monster stamps I so desperately wanted! Anyway, check out her blog, she is wickedly talented, has the most excellent sense of humour and is an all round sweetie pie.

I used this stamp set recently and mentioned that I wanted to do 4from1 with it and she said wanted to do it too - hence our linked posts.

I did something a bit different for me and stamped, coloured and cut all the birdies first. It meant that I had to think about what I was going to do with them and so they were all coloured to suit their cards. I used distress inks and an aquabrush to colour them.

My fave of the whole batch is the one that became and anniversary card for my in-laws (45 years!!). I thought it was romantic enough to work, but not so girly that my FIL would be all eye rolling!

Just going to show you one more, so this post doesn't become war and peace!!

I chose the french fry card - I love the sentiment, I added a bit of texture paste to the white panel, so the bird stood out even more. The 'Happier' stamp is by Neat & Tangled  - awesome set, comes with so many fun sayings.

Confession time, it took me WAY too long to realise that the bird is holding a fry (DUH!!)

I can't wait to see what Jen has made.

Watch this space we'll be back with another 4from1 soon.

Cx

CAS Colours and a butterfly..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Again my friend Jen is providing challenge inspiration, she is guesting over at CAS Colours and Sketches.

I love the colours this week -

I decided that I would use Ferro metallic paste for my 'smoky slate', I love this stuff. I applied it to my white panel through a Tim Holtz stencil.

The butterfly die is by Poppy Stamps and I die-cut it out of a piece of purple cardstock to match 'elegant eggplant'.

Once the paste was dry, I die-cut the panel and affixed it to my card, then I stamped the sentiment (a freebie) in purple ink and affixed the butterfly and added the yellow enamel dots to match 'crushed curry'.

I am super happy with my card, it came out exactly as I had visualised, with the added bonus of the perfect sentiment, that I had forgotten about!

Hope you have a great weekend, Hubby and I are brunching with Lisette tomorrow and we have our new bed (finally) coming on Sunday!!

Cx

Reverse Confetti..Toucan...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

My first week back at work has been good, but tiring.

Again my friend Jen is pointing me in the direction of fun challenges, this time in the form of Reverse Confetti..

I am reasonably new to Reverse Confetti products, I have seen them around and have had a few things in my wish list for a while, but I just got my first set - Toucan of Friendship, I feel this is the start of a happy purchasing spree...

I love this set so much, it makes me so happy because it is just crying out to be coloured in bright colours.

I die-cut a white panel using MFT wonky stitched dies, I found the pink panel in my circle die envelope and thought it was kismet, as it coordinated perfectly.

I coloured the Toucan, flower and leaves with Promarkers and once I mounted them onto the pink circle, I added glossy accents to the Toucan's beak.

It all felt a bit flat, so I went around the sides of the card with an ancient Bo Bunny stitches stamp, much better.

Have a great weekend, don't forget to come back and check out the latest Sketch Saturday sketch tomorrow.

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