Retro Rubber Challenge #258 - Happy Birthday!

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

It's time for a Birthday theme -

I came across this stamp set while looking for something else, and I thought it would make a unique birthday card. 

The set is 'Stick with Me' by Jillibean Soup and I've had it since 2017. I cannot get over how cute the cactus is with googly eyes! I decided to draw an outline on the card blank and I am loving that as a detail.

I can't wait to see how you play with the theme. Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 11th.

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

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge - #192 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun tic-tac-toe board for you this time -

I went with the first vertical row - nautical-embossing-stars.

I love this set by Stampabilities 'Sail Away' all the stamps are SO cute. I have had it since Jan 2021 and it hasn't been used as much as I would have liked. I stamped and fussy cut it and coloured it using Copics.

I recently got this amazing dimensional stars embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp, so it was perfect for using here!

The sentiment is one of my faves, by Jillibean Soup from their 'Whale Done' set that I have had since 2018.

The whole card came together really easily and it's so cute!

Which row will you choose? I always find it fun when you use the same row as me, but the cards/makes are so unique to each of us and our supplies.  Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends October 7th

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

p.s If you are in Florida and under the hurricane alert like me, please be safe and follow all the guidance being issued.

Retro Rubber #184 - Far out...it's the 70's..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I love this theme, fun to use a different set of colours. I went with ALL of the colours in my blending. I used distress oxides and I think it came out pretty well.

I recently reorganised my stencils and I came across this fab one by Andy Skinner 'Hippy Chick' that I had forgotten about and I thought she would be perfect for a 70's theme.

Whilst I had the stencil still taped down, I stamped a bunch of fun sentiments and icons over my blending. These are by -

Jillibean Soup - Fabulous (owned since 2018)

Lawn Fawn - Heart Swatch (owned since 2017)

CraftSmart - Tiny Mixed Sentiments (owned since 2020)

As you can see one of my sentiments overhangs the stenciling, this was intentional and adds a fun detail I think. I made a bunch of these cards, they made me so happy and I tried different colour combos too. I really love how they look in the mini slim format.

How will you use the colours? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 17th.

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

Fusion Card Challenge - At The Movies..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'At The Movies' as a theme for you. As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I used the theme as the inspiration and the film strip / reels in the photo. 

I flexed a bit of creative license here as I only had a tv stamp and I thought, as you can watch movies on a tv that would work ;)

I tied it all together with the sentiment and the fabulous card blank that I have had forever - saved for just this moment.

I used -

Jillibean Soup So Fabulous stamp and die

Taylored Expressions Little Critters

Make sure you check out all the rest of the inspiration by the DT over at the Fusion challenge blog, and play along with your own creation! When playing along you may use the sketch OR the photo to inspire your makes. OR, if you are feeling adventurous, you can fuse them together (see what I did there!).

Can't wait to see your makes. 

Challenge ends on May 24th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #149 Merry Christmas...

Hey,

Welcome to the final Retro Rubber challenge of 2020.

And what a year it has been. I don't think any of us could have predicted a global pandemic that pretty much brought the world to its knees.

I hope that the weirdness of this year has made us all appreciate the little things in life - love, happiness, and family. The rest of it has felt like a nice to have, and I am very lucky to have a job that I have been able to keep doing from home.

As we are moving into the Christmas season, we have a photo inspiration for you this time.

I decided to focus on the colours and stars from the image.

I love stars, I have far too many star dies, stamp sets and stencils! The set I used here are by Clearly Besotted 'Super Star', which I have had since 2016. I added little stars from the Jillibean Soup 'Super Star' set that I have had since 2018. I stamped the stars using Concord & 9th Poppy ink - it is my new fave red ink!

I thought the Neat & Tangled 'Fa La Llama' set would work really well with my star scatter. I love this set, the Llama is so cute, I've had it since 2018.

I stamped, coloured, and die-cut my Llama before stamping my sentiment, as I wanted to see where he would sit first and work around him.

As this goes live, I have made and sent all of my Christmas cards, so this card will be added into my box for next year.

How will you be inspired by the photo? Can't wait to see what you come up with. Make sure that you pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends December 11th.

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.

We'll see you in 2021 for challenge 150!! All of the team will still be around in blogland, if you want to swing by and say hi or see what we are up to!

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #142 Lets get Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time.

You know how much I love a sketch!

I recently made a large background panel for chopping up, I used a Dina Wakely stencil and Picket Fence Studios Golden Rose paper glaze. I used a piece of it for my card, as you can see.

The sentiment is from a cute set by Jillibean Soup 'All My Happy', that I got in early 2019 when I was on a road trip. I love that a lot of the words come with a shadow effect die. I stamped parts of the sentiment onto white paper and trimmed them down to create little blocks to work with the sketch. The 'wishes' I heat embossed onto gold paper. 

It felt a bit flat and I decided to get a bit brave and pop some gold thread (I never do this technique) under the sentiments and it worked SO well.

I am so happy with this elegant card, a perfect addition to my stash.

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

Challenge ends September 4th.

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

Addicted to CAS: Friends..

Hey,

I saw the codeword for the current Addicted to CAS challenge and knew I had to play along..

I had the sentiment (Jillibean Soup 'Friends') that I used on my card out on my desk, so it felt like fate!

I decided to pull out a fun stamp by Stamping Bella 'Rosie and Bernie in Hawaii' as I thought it complimented the sentiment really well.

I stamped onto watercolour paper, so I could colour the stamp using distress inks and a paintbrush.

And even though the image is quite busy, I think that the whole thing has a really CAS feel because there is so much white space left on the card.

Even the busiest image can become a CAS piece if you handle the rest of the card right :)

Cx

CASology: Girl

Hey,

I hope you have had a fun weekend so far?

I have had a really nice time, hanging with Hubby, shopping and playing at my desk.

I wanted to play along with a challenge this weekend, so I had a look at a couple of my faves and picked out a few to play with.

First up is the CASology challenge - here is this week`s cue card -

I liked the idea of making a `Girl` focused card, I have a lot of girls in my life.

My card actually combines three stamp sets. The main girl stamp is by Unity Stamp Co `Today I am Happy`, I stamped it onto my watercolour cardstock and used distress inks to watercolour her, I added some sparkle with Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I built the sentiment using two stamp sets - I masked off part of the `Girl Boss` stamp, from the Sweet Stamp Shop `Girl Boss` set. The second part of the sentiment is from the Jillibean Soup `Friends` set.

I always default to blues or purples...

This little card will be winging it`s way to a good friend shortly.

Have a great Sunday, I am heading to the gym and then planting myself on the sofa for NFL Sunday!

Cx

CAS(E) this Sketch: Oceans of Fun...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you...

I am obviously super excitable this week, as it is my birthday on Friday and I LOVE birthdays, especially ones that fall on a Friday. I'm going to be 45 and to be honest I'm a bit in shock, where did the last like 20 years go?!

Anyway, last Friday night I had a little playdate with myself as I wanted to play with some of the NBUS I have recently acquired.

I am a big fan of CAS(E) This Sketch and this week's sketch is to die for..

So much possibility.

I decided to create blended masked stripes. I used Distress Oxides (from top to bottom - Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans). I love to mask off stripes, they are so easy and you get such a great look.

I chose the blue tones, because I wanted to use my new Jillibean Soup/Hampton Arts 'Whale Done' set. I have been wanting this set for ages and I finally saw it on sale at my fave Etsy shop. I LOVE the Jellyfish so pretty..can't wait to heat emboss him.

I stamped him over the stripes and added a sentiment from the set.

I think this is going to get used as a birthday card and I might even crank out a few more!!

Cx

Sketch Saturday #524.. Crafty Sentiments..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Crafty Sentiments and they are offering a prize of 3 digis from their store.

Here's the sketch...

I like the Fifi stamps by Crafty Sentiments, so I chose Fifi Bubbles for my card this time.

My card is a large 6x6 card - JT gave me these card blanks and I love them, they are great for cards like this with lots of background elements.

All my papers are ancient and from my 'purple paper drawer' no new papers harmed here. I coloured Fifi and cut out the white panel and the smaller purple squares using Simon Says Stamp stitched square rectangle dies.

I couldn't believe my luck when I searched my online stamp library (GEEEEEK alert) and found that I had this great relax sentiment stamp by Jillibean Soup..

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends Aug 3rd 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Fangtastic...

Hey,

I realised there has been a Monster shortage on my blog recently :)

So today's card remedies that!

I bought the great TV stamps and die set by Jillibean Soup when JT and I were in Cape Cod.

I stamped a Reverse Confetti and Clearly Besotted monster onto the white panel, so they were showing on the 'screen'.

The sentiments were a mix, the fang-tastic part came with the same Reverse Confetti set that the monster is from.

A super simple make that worked well for a Male friend..

Cx

Happy Valentine's Day...

Hey,

So Hubby and I don't really do Valentine's Day, I make him a card. He makes me a hideous card. The end.

But I love making Valentine's cards..so for the last few years I have been making 20 cards to send to my girl posse.

The main card is the one I made for Hubby. I could not resist the stamp set from Recollections at Michaels AND it was on super bargain sale and the silly pun made me LOL in the store.

I am super pleased with my Avocado colouring..not something I had ever thought I need to master, but I guess that is the joy of making things, new, weird things become necessary!

I stenciled some hearts onto a tag using Picked Raspberry distress ink, then I spritzed it with water to get the patchy effect you see, it looks better IRL. I added some foam tape to my die-cut Avocado's and voila! finished card.

I made two different batches of cards for the girls.

I am still cracking myself up about these cards. I had wanted the 'your boobs look awesome' stamp by Unity Stamp Co. for AGES and it finally went on sale..so it had to be done.

However when I sat down to make the idea I originally had, it didn't work as the stamp is actually quite large. So I went with my default creative solution..add a monster!

The Valentine's stickers are very old and are Pink Fresh Studio and they came in a SSS cardkit (let's not talk about me on my hands and knees under my desk, looking for the right kit in the dark at 10pm when I remembered about them..)

I made 14 of the ones above and the final 6 cards were my original Valentine's plan (before the boob stamp came into my life).

As this is the year for me to use my vast patterned paper stash, I went through it all and pulled out as many Valentinesy papers as I could find. I die-cut them with the awesome wonky stitched dies by Lil Inkers and then I put the offcuts in the recycling bin..NO MORE SCRAPS.

I stamped and die-cut the Cactus by Jillibean Soup and stamped the 'free hugs' sentiment that came with the set. I added the Valentine's stickers here too and there are still some left!!

A fun assortment of Valentine's cards for my people..

Always nice to share the love.

Cx

Hola! Cactus Friends..

Hola!

Welcome to the first day of May..given the way the weather is going, it feels like Summer is not far away.

I haven't seen a couple of friends in a while and I thought I would send them a cheery little Hola! card.

The backgrounds I created by smooshing 3 different green distress inks and then I die-cut them out using my new from London stitched, scalloped mini square dies.

The Cacti are by Jillibean soup and I coloured them with Zigs.

I love them, they are so cute and the mini kraft blanks work so well here (thanks JT).

Cx

Sketch Saturday #448...A Day for Daisies..

Hey,

This week's Sketch Saturday challenge is sponsored by A Day For Daisies who are offering a $12 gift certificate to their store.

Here is this week's sketch -

I fell in love with the Flowers in a Teacup digi stamp by ADFD when I saw it and I loved working with it, such a lovely stamp to colour (I used Promarkers).

This sketch instantly had me reaching for my Lil Inkers wonky dies and I die-cut the shape twice, once in the lilac and once in the blue. I trimmed the blue piece down to get that nice frame to match the sketch.

All the papers are by Recollections and I love these paper packs, they do ones that have all different shades of one colour and I can ONLY buy them when I have used all of the sheets..

I added a sentiment by Jilibean soup and a couple of Neat & Tangled sequins to complete my card.

I love it so much I don't want to give it away LOL.

Your turn to show us what you can make with the sketch but first go over to Sketch Saturday and be inspired by the rest of the DT makes.

Challenge ends 3rd February 7pm GMT / 5pm EST.

I love stripes...

Hey,

Happy Friday...

Hubby and I are off on our holibobs to Mexico tomorrow - YAY!!

So continuing on from Thursday's post I am showing you more of the cards I made using the Stampin' Up brushstrokes stamp, distress inks and a spritz of water.

I made tons of these backgrounds last week, I found it very therapeutic after a busy day at work!

I also have a big thing for stripes and this stamp was NOT cheap, but I had to have it...

I love the main photo today, so simple, but really impactful - I added a strip of red paper to my cardstock and then added the stripey background slightly over that.

I have a safety pin that has scraps of ribbon attached to it, hanging from my pinboard and I found the red ribbon there.

I stamped the sentiment after adding the ribbon, as I couldn't decide what it should say...

The 'It's your day' stamp jumped out at me and works really well here, it's from Birthday Bisque by Jillibean Soup.

Obviously I made another card using these fun backgrounds..

This one was super simple and the brushstrokes background was smaller - no trimming, I trim all the watercolour paper to size before I go crazy with the ink and the spritzing! So they look really natural.

I love these textured card blanks and I can ONLY buy them when they are on sale..

I die-cut the Ellen Hutson 'Treat Yo Self' in a contrasting blue and popped it out with foam tape.

Whenever I use this die, I stamp '..it's your birthday' inside..

I love making backgrounds, so much fun and super handy for when your mojo escapes you.

My posts will be scheduled for the next 10 days whilst I recharge my batteries with my boy, cocktails, good food and sunshine.

Cx

Just a nautical note..

Hey,

I fell in love with this week's sketch over at Retro Sketches -

I decided to stick with the nautical theme implied in the sketch and some of the DT makes.

I wanted to break out a new (on sale) stamp set by Clearly Besotted 'Best Dad II', it has 3 great sailboat stamps and a die.

I stamped it using Majestic Blue ink by Versafine and die-cut it out..it came out so perfectly, I had to stare at it for a little while..

I embossed some grey card using an Anchor folder and dug out two ancient pieces of pre-printed Pink Petticoat digital papers (stars and seashells) for my layers.

The large banner die is by Simon Says Stamp and is from the first ever stitched set I bought, I over use the stitched rectangle from the set :) I wrapped a piece of pale blue / lavender paper twine around the top.

For the sentiment I punched a scrap of the grey cardstock using the Washi Tape punch by Stampin' Up and added a Jillibean Soup sentiment..

I love how it all came together, the colours are so soothing.

I have to confess that I did spend about 25 minutes trying different papers from my pre-printed Pink Petticoat box..but it was totally worth it.

Cx