Retro Rubber Challenge #187 - Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a tic-tac-toe board for you.

I went with the central vertical row - Birds-Green-Embossing.

I love this set by Vicki Boutin 'All the Good Things 2' it was a gift from my friend in 2018 because she saw it and knew I was looking for it :).

I stamped, cut, and coloured the bird using a minty green Copic and a green Sakura starburst glitter gel pen. I used MFT 'Bold Greenery' dies for the foliage and a spotty green paper. The background I stenciled with a stencil from The Range in the UK and Mowed Lawn distress oxides.

For my embossing, I used a very old Cuttlebug star embossing folder - hands up who has a Cuttlebug still? I die cut it using a stitched circle die from The Works in the UK.

The final touch is the sentiment strip from Taylored Expressions.

Such a sweet card, I am so happy with the outcome.

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

Challenge ends July 29th.

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

CASE: Floral Llama Car Birthday..

Hey,

So last weekend as it was a long weekend I decided to CASE a card I have had on my Pinterest board for a while.

I knew that it wouldn't be a quick make, so needed to save it for a time when I had oodles of desk playtime.

This is the card I CASEd - by Rejoicing Crafts.

I loved the colour combos and just the fun and unusual nature of the card.
Yoosun used all Flora & Fauna stamps to create her card, but I didn't have all of those, so I dug out some Neat & Tangled and MFT stamp sets to supplement the F&F that I did have. Also Yoosun stamped all her flowers and leaves first and then added the watercolour aspect and I did it the other way around.

Here are photos of the first two steps -

As you can see the watercoloured panels don't really look that great, then add flowers and leaves and wow! it really comes to life.

I used a F&F car die and die-cut x2 cards out of white watercolour paper and then watercoloured them in red and blue to coordinate with the backgrounds better. I stamped and die-cut the Llama's from F&F's 'Llama Garden' set and affixed them to the cars before I popped them up on foam tape and added them to my card.

The sentiment is also by F&F and from their 'Birthday' set.

I am so, so happy with these cards, they came out so well and it was fun to CASE a card using a mix of things I already have!

I get so hooked on the beautiful cards that design teams make to help sell products, I always want to rush out and buy the products, but this year I am trying to mimic what I see, using what I have.

It's working out really well and this makes it easier for me to not be tempted to open my wallet!

Cx

p.s Other stamp sets I used were - Neat & Tangled's Scandinavian Prints (no longer available), MFT's Pretty Posies (available here) and My Cute Stamps 'Spunky Nature'(no longer available)

CASology: Foliage..

Hey,

Happy Sunday! I am hanging out with the craftgang today, making stuff, gossiping, eating!

The CASology cue card spoke to my stash this week...

I have a lot of foliage stamps and dies..

I opted to use the Lace Leaf set by Concord & 9th, it's so beautiful. First you stamp the 'splatter' then the leaf over the top. I did this and then die-cut the leaf out.

I wanted to send a friend a nice card, as she is going through a rough time and I know she likes this stamp set.

The sending die is by MFT and I die-cut it out of a piece of paper that I had smooshed in distress ink. The rest of the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp from the Handwritten Floral Greetings set.

It was a really simple card to make and I'm pleased with it's quiet and gentle feel.

Cx

New leaf...

Hey,

I recently bought a great Simon Says Stamp leaf die in their sale.

But it is HUGE, so it was a bit daunting.

I thought it would be good to have a play with the die and see what happened, before trying to make something with it.

Below is what I started with - a Tim Holtz stencil, the leaf die-cut and two different green distress stains.

I placed the stencil over the die-cut and used the lighter green stain through the stencil first. I dried that and then used the darker green sparingly over it in random places.

This was the result - 

I was pretty happy with how it ended up and then I cut it in two and made two cards.

The main card uses a tag that I got as part of a prize and a Crazy Bird that I had coloured previously. JT gave me the set as part of our $20 challenge and the sentiment is part of the set. I think using the slightly bright bird makes the card less twee!

The next card was inspired by all the MFT flower stamps I had out on my desk. I used the Bold Blooms set here along with sentiments by Concord & 9th. The tag is from Paper Source and I bought a giant bag of them in their sale..to continue to feed my store bought tag addiction!

I ended up with two rather different cards, but I really like them both and think it was a great way to ease into the new die.

Cx

Leafy thanks...

Hey,

I just got a new set of mini stencils by Tim Holtz...

They are very cool.

I had a little play and love the results using the leaf stencil. I had fully intended to enter this CAS card into this week's Paper Player's challenge and then realised that I had read it wrong and it needed a 'fall treat' LOL.

No matter, still a lovely card.

Don't you just love that giant Simon Says Stamp thanks banner?

Cx

Retro Rubber #37..Get Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome challenge from the Retro Rubber team.

This week we have a fun sketch for you - 

Who doesn't love a sketch?

I had an idea and went rooting through my 'nature' stamps looking for the Fossil Leaves set by Inkadinkadoo - JT bought it for me 2 years ago and I love it.

I used a die-cut white panel as my base and die-cut an ancient piece of DCWV spotty border paper, so that the stitching matches... I did the same with the thin glittery border, which was a scrap of DCWV glitter paper.

I stamped one of the fossil leaves several times, closely together, so it looked a bit like a bunch of them and added some movement. I added some wink of stella to the leaves and close up it is super shimmery.

The sentiment is from a mixed sentiment set by Bo Bunny, it's one of my early NYC bargains (2014).

I felt it was missing something so I added the little brown pearl and now it works!

Your turn to show us what the sketch inspired you to make, but first go over to Retro Rubber and look at the creations by my talented teammates.

Don't forget to use a stamp a year or older on your creation and tell us about it, that's half the fun.

Challenge ends on May 6.

Cx

Retro Rubber #27 Colour Challenge..

Hey,

It is time for another awesome challenge over at Retro Rubber.

Colour challenge..just the thing to get you all inspired.

I like colour challenges and I tend to be a bit subtle about how I introduce the colours..

The whole focus of my card is a stamp that is a couple of years old and is by Lucy Cromwell for Papermania. It's so simple.

I die-cut my white panel using my fave MFT stitched rectangle dies and mounted it onto a textured American Crafts card. I used some new Lawn Fawn stitched leaves dies and die cut them in 2 sizes and colours. I added the little heart punch in the old olive..

For the final touch and colour I added a self-adhesive pearl..

I like the simplicity of it all..

Your turn now to show us what you can do with these fab colours - link up over at Retro Rubber whilst checking out the great creations from the ladies.

Don't forget to use a stamp a year or older and tell us about it. Challenge ends on Nov. 20th

Cx

Moving Along With The Times..Autumn Leaves...

Hey,

Time for another fab challenge with Moving Along With The Times and Team B.

This week we have a great challenge from Hazel - Autumn Leaves..

I had all kinds of great ideas and then one night whilst surfing Pinterest I came across a great wreath freebie digital stamp by Lee Hansen and it sparked an idea.

I decided to use a small 4x4 square card. I have this big block of paper 3x3 squares in all different colours from The Range (store in the UK that I miss). I embossed the square using a Sizzix Leaves folder.

The wreath I coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut it out. I added the sentiment on my computer before printing out the wreath. To finish it off, I added some glitter glue to the wreath.

I love this card - the oranges tone so well together!

Now it's your turn..but first go over to MAWTT and check out the wonderful Autumnal creations from Team B.

Cx

I heart Squirrels....

Hello,

Well that has been a busy old week! Fortunately Friday is here - whoop!

Since moving to NYC, we have developed a big love for Squirrels..here in StuyTown they are very tame and everyone feeds them nuts!

You might remember a few weeks back I submitted a card to the Northridge Publishing Cards blog and got a little prize. Well I saw the latest 'challenge / submission' request and I couldn't resist.

The challenge is to make a card using wood veneer..

Excellent, as I have just recently acquired some sheets of wood veneer paper.

I got busy and the main photo you see today is my finished card. The Squirrel I bought with my last prize from entering, I cut the leaves with my Silhouette and the sentiment sticker is by Recollections @ Michaels. The paper is by Pebbles and from their Lakeside stack.

I am SO pleased with my card - it's so fun, hence why I am posting it today, as it's a fun make for a Friday.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Simple Anniversary...

Hello,

Today, I am mainly sewing, but before I get on with my quilting projects I thought I'd post this card that came out of my late night session on Saturday.

I love the simplicity of the CAS(e) this Sketch #59 this week. I really liked the DT cards, I found them very inspiring.

As I don't have any feathers, I dug out my skeleton leaves and had a play, I came up with lots of ideas, but finally settled on the one you see as today's main photo.

I decided to add a little piece of paper (by Pink Petticoat), because my sentiment is so small the leaves looked a bit lost on their own. The pearl was necessary, as I needed to ensure the leaves don't fall off in transit, they are generally against staying stuck down!!

Aside from the slope of my sentiment (doh!) I am very pleased and hey who said it had to be perfect :)

Cx