Retro Rubber Challenge #222 - Winter Theme..

Hey,

Happy New Year! And welcome to the first fun Retro Rubber challenge of 2024.

This time we have a fun winter theme for you.

I decided to use a set 'Snow Day' by Clearly Besotted, that I have not used that much until Christmas 2023. I made a bunch of Christmas cards with it, so it was front of mind.

I created the little scene by masking the house and hippos from the set and then I blended distress oxides to create the wintery background. I added some white gel pen to give it all a snowy feel.

I love how this came out.

Which wintery stamps will you use? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends January 26th.

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 - Kitty Butterfly...

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Kitty Butterfly' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

I decided to be brave and fuse them because I had a crazy idea in mind..

I used a pencil to recreate the sketch on my white panel and then I masked off all the individual areas and blended them using distress oxides. I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

I knew I was going to use this amazing stamp by Carabelle Studios x Birgit Koopsen 'Cat Angel' - isn't it gorgeous.

It came out exactly as I had imagined and I just added a simple Happy Birthday and it is now winging it's way to my boss in London.

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 August 17th

Cx

Fusion Card Challenge - Beach..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

We have a great Beach-themed image for you this time and of course an amazing sketch. You can fuse them together or just use the theme or the sketch.

Which will you try?

Oddly for me, I did not fuse my card, I was instead, inspired by the hat and the bag in the image.

I LOVE RongRong Devoe stamps, they are so fun. And I knew the minute I saw this image that I would be using a stamp from her 'Just Relax' set.

I stamped the lady first (isn't her dress fab?) and then I masked her off, so I could stamp the dots over the top (MFT Lots of Dots background). I then used Copics to colour her and added a sentiment from the set.

I love how it came out, the contrast of the green against the yellow is perfect!

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 July 6th.

Cx

Highlight Stamping...

 

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

Can you believe it will be March on Monday?!

I am sure it has been at least 2 weeks since you saw a Monster card from me LOL.

I love this set by Taylored Expressions - 'Little Monsters' and I saw this idea of repeating the stamp (by masking it) and only colouring one of the images, I believe it is known as a highlight stamping.

It came out so well and I'm super pleased with my masking here! I added a little strip of glitter paper and a sentiment from the set.

Hope you have a great weekend. I am playing at my desk and playdating with JT tomorrow.

Cx

Final Paper Smooches Challenge...

 

Hey,

So I am playing along with the final Paper Smooches challenge - 

One of my colleagues recently moved house and I made this card for her using the Paper Smooches Abode set.

I love the chair, it has so many possibilities and it is the reason I bought the set, during the closing sale.

I masked off the chair and stamped the shelf, so it is sitting behind the chair - love masking!

The whole card is super simple, I coloured it with Copics and added some Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst glitter pen touches here and there, most noticeably to the chair cushion.

So sad that it took me until PS were closing to find the challenge, how did I miss that all these years?!

Cx

4from1: Flora & Fauna

Hey,

It's been a bit crazy in my work world, so my posts have had to take a back seat.

But today I thought I would share 4 great cards that I made using a mix of Flora & Fauna 'Llama Garden' (now retired) and Taylored Expressions 'Whole Llama Love' - which is a sentiment set.

I started by creating the backgrounds for each card. Two of them I created a fun masked, blended circle, One is a full blended panel and the final one was blended around the edges and I stamped flowers and leaves for a bit of interest.

I used the flower/leaf edge technique on one of the circles too.

The backgrounds came out so well, it was then really easy to add the Llamas to them and the fun sentiments. I am really loving adding glittery accents to my cards using Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst pens - they are SO glittery and they work really well on blended areas, meaning you don't need to colour the whole stamp/image.

I often find it easier to start cards by creating a focal point or a background, then I can decide which stamps I want to use.

I also tend to make cards in fours, it means I get a lot of use out of a stamp set in one go. I have forced myself more and more to use all the little stamps in a set, not just the bigger ones that made me buy the set in the first place.

Cx

4 from 1: Paper Smooches Space Cadet..

Hey,

During my period without the Big Shot, I decided to play with a smaller format.

I think the US size is 4bar - it's one I use mainly for my Christmas cards - smaller surface area is handy when you are making a ton of cards.

I created my own mask (see my Saturday 9th May post about this) and blended distress oxides through the aperture. I used Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, Carved Pumpkin and Peacock Feathers.

I haven't pulled out my Paper Smooches 'Space Cadet' set in a while, but it is one of my all-time faves and I have had it a very long time.

I used the little Alien from the set and I added sentiments from Unity Stamp Co, Hero Arts, Concord & 9th and Ellen Hutson. The little dots are by Simon Says Stamp and are a flower centre - way to stretch my stamps!

So simple and a lot of fun!

Cx

4 from 1: Flora & Fauna Critter Valentine..

Hey,

So I have been a bit blog absent the past few weeks. BUT I am not going to get upset about it like I used to. I vowed in 2019 and beyond that my blog would go back to being a thing that made me happy and not a chore!

Now I post when I want and not based on the silly objectives I created for myself (sometimes it is hard being a project manager IRL).

Anyway today I am back with a fun set of x4 cards using the Flora & Fauna 'Critter Valentine' set.

I really wanted this set for a while and it was on sale, including the dies for a super bargain price at F&F, so I had to have it.

I have been planning on using it to create wedding and/or anniversary cards.

I think the first x4 came out really well.

The main photo shows the anniversary cards I made - LOVE the little critters in the VW-esque van.

I masked off a circle (I create my own masks using the card backing that comes with stamp sets and I cut them to A6 and then die-cut shapes out, so I can lay them over the paper I am using and I don't get ink where it shouldn't be) and then I stenciled hearts in the circle, using my fave Dutchdoobadoo heart stencil.

The rest of the card was pretty easy, stamp, colour and die-cut the van and x2 critters for each van.

The next x2 cards used backgrounds that I already had in my stash and when I made these I only had a die-cutter big enough to cut this mini size (my big shot died after x8 years). They are both made using different texture medium. The one on the left uses Nuvo Mousse in Indian Gold and the one on the right uses blue glitter paste (not sure where from, can't find it now).

I decided to make these ones 'Hello Friend' and I really like how backgrounds can just change the feel of a card.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Masking Flower Thanks...

Hey,

I am trying to use the lockdown period to post cards that have been sitting in my 'to be blogged' folder for a LONG time.

This card is 18months old!!

I love Helen Dardik and I was so excited when she released a stamp collection with Waffle Flower. I think I have most of it now..but I am always on the hunt for the missing pieces :)

This card was one of a series I made, using the Helen Dardik stamps and a mix of Simon Says Stamp and MFT flower stamps.

First I created a circle mask and stamped the main girl image (Enveloper Birthday), then I masked off the girl and stamped the sentiment. Cue much more masking so I could stamp all the flowers.

I coloured everything and them die-cut it as a circle.

It looks so pretty on the square card blank.

This is a time consuming but a fun technique that I use a lot to stretch my stamps.

Cx

Squares and Cupcakes..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a nice weekend and are continuing to social distance.

I bought a great set by Mama Elephant during the Black Friday sale 'Cupcake Wishes' - I love that all the bits of the cupcake come individually, so you can build the cupcakes any way you like.

I was also super excited that it came with number candles - how awesome is that!

I made x3 cards - using the amazing Taylored Expressions masking template. I bought the square one and it comes with x2 templates - one with x4 squares and one with x3 squares. They make masking and blending super easy. I love the ombre blending I was able to do on x2 of the cards.

One of the cards was for my friend's daughter who turned 2. Here is a close-up - 

How cute is this! And look at all that sparkle! The background sparkle is from a shimmer spray and the sparkle on the cupcake is from the Sakura Starburst gel pens.

Cx

Christmas Cards 2019: Translucent Paste Dots...

Hey,

Well it is almost Christmas, my cards left a long time ago and have been slowly landing with their new owners!

Today's cards are accidentally gorgeous!!

I had stamped and masked off the frame with the banner and added the stenciled dots. Then I coloured and fussy cut the cat and dog to sit in each frame.

I decided that it all looked a bit bland and flat...

Cue the translucent paste. I put the frame/banner mask back down and the stencil and applied the paste through the stencil. I was worried that I was going to smudge the dots, but it was fine and once the paste dried, the dots ended up with this amazing shine. Yay!

Now I feel like a genius, even though it was a random idea and I was crapping myself a bit as I did it, worried I might ruin my perfectly fine card because I was a brat!

Oh and the wonderful set is 'Seasons Greetings' by Lil Inker Designs and the stencil is by Clearly Besotted.

Cx

Christmas Cards 2019: Howly Holidays..

Hey,

So Christmas card making is in FULL swing in my house..

I really don't love making Christmas cards and I try and keep them simple, bar the initial ones to get my creative Christmas card mojo going!

Last weekend I spent oodles of time at my desk making Christmas cards.

First up is a fun card that I saw by Flora & Fauna, so I bought the set and had a little CASE.

Photo Credit: Ellen Hutson

It looked super easy and it was!

When I am making Christmas cards, I like to do as much of the prep as I can, before the fun colouring part. So I die-cut all the white panels and stamped the sled and the dog onto all x8 panels.

Then I created a mask for the doggie and added the dots and the sentiments to each panel. Here is a work in progress shot for you..

The Wendy Vecchi 'Stay-tion' makes things so easy...

One of the best bits about this card for me, was the fact that the spotty stamp is from a Simon Says Stamp ice-cream set from 2014 - love it when I get to stretch my stamps like that.

After the prep, I coloured them all in, added the little hand-drawn 'string' to join the sled and the dog and affixed them to my card blanks - easy peasy.

Love a easy peasy Christmas card..

Cx

Not quite Florida Playdate..

Hey,

As you know I didn't make it to Florida over Labor Day weekend.

But I did manage to host a not quite Florida playdate at my house on the Sunday.

This meant that we could use the kits we had pre-made.

Basically the plan was that each of us (x5 of us, including Ava in Florida) would kit x2 cards (or projects) for the others to make.

The photo above shows the x8 cards/projects we made on Sunday.

I'll walk you through them starting top left with my cards :)

I was the most efficient of the group and I had sent my kits to Florida already..so I had to make a couple of quick cards for the girls to make on Sunday! I decided to put my Pinterest board 'Look What I Made' to use. And it came up good, with x2 straightforward cards for the girls.

I used the Avery Elle 'Sea-Prise' set for my pufferfish card, the girls were horrified when they realised it was one candle that had to be stamped multiple times, so there were a lot of variations on this one.
The Unicorn card is by Pink Fresh Studio and uses all the stamps and dies from their 'Unicorn Dreams' set.

Moving clockwise to top right, these cards were Cheiron's kits. I loved her Toucan card - using Flora & Fauna stamps so much that I CASEd it (coming soon).
The floral card, used Altenew stamps and was fun to watercolour and we got to use Altenew markers, which are amazing and I do want!

Bottom right, kits by Tiff. She challenged us a bit, by getting us to make a fun envelope. Sadly I dropped the Panda stamp after stamping him, so I have a big black line across him, but hey as I always say, it's handmade, you gotta expect a little oopsie here and there. The envelope board was by We R Memory Keepers, stamps and stencils by Simon Says Stamp.
The Fox card used all the techniques and looks AMAZING!! Background stamp is by Simon Says Stamp, Fox and sentiment stamps by Rabbit Hole Designs. I love RHD stamps, the caffeinated range is hilarious.

Finally bottom left, kits by Lisette. The first card with the girl was fun, I have never ever stamped in a lighter ink and then coloured over it, very clever and way out of my comfort zone. The girl is by Picket Fence Studios, not sure who the dots are by. I love this card and the snarky stickers really worked well here. The Mermaid card uses the super cute Mama Elephant Mermaids and I loved adding the chunky glitter 'sea'.

The best bit about making all these things, were all the techniques we used - masking, heat embossing, watercolouring, blending, colour plucking. It was a masterclass in all the things that we have learnt over the years (mainly from our resident teacher Cheiron).

A fun playdate was had by all and we all left with gifts and 7 cards/1 envelope.
It wasn't quite Florida but it certainly made up for it.

Cx

Sticker Magic...

Hey,

So I lied..here is a bonus post for you whilst I am on vacay..

I really wanted to show these cards, but sadly my photo is a bit washed out.

I bought these great stickers by American Crafts on sale in February.

I love stickers, but sometimes I get a bit stuck with how to use them and I saw a great idea on Pinterest that used a masked and blended circle, sentiment and a sticker.

So I made a ton of these using my sticker pack, the x6 cards here are my fave from the batch.

By just using a coordinating colour, the blended circle brings the sticker to life! I added simple sentiments that I thought worked well with the stickers. I created the mask using a circle die and one of the card backs that come with stamp sets, I keep these for masking, because they cover your whole card and you don't accidentally get ink anywhere and you can create one for each colour and get a few uses out of them.

Fun and super easy peasy to do and a great way to use a random purchase!

The white panel was die-cut using a Tim Holtz and Sizzix deckle edge die, I LOVE these dies and I bought them on sale because I saw them and had to have them, they are going to be super handy for Christmas cards I think.

Cx

Happy Snail 40th...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

This week was pretty awful as a working week, but as a personal week it was a nice one.

About to get even nicer, as it is Memorial Day weekend here in the US, so no work on Monday WHOOP!!

And Hubby and I are going to an all day dance party tomorrow - double WHOOP.

Today I thought I'd share a card I made for a friend's 40th. A lot of my friends are turning 40 this year, so I am mixing up my ideas for what can be used as a 40th birthday card!!

I make this card over and over again in various forms. It started here as a CASE of a card by Marion Vagg - one of my all time craft crushes and now I blend a circle and add the cute little snail and the appropriate sentiment.

This time I used 'boy' colours as the card is for a male friend.

Super simple and a great use of the Avery Elle stamp that I just fell in love with years ago and had no plans for!

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Colourful Challenge Combo..

Hey,

I have been rather unwell this week - AGAIN!! This time it has been diagnosed as strep - ugh.

So to cheer myself up I thought I'd try and make a card for both the Global Design Project and CASology challenges, which I thought would go together really well.

I really liked the idea of combining these two colour challenges.

I decided I would use the Avery Elle Peacock stamp - it is a fave of mine, because I think it is super versatile. I stamped and coloured it using my Copics and a Promarker for the Grape :)

Then I die-cut it out and added a touch of Nuvo Aqua Shimmer.

I then created a heart mask - I create these by keeping all the inserts from stamp sets and then I die-cut shapes out of them, creating the mask. Means you have a lot of cover, so you don't get ink on the rest of the card. I used the mask hanging slightly off the edge of my white panel and blended distress oxide Fosilized Amber into the heart shape.

I die-cut the white panel using a stitched rectangle die and mounted it onto a white card blank.

The sentiment is by Market Street Stamps (no longer in business) and I stamped it in a coordinating grape coloured ink, added my colourful Peacock and voila! Finished card.

Love how the card combines both challenges so nicely and I do love a slightly unusual Anniversary card.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #109...Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have everyone's fave this time -

I ran my card by my fellow teamies, as I didn't want to offend anyone with my sentiment!

I masked off a circle and blended it to look like a 'rising red sun', then I stamped the sentiment from the 'Fierce' set by Amuse Studio, that I've had since 2017.

Then I printed and coloured the Ninja Chick stamp (by From The Heart Stamps 2014, sadly they are no longer in business), fussy cut her out and added foam tape to pop her up!

Love how she came out, fierce and fabulous!

Can't wait to see what you choose to use for this challenge, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends May 3rd.

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

Twofer Challenge time...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

This week has been crazy!!! Being very unwell last week left me with a backlog of work and personal things.. AND JT was here for a few days, so I really wanted to spend a decent amount of time with her.

I did manage to make a twofer card this week :)

I really wanted to play along with both of the current Less is More and Addicted to CAS challenges and I felt that they combined really well.

I love bird stamps and the most recent set I purchased Mod Birds by MFT is fast becoming a fave. I stamped all of the birds from the set in navy and yellow ink, fitting the LIM theme. I wasn't sure which of the birds I wanted to use and tried them all until I settled on the one you see.

I like masking off shapes so I can ink blend into them and so now I have a ton of ready to go masks - fun tip, I use the card inserts that come in stamp sets to create masks out of :).

I used Fossilised Amber Distress Oxide ink for my circle and added some stars by Studio Calico in navy around the edge of my circle.

The sentiment stamp is a magazine freebie and fit the overall theme perfectly I thought.

I'm pretty pleased with the ONE card I have managed to make this week.

I'm looking forward to some serious desk time this weekend.

Cx

Make some noise...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you.

In keeping with what has been a week of Monsters, I thought I'd share a couple of cards I made last weekend.

I bought the Mama Elephant Monster Jam set ages ago and got a bit annoyed that I hadn't bought the dies too, as the stamps are teeny tiny. I managed to get my hands on them at BF, so I am very happy.

I wanted to keep these cards simple, so I created a scalloped circle mask and blended some oxide inks in the circle and added some random spritzes of colour for interest (the purple one worked better).

The first line of the sentiment is from the set, the other part is my fave sentiment stamp ever by Simon Says Stamp, I use it SO much.

The white panels were die-cut with MFT wonky stitched rectangles and the card blanks are by Lawn Fawn.

Super simple, cute little cards.

Cx

Retro Rubber #98.. Photo Inspired..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Here in NYC the weather has taken a bit of a rapid turn towards Winter, which I don't love, but it does mean that I am able to break out the new Winter puffer..

This week we have a photo inspiration for you.

The minute I saw this challenge I knew that I would be digging out a neglected Newton's Nook set 'Wagon of Wishes' that I have had since 2015.

This set is so versatile, but doesn't come with dies..which often leads to neglect, as I hate fussy cutting.

When I was in London recently I was able to have a playdate with JT and we basically CASEd this idea that we had found on Pinterest. I love creating masks and this is SO easy. Just mask off the bottom of your card and blend the top. I decided to use a leaf stencil to add a bit of interest to my blended area and it adds another element from the photo.

I've pretty much been overusing this 'new' technique!!

Now it's your turn to show us what the photo inspired you to create, pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 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