Retro Rubber Challenge #266 - Luck o' the Irish!..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun theme for you this time..

I don't send St Patrick's Day cards, so my supplies for this theme are limited. But I have this awesome set by Lawn Fawn, and it sparked the idea for this card!

I found an already smooshed green panel in my desk crap pile and added the clover and star stamps from the Lawn Fawn set to it. I stamped, coloured and cut my Alligators from the Neat & Tangled set. Final step was to heat emboss the sentiment. I punched it using my fave label punch by Stampin' Up.

I love the end result, a super cute card for a friend and of course squeezing in a couple of 'gators made me very happy!

I used -

Lawn Fawn 'Lucky Charm' - 2015

Neat & Tangled 'Later Alligator' - 2019

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

Challenge ends March 6th.

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

p.s dates are when I purchased the stamp, not when it was released.

Retro Rubber Challenge #257 - Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I was spoilt for choice with this board. In the end, I went with the diagonal row, top left to bottom right - Sequins, Shaker Card and Die Cut.

I had cut this shaker card idea about a year or so ago, and it was just languishing on my desk! To create this card, I cut x2 panels of the pretty floral paper and affixed one of them to my card blank. I die-cut a circle from the other panel and added some acetate and foam tape to make it into a shaker panel. The sequin mix in my shaker is very cute, it has teeny tiny little butterflies in it too.

The sentiment is from one of my all-time fave stamp sets by Neat and Tangled 'Awesome' I have had it since 2016.

I stamped the sentiment in navy ink as I thought it would fit better with the colours of the paper.

Fun card, I so rarely make shakers, which I might need to correct :)

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

Challenge ends June 27.

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 Challenge #243.. Colour Challenge

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

Hubby and I had a totally awesome anniversary week in Mexico, and I am thrilled to have returned to a new job!

This time we want you to use all the colours on your project.

I thought these colours would look really good smooshed together to create a background. So that is exactly what I did, I used Distress Oxides and it's so pretty. I added the sentiment by Neat & Tangled from their 'Awesome' set that I have had since 2016.

I can't wait to see how you use the colours, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 15th

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 #214 Let's Get Sketchy..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

If you are in the big bend area of Florida, like I am, please be safe and take care in the storm x

We have a sketch for you this time.

You know how much I love a sketch!

I decided to pull a couple of old faves from the archives for this card. The side panel is a Hero Arts background stamp 'Lines' that I have had since 2015! I used a scrap I found on my desk for the other part of the sketch LOL. The cute Monster is by Neat & Tangled 'Little Monster' and I have had it since 2018. I always love colouring the word, it always looks so fun. The rest of the sentiment came from a Avery Elle set 'Peek-a-boo Balloon' and that is from 2019. 

A great mix of older sets to create a fun card.

Now it's your turn! 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 8.

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.

I will be taking a short break to enjoy the multiple festivities around my 50th Birthday! But I will be back on October 10th.

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

Fusion Card Challenge: Thankful...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I loved both, but it's not a true fuse if you ask me! I was inspired to use some of the floral elements from the photo and the pretty wreath style at the bottom of the table runner.

The sketch was made for me I think, I LOVE circles.

I die-cut x3 circles out of white cardstock and I stamped the large one, using a Waffle Flower set and then the smaller ones are both using a Christine Adolph flower stamp. I coloured them all in tones of lilac and purple. I added gold glitter gel pen for the centres and a bit of gold bling here and there.

It makes me smile every time I see it, it's so simple and why haven't I mixed flower stamps before?!

I used -

Waffle Flower w/Big Bear and Bird - Bear and Bird

Christine Adolph - Cheerful Bloom

Neat & Tangled - Gold glitter enamel dots

Sakura GellyRoll - Starburst Glitter gel pen

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 November 23rd

Cx

4from1: Neat and Tangled.. Later Alligator..

Hey,

A few weeks ago I gave the craft room a much needed clean and went through the newer items and rediscovered this awesome set by Neat & Tangled that I had bought second-hand from Cheiron. It is now retired.

I was inspired to make a few cards and this wonderful card by Kay Miller inspired me to get CASing!

I stamped, coloured and die-cut all the elements from the set that I wanted to use. Then I created the x3 backgrounds by smooshing distress inks.

They all came out so well and my colours are actually as vivid as Kay's but they got a bit muted with late night photography! My fave is totally the main card - with his little bow-tie! Meaning that snappy has a double meaning - he's a 'gator and he's also snappily dressed ;)

It's always fun to play with a stamp set for the first time and I always try and make a few cards, so that it gets a full use!

Cx

4from1: Scandinavian Prints..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I am not working this week - Hubby and I are doing an epic de-clutter.

For today's card I used the great Neat & Tangled 'Scandinavian Prints' set.

I used pretty much every stamp from the set to create these x4 fun backgrounds.

I used all different stamps and techniques for the sentiments. I love how the heat embossed pineapple came out - I love WOW! embossing powders.

Sometimes it's great to pull out a set like this and just make a bunch of backgrounds and if you don't add a sentiment they will be ready for when you need to make a quick card.

Cx

Happy Mail, Happy Easter...

Hey,

Happy Easter / Good Friday to all of you!

It's gonna be a weird one this year right? How will 'remote' church work?!

I love making Easter cards and last year I acquired the awesome 'All The Bunnies' set by Neat & Tangled (now retired). It's just so cute! I love the idea of the Bear dressing as a Bunny, which reminds me of a Liz Climo cartoon.

So I dug it out again along with a few other things and cracked out a ton of Easter cards that are already dropping on doorsteps.

Here is a version that I paired with the Neat & Tangled 'Eggciting' set - also retired. I added a strip of grass using my fave Lawn Fawn grass die.

This final shot is of some variants I did of a challenge entry, using the great Hema bunny stickers.

I did actually make a few other kinds of Easter cards, but foolishly forgot to photograph them (eye roll).

The main thing is that they are arriving and making people smile. That's what happy mail is about..

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #131.. Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

I hope you are all safe and well. My company is WFH across the globe for at least another couple of weeks.

I do hope everyone is finding ways to keep sane, during this period of enforced isolation, in one sense it is very hard and odd, but in another it means we have to find other ways to be social. The RR team are going to have an online date next weekend, it is the first time in our history that we will have seen each other 'face to face' - how awesome is that. Trying to find a silver lining is very important right now.

This time we have a fun tic tac toe board for you.

These boards are always such fun, because you get such different interpretations of each line.

I chose the bottom row - Easter / Pastel Colours / Pattern Paper.

I decided that I wanted to use the cute bunny from the Unity Stamp Co 'Bunny Hugs' set (I've had it since 2016) and built my card around her! I stamped, coloured and fussy cut my bunny. I used all soft pastel colours to colour her - including a super pale lilac (BV0000) for her fur.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut some Easter eggs from the Neat & Tangled 'All the Bunnies' set (now retired) - one of my fave Easter sets from last year.

I wanted to layer up some papers to create the background, so I chose x3 papers from a random 6x6 pad that I have, the soft pink worked really well as a backdrop for my bunny and the little eggs.

The sentiment is also from the Neat & Tangled set.

Love how it all came together pretty much as I had envisioned and now I have another card for my little pile of Easter cards. I like to send Easter cards, I am not sure why maybe it's because I get to use all my bunny stamps!!

Can't wait to see which row you will choose, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 3.

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)

4 cards, 1 stamp set: Neat & Tangled..Fresh Blooms

Hey,

I have been going through some of the things I made and photographed last year and I realised that there is a lot of blog gold in there!

So I am going to try and post as much of it as I can, mixed in with some new makes.

Today's cards continue my 4from1 series.

If I pull out a stamp set to have a play, I like to make multiples!

I got the Neat & Tangled 'Fresh Blooms' set, secondhand from Cheiron and I had this idea, that I could create fun floral cards using the flower stamp from the set and watercoloured splotches.

Here is one of the cards in progress..

My fave new tool of 2019 is the Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion. If you don't have one, get one, they are no more than $20 and worth every penny.

I add a sheet of white paper to mine, so I can stamp off the edge and not ruin the Stay-tion. I love that I can hold a piece of paper or stencil firmly down whilst I work - genius!

Anyway, back to my cards.. I created x4 different backgrounds, die-cut them to size using a stitched rectangle die and added big bold sentiments, stamped on coordinating scraps of paper. The sentiments are by Market Street Stamps - they are sadly no longer in business.

Really easy to make cards and I love using different mediums to make cards a bit more interesting.

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

Inkspirational: Pop it Up!!

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a nice weekend, I had a great first one back in NYC for like 3 weeks!

I got to spend QT with Hubby and at my desk.

I saw the current Inkspirations challenge -

I thought my special Easter card that I made for a friend fit this challenge really well.

There are lot of elements popped up on my card :)

I started by die-cutting the spotty panel as a background for my card. I then added a kraft tag - which I popped up with foam tape. I added the amazing Bear / Bunny by Neat & Tangled (All the Bunnies).

Then I die-cut the flower/grass using a die I got from The Works whilst in London and I coloured it using promarkers and popped that up, over the Bear. I added two smaller bunnies from the Neat & Tangled set and I popped them up too!!

I stamped the sentiment onto plain and spotty paper and cut it up and placed it randomly around my Bear.

I am so very happy with how this card came out. It's so Springy and happy.

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: Reveal Wheel Fun..

Hey,

So earlier this year, we did a great class with Cheiron at The Inkpad using the Lawn Fawn reveal wheel and I loved it so much, I bought the stamps and the dies..

But shamefully, I just never used it.

Then Lisette bought me the Christmas reveal wheel sentiments and I realised that I should break out the set and make some cards.

I made both Cheiron and Lisette's birthday cards with it and it was SO easy that I decided to make cards for my Niece and Nephew.

The main photo today is of the card for Florence and the one below is for Otis.

For both cards I used the same idea for the front of the card, I stamped a Christmas related image and then masked it off and stenciled over it.

I added sentiments to the wheel and the front of the card from the Lawn Fawn sets - using a mix of both the regular and Christmas sets.

So easy to make and lots of interactive fun for the kids.

I'll be using this set more that is for sure!

Cx

Supplies -

Neat & Tangled - Beary Merry

Jane's Doodles - Mr & Mrs Claus

Tim Holtz - Tree Stencil

The Inkpad - Star Stencil

Distress Oxide Inks

Promarkers

Nuvo Drops 

Birthday melons...

Hey,

Today's card was made from random bits and bobs on my desk!

I love these Neat & Tangled 'Beach Day' stamps, but I actually don't own them, as I didn't think I would use them enough. Instead I borrow them from Jamey and Cheiron when I fancy a play :)

The cute little Hippo with her slice of melon I stamped forever ago at Jamey's and then I coloured it during the JUNE 30 days of colouring!! It has been on my desk since then.

I found the MFT birthday circle die-cut on my desk in white and coloured it in red to match the melon.

I added a circle scrap and a piece of MFT chevron paper to pull all the bits together into a card!

Love it when scraps and abandoned things become a card!

Cx

Monster Hugs from Me to You..

Hey,

So I am back in NYC now. I had a fun time in London, lots of work, but lots of hangs with some of my fave peeps and my family.

I didn't blog much whilst I was away and I'm learning to be ok with not posting every single day..it's an internal struggle, but I am getting there!

I made today's card before I left for London. I saw something on Instagram that sparked this idea and I am pretty pleased with the end result.

I love Monster stamps and having a stamp and die of the word Monster is just amazing!

I used the Neat & Tangled 'Little Monster' set for the large word, large Monster and the sentiment. The other Monsters and stars are by Clearly Besotted and Mama Elephant.

I felt pretty brave with the overhanging word!

As JT said when I showed it to her over the weekend, the stars really make the card and I only added them because I wasn't a 100% happy with it!

Goes to show a small stamp can add a lot.

Cx

CTD: Oh Hello Awesome Friend....

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you..

I had a great birthday party on Friday night..I am still recovering a bit to be honest ;)

Yesterday I spent some QT at my desk, as I am leaving for London on Friday I wanted to make the time count, even with a hangover.

I love this week's colours over at Color Throwdown -

I bought the Fashion Forward stamps by Dina Wakely whilst I was in Tampa earlier this month and I had this idea that meant I got to play with them.

I stamped one of the ladies from the set and then stamped over it, using a stamp from the Avery Elle 'Texture Tiles' set in teal ink.

I thought that it would be cool to add the other two colours in the sentiment. The awesome die is by Neat & Tangled and I always forget I have it..  The green part was a piece of scrap paper and the glittery silvery grey awesome was cut from glitter vinyl.

I decided to add a few more stamped parts to the sentiment and they are by Studio Katia.

I am really pleased with the end result, it's going to make a great birthday card.

Cx

Christmas Card 2018: Fa La La La Llama..

Hey,

Llama's are everywhere right now.

I loved the 2017 Fa La La La Llama by Neat and Tangled and Cheiron managed to get hold of it for me.

These cards are a bit fussier than my normal Christmas cards. When you have a list of approx. 120 people..bulk easy make is best.

But these were the first ones I made and so I stamped and coloured the Llama's and the presents, which was a lot of fun.

I die-cut them all out and added them to my stamped and stenciled backgrounds (Falling Flakes by Neat and Tangled and Spiral Dots by Dutchdoobadoo).

I stamped the sentiment in different positions, depending on the background.

Fun cards. Love it when a stamp I really wanted turns out to be awesome.

Cx

CAS(E) This Sketch 285: Have a Monster Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

Because of my epic night out on Friday yesterday was a bit of a nothing day!

Today I am back at my desk, but still a teeny bit slow.

I needed inspiration and went looking for a challenge and I liked the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch this week -

Nice and straightforward for my slow brain today.

I decided to break out a set of stitched rounded rectangle dies for the shapes - I don't use these as much as I used to, as I lost the most useful size of the die between my desk and the expedit and trust me that is WAY too much work to recover that..

I stamped the Monster from the Neat & Tangled 'Little Monster' set onto white card and die-cut it out. I decided I didn't want to hide him completely and so used vellum for the central panel.

I heat embossed half of the sentiment onto the vellum panel (by Snarky Stamps).

I love the giant 'monster' word stamp and die from the set - I totally overuse it..

I am super pleased at how my card came out and I LOL when I showed it to my Hubby he said 'obviously the first thing you make is a Monster card..'

My love of Monsters is renowned..

Cx