Newton's Nook Summer Challenge - June Week 3 - Floaty Goat

 

Hi,

I have been trying to play along with the Newton's Nook challenge this year and have failed miserably!

I finally found some space to join the June challenge - yay!

I love the water and I knew I wanted my card to be water-focused. I had totally forgotten about the amazing Floaty Goat stamp and it was perfect for this challenge.

I added some smooshed ink for water and clouds using a cloud stencil. The little water splashes are also from the stamp set, but my sentiment is from a different set.

I love this card, can't wait to send it to my BFF.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #250 - Under The Sea + giveaway

 

Hey,

Welcome to the 250th Retro Rubber challenge.

I can't believe that we are at our 250th challenge!! I have been here since the beginning and I am so thankful to consider Jane who runs the team a friend, she is a legend.

We have a fun under the sea theme for you this time.

I believe that I saw a similar version of my card somewhere, but I can't find it now, so this might technically be a CASE.

I loved the idea of an unusual take on under the sea and this set by Newton' Nook 'Shrimp Cocktails' (I've had it since 2019) was perfect for this silly card!

I drew x2 lines to mark off my light source, then I masked and blended the blue and the yellow panels. I spritzed it with water to add a bit of a sea feel.

I found the perfect table stamp from an Avery Elle 'Feels Like Home' set that I have had since 2021.

I added the sentiment from the set and some bling as the finishing touches.

Honestly, I couldn't love it more!

As we are at the 250 mark how about a giveaway?! Enter the challenge and leave me a comment here or on Instagram and I will pick a winner for a little prize :) Sadly due to high postage costs, giveaway is only open to US residents.


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 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 Challenge Blog - #190 - Tag, you're it...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

Our long-time teamie LeAnne is stepping down, we really will miss her and her beautiful creations. Best wishes to you LeAnne, I am sure I'll see you around in blogland.

This time we have a 'use a tag' challenge.

I love tags, shop-bought, handmade, or any kind. I have a big bin full of them, so I was super excited to use one of my faves here.

I chose the tag first - it is from Michael's and has a great holographic effect, so when it catches the light, it feels a bit like the ocean to me! Hence my stamp choice 'Mermaid's Crossing' by Newton's Nook, I have had it since I took a class using it in 2016!

I never bought the dies, but this is where my awesome Brother Scan n Cut aka Big Sexy comes in handy!

The image below shows how I stamped and cut a bunch of things all at once. I even cut out the sentiments, just draw a pencil line around them and erase after.

I coloured my mermaid using copics, I am pretty pleased with her pink hair. After mounting the tag onto the card, I placed the mermaid and the sentiment and then added some of my all-time fave Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets.

I love it so much, that I am not sure I want to send it to anyone LOL.

How will you use a tag on your card? Make sure that you pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT has made.

Challenge ends September 9th.

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 - Colour Palette - Seagull Beach

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Colour Palette - Seagull Beach' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

I did not use the sketch, instead I was inspired by the image and the colours

I dug out an old fave by Newton's Nook 'Hey Gullfriend' and then created a background of clouds and sea using MFT cloud and wave stencils with distress ink. This sentiment always makes me laugh. I love punny cards.

SUCH an easy and fun make!

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 30th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #147 Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have everyone's fave - Anything Goes..

I wanted to make a card for a friend, when I was due to work on my card for this challenge and I knew instantly it had to be Gull Friend by Newton's Nook - it's just over a year old and I love it.

I used the MFT Make Waves stencil to create the 'ocean' using distress oxides - Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon. The 'sun' is a fave Clear Scraps Sunray stencil that I have had forever. Do you notice that the Seagulls seem to be nestled in the sea? Well, that is the GENIUS set of dies by Lawn Fawn 'Ocean Wave Accents' - they are a set of all little wave cuts, so you can slot things in and they look like they are in the sea - genius!

It came together so well and I just added the sentiment and a bit of Nuvo shimmer pen and all done!

What are you pulling out of the archives to create with? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 13th

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

TMS: Happy Purr-thday..

Hey,

Hope you are all having a good week.

I was fortunate to be a prize winner over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, during their anniversary bash.

So I thought it was only right that I play along with the current challenge -

This sketch is so fun!

I thought it paired well with my new Lawn Fawn Dandelion papers that were a gift from Lisette.

I love the Newton's Nook 'Newton's Birthday Balloons' set, so I stamped, coloured and die-cut the main image from the set. The sentiment is also from the set.

I am super happy with the die-cut circles - both of them are from The Works in London and I have recently 'rediscovered' the fancier circle and it's getting ALOT of use.

Super simple and pretty card.

Cx

CASology: Tea-Rex...

Hey,

I'm on a challenge roll this week, lots of time on my hands that I am putting to good use!

I haven't played along with a CASology challenge in a while, the current cue card made me smile and immediately think of the awesome Newton's Nook 'Tea-Rex' stamp set.

I CASEd one of the samples that Newtons Nook posted, by Tatiana, because I loved the layout, but I varied it by not adding a few of the elements, so it was more in keeping with the CAS nature of the challenge.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Tea-Rex. Then I stamped a row of the cute mugs from the Pink Fresh Studio 'Itty Bitty Elements' set (no longer for sale on the PFS site).

I added the sentiment, popped up Mr Rex and voila! Finished card. So wonderfully easy and very CAS.

Cx

Seize The Birthday: Narly..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend?

I had a great one, loved the Superbowl this year, but it's always bittersweet as it means the season is officially over.

Today I am playing along with the current Seize the Birthday, with topping!

I have TONS of creature stamps.. but I decided to use the super cute 'Winter Narwhal' by Lawn Fawn that a friend gave me late last year.

I just had this idea in my head for him and it came out exactly as I had imagined!

I stamped, coloured and fussy cut my Narwhal. Then I cut waves out of x2 kinds of blue scrap papers using the Newton's Nook 'Sea Borders' dies. The polaroid die is by MFT and I used it to die-cut the cloud paper to fit the window and for the frame, I used a piece of embossed white paper for the frame, to create a bit more interest.

I decided to pair the sentiment from the set with a little birthday die-cut.

I think it looks like my Narhwal is surfing and that makes me happy.

Cx

NND Inky Paws: Snow Day..

Hey,

Today I am playing along with the current Newton's Nook Inky Paws challenge..

It felt like it was meant to be as one of my fave Newton's Nook sets is 'Snow Day' (which I don't think it's available anymore) AND on Monday when I made my card it was snowing..

I started by stamping and colouring the cute bunny from the set. I then die-cut some slopes using Lawn Fawn stitched border dies. I die-cut a stitched rectangle from blue paper and then heat embossed snowflakes from the set onto the panel.

I LOVE how the heat embossing came out.

I assembled the whole thing and then stamped the sentiment also from the set and added that to my card. For a finishing touch I added some stickles to the slopes.

Fun card to make me feel a bit better about the odious weather..oh and the fact that I am off to Florida tomorrow ;)

Cx

NND InkyPaws - Ornamental Newton..

Hey,

Hope you are well and had a good weekend.

I am currently playing along with Kathy Rac's 30 days of colouring and Carabelle Studio's 30 days of ATStamps. Busy, but a lot of fun. I'll show you both of them at the end of November.

Today I wanted to join in the fun over at Newton's Nook. I really like their Inky Paws challenge and I was sad to hear recently that Newton had passed away. Always sad when we have to say goodbye to fur babies.

The current challenge is a colour one -

I love non-traditional Christmas colours and so I thought these colours would make a great holiday card and work really well with the lovely 'Ornamental Newton' stamp set.

I stamped snowflakes in green and teal (Snowflakes are by Simon Says Stamp) and die-cut the panel out.

I added a big teal piece of card to hold my sentiment and anchor Newton.

I love the bauble, so big and bright in the 2 shades of pink that I used. I hope it's ok that I coloured Newton in Grey?!

I added a few teal sequins here and there to finish off my card.

Cx

Duh-nuh...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I had a great weekend, hanging with Hubby, as I am semi-housebound due to the crutches and the boot!

I LOVE pun cards and I had this fun idea to make a pun card from every punny set I have for a friend.

I have been cracking myself up with some of these cards.

I am in love with today's card.

It's actually a CASE of Kelly-Marie from Lawn Fawn's card.

I thought it was so clever, the way she made the 'card' in a frame and it gave me an excuse to break out my We R Memory Keepers Frame Punch Board.

I started my version of the card, by creating the sea, using the MFT 'Make Waves' stencil - I am super pleased with my sea, it is perfection and I am so happy to have finally mastered this stencil (big shout out to Jen at Newtons Nook for her tutorial..).

I blended more blue ink to the top part of the sea panel and then heat embossed my clouds in. The clouds stamp is from the Clearly Besotted 'Trouble in a TuTu' set and I had never used the clouds until I made this card!

This version is no longer available

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Shark, Fish and Fin from the Lawn Fawn 'Duh-nuh' set and using the great Ocean Wave Accents dies, I added them to my frame.

Final touches were to stamp the sentiments, mount onto a card blank and add washi tape and a sequin.

LOVE this card, I'll be making it again.

Cx

NND Inky Paws - Fintastic..

Hey,

Welcome to September!

It was supposed to be a fun start to my birthday month, with a trip to Florida with my craftgang, but sadly due to Hurricane Dorian we had to cancel. I am sad that we had to cancel, but happy we are all safe and our friend in Florida did not get hit by the hurricane. And we did manage a playdate, I'll show you the makes from that later this week.

My thoughts go out to those that have been affected by Dorian.

On to nicer things..

I love Newton's Nook stamps, dies and stencils and weirdly, I have only recently discovered their challenge blog (Inky Paws)!

I love sketches, so the current challenge was a must enter for me -

I had a great idea the minute I saw the sketch, but Sue T on the DT had the same thought LOL. So I had to go back to the drawing board...

I pulled out 'Mermaid Crossing', which is a very overused and fave set by NND.  I used my newest NND purchase 'Sea Borders' dies to create the waves. The clouds were stenciled using a old fave stencil by Dutch Doobadoo.

I love how it came out and the best bit is that I can add it to my Pun card stash - I am making x1 pun card from each of my punny sets for a friend as a surprise.

Cx

Hello Baby Boy...

Hey,

I recently fell in love with the Loveable Laundry set by Newton's Nook, so I bought it whilst I was on vacay.

Then I got back to the news that a friend had her baby and it felt like kismet!

I stamped and watercoloured all of the fun onesies/babygrows using distress inks. I die-cut them out using the matching die, after I had coloured them.

I created a background for the onesies/babygrows using a Clearly Besotted stencil and Broken China Distress Oxide ink.

The sentiment uses a Technique Tuesday 'hello' die that I have had forever and the 'baby boy' is from the same set as the onesies/babygrows.

Cute, fun card to make, now it really needs to go in the post with the real-life onesies/babygrows that I bought him.

Cx

Newton's Nook Inky Paws: Summer..

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

Whilst I was on vacation Newton's Nook had an awesome new release - I may or may not have bought a lot of it :)

I thought that it would be fun to play along with their current Inky Paws challenge -

I used the great Newton's Melon stamp and die on my card. Did you know that Cat's actually LOVE Watermelon?! I know weird right.

I stamped a SSS sun all over a white panel and then die-cut a little window using Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped window die.

I then mounted the panel onto a bright yellow card blank and added the sentiment and Newton.

Fun card, love a bright Summer card.

Have a great weekend, I am getting back to the gym on Saturday and then attacking the laundry mountain (sigh).

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #114.. Christmas in July...

Happy July!

Here at Retro Rubber, we are starting off this month with a bang (because it’s July, after all)!

We are starting our challenge a day early so that we can team up with the Double Trouble Challenge!

Our theme is Christmas in July so all you have to do for our challenge is to make a Christmas card using at least one stamp older than a year.

Here’s the cool part: by teaming with Double Trouble, you get to play along with their challenge as well. All you need to do is follow their requirements which are super easy and fun!

• Thing 1 – Double Trouble: Make a square card, scrapbook page, gift box or use squares on your project.
• Thing 2 – Double Dare: Use a rubber or acrylic stamp older than one year. (Sweet – that’s us!)
• Thing 3 – Twisted Sister: If you create a beach scene with Santa you can earn an extra chance to be in Double Trouble’s random draw.

Be sure to visit their website – Double Trouble Challenge – to get all the details for their challenge to make sure that you are following their requirements as well!

So here we go! Double the fun! Double the Trouble!

For my card I decided to use an all time fave stamp set by Newton's Nook 'Sun Soaked Christmas', I love this set and I've had it since 2016 and it has been used every Christmas since. I did the x3 things as required and I made a square card, my set is older than a year AND I created a beachy scene.

I created my background for Santa by using an MFT stencil to create the waves and then added in some clouds using my fave Dutchdoobadoo cloud stencil. The little sun die is by MFT and a new addition to my stash.

The sentiment is from the same set as Santa.

Fun card AND my first Christmas card of 2019.

Pop over to Double Trouble and Retro Rubber and see what the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 12.

Cx

Dotty Whale CASE...

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I'm super excited today, as tonight Hubby and I are off to the Opera, which was my Christmas gift from Hubby..I will be finally hearing Placido Domingo sing..

I have become obsessed with Alex Syberia's method of dot colouring..

I have been practicing, but essentially my versions look crap LOL!

Then I saw a post of Alex's where she used a Whale for her dotty colouring and I love Whale stamps and have a few, so I thought I'd give it a go and FINALLY it all clicked.

Mine are by NO means as awesome as Alex's, but it's a start and I am super happy with the end results.

You really have to try it and even if you don't, do check out Alex's work.

I used a ton of supplies..
Whale stamp/die by Recollections
Birthday Fishes sentiment by Waffle Flower
Fintastic Sentiment by Newtons Nook
Mini fish shoal by Kaisercraft
Single fish by MFT
Clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh
Stencil by Andy Skinner

Cx

Happy Purr-thday...

Hey,

I am always seeing stamps that I really really want, but I normally wait until they are on sale or something. Because a) I want to not spend all the money I have on craft stuff and b) To gauge if I really want it.

I didn't do that with this beauty from Newton's Nook - 'Newton's Birthday Balloons' - I bought it and the matching die the minute I saw it LOL.

I had this idea in my head and it came out exactly as I wanted it to.

I stenciled the background using a fave cloud stencil by Dutchdoobadoo - they make the most amazing stencils.

I stamped, coloured and cut the stamp and before I mounted it onto the card, I stamped a sentiment from the set so I could figure out where to mount it.

I love the end result and used it as a birthday card for a kitty loving friend.

Cx

Happy Valentine's Day...

Hey,

I normally do a Valentine's Day card series, but this year because I have been sick and super busy at work, I just didn't find the time to get the posts ready.

Hubby and I are not into celebrating Valentine's Day, but I do love making the cards, so I send them to my girlfriends.

Every year I make Hubby a pun-tastic card, because he is not a fan of the punny cards, I always get an eye roll from him when I make them.

I bought the awesome Newton's Nook 'Pina Koala' stamp because I knew that Hubby would be all 'why?' hahahaha.

I printed out part of the sentiment, leaving a gap for the Pina Koala stamp. I stamped the cute Koala and then die-cut the whole panel using a Lil Inkers die. 

I mounted the white panel onto a Lawn Fawn cardblank.

Fun right?

Hubby and I are en-route to Tampa as this posts, 5 glorious days of sunshine and RR.

Cx

p.s I did make 10 VDay cards for my girls, but didn't photograph them..

Retro Rubber Challenge #104... Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a Tic Tac Toe board from Jan -

I went with the top row, Butterflies/Green/Textured Embossing.

First I used a diffuser plate to create the circle of embossing you can see on my card, the big spot folder is ancient and my fave ever embossing folder by Sizzix, then I stamped the sentiment (by Newton's Nook from 2017).

I dug through my stash and found x2 butterfly embellishments (top and bottom). The middle one, I die-cut myself from a ink smooshed piece of paper using a Clearly Besotted die from 2016, I had planned to stamp this butterfly, but it just didn't work!

I love all the different tones on my card - earthy but with that bright green to liven it up.

Which row will you choose? Be sure to stop over at Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 9th.

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 #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