Retro Rubber Challenge #210 - Sketch time!

Hey,

Happy 4th of July if you are in the USA!

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time.

You know how much I love a sketch!

I used coordinating papers to match the sketch and create a bright sunny background for my girl. All the papers are by Recollections at Michaels. I used a new to me Concord & 9th stitched cover plate die on the yellow paper for some interest.

My girl is one of my fave MFT Pure Innocence girls and this one is 'Heart Bouquet' and I have had her since 2017. I added a sentiment strip by Taylored Expressions.

I am really happy with the matchy-matchness of my card :)

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

Challenge ends July 14.

Remember 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 Blog Challenge #200 - Let's get Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to the 200th Retro Rubber challenge!!! 

Can you believe it! I have been on the DT since the beginning and I LOVE Jane our fearless leader and all my teamies - past and present. It is such a great way to use my huge stamp stash.

As it is our 200th post, if enter the challenge AND you comment on my post, I will pop your name in a hat, pick a winner and send you some random crafty stuff :)

This time we have a fun sketch for you this time.

You know I love a sketch!

I made this card when my OG craft buddy JT was in town last week, it was so much fun to craft with her.

I used a fave MFT background stamp 'Pineapples' that I have had since 2017, it is one of the most used things in my stash. I got the awesome MFT/Pure Innocence 'Pineapple of my eye' girl last year and this is her first outing, I feel like she is going to get a lot of use, as I love pineapples! I coloured her using my Altenew markers and added a couple of paper strips to match the sketch.

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 February 24th.

I'll be MIA until the 20th, as my Daddy is here in Tampa and we are going on a cruise later on this week - whoop!

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

Hello Sunshine...

Hey,

Well it certainly is sunny in London, which has been a pleasant surprise.

Today's cards I made a couple of weeks ago.

I really wanted to play with a new to me MFT Pure Innocence set 'Beach Cutie'. I stamped, coloured and die-cut the stamp - I only used x4 colours to colour with and I love how they came out.

I wanted to use the 'Hello, Sunshine' sentiment that came with the set, so I hunted around for a die that would compliment it and pulled out a great freebie die that came from my old die-cutting magazine subscription.

I used cardblanks that coordinated with the stamp colouring and got really OCD by choosing my top panel and embossing powders to also coordinate!

I love the end result - they are both so pretty and were super simple to make.

Cx

MFT Stamps: Colour Challenge - From me to you..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I had an awesome weekend. Starting with a great class with Cheiron at The Ink Pad on Friday night.
Then after the gym on Saturday, I got to have brunch with a good friend that was in town and a few other friends, then dinner with Hubby.

The clock change on Sunday threw us off a bit, so it was a bit of a slow morning, but then we had a great dinner with the same friends and it was a great way to round off the weekend.

I haven't played along with the MFT Colour Challenge in a while, but the colours this time were so me that I had to join in.

I created a smooshed background using distresss inks that matched the Tropical Teal and Sour Apple, then I die-cut it out using an MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Edge Frame die.

I used one of my newer Pure Innocence stamps 'Surprise' that I don't think is available any more.

I coloured the girl and the gift in colours to match the challenge, I love that giant teal bow!

Before I popped her up on my card, I stamped the two-part sentiment from the set.

I love playing with colour challenges, I get to be creative with how I used them and I always love a bit of ink smooshing :)

Cx

The Paper Players: Colour Challenge..

Hey,

One of the reasons I like challenges so much, is that they give me the opportunity to use my stash in ways I wouldn't have considered without a little prompt / inspiration.

The Paper Players challenge is one of my faves and this week does not disappoint -

I had an idea how to use the colours, forming in my mind.. and so that it would work with minimal effort, I tried something I have not done before.

I stamped the MFT + Pure Innocence Girl (now retired) onto two white panels. I coloured one using promarkers and spectrum noir sparkle pens. I applied Cracked Pistachio distress ink through my fave ancient (and most overused item in my craft room) The Crafters Workshop stencil.

I die-cut the coloured girl and popped her up using foam tape, covering over the girl that I had stenciled over. GENIUS..It meant that there was no masking needed and the dots are coming from behind the girl perfectly.

I know that I could have just stenciled the background, but I wanted the girl in a specific place, so that I could fit the sentiment on and not cut off too many of the stenciled dots, when I was die-cutting the panel to size.

I'll be doing this again!

I used a sentiment from the set, as this card is going to a friend to say thank you for an unexpected gift she sent me.

Cx

Freshly Made Sketches: Circle Smile..

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

I've been having a fun weekend, gym, hangs with Hubby, some retail therapy and plenty of desk action.

Just like Narelle, I love circles, so her sketch for Freshly Made Sketches this week was perfect for me to play with this weekend -

For the circle element of my card I used a great Simon Says Stamp die set 'Hexagon Pattern Circle' that was a gift from JT a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun for one of the circles to be a bit unusual.

As I was going to use the new to me (bought secondhand) MFT Little Shutterbug stamp I went with camera paper by American Crafts for my second circle.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and added some polka dots to her dress for a bit of fun.

I popped the girl up using foam tape and added the die-cut smile (MFT freebie) to finish my card.

I love how well the circles work and it came out less busy than expected!

Cx

MFT Pure Innocence Hula Hoop Girl...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

Still no work permit for me, but I am putting the enforced time off to good use.

We are entering week 2 of the current Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge and it's really got me enthused.

I got the great Pure Innocence stamp and die in the MFT Black Friday sale and I only inked it up a week or so ago!!

I coloured her with Zigs and a paintbrush (I prefer paintbrushes and a waterpot these days). I added some spots with a black marker to her trousers for a little bit of interest. I added some shimmer to her top and socks using Spectrum Noir sparkle pens. I coloured a bunch of these and put them back in their stamp storage pocket. I do this from time to time, so if I need an emergency card I have some pre-coloured / cut things. I often do it with new stamps, as I am so excited to colour them.

I thought she contrasted well with the beautiful piece of spotty background paper  - this is my year to try and use as much of my patterned paper as I can. It's going pretty well so far and I'm finding it fun to dig out some old faves.

A simple stamped strip of paper for the sentiment,finishes the card off nicely because this little lady doesn't need much.

Cx

Heart Bouquet...

Hey,

Happy Sunday!

Hubby and I are off to AC today, we have the day off tomorrow - wah hoo! Let the fun commence.

I needed to make a card for a DT colleague recently and she LOVES MFT Pure Innocence stamps.

So as I recently acquired Heart Bouquet second-hand (my new fave way to acquire older stamps) I thought it would be perfect for her.

It also gave me a chance to work on my colouring of 'brown' people - I am SO bad at this LOL..considering my own skin tone, you think I'd be better at it, but nope I suck.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and I think this was a pretty good skin tone effort, following some tips from the fabulous Pocono Pam.

I thought that one of the gelli plate backgrounds I had on my desk worked really well with this cutie, I added a piece of shimmer washi and stamped the sentiment to finish off the card.

Another easy peasy card that I think will make the recipient smile.

Cx