The World is full of Beautiful Things..

Hey,

You might have noticed that I have been posting a lot recently.

I had a bit of a mental health break from my blog this year and decided to not put so much pressure on myself!

Recently I have made so many fun things that it felt right to share them, that's really what my blog is about. For a couple of years I made myself post almost every day and that was so time-consuming and not as much fun as this is supposed to be!

I made today's card a long time ago... it has been sitting in my 'to be blogged' folder patiently waiting it's turn!

I love digital stamps, they were my go to when I first starting crafting and I was still nervous about physical stamps and inks. That has obviously changed, but I still love digi stamps.

A company I discovered this year is Graciellie Designs - I love their digital stamps and I believe they do physical rubber ones in conjuction with Unity Stamp Co. (who I also love).

I bought their 'Tea for the Soul' set on sale because I loved it and one of the sentiments 'When life gives you lemons make tea' - you can see it here.

I fussy cut the stamp out after colouring it with Copics and because I chose to make the fruits Limes, I went with a kind of green theme.

The mini cover-plate die (Scalloped Stripe) is by Reverse Confetti and it is an all-time fave of mine. I die-cut it out of green cardstock and mounted it onto my card blank.

I cut my cardblank down to a kind of 4bar size. The excess that I trimmed off I used to stamp and heat emboss my sentiment which is by Hero Arts and then I fussy cut that to size. I hate to waste a decent sized scrap!

I love how bright and cheerful this card is and it has long since left to make a friend smile.

Cx

Flora & Fauna: Mini Toucan...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

Today is a big day for Hubby and I, we are going to our Green Card interview - EEK!! So nervous and excited...

A while ago we did a class at The Inkpad with Cheiron and she used a bunch of Flora & Fauna products.

I loved the 'Mini Toucan' set and bought it, but I hadn't had a chance to use it.

Then when we did the not quite Florida playdate Cheiron made a card using it and I loved it, so I CASE'd it and added some Reverse Confetti sentiments.

Super simple, but very elegant, I love how pretty and bright the Toucan is and I wouldn't have thought to add white gel pen for feathers!

Always learning new stuff from Cheiron.

Cx

Little Red Wagon Challenge: Happy Bird-Day...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

As I am recovering from something nasty, I have spent some gentle QT at my desk this weekend. When I am feeling a bit delicate I like to turn to challenges.

One of my Retro Rubber teamies has been playing along with Little Red Wagon and so I thought I would look them up and I loved the current theme which is - Happy Bird-Day, use a bird somewhere on your birthday card.

EASY PEASY!! I love bird stamps.

I decided to go waaay back to a stamp that I neglect, but when I pull it out, I love using it so much that I make a bunch of cards (that happened this time too..).

The stamp set is 'The Flock' by Whipper Snapper Stamps. I stamped it onto watercolour paper and used distress inks to watercolour the birdies.

Then I die-cut the white panel and added the sentiment by Reverse Confetti from 'Toucan of Friendship'.

Super simple make, but so pretty, I love the rows and rows of brightly coloured birdies.

Cx

CAS(E) this sketch...Birthday Tweetings..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I have to say I am pretty glad this work week is over..it has been HARD!!

Now that the nerve in my neck is slowly getting back to normal (big thanks to Dr Fanto and my amazing trainer Wendell), I thought I'd play along with a challenge for the first time in ages.

CAS(E) This Sketch is a fave of mine and I love the versatility of this week's sketch -

I was really inspired by the sketch and decided to use my newest MFT set 'Mod Birds' alongside a super old doily stamp by Bo Bunny.

I love the Mod Birds set, the stamps are so pretty. He looks lovely mounted over the blue doily.

I added a simple sentiment by Reverse Confetti and a little bit of bling and BOOM! finished card.

Have a great weekend. I'll be doing some friend stuff, some gym stuff, some desk time, packing for Vegas and watching NFL with Hubby.

Cx

The Paper Players: Toucan of Friendship...

Hey,

Sad day today, as my Momma leaves after being here for 2 weeks. It has been SO much fun hanging out with her and I'm super sad to see her go.

Momma and I in Philadelphia

So I love bird stamps, so when I saw the challenge over at The Paper Players this week, I knew I had to enter!

I wanted to use the great 'Toucan of Friendship' set by Reverse Confetti. I stamped and coloured one of the Toucan's from the set using Zigs.

I was a bit indecisive about the background and then came across some tags that I had forgotten about (from Paper Source) and I thought it would make a great backdrop for the Toucan. So I cut off the 'tag' part as it is a super long tag!

I stamped my sentiment also from the set in the top right corner and added the Toucan using foam tape..

I love him, he's so cheerful and is going to accompany a gift for a friend.

Cx

Fangtastic...

Hey,

I realised there has been a Monster shortage on my blog recently :)

So today's card remedies that!

I bought the great TV stamps and die set by Jillibean Soup when JT and I were in Cape Cod.

I stamped a Reverse Confetti and Clearly Besotted monster onto the white panel, so they were showing on the 'screen'.

The sentiments were a mix, the fang-tastic part came with the same Reverse Confetti set that the monster is from.

A super simple make that worked well for a Male friend..

Cx

Happy Birthday Die..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I made today's cards right at the start of my 'enforced hiatus', but never got round to posting them.

I loved the Happy Birthday circle die by MFT, I thought it would be super versatile.

I cut a bunch of them in white, so that I could colour them anyway I wanted.

For the main card, I took a die-cut white panel (Stitched Wonky dies by MFT) and stamped just a section of the Unity Stamp Co. Star background stamp. I coloured the HB circle using Picked Raspberry distress ink and a paintbrush. I thought it would be fun to use the Reverse Confetti Alligator here and I think the end result is a fun card that would be suitable for any age.

With the next card I used the same technique for the HB circle, but with Broken China ink. I hadn't used the awesome Reverse Confetti scalloped die yet, so I thought it would work really well here and I added a MFT Hippo.

Both cards are a bit different but I think they both work for all genders / ages.

Have a great weekend, I will be finishing the baby quilt tomorrow for the baby shower on Sunday..why have I left it to the last minute!! Tonight is date night with Hubby..yummy prime rib, here I come!

Cx

Old Fart....

Hey,

So no doubt Hubby and I are a bit jaded after last night's festivities!!

I thought I'd share the quick card I made for a friend recently.

He happens to be only 7 months older than me, so making him a card that says old fart is pushing it a bit!

I kept it super simple, the background is a stamp by Prima Marketing, I love their background stamps.

The sentiment is by Unity Stamp Co and is part of the most hilarious sentiment set ever (Frankly Said).

The pretty die is by Reverse Confetti and I thought it was a soft touch to my cheeky card!

Cx

Less is More..Monsters..

Hey,

So whilst I was nosying through some blogs last weekend I came across a new to me challenge - Less is More.

Imagine my delight when I saw their cue card this week -

A MONSTER theme!!! Now we all know how much I love Monster stamps..

I decided to use my newest monsters by Reverse Confetti (Monsterous) and continue my masking theme.

The challenge is all about being CAS, but white space doesn't have to be white - right?

I die-cut a black panel of card and masked off my circle (using white ink). I stamped the sentiment into the masked off circle and coloured / die-cut my Monster and added him just above the sentiment.

This was a bit of an experiment, using black as the clean space and I really like the end result, as the brightly coloured Monster really pops here.

I will totally be playing along with this challenge again!

Cx

PaperArtsy Thank You..

Hey,

So my parents gave me a bit of money for my birthday.

I used it wisely -

I got a bit of PaperArtsy envy when I saw Cara's haul from the stamp show she went to...so I invested my bday money in some new PaperArtsy stamps, along with some goodies from Avery Elle and Reverse Confetti.

I decided to use some of my new stamps to make a Thank You card for my parents.

I combined two of the Zini's, I had seen a similar idea and liked it, it's also a great way to get more out of your stamps.

Here is a in progress shot -

I masked the 'Dog' Zini off and stamped the flower. Ages ago I did an online card class about Masking and it has been one of the most useful classes I have ever done.

I coloured the stamps using Distress Inks and a paintbrush, I added a Simon Says Stamp sentiment and decided not to add anything else and let the image be the hero.

I made 4 of these, some without a sentiment, so that I can use them for other things.

Cx

Let's get spooky...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

So it is really nice to be home and I managed to get to my desk a fair bit yesterday in amongst all the NFL watching..

I came home to this awesome stamp and die set by Reverse Confetti - they were part of my birthday gift from my parents.. obviously I chose the Monster set!

I don't actually get why Halloween is so big here in the US, but it gives me an excuse to a) own unnecessary Halloween stamps and b) send happy mail to my people.

I made a background using the Pumpkin lantern stamp and coloured it with Promarkers. I watercoloured the Monsters and die-cut them out and added some stickles here and there.

Simple and fun to make, so good to be back at my desk.

The tag die is by Simon Says Stamp and is out on my mini magnetic wall so that I can use it. I have been pulling out dies that don't get used and adding them to this little wall of mine, so that they get more use!

Here's a pic of the 'wall'

Basically just x3 magnetic panels affixed to my expedit, so that my most used dies can be out on display and easy to hand.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #67 Rainbow...

Hey,

Welcome to a new Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a Rainbow theme for you.

I was inspired by the inspiration image and decided to dig out my Lawn Fawn 'Thanks a Bushel' stamp set - I thought it would be fun to colour the apples in different colours.

I really wanted the sentiment to have 'unique' in it, cue 1hr hunt for perfect sentiment stamps.. The ones I used are by Hero Arts and are from the April 2017 card kit.

The white panel was die-cut using a Reverse Confetti lacy scallop die..adds a bit more detail to a very simple card.

So now you are wondering why there is a gumball machine on my card?! I realised too late that my stamp was not over a year old!! So same idea..but different image, that is from the Sweet Smiles Lawn Fawn set from 2015..

Got there in the end :)

Here is the original card -

Your turn to show us your rainbow makes, but first pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things that the rest of the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 28th. Don't forget to use a stamp over a year old (like I did..) and tell us the age of it, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

CASology: Fly..

Hey,

So a late post from me, I got back from Rochester yesterday and I felt the need to scratch my craft itch by playing along with the current cue card over at CASology..

I thought it would be fun to play with my Reverse Confetti 'Toucan of Friendship' set. Top fact, Toucan's DO fly, but only very short distances, so it counts!

I coloured the Toucan and the leaves using distress inks and an aquabrush. The panel was die-cut using an MFT stitched wonky die, the sentiment is from the set. I added a googly eye, I like googly eyes.

The card blank is new, as Paper Source are discontinuing certain colours in their stock, so I have been buying all these fun card blanks in different sizes.

It was fun to be at my desk, I think tonight is going to be a late one..

Cx

Craftgang March Playdate..

Hey,

I am a bit late posting these cards, especially as the Craftgang monthly meet-up is this Sunday!!

Jamey has a great craft studio space in Hoboken and once a month the Craftgang (there are several of us!) meet up to eat, gossip and make stuff.

It's also a great opportunity to play with everyone else's stash, especially Jamey's.

As I have mentioned before Jamey has the most awesome collection of background stamps and I always like to play with those when I am there.

I generally take NBUS with me, because then I get inspired by the gang and they can play with the new stuff that they might not have.

The main card today uses the Lawn Fawn Year Seven stamp and die-set. The background stamp is one of Jamey's and I stamped it and spritzed it to get a bit of movement. The small stitched rounded square die is also one of Jamey's - DO WANT.  I knew I wanted this card to go on one of my fave mini square craft blanks and so waited until I got home to assemble it.

The next card uses a great stamp set by Unity Stamp Co, it comes with several awesome sentiments. I think the bird is a lot of fun too and would probably make a great mixed media piece in my art journal. The background I stole from a stack of Oxide Distress Ink backgrounds that Jamey had previously made, it works perfectly here.

I am a bit obsessed with Reverse Confetti right now.. My friend Jen used the Later Alligator set recently and I had to have it!

I didn't buy the dies, so I fussy cut the Gator and the cake, both are coloured with Ava's Zigs, as I left mine at home! I used dies I found in Jamey's stash and some fun papers also from her stash. I added a few of the clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh (the Craftgang liked these..) to finish the card off. I like the crazy mix of patterns and colours.

Final card today sparked much laughter, as I decided to use the teeny tiniest letters that I could find in Jamey's stash..it was an exercise in patience applying them!

This was the first time I had used the snail by Avery Elle and it was before the die arrived. The background piece consists of a die and a stamp again from Jamey's stash.

I love the variety of cards I get when we have a playdate and I also love all the food we eat!

Cx

CASology: Text..

Hey,

Welcome to April.

I really liked the CASology cue card this week -

I love making cards using just text and I had so many ideas for this one.

I decided to make a super simple and clean birthday card.

First I die-cut the panel using a Reverse Confetti lacy scallop frame die.

Then I stamped the happy birthday in various sizes and colours (stamps are by Lawn Fawn and Technique Tuesday).

Final touch was adding some blue bling and mounting the whole panel onto a card blank.

A really CAS card that is lifted by the fancy die.

Cx

30 Days of Colouring March 2017...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Sadly it is the end of the latest 30 Days of Colouring..hosted by Kathy Rac and her blog - The Daily Marker. Kathy is awesome, she has mad colouring skills and I love that she unites a whole community with the simple art of colouring.

I LOVE these 30 day bursts of colouring, it helps my mojo a lot!

Today I am showing you some of my fave things that I have made with the colouring from the last 30 days. This is not all of it, some of it warranted individual posts, coming next month.

I find colouring a small image sparks a lot of creativity.

Newton's Nook Snow Day stamps, coloured on an actual snowday, background made using distress inks and water

Newton's Nook Cake stamps and Reverse Confetti dies

Avery Elle stamps, Oxide Ink background

Avery Elle Band Camp Kangaroo stamp, background by Neat & Tangled

I love the fact that the ideas for all of these cards came out of a simple piece of colouring.

The main photo is a digital stamp by Tiddly Inks and she is a Catshark - I LOVE these images, you get x3 in the set and I have been overusing them.

Most of these cards have already left for their new homes, I love it when a big batch of making gets used immediately.

Have a great weekend, I am off to Atlantic City with Hubby - YAY!!

Cx

Reverse Confetti..Playing with new goodies..

Hey,

I won the February Reverse Confetti sketch challenge, which meant I got a $20 voucher..obviously I spent more than that, but now I have all these lovely new things to play with.

Here is the March Sketch -

I decided to rotate it to the left, it worked better for my idea...

I bought the Bearing Gifts set because I loved the Bear in the car and thought it would make excellent birthday cards.

I had this crazy idea to create a scene and would you believe it, it worked!!

I really liked the current theme over at The Male Room -

I thought I could combine the RC sketch and The Male Room theme...I love how the DT have used wood.

I hunted and found a piece of wood effect background paper in my ridiculously large paper stash and die-cut out using a Simon Says Stamp stitched die and in the same paper stack I saw the blue piece of paper that worked as 'sky' in my opinion. I die-cut that piece using a smaller MFT stitched die.

Then I stamped the trees onto a green patterned paper and fussy cut them out. I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the Bear (I don't have the dies..yet).

I spent a while laying it all out before the glue came out...no room for mistakes here..I didn't fancy fussy cutting anymore!

I love the end result and feel like the Bear is driving through the woods to deliver gifts!!

Always fun to combine challenges.

Cx

Reverse Confetti..Toucan...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

My first week back at work has been good, but tiring.

Again my friend Jen is pointing me in the direction of fun challenges, this time in the form of Reverse Confetti..

I am reasonably new to Reverse Confetti products, I have seen them around and have had a few things in my wish list for a while, but I just got my first set - Toucan of Friendship, I feel this is the start of a happy purchasing spree...

I love this set so much, it makes me so happy because it is just crying out to be coloured in bright colours.

I die-cut a white panel using MFT wonky stitched dies, I found the pink panel in my circle die envelope and thought it was kismet, as it coordinated perfectly.

I coloured the Toucan, flower and leaves with Promarkers and once I mounted them onto the pink circle, I added glossy accents to the Toucan's beak.

It all felt a bit flat, so I went around the sides of the card with an ancient Bo Bunny stitches stamp, much better.

Have a great weekend, don't forget to come back and check out the latest Sketch Saturday sketch tomorrow.

Cx