Retro Rubber #254 - Spring Flowers..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a spring flowers theme challenge, created by me.

As I am now a gardener I am all about spring flowers :)

I decided to use this awesome stamp by Spellbinders 'Fabulous Friend' I've had it since 2023 and it's one of my faves. I coloured the flowers to match the inspiration image because it feels like the colours I get in my garden.

A pretty simple card with a lot of very relaxing colouring.

I can't wait to see your interpretation of the theme, pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends May 16th.

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 #252 - Get your sketch on...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time.

You know how much I love a sketch!

I thought I would turn this one into a Christmas card! I love the Woodware 'Scratched Background' Stamp that I have had since 2023; it looks great when stamped in festive colours. Here I decided to use black ink, as I thought it would be a nice contrast for my green and red layering. The embossing folder is a giant one by Spellbinders 'Scattered Christmas' and this was its first use! I replaced the circle in the sketch with one of my fave Cardinal stickers and opted for no sentiment, since the background stamp is all Christmas words.

I might make a few more of these in different colours..

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

Challenge ends April 18th.

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 Blog Challenge - #197 - Merry Christmas - photo inspiration...

Hey,

Welcome to the last Retro Rubber challenge of 2022!

Where has the year gone?! I just got back from 17 days in London and it feels like boom Christmas is nearly here. 

I hope you have had fun playing along with us this year.

We have a Merry Christmas photo-inspired challenge for you this time.

I love mugs and cups in any form, so I was always going to be inspired by the mug in the photo.

I used a NBUS Unity Stamp Co stamp 'Warm Fall Hugs' that I got in September 2021! I think with the move last year it just got forgotten about! I decided to heat emboss it onto black watercolour paper, so I could use the amazing Iulie watercolours. If you have never used them, get a set on sale you will not regret it, the shimmer is amazing!

I then painted in all the details using the watercolours and then fussy cut it out. I wasn't sure what to do for a background and then I remembered the awesome Spellbinders wreath die that I had, it always elevates everything! I added a little bit of red bling and a tiny sentiment (die by MFT, sentiment by Clearly Besotted).

It is so pretty, it made me super happy when it was finished.

Here is a close-up, because I just loved all the little details.

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

Challenge ends December 16th and then we will be on our Christmas break returning in January with more fun challenges for you.

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 #162 - Sketch Time....

Hey,

Hope you had a great 4th of July Holiday if you celebrate it. Hubby and I had lots of fun, our last weekend together for a while, as I am heading to London to see our families!

It's time for another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time, created by me!

You know how much I love a sketch!

I have a weakness for Whale stamps and decided that I would use one for this card, the curve of the circle made me think of Whales!

I used a piece of paper that has a watercolour fade to it for my background. I printed out a piece of ancient Pink Petticoat digital paper - it is my fave fish paper, which I die-cut using an Ellen Hutson Snow scene die - which how I got the water like bubbles!

My Whale is one of my faves, by Spellbinders from their 'Sunshiny Day' set that I have had since 2019. The spotty paper is a scrap and I stamped the sentiment in two colours using stamps from the Recollections 'Whale Hello There' set (from 2018).

So happy with this fun card.

Show us your interpretation of the sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made -their use of the sketch has been nothing short of amazing!

Challenge ends July 16th.

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

Stamping over a background..

 

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Well, I don't know about you, but I am glad that the first week of work is over and passed easily, now I get to enjoy the weekend.

I got this great Spellbinders stamp from Jenn Shurkus' destash last year. But as you can see it is quite big! So I decided I would stamp over some fun backgrounds.

Creating the backgrounds is simple. I used a zigzag background stamp I have, inked it up using distress oxide's and spritzed it with water, I laid my watercolour paper down on the stamp and then dried it and repeated the process until all the ink was gone. You only need to ink the stamp once.

As you can see when you stamp over it, the zigzags show through, but the majority of that is hidden once you colour in the stamp. I kept the colouring simple and used Copics for the bigger areas and Sakura Gellyroll Starburst gel pens for the smaller areas to add a bit of sparkle.

I ended up with a bunch of fun cards.

Have a great weekend, I will be watching NFL wildcard weekend, trying not to be too sad about the end of the NFL season.

Cx

Fairytales..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend?

Hubby and I had a fun staycation here in NYC and a really nice relaxing weekend hanging out together.

Today I am sharing a card I made a couple of weeks ago for a colleague.

I loved the 'Midnight Shoe' stamp by Crafter's Companion the minute I saw it when I was in London last.

I love the fact that it's making me question Cinderella's story now LOL - I mean was she just tipsy and lost her shoe?!

Anyway, I stamped it onto white card and die-cut it using a Spellbinders nesting fancy shape die. I wanted to use one of these random neutral card-blanks that I have, so I coloured the shoe to match and added gold metallic pen dots to it for some shimmer.

Very happy with the end result and my colleague loved it too.

Cx

Floral Hi..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

So last year I really really tried to exercise restraint over Black Friday - but it was SOOO hard.

As I couldn't help myself, I am in a NO BUY zone for January, to extend into Feb (possibly).

This means I have to play with all the beautiful new shiny things I have..

Today I am showing you a card I made using the amazing Spellbinder 'Floral Hi' dies. I fell head over heels in love with it when I saw it on their site.

It's pretty simple as a set of dies, but whooo it's a lot of work to put together! But so worth it. I made x2 cards at the same time and die-cut all of the pieces first, mainly out of scraps, before I assembled both cards.

I added bling for the flower centers and added some dots of gold stickles around for a bit of interest.

I wish they made this die as a Thanks.

Cx

CAS on Friday...Thank You...

Hey,

I recently found the CAS on Friday challenge and my first entry made top 3 :)

The current challenge is a Tic-Tac-Toe and you know I love these...

I chose the first vertical row - Thank you / Circle / Pink.

I used a new fancy circle die - my Momma basically brought all the freebies from my craft magazine subscription with her and this was one of those.

I die-cut it in a plain pink cardstock. I die-cut the Thank You (by Spellbinders) using a scrap that came from the first ever 12x12 pad that JT owned, her sister bought it for her and she gave me a piece of this beautiful pink paper and this was the last piece of it (sob).

I added 2 tiny gems for a bit more interest.

I'm super happy with my super CAS card. Also there is not a single bit of stamping!! 

Cx

Sketch Saturday #508 - Kitty Bee Designs..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Kitty Bee and they are offering 1 digi stamp from their store.

Here's the sketch...

 

I loved the Flower For You Bunny stamp, I already had in mind that I would use a Spellbinders scalloped circle die for my main circle and thought this little cutie would fit in there perfectly.

At Crop on The Cape, there was a destashing table and I dropped off quite a lot of stuff there, but I also managed to find a few things that I wanted too. And among these things were a few sheets of the wonderful paper I used on my card today.

I love that it lists out lots of flowers and kind of negated the need for a sentiment, I can totally add one at a later date if I change my mind.

I went with a bright yellow strip for the border, to match the flower and my card blank. I used flowers (a gift from JT) and some gems to match the sketch.

Love this bright and cheery card.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends Friday 13th April, 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Stash Play: 4 Coverplates...

Hey,

I made a promise to myself this year that I would try and curb my craft spending (gulp) and dig through my stash more and really utilise what I have!

So you'll be seeing more 'stash play' posts from me.

Today I'm showing you the fun things I made using coverplate dies. I really like coverplate dies, but I didn't have a lot of them before 2017 black friday because they are SO expensive. I got some good deals on new and used coverplates.

I thought it would be fun to create distress oxide smooshed backgrounds to use with the coverplates and then I also decided I would add metallic spots over the backgrounds using my fave Penny Black 'Dots in Space' stamp. I use this stamp at least 3 times a week!! I am surprised it hasn't fallen apart.

I created two different coloured backgrounds, I thought it would be fun to have a mix of colours. Here are the backgrounds completed with their heat embossed metallic spots -

I then die-cut everything using the 4 chosen coverplates (clockwise from top left) -
Papertry Ink Harlequin and Mama Elephant 'Friend'
MFT Chevrons and Neat & Tangled 'Awesome'
MFT Peek-a-boo Polka Dots and Simon Says Stamp 'Heck Yeah'
Hero Arts Star Confetti and Spellbinders 'Hooray'

So that the cards would be versatile, I added a one word die-cut. Meaning later on I can add more text to them if I want, for different occasions - for example 'friend' could be 'happy birthday friend' or 'so glad you are my friend'. Its a technique I use a lot.

I love the end result, they are so pretty! And as a happy bi-product I got a little stack of glittery joy for use in shakers.

Close-up of the heat-embossed spots and the remnant shaker bits..

I had so much fun making these cards and they are a bit different and I got lots of fun leftover bits and bobs for use on other things.

I also thought that as these cards are pretty amazing and the stamped element is integral, I would enter the Craft Stamper January 'Take it or Make it' challenge, which is anything goes.

Cx

Bugaboo Birthday Bash: Day 4..

Hey,

Hope you saw the first Retro Rubber challenge of 2018 yesterday.

I'm back again playing along with Bugaboo Stamps 8th Birthday Bash. The theme is Birds, Butterflies and Birthday's for Day 4 the additional twist is a bingo board -

This bingo board was full of possibilities, but I went with the middle row - Cake/Cupcakes - Bugaboo Image - Bold Colours.

I chose the BugBdayBird2 stamp (a new addition to my collection..), I coloured it using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I die-cut the Avery Elle horizontal stripes cover plate in lime green and added a die-cut hot pink celebrate - I think that's bold enough!!

The 'It's Your Birthday' is by Simon Says Stamp and I wore out the original stamp I had and Cheiron kindly gave me her set.

Love the bright, fun end result.

I'll be back later with Day 5..

Cx

Sketch Saturday #468 Carrot Lover..

Hey,

Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Scrap n Dipity and they are offering a prize of 1 digi stamp from their store.

Here is the sketch.

I loved the I Love Carrots too image, I love Bunnies, but I am not a fan of Carrots!

I broke out my fave Hexagon dies for the central shape and because there is a Carrot involved I went with orange as my theme colour. The background was made with Distress Oxide inks.

The awesome sentiment is by Sweet Stamp Shop and is part of a bigger sentiment that I masked off. I added a little piece of blingy washi tape and a gem to finish off my card.

A very simple but fun card.

Your turn to show us what you make with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 22 June 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Little Cat Birthday...

Hey,

I had a very successful flea market yesterday - $38 not bad considering I was selling for 25cents or 50cents.

It was fun to have Lisette hanging with me and being the mistress of stall display! Where was she back in the day when I used to do craft fairs?!

Today I am playing along with The Paper Players, they have a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge one of my faves..

I opted for the diagonal left to right line - Circle, Die-cut and Flower.

First I stamped and coloured (with Zigs) one of the Cats from my new Mama Elephant, Little Cat Agenda stamp set. I love these teeny tiny little kitties.

I die-cut it using a stitched circle die by Simon Says Stamp.

I am hoping my flower 'interpretation' will count! I used a Spellbinders scalloped circle die and a SSS stitched circle die to create the petals of my flower - the Cat circle is the centre of the flower.

The sentiment is made up of a Technique Tuesday stamp and a Tim Holtz die-cut.

I think it will make a great birthday card for my Niece Florence.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #460...Relaxing...

Hey, 

So it's time for another great Sketch Saturday...

Our sponsor this week is Digital Stamp Boutique and they are offering a £10 gift certificate for their store.

Here is the sketch.

I really liked the Alyssa relaxing stamp and felt like a perfect fit for the sketch.

I decided to go with a muted lilac / purple colour palette and that informed all my paper / colouring choices. I embossed the deep purple background using a Sizzix spot folder, the floral strip is from my scrap box and by Pink Petticoat.

I printed Alyssa a couple of times in different sizes, as I wasn't sure which dies I wanted to use. I settled for ancient Spellbinders Labels 4 dies and die-cut the two panels.

My final touches were the fun sentiment by Hero Arts, some stickles and a blingy purple heart.

This has already left my desk and is on its way to a friend.

What will you do with the sketch? Check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 28 April 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Spotty Thank You...

Hey,

Last day of my Christmas break today..

Hubby is also off, so we are hanging out, playing video games ;)

I wanted to play with the HOTP acetate that you can heat emboss and it doesn't warp. So I decided to make a Thank You card for my parents.

I love how crisp the heat embossing came out. The 'Thank You' stamp is by Stampin' Up.

I created the background, by blending some distress inks and then I used a darker ink on my Penny Black 'Dots in Space' background stamp, spritzed it and laid the distressed panel onto it.

The die-cut is an ancient Spellbinders die, I love these dies and are always my default when I want an interesting shape.

The card is not a true shaker, I glued the bigger sewuins to the card base and added a few teeny tiny loose ones before adding my finished front panel using foam tape, so that the loose sequins don't fall out!

Simple, but elegant.

Cx

Weird Christmas..

Hey,

Hope you are having a fun weekend so far.

I had a hoot yesterday at class, it was so much fun, hanging with the girls. Lots of makes to be photographed and blogged about - later in the week.

Today I am showing you a card that I made using my favourite Unity Stamp Co. set.

It's called 'Carlee's Christmas' and I really only bought it because of the 'You're weird I like that' stamp!

I love the main image though and it makes a superb Christmas card for a special friend.

I coloured the image with Zig Clean Color brush pens and the die is by Spellbinders, I inked the edge to help it blend with the beautiful card blank (by American Crafts) a bit better.

The little bit of bling at the top is stunning in real life and was a birthday gift from a friend in New Zealand..love a long distance craft gift.

Cx

Oops...

Hey,

So today's card I made a couple of weeks ago..

I love this new-ish set Large Desert Bouquet by MFT..

I love the bold, bright combos you can create with the flowers.

I used primary colours here and it worked out pretty well, until I dropped the sentiment stamp..ugh, hence the big ugly die-cut covering it up and ruining my beautiful card..sigh

No matter, add some bling to the flower centres and it's good to go..

Only I will know that the shape shouldn't be there..well I guess you know now too :)

Cx

Dressing up...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

This week has been a fun week of challenge entries and so what better way to end the week than with another challenge entry :)

I really liked the theme over at Shopping Our Stash this week - It's always a bridesmaid - use a dress or dressform.

I have these amazing Spellbinders dress dies, that I overused and have sadly been neglected for a while, so it was a perfect excuse to bring them out of hiding.

I also have lots of scraps from a Lawn Fawn 'Let's Polka in the Meadow' paper pack that I thought would work well with the dress.

I layered the papers and the dress together and felt it was missing something, so I used a notepaper die from Clearly Besotted on a piece of grid scrap paper that was on my desk, suddenly it all worked together.

I secured everything with staples - big and small ones.

The sentiment is a SSS stamp and a die-cut birthday that was on my noticeboard (it's been there for MONTHS), so another great use of old stash elements..

I added a bit of bling to finish it off and now I am happy :)

A great card to add to my personal birthday card stash..

Cx

Mixing Aliens...

Hey,

Before I left for London, I needed to made a few cards for boy / male birthdays.

I wanted to make them very quickly, so decided to use a handful of simple elements..

I pulled out patterned card blanks, die-cut stitched square white panels, a stitched speech bubble die and two stamp sets - Alien Invasion by Gerda Steiner and Space Cadet by Paper Smooches.

I stamped and coloured one of the Alien's from the Paper Smooches set and then die-cut a speech bubble and stamped the sentiment from the Gerda Steiner set in white.

Super easy..very effective, 10 cards made. Boom!

I am most excited, as today is my 999th post..so you know what that means right :) Yes tomorrow is my 1,000th post - how did that happen!!

Have a great day and come join me tomorrow for 1,000th post fun and over emotional rambling.

Cx

It's a Girl....

Hey,

So I LOVE making new Baby cards.. no idea why, I just do!

So JT's bestie and her Husband had a baby Girl last week (congrats) and I have met them, so I wanted to send them a card, welcoming her to their family.

I recently bought a whole batch of the mini Lawn Fawn stamp and die sets, as they were a good price.

One of them was -

I thought it would make a great new Baby card, as the Elephants could represent the parents and the heart would appear between them and be the new Baby.

I dug out a piece of ancient DCWV sparkly Baby Girl paper - I think I've had it since 2011.. I die cut it and a coordinating pink piece using nesting Spellbinders label dies.

The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp, once I had placed the Elephants I didn't think the stamped heart would work, so I punched a pink heart, popped it up and added a bling to signify one new baby.

I love it, Baby cards make me happy.

Cx