Retro Rubber Challenge #116.. Tic Tac Toe..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a Tic Tac Toe board for you this time, created by our very own Jan

I love Tic Tac Toe, it always challenges my creativity.

This time as I have had SO many 40th birthday cards to make this year I thought I would use the challenge to make a masculine card for a friend.

I chose the top horizontal row - pattern paper, green, heat embossing.

First I heat embossed my sentiment - two parts from the same set 'Happy Day' by Concord & 9th - that I bought in early 2018 second-hand from a friend who had it since it's release in 2016. The green paper square is from a pad that I have had since I came to NYC on a trip in 2010!! I've been hoarding the pad as you can tell!

I then die-cut my 40 out of ancient green spotty paper from Michaels and after affixing the sentiment panel to my card, I popped the numbers up using foam tape.

Pretty easy fun 40th card for a male friend.

Which row will you choose? Can't wait to see your creations, don't forget to go over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 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

Catch The Bug GDT: Use Patriotic Colours..

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you!

I'm a teeny bit sad today, as last night was the last Craftgang craft class together for a while, as Ava is moving to Florida..

I'm still with the Catch The Bug team for their Saturday challenge. 

This week we have a fun theme - Use Your Countries Colours.

I am English, so I could do two things - use English colours of red and white or go with United Kingdom colours of red, white and blue. I chose the latter, as the blue gave me a bit more range with my colouring.

I decided to use a favourite stamp of mine - Teacup Flowers 1 - I have totally overused this stamp since I've had it.

I coloured the flowers in red, with blue and white centres, I used blue for the teacup and I went with a bit of creative license and coloured the leaves in a different shade of blue.

I die-cut the whole panel using a stitched square die and added a red and white spotty background paper to make my image pop.

The sentiment is a freebie and I stamped it with blue ink.

Hope you will be playing along too. Can't wait to see which image you choose to use.

Upload your makes at the Catch The Bug blog and check out the rest of the DT makes.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #88.. Anything Goes...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

It's time for everyone's fave  -

Watercolor Wings by Stampin' Up is a fave set of mine and when I first got it in 2015, it got totally overused..sadly it's been a bit neglected over the last 6 months or so.

I stamped the pink and black parts of the butterfly using ink and the white parts were heat embossed. Once I had finished heat embossing, I spritzed it with water, to get the pink 'bleed'.

I have this random dot stamp on my desk (I can't find the set its from...6months..) and I thought it would look fun here to add it here and there.

The sentiment is a freebie from a UK magazine that JT gave me last year. I am hoping for more 'free gifts' this week, as my Momma arrives on Thursday for a 2 week visit.

This is the best bit about Retro Rubber for me, giving an older, slightly neglected set a new lease of life.

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

Challenge ends June 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

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

Happy Anniversary times 3....

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

I have had a great first week in London. Today I am out on our annual company offsite, so I am looking forward to that.

Before I left I realised that I needed x3 anniversary cards, but seriously I was way too hungover after my birthday to be able to be mad creative. And I have to ask you to forgive me for the slightly dodgy photo, as I had to take it on my phone in London...the original one I took on Friday was ridiculously blurry!

So I plumped for the easy option.

I used Lawn Fawn spotty card blanks, a Simon Says Stamp die and stamps and adhered the die-cut piece to the card blank - instant anniversary cards x3.

Cheating is sometimes my best work!

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

Crazy Thankful...

Hey,

I saw the sketch for the current The Challenge over at Always Playing with Paper ..

and I knew it would be perfect for a eclectic thank you I wanted to make.

I had already coloured the crazy circle by Concord & 9th and the only thing left to do, was to colour the word crazy, add a word to the banner and fussy cut the whole thing out.

I chose to use a watercolour stripes (stamp by Stampin' Up) background that I had made a while back and to calm it all down a bit, I used a simple blue spotty paper from my stash.

Instead of banners, I used strips of mulitcolour bling.

I LOVE IT!! It's a bit weird and out there..

Cx

CASE A Card..Grid Scraps...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I am leaving for London later on today, so my posts will pretty much be scheduled for the next 10 days..

As you know I have been recently having a Pinterest CASE frenzy! Today is the latest one.

I saw this card -

Image courtesy of Snippets by Design

I really liked the grid idea and the idea that it could be made from scraps. Wasn't keen on the twine though, so left that off of my card.

As you can see from my card, this isn't a straight CASE. I used all spotty papers by Lawn Fawn, die-cut and heat embossed sentiments and added little pearls to my heart and star.

Not the easiest card, as I had to work out the grid, so I could cut the scraps to size, but it was a great way to use scraps and is so bright and spotty I love it.

I need to think about how to make it easier, so I can make tons of them :)

Have a great weekend, see you in London tomorrow.

Cx

Awesomesauce...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

Happy for me as I have Monday off, so I can hang with Ma before she heads to Philly and we hook up again next weekend..

Today I am playing along with this week's Shopping Our Stash challenge 'Say What?!'

I have had the Dachshund stamped (by Scraptastic Club) and sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to colour him and use him finally!!

Anyone that knows me knows that Awesomesauce is a most overused word in my world.. So I couldn't resist using it here - it's from a cute TAWS set that had not seen ink yet..

I mounted the Dachshund panel onto a spotted Lawn Fawn card blank and voila! completed card.

I am super pleased with it and the fact that I finally used what has been lurking on my desk.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cx

Online Card Classes - A Cut Above: Part 2 - Day One

Hey,

So a couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to doing Day One of my Online Card Class - A Cut Above: Part 2 Electronic Die Cutting.

It was a lot of fun and I learnt some new tricks and manged to use a few cut files that I've had for a while.

The first part of the class is about using background files (my main photo). 

I had this fun background that I bought ages ago, but found it a bit much every time I tried to use it. In the OCC I learnt that keeping everything else simple (including colours) helps.

I added a red Happy - cut with my Silhouette and some mini gold glitter letters for Birthday - keeping it all very simple, but effective.

The next part required you to use a cut file supplied with the class. It teaches you how to scale and how to get these fiddly beasts off of the cutting mat!

I decided to use a spotty background and heart button to bring my cut frame alive. I like it, simple but also effective.

Layering shapes is one of my crafting staples. So I loved this part of the class and got to use the layered butterflies that I have had forever and never used!!

I switched it up a bit here and cut 2 of the butterflies in fussy papers, adding a bit more drama to the layers. The button with it's gold ribbon knot was already on my desk - perfect! I added an embossed background, a sentiment sticker and some bling.

Fun class, I am looking forward to Day Two..when I find some time..

If you haven't taken an Online Card Class yet, you really should - they are fun, easy and the best bit is that they are ALWAYS there. So you can do them at your leisure, great idea and means I don't get stressed about trying to keep up with a live class.

Cx

Lawnscaping challenge...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I hope you are keeping warm - it is Snowmaggedon here in NYC..

I got to WFH yesterday, so it meant I finished on time and was home to make my card for Lawn Fawn's Lawnscaping Challenge Blog - this week it's Dots and or Stripes -

My Ma has been unwell and I thought it would be nice to make her a fun 'get well soon' card, but then I saw my Lawn Fawn Yeti, Set, Go stamp set and thought the sentiment 'need a hug?' would be much better.

I don't know why, but when I saw the stamp set, it make me think 'layers' - so layers we have!

I die cut a piece of white cardstock using a SSS stitched rectangle die and then I cut a circle aperture in the centre of it.

I traced lightly around the circle die, onto a scrap of card stock, so that I could position it correctly behind the aperture.

Then I used gelatos and an aquabrush to get the soft background, stamped and coloured the trees from the Yeti set onto the scrap paper, within the traced circle. A good quality eraser removes the lines.

To get the snowy hills that were in my mind (Topical?) I punched a circle and cut it in half, inking the edges using Versamark embossing ink and added silver glittery embossing powder before heating it up. It came out so twinkly!

The Yeti was stamped, coloured, fussy cut and hung from a piece of acetate, just over the snowy hills.

I put the front piece and the trees/hills together and mounted it onto a card blank using foam tape

For the final touches, I added some fun stripey washi tape in 2 corners with some bling and stamped the sentiment slightly over the tape.

I love him! Such a fun card and I think it will make my Ma smile.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hubby and I will be heading to our usual Friday night spot to drink frozen Margaritas (YUMS) and this week, we have a good friend in town from London who will be joining us.

Cx

NBUS Part 2....

Hey,

Hubby and I had a great night last night, a very good friend was in town. We had a really fun dinner with him and he will be at my birthday celebrations on Friday night - YAY!

So what am I sharing today? Well that wonderfully talented rockstar crafter and blogland queen Darnell hit 600 followers and promptly issued a NBUS (never before used schtuff) challenge.

I loved the first one and this one is just as fun. Pop on over and join in and grab a badge - I know you've got NBUS somewhere and if you haven't - meh call yourself a crafter?!

Anyway..alongside your NBUS there is also the option to add a few extra things in to the mix -

Christmas.
Make two cards using the same stamp.
Both of the above.
None of the above.

I liked all of it very much. So I did it all.

For Christmas I used a new freebie Christmas stamp from the UK 3) new freebie Merry Christmas embossing folder from the UK. The stamp was coloured with Promarkers and as an added bonus I embossed the sentiment (both times) onto a scrap of paper.

The NBUS is plentiful on this card - 1) new origami paper from JT 2) the free Christmas stamp 3) the new Christmas embossing folder. AMAZING hardly any US items..my purchasing needs to have a rest..

Here is the second card - using the same stamp -

NBUS no.2 in red

I used red paper instead of blue and changed the colour of the ribbons.

I really don't think I would have used these stamps - inspired by the challenge.

Cx

Its a handbag...

Yes, the loveliness you see in the main photo today is indeed a handbag - sorry about the photo, but the bag is so squishy!

So? I hear you ask..well it was made from scratch by my fair hands!!

It was supposed to be this -

But the faux leather that I started with was way too soft for this, so I modified the pattern a bit!

The tutorial came from Sew4Home and is part of their series in conjunction with Fabric.com, which is where I got my fabric from.

What did I use -
Outer - Bijoux Faux Leather Checks in black.
Lining / Pocket / False bottom - indoor/outdoor fabric in black and yellow polka dots.
Threads - by Wimsew - Lemon for the lining and pocket. Black everywhere else.

What did I change -
I added a strap
Turned one of the bag handle straps into a buttonhole holder (?!)
I didn't pinch in the top.

I love it, it's so me, I love how squashy it is and I've decided that the shape I have ended up with is much more practical for my uses and this is what I will be doing with the next one but I will be making it deeper.

Here are a couple more photos for you -

Inside my bag

Close-up - showing the gorgeous fabric

I have some stiffer faux leather in Metallic bronze (swoon), time for another pattern methinks!

I loved the tutorial, it was really easy to follow and taught me a new trick (how to accurately box corners). The tutorial also included a faux bottom for the inside of the bag. I usually ignore these, but this time I did it and I made mine using a piece of recycled plastic covered in fabric, which I can remove if I want the bag to be less rigid. I also got to try out the buttonhole function on my new machine...it rocks, as always!

I made this about 3 months ago..but haven't had the right light for taking the photos and now the weather has improved I can finally rock my bag :)

Cx

Merging the challenges...

Hey there, so before I head to Atlantic City, I thought I'd enter the Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches challenges this week.

I thought the colours would work really well with the sketch.

Given that am I deep into Valentine's right now (for OWH), the colours really felt like 'love' to me - hence my spin on it. I also thought it would be fun to not make something Christmassy, as that seems to be all I am doing right now :)

Ingredients are -
Regal Rose - card by Paper Cellar and punched heart using a Woodware punch
Black - punched heart using a Woodware punch
Riding Hood Red (& White) - spotty card stock, stamped sentiment by Craftwork Cards using Reddy Steady Go ink by Hobbycraft
Pear Pizzaz - border using Co're dinations cardstock

I think this card is fun...do you like how my sentiment matches the dotty paper! I did have another layout ready, but once I chose my stamp I had to make a new card :)

Wish me luck in Atlantic City..see you on Tues.

Cx

OWH Christmas Makes....

Hey,

As I have been a bit busy with the in-laws this weekend, I haven't made that many things, so thought I would show you some of my fave Christmas cards that I made for OWH.

I used a Bugaboo 12 days of Christmas stamp set, that I purchased using some Bugaboo winnings :)

I really love this set and had originally bought it to use for my own personal Christmas cards, but fast realised that it would be quite a lot of work to colour 40+

Using them for OWH meant that they went to a good home and as you can't have more than 20 'similar' cards in one batch meant that I could just make a set of 12 and be happy.

As you can see from my main photo they are really cute - 3 French Hens is my fave of all the stamps.

I used a 'recipe' for all the cards - a simple background paper (spots, stars, stripes or snowflakes), strip of paper to hold the punched sentiment and a foam star. I also tried to make the colours of each element compliment each other - so tonally they are all similar.

I love the way they turned out and hope the troops do too..

Here are a few more of them..

2 Turtle Doves

6 Geese a Laying

12 Drummers Drumming

5 Golden Rings

11 Pipers Piping

Remember OWH always needs card makers like us to donate cards to them - check out their website and give it a go, you don't have to make 100's of cards like me, 10 or 20 cards will be most welcome.

Have a great Tuesday, we are off to Tommy Lasagna with the in-laws...yums!

Cx

Moving Along With The Times...Jingle Bells!

Well not quite.. but the MAWTT challenge theme this week is Christmas Cuties..

The wonderful stamp on my card today is by Lawn Fawn and I bought it to make OWH cards - which have now been despatched (and I am working on VALENTINES!!)

I love this stamp, so easy to colour and the sentiment is really sweet.

I used Promarkers to colour the Owl, the background paper is by Michael's - I love spotty paper, the glittery die cut was made using a Spellbinders die and I finished off with a bit of bling!

Here is the OWH version - no glitter allowed no bling and the actual card is much smaller :)

OWH - Owl I want for Christmas is you

For those of you that don't know what OWH is, it is Operation Write Home..you make cards for US troops to send home to their loved ones..I used to do it when I lived in the UK, but I'm not allowed to now :( so I do it for the US troops instead..giving back is giving back right?

Hope you are going to join our little taste of Christmas this week and enter the challenge. Don't forget to have a nose at the fabulous team creations.

Good luck.

Cx

Squeezing in some crafty time..

Whilst my Ma and Amy are having a rest from their whirlwind tour of NYC..I have been at my desk making today's main photo!

It is my entry to the Avery Elle Challenge, this is the sketch -

It's a special challenge this month - the winner will be guest designer for October - whoopee!!

I love Avery Elle stamps and had just ordered some when I stumbled across their challenge blog..unfortunately my stamps have not arrived in time, so I used one of their free digital stamps (which is the sentiment topper).

This card has been in my mind all week and I am really pleased with the final outcome. I used the following
- Smash! Polka dot washi tape
- The reverse of a pocket pages (by MAMBI) journalling card for the grid background
- Orange cardstock from Michael's - which I embossed using a Cuttlebug giant dots folder
- Avery Elle 'Best Wishes' digital stamp

I like the flash of colour - loving orange right now!

Also this is my 99th post this year!! Hurrah, I have exceeded all my plans for posting this year and I have loved every minute of it.

Cx

Polka dots..

As you may have noticed I do love working with Polka dots, so when I saw the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week - CFC109 Polka Dots, I knew it was for me.

I made a few things - which I am going to show you, but the main photo is my entry.

I love the simplicity of this card and stamping on the die-cut butterfly (by xCut) was a massive adventure for me :) The spotty paper is by Pink Petticoat, comes in 38 colours and with different size dots!

I made 3 more cards that fit this CAS-ual Friday theme..

1 - This card was very thrifty, I have a Sizzix dog die and this is was remained after I cut out the dog..I trimmed very carefully around it so I got a thin shape. It's not full on polka dots, but I like it...the woof woof isn't great, but hey perfection isn't easy :)

Spotty Dog

2 - I love bunting and polka dots so.....

Polka dot bunting

I love this card...I was in two minds about whether or not this should be my entry for the challenge. the butterfly was supplied by JT in the first round of punch swap and fits the bunting perfectly. The addition of pearls helps the bunting feel more anchored.

3 - This final card was made with a topper that has been on my desk forever and actually travelled in my 'emergency' craft kit from the UK to NYC!! The birdie is by Lettering Delights and the background is by Pink Petticoat. I could never find a suitable use for it, but last night I remembered that I had the birdie stamp and voila! here we are.

A little birdie..

I'm quite pleased with these cards and they have already been allocated homes!

Stay cool - it's getting hotter!

Cx

Friday fun

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a fun filled Friday ahead of me..first a date with my goddaughter and later on this evening, a gin, curry, gossip sleepover with JT.

The main photo today is my entry for the Retro Sketches #51 challenge -

I really liked this sketch I thought it would be fun to play with. I slightly changed how I worked the backing paper, but still true to the sketch I think.

Ma will like the big blingy gem in the centre of the flower, she always wants bling...

It was such a simple and easy card to make, think I'll be reusing this sketch.

Only one error I feel - the Candi is not evenly spaced...jeez!

Have a great weekend, I may be back on Sunday, but we'll see..I'm feeling a bit lazy right now :)

Cx

Starting to get my romance on...

Well, not really :) but I have started making Valentine's Day cards for our website.

I'm not a big Valentine's Day fan, but I love working with hearts so...This year I thought I would try and create some more contemporary cards.

The main photo today is of one of 4 designs I have been playing with. This one is the most time consuming, as you have to hand glue the back of the die-cut Love Birds and it is muy tedious! But on the other hand it is is so simply beautiful, I want to send one to myself so I can frame it (weird or no?)

You can also see my 'drying rack' in this photo - it's a piece of string, hung between the shelves and I drape cards across it that need to dry. This bad boy also works with pegs and can hold 20 cards - sweet. I have 2 of them.

Anyway I digress..here are the other 3 designs, I made 2 of them a couple of weeks ago and I am still happy with them - I try and start 'seasonal' cards early, makes it less stressful.

The card below has a bit of a manly feel to it I think. The Union Jack stamp is from Paperchase and I've always been a bit confused as to where I should use it. Perfect use methinks.

Valentine's Day - Spots and Hearts

Valentine's Day - Lots of Hearts

The card above is a bit of a twist on the more traditional lots of red and hearts. I went for a lot of red, but offset by a fair amount of white. The felt glittery heart mounted on the scalloped heart helps to keep it contemporary, as does the lack of 'Happy Valentine's Day'. I think it's nice to leave the sentiment off when you know the recipient will know why they are receiving the card.

The final card below is a bit of a twist on the main photo - portrait and using a pair of scalloped hearts, with one embossed with spots. This card is really quite classy and once again I want to keep one..

Grey Scalloped Hearts

A red version

What do you think?

Cx