Retro Rubber Challenge #266 - Luck o' the Irish!..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun theme for you this time..

I don't send St Patrick's Day cards, so my supplies for this theme are limited. But I have this awesome set by Lawn Fawn, and it sparked the idea for this card!

I found an already smooshed green panel in my desk crap pile and added the clover and star stamps from the Lawn Fawn set to it. I stamped, coloured and cut my Alligators from the Neat & Tangled set. Final step was to heat emboss the sentiment. I punched it using my fave label punch by Stampin' Up.

I love the end result, a super cute card for a friend and of course squeezing in a couple of 'gators made me very happy!

I used -

Lawn Fawn 'Lucky Charm' - 2015

Neat & Tangled 'Later Alligator' - 2019

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 6th.

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

p.s dates are when I purchased the stamp, not when it was released.

Retro Rubber Challenge #256 - Time to get sketchy...

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 decided to make my card a mini slim. I love Taylored Expressions cut-to-size Kraft card stock panels. I used one here and a Tim Holtz heart stencil with Festive Berries Distress Oxide ink. I splattered a bit of water over the stenciled hearts for a bit of interest. 

I knew when I saw the sketch that I would dig out the awesome Vertical Greetings set by Stampin' Up, which I've had since 2016. I cut my panel to fit the sketch and added the fun sentiment. 

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

Challenge ends June 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 5 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #255 - Colour challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fun colour challenge for you. 

These are my kind of colours!

When I was digging through my stash, I found the amazing piece of patterned paper that you see on my card, it's like the colour palette for the challenge was built using this!

I stamped the sentiment (by Stampin' Up 'Best Butterflies' I've had it since 2022) onto a piece of coordinating solid cardstock using Altenew Lagoon ink. I dug out an ancient set of Happy dies by WPlus9 - I've had them since 2014 and they were my most overused dies for a while. I cut the Happy from lime green to coordinate with the palette.

Simple, easy card. That I tucked in my bestie's luggage before she left on Sunday :) She has been here for 3 weeks and it was lovely to have her here for so long!

How will you use the colours? Be sure to pop over to Retro Rubber, and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 30th.

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 #230 Nautical Theme

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

I just got back from Lemon's 50th Birthday Cruise!! More to come on that in another post ;)

This time we have a nautical theme for you.

I chose the theme for this challenge, I love all things nautical and if my hubby would let me, I can guarantee our bedroom would look like the inspiration image!

I had all kinds of ideas, but ultimately, the navy and white stripes inspired me. Which meant I got to get out my fave set ever 'Brushstrokes' by Stampin' Up, I have had it since 2015 and it is used a lot. I also wanted to incorporate a nautical icon of some sort and the anchor is perfect. It is by Pink & Main from 'The Shore' card kit 2022.

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

Challenge ends May 17th.

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. And you can enter using Instagram, Facebook or Flickr, you don't have to have a blog!

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #186 - Sketch Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge. I hope you all had a fun 4th of July weekend if you are in the Americas, Hubby and I had a great weekend.

We have a sketch for you this time, you know how much I love a sketch!

I rotated the sketch and decided to use this gorgeous butterfly that was on my desk, it's by Clearly Besotted 'Elegant Butterflies' and I have had it since 2016.

I loved the colour I had stamped it in, so I chose papers that worked well with it and suited the sketch.

Here is a close-up, as the sentiment strip is foiled and is hard to photograph!

The floral paper is by Stampin' Up and everything else is a scrap, the sentiment strip is by Taylored Expressions. I love how pretty and delicate this card feels.

Show us your interpretation of the sketch. And don't forget to pop on over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 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

Fusion Card Challenge - Colour Palette - Blue Butterfly..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have a colour palette with the image and of course a fun sketch.

Which will you try?

Surprise! No sketch for me this time. I fell in love with the colours and the butterfly, so went with that.

I used my all-time fave butterfly stamp by Stampin' Up 'Watercolor Wings' - it is a layering stamp and I am not normally into these, but this one is so fun and you get great results.

I stamped all the layers with Distress Oxides and spritzed and dried each layer before adding another one, I love all the drippy goodness. I used Salvaged Patina, Mermaid Lagoon and Blueprint Sketch.

I finished it off with a splatter of black ink and a heat embossed sentiment strip by Taylored Expressions.

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 May 10.

Cx

CASology #397 Type - I Like Your Face

 

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend? Hubby and I had our first houseguest here in Tampa last week, which was a lot of fun.

I haven't played along with CASology in forever, but I saw so many cute typewriter cards that fit Fusion Card challenge AND my friend Jen's card made me laugh so hard I had to play along!

I mixed a bunch of sets to make this fun simple card.

The pink swoosh is a stamp from the Clearly Besotted 'Brush it Off' set and I used Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide. Heidi Swapp turned me on to stamping with Oxides and I am HOOKED.

The cute little typewriter and small sentiment below it, are from Lawn Fawn's 'Just My Type'  set. To add the fun sentiment, I masked off an ancient fave by Stampin' Up, so that I could have it stacked, it's actually in one straight line -

I loved this card so much I ended up making a bunch of them as a gift for a friend.

Hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving Week. We are lucky enough to be going to spend ours with a friend.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #163 - Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Hello from London and welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge. I was in quarantine for 10 days and that was nice to get so much time with my parents and now I am visiting other family and friends.

This time we have a great tic-tac-toe board created by our very own Jan.

I love tic-tac-toe boards, they are always a lot of fun and everyone interprets the prompts so differently!

I went with the top row - Masculine, Square, Something Mechanical.

I love the cog stamp by Papermania and I have had it since 2015, I have toyed with getting rid of it many times, but it's actually super handy! 

For this card I stamped it in grey ink and die-cut it using a square die, the wonderful blimp and sentiment are from a Stampin' Up set called 'Moving Forward' and I actually bought it second-hand last year.

I think I have ended up with a really nice monochrome masculine card.

Which row will you choose? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 30th.

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

Say yes to cake...

Hey,

Can you believe it is going to be Thanksgiving this week?!

2020 has whipped by!

I thought I'd share a couple of the things I made for the card drive that Ricky was doing.

When I was making the 100 cards for this drive I decided to properly play in my craft room, so that meant I used old faves or things that had only had 1 use.

I love the sentiment stamp I used here. It's by Stampin' Up and from their retired 'Amazing Life' set, I had to track it down :)

I paired with two different sets. The main photo actually uses a new to me Wendy Vecchi set 'Birthday Bash' it was a birthday gift and I love it. I coloured the cake with Copics and added nuvo drops in blue for a kind of 'royal' icing look. Royal icing was always my fave growing up, I loved it when my Momma made cakes using this technique.

The second card uses the Taylored Expressions 'Gus and Gertie' set - I love that Gertie is in a party hat here.

I loved how these came out, so I made doubles and kept them for my stash. 

The best thing about making for charity is being able to rediscover all of my stash, as there are not really hard and fast requirements, so you can make what you like.

If you are considering making cards for charity, Scrapbook.com run an all year round card drive called Cards for Kindness. I donate cards to them approx 3 times a year. I bet if you are a card maker you have a bunch of cards you've made for challenges, etc, donate them and share the joy.

Cx

Christmas Cards 2020: Scootin' by...

 

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Sorry I have been so AWOL!!

As I was recovering from the removal of my wisdom teeth and I was on vacation, I decided it was the perfect time to do the tedious Christmas card labeling.. UGH. 

This is an EPIC task, print the label for inside, print the address label, stamp the back of the card, stamp the envelopes with the return address, and airmail stamp. THEN finally write out the card and put it in the envelope, seal it, add the postage.

MEH.MEH.MEH.

As much as I LOVE sending my people Christmas cards, I take zero pleasure from making them and from the task of getting them ready to mail. Why do it I hear you ask? Because it is the season of goodwill and I'm a cardmaker. AND the number of lovely texts, emails, posts that the cards get is really nice, it's nice to send something small and make people happy.

Today's cards are some of the faves I made this year. The stamps are by Stampin' Up  - So Santa and I saw them on someone's Instagram and had to track them down! Does this happen to you too? Someone uses something older and I'm like WAIT WHAT!! I need that. LOL.

These cards were super simple, I stamped the Santa onto watercolour paper. I find if I want the cards to be quick, it's best to watercolour them. It meant I got to use some ancient Christmas papers (the spotty and striped ones), I have had them since I started cardmaking in 2008?! 

Now how about some irony?! This weekend, despite all my Christmas cards being finished I am doing the Jenn Shurkus Creative Retreat..where we are spending two days making x12 'holiday' cards. Yes I am nuts, but I love a Jenn Shurkus retreat.

Happy Weekend everyone.

Cx

Color Throwdown: Hey Girl!

Hey,

So my friend Jen shared her card for Color Throwdown and I loved the colours so decided to play along too!

It also seemed like the perfect time to have a play with the 'Daily Wear' set by Concord & 9th - I bought it in their big blowout sale earlier this year. It comes with all different things that you can put the girl above / in to. I chose to use the letterboard.

I stamped the letterboard and the girl. I coloured them both with Copics and then I heat embossed a sentiment from the set onto the letterboard. I love this WOW! Embossing powder in Primary Yellow, it is so bright.

I pulled out a fave sentiment by Unity Stamp Co from their 'Kinda Sorta Miss You' set and heat embossed that onto grey paper using the same powder.

I decided to go with offset layers and the yellow spotty paper is by Stampin' Up.

To add a bit of shimmer, I went around the edge of the letterboard using a Sakura gelly roll glitter gel pen.

I'm pretty pleased with how this card came out, not bad for an impulse make!

Cx

4from1: Scandinavian Prints..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I am not working this week - Hubby and I are doing an epic de-clutter.

For today's card I used the great Neat & Tangled 'Scandinavian Prints' set.

I used pretty much every stamp from the set to create these x4 fun backgrounds.

I used all different stamps and techniques for the sentiments. I love how the heat embossed pineapple came out - I love WOW! embossing powders.

Sometimes it's great to pull out a set like this and just make a bunch of backgrounds and if you don't add a sentiment they will be ready for when you need to make a quick card.

Cx

Squares and Cupcakes..

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a nice weekend and are continuing to social distance.

I bought a great set by Mama Elephant during the Black Friday sale 'Cupcake Wishes' - I love that all the bits of the cupcake come individually, so you can build the cupcakes any way you like.

I was also super excited that it came with number candles - how awesome is that!

I made x3 cards - using the amazing Taylored Expressions masking template. I bought the square one and it comes with x2 templates - one with x4 squares and one with x3 squares. They make masking and blending super easy. I love the ombre blending I was able to do on x2 of the cards.

One of the cards was for my friend's daughter who turned 2. Here is a close-up - 

How cute is this! And look at all that sparkle! The background sparkle is from a shimmer spray and the sparkle on the cupcake is from the Sakura Starburst gel pens.

Cx

CASology: Repeat Butterflies..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

So its been a while since I joined in over at CASology, with Christmas and everything getting in my way!

Seems like a great way to start 2020 by playing along.

I used the Stampin' Up 'Perpetual Calendar' set to make my desk calendar and it was still on my desk and I saw the butterfly stamp and thought it would work perfectly here.  I stamped it in a few different colours of Altenew Inks (which I LOVE) and I can't believe I haven't used the butterfly in this way before.

I added a few teeny tiny die-cut butterflies here and there for some added dimension, but you can't really see them that well in my photo.

Over the Christmas break (before I left for London) I organised my dies. I have a fair amount of stand alone dies and tbh I really had no idea of what I did or didn't have. Needless to say I stumbled across some forgotten faves, like the wonderful 'Love You' die by Simon Says Stamp that I used on my card. I die-cut it out of some pink self-adhesive foam.

Such a pretty girly card, so unusual for me to be this girly.

Have a great weekend, I will be on the couch watching NFL playoffs!

Cx

Perfectly CAS: Happy Birthday Bridge..

Hey,

Today I am playing along with a new challenge Perfectly CAS.

The idea of the challenge is to use one-third of your card, alongside the theme.

I love a CAS card and the idea of using just a third of the space on my card appeals to me.

I used this as an opportunity to pull out an older stamp set that I haven't used in a while 'Wherever You Go' by Stampin' Up - sadly no longer for sale.

I started by putting my stamp onto my white cardstock and marking where I wanted the blue panel to go.

The Wendy Vecchi 'Make Art Stay-tion' came into it's own when I was doing this, as I could hold my panel and the masks down firmly (I use post-it's for masking).

I blended x3 distress ink colours from left to right - Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans. The paler Tumbled Glass, kind of got absorbed by the Broken China..

I am so happy with how this came out, the blend is pretty much the ombre I had envisioned - how rare is that!

I stamped the bridge from the set over the blended panel and then added a simple Happy Birthday sentiment at a slight angle.

Then I just had to die-cut it using a stitched rectangle die and affix to my card blank.

Perfectly CAS = me perfectly happy.

More playing along with this challenge.

Cx

Alcohol Ink Techniques..

Hey,

A few weeks ago I did a fun Alcohol inks class taught by Cheiron and it really helped me to understand how to use them a bit better.

I made this little set of backgrounds and I played with the alcohol ink lift technique too.

They came out so well! So bright and varied - but heavy on the pink, as I love how bright that always is with these inks.

I made the four fun cards that you see in the main photo. The one bottom left is what you get after you do the alcohol ink technique and then stamp it off. It finally worked for me!

My supplies clockwise from top left -
30th Card - The Ink Road stamps, MFT Banner die, Misc number dies (gift from Cheiron)
HB Card - Tim Holtz stamps, Stampin' Up die
Thanks Card - Lawn Fawn scripty thanks die
Alpaca Card - Taylored Expressions stamps and dies, Hero Arts swirls background.

Jennifer Mcguire has a few cool videos on these techniques if you are interested.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #550 LeAnn's World...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is LeAnn's World and they are offering a prize of 2 digital stamps from their store.

Here's the sketch...

One of the DT chose the Thessa image that I used on my card.

I decided to rotate the sketch. I printed and coloured the image and die-cut it using a stitched oval die, to compliment the sketch. As Thessa is a Mermaid, I decided to use nautical papers - the starfish paper is digital and ancient from the now defunkt Pink Petticoat, the striped paper is a scrap from a beloved MFT 6x6 stack!

The sentiment is by Stampin' Up.

I added a teeny tiny blue pearl to anchor it all.

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 15th Feb 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

CASE: Kinda Eclectic..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!!

Hubby and I leave for London tonight, part work, part fun. It is my companies annual Christmas trip - they take all of us employees and our partners on a 3 day European vacation - I know, unbelievable right?!

This year we are going to Porto in Portugal and we are leaving a week today, but before that we are heading to London for a few days with our families and a few days of working out of our London offices.

Today's card I actually made for a friend, then decided that it was too fussy for her (she is the Queen of CAS).

It's actually a CASE of a card I saw on Pinterest and realised that I have that stamp set!

The stamp set is Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up and I think it is discontinued now.

I kept most of the card as a straight CASE, but used a different large Butterfly (Clearly Besotted) and sentiment (Scrapbook.com own brand).

It's actually in my hand luggage, as I think my Momma might like it for one of her friends / colleagues.

Have a great weekend, I'll be napping, eating, hanging with my folks, going to SoccerBall with Poppa and missing my craft desk.

Cx

PFS Floral Squares..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

I have been very under the weather this week, hence the lack of posts from me :(

As I am feeling a bit better, I thought I would show you a set of pretty cards I made for my Boss before I left for London.

I really really really wanted these amazing Pink Fresh Studio Floral Square dies -

I had this idea that they would look great die-cut out of smooshed scraps.

It worked out so well, they really pop, some colours worked better than others, I think vibrant scraps are best.

I kept the cards simple and just added a simple thanks sentiment by Stampin' Up.

I am thinking that I will try them with kraft paper next.

Have a great weekend, I will be at the gym, getting my oven repaired (finally) and watching NFL Sunday (GO HAWKS!!).

Cx

Sketch Saturday #530.. Big Wet Kisses...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you - Hubby and I will be having one last lunch with The Wife in Tampa and then heading home to NYC (boo), vacay has been a lot of fun.

 Welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is Sparkle and Sprinkle and they are offering $15 gift certificate to their store.

Here's the sketch...

I loved the Big Wet Kisses stamp, perfect for me right now, as Sept and Oct is anniversary heavy!

I printed the stamp twice and cut one out to use as a mask. Then I masked off the top of the card to match the sketch and stamped over both masks using one of my fave Stampin' Up stamps - Brushstrokes (no longer available). I used a mix of distress inks and some water on the stamp to get the patchy watery feel.

Then I die-cut the entire panel and added some sparkly blue tape and stamped the sentiment (a freebie from JT).

It turned out pretty well and is a nice addition to my anniversary pile.

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 Sept 14th 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx