Fab Friday: Happy Easter!

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you managed to stay sane, whilst on lockdown this weekend.

I was ridiculously prolific at my craft desk..

Including my card for the Fab Friday challenge.

I love a sketch and I was so happy at how my card came out, I made another one!

I stamped the Concord & 9th 'Confetti Turnabout' stamp, I am totally obsessed with their turnabout stamps (now that I understand how to use them!

I then die-cut it out using a square stitched die and I used a slightly bigger size to cut out the other square. I cut a coordinating panel using a stitched rectangle die and layered up my squares, adding a bit of gold glitter washi tape and a small sentiment banner, that I stamped onto.

The bunny sticker is hilarious and from a set from Hema that I believe JT gave me at least 2 years ago. It was so nice to use them and make these quirky cards.

Hubby thinks the bunnies look guilty about something! What do you think?

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #115 - Colour Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we want you to explore what you can do with a few colours...

Purple is one of my fave colours, so this little combo really worked for me.

I dug out a fave Lawn Fawn stamp set 'Year 7' - they release a birthday stamp set every year on their birthday and this one is from 2016.

I stamped the little candies all over my white panel and added some of the confetti stamp too. I coloured the candies using the purple, yellow, green colour combo.

Then I die-cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die and then again using a circle die to remove the central piece.

I coloured the pinata using the colours and put a piece of purple cardstock behind the die-cut circle so that the pinata would stand out. I used a piece of clear acetate to affix the pinata to my card and you can barely see it.

Final touches were to add Nuvo glitter drops to the confetti stamping and to add the sentiment, which I stamped onto scrap pieces of purple paper.

I love this layout I use it a lot for cards and it worked really well here, it was a lot of fun to dig out my neglected stamp set.

Show us how you use the colours and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends July 26th.

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

As You Like It: I'll be brief..

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

So.. I am back in the gym today after a 2-week pause because I broke my foot. I am more mobile now and off to craft class at The Inkpad NYC tonight..

To cheer myself up, I thought I'd play with some challenges and I came across the current As You Like It challenge.

The theme this time is to show a project using your fave stamp company and you have to explain why.

NOT easy at all. I love SO many companies LOL.

I love Lil Inker Designs - they are a small company and they make really great stamps, dies and papers.

I always fall in love with their new releases and Laura that owns Lil Inker is an absolute sweetheart - she tries really hard to help you if need something (aka me on a hunt for long retired dies..).

I chose to use the 'I'll be brief' set for this card as it always makes me smile and to be fair - who wouldn't smile at an Alligator in underpants!

I stamped one of the 'briefs' from the set to create a background and coloured them using Copic markers, I made a mistake with my choice of black ink, but it didn't smudge too much..

I added a little border strip to house the sentiment also from the sent and I stamped, coloured and die-cut the cute Alligator.

I love using this set, everyone I've ever sent one of these to always contacts me and asks me to make them a little batch.

That is one of the reasons I love Lil Inkers, the cards I make using their products are so well received and that always feels so nice.

Cx

p.s if you ever get a chance to get a Lil Inker grab box BUY ONE - they are such good VFM and check out their annual Black Friday blowout sale, it's ridiculous!

A cup of thanks...

Hey,

Happy Memorial Day to you!!

It is a holiday here in the US and in the UK - whoop!

Today I am sharing a couple of cards I made a few weeks ago using Studio Katia 'A Cup of Thanks' stamps and dies.

This is a pretty new stamp set for me, I have only coloured it before now, I hadn't actually made anything using it.

I needed to make x2 cards - birthday and thinking of you. And I thought the flower-filled cup would suit both needs and suited the people that they are going to.

The thinking of you card, I die-cut the white panel first and then added splashes of yellow watercolour paint to create a fun background that coordinated with the colours in the stamp.

For the happy birthday card, I went with a spotty background paper, a touch busy, but I think it really makes the cup pop.

Both cups were coloured with Copics and Nuvo Aqua flow shimmer pens.

This stamp set ended up being way more versatile than I had expected, I'm looking forward to making more with it.

Cx

Colourful Challenge Combo part two..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I will be glad to see the back of this week, having been so unwell..

I stumbled across another great challenge this week that involves colours, so I decided to play along and combine it with the current CASology challenge for a second entry.

AAA Cards do CAS challenges with a twist. This week this is what they have -

I love the idea of using just 1/3 of the card front to create a fun card.

I decided that I wanted to use repeat stamping to create a bold mini pattern. I used a coffee mug from the Pink Fresh Studio 'Itty Bitty Elements' set - a fave for creating backgrounds.

I coloured it in bright colours using Copics and added a simple sentiment by Waffle Flower from their 'Books and Coffee' set.

I die-cut the white panel using a stitched rectangle die and mounted it onto my card blank.

I love the simple feel of this, it will be great to accompany a gift card!

Cx

Colourful Challenge Combo..

Hey,

I have been rather unwell this week - AGAIN!! This time it has been diagnosed as strep - ugh.

So to cheer myself up I thought I'd try and make a card for both the Global Design Project and CASology challenges, which I thought would go together really well.

I really liked the idea of combining these two colour challenges.

I decided I would use the Avery Elle Peacock stamp - it is a fave of mine, because I think it is super versatile. I stamped and coloured it using my Copics and a Promarker for the Grape :)

Then I die-cut it out and added a touch of Nuvo Aqua Shimmer.

I then created a heart mask - I create these by keeping all the inserts from stamp sets and then I die-cut shapes out of them, creating the mask. Means you have a lot of cover, so you don't get ink on the rest of the card. I used the mask hanging slightly off the edge of my white panel and blended distress oxide Fosilized Amber into the heart shape.

I die-cut the white panel using a stitched rectangle die and mounted it onto a white card blank.

The sentiment is by Market Street Stamps (no longer in business) and I stamped it in a coordinating grape coloured ink, added my colourful Peacock and voila! Finished card.

Love how the card combines both challenges so nicely and I do love a slightly unusual Anniversary card.

Cx

The Paper Players: Friendship

Hey,

So today is my Friday, as I have tomorrow off!

To celebrate I made a card for the current The Paper Players Challenge -

I have been playing around with this card in my head all week, so it was really good to FINALLY make it.

I love the 'Fashionista - Party Girls' set by Unity Stamp Co. and I use it a lot to make cards for my friends, I've had it a long time, but it is a firm fave.

I kept the whole card super simple, just stamped the image, coloured it with my new Copics (my skin tones are improving thanks to Copics) and die-cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die.

The sentiment is one of two that comes in the set and I love it, it sums up how I feel about quite a few of my friends.

I stamped it onto vellum and affixed it to my card.

A fun make to ease me into the epic playtime I am about to have at my desk :)

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #110...Use Flowers...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a fave theme of mine, use flowers on your card -

I have SO many flower stamps, so it was a hard choice here..

I chose a great stamp by Unity Stamp Co. 'Wishing you Joy' I have had it since 2015 and it got a lot of use when I first got it, so it was great to dig it out and have a bit of a play with it.

I blended Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry and Worn Lipstick all around the bottom of my white panel, then I stamped the pretty Unity flowers with some only peeking in. I die-cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die and added the sentiment by Studio G that I have had since 2014 and it gets SO much use.

I love the unusual bottom panel I created, it works really well and I've left the flower stamp out, so I can play some more!

I bet you all have a ton of flower stamps, which ones will you choose for your projects? Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the flowery things the DT have 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.

Cx

The Paper Players: Birthday Wishes...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Yesterday I was having a little messenger chat with my friend Jen and she sent me a photo of the challenges she was planning on playing along with and I LOVED the sketch for this week's Paper Players.

Don't you love it when your friends inspire you?

I thought it would be fun to play with a piece of NBUS that I bought earlier this year on sale (Feather Wreath by Jen Long and Sizzix).

It seemed like the perfect fit for that circular shape, but in the end it was a bit too big. So I only used the sentiment and the small feather / heart shape.

But the feathers inspired by heat embossed black and white strip. The feathers I used for the strip are by Avery Elle from their Mardi Gras set.

To keep the circular shape of the sketch, I die-cut a small scalloped circle from vellum and used it to anchor the feather / heart shape.

I'm pretty pleased with the end result, it has made me want to heat emboss more feathers, they make such a great background.

Cx

CAS on Friday: Butterflies..

Hey,

With all the traveling and working! I haven't been playing along with too many challenges.

So this weekend has I had some time, I thought I would play along with one of my fave challenges - CAS on Friday.

The theme is Butterflies.

I think my card feels pretty CAS..but we'll see what the DT think ;)

I smooshed half of my paper in distress oxide's and water and dried it before using a large rectangle stitched die to die-cut it to size.

I used my new Lil Inker stitched butterfly dies and embossed the large butterfly and a trail into my panel. I die-cut a smaller butterfly from the same set using a coordinating scrap of paper and popped that up on my card.

I finished it off with a simple sentiment.

I am really happy with how it came out, I really like the embossed butterfly that overlaps the coloured and plain parts of my background.

Cx

As You See It: All Askew...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

I hope you are having a good weekend so far.

Hubby and I got to catch-up with a good friend yesterday that we haven't seen in forever, so that was nice.

I have been looking around for 'new to me' challenges and I realised that x3 of my Retro Rubber teamies are on the As You See It challenge. So I thought I'd give it a whirl. And it just so happens that the current challenge is right up my street!

I love a sketch and I really like placing elements on my cards at jaunty angles, so perfect.

I REALLY wanted to use one of the stamps from my new 'Sweet Deer' set by Sizzix and Jen Long and I think it worked out really well here.

The papers are both by American Crafts from 6x6 pads and I die-cut them to size using stitched rectangle dies.

Because the Antler stamp has a little space for a sentiment I decided to tie it into my little banner and stamped 'Yay!' onto it.

I added some Nuvo crystal drops here and there for a little bit of sparkle.

I love the funky mix of patterns and especially the florals.

Fun card for a fun challenge, I will totally be playing along again.

Cx

Whale Hello There!! ....

Hey,

I am a big fan of nautical / sea themed stamps and recently I have acquired quite a few new ones - some have been gifts :)

Lisette found a set that I have been looking for and gave it to me for Christmas :)

It's by Recollections and they made a few fun sets last year and I have most of them, but this one eluded me..

Last weekend, I decided it was time for a play..

I stamped, coloured and die-cut the whale from the set and I chose all the background papers from my stash.

I was a bit thrown by how to anchor my Whale and add the sentiment, I tried waves stencils and didn't love that. So I was looking through my dies and saw the stitched arch dies by MFT and in the die wallet was a yellow one all die-cut and ready to go and it worked, so I die-cut 3 more to coordinate with my backgrounds.

I did a variant on the sentiment and added 'birthday boy', as I thought the cards were quite masculine!

I love how they came out, they work really well as a set.

Cx

PFS Background Anniversary...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

As I said yesterday this week my blog will be taken over by Anniversary cards.

Today's card was made quite a while ago.

I created the background waaay back in June as part of the Daily Marker 30 days of colouring (which starts again on Thursday!). The stamps I used are by Pink Fresh Studio from the 'Itty Bitty Elements' set - I am a big fan of Pink Fresh Studio, their stuff is a little bit different.

Despite my multiple stamp platforms, I always use blocks when I am creating backgrounds like this.

It actually took a seriously long time to colour and I was a bit over it towards the end! So with that in mind, when I came to make a card using it I kept it simple.

I die-cut a stitched rectangle panel in a colour that coordinated with the birdie, because I knew I wanted a red sentiment. I used arrow sentiment dies by MFT for the sentiment and cut off the arrow tips, as they were too fussy here.

I love this card, so rich and a bit of a mix of traditional and modern.

Cx

CAS(E) This Sketch 285: Have a Monster Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Sunday.

Because of my epic night out on Friday yesterday was a bit of a nothing day!

Today I am back at my desk, but still a teeny bit slow.

I needed inspiration and went looking for a challenge and I liked the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch this week -

Nice and straightforward for my slow brain today.

I decided to break out a set of stitched rounded rectangle dies for the shapes - I don't use these as much as I used to, as I lost the most useful size of the die between my desk and the expedit and trust me that is WAY too much work to recover that..

I stamped the Monster from the Neat & Tangled 'Little Monster' set onto white card and die-cut it out. I decided I didn't want to hide him completely and so used vellum for the central panel.

I heat embossed half of the sentiment onto the vellum panel (by Snarky Stamps).

I love the giant 'monster' word stamp and die from the set - I totally overuse it..

I am super pleased at how my card came out and I LOL when I showed it to my Hubby he said 'obviously the first thing you make is a Monster card..'

My love of Monsters is renowned..

Cx

More piggies...

Hey,

So I am feeling a bit jaded today :)..one too many Planet Claire's last night..yes I was drinking something that has the same name as me..

On Saturday I got a big batch of booty from Ellen Hutson and MFT..

The Lovely Piggies set by Mama Elephant was in there and I stamped and coloured four of the Piggies, one I used for a challenge entry.

I made x3 mini cards with the other three Piggies.

I followed a little formula.. die-cut the Piggies using stitched squares or circles, use the new MFT chevron paper I bought as a background and add a simple sentiment.

I love how they came out, I might have to make a fourth one, so they are a set that I can give to someone.

Cx

MFT Creative Olympics 2018: Event 2 Freestyle

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!

Following on from my post yesterday I am here playing along with Event 2 of the MFT creative olympics.

The theme is -

Any card you like, as long as it has a Winter theme.

I chose to use Polar Bear Pals again, I love the bears, I am still waiting for the dies, so I cut them out using my Silhouette. I die-cut the MFT stitched scalloped rectangle frame die using a piece of smooshed distress ink paper..I have a lot of these ready to go.

To add even more of a wintery feel, I stamped tiny trees from a set by In A Creative Mind. I love their collaborations with Studio Calico.

I used foam tape to pop up the central panel and the bear. Here is a closeup -

As I wanted to use the 'I come bearing gifts' sentiment from the Polar Bear set, I decided to add a little stack of presents from the 'Beary Special Birthday' set.

I love it, it makes a really nice winter birthday card.

Have a great weekend, I will be mainly at my desk and hanging with Hubby.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #68..Colour Me..

Hey,

This time with a card!!!

Yes, it is time for another fun Retro Rubber challenge - today is also my Ma's birthday - Happy Birthday Momma!

This time we have a colour / photo inspiration challenge for you -

I love Paper Smooches Best Buds set, I use it a lot, I have had it since January 2016.

I kept my whole card super simple, two stitched oval die-cut panels, one in red gingham to match the photo inspiration. I stamped and die-cut the banner from the Best Buds set, the sentiment is also from the set.

I coloured the banner using Promarkers and a clear Wink of Stella pen.

I am really happy with it's understated elegance, perfect for a thank you card.

Show us what the photo inspires you to make, but first pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things that the rest of the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 11th. Don't forget to use a stamp over a year old 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

Sketch Saturday #470 Beautiful Self...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is AMB. Here is the sketch - 

I used the Seahorse from the Mermaid set...I am fascinated by Seahorses!

I love the sketch, it was so much fun to work with. I went with all blues for my background and supporting elements, really helped to make the Seahorse pop!

I die-cut the Seahorse panel using an MFT stitched oval die and the corrugated blue card was cut with a scalloped oval die by Sizzix.

I went for blue sparkly washi tape for my stripes and I am glad I did as it makes the card all twinkly. You can also see how shimmery the Seahorse is as I went over him with a Wink of Stella pen. The sentiment sticker is by Tim Holtz. 

Again 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 7 July 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #65..Get Sketchy...

Hey,

Time for another fun challenge with the Retro Rubber team.

This time we have a sketch for you -

I like playing with sketches.

I used two quite old stamp sets - Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up (starburst) 2015, Unforgettable Today by Dear Lizzy (bike) 2014. I heat embossed the starburst first and then also heat embossed the bike, I felt pretty brave.

I added some washi tape from my stash and the sentiment is a Concord & 9th stamp with a Pink Fresh Studio sticker.

I think it's going to work really well as a male birthday card.

Your turn to show us what you can do with the sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things my teammates have made..

Challenge ends June 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

Retro Rubber Challenge #64.. Anything Goes...

Hey,

Time for another awesome challenge with the Retro Rubber team.

This time, we have a everyone's fave challenge - Anything Goes.

I have had this awesome stamp set Seasonally Scattered by Stampin' Up since 2014 and I have barely used it, so I thought it deserved to see daylight for this challenge.

First I smooshed (technical term) my paper in the two distress inks - Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries. Then I die-cut the panel using a Simon Says Stamp stitched die.

I chose to use the 'Thanks' stamp from the set and I heat embossed it using bronze Ranger embossing powder.

Here's a close-up

Pretty right? I love it!

I hope you are going to show us what you can do with the colours and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things my teammates have made..

Challenge ends June 16th. Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun (and our rules) of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx