Retro Rubber Challenge #208 - Sweet Summer Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

June already!

This time we are all about sweet summer colours - we want you to use at least 3 of the following 5 colours - yellow, pink/red, green, orange or brown.

These colours are so fun! I used yellow, pink AND red, green, orange and brown. LOL.. all of them in fact.

I used an MFT wave stencil with distress oxides to create the waves for my Octopus. I added a few bubbles for a little bit of added interest.

I love Octopus stamps and this one is one of my faves from the 'Mr Octopus' set by Sweet Stamp Shop (who are sadly no longer in business), I have had this set since 2017. The ice cream and lolly and sentiment are all from the Avery Elle set 'Skating By' that I have had since 2016 and I love all the small elements in this set.

He's so kooky I love him!

Will you be like me and use ALL of the colours? Can't wait to see your creations, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends June 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

Retro Rubber Challenge #153 Tic Tac Toe...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have an awesome Tic Tac Toe board by our very own Jan this time!

I think Tic Tac Toe is one of my faves. I chose the diagonal line birthday-the ocean-blue.

Three of my fave things!

I think this stamp by Sweet Shop Stamps is one of my all-time faves, it's called 'Hello Florida' and I have had it since 2017. For me, it really screams Ocean and with the little boat and the mermaid, I'm not wrong - right?!

The stamp doesn't need much, so to keep with the blue part of the ttt board, I coloured it mainly using blue Copics and stamped my sentiment in blue. The sentiment I feel pretty proud of, as I curved the stamp to get that effect, as I thought it emphasised 'swell' even more. It is from another all-time fave set 'Sea-prise' by Avery Elle (owned since 2018).

Sadly no matter how many times I tried to photograph it, I could not capture the beautiful duck-egg blue of my background paper, it looks a bit green, but I assure you it is blue!

I'm excited to see which line you will choose, don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 12th.

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 #130 Sketch time..

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a sketch for you this time

You know how much I love a sketch!

I made a card that I really wasn't a fan of, so I decided to start again and I love the end result!

I rotated the sketch, meaning the sentiment is on the bottom and the 3 boxes are above it. I dug out two older sets that made me smile - Gerda Steiner Designs 'Llama Tell You' - for the sentiment and I have had it since 2016 and the 3 little Monsters are by Sweet Stamp Shop, from their 'Eye See You' set, that I have had since 2017 (which is now retired).

I stamped the sentiment and then carefully lined up the Monsters and stamped them above it. I had to add the little 'hi' from the Sweet Stamp Shop set, it just worked so well!

I coloured the Monsters with Copics and Sakura starburst gel pens.

It's so kooky and CAS, love it.

Now it's your turn to show us your interpretation of the sketch and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends March 20th.

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 #123 Anything Goes..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time it's everyone's fave, Anything Goes.

If you know me really well, you know that I absolutely do not like to eat Carrots (raw, ok, maybe) and that I LOVE pickles. So when I was looking through my stash for a under-used stamp for this challenge and saw this one I LOL.

The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big Dill' set by Sweet Stamp Shop and I have had it since 2017. I knew I had to use this sentiment, but what would I do about the background. I realised I don't have a Carrot stamp (obvs), so I googled carrot background paper..really, I mean?!

I saw a lot of ideas, but the best one was the sketchy, watercoloured one I saw. So I decided to have a go and make my own background. It's basically splodges of orange and green watercolour and I used a fineliner to draw in the Carrot details. I LOVE it.. more Carrot cards in my future.

I stamped the sentiment onto an orange scrap and used stitched rectangle stacking dies to cut both the orange and the green panels. I popped the whole sentiment panel up with foam tape.

Fun card, that left in the post to one of my besties.

What treasure will you find to play with? Also pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends November 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

CASology: Girl

Hey,

I hope you have had a fun weekend so far?

I have had a really nice time, hanging with Hubby, shopping and playing at my desk.

I wanted to play along with a challenge this weekend, so I had a look at a couple of my faves and picked out a few to play with.

First up is the CASology challenge - here is this week`s cue card -

I liked the idea of making a `Girl` focused card, I have a lot of girls in my life.

My card actually combines three stamp sets. The main girl stamp is by Unity Stamp Co `Today I am Happy`, I stamped it onto my watercolour cardstock and used distress inks to watercolour her, I added some sparkle with Spectrum Noir sparkle pens.

I built the sentiment using two stamp sets - I masked off part of the `Girl Boss` stamp, from the Sweet Stamp Shop `Girl Boss` set. The second part of the sentiment is from the Jillibean Soup `Friends` set.

I always default to blues or purples...

This little card will be winging it`s way to a good friend shortly.

Have a great Sunday, I am heading to the gym and then planting myself on the sofa for NFL Sunday!

Cx

CASE it...

Hey,

So I wanted to show you a couple more cards I made using this great masking / blending / stenciling idea that JT and I CASEd recently.

The main card today uses some new birthday booty that I bought from MFT using money given to me by my in-laws.

You are familiar with my love of Monsters and I couldn't resist the new 'Monster Sized' set and the 'Sassy Pants Best Friends' set made me laugh a lot and so I needed to own that. The sentiment used on this card is hilarious and true of many of my friendships.

For both of these cards I used this awesome stencil by Andy Skinner - I am literally overusing it right now, it's so fun.

The next card uses more birthday booty - the amazing Cake stamp is by Sweet Stamp Shop and the sentiment is by Scrapbook.com - they do this awesome range of stamps and I loved 'have cake for breakfast' - I mean YES!!

I really need to use a different technique, I'm so hooked on this one, it makes card backgrounds super easy and fun.

Cx

Retro Rubber #92..Summer Theme...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge, as this posts, I will have landed in London!

This time we have a great theme for you - Summer..

Make a summer themed card and you can use the photo as inspiration too.

I opted for an old fave of mine, 'Little Umbrella' by Stamping Bella (I've had her since 2016). I love this sassy lady, having a drink and chilling at the beach - it's so very me!

I was super happy to discover the awesome and appropriate sentiment in a set by Sweet Stamp Shop that I bought last year. The sentiment is quite large and I tried A LOT of dies before settling for the star. I'm glad I did, it works so well here.

I kept the card simple and used a card blank and some paper from a Simon Says Stamp cardkit from last year.

Fun card and I have a recipient in mind.

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

Challenge ends August 10th.

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 #91..Feeling Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I do love sketches, so much freedom.

The sketch and a visit to the aquarium with my Momma when she was here, inspired me to pull out a great (rarely used) set from Sweet Stamp Shop 'Eye See You' from 2016, now retired.

I did approx 5-10 test stamps of Mr Octopus, as he comes in x3 pieces - head and arms. I finally got the position I liked and stamped him for realz!

I pulled out a piece of ancient patterned paper and cut it with a new scalloped die from Your Next Stamp.

The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I added a googly eye for a bit of fun.

He is awesome and already left my desk to go to Momma, as a thank you for all the fun times we had together during her trip.

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

Challenge ends July 27th.

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

Bombshell..

Hey,

Last year I discovered a new to me stamp company - Sweet Stamp Shop.

I really like Nicole's style and their price points. I am not affiliated with them in any way, but I believe you get a discount on your first order with them..

I bought the awesome Heartbreaker set on sale, I have been looking at it for a while then it went on sale so it was a no brainer.

I love all the fun sentiments that you can put in the banner.

My card was super quick and easy, just stamp and colour, nothing fancy.

I made a few of these, as I had the stamps set up on the MISTI, I haven't stamped in the banner yet. I might just leave them blank and give them to a friend as a set and she can add her own sentiment?

Cx

Resting Beach Face...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

So it's been a busy week and I am still a bit unsure about where I am exactly!

NYC>London>Belgium>London>NYC will do that to you!

Anyway one of the great things about this week was coming home to all the awesome Black Friday goodies (so many bargains I went a bit nuts)..

I opted for not putting anything away immediately and instead went straight into playing mode..

This year I have discovered a few new to me Stamp companies, generally smaller independent ones that I like to support. One of these is Sweet Stamp Shop - I love Nicole's sense of humor and her cute images.

I bought Beach Face and the dies in the BF sale

I have been madly in love with the dog Nicole draws and was very happy to finally own him.

I decided to play wth the girl first, because I have a friend who NEEDS this card in her life.

I roughly blended a piece of cardstock using Broken China Distress Oxide ink and spritzed it with water to create the slightly mottled background. I used a new stitched, scalloped frame die by Avery Elle. I need to get better at putting these frames back together..

I stamped the waves from the set, so the girl looks like she is floating in water and added the awesome sentiment.

Love it!

I have a birthday card idea in my head for the Dog, so I'll be giving that a go over the weekend.

Hope you have a nice weekend, I have a lunch with the Craftgang, the gym and a ton of NFL to watch with Hubby AND I want to squeeze in some desk time, so it's going to be a fun and busy one for me.

Cx

Birthday Monster Thank You...

Hey,

I always like the thank you cards I send for my birthday to be a themed set - this year I decided I would use as many of my Monster sets as I could.

I stamped the monsters (from Jane's Doodles, Paper Smooches, Sweet Stamp Shop) onto tags and coloured them as part of the 30 day colouring challenge.

I cut the cardblanks using A7 cardstock from Paper Source and used a strip embossing folder on the front panel, then added a strip of paper and washi tape.

The sentiment is by MFT and is a second-hand purchase from Cheiron.

Majority of this batch went out just before I left NYC and I was so lucky and got so many gifts that I think I will need to make some more when I get home!

Excited today, as we are seeing the wife, she is coming and getting us from my parents and driving us to our 2 week home in Notting Hill.

Fun times ahead for the next two weeks, alongside a crap load of work!!

Cx

Happy Birthday Bermuda Style...

Hey,

Happy Friday..semi-live from London.

I think I am still in the air as this posts!!

It was my friend Jen's birthday last week and I didn't realise..how bad is that.

I wanted to make her a fun card that pulled in some of the elements of Bermuda where she lives. Then I remembered I had this cool un-inked stamp by Sweet Stamp Shop that would work perfectly.

The stamp is called Hello Florida! It is so much fun to colour and I used watercolour paints here.

I added some fun patterned paper and MFT label sentiment stamps to complete my card.

Hope that Jen likes it - bringing her a gift from the UK, I thought that would be fun.

Have a great weekend, I am gonna be hanging with my Parents, before I head to work on Monday.

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