Good Luck...

Hey,

Hope you are all well?

I had a fun weekend in Florida with my girlfriends, a few makes from that trip will be posted soon.

Today's card I made for a work colleague that was leaving.

He is a copywriter, so it made sense to use the awesome pen stamp that I have - it's from a Technique Tuesday set 'Man Day' and the pen has never actually been used before this card!

I kept it super simple and used glittery Thickers for my sentiment.

Love it when a card in my mind comes to life so well.

Cx

Hello Baby Boy...

Hey,

I recently fell in love with the Loveable Laundry set by Newton's Nook, so I bought it whilst I was on vacay.

Then I got back to the news that a friend had her baby and it felt like kismet!

I stamped and watercoloured all of the fun onesies/babygrows using distress inks. I die-cut them out using the matching die, after I had coloured them.

I created a background for the onesies/babygrows using a Clearly Besotted stencil and Broken China Distress Oxide ink.

The sentiment uses a Technique Tuesday 'hello' die that I have had forever and the 'baby boy' is from the same set as the onesies/babygrows.

Cute, fun card to make, now it really needs to go in the post with the real-life onesies/babygrows that I bought him.

Cx

Happy 14/9 Hubby...

Hey,

Happy Halloween! AND Happy Anniversary to my Hubby.

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary and yesterday was the 14th anniversary of our first date. This is my fave post that I have written about Hubby and I and it's hard to top.

So I am not going to try, I am just going to say Happy Anniversary Hubby, you are awesome in so many ways and I'm super lucky to have found you ;)

Today's card is actually for Hubby, we are both massively geeky/nerdy and this set by Technique Tuesday (Favorite Human, no longer for sale), made me laugh, especially the little robot with a bow tie. I also LOVE that it came with 'beep' in a speech bubble, for some reason the word 'beep' makes me crazy happy!

Also Hubby always eye rolls me when I show him punny cards, which always makes me laugh, so I am looking forward to an eye roll later on when I give this to him.

I thought I'd share some photos from our wedding day, I was looking through them the other day and these ones made me smile ;)

Top left - Me with my Parents (why is my Dad so grumpy!), Daddy and our Dog Oscar, Bottom right, Me with my bridesmaids laughing, Me + Hubby laughing at my Dad's speech, Me + MIL laughing at the Best Woman's speech

We are heading to a new place for dinner tonight, which is fun (or foolish), we don't normally deviate from our 'spots' on Anniversary night.

Cx

CAS On Friday: Talk Nerdy...

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

It seems only fitting that I post my entry for CAS on Friday today :)

I love their current theme of Watercolour...

I started with a piece of Tim Holtz watercolour paper. I die-cut it using a stitched rectangle die and I sprayed it with some water and gradually added three colours of distress ink (chipped sapphire, peacock feathers and mermaid blue), I dried it and added splashes of each colour.

I wasn't sure what to do with it next and after a rummage through my stamps I came across the Technique Tuesday Favorite Human set, which I am embarrassed to say I have had for over a year and never used!

I decided that I didn't want to detract from my pretty watercoloured patch, so I just stamped and fussy cut one of the robots and added a little bit of blue spectrum noir sparkle pen.

The sentiment made me laugh, as Hubby and I are both a bit nerdy, so I might just give this to him for no good reason!

I added some hearts from the set to compliment the sentiment.

I love how this came out and I'm a sure I'll never create a watercolour as pretty as this one again, so I decided to enter it into this week's Addicted to Stamps challenge as well.

Have a great weekend, mine is going to be spent watching the World Cup, crafting and working out.

Cx

Christmas Thank You...

Hey,

Happy New Year's Eve to you.

I've been a bit absent since Christmas Eve, deliberately so, as I felt the need for a little recharge, so no plans (bar seeing JT), no schedules, just breathe.

Because I have been off work since the 22nd December, I have had lots of time at my craft desk.

I've used the time to tidy, file, play with new stuff and get craft-organised for 2018.

I love to make sets of Thank You cards, but for our Christmas gift thank you's this year, I thought it would be fun to make different ones that follow an idea.

I love the MFT peek-a-boo circle dies, you get two in the set. One is a simple stitched circle and the other one has a scalloped edge inside the circle.

I opted to use these dies as my base for all my cards.

As you can see from my photo, they do look like a set, but are different.

I really got to flex my stamps here, I used TONS of sets (see below). Apart from the Bookish Bear cards, I used one paper set (by Recollections) for all of the cards and I made 10 cards in total, some are duplicates.

I am really pleased with this little set of cards, they are super cute and a fun way to say thanks for all the thoughtful things that Hubby and I received for Christmas.

Hope you have a wonderful time ringing in 2018..see you in the New Year.

Cx

Stamp sets used:
Mama Elephant (Limited edition Yeti in the City)
Simon Says Stamp - Summertime Animals (Pineapple/Flamingo), Hand Lettered Winter Wishes (Thanks)
Technique Tuesday - Favorite Human (Robot, Stars, Beep)
The Cat's Pajamas - This Could Be Vodka (Cat, Fish)
Avery Elle - Band Camp (Crocodile, Musical Notes)
Lil' Inkers - Cat Treats (Cat with Balloon)
Waffle Flower - Books and Coffee (Bear)
Stampin' Up - Another Thanks (Thanks)

Happy Birthday Daddy..

Hey,

Today is my Dad's birthday and I am lucky enough to be in London, so Hubby and I are taking him and Momma to dinner to celebrate.

I have written SEVERAL posts about my Daddy, so I am not going to try and top some of those.

Essentially, he is a pretty cool guy and I think the words on this year's card are totally appropriate for him and I actually bought the stamp set (Man Day by Technique Tuesday) earlier this year to make him a Father's day card and completely forgot about it!

I created a fun distress oxide stenciled background (stencil by Simon Says Stamp) and stamped the sentiment over the top.

Pretty simple and easy to make, but looks like a lot of work!

Cx

Funky Fave...

Hey,

Happy Friday..

I love a 3 day week, but not when I semi-forget that I am leaving for London tonight - eek!

Cue mad rush to finish off Christmas gifts, pack, organise cat-sitter, taxi to airport, you know all the things I could have done during my 6 days off!!

Anyway, in amongst all of that madness I found some time on Weds evening to play with a new to me set by My Cute Stamps - I bought it second-hand (it's not for sale anymore), I have done this a lot this year and it boosts my stash but doesn't hurt my purse so much!

I enjoy masking and so thought that it would be a great way to create a fun card using these stamps.

I love the bright pops of colour (Memento Dew Drop inks) and the fact that with these stamps all you need is ink - no colouring.

The sentiment is brand new and both JT and I chose it from the Technique Tuesday progressive sale - TWINS!! We really have to stop this...

I thought it worked really well here, as the card is going to a friend with a rather belated birthday gift that arrived super late.

Anyway, see you in London next week, my posts for the next few days are scheduled, so that I can breathe for 5 mins LOL.

Cx

HLS anything goes with dies...

Hey,

So today I am playing along with one of the June Happy Little Stampers challenges - Anything Goes with Dies -

I recently needed to make a quick batch of cards for male friends / family. I decided that I was going to use my Technique Tuesday Hipster Birthday stamp for all of them - to make it easier...

All I had to do was figure out the background.

JT gave me the awesome Chevron plate die by Sizzix as part of our annual $20 challenge. I love it, but it is a BEASTICLE to cut out!!

I bought a metal shim and it has made it easier, but there are still some pieces that won't come out - so that is accidental and not me being arty!!

Because the background is so bold, I decided that I would just affix the stamped sentiment to the card using coordinating staples (I LOVE coloured staples..).

Super simple, but very impactful and I made a whole bunch of these in various 'male' colours.

Cx

Craftgang May...

Hey,

Happy Monday to you.

Surprise! I am already posting last week's Craftgang playdate makes.

Funny I had felt it was a slow day for me, as I was helping out Jocelyn and her Mom Joanne, who are relative newbies.

It was a fun day, so much food! Lisette made the infamous Lemon Bars...they are like crack!

I made the top row of cards during the day and the two cat ones I finished off at home.

The new home card was made using a Sizzix stamp and die set that Ava gifted to me!! How awesome and it just so happened I needed to make a new home card.

The next two cards are using stamps I came across in Jamey's stash whilst I was nosying around for backgrounds.

The cat stamps are from Cheiron's stash and they are by Mama Elephant and called Nom Nom Kitties.

The background from the first cat card is from Gina's stash and the sentiments on both cards are mine.

Fun cards and a few of them have left my desk already.

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

Freshly Made Sketches..Hipster Birthday..

Hey,

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City today, we are gonna party party and we have tomorrow off - whoo hoo!!

I really liked the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, so versatile -

I've been dying to use a new stamp from Technique Tuesday 'Hipster Birthday' and I recently dug out my MFT chevron dies, so I could have a play with them, they have been neglected..

The sketch seemed to speak to both of those items.

I started by die-cutting 3 chevrons in coordinating papers. I affixed them to some white cardstock and then die cut the panel using a MFT wonky stitched rectangle die.

I decided to use a blue circle for my stamp and I stamped it using navy blue ink.

The whole thing came together super quickly..love it when that happens.

I love it, maybe the circle is a bit big, but I still love it...

Cx

CASology: Text..

Hey,

Welcome to April.

I really liked the CASology cue card this week -

I love making cards using just text and I had so many ideas for this one.

I decided to make a super simple and clean birthday card.

First I die-cut the panel using a Reverse Confetti lacy scallop frame die.

Then I stamped the happy birthday in various sizes and colours (stamps are by Lawn Fawn and Technique Tuesday).

Final touch was adding some blue bling and mounting the whole panel onto a card blank.

A really CAS card that is lifted by the fancy die.

Cx

Kitty says Hello!

Hey,

Towards the end of last year I won a couple of challenges over at Bugaboo's Catch The Bug blog, that meant I got a ton of awesome new Bugaboo images.

So last weekend I printed them all over and got colouring..

I thought it would be fun to play along with the first CTB challenge of 2017 and as it is Anything Goes it's even more fun!

I decided to use the Cat block stamp - it all comes as you see it here and it was so nice to colour.

I felt that the Kitty was saying Hello? to anyone that was listening..hence my sentiment, which is by Technique Tuesday and I have had it for ages.

I coloured the Kitty using Promarkers (Spice, Ginger, Pale Pink and Ivory) and added a bit of shading using a Tea Green marker.

Super simple, but I thought the stamp spoke for it's self and didn't need much more ;)

Cx

Sketch Saturday..A Little Hey..

Hey,

As you know I love a sketch challenge and I thought I'd play along with Sketch Saturday this week.

Cool sketch right?

I decided to pull out a Fox digital stamp by Pink Petticoat - who are sadly no longer in business..

I love Foxes, I used to see them a lot in my neighbourhood in London.

I chose some ancient papers by Recollections (Michaels), as I wanted the papers to tonally fit the Fox and I am trying to use things from the overflowing 'brown' drawer LOL.

It was all very simple to put together.

The sentiment is by Technique Tuesday. Both the scallop and circle dies are by Spellbinders and the banner was punched using the great Stampin' Up banner punch - a must have if you are like me and can't cut a banner correctly to save your life...

I added a couple of mini staples to the banner and a bit of distress ink around the Fox circle to give it a bit more interest and depth.

I'm pretty pleased with my little Fox.

Also I have thrown my hat into the ring to be a part of the Sketch Saturday DT - fingers crossed!!

Cx

40th Florals....

Hey,

Last night I went to class at The InkpadNYC (taught by Cheiron more over the weekend) - always fun and fab to meet the ladies before hand and have an early bird dinner.

We have also booked in to do a playdate together in October - yay!

I made today's card fro Jamey who is one of my Inkpad buddies, so I thought I'd share it with you today. Jamey was 40 over the weekend and had a fabulous dinner party.

I used my brand new MFT Large Desert Bouquet stamps and dies and I LOVE them. I love the fantastic colour combos and possibilities, I feel a bit of overuse about to happen.

I watercoloured a splodge of pink onto the white layer and then splattered some navy blue ink around. The leaves I stamped onto the card, because I don't have the dies for the leaves and I did not want to fussy cut.

The die-cut Happy is by Tim Holtz and was a gift from JT - so handy!! I stamped the rest of the birthday sentiment and added a big red pearl to one of the flowers for a bit more oomph!

LOVE IT!!!

I have Richard to thank, as he made so many stunning cards using MFT floral sets and I got mad stamp envy.

Cx

Birdie Birthday....

Hey,

Happy weekend..

I am in Providence and today Cheiron and I will be making 16 cards!!! At Jenn's loft art retreat.

I thought I'd share a kooky card I made using a Tim Holtz bird stamp.

Because the bird is kind of kooky, I thought the card should be too.

I stamped the bird and die-cut out the panel first, then I added the sentiment, running the birthday in a random direction felt like it worked here because of the odd birdy!

I then stenciled in some red polka dots, but I didn't reink my dauber, because I wanted some of the dots to be a bit faded.

I need to play with this stamp more, it's a lot of fun.

I'll tell you all about the retreat at some point next week.

Cx

Scrap Cards...

Hey, 

I am away on holiday this week with Hubby. 

So this is a scheduled post. I am using the time to show you some of the things that I made during the Superstorm when I had an epic weekend at my desk.

I love scraps of paper, but last year I organised them so that I was only keeping sensible scraps that could become something.

I also like to keep sensible die-cut pieces..I'll show more of that tomorrow.

My two cards today are all scraps or items that were kicking around on my desk.

The main card uses a scrap of paper that I used to cut Tim Holtz pattern strip dies from and a scalloped heart that was already punched.  The white square was already die-cut and kicking around on my desk.

I dug out my Simon Says Stamp Happy and Smile stamp set and stamped the sentiment using a co-ordinating red ink.

The card blanks for both cards were cut by me from SSS cardkit cardstock (I keep all the cardstock from the kits and cut cardblanks now and then)

This feels like a fun anniversary card, for a fun couple.

The second card was designed around the colour of the card blank, so I used all the same scrap elements as before, but used a purple heart (love that it is corrugated card) I added a patterned square that is an offcut from a Pretty Pink Posh die.

I made this card a birthday card I used the same SSS set for the Happy, but used a fave stamp by Technique Tuesday for the birthday. I deliberately overlapped the words because it felt like real handwriting.

What do you do with your scraps?

Cx

Happy Birthday Daddy..

Hi,

So complete mess here..

A) I forgot to take a photo of my Dad's card in my haste to get it in the post

B) Said card has been returned to me, because according to Royal Mail my parents do not have a post box?!

Anyway...

Happy Birthday Daddy..I am looking forward to hanging with him in 2 weeks, as I will be in London and I'm having an early Christmas with my parents.

I love my Dad, he is awesome, a bit weird, sport mad, music crazy with a wicked sense of style and humour - I don't like being this far away from him, but in one sense it's cool because he sends me the funniest emails ever.

Because I don't have his card, I thought I would show the card I made for Anna the owner of The Inkpad NYC, she shares the same bday as my Dad, so it works :) She's also pretty awesome too and thanks to her and her wonderful store I have learnt a lot and made some cool friends.

Happy Saturday..

Cx

Playdate Pinterest CASE...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a good weekend, I had a very relaxing one, mainly spent at my desk..

I also managed to have a playdate with JT yesterday..we had a fun date and cracked out some impressive cards.

One of the things we used as inspiration was this card from my Pinterest board -

It was actually made using a border die, but I thought I could make it work with the myriad of border stamps I have!!

The first card today uses a Simon Says Stamp border triangle stamp and the sentiment is by Technique Tuesday.

I used the same sentiment stamps for this next version, but dug out an ancient Papermania border stamp, that has not been shown a lot of love ever..

Simple cards, that I think can have any sentiment added to them, I might make a whole blank batch...

Cx