Retro Rubber #223 - Colour Challenge - Winter Blue Ombre..

Hey,

Welcome to another fab Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a colour challenge for you.

I like creating ombre backgrounds. This time I did something a bit different. I stamped the rainbow (Rainbow background by Momenta 2023) onto watercolour paper and heat embossed it in white to create a resist. Then I used 3 different blue Distress Oxide inks with water to add colour to the panel, fading out to white at the bottom.

The unicorn is one of my all-time fave stamps by Pink Fresh Studio 'Unicorn Dreams' that I have had since 2018. I stamped it in blue ink here onto watercolour paper. The sentiment is from the same set.

I love how it turned out, the blues are so pretty.

I'm excited to see what you will create. Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends February 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

Retro Rubber Challenge #213 - Colours of the Rainbow..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we are all about the colours of the rainbow.

If you look at my card carefully, you will see I used every single colour of the rainbow LOL.

I love the 3 Ellen Hutson sets I used (Over It, Unicorns & Rainbows, Pure Magic) - I have had them since 2019 and I am really sad that Ellen is closing her doors, but I get it.. retirement looms.

I created the background using a fave MFT Cloud stencil and distress oxides. I stamped the rainbow over the top and coloured that using Sakura Gelly Roll Starburst pens.. these pens give all the shimmer.

A fun easy card with the perfect sentiment.

How will you use your stash and the colours? Don't forget to pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends August 25.

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 - Rainbow Plates..

Hey,

Welcome to another fantastic Fusion Card Challenge.

This time we have 'Rainbow Plates' for you! As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

Which will you try?

Back to my old ways, I fused them!

I love colour, so I love this inspiration image. I decide to use some old fave stamps by Ellen Hutson - 'Unicorns & Rainbows' and 'Pure Magic'.

I stamped, coloured, and die-cut the unicorn, rainbow and clouds. I used a scrap of fun rainbow coloured paper by Studio Calico to mimic the sketch and then I stamped my sentiment on a circle. Putting it all together to recreate the sketch was fun, as it came out just like I had imagined! Don't you love it when that happens?!

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 June 7th.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #179 - 60's Colour Challenge...

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

We have a fun colour challenge for you this time, use 60s colours!

I thought it would be fun to use this awesome set by Penny Black 'Be Happy' that I have had since 2020. I saw someone use it in a challenge and had to have it. I love all the fun animals that it has!

I chose the fabulous unicorn for this card, because I thought it would look great in the 60s colours. I used bright yellow, bright pink, bright green and add in a bright blue for a bit of extra punch!

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 April 8th.

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 #155 Somewhere over the Rainbow...

Hey,

Welcome to a colourful Retro Rubber challenge.

Love the inspiration photo - this time we have use Rainbow colours or images.

I remember when I first saw the blog post about these stamps by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson and I knew I had to have them. They are SO versatile and not neglected at all, they live out on my desk and get used over and over and over. I probably should buy a 'spare' set. The sets are 'Unicorns & Rainbows' 'Over It' and 'Pure Magic' and I have had them since 2019.

I stamped and coloured the rainbow and added the hilarious sentiment, I then stamped, cut and coloured the Unicorn and clouds. Before popping them up with foam tape, I die-cut the panel using a The Works stitched, scalloped, dotted die.

Really simple, but so fun.

Can't wait to see your rainbow makes. Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 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

Rainbow, Unicorn, Sprinkles...

 

Hey,

Can you go ever go wrong with a card that has rainbows, a unicorn and a sweet sentiment?

I don't think so!!

I love this card and it went to my Goddaughter for her birthday.

I love the Rainbow stamp and stencil by Taylored Expressions and it plays so nicely with the Unicorn and sentiment from Ellen Hutson, I am a HUGE fan of Julie Ebersole critters.

I blended distress oxides through the stencil and stamped over it using x2 of the provided fancy rainbow arch stamps.

The Unicorn is an old fave and I think I could colour him blindfolded!!

Cx

Unicorn Kisses..

Hey,

Happy Monday..

Flora & Fauna had a sale last month, meaning I got a few things that I have been longing for!

Including 'Love Bug Dress Up'.. so many ideas in my head for this set. It's now retired, so here is a pic of it -

I started with this fun card!

I used a piece of smooshed watercolour card that I had already (I smoosh giant panels and cut them down to use as I need them).

I stamped everything directly onto the panel and coloured the Unicorn part with Sakura Starburst glitter gel pens.

The sentiment came out well. I used Unicorn Kisses from the F&F set and added a Tim Holtz sticker and Birthday Wishes by Avery Elle.

Easy, quick, and fun.

Cx

Unicorns and Rainbows...

Hey,

Hello from London!

Last weekend, I decided I would have a fun playtime with x3 sets by Ellen Hutson and Julie Ebersole.

I LOVE how Julie draws Unicorn, they have a really feminine feel to them.

I used these x3 sets - Over it, Unicorns 'n Rainbows and Pure Magic.

First I stamped, coloured and cut all the unicorns I wanted to use, then I used them to decide where my sentiments would go. I should mention that right now I am obsessed with Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pens, they are AMAZING..so much shimmer.

For two of the cards I added clouds / rainbow behind the unicorn and I stamped and coloured these, before adding my unicorns, that I mounted with foam tape.

I love how simple these cards are and how much they POP on the hot pink card blanks.

Cx

Lawn Fawn Reveal Wheel: Magical Unicorn Birthday..

Hey,

During my recent trip to London, we visited Hubby's bestie so we could a) catch-up b) see her daughters and c) hand over the pun card project.

We had a fun afternoon with Polly and her Daughters.

One of them Maggie is 3 (soon to be 4) and took a shine to me - I do love kids, despite not ever wanting to have any I like to hang out with kids.

I thought to honor our little bonding moment I would make Maggie a special 4th Birthday card and I am also entering it into the current Seize the Birthday challenge - this a no toppings entry, I am going to play along later in the week with a toppings entry!

Obviously, I immediately reached for my reveal wheel kit. I have so many of the add-ons now, it is super fun to make cards with and EASY for an interactive card.

I decided to pair it with x2 Ellen Hutson sets 'Unicorns 'N Rainbows' and 'Over It' - I chose a wide arched aperture for the wheel and stamped the rainbow from Over it, over the top of the arch and then coloured that using glitter gel pens to get some serious sparkle.

I stamped, coloured and die-cut 3 of the images from the Unicorns set and after assembling the reveal wheel and mounting it onto the card blank, I affixed them to the front. I added some hearts from the sets all over the card and went over a few of them with a glitter gel pen to add some sparkle.

Because I chose the large aperture, you only get to reveal two sentiments and I went with magical and awesome.

Perfect for a 4 year old girl!

Cx

CAS(E) This Sketch: You're so fancy...

Hey,

Happy Saturday.

As I am back in the boot and on crutches, my ability to get around NYC is limited. Giving me ample time to play with a challenge or two..

I liked the current sketch over at CAS(E)ThisSketch -

I thought it would work perfectly with a sticker from a new Project Life pack that I just bought and a Unicorn. Because.. is there anything fancier than a Unicorn?

Super simple card to make and I love how pretty it is.

The Unicorn is by Ellen Hutson and is from the 'Unicorns & Rainbows' set. I coloured and die-cut the Unicorn and popped it up with foam tape, so it would sit at the same height as the sticker.

Fun right?!

Cx

The Library: Rainbow..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I hope all my US based peeps had a happy 4th of July yesterday..I was recovering from a rather large pre-4th night out...

I stumbled across this fun challenge called The Library and I thought my recent spate of cards would fit their current challenge really well.

You can choose to use the cover, the title or the story to inspire your card.

I obviously went with the title :)

I have made a TON of rainbow unicorn cards this week, as I got a whole batch of new stamps from Ellen Hutson and I had to play with them STAT..

I stamped, coloured and cut the clouds, rainbow and unicorn from this Unicorns 'N Rainbows set. The sentiment is also by Ellen Hutson and from the 'Pure Magic' sentiment set. And I mean how hilarious is this sentiment?! I want all my sentiments to include the words glitter and farts!

The firework/sparkle background stamp is by Unity Stamp co from their 'Celebrate the New' set.

I added Nuvo Aquashimmer pen to most of the elements on the card and I wish you could see how shimmery it is IRL.

I will show you the rest of my Unicorn / Rainbow makes next week.

Have a great weekend, I am throwing Hubby an early 40th birthday party tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #552 Mmedel Illustrations...

Hey,

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

Our sponsor this week is Mmedel Illustrations and they are offering a bumper prize of x2 digis from their store and a discount coupon - WHOOP!!

Here's the sketch by me!

A few of the DT decided to use the Unique Unicorn image..I'm a fan of Unicorns and I am overjoyed that they are so popular right now.

I decided to mix some spotty papers to match the sketch, I thought they coordinated well with the Unicorn. I used the sentiment that came with the image.

I added a fun foam star to finish it off.

A really easy fun make, that has already left my desk/

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 Friday 1st March 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Welcome to 2019 and a Playdate...

Hey,

Welcome to 2019!

I hope you had a great end to 2018.

Whilst JT and I were on Christmas break, we managed a pretty epic playdate. We pretty much used most of the Black Friday challenge NBUS and any other NBUS we had lying around.

I'm super pleased with my output..

The main photo are some of my Christmas thank you cards. I used new Lil Inker monsters (Monsters Ink) and a new spiral die by Sizzix that JT gave me as part of our annual $20 challenge.

I love these, they look really good and were super simple to make.

Next up some Tim Holtz magic.. this set comes with the man stamp and the harlequin stencil... a super quick way to make some male oriented cards.

Two randoms - the cake is a CASE of my own card because I love it and the fish card I made because I got these Hero Arts stamps on super bargain sale and I wanted to have a play. The background behind the aperture was stamped using Neat and Tangled stamps.

Last up is a card that I hadn't finished yet (it is now finished and posted and I didn't take a photo..) I have wanted this Unicorn Dreams set by Pink Fresh Studio for ages and finally got it in their BF sale. The flower stamp is by Christine Adolf.

A super productive day and it has given me lots of ideas for the new year..

Back to work tomorrow after a 10 day break - ugh.

Cx

Crazy For CAS - Great Adventure...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Today is my last day of work for a week, as my Momma is here and I am going to hang out with her.

I came across a new to me challenge this week - Crazy for CAS..I really liked the DT makes and thought I'd play along.

This time you have to CASE this card -

I decided I would use a NBUS stamp for this card - 'Rosie and Bernie love to explore' by Stamping Bella. I LOVE the Rosie and Bernie stamps and I have them all..

I stamped and coloured the stamp, I realised that none of my dies would cut it without chopping off part of the image, so I used my trimmer to cut the white panel to size.

Again in the interest of making my patterned paper stash smaller, I dug through the archives and found a great piece by American Crafts.

I popped up the main panel and added a Tim Holtz sticker for the sentiment, which seemed to fit the image perfectly.

Easy peasy and super CAS.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Freshly Made Sketches: Magical Birthday...

Hey,

So I decided that today was going to be a two post day as I wanted to play along with the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge -

Loved the sketch and yesterday a batch of Second-hand stamps that I bought arrived and I thought 'Magical' by Waffle Flower would work really well here.

I think I was right :)

I used an ancient piece of patterned paper for my larger rectangle, it is by Studio Calico and I think I've had it about 5 years!!

I die-cut the smaller rectangle out of cream cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the set. The 'Unicorn' I stamped and die-cut and kept the colouring super simple, as I wanted it to pop off the card.

I love it when new to me stamps work this well.

Happy Sunday.

Cx

The Paper Players..Magical..

Hey,

Happy Monday to you!

I had a fun weekend, I hope you did too.

I liked The Paper Players theme this week -

I love Unicorns and I especially love the large sentiment stamp I used here by Unity Stamp Co. It always makes me smile and I love making random cards with it to send to friends.

I masked off a small area, so I could blend some oxide ink to create an anchor for my sentiment and the Unicorn, but also to add a bit of interest whilst keeping my card CAS.

Sadly you can't see all the gold shimmer on my card, as I spritzed it with a gold shimmer spritz before adding the unicorn (Mama Elephant at Michaels).

To finish my card, I added a few clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh..

Fun card, love it when a challenge make comes out this well!

Cx

Catch The Bug GDT: Saturday Challenge - Rainbows and Unicorns..

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I am back again with the Catch The Bug team for the Saturday Challenge.

This week we have a Rainbow and Unicorn theme...

I mean this is SO me.

I love the Birthday Unicorn set and had a lot of fun creating my card with it.

I printed the cupcake/cloud image onto white card and then die-cut it to shape, I liked the idea of it hanging off the edge.

I coloured and fussy cut the Unicorn holding a balloon and popped him up, so he looks like he is sitting in the clouds.

I couldn't believe my luck with the amazingly appropriate sentiment (after an extensive root through my stamp collection!).

The final touch was to mount it all on the pretty Lawn Fawn card blank.

As always this card has already left my desk and is making someone else's day magical!

Can't wait to see what you do with the theme. Be sure and check out the store and look at all the fun things the rest of the DT have made.

Please post your project to Catch the Bug, by Sat Apr 21st at  6:00 AM EST to be entered a random drawing for three digi prize packs (yay). 10 free images (using a Bugaboo image only),  seven  (7), or four (4) using any image!
 
New projects only please.

Cx

Today is going to be awesome..

Hey,

JT and are probably checking out of our hotel in Boston as you read this, heading to CROP ON THE CAPE..whoo hoo!!

Roughly this time last year I got a lovely lightbox - you can read all about him here.

I love colouring and even though I am a crafter and a lot of what I make needs to be coloured, I still like to colour random imagery for no actual use.

The last year has been a lot of fun for me, as I can now trace the pages and/or parts of the pages of colouring books into my mixed media sketchbook and colour with any medium I like. It also means I can mix and match imagery to create one big image.

My page today was made using a new Target colouring book ($2) and I used imagery from x3 of the pages in the book to create mine.

The photo above shows you Mr Lightbox, the 3 pages I used and the final drawing pre-colouring.

Fun right!

Cx

Unicorns, Balloons and Clouds...

Hey,

Happy Black Friday!

I have been 'crafty' shopping all week, so today I am off to the gym (working of Hubby's delicious Thanksgiving dinner) and then going to do some Christmas gift shopping.

We had a really nice relaxed Thanksgiving and dinner was amazing, actually a dual effort by Hubby and I. We had a friend join us for dinner and it was just really nice and simple.

Today's card is for a friend's Daughter who turns one next week.

I created the background first using a cloud stencil by DutchDoobaDoo and Broken China Distress Oxide ink.

The Unicorn and Balloons are from different Mama Elephant and Hampton Arts sets I got at Michael's on my recent jaunts around America (Tampa/Doylestown).

I used the sentiment from the Unicorn set..not sure I love 'eternal happiness' but it is what it is now.

I added a tiny number one, I like to make number card for the toddler years..

Pretty pleased with the end result, the balloons actually look like they are lifting the Unicorn.

Cx

More Unicorns...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you all.

This is my last working day in London, I fly home early doors on Saturday and will be back at my NYC desk on Monday.

I have had this Unity Stamp Co. Unicorn sentiment for a while now and I love it and totally overuse it, but it really needed a Unicorn image..so I paired it with the new Lawn Fawn Winter Unicorn stamp that I previewed yesterday.

Together at last!!

Have a great weekend, I have a couple of fun things planned before I head home to be reunited with Hubby after 2 weeks apart - meeting a friend's baby and a playdate with JT.

Cx