In this post I am showing the final 5 cards I made for the Summer Soiree hop. We did 12 weeks with this one! I missed one week.

Themes for these cards are Winter in July, don't bug me, hello sunshine, Summer roadtrips, Summer food & drink and Rainbows. My cards are in the correct order, Winter in July is the main photo.

Hey,

I would like to say a big thanks to Jane who runs our Retro Rubber team for just being an amazing human and keeping us together and on point.

For our last challenge we have a Tic-Tac-Toe board for you - 

I wanted to play with all of the rows on this board! But I went with centre vertical - Texture, Greenery, Tag.

Hey,

Hey,

We really hope you have enjoyed playing with us this year, it has been fun to see some new faces. Don't forget you don't have to have a blog to play along, you can link up using Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc

This time we want you to use the photo to inspire your card - colours or imagery, or both, it is entirely up to you.

I was inspired by the musical notes and went for a hunt through my Christmas stamps and came up with this beauty by StudioLight 'Essentials: Let It Snow' I have had it since 2020. I smooshed a Christmassy background and stamped over it. I remembered why I rarely use this gorgeous stamp.. it is a beast to stamp, it took approx 8 inkings to get it to work..

But so worth it, because this card makes me so happy!

We can't wait to see what you were inspired to make and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends December 15.

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.

Hey,

Where has the year gone?! I just got back from 17 days in London and it feels like boom Christmas is nearly here. 

I hope you have had fun playing along with us this year.

We have a Merry Christmas photo-inspired challenge for you this time.

I love mugs and cups in any form, so I was always going to be inspired by the mug in the photo.

I used a NBUS Unity Stamp Co stamp 'Warm Fall Hugs' that I got in September 2021! I think with the move last year it just got forgotten about! I decided to heat emboss it onto black watercolour paper, so I could use the amazing Iulie watercolours. If you have never used them, get a set on sale you will not regret it, the shimmer is amazing!

I then painted in all the details using the watercolours and then fussy cut it out. I wasn't sure what to do for a background and then I remembered the awesome Spellbinders wreath die that I had, it always elevates everything! I added a little bit of red bling and a tiny sentiment (die by MFT, sentiment by Clearly Besotted).

It is so pretty, it made me super happy when it was finished.

Here is a close-up, because I just loved all the little details.

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

Challenge ends December 16th and then we will be on our Christmas break returning in January with more fun challenges for you.

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

Hey,

Welcome to the last-ever Fusion Card Challenge.

It has been a privilege to work with Karren and the team, some of them are my OG cardmaking heroines and it was so amazing to be in a team with them.

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

Which will you try?

I loved both, so I fused them!

I was inspired by the chalkboard effect and wanted to recreate that.

I cut a circle using a die and then cut it in half. I stamped lots of the icons and sentiments from the Tim Holtz 'Merry & Bright' mini set for Joann's - using the special ink for perfect pearls. Then I dusted silver perfect pearls over it to create a chalky look.

I always love how this turns out.

It looked a tiny bit flat, so I stamped some stars around the half-circle and it really added a little flair that I like!

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 December 13th.

Cx

Hey,

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Fusion Card Challenge.

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

Which will you try?

I loved both, so I fused them!

I love gingerbread, so gingerbread men are my faves!! I love the 'Tis The Season set by Ellen Hutson. I bought it second-hand and used it a lot this year for my Christmas cards.

To match the sketch, I stamped a row of gingerbread men, I used Rocky Shore ink by Altenew, I thought it was a good gingerbread colour. I kept it super simple and stamped the sentiment over the row and then coloured the bows using a Sakura glitter gelly roll pen.

So fun and easy.

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 November 22nd.

Cx

Hey,

Now onto our last challenge of the year! Of course Christmas themed.

This is one of my all-time fave Christmas stamps by Lil Inker (Oh Deer!) and I have had it since 2017. I was inspired by the colours and the banner. 

Hey,

Welcome to the last Fusion Card Challenge of 2021! How quickly did that go?!

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

Which will you try?

This time I just went with the sketch.

The background stamp is by Studio Calico 'Scandinavian Christmas' and is one of my all-time fave stamps. It's always fun to colour and worked really well with the scalloped die. I added a sentiment and the bow to finish it off and match the sketch.

This super fun card got added to my stash :) and will be heading out to someone soon.

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 December 7th.

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today, Happy Thanksgiving to you, remember to take some time and tell your loved ones how grateful you are to have them in your life.

See you in January 2022.

Cx

Hey,

Welcome to the penultimate Fusion Card Challenge of 2021! 

How quickly has this year whipped by?!

This time we have a fun 'Bauble Triangle' theme for you. As always both the sketch and the inspiration image are awesome.

I went back to my normal ways for this card and fused both the sketch and the inspiration image.

I used the colours and the Christmas theme from the image as inspiration for my card. 

I had a different idea in mind, I was actually going to put the circles over the top of the grey and white panels, but I didn't love that! So I got out a fun die by Simon Says Stamp that cuts 3 circles in a row and that created the look I had envisioned!

I am a big fan of the Flora & Fauna sets that feature a VW Camper Van, they are always so quirky! And this one features various things for you to dress up your van with! I went with Antlers (of course). I mixed in the snowflake and the sentiment banner and I opted to keep them all black & white, as I think the red base that is showing through the circles makes them pop.

I used - Flora & Fauna 'Driving to the Holidays', Pink Fresh Studio 'December Days',  A-Muse Studio 'Ugly & Bright', Simon Says Stamp 'Tri-Circle' die and the papers are all from my stash.

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 November 23.

Cx

This set is by MFT 'Happy Llama Days' and I bought it second-hand because I loved it so much! How fun are these festive Llamas.

Hey,

Today is my last day of work until 4th January - whooooop!!

I thought I'd share a card that I made for JT last year, I loved the idea so much that I made a bunch of them this year.

The photo shows it without a sentiment - because I foolishly forgot to take a photo of them when I added it!

I love super easy cards like this. I started by smooshing a piece of watercolour card in a variety of green distress inks. Then I die-cut the wreath's from this piece of card. The smooshing means the wreath gets a range of colour and intensity, making it feel more like a real wreath.

I used gold mousse through a stencil to create the background and to match the background the fabulous Reindeer was die-cut from gold glitter paper.

They looked so nice and shimmery and were a bit unusual. I love to make non-traditional Christmas cards.

I used Ellen Hutson - Wreath Die. Altenew - Festive Silhouettes stamp and die set. Clearly Besotted - Falling Snow stencil. Nuvo - Indian Gold Mousse.

Cx

Hey,

Welcome to the last Fusion Card Challenge of 2020. 

I've really enjoyed being part of the team and I am looking forward to all the great things we have for you in 2021.

It's been a strange year, but I hope that we have kept your mind off of things with all the fun challenges. This time we are celebrating the holiday season..

Which will you try?

I loved both and wanted to fuse them, so it's a mini fuse if there is such a thing ;)

I think I might be the only person that doesn't have a Christmas Gnome set. I don't particularly like Gnomes.. So I went with a Santa instead and created a fun hand-stamped background for him, using a mix of ho ho ho stamps and some mini snowflake stamps.

I cut the hand-stamped panel slightly short and added red glitter strips at each end to mimic the sketch. An unexpectedly fun card for next year's stash (all my Christmas cards are complete and mailed as this goes live).

I used -

Avery Elle - Oh What Fun

Woodblock Ho Ho Ho stamp (the larger one)

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 December 8th.

See you in 2021 for the next Fusion Card challenge.

Cx

Hey,

Happy Friday! I am SO glad this work week is nearly over..

I recently stumbled across Tracey McNeeley's 25 Days of Christmas Tags..

I love tags, so it is surprising to me that I hadn't come across this before!!

I wanted to play along and the tags for Day 7 using Uniko products really are my faves so far!!

I don't have any Uniko products (that is about to change..) so I used what I had to CASE these tags by Lindsey Larsen - 

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

1st card from the tags, the Christmas papers, and the Christmas tree tags

But the rest of it was all very easy, I cut all the backgrounds and glitter circles at once. Then I stamped everything and then I affixed everything to the card blank, adding the wooden tags last.

I have asked my Momma to keep an eye out for the sale bargains again this year for me.

Cx