Hey,

Hope you had a great 4th of July Holiday if you celebrate it. Hubby and I had lots of fun, our last weekend together for a while, as I am heading to London to see our families!

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

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

You know how much I love a sketch!

I decided to make a Valentine's card and I just so happened to have a bunch of scraps on my desk that were the right size for the sketch. So it got a bit pink there for a moment, but I fixed that by colouring the cute Dinos blue and blending the die-cut circle in blue!

 

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I'm super excited today, as tonight Hubby and I are off to the Opera, which was my Christmas gift from Hubby..I will be finally hearing Placido Domingo sing..

I have become obsessed with Alex Syberia's method of dot colouring..

I have been practicing, but essentially my versions look crap LOL!

Then I saw a post of Alex's where she used a Whale for her dotty colouring and I love Whale stamps and have a few, so I thought I'd give it a go and FINALLY it all clicked.

Mine are by NO means as awesome as Alex's, but it's a start and I am super happy with the end results.

You really have to try it and even if you don't, do check out Alex's work.

I used a ton of supplies..
Whale stamp/die by Recollections
Birthday Fishes sentiment by Waffle Flower
Fintastic Sentiment by Newtons Nook
Mini fish shoal by Kaisercraft
Single fish by MFT
Clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh
Stencil by Andy Skinner

Cx

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..

Hey,

I love The Paper Players challenges.

And this week's one spoke to me immediately as it would mean I could use x2 pieces of NBUS - yay!



So I know Cherries are not strictly berries, but I think I artistic licence is allowed ;)

The large Cherry stamp and die are from Michael's and I got them a couple of months ago on super bargain sale. The sentiment is by Studio Calico and is a bit shameful as I have had it since Black Friday 2017 and haven't used it...

It is discontinued now, so here is a photo of the set -


As the theme asks for CAS cards, this was super easy to put together, I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Cherries (Mrs Cherry has a touch of Spectrum Noir sparkle pen on..).

I used this as a guide for where my sentiment should go and I stamped parts of it using red ink.

Super easy, super fun for a Monday night card.

Cx

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!

I've had a good week on my own without Hubby. I've mainly been in the gym or at my desk..when I am not at work, no crazy nights out..

Today is a bit exciting as it is the start of both the 30 days of colouring AND ICAD 2018.. can't wait!

This week's CASology cue card had a lot of possibilities..


I thought it would be great to break out a stamp set I bought earlier this year - 'Bokeh Dots' by Ellen Hutson and Julie Ebersole.

I think the scribbly circles count as squiggles - right?

I bought the crazy Zebra embellishment last year in the Michael's Black Friday sale and forgot about them, until I came across them this week!

The sentiment felt like a perfect fit for this card and is by Gerda Steiner from the 'Llama Tell You' set.

A fun, easy to make card and I have x3 more Zebra's left, so I might make another one..

It also feels a teeny bit like a Tenia Nelson card..she is one of my craft crushes (swoon..)

Have a great weekend, I'll be gyming, lunching, playing at my desk.

And to quote Tenia..Werd!

Cx

Hey,

So I was making something for a friend and I stumbled across two great patterned papers I had forgotten about.

I thought it would be nice to make something using them, so they didn't get neglected again!

The main card today uses the constellation paper I found in my 'black' paper drawer. I think it is by Stampin' Up.

I thought orange would work well with it and so cut an orange mat and die-cut the sentiment by Lil Innkers out of orange card.

The next card is a teeny bit busy, but I still love it.

Don't you just love that busy leaf paper (by Recollections), feels like it would make great wallpaper and what you can't see here is that IRL the little dots are sparkly!

Again I went with orange as the accent colour and I think it really pops against the busy paper. The HB die is a freebie that I got with an English craft magazine - yeah you get FREEBIES..I miss English craft magazines..

Oh and the card blanks are my fave and JT gifts them to me all the time.

Two super simple makes, that have made another small dent in my patterned paper stash.

Cx

Hey,

I love Pink Fresh Studio, I discovered them last year and I can't stay away from their stamps.

I thought it would be fun to play along with their Monthly challenge for April -


You can follow just the sketch or just the colours OR combine them.

I opted to use just the sketch, but sadly until I started cropping my photo I didn't realise that I had got a bit of flare on the gold sentiment sticker and the card has already left my desk.

I decided to get creative and I KNEW that a couple of my Simon Says Stamp kits have a few PFS items.

I finally found the papers I was looking for, the black and white patterned piece, isn't it gorgeous! I added a duplicate size die-cut rectangle in black.

For the border I used a piece of pink embossed cardstock and added the great gold dot banner by Recollections.

I added a Squirrel die-cut because why not and I think he is by PFS..but I can't be sure. I added a fun stamped branch, this is a new to me stamp from 'Itty Bitty Elements' by PFS - which is going to be totally over used this weekend!!

To finish my card and turn it into the thank you I wanted I added a gold sentiment sticker from Hema.

I really love the card, it's not my usual style..but next month I'll be using more PFS items.

Cx

Hey,

A very good friend of mine used to live in California and whilst she was there she made some buddies and they call themselves 'The Pink Flamingo Club'.

Awesome name for a posse (pretty pleased to be a Honorary Member).

I saw on Instagram that she was heading to California for a visit, so I asked her if she wanted a little batch of Pink Flamingo Club cards.

The answer was yes!

I recently found a great 12x12 stack of Recollections papers that I had forgotten I owned (the shame), I thought it would be fun to use them here.

You know how you always get that sheet of 'project life' style cards, well I cut them all down and choose the 3 most suitable ones for use on these cards, then I stamped 'Pink Flamingo Club' onto them.

The background papers are all from the same set, the Pink Pineapples are my fave. I added a pink flamingo paper border strip to all of the cards.

I felt like they all needed more Flamingo! So I stamped, coloured and die-cut the Flamingo by Lawn Fawn. Much better.

Final touch was to add a bit of bling, I was going to colour them all, but I didn't love the green one (on the right) so left them as they came.

Fun cards for a fun friend.

Cx

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome Retro Rubber challenge.

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

I love the 'Skating By' set by Avery Elle, and I have had it since 2016, so I thought it would be fun to pull it out for this challenge.

I decided I'd go for bright neon-like colours for my card. I coloured all the stamps using Promarkers and touches of Spectrum Noir sparkle pens. I added some white gel pen dots to the girls skirt and bow.

I assembled the base of my card using some great Recollections papers - they are from a Christmas 2016 set that I got on sale and I love the brick and the sparkly pink together.

Once it was all assembled, I figured out where I wanted to stamp my sentiment and used a stamping platform to make sure it was in the right place.

I then added all the other elements to the card and a little flag with the rest of the sentiment.

I loved making this card, it was so much fun.

Over to you, to show us what you make and pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends April 6th.

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,

So Hubby and I don't really do Valentine's Day, I make him a card. He makes me a hideous card. The end.

But I love making Valentine's cards..so for the last few years I have been making 20 cards to send to my girl posse.

The main card is the one I made for Hubby. I could not resist the stamp set from Recollections at Michaels AND it was on super bargain sale and the silly pun made me LOL in the store.

I am super pleased with my Avocado colouring..not something I had ever thought I need to master, but I guess that is the joy of making things, new, weird things become necessary!

I stenciled some hearts onto a tag using Picked Raspberry distress ink, then I spritzed it with water to get the patchy effect you see, it looks better IRL. I added some foam tape to my die-cut Avocado's and voila! finished card.

I made two different batches of cards for the girls.


I am still cracking myself up about these cards. I had wanted the 'your boobs look awesome' stamp by Unity Stamp Co. for AGES and it finally went on sale..so it had to be done.

However when I sat down to make the idea I originally had, it didn't work as the stamp is actually quite large. So I went with my default creative solution..add a monster!

The Valentine's stickers are very old and are Pink Fresh Studio and they came in a SSS cardkit (let's not talk about me on my hands and knees under my desk, looking for the right kit in the dark at 10pm when I remembered about them..)

I made 14 of the ones above and the final 6 cards were my original Valentine's plan (before the boob stamp came into my life).


As this is the year for me to use my vast patterned paper stash, I went through it all and pulled out as many Valentinesy papers as I could find. I die-cut them with the awesome wonky stitched dies by Lil Inkers and then I put the offcuts in the recycling bin..NO MORE SCRAPS.

I stamped and die-cut the Cactus by Jillibean Soup and stamped the 'free hugs' sentiment that came with the set. I added the Valentine's stickers here too and there are still some left!!

A fun assortment of Valentine's cards for my people..

Always nice to share the love.

Cx

Hey,

So I found out late on Monday that I was the Grand Prize winner over at the Bugaboo 8th Birthday Bash!!

I am gobsmacked, not only do I get $130 prize for the Bugaboo shop, but I also get to be GDT for 4 months - yay!!

AND if that wasn't enough I also won the main prize for the Day 1 Birthday Bash challenge.

AWESOME!!!

Isn't it great when happy news comes at a time when you are struggling.

So to celebrate I am playing along with Bugaboo's current sketch challenge -


I won the last Bugaboo anything goes challenge and so I decided I would use one of my new stamps that I bought with my winnings.

Bug Girl Sitter with Cat is very cute. I printed and cut it using my Silhouette. I love that I can do this with Bugaboo stamps.

I coloured her using Promarkers and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens.

I wanted the girl and the cat to look like they were on a wall, so pulled out a piece of Recollections fancy brick style paper.

I die-cut the 'frame' using a Lil Inkers die and then I hand-cut the aperture, so that you could see the wall through it. So that it fit the sketch, I added a piece of acetate - 2 layers, but one being clear!

Particularly pleased with my genius idea here..

I die-cut Avery Elle pennants for the small ones you can see and I added a stamped and punched sentiment banner. I thought the sentiment was perfect for the card. It's by Market Street Stamps, I don't think they are around anymore, I bought a bunch of their stuff second hand last year.

Super cute and perfect for my Aunt.

Cx

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)

Hey,

So as part of this week's colouring for the 30 day challenge, I decided to incorporate my Christmas card making, which has been a bit lax with the various trips!

I decided it was time to break out Christmas 2016 NBUS - Neat & Tangled 'Merry & Bright Ornament' set, I played with it at Cheiron's Holiday card extravaganza last year and bought it, but I had finished my cards by then.

I stamped the ornament, and then die-cut it. Sadly you lose the shoulder text when you die-cut it. I chose super bright colours (Promarkers), as I wanted to use more of the Michael's coloured paper squares.

The centres are coloured with a yellow Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I am loving these right now. I tried the Nuvo glitter pens on a few, but they are so thick they over the black sentiment.

I popped up the ornaments for a bit of dimension and to separate from the bright backgrounds.

They really pop and I love them and I ended up with 7 cards - sweet.

Cx

Hey,

Happy Monday..

I recently started a new art journal. It's smaller and landscape, as you can see.

I love my original journal, but I wanted this one to be more structured. Don't get me wrong, I still want to apply paint / ink / stuff randomly, but I thought an overall theme would be nice.

The background to this first spread inspired me to add the lyrics from a cartoon called Sealab (truly odd), Hubby and I love the theme tune and weirdly sing it all the time!

So I thought, why not make this a lyrics journal?

Here are a few more of my spreads..

I Know You, I Live You by Chaka Khan

Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Fashion! by David Bowie

They are so easy to produce, I can't stop! There are actually a few more than these ones! I love interpreting the lyrics in different ways and it is fun thinking about what lyrics I should play with..

Way too many supplies to list here, if you are curious about anything leave me a comment and I'll reply.

Cx

Hey,

So last weekend I managed to get my hand on these awesome Hipster stamps by Tim Holtz..

I love them, they are so weird!

I promptly created x5 cards (one for a friend and a set for another friend).

They don't need much work, stamp and simple colouring. I added fun words from other stamp sets as well as using the sentiments that came with the set.

The white panel was die-cut using an MFT wonky stitched die and I coloured the Hipsters using Distress Inks and an aquabrush.

Here is a closer look at one of them -



Love these, more of these being made this week.

Cx

Hey,

When JT leaves me comments, I take note of them.

Sometimes this means keeping an eye out for an item she liked or is coveting..it's helpful for birthday, etc.

When I posted this card, she said she loved the Alligator. So I stamped and die-cut a bunch of them for her and make her this card.

The card blank is by Recollections and I die-cut an ancient piece of DCWV glittery patterned card stock using a Lil Inker die. I wanted it to be fun and mixing patterns achieves this easily for me!

I love this set by Avery Elle (Band Camp), I wanted it for AGES, I was lucky that it went on sale at Scrapbook.com at the start of the year.

It is so much fun to colour, I keep getting it out and stamping the entire set and colouring all the images.

I like it when I can send JT unexpected happy mail.

Cx

Hey,

Happy Valentine's Day.

A rare second post for me.

I love to make Valentine's cards..even though I think VDay is a nonsense, I can say I love you all year round!

The main photo today shows all the cards I made, most are sets of 4. I wanted to send cards to all the lovely people that have helped me get back on my feet and stay positive following my surgery and the subsequent complication.

I used so many different products by great companies, it was a lot of fun to dig through my stash. The writing out was tedious though...I always forget about that part LOL.

Here are a few of them close-up.

Constellation, using an idea by Debby Hughes, stamps by Simon Says Stamp, Hero Arts and Clearly Besotted

Monster-ous Valentines, using stamps by Your Next Stamp and Simon Says Stamp and adhesive googly eyes and a lot of masking for the sentiment. Thank god for the Misti.

Viking Valentine's, using Avery Elle Stamps and Lil Inker and Spellbinder dies

Cx