Retro Play Dates!

mmm retro play dates....what do you think would involve-dressing up in 'bell bottom' jeans, listening to rockabilly music and eating loveheart sweets??? Not too sure really-what do you think a retro play date would be like-only clean answers will be accepted!!

My card today is not retro in anyway but was inspired by the sketch this week on Retro Sketches. I do like their sketches although I think this week has to be the one I have liked best. Here it is:

 

When I saw this I knew what I wanted to do but the challenge came when I decided to use the colour combo of cotton candy, ruby, cirtus and dusk from The Play Date. All o.k except the dusk but eventually I found a dusk button in my stash.

I stamped the pink flowers and cut them out then raised them with foam pads to give the card some dimension. If you look really closely you will see I have used my linen impression plate AGAIN. I must pull myself away from this but when you love something you just do.......at least it is not cream cakes, whiskey or cigars. Although I might be addicted to them and you will never know as we live in the 'virtual' world of blogging!!

Off to watch Murray at Wimbeldon now and just maybe I may pour a whiskey, light up a cigar and munch on a cream cake......or will I????

stamps: PTI 'garden of life', Paper smooches 'sentiment sampler'
ink: memento dandelion, tuxedo black and whispers grand cranberry
gems and button from stash
Linen impression plate PTI

Lost balls!

Now be honest, have you ever walked into a room and then can't remember what you came in for??? Yep, happens to me often and as I get older I think it is happening more and more!!

Well imagine if you were a golfer and the older you got the harder is was to remember where you left your balls. And a man with no balls is not much good (is he girlies??).

My card today is for a man fast approaching his 80th Birthday and I am not sure if he really does forget where his balls are when playing around (bad pun I know!) but thought this card would make him giggle.

I used the sketch from this weeks challenge on Fetch A Sketch. I will be entering into the Cards for Men 'sports with a sentiment' challenge and the Cutie Pie 'one for the boys' challlenge.

I got to use the retro papers from 'stampin' up and the image is a digi from Bugaboo Stamps. I used my promakers to colour the image although not sure that lilac coloured flags are ever seen on a golf course??

I have just finished my first week of posting everyday and hope it has not been too much for you. I was only able to do this as I had a few bursts of creativity......I didn't craft everyday unfortunately just scheduled posts as the week went along. Still I feel like I have achieved something and deserve a Friday night G and T.

Have a good weekend x

U Rock!

Happy Thursday, or Friday-Eve as it seems to be called in blogging land!

Just popping in with a quick card today. I made this card after seeing this photo on Jay Gees Nook




What stood out for me was the grey brick work and the chevron detail of the framed photo, both seen in the main picture. Plus I do love this combo of colours which is very close to Colourq's challenge. I have stuck to Colourq's actual challenge colours and designed my card with Jay Gees picture in mind.

I decided to have a go at stamping the chevrons and stars across the card and centre paper then lifting the centre card on foam pads. It was a bit tricky to get it all lined up but I think I almost managed it.....a bit wonky in a few places and I assure you I was only drinking peppermint tea, no Gin at this time!!

Have a rocking day x

Used in my card:
PTI chevron stamps
Papersmooches sentiment sampler stamps
Craft Meow's retro foundation stamps
Memento inks-dandelion, london fog, bahama blue
Whispers ink-grand cranberry
Ribbon stash

Runway Shoes!

Here is Runway Inspired challenge photo for this fortnight:

When I saw this photo I fell in love with the shoes and the mix of colours. When I was thinking of a card inspired by this photo I wanted to use my gorgeous shoe stamps but everything I tried I didn't like. So I went back to the DT cards and saw how they had all gone for the colour blocking and how striking it looked. I particularly liked Angeline Yong's card here. I was inspired by her card and came up with my version here:

I have used a PTI impression plate on the main card stock (the back of the linen plate) and actually used the linen plate on the blocks of card........I think these impression plates are becoming a bit of an obsession (I had admired cards made using them for ages and now I have my own I can't stop using them!).
The sentiment is from Paper Smooches

Enjoy your day x

Retro Birthday!

Last week the sketch challenge on Retro Sketches out challenged me! I wish I had managed it, however this week the sketch easier for me to tackle. Here is the sketch:



I had a 70th Birthday card to do for a guy so decided to use my new 'retro designer series paper' from Stampin' Up. I love the retro look of this paper and it is so perfect for a guy and a retro challenge!!

I have mixed and matched a number of stamps to construct the sentiment-the 'alphadot' and 'sentiment sampler' from paper smooches and the license plate set from 'stampology'.

This card is for overseas so needed to be pretty flat so I have just slightly raised the 70 on foam pads...well when you get to 70 you deserve to show off!!

Please note...........it is not a CAS card!! I went against my natural desire to make all things CAS. I had a lot of fun mixing papers, stamps and inks.......but boy, does it take some time!! Still I am pleased with how it comes out and love the retro look!!

Have a fun and happy day x

Cas-ual Pink Diva!

At the end of last week I spent some time blog surfing to get new ideas and inspiration. I had a lot of fun and was amazed at how many super creative people there are out there and how much passion there is to share our love of all things crafty.
Whilst surfing away I came across a card I loved on A Passion for Papertrey. The cards was by one very talented crafter Cara. You can check out her blog and her card here. The card I loved was her second flower card and I decided I would 'case' this card for the 'pretty in pink' challenge set by Cas-ual Fridays.
I am a 'purple loving' girl but for many years I was an 'all things pink' girl. So I do love a pink challenge! I also wanted to enter a new challenge for me on Divas Design, here they challenged us 'to die for' (use a die cut). I just had to link pink and diva.........and why not!!

To start I die cut the bold pink flower then used a mix of 'the garden of life' stamps from PTI to make the flowers in different shades of pink. The centre one I have cut out and layered onto the die cut-this has 'angel pink' memento ink in the centre. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches. I used the PTI linen impression plate although it seems my photo has not shown this! And to finish a few different shades of pink gems.......and you have a 'pink diva' card.........I already know which one of my diva friends is getting this!!

Celebrate in Style!

Yesterday was a very 'inky' Saturday for me. I spent the afternoon crafting away. And today I am here to share one of my cards. A very CAS design but I have to say I do love how it turned out.
I wanted to do a card for the 'black, white and a splash of blue' challenge over on The Play Date Cafe.  I loved the blue used in their inspiration picture below and wanted to see if I could get something close to this-my memento 'bahama blue' ink works pretty, see what you think??

I will also enter this into the Ruby's Rainbow's 'black, white and one other colour' challenge.

I have used PTI's linen impression plate but my photo doesn't seem to show this. I used this sentiment as I wanted it to reflect the elegant feel of the card.
I can see this being a nice and easy card to replicate for other occasions when you need to make a card at the last minute.
The stamps are all from PTI's 'big and bold wishes'

Not sure today will be so 'inky' as hubby is contaminating our crafting space with work.....he has a deadline and has to work at home and unfortunately has to do this in our little creative space......the work vibes give me 'crafter's block'!!

Guess I will go to my allotment and see if my beets are ready to harvest!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend x

And Breathe!

At last its the weekend and time to de-stress and recover from a busy week.
And my card today is for all of you who enjoy de-stressing in a Yoga class......not my thing but I know so many people who swear it keeps them sane!

I have been asked to do quite a few Yoga cards and yesterday I eventually got down to it. I hunted for a sketch and found the perfect one on Feeling Sketchy. I used my yoga silhouettes from My grafico and decided to do 3 different poses and colours. Here is the one I like best:

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and I decided to stamp it vertically as it seemed to fit with this yoga pose.
.

And here are the other 2 using the same sketch:

Have a good Saturday x

Sunny London

Sun and more sun today and best to enjoy it as we have 4 days of rain to look forward to!

Today my card is for the 'acetate/vellum' challenge this week at CAS-ual Fridays and the colour combo challenge at Colourq.

I eventually found a small piece of pale blue vellum in my stash. I have not used this before and was not sure what to do with it. But I have used my sizzlits leaf die a few times recently and just had a go to see if it would work on vellum-and yep, it did!
And here is what I came up with:

As you can see I have used my wood grain PTI impression plate and my new paper smooches sentiment.

If the sun is with you today......enjoy!

A very big thank you

Today my card is a thank you card for some one who over the last 6 years has helped me through many tough times. She has listened to me and always helped me and I believe I am in a better place now because of her care. She is moving away and this sad but a great opportunity for her. Today I made this card for her:

Yesterday I watched this tutorial on Nichole Heady's blog-capture the moment. It was a lesson on 'bordered sentiments' and the theme of this week's 'Make it Monday' challenge. So I decided to give it a go using PTI  mehndi medallion stamps and paper smooches sentiment sampler. I went with the paper smooches sparks colour combo challenge. I added some lavender ribbon as borders to my sentiment, some matching coloured gems and rounded the right hand corners.

So not only have I learnt a new technique but made a card that I hope conveys the thanks I feel to this special person. 

Just a quick post today to share with you a tag I made to go on a present (a set of notelets I made earlier this week) for a friend. I was suddenly inspired to make this tag as I wrapped her present because the paper was just so gorgeous. An idea popped into my head and 15 mins later the tag was done-nice and easy but I had a lot of fun making it. I will have to try this again as I just loved this finishing touch.......I didn't write on the back so she could re-cycle it....and she is going to!!
So this really was a home made present-next time perhaps I should go with making a gift bag or decorating some plain paper. It makes it a real joy giving a present to someone when you have made it all yourself......as I am sure many of you know!

Here is the tag:

And here it is with the paper that inspired it!

See how gorgeous the paper is and I love how my tag works with it!

I will be entering this into the following challenges:
Great Impressions Stamps-die cuts
Ruby's Rainbow-tags

Have a good day-the weekend is nearly here x

Mix and Match

Happy Tuesday,

Raining again in London and it is set to be with us all week. The good thing is that this is perfect crafting weather and yesterday I stayed inside and got inking playing with my new stamps. I decided to have a go at mixing and matching stamps from different companies to see if I could make my own pattern. I used my new Craft's Meow  'retro foundations stamps' and PTI  'basic background chevrons' rubber stamps.

If you read my blog yesterday you will see that I tried to enter the Embellish Colour Challenge but used last week's colours so this time I double checked and did the right colours!! I used these as my base. I did find it quite a challenge as I usually just like 3 colours. But it was a day for trying new things and so I was determined to have a go! And although this is not my best card I have did achieve what I had set out to do and had fun doing it..........and that is what it is really is all about!!

And here is what I came up with, a fun Birthday card:

Well I had better get myself out today and at least have a walk and do some food shopping......can't let the British weather defeat us!!

Have a good day x

Polka Retro Birthdays

Just popping quickly with another card that will be going into a box of notelets.

Today I used Cas-ual Fridays polka dot challenge. I have added a retro twist to my polka dot using one of my new Craft Meow's retro foundations stamp. I coloured in the dots with promakers using the colours from the Colour Trend Embellishment challenge-a new challenge for me, although I have been looking at this challenge for a few weeks, this is the first time I have had a go. Ooops when looking back on the challenge I have now realised that I have used last weeks colours.......so this won't be going into this challenge-I will have to try again!

I added a few extra dots and gems to follow my twist on the 'polka dot' theme and ended by adding texture using PTI linen impression plate.

A CAS card that is great for a notelet pack and even better as I got to play with a few more of my new stamps!
I am also going to enter this into the 'Happy Birthday' challenge at Lexis Creations

London Days meets London Fog!

Before I explain the title of today's post I want to share some photos taken yesterday at the opening of our Community Allotment project. As a community we raised money to design and build an allotment in our local park. It was designed by students form the American Intercontinental University in London. The design is based around how agriculture developed years ago along the River Nile.

From the first photo you will see the wooden allotment boxes are built off a wooden aqueduct and water butt in cased in recycled wood. The water rolls down the aqueduct and feeds each box.

We came together yesterday to celebrate the official opening-the Mayor and a number of council and MPs attended. The last photo is of Sarah-our Chair, Claire-our Deputy Chair, and myself-the Treasurer and fundraiser.......we think we are Charlies Angels!!
A fun day. And in the evening Callum and I enjoyed a salad of radishes and spinach that I had grown in our box!!

         



And now-why London days meet London Fog?? Well to be honest it is just because it is the first time I have used my memento ink called 'London Fog', purchased because I loved the name! And as my blog is called London days I thought that was a cool title (OK sad, I know!!)

My card today is a monochromatic black card using memento black tuxedo and London fog inks and both PTI sentiments and the mehndi medallion stamps and matching gems.
It is to go in a box of notelets for my friend's Birthday.

I here is the set of 3 to go in the pack. The same design with different colour combos and sentiments:

I will be entering my London Fog notelet into the monochromatic challenges on the following sites:

Card Crafters Circle.
4 Crafty Chicks.
Crop Stop

Congratulations Tim and Kerry!

On Thursday we went to another wedding. This time our friend Tim was getting married to Kerry. It is the first time I have met Kerry. She is gorgeous, full of life and very loving......a perfect match for Tim. Here they are signing the register:

It rained all day but we had a great time and were so pleased to be part of their very special day.

My card today is for the challenge this week at The Play Date Cafe. I haven't done a colour challenge for a while and decided today was the day to have another go. I went straight to this challenge as I do like the colour combo's they use.  This week the combo is Aquamarine, Poolside and Clay. And here is my card using these colours:

It is my friend's Birthday on Wednesday I wanted to make a set of notelets for her. She has a lot of family and friends abroad so I wanted to make them easy to send in the post. I will be making 2 more with this design but different colours and sentiments. Then I will be making 3 of a different kind (yet to be designed!).
I have used the Mehndi Medallion rubber stamp from PTI with memento potters clay, Bahama blue and tuxedo black inks. I added a couple of gems in matching colours for some bling!!

Enjoy your weekend x

Bold and Bright

Today I wanted to make a card for the sketch challenge on just us girls but, before I got down to it, I decided to check out this week's challenge on runway inspired. Have a look at the inspiration photo......

How cool is this!!  I just love this bold and bright houndstooth pattern and decided I had to combine both challenges to make this card:



 
I loved the card by one of the DT, Jennifer Rzasa (see her card here). I used her idea of colouring part of the pattern in the colours from the photo. I just stuck with the yellow and blue using my promakers and stamped the some pink card stock using 'wild rose' everyday sentiments. Added a couple of gems in keeping with the colour scheme.I mounted it on some card I embossed with this dotty design as I thought this went well with the overall feel of the card.

I loved making this card, it feels kinda of 70s funky to me!

All 'tied' up today!

Happy Tuesday to you.

Today my card has been inspired by a couple of challenges. Firstly, this picture on Virginia's blog:

And the 'trend watch' challenge-prints are charming-at paper smooches sparks. And finally lexis creations challenged us to make a card 'for the man in our lives'

Here is what I came up with:

I used the  paper smooches digi 'tie' image and printed it on brightly coloured patterned paper and just lined them up, like the coloured cellos, added a blue button on top of a yellow button and you have a Birthday card for the 'man in your live'.

Hope the rest of your day goes well x

Bags of fun!

I hope all of you in Britain are enjoying the Jubilee and for those of you who are not on our little Island I hope you are not working too hard!

I have gone for a fun, girly card for the Case Study challenge this week.

I liked the over sized circle on Aga's card this week plus the basic layout so decided to use this as a base to start my own version. I had intended to do a flower card but when going through my stamps I came across this handbag stamp and sentiment from personal impressions (never used before!) As I have a few girly Birthday cards to make I decided to go with this:

I have been admiring the 3 dot pattern that my cousin Lynn stamps on some of her cards and had a go with my own twist of using a gem as my third 'dot'. You can see how Lynn has used her '3 dot' design on her post here. I have used the 'dot' from PTI 'garden of life' stamps.

The result a cute, girly card using a new stamping design and a couple of forgotten new stamps!

Hello Sunshine!

Today it is raining..........not a good sign for our weekend of celebration! But yesterday the 1st June, I realised I hadn't made my 'June' calender topper. Thought it might be bad luck not to get it done so got to work crafting.
I have for a while been admiring the font used on Paper Smooches sentiments and am pleased to say that I have a package coming from across the pond (thanks to coz Lynn) and will have my own set very soon.

But when blog surfing this week I saw Jackie's card for the 'picture perfect' challenge at Paper Smooches Sparks. I loved this cute card and when I checked out the website I noticed you could use some of their freebies to enter the challenge. So, as I await my package of goodies, I used the 'hello sunshine' sentiment, along with the 'smiley sun' for my card.

The inspiration (see photo below) came from the plates on the wall-these are represented by my PTI cloud dies, and the sun. Plus I just loved the bright blue of the piano so I used this as my sky.
A simple but, I think, cute topper for my calender......plus I got to use the font I have been drooling over for a while now!! And hopefully, as done before the sunset on 1st June, no bad luck for me.

And here is the inspiration photo:

Have a fun weekend x

Lets Celebrate the weekend!

We have a weekend of celebrations ahead and my card today reflects how my Family and I will be celebrating!

Not only is it the Queen's Jubilee but my Mum's 70th so it will be a weekend full of celebration and a few glasses of Champagne!!

I was thinking of a suitable card for the 'Jubilee' challenge on a passion for papertrey and then I saw the 'Bling' CAS card challenge on Cas-ual Fridays and just knew the card I wanted to do.

Just indulge me for a few moments whilst I explain the background thinking behind my choice of crafting today.

Firstly on holiday I was thinking about what card I could make for my Uncle Tony's Birthday (not until August but a girl likes to be prepared) and I had come up with the idea of this card.

Secondly when I was chatting with my Mum yesterday she was telling me how my Tony had arrived with quite a few bottles of pink champagne for our weekend of fun-Tony does love his Champagne!

And then this morning I saw the challenge on Cas-ual Fridays and immediately thought of this card.

When I started to make it I felt that I needed to add some texture so decided to use the PTI linen impression plate........and yep, you got it.......It dawned on me that this was the 'Jubilee' card for the challenge on a passion for papertrey especially as this is how we will be spending the Jubilee!!

Funny how it all comes together some days.
So if you are still with me, I hope you like my card and cheers to all this weekend!!

The sentiment is from Ceate with TLC