New Challenge at Rubber Dance

Yep, another month has rolled on by and so it's time for another Challenge over at the Rubber Dance blog.

Here's your swatch for this month - and your (optional) theme. Don't forget you can win a great big bundle of Rubber Dance stamps AND you don't have to use Rubber Dance stamps to enter.

I created a quick tag this month with a whimsical feel - a sort of forest sprite peering from amongst the leaves. I used the same technique on the leaves as for the wreath I posted yesterday - so follow the link there for a step-by-step. The background is simply stamped with the Burlap image from Rubber Dance and a speckly stamp that comes with the For the Birds set.

See you soon!

Katy x

I used these awesome Rubber Dance stamps:

STOP PRESS: A little gift for my readers - use code katy2015 to get 15% off your total order at Rubber Dance!!!

Burlap

I Love Leaves

Twiggy Leaves

For the Birds

Collage Mix

Rubber Dance Anniversary Challenge!

It's a very special challenge at Rubber Dance this month - because it's our one year anniversary! The (optional) theme is CELEBRATION and you can choose any of our colour schemes from the last 12 months.

You can win this fantastic prize of a big bundle of Rubber Dance stamps - well worth winning if I do say so myself!

My make for the challenge uses the January colour scheme. I made a tag which looks simple - but actually has a lot of layers.

I started by tearing a piece of scrap paper to leave a white area on the tag to be the 'snow'. I then inked over the whole tag with the scrap paper mask in place with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass. I then added some Faded Jeans towards the top of the tag.

I added snowflake stamps in white paint, then a spritz of Picket Fence Distress Spray Stain and more snowflake stamping in Faded Jeans. Finally I splatted the tag with watered-down white paint and painted the 'snow' with ColourArte Twinkling H20s to give it some sparkle. Mr Snowman is stamped onto the tag in Jet Black Archival Ink then again onto spare card and coloured with Distress Inks and a water brush, before being cut out. Finally I stamped the greeting at the bottom of the tag.

Hope you like it - good luck in the challenge!

Katy x

I used these gorgeous Rubber Dance stamps:

Winter Wonderland (designed by ME!)

Frosty Friends

Rubber Dancer

It's my turn to do a tutorial today over on the Rubber Dance blog. So if you'd like to find out how I made this card with vellum panel then pop on over!

I also created a little ATC using the same simple stamping method - this was created as a reminder for the Rubber Dance challenge - still lots of time to enter - the moodboard is below and the (optional) theme is In the Garden. Follow the link for all the info you need. Hope you can play along.

Bye for now,

Katy x

Another month - another Rubber Dance challenge!

Yep it's August already (anyone know where July went?) - which means it's time for another challenge at Rubber Dance! Our colours are bright and gorgeous this month - to celebrate the August sunshine! Our (optional) theme is In the Garden.

Click here for the full details. You could win this pile of gorgeous, wonderful rubber stamps!!!

For my challenge make I created a set of 4x4 mini cards using a variety of Rubber Dance stamps. I used a loose watercolour technique with Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry. I love this technique cos it doesn't matter if you go outside the lines!

I hope you'll join our challenge - can't wait to see what you make :)

Katy xA

Rubber Dance July Challenge Reminder

It's time for my mid-month Rubber Dance Challenge inspiration again. This month Bibi has shaken things up a bit and instead of a colour scheme you have a mood board to inspire you. Our optional theme is Travel & Vacation.

My creation is an ATC triptych using the travel theme. I started with three ATC-sized pieces of kraft card and joined them together, leaving a small gap between, with Idea-ology tape front and back.

I created my ATCs by first stamping the main images in Black Archival Ink then masking them and stamping backgrounds using the Vintage Postcard and hotel receipt stamps in Sepia Archival. I then added postage stamps and words in Cobalt Archival. I used permanent ink for my stamping as it doesn't run when you add wet media.

Finally I spritzed my ATCs lightly with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and heat dried the ink. Then I added a small amount of Blue Skies Glimmer Mist aiming towards the focal images in each case to further highlight them. Stick the ATCs to your background and you're done!

Best of luck in the challenge!

Am also entering this in the Country View Challenge July: Theme - On Your Travels

See you soon!

K x

Here are the rather lovely Rubber Dance stamps I used:

Travel

Envelope Stamps

Vintage Postcard

June Rubber Dance Challenge - Answers on a Postcard!

A little big of postcard art from me today - created for my Rubber Dance Challenge reminder post. 

If you'd like to play along with us you can find all the details here. And below is the colour swatch for this month, inspired by the seaside.

Sunny/sand yellow, ocean green and blue.

In addition to our colour scheme, our OPTIONAL theme for June is Sand & Sea

I used a lot of masking to create my postcard as obviously it needs to be pretty flat if you want to post it. When masking, make sure you stamp what is in the foreground first - in my case the retro bather stamp. I then masked her and stamped the 'postcard' image, and then masked that before adding the sun. 

For the shell cluster I stamped the starfish first, then used several masks for both the starfish and shells to make a cluster. I added the 'waves' (using the sand dune stamp from New Retro Beach upside down) with the masks still in place.

What you see in the photos is the finished card but after the stamping I masked everything so I could add Distress Inks to colour the background. When doing this use a dabbing motion rather than the usual blending technique to prevent the masks moving.

 I chose to colour my stamped images quite loosely, in keeping with the retro style (and if I am honest because I can't colour for toffee!!!). To finish I added letter stickers reading Wish You Were Here (and boy do I wish I was!).

I'm also entering my postcard in another challenge (you could do the same!) - Dunja's birthday challenge, which has this mood board as it's inspiration.

Good luck if you join us for the Rubber Dance challenge!

Katy xxx

I used these Rubber Dance stamps for my postcard:

Envelope Stamps

New Retro Beach

Take the Plunge (I designed these!)

Rubber Dance Colour Challenge

Hello again! It's Colour Challenge reminder day at Rubber Dance today and this time I made a tag card. I am often asked what to do with tags and a really simple way to use them is to create a card by attaching a second scored tag to the reverse - could not be easier!

April Colour Challenge Swatch

For this make I stamped a grey cardstock tag with a flourish stamp and layered it with a die cut image. The two bird stamps have been coloured with Coloursoft pencils from Derwent. I stamped the images in Archival Watering Can ink for a softer look - this also enabled me to colour over the central bird images in blue to give the impression of multi-coloured stamping. As the pencils are waxy if applied heavily they will obscure a paler colour underneath.

To add the texture element of the challenge I layered the stamped images with two depths of foam pads and finished with pearls and a length of dyed seam binding ribbon.

There's an amazing prize up for grabs over at the Rubber Dance Challenge - can't wait to see what you make!

Katy x

PS - Used the new Abandoned Coral Distress Ink for my ribbon - yummy!!!!!!!!

I used these awesome Rubber Dance stamps:

Vintage Birds

Flourishes

Rubber Dance March Challenge!

This is a make for the Rubber Dance Colour Challenge for March - theme is spring. The colour is scheme is not really me but I decided if I made green the focal colour it could work for a springtime journal page.

Rubber Dance Challenge colour scheme

My background is created with Brushos - if you haven't tried these they are great fun to play with. They are powder pigments and very inexpensive so the investment needed to try them is minimal. The results are largely unpredictable which frees up the process a little - you have little choice but to go with the flow! For this background I shook small quantities of the Brushos onto a background, adding water spray and more Brusho powder until happy with the look. I left the piece to dry naturally as I liked the way the colours had settled and didn't want to move them around too much with the heat gun.

The page is finished with plenty of stamping, firstly in complementary colours onto the background and then with Watering Can Archival Ink and white embossing around the edges. The quote that finishes the page is from Rubber Dance's Da Vinci set.

I'll definiately be playing with Brushos again. Thanks for stopping by and good luck if you play along with us at the Rubber Dance challenge!

Katy x

I used these lovely Rubber Dance stamps in my creation:

Weed Love

Round in Circles

Da Vinci

More flowers for the March RD Challenge

Challenge time again at Rubber Dance and I've gone floral again - the colour scheme definitely said flowers to me. Actually, I have to confess I am not totally happy with this card as the colour scheme this time is really not me - but it's supposed to be a challenge and I wasn't going to chicken out!

See what I mean??? Soooooooo not brown...

You can find all the Challenge deets on the RD Blog - awesome RD stamps to be won as always (PS we are quite a small challenge at the moment so more chance of winning! And you don't have to use RD products to be able to play along).

My background is created with PanPastels - I am very new to these and still exploring but I think I will come to love them. They blend really beautifully. For the flowers and bird, more practice with the Inktense pencils; one of the best things I ever added to my stash - they really are very forgiving for a rank amateur too!!!

Have fun if you decide to join us!

K xxx

I used these totally awesome RD stamps ;)

Vintage Birds

Antique Botanicals

Weed Love

Bold and Beautiful