It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I have the honour of being our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that I designed for your inspiration: 

I took the first column and used the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch layout - this time for a much better attempt at clean and simple than my card earlier this week - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I paired some retired sunny yellow gingham check paper with a raindrop background and a bright umbrella punched from the Pleased As Punch designer series paper - I do love a paper that can be punched into lots of bits and pieces with a co-ordinating punch - and a sentiment from the 'Under My Umbrella' stamp set on a stitched rectangle. The weather here is mostly rain of late, but occasionally we get a glimpse of spring sunshine so it was nice to capture that in today's card! 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Under My Umbrella Bundle (English) (£28.75)

Pleased As Punch Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)

Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

I've been working lots with the honey bee bundle lately as it's one of the sets that will feature at my luxury residential craft retreat this weekend and whilst it was out on my desk I made a quick card for the current theme challenge over at Addicted to CAS that also uses this great sketch from the Inkspire-Me team (they have an optional colour element too but I opted out):

I thought this bee would be a good thing to use for the code word of 'symmetry' since it is pretty symmetrical and the trio of bees as per the sketch further emphasises this I think - take a look:

No real explanation required on this one, other than I stamped and diecut three bees, added some yellow to them with my Daffodil Delight Blends markers and then finished with some clear Wink of Stella on their wings - which looks so sparkly in real life, but try as I might I could not capture in my photo. A simple sentiment and bee-inspired base and mat complete my card.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Honey Bee Bundle (£38.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

As promised, today I have Sale-A-Bration news for you! I know how much you've all been enjoying the benefits of the Sale-A-Bration promotion; as if it couldn't get any better I just wanted to let you know that from today there are some new items being added to the selection of products that can be earned free, both with a £45 order and two stamp sets that can be yours with a purchase of £90 or more. You can click on the image below to download the flyer:

So what's new? There is the silver and rose-gold foiled Flowering Foils Specialty papers - you can check them out in this video here from the Stampin' Up! Home Office:

 Aren't they gorgeous? These papers are sure to be popular!

 There is a great masculine stamp set called 'Well Dressed', perfect for easy masculine projects:

There is some coloured and embossed vellum 'So Very Vellum' that is perfect for dressing up your projects:

Each of the above products can be yours FREE with a £45 product purchase.

In addition, there are two stamp sets that are available with a £90 spend. The first is a stamp that coordinates with the Label Me Fancy and Label Me Lovely punches called 'Tags in Bloom':

Finally, there is the 'Rise and Shine' stamp set that co-ordinates with the carryover Cup of Cheer Dies:

As with the other items in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue (with the exception of the Kerchief Card Kit which is now sold out), these items will be available from now until the end of the Sale-A-Bration period, 31st March whilst stocks last. You can see full details for each of the new product on the new Sale-A-Bration flyer via the link above and there will be more samples made with each of them over on my Facebook page today.

If you would like more information or to place an order, either go here to purchase from my online store (don't forget to add this month's hostess code C3HMK9CP) or click on the links below. Alternatively or you can email me or telephone me if you would prefer. Back shortly with a new creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Links to the new Sale-A-Bration items in the online store: 

Flowering Foils Specialty Designer Series Paper (£0.00)

Rise & Shine Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)

Well Dressed Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)

So Very Vellum Specialty Designer Series Paper (£0.00)

Tags In Bloom Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)

Happy Monday everyone! I need to have a productive week this week - my to-do list is long! - this week's post maybe a little short and sweet - so let's go!

I still had the 'Welcome Easter' stamp set out on my desk having made this card last week, so decided to use the colours over at Just Add Ink where I haven't managed to play along in a while (hello lovely JAI ladies!) and this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout from the lovely Brian King and an altogether different look to create a sweet baby card - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I grabbed a piece of Pleased As Punch DSP for the pink check layer and added a horizontal piece with a stitched diecut border detail before anchoring with my bunny. I stamped him on Shimmery White cardstock in Smoky Slate, then used my aquapainter to colour him in, keeping the colours soft and muted and layered on a scalloped circle.

Now whilst I used the CAS(E) This Sketch layout, I may well get thrown out with this card as I broke my own clean and simple rule here - not only did I add a sprinkle of adhesive-backed sequins, but I also tied the Soft Sea Foam panel with a piece of Whisper White crinkle seam binding ribbon! In my defence, this ribbon is so soft and lightweight, it squishes to nothing (good for cards that need to be mailed!) and I kind of figured since it was a new baby card, a little embellishment makes it special. Not much of a defence to Brian and the CTS design team - if it helps, I used this sketch for another card that I'm going to share later in the week that is perfectly CAS in everyway, as Mary Poppins would say. 

So what do you think - is that little guy sweet or what?! He reminds me of Thumper from the Disney classic 'Bambi', (another Disney reference - not that I'm counting down to a special vacation to the happiest place on earth or anything...) but I digress...! 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with some exciting Sale-A-Bration news so do come back to find out more. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Welcome Easter Cling Stamp Set (English) (£19.00)	Pleased As Punch Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Layering Circles Dies (£33.00)	Stitched Be Mine Dies (£33.00)	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£9.25)
Aqua Painters (£16.00)	Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon (£7.00)	Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins (£6.50)

Today it's Sunday and it's also the first of March - happy St David's Day to all my fellow Welsh men and women! It's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Anne Marie to host this week and she has a theme challenge for you to work with:

 I am in a bit of a clean and simple card making groove of late - and today I have another CAS creation for you. I decided to take this week's sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches and make another Easter card - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Turn Up The Heat - Do you remember the first time you practised heat embossing? It's one of those techniques that is always a real 'wow' as you turn on your heat gun and see the powder turn into molten metallic magic on your stamped image. It adds such a great shine to projects and a raised edge that makes it easy to colour inside too. If you look at the close up photo below you can see the dimension and shine that it adds:

My top tip for a neat effect and minimal splatter when heat embossing is to always rub your cardstock with an embossing buddy before you stamp your image in Versamark and sprinkle with your embossing powder; this will keep the powder where you want it and not cause it to stick in areas where it isn't required.

Crocus Colours - The colour scheme on today's card is inspired by the most common traditional crocus colours: a warm honey yellow, bright purple and pale yellow. I used a Highland Heather base - I embossed the front using my Subtles Embossing Folder - and coloured my flowers using Highland Heather, Mango Melody and So Saffron Stampin' Blends markers to compliment my gold heat embossing.

Easter Promise - The stamp set I used today is called 'Easter Promise' and has both sentiments and these gorgeous crocus flowers that are perfect for celebrating Easter. I heat embossed the trio of crocus and then used my largest Stitched Circle Die to create a partial diecut around them (that's the 'hat' shape on the sketch!) and I then heat embossed my sentiment and fussy cut it so that I could position it where I wanted it. I also decorated the envelope front and back and the inside of my card and continued with the heat embossing and colouring theme:

For a CAS card it took a little while with all of the heat embossing and colouring, but it was so worth it - this card is so, so pretty! Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; I will be spending the day at home escaping the winds and rain and hoping to get some quality time in my craft room in between catching up on household chores and making sure the youngest of the James Juniors is prepared for this week's mock Common Entrance examinations - not much then!  I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Easter Promise Cling Stamp Set (English) (£18.00)	Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Mango Melody Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	So Saffron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pumpkin Pie Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Granny Apple Green Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)