Today I'm sharing a quick card I made using both the sketch and photo inspiration over at Inspired By Challenges:

When I saw the pretty abstract pattern on the pillows of Lauren's inspiration sketch I knew I had just the paper to make a quick no-stamping card - take a look:

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

The retired Abstract Beauty papers had a similar pattern so I cut out a stitched square, along with another from the pack for the offset layer, and paired them with a pre-coloured card base and diecut sentiment:

These 'Wanted to Say' Dies are so useful for a quick sentiment - the gold diecut stars that I added are also from this die set, one of a number of useful extra bits and pieces in this set in addition to the sentiment dies. Whilst the card bases are no longer available, the Abstract Beauty papers are still available - they are currently on the Clearance Rack for just £5.60 a pack - bargain! 

Another quick, no-stamping card to add to my exam congratulations stash!

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:

ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (5.60)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the right hand column with yellow, diecut and floral and used the Sketch Saturday layout to make a bright and colourful wedding anniversary card - take a look:

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

I was rather pressed for time this week and I needed a wedding anniversary card, so I grabbed some retired Abstract Beauty designer paper for my torn layer and used the colours as the inspiration for the rest of my card: 

The 'Love For You' stamp set and dies did all the heavy lifting on this one and I finished by mounting the whole thing on a Crushed Curry card base with a couple of gold gems to decorate. This is rather bright and colourful, but I think it still works for a modern anniversary card. This one is headed to my brother- and sister-in-law who are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary next week. I could have gone with a more traditional silver to celebrate this milestone, but they are anything but a typical couple so I think this card suits them perfectly!

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: 

LOVE FOR YOU DIES (ENGLISH) (30.00)	LOVE FOR YOU PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)
METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Samantha has asked that we frame a sentiment as the focal point and decorate with two additional elements. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I also took my inspiration from the deep blue of the sofas in the Time Out inspiration photo, along with the touches of gold and collections of things in twos - take a look:

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

For today's card I reached for my Abstract Beauty Cards and the co-ordinating Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack - these are so great for quick cards and I knew I had everything there that I needed. My card base is pre-printed with a Night of Navy watercolour-effect background (and the envelope co-ordinates too - see the photo at the bottom of the post!) I cut a hexagon shape using my Beautiful Shapes Dies and partially inked one of the stamps in the new 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set so that I could isolate and stamp the word 'hello'. I popped this up on dimensionals, decorated with a couple of the flowers and leaves from the ephemera pack and added some (retired) gold gilded gems and Pumpkin Pie sequins from my stash to complete my card: 

Quick and easy! Sometimes this kind of card making feels a little like cheating, when it all comes together so smoothly - but these kinds of cards are great when you are pressed for time and still allow for creativity, so no complaints from me! The Abstract Beauty Cards and Envelopes and the Ephemera Pack are currently on sale, reduced by 50% and 30% respectively until the end of the month when they retire - double bargain! The perfect time to stock up - just click on the links at the bottom of the post to go straight to the online store.

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; mine will be a busy one, with a considerable amount of baking going on in readiness for tomorrow's birthday celebrations - we are treating the whole of Sixth Form at school! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£4.20)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY CARDS & ENVELOPES (£4.62)

BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)

SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday where this week we are celebrating 'National Best Friends Day' which is on June 8th.

Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used feminine, pink, sparkle and patterned paper along with the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout and this is what I came up with:

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

Abstract Beauty - I made a simple card today using two contrasting pieces of Abstract Beauty designer series paper: an abstract background and a bright, floral central strip. These papers are sized perfectly for A5 cards. I chose a couple of flowers and some leaves from the co-ordinating ephemera pack that complimented the floral strip to decorate my sentiment oval. 

Full of Love - The sentiment on my card comes from the new 'Full of Love' stamp set. I stamped it on the swirly rectanglular diecut from the Beautiful Shapes Dies set from the same suite:

Finishing Touches - I added a few (retired) gold gilded gems for a little extra sparkle to compliment the gold foiling of the floral paper and having used only a strip of floral paper on the centre of my card, I used the remainder to line my envelope for a little extra touch of '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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for fun using the sketch over at TGIF Challenges and the pink and blue inspiration board over at Hand Stamped Sentiments , where the same colours feature at Colour Hues too:

I love the pink and blue colours of the HSS board and was particularly drawn to the florals and the pink camper van with the palm trees. It was the perfect opportunity to ink up the cute camper in the Sale-A-Bration 'Driving By' stamp set - take a look:

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

I used hexagons cut using my Beautiful Shapes Dies, as opposed to a heart as the basis for design, having cut one in the gold-splattered navy paper from the Abstract Beauty pack, and layered it with gold vellum and a double-edged gold hexagon from the Expressions In Ink Ephemera pack, although you could be forgiven for not being able to tell; I didn't have any palm trees, so I used the retired 'Tropical Chic' stamp set and Tropical Thinlits Dies to create some bi-coloured florals and tropical leaves as a back drop for my fun camper van, that I coloured with Blends. Once I'd started layering, I just couldn't stop! I also added in some gold foliage and gold faceted gems alongside my sentiment to finish:

This is one of those cards that I wanted to create 'just for fun' - the sketch and inspo board were too good to pass up!

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:

DRIVING BY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)	EXPRESSIONS IN INK EPHEMERA PACK (£6.50)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is Valentine's Day which is on February 14th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used pink, romantic sentiment, hearts, watercolour and aperture and this is what I came up with:

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

I decided to create a Valentine's card using a combination of both paper and pre-cut pieces from the Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack, based around the gold and white frame and watercoloured heart, layering them onto my cardfront until I was happy with the balance of elements. I added some black adhesive-backed hexagons and gold twine bow and finished my card with a fun sentiment from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' set, stamped in Magenta Madness to match my cardbase and fussy cut:

I added another sentiment from the same set and an offcut strip of paper to decorate the inside of my card to finish: 

I really like that this card with its modern, rather eclectic, feel - a change from the more traditional red and pink, hearts and flowers - although I still have some of those to share with you too! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us for Valentines-themed projects too.

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James - you are here!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED HEXAGONS (£7.00)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and she has a fresh colour challenge for us to work with:

Anne Marie's colours feel like a breath of spring this week! I used Amy's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches, grabbed my dies and some patterned papers and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Floral Squares - I decided to feature the Floral Squares Dies on my card today, which dictated the size of my shapes in relation to Amy's sketch (I used a horizontal as opposed to vertical layout for this reason). I used two of the four floral designs in the set, and cut each one out three times - once in Just Jade, once in Calypso Coral and once in white, also cutting the flower heads separately in Calypso Coral. I carefully snipped various elements out of each one and layered them to achieve my finished frames, with the flower heads applied last to slightly overlap my white frames.

A Trio of Patterns - I used three different patterned paper designs in the challenge colours for the squares/rectangles across the centre of my card - can you guess which packs each comes from? The first is from Hand Penned, the second from the new Abstract Beauty papers and the final one from the You're A Peach paper pack. Each has a spotted design; this unifies the patterns/colours and avoids the panels appearing too 'busy'. 

Finishing Touches - I used white as a neutral to unify the various elements of my design and as a finishing touch also added an in-colour gem and a neutral linen thread bow to my single flower frame:

I love Calypso Coral and I am really pleased with how today's card turned out - what a great colour combo this week Anne Marie!

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. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at The Paper Craft Crew where the theme this week is 'anything goes'. 

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 am looking forward to a quiet family day - nothing special planned. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALL SQUARED AWAY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	YOU'RE A PEACH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)