It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week is a very special one for us - we are celebrating our 300th anniversary - isn't that just AMAZING?! It's the turn of the awesome Jaydee to host and she has chosen an appropriate theme for her CAS challenge this week for you to play along with - Celebration:

To celebrate this occasion we have blog candy to give away, and lots of it! The team has assembled not one, not two, but ten grab bags full of stamping goodness! To be eligible to win one, all you need to do is play along with our challenge this week. You can play as many times as you like, but each needs to be a new project (no back linking, please) and see The Paper Players blog for our other challenge rules. Winners will be selected from all PP300 challenge participants using Random.org and will be posted on Saturday June 25th.

For my card this week I decided to go with and a little pop of pink and a big party balloon for my celebratory card, using this weeks Freshly Made Sketches sketch (upside-down, of course!):

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

Celebrate Today - Every celebration needs a balloon or two! I decided to go with a large pink one from the 'Celebrate Today' stamp set. This balloon was the perfect focal point for the sketch and the co-ordinating Balloon Framelits make cutting it out a cinch.

A Pop Of Pink - I decided to use a piece of the Pop of Pink specialty designer series paper for my background. The gorgeous black and white papers with a pop of pink (and a little gold too) were the inspiration for the colour scheme for my card. 

Touches of Gold - Whilst I didn't use any of the gold patterned Pop of Pink DSP, there are a number of subtle gold elements that make this card: the gold foil trim, the heat embossed sentiment and sparkle of the balloon and the trailing gold sequins.

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. 

I haven't been with the team all this time, but I can honestly say I am so pleased to have been a part of it for as long as I have - these gals are truly inspirational, supportive and all-round top notch in equal measure and I sure hope I can be a part of the next 300! Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your celebratory CAS creations in our gallery this week and reading your kind comments on our blogs. Don't forget we have 10 bags of blog candy to give away too, so you should definitely consider an entry this week. You have to be in it to win it! I'm not telling you what's in my grab-bag  - it's a surprise! - but I can guarantee it's full of crafty goodness. We are shipping worldwide, so everyone can join in!

I'm not sure what today has in store for me, other than it will certainly involve some pampering of my husband by myself and the two children as it's Father's Day. Happy Fathers Day wishes to all of the men out there celebrating along with us today! 

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Pop Of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set	Balloon Framelits Dies	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Versamark Pad
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Sequin Trim
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for January W2ZHBH2D if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper	Balloon Framelits Dies	Calypso Coral Thick Baker’s Twine	I Think You're Great Clear-Mount Stamp Set
You're Sublime Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Some great bargains to be had, including the 'You're Sublime' stamp set that I used on my card for The Paper Players on Sunday - if you missed it, you can see it here. Also the Balloon Framelits Dies - a good time to purchase, balloons are very 'on trend' at the moment!

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

Happy Tuesday everyone - or at least it is for me, as today is the day that Stampin' Up! demonstrators can place their pre-orders for goodies from the new annual catalogue. The catalogue doesn't launch until 2nd June, but if you can't wait until then do give me a call for a no-obligation chat about what's involved in becoming a demonstrator. All new demonstrators are allowed to include pre-order items in their starter kits, so if the new in-colours are your thing or you would like to get your hands on some new cool tools before everyone else, then pick up the phone to me today!

Onto today's card - a bright, clean and simple one today using the colours over at As You See It this week:

I am a big fan of Brights - they are my 'go to' colour family - so I couldn't resist playing along with a fun clean and simple birthday card:

I used a base of Tempting Turquoise with an offset mat of Real Red and  focal panel of Whisper White, stamped with a trio of balloons from the Celebrate Today' stamp set, one in each of the challenge colours. I overlapped each of them and the edge of the cardstock slightly - so easy to do with photopolymer stamps - and for the main turquoise balloon, I used the balloon with the negative 'happy' sentiment and then added the 'birthday' separately in Real Red. To finish, I added some strings, hand-drawn with my Stampin' Write markers, and a red polka dot bow to the main balloon, cut out with the co-ordinating Balloon framelits and popped up on a dimensional. 

Such a super clean and simple card in colours that would work for boys or girls, young or old - who doesn't love balloons, right? Apparently anyone who suffers from globophobia (a fear of balloons - it's a thing!) If you like me love them, you might want to consider joining my next Stamp-A-Stack card class on Friday 9th May, as most of our cards will be featuring balloons of all shapes and sizes. 12 clean and simple, post-friendly cards in 3 hours; the class costs £15 or is free with a £45 order on the day. I still have a couple of spaces left - if you are interested, please get in touch to book your place. As always, you can find my current class schedule with details of all my upcoming classes here.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Celebrate Today Photopolymer Bundle	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise A4 Card Stock
Real Red A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

It's time for a new Thursday challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch challenge for you:

I decided to turn the sketch through 180 degrees for my card - here's what I came up with:

That circle was just asking to be made into a balloon, don't you think? I used a piece of Tangelo Twist for my base, matted with a piece of Night of Navy and a piece of the lovely Balloon Bash DSP - the gold foil balloons in the pattern looked like the little dots on the sketch I thought. I stamped my balloon in Night of Navy on Whisper White and heat-embossed the 'birthday' in gold, cutting out using the co-ordinating framelits, adding a small gold foil bow and a string of gold sequins to finish it off and popping it up on dimensionals.

Such a simple card, yet the DSP really shines and the touches of gold make this card really special. Do check out how the rest of the Design Team have interpreted the sketch - there's some great inspiration to be found!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!