Today I have a double post day! I'll be back later with my card for our new challenge over at As You See It, but first I'm guesting over at CAS on Friday! I won Challenge 277 with this card, so I was asked to join the ladies as their guest this week for their new challenge where the theme is 'Easter'. I'm a little thin on current Easter-themed supplies, so I dug into my retired stash for some old sets that I could use in a new way. Here's my card for the new CAS on Friday challenge that also uses the colours over at Color Throwdown this week: 

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

I've always loved the little sign-holding characters in the retired 'Cute Critters' stamp set and I thought that the bunny would make a cute clean and simple Easter card when combined with a suitable sentiment. For my bunny I paired her with a sentiment from the retired 'Basket Bunch' stamp set and simply coloured with my Stampin' Blends:

Perfect for a simple card to accompany an Easter egg gift.

I had so much fun with this card that I decided to make another slightly stepped-up version using the chick in the 'Cheerful Critters' set, this time featuring the colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments:

I backed my card with a piece of Inked Botanicals plaid paper and used one of the Everyday Details Dies to diecut my stamped and coloured panel, with a sentiment from the another retired stamp set, 'Arrange A Wreath':

I'm also linking my second card up over at SUO Challenges where the theme is also Easter/Spring.

This was a fun dip into the retirement box to use some old stamps in new ways. Do you ever do this? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy your morning and I'll be back later with my card for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

We are into our school Easter holidays with a vengeance here in the James household and it is leaving little time for crafting! I just wanted to pop buy and share with you a cute little Easter bunny basket treat using the Basket Bunch stamp set and Basket Builder Framelit dies - retiring, but still available at a great discount at present:

These little 3D baskets are so easy to make with a 1 1/4" wide piece of cardstock, scored twice to create a U-shape, attached between each basket piece to hold the chocolate Lindt bunny then decorated with some stamped and cut out out flowers and a bow. I made these for each of my ladies that  attended a class with me this month as a thank you Easter treat and it's fair to say they were definitely well received!

You've still time to make these if you have the product or alternatively snap up a bargain now and be super-prepared for next year!

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'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set

Basket Builder Framelits Dies

Soft Suede A4 Cardstock

Subtles A4 Cardstock

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a fun and timely theme challenge for us to work with:

I took the opportunity to take a break from cards this week and have a couple of quick and easy 3D items perfect for Easter treats for you to choose from. The first one is a basket made with the Window Box Thinlits to hold these cute chocolate carrots that I found when out shopping recently:

The Window Box Thinlits are so versatile and make the cutest Easter baskets! Of course I had to add a little tag with a bunny and fun sentiment and some Peek-a-boo Peach ribbon bows for decoration.

Sticking with the Easter bunny theme, I also made a punch art 'bow bunny' to decorate my little bucket of chocolate mini eggs:

I made my bunny using a combination of my Bow Builder, Festive Flower Builder and Owl Builder Punches, adding a few pearl eyes and some whiskers drawn in with my Stampin' Write marker. Not so sure about this one (I think perhaps his eyes are too far apart!)  Still, an easy way to decorate a treat container or Easter package.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our fun theme this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Window Box Thinlits Dies	Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Basket Builder Framelits Dies	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock
Peekaboo Peach 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon	Tags & Labels Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Classic Label Punch
Many Marvelous Markers

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Bow Builder Punch	Festive Flower Builder Punch
Owl Builder Punch	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels

To all my UK readers - Happy Mother's Day! It is of course Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! My good friend the super-talented Claire is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

I love a good sketch and this one has some great layering options. I decided that I would use the pretty Spring colours over at Fab Friday to create a basket of flowers for an Easter card - take a look:

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

I kept my layers fairly neutral - a stitched circle in Mint Macaron, a panel of Calypso Coral By The Shore designer series paper - and used the Easter sentiment from the 'Suite Sentiments' set on a Very Vanilla banner, with the real focal point for my card being my basket of flowers. I cut and layered my basket using the Basket Builder framelits then stamped my daffodils and peach flowers in Memento Black onto solid colour cardstock using the Basket Bunch set and cut the out with the co-ordinating framelits, finishing them with some Calypso Coral subtles candy dots. I love the Basket Bunch bundle, not only for the Easter eggs and bunny, but also the perfect daffodils (well, I am Welsh so it is to be expected!). The framelits make cutting out these little pieces so easy and offer some great layering options too.

I'm also linking up with those lovely ladies over at As You See It too - for me, there is nothing that says Spring more than daffodils. They are so bright and cheery and inexpensive and I love to have them cut in a vase, but also to see them along the banks and hedgerows as I drive around the countryside. At the moment there are rows and rows of them on my journey driving Ben to school - they never fail to brighten my day!

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'm looking forward to a family lunch and maybe, just maybe, a sneaky visit into my craft room this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Bundle	Suite Sentiments Clear-Mount Stamp Set	By The Shore Designer Series Paper	So Saffron A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Subtles Enamel Shapes
Soft Suede A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you've had a good day. I've had a busy start to the week with preparation for next week's classes followed by a pleasant hour watching Rebecca swim in a school swimming gala (she won all her races and the team won overall, so smiles all round.) Rebecca came second in her competition race yesterday too and had a new personal best time, so all good. Anyway, to today's cards - yes, two! I've made a couple of cards on the same theme using the same colours for a couple of different challenges:

I decided I needed to get cracking (excuse the pun!) with my Easter makes, so today it's all about the Basket Bunch bundle  - take a look:

Paper Craft Crew have a great sketch this week and I really love the CAS Colours & Sketches colour combination - I will be so sad to see Cucumber Crush leave us in June! - and thought it was perfect for a little Easter egg hunt through the grass. I stamped and die cut a selection of eggs and interspersed them between my strip of grass. I layered it onto a piece of basket weave patterned paper from the Sale-A-Bration Carried Away Designer Series Paper and finished with this fun sentiment from the Basket Bunch stamp set, cut out with my Layering Ovals. May all your chocolate be solid - I love it!

Having completed this card, I thought it was probably a little too layered to qualify as truly 'clean and simple' for the lovely ladies over at CAS Colours and Sketches, so I die cut a few more pieces and created something a little more in keeping: 

Clean and simple with an alternative sentiment, yet no less colourful!

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

And for my second card:

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:

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Bundle	Basket Builder Framelits Dies	Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad
Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
Layering Ovals Framelits Dies	Playful Palette Designer Washi Tape	Cucumber Crush Thick Baker's Twine