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

The animals came in two by two - feature two animals on your card, how fun! I actually have two cards to share with you today: I made my Paper Players card after I made the first one, so I'll share that one first so that the second one makes a bit more sense! My first card is an Easter card using Jen T's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the current Colour Inkspiration colour palette:

I thought the oval layout would be perfect for two bunnies and the colour palette would be just the ticket for a dark chocolate brown bunny and some floral decoration courtesy of the Dainty Delight Dies - take a look:

Whilst the layout worked beautifully for one bunny, two were definitely a squeeze, so having added some soft clouds and grass to surround my single bunny, I decided to add an Easter sentiment from the retired set 'Crazy About You'. This is such a pretty colour combo and I love the embossed detail on the Dainty Delight flowers and leaves too:

I then moved on to card two. I punched another bunny so that I had another pair and also had the country gingham oval left over from my first card that I still wanted to use up, so this time I switched to the current Sketch Saturday layout and decided to play along with the challenge over at TGIF Challenges and look at what other scraps and offcuts I had that would co-ordinate with my gingham oval.

I actually had quite a few! A strip of Country Floral designer paper leftover from a previous project, an offcut of Mint Macaron and some offcut strips of Wisper White that were just wide enough to cut a couple of borders with my Penned Flowers Dies and a scrap of Poppy Parade. This is what I came up with:

I used a Petal Pink card base and this time positioned my bunnies mirroring each other, with a punched heart between them. I really wanted a 'Some bunny loves you' sentiment but alas, I don't have one in my collection so went with this one from the retired Sale-A-Bration set 'Thanks A Bunch' instead:

I think this would make a sweet anniversary card;. It actually came together quite quickly by collecting up a bunch of leftover bits and pieces and more importantly - I managed to accommodate my two bunnies this time!

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:

Enjoy your day; I am off to an extra hockey game today and then we have the start of the Easter holidays, which for us means the start of serious revision season in the James household - not much in the way of excitement here! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EASTER BUNNY PUNCH (18.00)	COUNTRY GINGHAM 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	DAINTY DELIGHT DIES (34.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	COUNTRY BOUQUET PUNCH (18.00)
COUNTRY FLORAL LANE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	PENNED FLOWERS DIES (28.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

Happy Easter Sunday wishes everyone! It's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazingly talented Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

I don't have much in the way of music-themed supplies in my collection and usually end up resorting to my e-cutter to create music-themed cards and gifts (you can see some of my previous examples here and here), so I was thrilled to see the Epic Celebrations set in this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion. As the wife of a guitarist and the other mother of two almost-teens, one of whom is in a band and both of whom are into either listening to or playing music in a big way, this set was a must-have for me. So whilst Sale-A-Bration has now ended, this set is a keeper and I just had to use it on today's card. I also used this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout - take a look:

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

Epic Tone on Tone - I decided to use a simple tone-on-tone stamped background in Real Red using the guitar stamp to create some detail and to highlight my main focal image, which I stamped and heat embossed in black on watercolour paper, then coloured with my aqua painter. I added this to a collection of stars and bits and pieces to add a touch of 'glam rock' to my card. 

A LittleSheet Music - The border panel is a section of the background stamp 'Sheet Music', which I simply stamped onto Whisper White and cut out a section for added interest in keeping with the theme.

A Punny Sentiment - My punny sentiment is courtesy of the now-retired 'Crazy About You' set, which was perfect for this card. I also used the 'You're Awesome' sentiment from the Epic Celebrations set on the inside of 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

This card is headed to my pile as a thank you for one of Rebecca's teachers; she will be performing the role of Brigitte in her whole school production of Rogers & Hammerstein's 'The Sound of Music' next term and there are an army of staff involved in making this happen, including her Maths teacher, who also plays electric guitar. The girls at school think he is super cool, so this card will be perfect for him!

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

I can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - enjoy your Easter egg hunts and eat as much chocolate as you can safely consume! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Epic Celebrations Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£0.00)	Sheet Music Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£13.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Watercolor Paper (£4.50)
Metallic Foil Doilies (£3.75)	Hearts & Stars Elements (£5.50)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Silver Foil Sheets (£3.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I'm back from a special day yesterday: Rebecca celebrated her 11th birthday - wherever did that time go?! She was slightly disappointed that it was a school day, although genuinely touched by the number of children that came up to her to wish her a happy birthday yesterday, and two little juniors who even came and sang to her - how sweet! It seems when you're Head Girl everyone knows when it's your birthday!

Anyway - today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

For my card today I decided on a showcase of in-colours and one of the new designer series paper stacks - take a look:

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

A Playful Palette of Colour - The designer series papers featured on my card today feature four of the five new in-colours (only Dapper Denim is absent) and are one of the products featured in the Playful Palette suite - modern and colourful designs, inspired by brushstrokes and artwork. Here's a photo showing other items in this creative suite:

Layering Squares - I cut each of my four squares with my new Layering Squares framelits and chose to highlight one of the squares with a narrow scalloped border in Peekaboo Peach. These layered squares are great for creating perfectly aligned borders, frames and shaker cards and can be used in endless different combinations to achieve a different effect each time.

Hello You Happy - I finished my card with a sentiment comprising a little banner using words from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set and a die cut 'happy' using one of the 'Hello You' thinlits. I diecut my 'happy' in Emerald Envy, dipped it in Versamark and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder and repeated the process 3 times to get a smooth and glossy finish. It really stands out against the patterned papers and the Sweet Sugarplum base  - I love it!

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day; I'm getting together with some of my team for a catch-up, which should be fun. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I've been having fun playing along with the CASology challenges for the last couple of weeks, so today I have a couple of clean and simple cards for this week's challenge where the theme is weather:

My first card is a fair weather sunshine card using a freehand cut cloud (I stuck lots of different sized punched circles together and created a template to make this oversized cloud) and a sunburst cut using the Sunburst Thinlit and then punched with a 2 1/2 circle punch:

I can't believe I was 'on the fence' about buying this Sunburst Thinlit when I first saw it in the catalogue; it is so much easier than creating sunbursts by hand! I added a sentiment combination of a 'Hello You' diecut and a stamp from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set. A trio of rhinestones completes my fair weather card.

Here's the visual summary of the key supplies used to make this card for you to save for future reference:

Here too is the cheery summer colour combination I used - fee free to save it:

This is the weather I will be hoping for with the children home on school holidays this week; I'm rather thinking it might be a little more like my next card! I'll be along with my second card shortly; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sunburst Thinlits Die	Hello You Thinlits Dies	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Rhinestone Basic Jewels	2-1/2" Circle Punch
Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Firstly, Happy Saint David's Day to any fellow Welsh bloggers or blog readers! I have had a busy day of classes today, with the first of my technique classes this month this morning and my Project Life memory keeping class this afternoon. I'm not so organised that I had an early blog post for you; my card was made,I just fell asleep at my laptop yesterday evening before I could schedule it! Today's card is for the 300th challenge over at Just Add Ink where they have this sketch as inspiration this week:

I saw this sketch and knew it would be perfect for a card that I've had in mind for a while using my Sunburst Thinlits Die - take a look: 

I wanted to create an Easter card with a sunburst behind a cross; how to make my cross though? I decided to try and make one using a sunburst, by squaring up the edges and cutting away the diagonal sections. Here's a work in progress picture that shows you how I cut it:

I hope that is helpful. I ran my cross through my Woodgrain embossing folder to add some texture and make it stand out against my super-CAS background of So Saffron and Pear Pizzazz. I allowed my sentiment strip to overhang the width of my paper slightly and made my own sentiment using the stamps in the 'Crazy For You' stamp set, masking off letters where not needed until I had my phrase. The Alphabet Rotary Stamp would also allow you to create something similar. I added a gold button, a twist of retired Tangelo Twist satin ribbon and a sprinkling of Pumpkin Pie sequins to finish my card. This is a great Easter card that can be made using entirely non Easter-specific supplies, which is always useful. What do you think of my cross idea? I'd love to know whether you think this works - do leave me a comment with your thoughts below. 

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sunburst Thinlits Die	Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock
So Saffron A4 Cardstock	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Brights Sequin Assortment	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Gold Basic Metal Buttons

A new card for a new year! I know I shared a new year card with you yesterday - well, I have another one for you today! As a rule I only send one happy new year card each year, to my mother-in-law for hosting our family New Year's gathering, however when I saw that the theme this week over at Global Design Project was CASE The Designer and set eyes on Bibi Cameron's gorgeous card, inspiration most definitely struck. Here is her original card:

Isn't it lovely? I was really attracted to the background and decided to have a go at another technique that my good friend Kim Fee over at Simply Fairies affectionately calls the 'smooshing technique' as the basis for my card. So here is my card:

You might wonder why I struggled with this background - looks simple enough, right? Well, having thrown away many a piece of ruined cardstock I would have to disagree - there is clearly an art to getting it right! The lovely Kim recently made a short video after much pleading by myself and other smoosh-challenged friends; you can watch it here and I seriously recommend you do if you want to try this technique as it contains some great hints and tips. 

I used extra-thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created my inked layer on a piece of shimmery white cardstock using Pacific Point, Island Indigo and Night of Navy inks. The cardstock gives the card a wonderful all over shimmer in real life. I then used the stars stamp from Holly Jolly Greetings (a carryover set, yay!) stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold for added interest, then used some gold glimmer numbers, diecut using the new Large Numbers Framelits Dies (love these!). My Hello is from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set, which I popped up on dimensionals and finished with a trio of gold metallics sequins.

I really love the randomness of this background, which is quite different from my usual style, even though the card still feels true to me. So thanks Bibi and Kim for the inspiration for today's card. I hope it inspires you too to create something a little different this week - the new year is full of new creative possibilities and I am so looking forward to sharing them with you!

Happy New Year wishes to you all, my customers, blog and social media followers and friends and the ladies over at SUO Challenges where I'm linking up my second New Year card. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Available January 5th:

140622 Large Numbers Framelits Dies

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	Big Shot	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Gold Glimmer Paper	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

I am having a busy week with another two classes today, so today's post is light on words but with lots of pictures to make up for it. I wanted to share the cards we made at my Stamp-A-Stack class last week. My ladies decided they wanted a change from Christmas cards, so instead we did a One Sheet Wonder adapted from a template by LeeAnn Greff. I wanted to go totally bright so we used Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi and Pool Party and flowers from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set along with a little one from 'Flower Patch' and a mix of sentiments from other sets. We made 10 cards in total - here they are:

I didn't add sentiments on many of them - sometimes it's nice to be able to add a sentiment as you use the card: 

There you go - 10 cards for any occasion. We had so much fun at this class we are going to do it all again next month, only this time using the Vintage Leaves stamp set to make a set of masculine cards. This class will be on Friday 11th December and the cost for the class is £15 or free with a £45 order. There are still a couple of places available, so if you would like to join us do get in touch to reserve your place. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Flower Patch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Flower Medallion Punch	1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch	Banner Triple Punch
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad
Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Today I have a change from Christmas cards; I wanted to use this week's sketch over at Less is More and I am also playing along with the challenge over at The Card Concept:

I decided that the colours over at The Card Concept would make a pretty thank you card so here's my card for today:

I've been seeing some wonderful autumnal cards made with the Sheltering Tree stamp set so I thought I would use it on this card, although I think my card looks more Spring-like than autumnal! I used a base of Pink Pirouette with a mat of Early Espresso, and stamped my tree off the edge of the panel in Early Espresso onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I overstamped the blossom in Pink Pirouette with a little Cherry Cobbler, then for my sentiment used a combination of my 'thanks' Greeting thinlits die for the negative die cut in my Cherry Cobbler banner, with 'For Being You' stamped in Early Espresso using the 'Crazy About You' stamp set. 

Clean and simple with a hint of cherry blossom - a nice change from the autumnal, Halloween and Christmas cards of late!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Greetings Thinlits Dies	Big Shot
Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. There were some great CAS florals last week and this week we have my favourite kind of challenge. My good friend and talented team member LeAnne has a great sketch challenge for us:

I decided this sketch would be great for a DSP showcase, so today I have a very bright and colourful card to share with you:

I covered my entire card front with a piece of one of the 'busy' patterns from the Flowerpot DSP pack then used a piece of vellum to tone down the pattern so that my 'thanks' die cut in Night of Navy would still stand out against the pattern. I wrapped a piece of Tangerine Tango around the vellum in a bow before adhering it to my card base, using glue dots where they are covered by other elements so that they don't show through. I added the second part of my sentiment from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set and layered over my banner trio, punched out of colours I had picked up from the pattern using my banner punch. Lastly, I finished with a bold orange flower finished with a candy dot.

This card has such a clash of bright and bold colours and yet I think they work with the sketch beautifully. There are some great cards from the Design Team this week, all of whom have interpreted the sketch in interesting ways. Do pop by their blogs and take a look:

I look forward to seeing your takes on this week's sketch in our gallery this week. 

No lie in for me as I am off for an early morning of hockey as today is tournament day and then hopefully home again to dinner cooked by the men in our house - this is becoming something of a habit! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Crazy About You Photopolymer Bundle	Flower Pot Designer Series Paper	White Vellum A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Regals Candy Dots
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride
Banner Punch	1-3/4 Inch Scallop Circle Punch

Aren't you all lucky - this is my second post of the day! I have another card to share with you that I would like to link up with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge and The Color Throwdown:

I love that block-striped welly boot and I thought these colours would be perfect for a masculine birthday card that would totally work with the sketch and my 'Hello You' thinlit dies. Here's my card:

I used Crumb Cake for my base and the 'happy' thinlit, and inset the thinlit into a panel of Real Red and Night of Navy, with Tempting Turquoise centres. I then stamped the 'Birthday To You' on the red panel in Night of Navy. A couple of epoxy stars - love these! - one backed with turquoise, one backed with gold foil, and a Navy candy dot finished off my card. I love this card - I think I'm going to have to make a few more of these!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Crazy About You Photopolymer Bundle	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers	Gold Foil Sheets	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Tempting Turquoise A4 Card Stock	Regals Candy Dots