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

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! The same as last week there are more offers than usual, with increased reductions of up to 30% on Weekly Deals this month, although there are specific allocated quantities at the increased offer price; once they're gone, the price will revert to RRP, so don't delay in ordering if there is something on your wish list. Each week items are proving very popular and some are sold out within a couple of days of the offers being published. 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 August SCFAMEG2 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:

Envelope Punch Board	Flower Patch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Gold 1/8" Ribbon
Hearts Border Punch	Silver Basic Metal Buttons	Simply Scored Metric Scoring Plate

Not quite as many deals to be had this week, but those that are there are all good! The must-have has to be the Envelope Punch Board; I know they have been featured several times, but at £13.50 this truly is a bargain! The Metric Scoring Plate is a great deal too; it makes light work of scoring card blanks and is a great deal at only £8.25.

So what are you waiting for? Get clicking over to my online store!

I'll be back later with a quick creative post. Until then, happy shopping!

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:

Here is my card today:

I decided to make a simple floral background for my word with a trio of flowers from the 'Flower Patch' stamp set, stamped in Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe and Baked Brown Sugar. I stamped the large central flower first, then created a mask using a post-it note and the co-ordinating Flower Fair framelits to create a mask before stamping the outer flowers, so that they appeared behind the central bloom. 

For my sentiment, I chose a 'thanks' cut with my 'Hello You' thinlits dies out of Night of Navy cardstock, but before adhering to my card I coated it in Versamark and heat embossed it in clear embossing powder several times, until it became beautifully shiny and glossy. One of those 'it looks much better in real life' moments I'm afraid, as the photo doesn't really show just how pretty this looks!

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the team have in store for you - we look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery this week!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good evening blog readers - I am sneaking in an extra post today - you can see my earlier Paper Players post here - to make up for my lack of one yesterday. I had my card ready and had fully intended to write up my post last night, when I got back from taking both James juniors to their swimming gala, however the swim meet was really busy and we didn't get home until much later than usual and I was beyond writing anything other than gibberish at that point! 

So this card is for a couple of challenges: I used the sketch only over at Fusion and the colours from Colour Q this week:

I love this week's Colour Q palette, so perfect for an Easter card, which I still need a few more of. This card is something I've been playing around with for a while. My daughter had a colouring book for Christmas that was full of animals, made from patterns, and I wondered if I could make an abstract bunny using floral images. I've had a few attempts, and this is my favourite so far:

I used Wisteria Wonder for my base and mat layer, embossing this with the large polka dot embossing folder, then cut an oval using my Big Shot and Oval Framelits, having partially cut the ears with the leaf shapes from the Flower Fair framelits first and allowed them to overhang. I then stamped the various flower stamps from the Flower Patch set to make an abstract face, with ears, eyes and nose.

So, opinion in our house is divided over this card: both James juniors recognised it as a rabbit immediately; my abstract art is however lost on my husband, who thinks this is just a bunch of random flower patterns! Either way, with the addition of some Wisteria Wonder chevron ribbon and a bow, I like it! Do leave me a comment and let me know what you think to my unusual creation.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flower Patch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Flower Fair Framelits Die	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Wisteria Wonder 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Wisteria Wonder A4 Card Stock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

This is the first of a number of blog posts today - so get comfy, lovely readers!

This is a bonus post for you today - following my card being chosen as the 'Featured Stamper' card at The Color Throwdown last week - you can see that card here - I was asked by the lovely Tammy Hershberger to be their Guest Star stamper this week for challenge number 310. So if you are reading my blog for the first time having popped over from CTD - welcome! Here is the colour palette and inspiration photo for this week's challenge:

I took the inspiration for my card from the colours and the photo and decided to go with something floral, featuring buttons and also some typeset designer series paper, albeit as the background for my flowers. Here is my card:

I used the leaves from the 'Kinda Eclectic' stamp set to stamp onto my typeset paper, then stamped a trio of flowers - Beautiful Bunch, Flower Shoppe and Petite Petals - in the challenge colours and created some nicely layered blooms with a variety of button centres to finish them off. I decided to finish off with something of a fussy bow using Vanilla seam binding ribbon tied with linen thread and the birthday sentiment from the Flower Patch stamp set. A bit of a departure from my usual style, and quite a product-heavy card too I'm afraid, but that's not always a bad thing!

Check out The Color Throwdown challenge page to see how the other designers have interpreted this week's challenge.

As for me, I have some work to do then a very important match to attend to this afternoon: my youngest is playing in his first rugby match at school so I'm off to cheer him along and remind him to wear his gumshield!!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Beautiful Bunch Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Fun Flower Punch	Flower Shop	Pansy Punch	Petite Petals
Petite Petals Punch	Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay
Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe	Brights Designer Buttons
Subtles Designer Buttons	Very Vanilla 1/2 Inch Seam Binding Ribbon	Linen Thread	Flower Patch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Work Of Art Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Today I'm excited to share with you my first Flower Patch card! Now, this may not seem like a big event, but for someone who has had the stamp set for over a month whilst having to wait (not so) patiently for the matching framelit set, it is a big deal! I decided to make a card for the challenges over at 'Less is More' and Retrosketches, where the colour palette and sketch were perfect for what I had in mind:

Since the lovely Sarah over at 'Less Is More' is celebrating her birthday this week, I decided a birthday card should be the order of the day. Here's what I came up with: 

My card base is Coastal Cabana, which I matted with Whisper White and stamped my sentiment in Momento Black, then surrounded it with a trio of flowers in Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay, cutting out one of these with my framelits and layering it to add depth and dimension. I finished with a few candy dots for the flower centres and a random one (just because!). The stamp set is photopolymer, which makes aligning everything so easy no need even for a stamp-a-ma-jig!

I liked my card so much, I decided to create another one with one of the other framelits in the set - I need a few extra birthday cards in my 'emergency' box - here is my slight variation on the card above:

These cards use surprisingly few supplies, yet I think they have real interest. This set has so much potential I am so glad that I can finally get creating with it - it my well replace Simple Stems from the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue in my 'bold flower' affections! I'm also linking my card up over at SUO Challenges, where the theme this week is 'new toys' - well, I've certainly had fun playing with mine!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flower Patch Photopolymer Bundle	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad
Brights Candy Dots