Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour challenge for you:

This week's card was a challenge for me in so many ways! I have no Irish connections so St Patrick's Day isn't a big thing for me, although I often make at least one project to celebrate and I thought these colours would be perfect. I decided on my design and really wanted to create a four leaf clover to tie in with a 'lucky' theme, however I couldn't make it work with my layout, so went with a three leaf clover and decided that for my card this would be just as lucky (cardmaker's prerogative ;-)). Here it is:

I made my simple clover leaf using the smallest heart from the Hearts Framelits set, and freehand cut the stem, then offset my sentiment, a combination of stamps using the 'lucky' from the Project Life sentiment set 'Remember This' and the 'you' from the Sale-A-Bration set 'Simply Wonderful'. One last confession from me - I actually used a sheet of Garden Green from the Regals DSP stack for my card - when I went to my folder, I had no Wild Wasabi - oops! The effect would be just the same with a Wild Wasabi polka dot paper though, so I went with it.

Do check out the gallery to see what the other members of the CCMC design team have come up with this week - we look forward to seeing your creations!

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

I still have a couple more Valentine's cards to share with you this week, all of them quick and easy to execute though if you are making a last-minute card for your loved one! Today's card has been made using this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and I am also entering it into the 'Hugs and Kisses' challenge over at Addicted to CAS and the colour challenge at Can You CASE IT:

This is one of those 'go to' sketch layouts for clean and simple cards and is also great for showcasing designer series paper, as I've done here with the hugs & kisses pattern from the 'Stacked With Love' DSP stack. Take a look: 

For the other half of my base layer, I used another of the black and white patterns in the stack, and used a heart framelit to create a die cut in my top red layer that allowed an element of the paper design to show through. I finished my card with a 'vintage' love die cut with my now retired Expressions thinlits - these are still available on the clearance rack and can be picked up for a bargain £13.79 and lastly rounded the bottom right corner of my card. Not a stamp in sight either - no risk of inky fingers with this one!

Simple but effective I hope you will agree! Back tomorrow with another Valentine's card to share with you; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Expressions Thinlits Dies	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Basic Black A4 Card Stock
Real Red A4 Card Stock	Project Life Corner Punch

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players, where this week Claire has the following challenge for us:

I also used Rita's sketch layout over at Freshly Made Sketches for my card this week. Now this week's card caused me some mild consternation, as anyone who knows me knows that I've never really had a pet and so I have been known to get myself into all kinds of trouble with friends for under-estimating the depth of their feelings towards their two-and four-legged friends. I am not intentionally insensitive, it's just that I don't 'get it' - so the idea of creating a Valentine's card for or from a pet sent me into quite a spin! Both James Juniors have had goldfish as pets previously, but since I used fish on my card last week I thought today's card needed an alternative, altogether more fluffy friend - so this is what I came up with:

I created a custom sentiment using my 'Back to Basics' alphabet stamps and added a selection of banners using patterns from the 'Stacked with Love' DSP stack. For the heart-shaped centrepiece, I stamped a pair of adorable bunnies and coloured them in with my Smoky Slate Blendabilities. Do you recognise the bunnies, or should I say, bunny? The bunny on the right is from the 'Baby We've Grown' stamp set. I stamped him once, then having masked him off with a post-it note, I then stamped him again onto a piece of window sheet and using the reflection technique transferred this image onto my cardstock, overlapping the legs slightly. The tiniest drag line on the ear resulted in a cute fold-over look, so I left it, as it made the bunnies a little less symmetrical. Don't they make such a cute pair? I finished this centre piece by framing the bunnies in a Real Red heart-shaped frame cut using my Big Shot and Hearts Framelits and added a tiny punched heart with a rhinestone to the centre. If I had a bunny rabbit, I would be happy to send him this Valentine - job done! I'm also linking up with SUO Challenges today too, where the theme is 'Valentine's Wishes' - very appropriate.

Before you reach for your ink pads, do visit the other design team members to see what interesting ideas they've had this week:

I look forward to seeing your projects in the gallery this week.

I'm looking forward to a quiet day today: the hockey pitch is frozen as a result of the sub-zero temperatures we've been having this past week and poor Ben is struggling to shake his cough and cold that he's had for weeks now, so he is going to have a rugby-free week too, as running around a freezing pitch for a couple of hours is certainly not going to improve things. Rebecca and I will be completing the masterpiece that is her ancient Greek theatrical mask, the result of two weeks of paper mache and modelling clay - all being well it should be dry enough to paint. We may even manage to squeeze in another family movie afternoon; last week we watched Malificent for the first time, which was hugely enjoyable and an interesting alternative take on a classic.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Baby, We've Grown	Back To Basics Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Smokey Slate Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Cherry Cobbler Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Calypso Coral Assortment
Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Today I have another card using the moustache stamp from Well Worded. It was still out on my desk from this card that I made with it the other day, so I took the opportunity to use it again for today's card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge; I also used the colours over at The Color Throwdown this week, where they are really suited to another Valentine's or anniversary card:

This one is definitely made with a man in mind - here is my card:

I layered a couple of rectangles of paper from the 'Stacked with Love' DSP paper stack onto a base of Basic Black cardstock (I am so making the most of my 'Stacked with Love' DSP!), then a Real Red heart cut out with my Hearts framelits and a moustache stamped in Memento Black onto Whisper White, which I then cut out with my mustache framelit and popped up on a couple of dimensionals. To finish, I stamped my hashtag sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it in white.

Another simple, modern card that would work well for Valentine's Day, a wedding anniversary or just to say 'I love you' card. 

I'm also linking up with the 4 Crafty Chicks, where the theme this week is anniversary cards.

Back tomorrow with this week's card for a new challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Stacked With Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Mustache Framelits Die	Versamark Pad
Embossing Buddy	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Real Red A4 Card Stock

Good evening lovely blog readers! A super weekend has been had by all in the James household: lots of swimming and crafting in preparation for this week's classes featuring the lovely Sale-A-Bration goodies. Today's card is one I made earlier in the week using the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts this week - here's the sketch:

Whilst I followed the layout of the sketch, I changed out blocks 2 and 4 for heart shapes which I cut with my hearts Framelits - take a look at my card and you'll see what I mean:

I kept my card quite simple and took my colour inspiration from the sheet of paper I used from the new Fresh Prints DSP stack in the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue. This is a lovely paper stack which predominantly features Real Red, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana and Crumb Cake, but there are a few patterns that include pink too, such as the one I've used here. The sentiment is from the 'Yippee-Skippee!' stamp set and could have several uses: I've used it in the context of a loved one for a Valentine's/anniversary card, but I think it would be great on a baby card to welcome the arrival of twins too. I can also see me using it on a scrapbook page featuring my Junior James' - they are a formidable pair when they get together! Lastly, I embossed the central panel with the SAB decorative dots folder to echo the pattern of the background paper.

I hope you like today's card - if the above sketch layout appeals to you, do pop over to the Pals Paper Arts blog to see what the design team did with the sketch. I have the first of this week's classes tomorrow, but do pop back here for another project - all being well I might even have another video edited for you!

Until then, happy stamping!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Primrose Petals A4 Card Stock	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Yippee-Skippee!	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

A quick post from me this evening! With just one more day to go, I had intended to share another card using a Sale-A-Bration 'sneak peek' to whet your appetite for tomorrow, however I've had an idea that I've wanted to try for a couple of weeks with my Flowerfull Heart stamp and since today is the last day you can purchase this stamp, I thought I'd have one last share with you. I decided to use this week's layout at Freshly Made Sketches as my starting point:

As my regular readers will know, I struggle with the concept of 'vintage' (I much prefer clean lines!) but instinctively I thought this was one of the few stamps in my set that might work for the vintage look, so here's my attempt:

I say 'attempt' because whilst I quite like the finished card, I'm not sure it meets the criteria for a truly vintage look. I like the Crumb Cake, the more muted effect by colouring the stamp with markers and the ribbon works. however, not a pearl or doily in sight - think I might have to go off and do a little more research on this one! If anyone would like to leave some suggestions as to how I could improve the vintage feel of this card, do let me know - all comments welcome. Click on the links below if you would like to purchase any of the items used above, including the stamp - last chance today!

Back tomorrow with the start of Sale-A-Bration - hope you're all as excited as I am!! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flowerfull Heart Wood-Mount Stamp	En Français	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock
Primrose Petals A4 Card Stock	2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform
Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Crumb Cake 1/2 Inch Seam Binding Ribbon

I'm sticking with the Valentine's theme today as today's card is also this week's entry for The Paper Players weekly challenge, where Sandy has asked us to create a one layer Valentine's card:

I decided to use the heart as per the challenge tile, but today's card is also showing you how to use one of my favourite Stampin' Up! products, the Expressions Thinlits dies, in a different way. You've seen me use the die cut word itself as in yesterday's card, and I've also used the negative space created by the die cut (you can see an example of that here). Today I thought I would show you how you can use them to create a mask, which gives yet another effect and one that is particularly suited to a one-layer card. Here is my card:

I cut out the die cut word 'love', along with two overlapping hearts cut with my Hearts Framelits and created a mask. Then using Melon Mambo and Smoky Slate ink and a couple of sponge daubers, I carefully sponged around the die cuts to give the illusion of two overlapping hearts, with love running through the centre. I created a second mask using the small heart from the Owl Builder Punch; I could have used a stamp, but I wanted to retain the soft sponged effect so created another stencil then simply sponged a few random hearts across some of the remaining white space. I rounded the bottom corners of the card, but otherwise left well alone; as the Paper Players point out this week, less is more!

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out and it shows yet another way you can use the thinlits to achieve an alternative effect. If you too are 'in love' with 'love' and the other words in the Expressions Thinlits set, don't forget these are only available until 1st February when the current seasonal Autumn-winter catalogue ends - click on the link below to my online store if you would like to purchase. I know I wouldn't be without mine - they can be used in so many ways.

Back tomorrow with another one layer card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Expressions Thinlits Dies	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Owl Punch	3/16 Inch Corner Punch

Good evening blog readers! I had lots of jobs to do today, but after a morning of paperwork I decided the housework could wait and I spent the afternoon cardmaking instead (oops!!) Today I'm sharing another Valentine's card, this time with a more masculine feel. I used the colours from this week's challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary as my starting point:

I decided to use my 'Hearts A Flutter' stamp set, as although this is one of my favourite sets and one I use a lot all year round, I haven't used it on any of my Valentine's cards yet this year. Here is my card:

I stamped my hearts somewhat randomly across the lower half of my card, either side of my focal point. I mounted the top layer of cardstock on dimensionals for two reasons: firstly, to make the ribbon easier to attach and secondly so that the heart that I cut out (I used my hearts framelits for this) would have some depth and my die cut 'love' would have more impact. I deliberately chose to use Smoky Slate for my middle layer, as I wanted the heart to have a more masculine appeal, especially as I used ribbon on my card too; Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon isn't too girly, but adds a luxurious feel to the card. A few candy dots to finish just to add balance and done.

Whilst I designed this card with a man in mind, I think it would work equally well for a woman, especially if you're not the kind of person who is into all things pink and red.

Back tomorrow with another Valentine's themed card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Expressions Thinlits Dies	Hearts A Flutter Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Regals Candy Dots	Neutrals Candy Dots	Island Indigo 3/4" Chevron Ribbon

Today I've another of this month's Envelope Punch Board class projects to share with you - a rectangular box notecard holder and a set of notecards. So here is the box, complete with belly band:

The box is made from Cherry Cobbler textured cardstock, which is great for boxes as it's really thick and has a lovely quality feel. In this photo I've finished with a belly band made from burlap and cotton ribbon; in class, we also made bows from Modern Medley paper using the Envelope Punch Board and created belly bands with bows on. Inside the box, we made a set of simple notelet cards, in co-ordinating vanilla and Cherry Cobbler and paired with Crumb Cake envelopes:

We used the Sweet Essentials sentiment stamps; this is a great set with sentiments to suit a variety of occasions. This set would make a lovely gift for someone and depending on the sentiment, it could be for a birthday or even created as a set of wedding thank you or acceptance cards.

The finished box base measures 5 3/4" x 4 3/8" and was made from a starter piece of 9" x 9" card stock. As with all boxes, whether square or rectangular, the piece of card you start with needs to be perfectly square; it's the points at which you punch and score that determine the finished dimensions of the box. To create this box, we punched and scored at 3 1/2" and 4 1/2".

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board	Flowerfull Heart Wood-Mount Stamp	Sweet Essentials Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad
Medium Crumb Cake Envelopes	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Cherry Cobbler Textured 12" X 12" Card Stock	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Magnetic Platform	Standard Cutting Pads

Today I am sticking with the 'love' theme, but no Flowerfull Heart today. I'm taking my colour scheme from the challenge palette over at Create with Connie and Mary this week, which requires a card made with the following colours:

I thought this was a great modern colour combination so decided to create a card with one of my other favourite products, the 'love' from the Expressions Thinlits Dies. Here's my card: 

I used the negative space from the thinlit cut out, rather than the word 'love' itself (don't worry, I didn't bin it - if you keep your eye out you'll see it appear on another card someday soon). I've done this before and like this effect almost as mush as the delicate cut out words that you get with these dies. I then contrasted the black top layer with the Strawberry Slush heart which I stamped in black with the word 'you' from the stamp I used on yesterday's card from the 'Follow My Heart' stamp set. Not necessarily the most romantic of colour combinations perhaps, but I think this card would definitely appeal to a trendy teenager. Don't forget, the Expressions Thinlits Dies feature in the Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue and will only be available to order until the 1st February, so if they're still on your wishlist, don't leave it too late to order them; just click on the product link in the table below and hop on over to my online store.

So, my voice is still absent - the rest of the James household is loving it! It's good preparation for the children's return to school tomorrow, the first few days back always seem really quiet. Don't forget to hop on over to see what the designers at Create With Connie and Mary came up with in response to this week's colour challenge.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Expressions Thinlits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Follow My Heart Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack