Today I'm sharing a card for a couple of challenges:

Whilst I loved Laurel's floral bouquets in the Inspired By photo this week, it was the theme of World Laughter Day over at Festive Friday that really got me going - and my idea was just perfect for the Inspired By sketch so I still got to play there too! Today's card is all about punch art - take a look:

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

So today's card uses a ton of retired products I'm afraid: 2 1/2", 1", 3/4" and 1/2" Circle Punches, Classic Label Punch, along with the retired stamp sets '@SoSocial' and '#Hello', but when you need to create an emoji, punches are the absolute go-to and just because they've retired, these craft-room staples will never leave my collection! I decided to go with 'emoji, yellow, red, lips' from the Festive Friday inspo list and to recreate a 'party emoji' for a birthday card for a certain James Junior from his big sister - his birthday is not until August, but there's nothing like being prepared!! A quick Google gave me a layout and colour scheme to work from and so I set to work. In addition to my trusty circle punches, I've discovered the new Ice Cream Cone Builder Punch is also super useful for this type of card; I used the cone section for my emoji's party hat and the ice-cream scoop formed the basis of my lips (I punched a scoop then fashioned the lips from two of the three small 'bubble' shapes along the bottom edge):

A sprinkling of retired enamel candy dots for confetti (I wanted to go with sequins but didn't have the requisite bright colours) and my on-trend sentiments complete my card. What do you think? Would you recognise my punch art party emoji? Thanks to the Festive Friday team for a great source of inspiration this week - I'm not sure I would even have attempted this card without this challenge, yet I really quite like it and am sure it will tick the box with my social media-savvy son - who knows, he might even put it on Instagram for me!

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. 

Whilst I am fairly knowledgeable as far as basic emojis are concerned, I had my children in stitches recently as I was musing over the dinner table at why the local NHS Sexual Health Clinic advertising that I'd passed earlier that day used an aubergine - of all the vegetables that could be used, I didn't think this was the one that would have broadest appeal to the youth of today, and besides I was struggling to see the link to healthy eating. Once my children had stopped laughing, they pointed out that the aubergine had nothing to do with healthy eating and was really depicting another meaning that is often associated with that emoji; apparently the same applies to cherries, tomatoes and more! I am now fully clued-up and if you are wondering what I'm talking about too, a quick Google search of 'aubergine emoji' will fill you in! Meal times are never dull in the James household, that's for sure!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ICE CREAM CONE BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday with your loved ones - I certainly did. I shared some of the fun of my day over on my Facebook page - be sure to follow me there for more adhoc Crafty Owl fun! As well as today's card today, I have some important reminders for you: today is your last chance to purchase the limited time Sale-A-Bration gifts: Perfectly Artistic designer series paper and the 'Sky is the Limit' and 'Hello' stamp sets. Here are a few of my projects featuring these items to remind you - all of them have been very popular free gifts so far during the Sale-A-Bration promotion:

For my card today I am using my favourite of these sets, 'Hello', once again. This is my card for this week's colour challenge over at Pals Paper Arts; I also used this week's Retrosketches sketch:

The lovely Katy McGloin chose the colour palette over at Pals Paper Arts this week and whilst this isn't a colour palette I would have put together myself, I loved the design team cards so decided I should have a go! This is what I came up with: 

I chose to feature a piece of the Pretty Petals designer series paper for my main panel, stamping the 'Hello' stamp in Lost Lagoon with a Calypso Coral border on the top panel of Very Vanilla and layering this with a piece of Venetian crochet trim across the join. I heat embossed the 'birthday girl' portion of my sentiment onto a banner of Lost Lagoon and fussy cut some co-ordinating flowers and leaves from another of the papers in the Pretty Petals DSP stack, along with a few pearls, to embellish my card. As my regular readers will know, I'm not one for vintage or shabby chic generally, but I absolutely love the softness of this card that this colour palette gives - what a great combination! This stamp set is so very versatile - I just know it will be a 'keeper' for me. 

If you want to get your hands on this set, or one of the other limited time offer items, you will need to place an order for £45 or more today. If you miss this deadline the good news is there are three new limited sets arriving tomorrow; pop back then for more information!

Enjoy the rest of your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project, until then happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Venetian Crochet Trim	Pearl Basic Jewels	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Hexagon Punch

Hello to you from James Towers this morning! It's cold outside but we haven't had any more snow, much to the disappointment of my James juniors who were so hoping for a snow day today! 

Today's card is for the current 2 year anniversary challenge over at Fusion where they have this wonderful summery photo inspiration and optional sketch to play along with:

I used the photo and the sketch for my card today, albeit I used the sketch in a landscape rather than portrait orientation as it suited my embellishments a little better. Here is my card:

I used a base of extra thick Whisper White cardstock and covered the lower part with a piece of chevron designer series paper from last year's Brights dsp stack. I added a strip of Melon Mambo cardstock and also used it to frame my 'Hello' sentiment, from the Sale-A-Bration stamp set of the same name. I added a trio of layered flowers in pinks and yellow, for my embellishment. I cut each of them using the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies, adding some sponging for added depth. These framelits make gorgeous flowers with so much layering and interest and if you run them through your Big Shot with the Precision Base Plate and use the new Big Shot Die Brush to remove the cuts from the dies, they are incredibly easy to make.

I just love the breath of summer that the colours and flowers of today's card evoke - makes me forget the freezing temperatures outside, even if just for a little while! That's all from me today; I have a busy day with a piano lesson, some final preparation for a private class tomorrow and I'm off to watch Rebecca's first netball match of the season this afternoon - thankfully, indoors! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Big Shot	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies

As promised on Sunday, I have another card today using this week's colour over at The Paper Players:

I decided to use one of my favourite Sale-A-Bration sets, 'Hello', for my bold and bright, clean and simple birthday card today:

Some simple layers, a banner and a fun party hat topped with a cute Melon Mambo enamel dot - well, hello birthday girl!

I've used this set a couple of times already and I just know I am going to get a lot more use out of it as it's perfect for quick birthday and 'any day' cards. It's a limited time offer though, so if it's on your wish list then don't leave it too late - you have until 15th February to pop it in your shopping basket for free with a £45 spend!

Back tomorrow with a project for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	It's My Party Enamel Dots

The days have been running away from me this week, with no-where near enough crafting or blogging time! The nice thing about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator though is that as my own boss I can work my hours around my family commitments and flex my diary accordingly - it really is the best job!

So a quick share from me today with the cards I sent out last week to my customers with their new Spring-Summer seasonal catalogues and Sale-A-Bration brochures:

I used the 'Hello' stamp from the stamp set of the same name in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue, stamped in Blackberry Bliss on Whisper White and cut out with my oval framelits, along with a banner and a variety of patterns of Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper for my card. Here's a view of a few of the others too:

All my customers have now have received their catalogues; if you are reading this and you would like your own copy and you don't already have a demonstrator, then get in touch and I will pop one in the post to you. 

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock
Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Old Olive A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
Big Shot	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Time for today's creative post and I have a fun masculine card, using this week's layout over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the current challenge over at Less Is More, where the task is to combine any 3 previous challenges:

I haven't managed to play along with the lovely ladies over at Less is More for a few weeks, so today's card was a great opportunity to combine some of their previous challenges for my card - I chose:

• Week 7 - theme - masculine
• Week 121 - recipe - humour
• Week 127 - colour - 50 shades of grey

Here's the card I came up with:

I decided the sketch was perfect to use a small piece of DSP, something I don't often use on my LIM cards, but this card has sufficient 'white space' that I can get away with it. I love the natural patterned papers in the 'Adventure Bound' DSP stack and having seen so many with a fun 'play on words' with those pebbles, I thought it was about time I shared my version. My card really is quite simple: a base of Smoky Slate and an aperture cut using my Big Shot and the Squares Framelits - on offer as one of this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals for just £17.21, bargain! - and backed with a piece of the pebble-patterned paper (there must be at least 50 shades of grey in there!) and a simple sentiment consisting of an '@' stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in Pewter embossing powder, punched out with a 2" circle punch and popped up on some dimensionals and paired with the '#birthdaysrock' sentiment from the same #Hello stamp set, also heat embossed in pewter. 

A simple yet fun card, perfect for a man with a sense of humour!

Back tomorrow with this week's card for the new Thursday Challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Squares Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	(Hashtag) Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	2" Circle Punch

I'm starting my week nice and early with today's post which is a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I decided to stay true to the sketch with my clean and graphic card:

I chose Pistachio Pudding for my base then layered this with a piece of Whisper White down the centre of my card followed by a feature piece of DSP, this time the Gold Soiree Specialty DSP, as the circle pattern echoed my chosen focal point. I stamped the 'Thanks So Much' stamp from the #hello set in Versamark and heat embossed in gold then punched out with my 2" circle punch. I layered this onto a banner of gold foil and popped the whole piece up on dimensionals for added lift. 

This card is conveniently post-friendly and will be heading out to one of my most recent online customers this week to thank them for supporting my Stampin' Up! business. If you would like to receive a card just like this one, all you have to do is place an order in my online store this month and ensure your contact preferences are set to 'contact' and one will be on its way. 

Today is the first day of the Easter holidays for the James Juniors, but for me there is no rest: I am hosting a children's craft class where we are masking Easter treats. I will be sharing photos over on my Facebook page if I remember to take pictures as we go along and will share the projects later in the week. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

(Hashtag) Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Gold Foil Sheets	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	2" Circle Punch
Hexagon Punch

I have another card to share with you today - a double-post day, woohoo! You can see my earlier card here. This one is quite different!

It started out as my card for this week's challenge over at Less is More, where the challenge this week is 'friends'; I started out thinking of something cutesy or animal-themed, then remembered a stamp set I have that I've used only one stamp from (the #Ijustloveyou stamp I used a couple of times last week) and thought it was about time to ink up a couple more stamps in this set. This also resulted in a complete change in design direction! Since this definitely counts as 'NBUS' (never before used schtuff!), I'm also going to link up with CASology and the lovely Darnell with her third NBUS challenge (go Darnell! Thanks for encouraging us to actually use ALL of the stamps we buy!!). I also used this week's sketch over at The Paper Craft Crew as my inspiration (check out Justin's awesome card this week - you are definitely going to want to CASE it!!). Edited to add: At Sarah's suggestion over at LIM, I am also linking up with Uniko Studio's current challenge where the theme is 'love and friendship'. So five challenge links in total, which is something of a record and entirely unplanned, given that I already made today's card and this one was supposed to be for Thursday! So here are all the badges:

After all that - if you're still with me! - I'm guessing you might like to see my card!! Well, here it is:

A very clean and simple card, with a slightly masculine feel to it I think due to the colour scheme, which I took from the Moonlight DSP which is peeking through under the Chevron border punched piece. I popped the ampersand up on dimensionals and layered with the hashtag sentiment and arrow to finish. Super simple - easy enough to recreate for a friend, male or female, just to let them know you care. Better still, both the chevron border punch and What's Up arrow punch are on this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals, so you can pick them up even more cheaply than usual!

That really is all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

(Hashtag) Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Chevron Border Punch	What's Up Punch	2" Circle Punch	Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack
Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Basic Gray A4 Card Stock
Whisper White A4 Card Stock

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

I'm having a busy day today; productive though, so I'm not complaining! Today's post is a quick one - I'm sharing my card for Less is More this week where the colour challenge is to use black, metallic and one other colour on your card. Now I must confess, this card was embarrasingly quick to put together, but I am also rather pleased with the finished result - here it is:

I decided to use Basic Black for my card base, then layered with a red glimmer heart cut out with my Big Shot and Heart Framelits and topped with a black moustache onto which I stamped the corresponding stamp from the 'Well Worded' stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, before cutting out with my moustache framelit. To finish, I stamped my hashtag sentiment from the '#hello' stamp set and heat embossed in gold onto the base of my card. Simple right? It really is as easy as that! Don't get me wrong, I experimented with lots of different versions of this card before I decided on this one as my preferred version to share, but end to end you could produce this card in minutes - and who doesn't love a moustache?! I think this makes a great guy card, despite the glimmer.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Well Worded Clear-Mount Stamp Set	(Hashtag) Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Mustache Framelits Die	Hearts Collection Framelits Dies	Red Glimmer Paper
Basic Black A4 Card Stock