It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the middle column with designer paper, free and birthday; I used the sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches for my layout and thought I'd play along with the lovely ladies over at Just Us Girls this week where the word of the week is 'bee'. I took the opportunity to use up some old honeycomb designed paper and went for a punny sentiment on my card today - take a look:

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

I wanted a big, bold sentiment for those panels so decided on HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the stamp set 'Biggest Wish', but instead of stamping the HAPPY in its entirety, I masked off the PY and replaced with a bee punched from my ladybug builder punch for a punny sentiment. I punched the body in black, added some yellow stripes and a pair of vellum wings liberally coated with clear Wink of Stella - you can see the sparkle below:

I completed my card with a trio of hexagonal enamel dots to continue the honeycomb shape and bee theme. So what do you think? Does the punny sentiment work? I hope today's card makes you smile!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BIGGEST WISH PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (16.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	LADYBUG BUILDER PUNCH (21.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (7.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Shannon has asked that we add a square focal point. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I took my inspiration from the symmetrical focal point and decided to create a fun good luck card featuring a cute ladybird - take a look:

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

A Confession - So first up, a confession! I actually made my card for today's challenge and it wasn't until I was writing up today's post that I realised I had my sentiment in the wrong place. I almost went with it - the sketch is a guideline, that's all - but in the end I decided to make a second version that was faithful to Shannon's layout and compare the two. So the card above is my 'take two' - my original card is the one below:

On this one I added my sentiment from the 'Charming Sentiments' stamp set to the card base, whereas on the sketch the sentiment in on the focal square. Here's a photo pf both cards together - which one works better for you? 

I must be honest, I'm on the fence; I like my second version more than I though I would - kudos to Shannon for her layout!

Ladybug Builder - I thought a ladybug - or ladybird as we call them here in the UK - would make a cute centrepiece for a good luck card. I wondered why ladybirds are considered lucky in many cultures and Google tells me it's simply that they are one of the chief insects to eat crop pests - the gardener's friend. The Ladybug Builder punch made light work of mine - a simple punching of the elements and some heat-embossed black dots for a little extra shine:

Remember The Inside - I designed this card with a child in mind, so couldn't resist adding another stamped comical smiling ladybird to the inside of my card with another sentiment from the 'Hello Ladybug' stamp set:

I love making good luck cards for children; so much of their lives seem to consist of exams and tests, it's nice to send some positive vibes and let you know you are wishing them every success! I am linking today's card up with the team over at Inspire.Create who are sharing cards for babies or children and at the Alphabet Challenge Blog where there are on 'F is for Flying' - my ladybird has her wings ready to go!

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. 

Today is the last full study day for both James Juniors - we are at T-1 and T-3 respectively - the end of the exam season is nigh! We have experienced some torrential downpours this morning, so I am hoping to get ahead with my crafty endeavours - I even have a second card to share with you today - I'll be back with that shortly!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HELLO LADYBUG PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (17.00)	CHARMING SENTIMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	LADYBUG BUILDER PUNCH (21.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

Today I've a quick post to share a card that I made using Judy's angled sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was inspired by the colour palette over at Color Throwdown this week:

I remembered I had some old designer paper (Flashback Designer Series Paper - hence in part today's post title|!) that featured these colours and I thought this would be a great opportunity to use some up. This is what I came up with:

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

The circle pattern on the paper led me to choose a punched ladybird for my focal point as it echoed the round shape and I used one of my Basic Borders Dies for the angled edge and added a banner behind my ladybird cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies with a similar diecut edge pattern:

The sentiment is from the retired 'Little Ladybug' stamp set - I paired it with another on the inside, along with a fun ladybug stamped border to complete my card:

I think this makes a fun inspirational/motivational card for a child; I'm actually going to send mine to my niece who is soon to graduate university and has just been successful in gaining her first job - this sentiment seemed the perfect way to celebrate this achievement and is also spot on for the current theme over at SUO Challenges where they are making cards for kids this week.

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. 

Enjoy your evening; we went to the cinema this afternoon to watch the new Tom Cruise 'Top Gun - Maverick' movie. This is the first time we have been to the cinema since pre-Covid and it was so worth it - this is most definitely a film to be watched on the big screen! Now I'm typing this with the dulcit tones of the Football Premiership Champions League final in the background - so rock and roll! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)	LADYBUG BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	HELLO LADYBUG PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)

Happy Friday one and all! Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Bee Day' which is on May 20th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I totally went with the bee theme and used bees, yellow, black, embossing, twine and hexagons and this is what I came up with:

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

Hello Ladybug Bundle - The bees on my card today are courtesy of the Ladybug Builder Punch. I know, it's its first outing and I'm not making ladybirds, but bees - go figure! I paired my bee duo with a sentiment from the 'Hello Ladybug' stamp set. I think it works just as well for bees as ladybirds and makes for such a great card to send to a friend to let them know they can always count on you. 

Ladybug Builder Punch Tip - I want to share a tip that makes getting perfect stripes on your bee a doddle! Just cut a number of strips of yellow cardstock (I used 3 which were each 5mm wide) and glue them to some basic black cardstock (use a spare one as a 'space' to make sure they are equally spaced). Once dry, simply feed your already striped cardstock into the punch and punch out your bee. Perfectly smooth edges and fuss free! Here's the negative space from my punched cardstock strip that shows what I mean:

You're welcome! I added some wings punched from vellum and brushed with some clear Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle.

Hive 3D  - I backed my bees with a panel of Daffodil Delight, embossed with the Hive 3D Embossing Folder - the perfect way to add some co-ordinating texture to my clean and simple card. I wrapped it with some black baker's twine, adding a couple of notches to keep it straight and enable it to sit neatly. This is a useful trick -  you can just see the detail on the close-up below:

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

Today's cards was also inspired by the following challenges: over at Color Dare the challenge is to use black, white and one colour (I obviously chose yellow!) and at Addicted to CAS where the codeword is 'Friendship'.

Today is Friday 13th - not unlucky for you, as this is a two-post Friday! Are you superstitious about this kind of thing? I can't say I am and am not averse to putting an umbrella up in the house to dry, although I don't go out of my way to walk under ladders! Do you have any superstitions that you follow? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear about them! Enjoy your day and remember to check out today's second post here. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HELLO LADYBUG BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£30.50)	HIVE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.50)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)