No blog posts for the last couple of days as I've just been too tired and unable to fit it all in. However today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my good friend Claire's turn to host our challenge this week and she has a great sketch challenge for you to play along with:

Claire's sketch has some lovely layers that were crying out for some designer series paper and I've seen a few challenges out there with 'Mother' as their theme, including this week's TGIF Challenge, so for my card this week I decided to use some Love Blossoms DSP and my favourite sentiment stamp from the 'First Sight' stamp set:

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

The Mother of all Sentiments - The 'First Sight' stamp set has some lovely sentiments, all with love at their heart. The one I've used on my card today is my favourite though; what Mother wouldn't be touched to receive a card featuring these words? I also stamped the flourish from the same set onto the base of my card in Versamark and heat embossed it clear, to add additional interest without competing with the other elements of my card.

Love Blossoms - The vertical panels on the sketch needed either pattern or texture; I chose to go with pattern and chose three complimentary patterns from the Love Blossoms DSP stack. I kept the colours similar, and used these for the main blocks of colour on my card.

All that Glitters - ...is not gold, or at least not on today's card! I chose to mount my sentiment on a circle of white Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper to add a little sparkle and create focus, but maintain the balance of white on my card. Some split jute ribbon, a pink button and a sprinkle of pink and clear sequins complete 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 '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:

I look forward to seeing what you make of our sketch this week. We are off to basketball today and then Rebecca and I have a little Mother and Daughter crafting time planned tomorrow afternoon; should be fun!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

First Sight Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack	Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
2" Circle Punch	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon	Subtles Designer Buttons	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

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

I decided to use the circles in the sketch to showcase the Love Blossoms paper and create a quilt-effect card - take a look:

I really can't decide which of the patterns in the stack I like the most, so I used one of each of the 12 patterns on the Love Blossoms DSP stack for my quilted circles, although you can't see the bottom row well in the photo because of the banner; I actually heat-embossed the sentiment in white onto vellum so that in reality they can be seen and are not wholly obscured - they really are too pretty to cover up! To create my pattern I punched 12 1" circles, one from each of the paper patterns, then scored each circle on parallel sides into a diamond (more difficult to explain but you can see from the card what I mean!) then adhered them so that each one touched at the point. I added a little Blushing Bride punched heart in each space, punched with my Hearts Border Punch, to add extra interest, along with a piece of Blushing Bride 1/4" cotton ribbon across the bottom to finish my sentiment banner with a bow.

I guess this card would work for Valentines, Mother's Day, Anniversary - lots of occasions. I actually made it as a birthday card for one of my very best friends; I think it works for a birthday too so I hope she agrees!

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a rather special card to share. I made another shadow box frame card using the same tutorial by the lovely Amanda Bates at The Craft Spa as the card I shared previously here  - she is without a doubt the queen of fancy folds in my book! The beautiful Bloomin' Heart thinlit was asking to be made into the centrepiece of a shadow box card I thought. So here's mine:

I made my base out of Whisper White with the heart cut out of Rose Red and embellished with Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper flowers and pearls and decorated my frame with a piece of Love Blossoms designer series paper. The square that I cut out of the centre was used to decorate the box that acts as the 'envelope' for the card:

I think this makes a great 'wow' card for a special birthday, Valentine, wedding, anniversary - and the boxed card can even be sent through the post as a large letter, although I must admit I think I'll be hand delivering mine!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Bloomin' Love Photopolymer Bundle	Big Shot Die Brush	Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack	Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Rose Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White 12" X 12" Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels

Happy Friday everyone! Firstly, I must say a big 'thank you' to everyone who came by to see yesterday's Mrs Potts and Chip card - I have received many wonderful comments on this card both here on my blog and wherever I've shared it, so thank you all so much! Whereas yesterday's card was a little more involved, today's card is almost as CAS as it get! I managed to snatch a quick 10 minutes at my desk this evening so made this Valentine's card for a few challenges:

I went with the top link of the tic-tac-toe board over at Stamp Ink Paper and red/punch or die cut/heart and also used the tilted sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches to add a little more red to my sketch, which is the theme over at Addicted to CAS. Here's my card:

A Real Red base, a twisted panel of white and a simple sentiment; I used the heart-shaped 'steam' die from the Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies for my heart, which I cut out of red foil for a little dimension and shine. So clean, so simple - and I love it!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Bloomin' Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Big Shot	Red Foil Sheets

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

This week's sketch is perfect to showcase the Bloomin' Heart thinlit die. Take a look:

For my card I added some of the co-ordinating stamped flowers, also cut with the flower thinlits that come with the heart, and a sentiment from the 'Bloomin' Love' stamp set that can be purchased with the dies in a bundle for 15% off - add in a Big Shot Die Brush and you could get a free Sale-A-Bration gift too - I love this time of year!! I took my Blushing Bride/Rose Red/Whisper White colour combo from the Love Blossoms designer series paper stack in the same product suite. I added a few pearls and a strip of the new Blushing Bride glimmer paper across the bottom of my card for an added touch of sparkle!

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

Enjoy your day; I'm hosting an open house with my customers today so that they can see and touch lots of lovely new product from the Sale-A-Bration and Spring-Summer catalogues. There will be tea and cake too of course!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I have another 'sneak peek' card for you, featuring some beautiful new designer series paper and a most beautiful die. I used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for the layout for today's card:

I'm also linking up with the team over at Stamps Ink Paper who are asking for anything so long as it's not Christmas! The 'Love Blossoms' suite on the new Spring-Summer catalogue includes a stamp set, papers, thinlit die, pink glimmer paper and an accessory kit and my card today uses each of the first three:

The thinlit die looks great in a single colour with or without the flowers highlighted, but for my card today I chose to cut out my heart in Garden Green, adding additional flowers in Rose Red and Blushing Bride that I cut with the other thinlits in the set and also paper-piecing some flowers into the negative spaces of the die. I highlighted the hearts in pink and added some tiny pearls to break up the green further. 

You can see the detail of the subtle layering and finish on the close-ups below: 

The die itself is so intricate, yet with another new tool available with the new catalogue, the Big Shot Die Brush, it is really easy to separate into its various parts - just look at the detail on the flowers themselves:

The sentiment is from the 'Bloomin' Love' set and the banner cut out with the co-ordinating framelit from the 'Large Numbers' framelits dies, also available in the new catalogue.

Whilst the Love Blossoms set and in particular the Bloomin' Heart thinlit die makes for beautiful Valentine's Day cards, it is versatile enough to be used for anniversaries, weddings, birthdays or even Mother's Day too. I paired my outer sentiment with one from another set, 'First Sight', on the inside of my card to make a very fitting tribute to a Mum - take a look:

A beautiful sentiment for the prettiest of cards!

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. I am the hostess for our first challenge of the new year, so do pop back to see what I've chosen as the challenge this week. Until then, I have a few jobs to do today and we are back to the pool for our first swimming following the Christmas break. I'm almost envious that it's only the James Juniors getting in the water; I could do with losing a few post-Christmas pounds and this seems like it could be a good place to start! Happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Available 5th January:

140818 Bloom' Love Stamp Set and Bloomin' Hearts Thinlits Dies Bundle

140548 Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack

140685 First Sight (clear mount) 

140603 Big Shot Die Brush

Pearl Basic Jewels	Subtles 12" X 12" Cardstock	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Rose Red A4 Cardstock	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
Whisper White A4 Cardstock