I have been busy trying to work ahead on a few projects in what little time I've had this week, but I did manage to find time to make a card for fun to play along with the current challenge over at Time Out where the theme is 'playing music':

I had been saving this piece of designer paper featuring a stage from my retired Turtley Cute pack and this challenge was just the prompt I needed to put it to good use - take a look:

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

The stage was the perfect setting for a band, so I grabbed my scissors and snipped three instrumentalists from another sheet of paper and placed them together to create my rock band. I say rock band, because it suited my sentiment (from the retired 'Music From The Heart' stamp set), but I'm not sure what kind of music a trumpet, accordion player and bass drum is likely to make together! They do all look like they're having fun though! I stamped some music notes onto the background paper and added some yellow sequins to give some sparkle to those bright stage lights too:

We are a houseful of musicians (three pianists, a trained soprano and a classical guitar player) so music cards are always appreciated. I made this one for my son who has quite a collection of cards that I've made with these turtles - he thinks they are so cute with their comical expressions - and even though he's a teenager now, he still appreciates a card that is colourful and fun (no browns or cards with fishing memorabilia for him!) so I'm linking this card up over at Inkspirational too where the theme is 'For The Guys'.

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 day; I am typing this whilst sat in the garden enjoying the sunshine. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing a card using Narelle's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

I love things in threes so I knew I would have to play along with this sketch. I had so many ideas for this sketch but in the end I went super simple - take a look:

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

I used my retired Stitched rectangle dies to cut two rectangles of note patterned paper from the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper, then a third one from Basic White, to which I added my tongue-in-cheek sentiment (from the retired 'Music From The Heart ' stamp set), then added a fussy cut accordion-playing turtle as my focal point:

And that's all there is to it! I considered adding some extra embellishments, but honestly didn't think it needed it - a simple card that was ready in a jiffy! I am using a lot of notecards lately since the youngest of the James Juniors has left for university. Whilst he generally prefers a video chat, usually because he is after some cooking or laundry advice, I like to send him little notes and care packages just to let him know he's in my thoughts and these fun turtles always raise a 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing another quick card that I made for this week's Just Add Ink challenge - you know I can't resist a good sketch:

I decided to make a fun card using the retiring 'Music From My Heart' stamp set - take a look:

Since three out of four members of the James household play piano, and we have a guitarist and singer too, it stands to reason that this set would be one of the first into my shopping basket when the Spring-Summer catalogue launched last December and I am sad that it isn't carrying over as we haven't had anything like it before. I just love this set and it is a keeper for me! 

This card is just some random stamping of the treble clef and the 'forget your trebles' sentiment onto a white cardbase, with a black top panel and then some layering of a stave, a wavy piano keyboard and a stitched square to highlight my piano. I like the heart detail on the treble clef, which allows for some quick pops of rainbow colour. I did the same with the notes on the stave, although this layer did blend into the background more than I would have liked; smaller black notes would have worked better in hindsight. No matter - this card will be perfect for a musical friend; in fact, I might run off a batch to send to my choir ladies to let them know I'm missing them!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Music From The Heart Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Dies	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Basic Black Combo Pack Stampin' Blends
Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends	Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack
Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

I've got a super-quick post this evening to share a card I made with Lee Ann's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that I am hopefully just going to squeeze my entry in for:

The minute I saw the angle in Lee Ann's sketch I knew that it would be perfect for my first use of one of my favourite sets in the Spring mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Music From The Heart is the set inspired by Million Sales Achiever Dawn Olchefske and as someone who has a family of musicians of one form or another this was a set I've wanted for a long time! Today's card is super-simple, stamped in black on Whisper White to look like sheet music with a black card base, then the piano coloured with a black Stampin' Blends combo and just two pops of red from the paper-pieced red foil heart-shaped lid of the piano and a teeny-tiny red foil punched heart to adorn my sentiment. A little bit of overhang from the sentiment label and the stitched circle for interest, and that's that. Quick to create and fortunately quick to blog as time is of the essence today!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Music From The Heart Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)
Basic Black Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)