Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and it's c'lean and simple' week, with the added theme of 'cards for kids'. Your cards can be for any occasion - birthday, back to school, encouragement, congratulations, get well soon - but they must be aimed at children and they must be in a 'clean and simple' style. What do we mean by 'clean and simple'? We would like you to create a card that has:

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
• Is simple and uncluttered

I had so many ways I could go with this as I make lots of cards for both of the James Juniors and their friends, but I just couldn't resist creating with those cute cows from the 'Over The Moon' set - take a look:

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

A Sketch Confession - Having had little time for crafting or blogging this past couple of weeks (the curse of the long school summer holiday!), I was disappointed to not get a card made for last week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where they are celebrating their 400th anniversary - way to go ladies!! I was therefore delighted to see their super simple sketch this week that would be perfect for me to use for my clean and simple Paper Players card so that I could celebrate along with the FMS team for week 2 of the celebrations. With my card made, imagine my surprise when I then caught up with my blog reading yesterday and saw that the sketch for another of my favourite challenges, As You See It, is very similar - a horizontal mirror image - and the placement of my cow and sentiment matches the sketch exactly! In an ideal world, I'd have made another card for FMS, but I have house guests this weekend and that is not going to happen so instead I am linking to both and will aim to make another for AYSI that is exactly as is (it's in my head already, I just need the time to get into my craft room - don't you hate it when that happens?!)

Party Til The Cows Come Home - I had to use this fun cow from the 'Over The Moon' set for my card today. This set is comical, so works well for young and old alike and whilst this cow could be dreaming, without his dream bubble I also think he looks like he's enjoyed a night out on the town - a real party animal! I stamped him in Memento Black, coloured him with my Blends and then fussy cut him and popped him up on dimensionals balanced on the horizontal line of the sketch, which grounds him perfectly.

His And Hers Colours - Since my cow is black and white, I needed to introduce some colour and decided to use my favourite in-color gingham DSP. I made one in Rococco Rose and liked it so much I made a second one in Pretty Peacock - a his and hers colour combo! Here's my second card:

Here they are together - which one do you prefer? They were both easy to create and came together in no time, with just a few key supplies; another clean and simple #SimpleStamping too!

Finally, 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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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 have house guests for the weekend so am on entertainment duty. It is the balloon festival here in Northampton this weekend, so we may go along to watch the balloons later and maybe even chase a few. All being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	2019-2021 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Basic Black Light Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Flirty Flamingo Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

I've had a busy day today with laundry, a visit from Granny and Ben had a friend over and this afternoon. We all went to the cinema to see the movie 'Yesterday' (I can highly recommend it) so no time to craft today but lucky for you I have a card to share with you that I made earlier this week that I'm also linking up with the team over at Paper Craft Crew:

I couldn't resist another chance to play with my new 'Over The Moon' stamp set and wanted to make a card that was full-on bovine - take a look:

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

Dream Big - This is another of the cute cows in this fun set; I can't say I've ever seen a cow daydreaming in the fields like this, but then I haven't see a cow wearing wellies either as per my previous card so I guess there's a first time for everything! I stamped my cow on a horizontal panel and fussy cut his thought bubble and added a clear rhinestone for a little extra detail. 

Create Your Own Cow Hide - I decided to go all-out on my cow card today and create a fun bespoke cow-hide patterned background for the base of my card. I think the finished effect is really fun and was actually so easy to create; can you tell what stamps I used? You may be surprised to know that it was these two background splodges from the 'Love What You Do' stamp set - so perfect for cow hide:

Fresh Colour Combo - I used a fresh blue and green scenic colour combo today with just a pop of red to compliment my black and white cow. This is a fun colour combo that would work for lots of other projects too - here it is if you'd like to save it for future use:

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:

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Love What You Do Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

This is already my second post of the day today as it's 1st July and there is lots going on, including the return of bonus days and a fabulous joining offer - you can read about both of these in my earlier post here. For today's creative post I'm sharing my card for this week's challenges over at As You See It and Just Add Ink that also fits the current challenge over at Time Out, which is a new-to-me challenge that I thought I would play along with too (I don't think it's a CAS challenge although a lot of the DT samples and gallery cards are and for once my card is a little less CAS than usual so I hope it fits the bill!):

So I'm not fully finished with my run on Bird Ballad projects, but I did get out another new stamp set that I just couldn't resist called 'Over The Moon' when I grabbed a little crafty time and couldn't resist making some fun cards with it - these comical cows are just adorable - take a look:

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

How Now Brown Cow - So I think I am in love with these fun animals! I mean, three comical cows and a bunch of punny sentiments in the 'Over The Moon' stamp set - what's not to love?! I decided to colour mine today with Stampin' Blends, but stamped my outline in stamped-off Sahara Sand so it has an almost no-line look, which I think works nicely with my sweet brown cow. I repeated the same image on my envelope and inside my card too. My choice of browns to compliment the purple was brought about by my desire to use some of that fabby linen-look in-colour scallop edged ribbon and I like the finished look.

Daisy Delights - I continued my browns with a piece of tone-on-tone stamped Crumb Cake for my background, that I stamped randomly with one of the daisy stamps from the Daisy Lane stamp set, which I thought tied in with the flower my cow - let's call her Daisy! - is holding. I like the added detail without detracting from the main image. 

The Colour Purple - This whole card started with the colour purple; apart from navy, it is definitely the colour that features most highly in my wardrobe and is without doubt my most favourite colour to wear. I chose to use the new in-colour Purple Posy as the purple on my card today as it gave me the opportunity to break out new Blends, cardstock, in-colour DSP (love that gingham!) and co-ordinating ribbon and sequins too. My choice of the welly-wearing cow was also no accident, as I am even the proud owner of some beautiful purple wellington boots that the James Juniors gifted me for Christmas a few years ago. I couldn't find a photo of me wearing them, so took this quick snap of them next to a couple of my patio pots - check these out:

Aren't they just the best?! They are more Highland Heather than Purple Posy, however I didn't have as many embellishment options for that colour! There is something about gardening or trudging through the snow in purple wellies that is ever so cheery.

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 - I am organised this week as it's going to be a busy one! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	Daisy Lane Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Purple Posy 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Scalloped Linen Ribbon (£7.50)	Woven Threads Sequin Assortment (£4.75)	Purple Posy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)
Stitched Be Mine Dies (£33.00)	Purple Posy Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Mango Melody Light Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Bronze Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	So Saffron Dark Stampin’ Blends Marker (£4.25)