Hello - I'm back! I know that some of you have missed me; I exhibited at Kirstie Allsop's Handmade Fair at Ragley Hall in Warwick last weekend and seem to have spent most of this week recovering and getting family life back on track. It was a great weekend and I met many wonderful people, however it did wipe me out! Hopefully I'm recovered enough to get back to blogging properly. Here goes!

I have a number of projects that I've made and not shared using retiring products and need to get them shared sooner rather than later so thought I'd share a fun 'box in a card' make that I made a couple of weeks ago featuring the Picture Perfect stamp set and Picture Perfect Paper - take a look:

These cards are easier to make than they look: you simply cut a 2" wide section out of a folded A6 card and make a 2" square box from a sheet of 6x6" paper with a lid and slot it into the space - perfect for a little treat:

A little stamping on my card and to finish I topped my box with a mini bow to tie in with the party theme. 

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set (£15.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It just so happens there are 5 Sundays in April, so we have an extra challenge week! It's my turn to host and as it's tic-tac-toe week there really are so many creative possibilities. Check out my board: 

Choices, choices! I decided to use this week's sketch over at Just Add Ink for my layout and grabbed my Blends again for a spot of colouring to share with the teams at Stamp Ink Paper and SUO Challenges and went across the bottom of my board - yellow, circle, bird (my card also works for the central column of die-cut, ribbon, circle too) - for a sweet baby card, take a look:

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

Flying Home - I love the bird house designs in this set and will be sad to see this set retire next month. Perfect for welcome cards - new home, new baby or even new team member - the selection of images are perfect for colouring too. This is the first time I've used this sweet mama bird and her babies; I went with bright yellow for a unisex baby card and coloured with my Blends; I actually made a whole batch of these so that I have some blanks and can colour the other birds specifically pink or blue too if I need something a little more tailored. 

Circles, Circles - There are lots of different circle elements to my card: the Picture Perfect Party background paper has a fun circle pattern and my main image has been cut out with the largest of my Stitched Circle Framelits. Even the sprinkle of Pool Party sequins add to the theme.

What No Bear? - My sentiment comes from the 'Baby Bear' stamp set. split between the little front banner and finished on the inside of my card. No bears, just birds on today's baby card ;-). Here's a look at the inside, finished off with a couple of yellow birdies too:

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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's board - there really are so many different combinations! I'm so looking forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Flying Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£16.00)	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£27.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Daffodil Delight 1/4" Double-Stitched Ribbon (£6.25)	Iridescent Sequin Assortment (£4.50)
Baby Bear Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my amazing friend Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I could have gone so many ways with this sketch! I have not one, but two cards, to share with you today - both with a fun party theme. Here's the first one - take a look:

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

Picture Perfect Party - Both of my cards today feature papers with the bold, photographic images featured in the Picture Perfect Party DSP Stack. In bright, celebratory colours, these papers are perfect for a large expanse of background and work really well as the background for my fun, party-themed cards. I used the offcut from my card panel to continue the decoration through to my envelope to with a colourful envelope liner.

Picture Perfect Birthday - I used the co-ordinating Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set to decorate the sentiment circles on the front of my card. I was lucky to receive this set free when I attended Onstage last November, which really was fortunate for me as I think this is a set I might otherwise have overlooked. It contains some great, scripted fonts that work for birthdays and more general celebrations and has some fun confetti, candle, tooter and ribbon bow images too. In addition to using it to decorate the outside of my card, I added a little colour to the inside too:

Finishing Touches - To finish my cards, I added some gold tinsel trim and a strip of fringed cardstock to the one above and some silver baker's twine and mini silver sequin trim with a strip of fringed cardstock to the card below:

And here's the inside of this card too:

Two cards using the same layout and supplies, each with a different pattern and sentiment. The Picture Perfect Party Suite is perfect for creating batches of birthday cards with a minimum of supplies. 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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We are minus one James Junior who is away on a short hockey tour for a few days, so will be spending the day researching hurricanes with James Junior number 2 for a geography project in between a little crafting too I hope!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project that also uses this same sketch but has a totally different feel, so do come back and take a look at that card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper	Picture Perfect Party A4 Cardstock Pack	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock	Love Mini Tinsel Trim Combo Pack
Silver Baker’S Twine	Silver Mini Sequin Trim	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Banner Triple Punch