It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The awesomely talented Laurie is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

I love a good sketch and this one was perfect for me to open a new stamp set that I won at Onstage in April but hadn't inked up yet - take a look:

Isn't that little piggy cute?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

This Little Piggy - This fun set of animated pigs in a variety of poses is set to be hugely popular if the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that accompanied Charlotte Harding's demonstration at Onstage are anything to go by. Who doesn't love a pig or know someone who does? The excitement in the room when this set was offered up as a prize patrol was palpable, but that was nothing compared to how I reacted when I won it - I think it's fair to say I gave a piggy squeal of delight! I've used the 'serious' pig on my card today, that can be paired with one of two sentiments. I stamped the image and sentiment separately on my card and completed the sentence inside my card, complete with kisses:

Isn't that sweet? A perfectly fun anniversary card for this week's challenge over at As You See It too - this card is perfect for my hubby!

Lots Of Layers - I took the opportunity to add some layers to my focal image with a mix of stitched shapes and layered squares. On this card I punched my sentiment out with the classic label punch, rather than stamp it directly onto the patterned paper layer as I did on the card below.

Paper Pick 'n' Mix - I'm taking the opportunity to use up my retiring papers so this card features some polka dots from the Brights stack as well as some Pop of Pink DSP for the horizontal band. I also created a second card using the Playful Palette DSP stack papers with an alternative sentiment pairing - take a look:

And here's the inside:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

Here's the details for my second card:

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 look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Do leave me a comment and let me know which of these little pigs you prefer and if they are on your wishlist too! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a Bank Holiday on Monday so an extra long one, which is great. I am hoping for a continuation of this lovely weather and another BBQ, possibly followed by a bike ride. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Classic Label Punch
Brights Enamel Shapes

My cold has really got the better of me these last couple of days, hence the absence of blog posts. Back with it today though; I have a quick share of another card made with a free Sale-A-Bration set that also uses a fun and easy technique - take a look:

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

A Shadow Thank You - I stamped the large thank you stamp from the 'So Very Much' in Blushing Bride then moved it very slightly up and to the left and stamped again in Sweet Sugarplum. A simple technique but effective, don't you agree? The thing that I really like about this stamp set - apart from the fact that it's FREE of course! - is the alternative option stamps to complete the thank you sentiment. The 'from all of us' in particular is an unusual stamp that you don't see very often.

A Teeny Tiny Gift - I decided I would add a little symbol of a gift next to the second part of my sentiment - this is taken from another Sale-A-Bration set, Any Occasion. This set is predominantly a collection of banners that work really well on pocket notelet-sized cards, but includes a few teeny tiny embellishments - the present, two hearts and a tassel - that work really well on lots of projects.

A Playful Palette - My strip of border paper is from the Playful Palette designer series paper stack and was the inspiration for my entire colour scheme. This card design would be a great way to use up odd strips of paper left over from other projects though and would work in lots of different colourways.

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 this week's project for the new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

So Very Much Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Any Occasion Photopolymer Stamp Set

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the super-talented Sandy's turn to host this week and she has a fun theme for you to work with:

I also used this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout. Ok, so first up - a confession! I was so excited to have some child-free craft time to make my card earlier this week, that I did go a little crazy with my layering and so my card is not maybe as CAS as it should be. That said, I love it too much not to share :-) So - here's my card:

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

A Sweet Cupcake - What's sweeter than a cupcake? This delicious triple-time stamped number is so easy to create with the Sweet Cupcake stamp set. The photopolymer stamps make lining up the images a piece of cake (yes, pun intended!) and having mounted my card on a couple of layered circles I used the 'sweet' from the co-ordinating Cupcake Cutouts Framelits to finish my sentiment, which I brushed with clear Wink of Stella for a little shimmer.

Sugar Frosting - Those of you who attended Onstage in April or follow the Facebook page of the Stampin' Up! CEO, Sara Douglas, will have seen her demonstrate this set and finish with some textured frosting. I decided to get creative with my cupcake and give it a go! It was really easy to make - I've included the recipe on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' image below - an adds an interesting texture and dimension to the third layer of frosting. I went one step further and whilst wet sprinkled my frosting with Dazzling Diamonds to create a really sparkling sugary finish - yum! The photo below shows the dimension of the frosting in more detail:

Almost good enough to eat! Thank you Sara for this fun suggestion to step up our cupcake creations!

Playful Palette-inspired Colour Combo - I used one of the patterns in the Playful Palette designer series paper stack as the starting point for my card today and paired my Sweet Sugarplum, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla combo with Chocolate Chip - feel free to save this colour combination if it's one that appeals to you:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project - including the recipe to create your own frosting - 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 create with this week's theme.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sweet Cupcake Photopolymer Bundle	Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Playful Palette A4 Cardstock	Chocolate Chip A4 Cardstock
Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter

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

For my card today I decided to stick with a square card and to make a big splash of colour with the Playful Palette Suite - take a look:

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

Painter's Palette - I created a little easel as the focal point for today's card, with a fun sentiment and paint splatters from the Painter's Palette stamp set. I stamped the frame to the easel twice and cut out the inside of the second one with my Layered Squares Framelits so that I could create a raised frame with added dimension. I also added some tone-on-tone splatter to my card base to tie in with the 

Playful Palette - The papers in the Playful Palette DSP stack are full of bright colours and patterns. I chose a variety of paint-splattered papers for my background panels - all so clashing that they look oddly co-ordinated! 

Ribbon and Glimmer - I added some Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo ruched ribbons to my card, along with a strip of retired black glimmer paper that was lying in my scrap box. You could of course colour some silver glimmer with black ink if you don't have any black to hand.

A fun card that would work for a male or female - a great standby card for those last-minute birthdays!

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. 

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

Enjoy your day - we are celebrating a birthday in the house today, with young Benjamin reaching the ripe old age of 9 (where did that time go?!) so we will be having a fun day. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Painter's Palette Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad	Flirty Flamingo 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon
Peekaboo Peach 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon	Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad
Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

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

I initially was drawn to the lovely Fruit Stand designer series paper to make today's card, but when I'd finished my card decided it didn't have enough Cucumber Crush so decided to take a different approach. I will share my Fruit Stand card another day, but for now this is the card I came up with:

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

Swirly Bird Scribble Flowers - I've been longing to use my Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribbles Framelits to create a modern floral card and today's bright and fresh colour combination provided the perfect opportunity. I stamped the bases in Peekaboo Peach and used the Scribbles in Tangerine Tango for a real pop of juicy colour. The Cucumber Crush provides wonderfully bright leaves and I added a few enamel dots too here and there.

Playful Palette Border - The hatched pattern from the Playful Palette DSP stack comes in both pink and Peekabooo Peach and it provided the perfect border for my card. I added a strip of Customer Crush to the stamped panel too for definition and contrast.

Thank You Tin of Cards - The sentiments in the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set are some of my 'go to' sentiments, I love the size and style of the scripting so much. Thank you Stampin' Up! for keeping this set, even though the Tin of Cards kit has had a refresh and makeover and now has a new set that co-ordinates with it. 

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; 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:

I'm back from a special day yesterday: Rebecca celebrated her 11th birthday - wherever did that time go?! She was slightly disappointed that it was a school day, although genuinely touched by the number of children that came up to her to wish her a happy birthday yesterday, and two little juniors who even came and sang to her - how sweet! It seems when you're Head Girl everyone knows when it's your birthday!

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

For my card today I decided on a showcase of in-colours and one of the new designer series paper stacks - take a look:

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

A Playful Palette of Colour - The designer series papers featured on my card today feature four of the five new in-colours (only Dapper Denim is absent) and are one of the products featured in the Playful Palette suite - modern and colourful designs, inspired by brushstrokes and artwork. Here's a photo showing other items in this creative suite:

Layering Squares - I cut each of my four squares with my new Layering Squares framelits and chose to highlight one of the squares with a narrow scalloped border in Peekaboo Peach. These layered squares are great for creating perfectly aligned borders, frames and shaker cards and can be used in endless different combinations to achieve a different effect each time.

Hello You Happy - I finished my card with a sentiment comprising a little banner using words from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set and a die cut 'happy' using one of the 'Hello You' thinlits. I diecut my 'happy' in Emerald Envy, dipped it in Versamark and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder and repeated the process 3 times to get a smooth and glossy finish. It really stands out against the patterned papers and the Sweet Sugarplum base  - I love it!

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. 

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

Enjoy your day; I'm getting together with some of my team for a catch-up, which should be fun. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

For my card today I decided to use one of the new hostess sets, 'Pun Intended', along with some new paper from the Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack:

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

News Flash - You Are Awesome - ... and so are the extra Stampin' Rewards you could get if you hosted a Stampin' Up! party in June! The 'Pun Intended' stamp set has lots of fun images, including a bee, a light bulb and some super-punny sentiments. This set is exclusive to hostesses - and with an extra £25 of Stampin' Rewards for all party sales of £250 or more, you will have more than enough rewards for to get your hands on this stamp set or any of the other fabulous new hostess sets or other new catalogue goodies. I'm in love with this retro camera; here I've stamped it in black and punched out two circles to give a 3D look to the lens - I have lots more ideas for it though, so stay tuned!

Playful Palette - The Playful Palette suite contains lots of lovely products, including a designer series paper stack that includes papers with three of five of the new in-colours. It also contains some great black and vanilla patterns, such as the one I've used to create the background panel for my card today.

Watermelon Wonder-ful - When deciding what colour to choose to compliment my black/vanilla colour combo, I decided I would highlight the heart on my sentiment banner and wanted a red that was not too 'red', so happened upon Watermelon Wonder, one of my in-colour favourites from last year. It was the perfect colour for my card base and flagged banner too. I also added a little epoxy heart to add shine and subtle dimension to my heart, along with the final trio of rhinestones for sparkle.

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with 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: