Today I'm sneaking in a card that I should have shared yesterday but got to the end of my day and was simply too tired to blog! Check out this cute card I made inspired by this week's theme over at TGIF Challenges:

So many lovely free items available during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion and I chose one of my favourites for my card  - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card: 

I have lots of little characters from the Penguin Playmates designer series paper - free with a £45 purchase - that I fussy cut whilst sat watching TV one evening, so I wanted to use some of them on my card today. I added a panel of stripes, also from the paper set, and a sentiment and strategically placed my animals and snowman around it:

The best bit? A number of these characters are incomplete and were cut from the edge of the paper; you should never throw these away though as designs like this one, where they peek around the sentiment panel are the perfect way to use them without anyone being any the wiser. Well, obviously you all know because I told you, but you get where I'm coming from, right?! 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 later with another project, this time for our new challenge over at TicTacToe. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PENGUIN PLAYMATES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)

STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)

MERRIEST MOMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Jenny has asked that we create a slimline card, with a rectangular element behind a single focal image:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I created a mini slimline card and took the opportunity to combine with my entry for the current Less Is More challenge for a clean and simple card that is all about the sparkle - take a look:

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

Stitched Snowflakes - I recently picked up the new Stitched Snowflakes dies (I blame my blog friend, the lovely LeAnne Pugliese lol!) having been convinced I can never own too many snowflake dies and these ones also have a lovely stitched detail - bonus! I thought a single diecut snowflake would make a great focal point, and used one of the other dies that cuts a swirl of snowflakes into a flat panel for my rectangular element. 

Be Dazzling - The challenge over at Less Is More currently is 'sparkle' so I just had to cut my snowflake out of Be Dazzling sparkly paper - the ultimate in sparkle and free with a purchase of £45 during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion to boot! I also added a sparkly border between my mat white layers - I mean, you can never have too much sparkle, right?! Well, so long as it's balanced with lots of 'white' space to keep that clean and simple feel ;-) If you would like to get your hands on some 'Be Dazzling' paper, you have until the end of this month or whilst supplies last (whichever comes sooner) to grab some: just hop on over to my online store or give me a call to place an order.

Sparkle of a Different Kind - My sentiment comes from the 'Sparkle of the Season' wreath set - it seemed just right to pair with my sparkling snowflake on today's 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

That's all from me for now; I have lots to do following yesterday's monthly Stampin' Up! class; on the upside, the forecast is rain all day today so at least I won't be tempted to go out into the garden! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STITCHED SNOWFLAKES DIES (£32.00)

SPARKLE OF THE SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

BE DAZZLING 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£0.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

I'm late with my post today as I held my monthly card class this morning, but I did manage to squeeze in a little crafty time afterwards so today I'm sharing a card that takes it's inspiration from the challenge prompt photo over at Just Add Ink this week:

So much to love about that photo! The colours, flowers and textures ... I decided to pair those with some free Sale-A-Bration product for my card today - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Delicate Dahlias - The focal point flower on my card is the outline flower from 'Delicate Dahlias' - a stamp set that can be yours with a purchase of £90 or more during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. I heat embossed the flower in gold onto some Cajun Craze cardstock, then added tone-on-tone colour with my Stampin' Blends markers. The sentiment on today's card is also from this set.

Blended Colour - Having used Cajun Craze for my flower and (retired) Pretty Peacock for my card base, I brought both colours together by blending them from the outside in on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock at the centre of my design.

Texture, Texture - I tried to incorporated lots of textural elements from the inspiration photo on my card: the texture from the vase is similar to my dry embossed card base, and the texture from the cushion is on the gold metallic specialty paper beneath my sentiment. I also added other golden elements through my heat embossing, ribbon and gems.

So what do you think? Can you see how the photo inspired my card today? I would love to know what you use to inspire your crafting - do leave me a comment below.

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

 to follow

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:

DELICATE DAHLIAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	GOLD & ROSE GOLD 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) METALLIC SPECIALTY PAPER (£4.75)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GOLD 3/8" (1 CM) SHIMMER RIBBON (£7.50)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge:

Favourite animal? That is an interesting one! I used the Sunday Stamps sketch layout and a Sale-A-Bration freebie to create a Christmas card featuring one of my favourites, that is actually going to be a big feature of the Stampin' Up! festive season - take a look:

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

P-P-P-Pick Up A Penguin - Yes, my favourite animal on today's card is definitely the penguin! He is the star of the show in the Penguin Playmates Designer Series Paper that is one of the Sale-A-Bration items that can be yours free with a £45 purchase during the promotion. I've used three of the designs on my card today: one for the background, another for the striped panels and lastly I fussy cut all three animals from a third design:

A simple stamped sentiment from 'Penguin Place' completed my card. This card was actually really quick to create, as I had a whole pile of animals I had already cut out of the DSP one evening as I sat watching TV so they were ready to go. Which is a good thing, as I've been decorating this week (the youngest of the juniors wore me down with his constant requests for a bedroom makeover) and it left me with neither the time nor energy to create from scratch! Fortunately I had been thinking about the design as I painted, so the whole thing came together easily.

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

I am almost finished with my painting - just woodwork to do today - so will be looking forward to a rest over the weekend, in readiness for a very big week next week (more on that to follow!) Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PENGUIN PLAYMATES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)

PENGUIN PLACE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

So many reasons to celebrate today - or should I say, Sale-A-Brate?!

First up, we have a new mini catalogue, with everything you need for your seasonal and festive crafting, to take you from autumn, through to Halloween, Christmas and beyond! Here is the new mini catalogue, in all its festive glory:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

And as if that wasn't enough, we get a second bite of the Sale-A-Bration cherry this year too, with our second 2 month long Sale-A-Bration promotion! Starting from today 3rd August until 30th September, you can once again get more bang for your buck when you shop, host or join. You can click on the catalogue on the right hand side of my blog page or below to access the Sale-A-Bration leaflet to download a copy or click on the icon above or on the right to go directly to my online shopto place an order - we are LIVE!

So a reminder of how Sale-A-Bration works: for anyone who hasn't come across it before, it's Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is loaded with offers whether you shop, join or host. You can earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £45 you spend between 3 August and 30 September. There is also the opportunity to earn even bigger rewards with a £90 purchase. It's the perfect time to purchase those products you've had on your wish list and earn more products for free! Here's a link to a video from the nice people at the Home Office that lets you see each of those free products up close in more detail:

I hope that was useful and rest assured I will be sharing plenty of additional projects on my blog in the next few weeks that show these items in more detail. 

It’s also one of the best times of the year to join Stampin’ Up! There is a fabulous joining option during this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: as usual, you can become a demonstrator for just £99 and choose £130 of FREE products for your Starter Kit. In addition to an extra £31 worth of product in your starter kit, you can select an additional one of 12 bundles FOR FREE. Here are the bundles that you are able to choose from:

There couldn’t be a better time to join the Stampin’ Up! family. Plus, the whole kit ships for free! There is plenty of choice and flexibility, whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and just use your discount to enable you to purchase craft supplies more cheaply, or alternatively would like to build a flourishing direct sales business and sell supplies to others - it's entirely up to you. 

Hosting is also even more rewarding during Sale-A-Bration. When you host a party and reach a certain amount in sales (see the Stampin’ Rewards chart in the Sale-A-Bration brochure for more information), you can earn a free stamp set - this time the 'In Your Words' stamp set shown above. Even if your order reaches the qualifying amount on your own outside of a party, you can earn the same free stamp set too, both in person and when shopping in my online store. What's more, you can even apply your Stampin' Rewards to a Starter Kit and become a demonstrator yourself - I would love to welcome you to my team!

If you would like to host a virtual party, please do get in touch. Equally if you've ever thought about becoming an SU! demonstrator, now is a great time to do so - I would love to have a no-obligation chat with you about joining my team and the benefits.

If you would like more information on any of the above, please don't hesitate to get in touch! 

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back soon with lots of projects showcasing products from the new catalogue and today's clean and simple post for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy shopping!

Happy Monday everyone! I had a little extra crafting time at the weekend so to start the week I have not one, but two cards that were inspired by some current challenges. My first card is using Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I'm also linking up over at Time Out where the code word is 'hungry' and at Christmas Craft Creations where their theme is 'anything goes':

I didn't let myself be put off by Amy's diagonal lines and decided that some festive gingerbread was in order - take a look:

My card features two of the designs in the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper set from the upcoming mini catalogue - the gingerbread cookies are cut out of one of the papers (the sentiment is from a retired set):

This suite makes me hungry just looking at it - I mean, is it too early to start baking gingerbread in July?!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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. 

My second card uses the colours over at Color Throwdown and I went across the top row of Paper Craft Crew's tic-tac-toe board with trees/diecut/watercolour:

Following my AYSI team mate Amy's fabulous watercolour using this stamp set, I was itching to have a go at creating with a stamp called 'feels Like Home' that will be free with a £45 purchase in the upcoming Sale-A-Bration promotion. I though the Color Throwdown colours had a lovely Mediterranean feel to them, so I had visions of holiday isles as I watercoloured my simple scene. I added a sentiment cut with one of the label dies in another new set, Harvest Dies:

This set so reminds me of summer holidays abroad; such a distant memory, but whilst my own garden doesn't look anywhere near as Mediterranean, it is my happy place so will be just fine until we are able to truly travel far and wide again.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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 hope you are enjoying my sneak-peek shares - I can't believe I'm feeling so in the festive zone when it's so warm and sunny outside, but the temptation of a box of new goodies is too much to resist!

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

Hi everyone - happy Monday! A super quick post from me this evening as I'm squeezing in an entry over at Freshly Made Sketches (no really squeezing!) this week where Karren has a great sketch:

I didn't think I'd get a chance to play along, but I spent a few minutes this afternoon fussy cutting some of my new Sale-A-Bration Penguin Playmates designer series paper so thought I'd share a sneak peek with you! Check out this sweet trio:

These papers co-ordinate with a stamp set in the new seasonal catalogue called 'Penguin Place' and there is also a co-ordinating penguin punch that also cuts penguins out of the DSP - win, win! I added some retired adhesive-backed snowflakes for a little added sparkle:

How cute! Hope you like it. The new seasonal catalogue and Sale-A-Bration brochure launch on 3rd August, so not long to wait. I am starting to send out catalogues to my customers this week - if you'd like a copy, email me with your contact details and I can send you one too!

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

 To follow

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'!

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the first column with thinking of you/stitching/flowers for my card today, that also makes the most of one of the Sale-A-Bration freebies that can still be yours for a few more days so is perfect to play along with the team over at TGIF Challenges too - take a look:

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

Flower and Field - Although I didn't eventually choose it, I was considering 'shades of green' as one of my board options and I immediately thought of this paper in the Flower and Field Sale-A-Bration DSP pack as it makes such a beautiful use of Just Jade as its background colour. I decided to use this paper anyway as it's so pretty and the green, pink and yellow combo give me three colours to play with the peeps over at Paper Craft Crew this week too! It's also a great reminder that there are just 3 days to go until the end of the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. If you are a regular Stampin' Up! customer, don't be caught out - the current promotion ends a whole month earlier than it has in previous years. That's no bad thing, as it means we will get a second Sale-A-Bration promotion later in the year, but if you still have things on your current SAB wishlist, you need to earn them whilst you still can!

Thinking of You - The sentiment I chose for my card today comes from the 'Happy Thoughts' stamp set, inspired by the Million Sales Achiever Jackie Bolhuis. This is a sentiment-only set, designed with beginner crafters in mind. It has great basic sentiments for every occasion, along with some longer ones that work perfectly as a feature or on the insdie of a card. What's more, this set was designed to co-ordinate with a number of our basic punches, so is really versatile and a great way to build on a beginner's collection of basic items. 

Pierced Blooms - I added a few Pierced Blooms to decorate my card - another long-awaited addition to my collection - although as I went to finishe my card with some black enamel dots on those itty bitty pink flowers I realised ... yes, I've run out! So use your imagination as I go off to order more of these craft room staples!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PIERCED BLOOMS DIES (£34.00)	HAPPY THOUGHTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	FLOWER & FIELD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Julie is hosting this month and this week we have a colour challenge: 

The colour palette gave me the perfect reason to break out 'Darling Donkeys' again, which is also perfect to link up with the challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP279 where their theme this week is 'animal' - and mine is ready to party! Take a look:

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

Darling Donkeys - I couldn't resist these sweet little donkeys again for my card, today featuring the frolicking donkey on the front of my card, rather than the sweet seated one that I've used on all my previous cards, although I did add one of those to the inside:

Kick Up Your Heels - I thought this donkey would be perfect for a birthday card, and his happy demeanour reminded me of the zebras in the 'Zaony Zebras' stamp set. So I borrowed a sentiment that seemed equally appropriate for a party-going donkey as a fun-loving zebra, along with a party hat, and got my donkey ready to celebrate!

Circles, Circles - I was really pleased with how I met the 'clean and simple' brief this week - lots of white space, minimal layers and patterns and one main focal point. I did use a circle shape to tie my design together: the stitched circle background for my donkey, the circular pattern on my strips of designer paper and the polka dots on his party hat. A subtle detail but a clever way to create harmony in my CAS design:

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

The James Juniors are on half term this week so in an effot to keep them off their screens and give them a proper break from home schooling, I am being a very hands-on parent this week. So not much crafting from me, unless they are in tow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DARLING DONKEYS CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	ZANY ZEBRAS CLING STAMP SET (£18.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today I'm sharing another card using that oh-so-pretty floral die, this time using this week's Global Design Project #GDP278 sketch. Those pretty pink stripes and florals were also inspired by the pastel-striped biscuits in the good-enough-to-eat inspiration photo over at Time Out this week and I'm also having a second entry over at Addicted to CAS where the theme is hearts:

My card is all heart for sure with my white floral version - take a look:

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

I used a few narrow strips cut from some left over pieces of Oh So Ombre DSP (gotta love a Sale-A-Bration freebie!) I decided to make this card a clean and simple anniversary card, so added a silver heat-embossed sentiment to the banner that also comes in the Floral Heart Dies set. I've not used this before but I really like the way it folds and the stitched detailing. A sprinking of Rococco Rose sequins separated from my Woven Threads sequin assortment complete my card:

 I love the clean and delicate appearance of this card, with the soft pinks against the white. Very romantic, don't you think?!

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:

ALWAYS IN MY HEART BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)

OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)

WOVEN THREADS SEQUIN ASSORTMENT (£4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)