I managed to squeeze in a little craft time this afternoon and made a card that's been buzzing around in my head for a while - love it when that happens and I finally get the opportunity to get my thoughts into paper! It is for the following challenges: 

I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and some of my Snail Mail designer series papers featuring the colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and made a colourful slimline card - take a look:

This card really is all about the designer paper; in addition to the base layers, I fussy cut one of the postman snails from the DSP to feature on my postage stamp diecut square - isn't he just the cutest?!

A speech bubble and heart embellishment, along with a stitedch scallop border and twine bow were all that was needed to complete my card. I also added a little decoration to my envelope' using another of the stamps in the 'Snailed It' stamp set:

I'm also linking today's card over at Global Design Project #GDP279 where they have an animal theme this week.

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 for our new theme challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

to follow

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Today we have a sketch challenge and Jeanne has asked that we use any non-geometric shape. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to make another card using the 'Snailed It' set. I know I used this set last week for my CC&S card too, but I just couldn't resist another outing (don't worry, if you're not a snail fan I have something different in store for my challenge card next week!) These snails are just perfect for a clean and simple card - take a look:

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

Snailed It - For today's card, I used the alternative snail in the 'Snailed It' set, who instead of bearing snail mail comes bearing gifts - of the birthday kind! I coloured him using my Stampin' Blends markers and took the inspiration for my colours from the other elements of the suite.

Snail Mail - I decided to create a recessed panel from the horizontal line of the sketch that is both spanned by my birth!day snail and home to a narrow strip of Snail Mail designer paper on the panel below. It's a rare thing to use designer series paper on a clean-and-simple card, but used sparingly and to accentuate a specific design element, such as the recess, and with a clear pattern element, it can be used to great effect (as I've shown here, even if I say so myself ;-) ) 

Art Gallery Birthday - Lastly, the sentiment from today's comes from the Art Gallery stamp set. This set is so, so beautiful and contain some of the most amazing florals, but is also home to some fabulous basic block-type greetings, which are perfect for clean and simple cards.

And that's it - clean and simple, done!

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; today both James Juniors are officially 'back to (virtual) school. I was fully anticipating getting some of my desk jobs ticked off, but so far I have had a steady stream of interruptions from each of them, who are both on breaks at different times and are requiring attention of one form or another, even if it's just real-life human interaction. Something tells me home-schooling is not a route to peace and quiet ... or productivity, or at least not for me anyway! Sanity aside, all being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNAILED IT BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	SNAIL MAIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	ART GALLERY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£20.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
DAFODILL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BERMUDA BAY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)