Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jan to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

Cards for little ones - babies and young children. I don't have many of those in my family these days, but this week's challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to make another card with my SilIy Old Bear suite, so we're all good! It's CASE A DT Week over at Just Us Girls and having checked out the Design Team cards, I decided I would CASE Carol's card for my card today. First up - take a look at m card:

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

Here's a picture of Carol's card that I decided to CASE: 

Like Carol's, my card is for a child and uses vintage papers, however mine features the beloved Winnie the Pooh and Piglet on a winter walk and features the Silly Old Bear Papers and the Sweet Words & Labels bundle. I switched my card to landscape, but used the same layout as Carol's card, with similar layering and sentiment position. I accented my aperture with some diecut acorns that are included in the set:

I think the sentiment on this card is one of my favourites in the set - what better than a message of unconditional love?

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:

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

Today I have an extra post with a card I was intending to share yesterday but the day just ran away with me! It was inspired by a number of current challenges:

I used the layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge along with the stencil and/or die challenge at Just Add Ink (I used both) and it's Anything Goes Stencil Week over at Just Us Girls. I recently added another new stencil set to my collection - the Big Birthday Stencils by Kristina Werner at Concord & 9th - and treated myself to the co-ordinating stamp and die set bundle too and this was the perfect opportunity to take it out for its first test run. Here's my card:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

The first thing I did was stencil a panel using my chosen colours: Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Summer Splash (ret.), Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lime twist and Parakeet Party (ret.) My colour scheme was inspired by a pack of retired sparkly enamel dots that I had in my box and I thought these colours would work well for a bright, masculine card; this one is headed to my brother-in-law whose birthday it is this week. I stayed faithful to the sketch and used my Perennial Postage Dies to diecut the shapes for the four quarters, then trimmed my stencilled panel accordingly. I made this card larger than usual - its finished size is A5) as I wanted to leave the stencilled panels as large as possible so that you could still make out the detail. 

I added a stamped and diecut sentiment and a few sparkly enamel dots in coordinating colours to complete my card:

As with all of the KW stencils, this one is huge, so I had a couple of decent leftover pieces that I will undoubtedly use on other projects at some point. Here's one so that you can see more of the uninterrupted stencil detail:

I was concerned that the detail of the stencil might not be visible once cut down, but I'm pleased that you can still make out balloons, bunting gifts and birthday cakes - all essential elements for a good birthday celebration! 

I really like these stencils and the co-ordinating bundle and I can't wait to try this again in different colourways too.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (£31.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)
HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Christy to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for us to work with:

I love things in threes so this sketch is right up my street! I also knew immediately what I was going to do with it - take a look:

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

The 'Capturing Smiles' Online Exclusives stamp and die set bundle has a little film strip with three images that worked perfectly for the sketch so that's what I used. I coloured the snapshots and glued them behind the film reel, then added a sentiment and a little camera accent:

I continued the design to the inside of my card, with a partial image of the larger camera and the last piece of my sentiment, tucked in the bottom corner:

Although it's not clean and simple week, this sketch definitely lends itself to clean and simple cards. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed I used this sketch for the layout of my beachy CAS card last week too. Thank you Christy for a great sketch. :-)

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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CAPTURING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week and she has a fun Clean And Simple challenge for us to work with:

Going to the beach - how fun! Given that the beach is all about sand and sea, I knew today's card was going to have to feature both. How to keep this clean and simple though? I decided that a three square layout was the answer. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Using a Crumb Cake base, I layered on some Azure Afternoon waves and white sea foam using the Rolling Waves Dies, then used a square Stylish Shapes Dies to diecut three squares from it, just to add interest to the layout and design. A simple sentiment from 'Splash & Relax' anchored by a pair of pink dotty flip flops complete my clean and simple card:

Lots of 'white' space and minimal layers and embellishments - clean and simple, done! I'm also linking today's card up over at Time Out where the current challenge theme is 'water'.

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:

Enjoy your day; we are going to enjoy a BBQ lunch and I'm hoping to fit in a little baking too, but otherwise taking things easy. I'll be back shortly with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ROLLING WAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

It's Sunday and I have a second post for you as I'm delighted to be guesting over at AAA Cards following my recent win there with this card. Their new challenge is a colour challenge featuring four bright colours that really appeal to me:

This colour palette screams summer and has a real tropical vibe, don't you think? I decided the colours would be perfect to use a new die that my dear friend Elizabeth gifted me when I visited her recently - take a look:

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

This rather comical flamingo is cut using a Tim Holtz flamingo die and was perfect for the two shades of pink, along with a yellow beak. I was considering how best to include the orange too; I considered some ink blending or maybe sun rays behind, but decided I wanted to keep my background super clean and simple, so opted to add a tiny orange punched flower with an enamel dot centre to my flamingo - now she is truly ready to party!

A simple 'hello' sentiment from my stash completes my card which is sure to brighten someone's day!

What will you create with these colours? So many possibilities - just remember to keep it clean and simple!

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

Today is a special day! Following my recent win over at Color Hues with the Pink and Turquoise colour combo (you can see that card here if you missed it), I am Guest Designer for their new challenge starting today and there is a striking colour combo to play with: 

Black and red - lots of possibilities with this combo, right? When I cleared out my craft room a few months ago I discovered a pack of Peaceful Poppies Elements collage pieces from an absolute age ago that was unopened - so today's challenge gave me an opportunity to remedy that. Take a look at what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Poppies always make me think of remembrance, so they are the perfect image for a sympathy or thinking of you card. I created a frame using some Real Red cardstock and a square Stylish Shapes Die, and filled it with some heat-embossed vellum poppies that I colour red with my Stampin' Blends markers and a watercolour poppy element, then added another poppy accent to my stamped sentiment and added some black thread, sequins and an offcut of black and white paper for a little added decoration:

Some simple layering of a few well-chosen bits and pieces bring together my black and red card. Do pop by the Color Hues blog and check out what the rest of the design team have created with this colour combo; how does this colour combo inspire you?

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

WORDS OF BEAUTY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I managed to squeeze in a little crafty time this afternoon and had just long enough to whip up a quick card using Donna's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

I thought the frame would be perfect for me to try out a stamp I picked up last Christmas that still hadn't seen ink - take a look:

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

This stamp set is called 'Merriest Wishes' by My Favourite Things - isn't the little girl in her reindeer onesie so cute? She is perfect for a spot of light colouring with my Blends markers and I thought the Christmas lights around her antlers would tie in nicely with some retired Merry, Bold & Bright designer series paper that features rows of Christmas lights too:

A simple frame and sentiment from the same set complete my card. Another Christmas card for my collection!

A short and sweet blog post too - I need to link up my card before the close!

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

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and she has a beautiful colour challenge for us to work with:

I thought I'd make another card using the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, this time using Jaydee's chosen colours with an old favourite - take a look:

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

I was hunting through my die collection and came across Floral Squares, an old favourite of mine, that I thought would be perfect for the sketch and our colour palette this week. I used Lemon Lime Twist for a zesty green and then Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Flirty Flamingo for a second pink to highlight the flower petals:

A few accent sequins in coordinating colours and a simple heat-embossed sentiment from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set complete my card. 

This is such a simple card really, yet I love the effect of the bright colours and clean lines against the white background - so fresh, don't you think?

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

Enjoy your day; I shall be trying not to melt as this third heatwave of the summer here in the UK shows no signs of abating - oh and watching the Men's Final at Wimbledon on the TV, with my glass of Pimms in hand - the culmination of two great weeks of tennis! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

I managed to get a little time in my craft room this week before the day got too hot to work on some projects, so I have an extra project or two to share. Today I have a card for the following challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has an interesting 4-block design layout this week and over at SUO Challenges they are CASing the card shown by Jolanda Johnstone. I decided to combine both - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Usually when I CASE a project like this, I stick with the layout and change the suite and colours. I really liked the Atlantic Hearts sketch though, so thought I would challenge myself to do things differently. I still used the Flowers Fair stamp set, a favourite of mine, and kept in some layers and the same colours (broadly, with a little additional orange), but I didn't use any DSP (I know, shocker!) or dry embossing, instead stamping in black onto solid colour cardstock in each of the colours and highlighting with the dark Blends marker of the same colour, before creating four postage stamp style tiles, layered onto a black slimline card base. You can see the floral detail below:

 I kept it as a thank you card too - with the main thank you element inside the card:

So what do you think - can you see the inspiration for today's card in Jolanda's original? o leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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; I'm off to watch the James Junior play cricket this afternoon, but I will be sat in the shade and keeping out of the sun - it's just too hot!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWERS FAIR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£22.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (£31.00)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	TIMID TIGER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TIMID TIGER STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)
DARLING DUCKLING A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DARLING DUCKLING STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)	LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)

Today I've a super quick post to share a quick card I made using the sketch over at Sunday Stamps:

The layout was perfect to showcase one of the prints on the Silly Old Bear designer series paper - take a look:

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

A simple banner behind and a sentiment cut with one of the label dies was all that was needed to accompany the sweet image of Piglet and Pooh on a Golden Glow cardbase:

I added a little extra stamped detail to the inside to complete my card:

That sentiment is so perfect for the image, don't you think? The new in-colours compliment the papers in this suite perfectly.

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'!