Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for the oft-dreaded speed challenge:

This one was chosen by me: you have to create a card using a punch or punches, in under 10 minutes! I didn't have anything in mind when I chose this challenge, other than I wanted to use my Bee Builder Punch - but not necessarily to punch a bee! Thanks to a great sketch over at Sunday Stamps and the green and white colour combo over at Color Hues - perfect for the St Patricks Day inspired board at Festive Friday too ( I chose green, clover leaf and rainbow from the board) - the idea for my card came together pretty quickly too! Take a look at the card I created then read on for the detail:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Gather Your Supplies - The key to a speed stamping challenge is preparation - and this can be done before the stopwatch starts! I had my Bee Builder Punch and decided that the heart shape that forms the bee's wings would also be perfect for the basis of a lucky four-leaf clover. I wanted to keep things simple, so focused everything around one main green - Shaded Spruce. I grabbed that ink pad and some green cardstock, trawled through my (extensive!) designer paper collection for three papers I could use for those background layers that all featured Shaded Spruce as the primary colour (all 3 are retired) and grabbed those, grabbed a precut white card base and diecut circle - I keep a box of pre-cut white cardbases on my desk as these are the ones I use most, and a box of precut shapes for those I use the most and went on the hunt for a current stamp set with a 'lucky' sentiment - I settled on 'Country Flowers'. Here are my supplies, all ready to go:

I also had my embellishment box to hand, with any green or white ones at the front in case I wanted to add them at the end. Then I set my stopwatch - go, go, go!

Bee Builder Punch - My card is fairly straightforward: three overlapping panels of DSP, my Stylish Shapes diecut circle and the focal point: my four leaf clover, this is where my Bee Builder punch comes in! I punched 5 hearts from Shaded Spruce cardstock, overlapped four of them and cut a curved stem from the fifth one and glued them to the circle to create my lucky clover:

I added some green tinsel gems to cover the join and add some sparkle and used the 'best friend' sentiment for the front of my card, adding the 'lucky' one to the insde of my card:

I think it's fun to see what else you can use punches for, other than their main purpose. This isn't the first time I've used a punch or die to create a four leaf clover either - if you do a search on my blog, you will find many examples over the years!

The Result - So how long did my card take? An impressive 7 minutes and 51 seconds, even if I say so myself! 

The key is in the preparation - and keeping it simple, with minimal stamping. So what are your favourite ways to use your punches for a speedy card? Do leave me a comment below and better still, play along with our challenge 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEE BUILDER PUNCH (23.00)	COUNTRY FLOWERS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
TINSEL GEMS FOUR-PACK (7.50)

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

Full disclosure - I LOVE this sketch - there are so many creative possibilities! So much so, I have not one but three cards to share with you that all have it as the starting point. So first up, my challenge card! I had another idea that I wanted to try with the Thankful Garden stamp set, so I decided to use the blue/mauve colour combination over at Color Dare and set to work - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Thankful Garden - I've made no secret of how much I love this bundle, that will launch with the new wave of Online Exclusives on 4th March. For today's card, I put the stencils to one side and used my Stampin' Write markers to outline colour the flower head and stem:

If you're not a fan of detailed colouring, this is a great way to use your Stampin' Write markers. You can currently receive not one but TWO colour family sets of Stampin' Write markers in addition to £130 of product for £99 when you join Stampin' Up! during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. That's also the only way you can receive the Thankful Garden bundle before the 4th March launch date - by adding it to your starter kit. Now there's two reasons to sign up before the promotion ends on Friday :-) I added a couple of white diecut leaves and embossed a panel of Fresh As A Daisy DSP with the (retired) Painted Texture Embossing Folder behind my blossom, a few gems and a sentiment I fussy cut from the Greetings For All Ephemera pack to complete my card. I debated whether or not to use up some ribbon and add a bow and really couldn't decide:

I decided on balance I preferred it without, but what do you think? Do leave me a comment and let me know!

Goodbye Boho Blue - Boho Blue and Moody Mauve are the featured blue and purple on today's card; both are 2023-25 In Colours that are due to retire at the end of April. I will be featuring these and the other in-colours in this set in the next couple of months, but take this as your first reminder: now is a great time to stock up on re-inkers and any other 2023-25 in-colour supplies. They often run out before the end of the catalogue sales period, so don't leave it too late. Besides, if you add them to your basket and spend £55 or more before the end of the month, you can add a free product to your basket too - win-win!

Take Two and Three - As I mentioned above, I think this sketch is a keeper and so versatile. Whilst I used the flower as my shape for my PP card, I created two more cards that were more faithful to the circle. The first one was an Easter card using the Frames and Flowers DSP and one of the diecut wreaths, along with a sentiment from one of my favourite retired Easter sets, 'Easter Promise':

This paper pack really is the pack that just keeps on giving, I've made so many cards using it. 

My third card was the the current challenge over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are on 'W for Wings' and this time I used a full panel of Lily Pond Lane DSP, overlaid with a panel out of which I diecut a circle to frame and highlight the mama and her brood of ducklings:

Aren't they just so cute?! This card is actually for one of my team, to celebrate the addition of the new 'ducklings' that she has welcomed to her Stampin' Up! team during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - she loves ducks! I could have kept going with this sketch - I'm so looking forward to see what everyone else does with it in the PP gallery this week!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's main 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 am making banoffee pie today - yum! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GREETINGS FOR ALL MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (6.75)

2023–2025 IN COLOR STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (17.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

BOHO BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

MOODY MAUVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Suzy has asked that we layer a couple of shapes with the sentiment behind:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to create a simple birthday card using the Birthday Celebration stamp set and Wildflower Celebration papers - take a look:

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

This card was so simple to make: I stamped my sentiment onto a stitched circle and for my accent added a cupcake, complete with candle, that I fussy cut from one of the mixed sheets in the Wildflower Celebration paper pack:

A few party dots complete the front of my card. I used a combination of the other sentiments in the Birthday Celebration stamp set to create this oversize greeting inside my card too:

Easy as that - the Birthday Celebration Suite is perfect for quick and easy birthday cards.

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:

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (39.50)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PARTY DOTS (7.50)

Today I've a quick post to share a card that I made for a friend of mine who is celebrating the arrival of her first grandchild - what a wonderful occasion! I used the sketch over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday for my layout and am also linking up over at Time Out where their theme is 'new beginnings':

My friend Deborah is welcoming the birth of a grandson, Xander, so there was only one set to use - the retired 'Treasures of Life stamp set. Take a look at my simple card:

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

The sentiments in this set are just perfect for a card to send to grandparents to celebrate a new grandchild, so I couldn't resist using two either side of the main image on my card. This did mean I had to square-off those shapes on the sketch in order to fit everything in, but I think it works. I did all my stamping in Basic Grey as it gives a softer edge - perfect for a new baby card. I also used a neutral grey base, so that I could highlight my Balmy Blue ribbon bow and my main image, which I coloured with my watercolour pencils. I was tempted to use my go-to Stampin' Blends markers, but decided that pencils would add to the softness and enable me to colour the woman's hair better. I don't have a photo to prove it, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but the slightly spooky thing about this image, is that it actually looks uncannily like my friend from behind - so I decided to colour it in her likeness.

My friend Deborah is a fellow crafter and a lover of all things clean and simple, so I hope she likes today's card.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 2 (14.00)	BLENDER PENS (14.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)
BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's our final challenge of the year and it's a sketch challenge, designed by Jane:

I don't know whether it's pre-Christmas overwhelm, but I struggled with Jane's sketch this week. I decided to make a Christmas card and feature some of the cute reindeer on the Reindeer Days designer series paper - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I started with the image of the cute baby reindeer building a snowman and used my Stylish Shaped Dies to cut it out to give a little detail to the border edges. I backed this with a panel of snowflake-embossed white cardstock and added this to my Pool Party cardbase before adding a couple of additional strips of designer paper:

I took a slight liberty with the sentiment in terms of positioning; I used a pre-printed tag from last year's retired Memories & More Kit, tied with a little silver twine. Quite a quick and easy card, even with all the layers. This was actually the second card I made - here's the first one:

On this card I used one of the horizontal elements for the sentiment, again using a retired Memories & More banner sticker. I prefer my second card though - I think that little reindeer building his snowman is super cute! Here's a photo of both cards together - which one is your favourite? Do 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow bright and early with another Christmas card as I am guesting over at AAA Cards. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

REINDEER DAYS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

SNOWFLAKE SKY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

Today I'm sharing a super-quick card that I made for the current sketch challenge over at AAA Cards:

This card is a real 'scraps off the desk' card; I had lots of animals cut from retired Penguin Playmates designer paper in my scraps box and I thought they would make a fun trio peeking out of those diecut aperture windows:

I added a sentiment from the retired 'Penguin Place' stamp set that is also in triplicate and - job done!

This card is going into my box of cards ready to send to Ben when he hopefully heads off to uni next year - I think it makes for a fun, seasonal 'hello' card.

Enjoy your day; I'm catching up with a friend and I'll be back here tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at As You See It. 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 Elizabeth to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

I used some old favourites with some current ones to make a card for Elizabeth's theme of 'giving thanks' this week - take a look:

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

As a lover of designer paper, I couldn't resist this oxidised copper paper, but I find myself in a love-hate relationship with it; I have such great ideas of how to use it, but they never quite turn out as planned! I thought that the Leaf Fall Embossing Folder would make for a lovely embossed finish with this paper and whilst in real life, my card looks really pretty, I'm not sure the photograph does it justice - it's quite difficult to see the embossed detail against the shine of the paper. You can see it better on the close-up below:

I paired my shiny embossed background with one of my favourite thankful sentiments from the retired stamp set 'Lighthearted Leaves' that I heat embossed in copper and added a couple of retired copper metallic leaf embellishments to complete my card. I made a second card with the same design but in the Pecan Pie colour of oxidised copper paper too:

 Again, the embossed detail shows up better on the close-up below:

Two pretty cards that are perfect to send some seasonal thanks - even if the detail was tricky to capture in a photo!

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: 

LEAF FALL 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	OXIDIZED COPPER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.50)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PECAN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! If you live in the UK I hope you enjoyed an extra hour in bed this morning as the clocks changed! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I have another Christmas card to share with you today, which I'm also sharing with the team over at Inkspirational where they are all about seasonal cards, and this one is full-on traditional festive - take a look:

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

A Little Bit Festive - The A Little Bit Festive specialty designer series paper is the big hitter on today's card: I used a sheet of the red and white striped candy cane panels for the base and one of the diecut wreaths as the backing for my sentiment. This paper is so great for 'one and done' cards, with pre-diecut pieces making light work of decoration. I couldn't stop there today though; in addition to adding in some extra diecut foliage and berries, I added a few other pieces too; for more information, read on!

Greetings Of The Season - I added a heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Greetings of the Season' stamp set to the centre of my wreath, in two parts in order to fit the whole sentiment without obscuring too much of the foliage:

Joyful Sayings - Since the sentiment on the sketch was actually at the bottom of the left panel, not inside the shape, I chose some words that would allow me an extra element instead of substituting something else here; I actually used one of the pre-printed Joyful Sayings elements - it works 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I love the traditional festive look of today's card; what's your favourite kind of Christmas card design? Do let me know in the comments below.

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: 

A LITTLE BIT FESTIVE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) MIX & MATCH SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.50)	JOYFUL SAYINGS MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (9.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	GREETINGS OF THE SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I've a quick post with a simple card that I made using the sketch layout over at TGIF Challenges:

I had the Lily Pond Lane designer series paper out on my desk as I wanted to make a card for one of my lovely downline team members who is mad about ducks and when I saw those three panels, I decided they would be perfect for me to create a simple split block scene - take a look:

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

I chose my paper pattern then cut out the vertical section that I wanted to feature and using my Stylish Shapes Dies, I creatively cut it into three rectangles and positioned them on my Pretty Peacock card base:

I added my sentiment from the 'Hooray for Surprises' stamp set to some Pretty in Pink cardstock and overlaid that directly onto one of the DSP rectangles using dimensionals for a little extra lift. I added one of the offcuts from my sheet to the inside of my card to carry the decoration through - this is a great way to use up scraps and add some quick interior detail.

That's it - super simple! My team member calls her team 'ducklings' so this paper is just made for her - I hope she likes what I did 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LILY POND LANE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Laura is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

These colours had a real autumnal feel for me so I decided to play along with the challenges over at CAS on Friday where the challenge theme is 'Leaves' and AAA Cards where they are all about autumn and create a clean and simple card featuring one of my favourite leaves - take a look:

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

'Lighthearted Leaves' is a leaf set that I've had in my collection for a long time and will never part with! It contains one of my favourite sentiments for autumn cards (I used that on Sunday's card - you can see that here if you missed it) and I love the intricate design of the leaves, that are so perfect for a spot of quick colouring. I created a Night of Navy square frame using my Stylish Shapes Dies and used the challenge colours to colour my leaf with my Blends. I then I tied my leaf with Night of Navy baker's twine and added a snipped sentiment stamped on orange cardstock for an additional pop of autumnal colour:

My regular readers will know I'm not a fan of Wild Wheat generally, but I must confess I love it in this colour combination, so thank you Laura! I think colours can sometimes be like tasting vegetables - sometimes you just need to try cooking them a different way!

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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	WILD WHEAT STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)