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)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge, with a layered cluster of images in the opposing corner to the sentiment: 

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

For my card today I took my inspiration from the photo over at Inkspirational and raided my scraps box  for the bits and pieces I needed to make my card. Take a look:

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

I knew I wanted the drinks beaker from Splash & Relax as my focal point, but wanted to incorporate the lemons and florals too. Some snippets of Best Dressed and Tea Boutique DSP, along with a banner in yellow and a stamped lemon slice (ret. Cute Fruit) gave me my other elements, which I balanced with a trio of enamel dots and a sentiment from the retired Sweet Citrus stamp set:

It's fun to layer lots of small pieces together in this way and whilst there is more than I would usually include on a CAS card, all of the detail is concentrated in one area leaving lots of open white space to keep the clean and simple feel. It's also a great way to use up scraps and bits and pieces left over from other projects. Please excuse today's photos; I was struggling with the super bright sunshine when I took them and there are a few light spots I didn't see on first glance and I didn't have time to retake them.

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 am actually driving to Oxford today to have lunch with my CAS Colours & Sketches teamie Rachel who is currently visiting the UK on vacation, so that will be fun! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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

I wasn't quite sure where to go with Ann's theme this week, so I started with a browse of my stamp set shelf for inspiration. I saw this quote and that's where this week's project began - take a look:

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

Enjoy Life - The quote is featured in the retired 'Enjoy Life' stamp set and whilst not about romantic love per se, I thought that it would make a lovely centrepiece for a summer-inspired project. I stamped it onto white cardstock and diecut using my Nested Essentials Dies.

New Horizons - I leafed through my (extensive) designer series paper collection and found this lovely sunny landscape in the retired New Horizons pack that worked perfectly for my background.

It's In The Detail - Trying to decide how to bring my chosen quote and paper together, I happened upon the Inspired By Challenge inspiration this week and finally had the answer! Not the beachy theme, the colour scheme or the cookies - but the sketch layout. I decided to take some of the other stamps from the 'Enjoy Life' stamp set and stamp them in black onto an identical piece of designer paper to the one I was using for my background, cutting them out with my square Stylish Shapes Dies. I popped the diecut pieces up on dimensionals to add interest to the landscape and frame the quote in an interesting way:

I used the whole of the 6x6" sheet of DSP and decided I liked it so much that I would frame it and hang it on the wall of my craft room, which I recently painted in a sunny shade of yellow. Here's the finished piece in its frame:

Whilst my project does not embody romantic love, there is a definite nod to summer and a love of life, so I'm hoping Ann thinks I'm close enough to what she was looking for to meet the brief ;-).

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 will be enjoying a BBQ lunch in the summer sun and just pottering around the house today. I am still aching from Friday's strenuous gym session and paddleboarding excursion combined, so I need to rest in order to do it all again next week! We are forecast a third heatwave here this week, so I am trying to make the most of the reasonable temperatures before it's too hot to move. Besides, there will also be tennis at Wimbledon so if that's not an excuse to watch the TV, I'm not sure what is! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (£32.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

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

I am all about the sunshine so I wanted to reflect that in my card today - take a look:

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

I created my rays by stamping the sunray stamp from the Joyful Squares stamp set twice and added my sentiment from Splash & Relax in Azure Afternoon to a diecut circle, embellished with a pair of cool sunnies for good measure: 

And that's it - super simple, super fun! If you haven't given Joyful Squares a second look, you can still pick it up for a song on the last chance section of the online store - such a great stamp for scrapbooking and cardmaking alike.

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 am arriving back from a two week vacation in the USA today and hoping to bring the sunshine with me! I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)	JOYFUL SQUARES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£13.80)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON 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 LeAnne to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for us to work with:

I really like this sketch - the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed I used this layout for the speed stamping card I made on Friday (you can see that card here if you missed it)  and I have another card later this week that uses it too. On each of these cards, I've tried to use the panels in different ways. For today's card, I'm using some cute retired Cute As A Bug designer paper and one of my favourite dies for that rectangular panel - take a look:

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

I decided to add a piece of DSP featuring tiny flowers to the front of my card (this is one of the Cute As A Bug patterns); this allowed me to make a feature of the rectangular panel with the circles panel diecut from the Lovely Arrangements bundle. I added a stitched circle as the base for my fussy-cut insect carrying her flower and paired her with a sentiment from the Lovel Arrangements bundle too:

A heart and a couple of enamel flowers from my stash were the finishing touches for this otherwise quite simple card. I was enjoying fussy cutting whilst I had this pack of paper out on my desk, so took the opportunity to make a second card using it too - I'll share that one with you tomorrow. This really is a great sketch - I can't wait to see what you all make with is 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 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; it's a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and for once the sun is shining and it's glorious! I will be spending my day in the garden, reading and soaking up the beautiful weather whilst it lasts! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal speed stamping challenge chosen by Heather H:

I decided I would go with tulips as my flower bulb of choice and focus on using the stamps rather than the dies in the Sunshine & Tulips bundle for a change. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Simple Stamping For Speed - Given that this week is our speed stamping challenge week, where you have to make your card in under 10 minutes, I had to bear this in mind when I thought about the design for my card. I decided to keep the shapes simple and with the exception of the diecut circle, everything else was simply cut to size with a trimmer. I used the row of tulips stamp to create a panel of repeated tone-on-tone stamping which I stamped freehand for speed and then trimmed to size when I was happy with the length. I stamped the larger tulip onto my diecut circle, then finally overlaid this with a strip featuring my sentiment. Simple! 

A Trio of 2026-28 In Colo(u)rs - I thought I'd ring the changes with this set by featuring three of the new 2026-28 In Colours: Peaceful Pine, Crisp Cantaloupe and Barely Blush. I must say I wasn't a fan of Crisp Cantaloupe first time around some years ago, but I am liking it more this time around - it compliments the other In Colours nicely. 

If you like the new set of In Colors, remember you can receive them for FREE in addition to the usual free product you receive when you sign up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator during the month of May - why not give it a go? If you'd like to know more, please do get in touch as I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

A Timely Finish - So how long did my card take me to make? 8 minutes and 37 seconds:

Honestly, that's quite a long time for such a simple card, but the reason for this is that I had to stamp that focal point tulip a couple of times before I was happy (enough) with the result. I was struggling to get a sharp image - I clearly need more practice with the combination of photopolymer stamps and the new ink pads. As you can see above, the image still wasn't perfect but given the need for speed I think it can pass on this occasion.

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; it's predicted to be a scorcher this Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, so mine is starting with a session at the gym, followed by grocery shopping and a couple of appointments before heading out to the river to get on my paddleboard for the first time this year. Wish me luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

SUNSHINE & TULIPS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)

2026–2028 IN COLOR™ A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

2026–2028 IN COLOR™ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PADS (£63.00)

BASIC WHITE 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 Ann to host this week and she has a fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Food, glorious food! I don't have anything current that fits the bill for this one, so I reached for an old favourite, Taco Fiesta, for my card today. I grabbed Verena's fab sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week (it's a keeper!) for my layout and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

The retired Festive Birthday designer series paper gave me the colour scheme for today's card. I don't think I've ever paired it with Taco Fiesta, yet the bright Mexican patterns make it a great fit. I chose one of the busier patterns, covered in maracas, pinatas, guitars, sombreros and tiny chillies for my main piece and a strip with coordinating stripes to border it. I stamped my sentiment in the central circle and framed it above and below with a collection of guacamole-related images from the stamp set that I stamped and coloured with my Stampin' Blends:

With a nod to our challenge badge this week, I gave my avocado and cactus cute faces - there's something about food with faces that makes me smile! I added a little extra decoration, including a smiling taco, to the inside of my card too: 

I really love the bright colours and fun feel of this birthday card, although I'm probably pushing my own boundaries in terms of clean and simple - but the paper was so fun and I couldn't resist creating the little foodie clusters! So take this as your reminder - if you're playing along this week, we are looking for clean and simple cards featuring food: minimal layers, uncluttered with minimal embellishments too and lots of 'white' space. We are looking forward to your food-themed creations!

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; a quiet day here in the James household today I think - nothing much planned. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Happy Monday everyone - a new card for a new week! Today I'm sharing a card that uses Jen T's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I do love a good sketch and as soon as I saw this one I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

My eye was immediately drawn to the vertical rectangle in Jen's sketch and I thought it would be perfect for the main image in the Friendly Foliage bundle. Once that decision had been made, everything else flowed from there! I chose some light and summery retired Floral Delightpapers for the background (perfect for the uplifting sentiment) and picked out the colours for both my stamping and layers that make up the rest of my card. I did tweak the sketch slightly (I hope Jen doesn't mind) as I wanted the circle to be my sentiment, so in order to keep things balanced I stamped a decorative line where the sketch sentiment banner would have been - you can see it more closely below:

I also added a little additional stamped detail to the inside of my card to finish:

This is a great layout that can be used in lots of ways - a keeper for sure that I will undoubtedly use again.

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 am off to my Pilates class and then home to tackle today's to-do list! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDLY FOLIAGE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£36.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (£5.10)

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 a fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Baby animals! I knew exactly where I was going with this one, so I grabbed the sketch over at Inkspirational and the colour palette at Just Add Ink and set to work - take a look at today's card:

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

Cutest Crew - I'm sure my regular readers would have guessed that the 'Cutest Crew' stamp set might make an appearance today - after all, those kitties and puppies are just too cute! I actually bought this set originally because of the dogs, but until now I've only used the birds and the cats - go figure. Today's card was the perfect opportunity to remedy that though, so puppies for the win! Instead of stamping the row intact, I stamped each puppy individually, masking off the others each time, so that I could then diecut 4 squares as per the sketch. I coloured them with my Stampin' Blends - you can see the detail more closely below:

Hydrangea Hue Blue - I made a card earlier in the week that used the Just Add Ink inspiration and I love their colour combo so much that I wanted to play again, this time featuring the browns too. I used the upcoming new in-colour, Hydrangea Hue, for my card base - I think this might be my new favourite blue! Think the retired Boho Blue, but with a slight purple hue - lovely!

Finishing Touches - As it's clean and simple week, I wanted to keep layers to a minimum, keep plenty of clean 'white' (or in my case blue) space with a few well-chosen embellishments. I used a small sentiment from the Lovely Arrangements stamp set, added some In Colour pearls and left the only other decoration to a simple stamped border inside my card: 

There you go - clean and simple and a cute crew indeed! This card is going into the pile that I keep to send to Ben when ever I'm sending care packages to him at uni. I like to send him little surprises in the post - although sometimes it's things he's forgotten too, such as cricket whites earlier this week! He certainly keeps me on my toes.

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. 

Which baby animals are you going to feature on your cards this week? Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you:

Enjoy your day; my niece and her partner recently bought their first home so Jason and I are going to visit for the grand tour today, then I am going to my sister-in-law's for afternoon tea, so I have a fun day planned! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Happy Easter everyone! 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 and seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:

Spring showers - well April is certainly the month for those! I had to dig in to the retired box for supplies for today's card, but I knew I had just the thing. I used the layout over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I focused on patterns including umbrellas from the Rain or Shine specialty designer series paper pack for my card today. I used two vertical panels of embossed umbrellas, then from a separate sheet fussy cut a dog with an umbrella and added him to a Stylish Squares diecut square, to which I added some blue ink and stamped raindrops and a couple of fussy cut rainclouds:

A simple sentiment from the retired 'Playing in The Rain' stamp set completes my 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 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 hope you take the time to indulge in an Easter egg or two (well, it would be rude not to, right?!) I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)