Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Hello Day' which is on November 21st. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used bright colours, patterned paper, envelope and hello/hi sentiment along with the layout over at Sketch Saturday and this is what I came up with:

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

Believe it or not I actually started out making this card with the little 'hi' sentiment from the 'Just My Type' stamp set. I decided since it was so tiny, it would either need a very clean and simple layout or a bold and colourful background - as you can see, I went for the latter! I used some retired 'Sunshine and Rainbows' paper in panels for my background, then picked out the colours and images to create a little embellished focal point around my sentiment using other stamps in the set and a few additional diecut pieces from the Give It A Whirl Dies:

Cute, right?! Just the kind of note to brighten someone's day - although they might need sunglasses when they take it out of the envelope, with not a drop of black and white in sight!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JUST MY TYPE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)
MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards - the first one is a quick clean and simple card for the current challenges over at CAS on Friday where the theme is 'SUNSHINE' and Inkspirational where they are all about clean and simple:

 The weather is decidedly autumnal here in the UK now, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to flirt with the last of the summer sun - take a look:

 I grabbed a retired What A Year Memories & More card for my base, then added a stamped and diecut sun and a couple of pink sequins to highlight my sentiment. Isn't this card just so, well, sunny?!

A couple of well-chosen embellishments are enough to elevate this CAS card without spoiling the clean feel. This card will be winging its way to my very own ray of sunshine, by daughter, who is very much enjoying her new university life. My second card, much more in keeping with the weather outside my window, was inspired by the nature photo over at Time Out:

So many interesting things in this photo; I took my inspiration from the tall trees with their autumn leaves reflecting the low autumn sun and decided to feature one of the beautiful photographic papers from the All About Autumn designer series paper pack:

I really wanted the trees to take centre stage, so added little more than a simple border (this is actually the reverse of the photographic image) and a little copper foil, along with one of my favourite sentiments for this kind of card, which is from the retired stamp set 'Lighthearted Leaves'. The sentiment is square but I stamped it on a diecut rectangle from the Nested Essentials Dies so that I could recreate the border detail from my main panel:

I think this adds to the cohesiveness of the design. And that's all there is to it!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on my second card 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, featuring another of the designs in the All About Autumn pack, so stay tuned! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ALL ABOUT AUTUMN 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)

NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)

VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

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

April showers! None of those here today though as the UK celebrates its warmest days of the year so far for a wonderful Easter bank holiday weekend! My card today does feature raindrops - and sunshine and the best thing to result from both after an April shower: rainbows!  I used the current sketch layout over at CAS on Friday for my clean and simple card today (I was thrilled to be a winner there last week with this stencilled card - look out for my guest spot there soon!):

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

I took a piece of retired Sale-A-Bration Sunshine and Rainbows designer series paper and overlaid it with some stitched clouds cut with my Basic Borders Dies and a row of rainbows cut with one of the Brilliant Rainbows Dies. I then stamped a sentiment from the retiring 'Celebrate With Flowers' set twice, once in Magenta Madness onto a circle of So Saffron and a second time in Mango Melody on white and fussy cut the word 'sunshine' and layered the two together. To finish, I added a trio of iridescent rhinestones for a little added sparkle:

I used lots of different bits and pieces on today's card, but my minimising my layers and embellishments and focusing my design into the main square, I preserved my all-important 'white space', a key feature of clean and simple 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 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 spent yesterday at the farm visiting all of the baby animals - bottle feeding the lambs was a definite highlight! - and today we will be Easter egg hunting and enjoying Sunday lunch in the garden - bliss! I hope you are all enjoying a restful weekend break too! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BRILLIANT RAINBOW DIES (£29.00)	BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

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 bright and cheery colour challenge for you to work with:

I used Kim's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week for my layout and decided to create something fresh with a hint of spring - take a look:

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

Special Moments - I love Kim's sketch this week and will most definitely be CASing her card using my favourite Floral Squares Dies. I decided to use the square to feature my sentiment and the circle for my floral decoration. I love this sentiment from the current Sale-A-Bration set 'Special Moments' - it is a paired sentiment that finishes like this on the inside of my card:

Isn't that so sweet? Perfect to let a friend know how much they mean to you. I layered my sentiment square and added a strip of Sunshine and Rainbows designer paper behind - another Sale-A-Bration freebie!

Pierced Blooms and Stitched Greenery - In addition to my sentiment, my card is all about stitched detailing. I used the Pierced Blooms Dies to create my trio of flowers and leaf stems in the challenge colours to add to the corner of my sentiment square and diecut the background with the Stitched Greenery Dies.

Brass Butterflies - As a finishing touch, I added a couple of teeny tiny brass butterfly embellishments to my sentiment square; these are in the mini catalogue - aren't they sweet?

I really like LeAnne's colour choices this week - they are just the thing to bring a breath of fresh air and spring colour on a cold winter's day!

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 have no plans so will be spending it enjoying the start of the half-term break. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SPECIAL MOMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	SUNSHINE & RAINBOWS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	STITCHED GREENERY DIE (£30.00)	PIERCED BLOOMS DIES (£34.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BRUSHED BRASS BUTTERFLIES (£9.25)

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

I love Jaydee's sketch this week and could have made a ton of different cards with it! Having seen the lovely Jaydee's card before I made mine, I noticed she had focused on the top portion with her design. I was naturally drawn to filling the bottom section, so decided to take my inspiration from Jaydee's interpretation of the sketch and instead focus on creating detail on the top portion of my card. This is what I came up with:

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

I decided to use a piece of the Sale-A-bration Sunshine & Rainbows designer paper to decorate the top portion of my card, and then the rainbow border die to edge my white panel below. I paper-pieced my rainbows across my border edge and then added a sentiment using the rainbow-topped diecut that also features in the Brilliant Rainbows Dies pack. In addition to paper-piecing a larger rainbow on the top of my sentiment tab, I added a sentiment from the 'Rainbow of Happiness' stamp set and added a trio of clouds and a tiny resin heart that I coloured pink using my Magenta Madness Blends marker:

I didn't set out to make a clean and simple card this week, but I really love the end result! I am linking my card up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges too as they are focusing on clean and simple cards for their current challenge.

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 having a quiet day and I'm hoping to squeeze in a little crafting so that I'll have something to share with you tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RAINBOW OF HAPPINESS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	SUNSHINE & RAINBOWS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - I thoroughly enjoyed my festive break with my family and much-needed crafty down-time and today I am officially back to it with my first blog post of the new year. It's Sunday so I'm back with our first challenge of 2022 over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week and she has a theme challenge that is perfect for this time of year:

Add a little sparkle - what a great way to see the new year in! I chose glimmer paper as my sparkle of choice and also used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the starting point for today's layout. My card has it all today: something current, something new, something retired and something free! Take a look and see if you can work out which is which:

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

Something Current - There are a couple of notable current products on today's card: my favourite rainbow glimmer paper that I used for my diecut rainbow, along with some of the yellow Ombre Glimmer Paper along with one of the Tasteful Labels Dies that I used to diecut my sun. I just love the shimmer and sparkle!

Something New - I made my glimmer rainbow using the new Brilliant Rainbow Dies that will debut in the upcoming January-June mini catalogue that launches next week. These are so fun! They also have a co-ordinating stamp set called 'Rainbow of Happiness' that I used for my sentiment and to add some extra detail to the inside of my card:

Something Retired - I used a retired Textured Clouds Embossing Folder to add some additional cloud detail to the panel behind my focal images - I haven't used this EF in ages but thought it worked quite well here for some added textural detail.

Something FREE - The final element to today's card is a sneak peek of some free product - the cloud at the end of my rainbow comes from the Sunshine and Rainbows Designer Series Paper - just one of the products that can be yours free with a purchase of £45 during the first Sale-A-Bration promotion of the year that also begins on 4th January. These papers are gorgeous and co-ordinate perfectly with the Rainbow of Happiness Bundle - and everyone loves free product, 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 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 - including the work of our three new guest designers for 2022, Cindy, Christy and Jennie:

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 spending the day at my mother-in-law's building flat-pack furniture today - wish me luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)

TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)

OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£9.25)

RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's Nance's turn to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

I decided to take Nance's challenge literally and have a clean-and-simple rainbow card to share with you this week - take a look:

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

Build A Rainbow The Easy Way - Today's card features a fun rainbow made using the Rainbow Builder Framelits Dies - these really do make building a rainbow super quick and easy. I ran all 7 pieces through the Big Shot at the same time and held them together with some washi tape across the back.

Myths and Magic - I don't usually use designer paper on a clean and simple card, but I couldn't resist a background of clouds and sky courtesy of this fun pattern fro the Myths and Magic Specialty DSP Pack. It makes the perfect backdrop for my bright rainbow and layered clouds.

Sunshine and Rainbows -  My card is mostly made up of diecuts and has very little stamping - just the sunshine and the sentiment. I decided to continue the rainbow theme into my sentiment stamp and coloured it with the colours of my rainbow using sponge daubers for a fun variegated effect.

Whilst my card is a little more layered than I usually go with for clean and simple, this card is really straightforward and super quick to put together and I love the pop of bright colour that the rainbow gives. 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:

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'm meeting an old school friend today and we are going on a course to brush up on our Copperplate Calligraphy skills, assuming the snow we are expecting here in the UK (again!) doesn't scupper our plans.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Sunshine & Rainbows Photopolymer Bundle	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock
Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad
Pacific Point A4 Cardstock	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Elegant Eggplant A4 Cardstock	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum A4 Cardstock
Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper