I finally managed to get a little time in my craft room this weekend and made a card that was originally for this week's sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches but also works for the challenge over at Color Throwdown and Addicted to CAS this week:

I changed the orientation of my card but kept the layout and decided to create a gender-neutral baby card - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Amazing Congratulations - The sentiment combinations from the Amazing Congratulations stamp set are perfect for this week's FMS sketch and even helped me get over my paranoia of a wonky sentiment (thanks for the challenge, girls!) I used my stamparatus to line up all three of the images that make up the main word - I love how this enables you to re-ink the same image too until you get the intensity you want; I would not be able to get such a great outline in Smoky Slate without it for sure.

A Pineapple Punch - I decided to go 'gender neutral' for my baby card - I love to have a few of these in my stash - and chose the new zingy and bright Pineapple Punch as my feature colour - it's so fresh! I used a strip of co-ordinating in-colour designer series paper along the edge and paired it with Daffodil Delight across the sentiment to get the contrast on the lettering.  

Hello Swirly Bird - I wanted something more than just the sentiment for my baby card, so decided to add a pair of proud parents in their nest courtesy of the Swirly Bird stamp set, which I haven't used in a while yet gave me just what I needed whilst keeping the clean and simple feel of my card.

I have one of my monthly technique classes this morning so will come back and edit this post with the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference later. The organised me would have written this post yesterday, but alas a jug of Pimms and the Wimbledon Men's Tennis Finals took my attention instead! 

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:

Amazing Congratulations Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Swirly Bird Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Stamparatus (£46.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Happy Easter Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your fill of chocolate eggs yesterday - I know that we had more than our fair share here in the James household for sure! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I love Jen's sketch this week and knew immediately what I wanted to do with it; eventually on Saturday I managed to find some time to create - take a look:

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

A Swirly Boat and Scribble - I used the edge of my wavy sea thinlit in my Swirly Scribble set to create the curved line as per in the sketch (I actually flipped my Very Vanilla piece over and used the reverse so that my wave followed the same contours as the sketch). This was the starting point for my card and everything else followed from there. I stamped my Swirly Bird boat and background splatters onto the Vanilla section, then fussy cut the sail and popped it up on a dimensional, having heat embossed the Calypso Coral sail with copper embossing powder for added shine. The Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribble thinlit dies are one of my favourite bundles in the current annual Stampin' Up! catalogue and I'm so pleased that they are carrying over into the new 2017-18 catalogue. The discounted bundle price won't be carrying over though, so if you want to save 10% by purchasing them together be sure to order them before the new catalogue goes live on 1st June.

By The Sea Shore - I used a layer of the retiring By The Shore paper for the bottom part of my card to provide the perfect seascape. I will be so sorry to see this paper leave us! It's still available on the retiring list whilst stocks last, so snap some up now before it's too late.

A Bon Voyage Banner - I decided to use a pair of curved sentiments from the 'Banners For You' set on my card today; they followed the contours of the curved edge perfectly and made for a fun 'Bon Vogage' type 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 '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:

Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	By The Shore Designer Series Paper	Banners For You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad
Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder
Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my sweet friend Claire to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

I've been sharing lots of Valentine's-themed cards with you in recent weeks, almost all of which have featured the Sealed With Love bundle and Sending Love Designer Series Paper. For today though I wanted to go back to some products in the annual catalogue that would make a Valentine's card but are not designed specifically with that in mind. I had a few bits and pieces out on my desk, then when I saw this week's inspiration photo over at Fusion I knew exactly where I was headed - I even used the sketch layout too (turned through 90 degrees). Here's what I came up with:

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

A Quilt Of Love - I drew inspiration from a number of elements of the Fusion photo for my card: the border of pink flowers (courtesy of the Jar of Love stamp set), the cream textured panel (created with the Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder) and the red flower-entwined heart as a focal point. My colour scheme also came directly from the photo - here it is if it's one you would like to save to use too:

Have A Heart - I die cut the heart from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits set and embellished this with flowers from the Jar of Love set and leaves from Swirly Bird too. 

A Gift Of A Sentiment - The sentiment on my pale pink banner comes from the exclusive hostess set 'A Gift of Love'. I love the soft script of the sentiments in this set and think this one is such a lovely way to let someone know how much they mean to you. 

I think this is a pretty Valentine's card that makes a softer alternative to the bright red and white colour schemes of my previous cards. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges where they are also celebrating Valentine's 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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our fun theme this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have a morning of sport and one of the James Juniors has a trampolining birthday party to attend this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies	Jar Of Love Photopolymer Bundle	Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	Gift Of Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

As I pondered these colours, I decided that another Bella and Friends card was the way to go - Tip Top Taupe seemed like a good colour for a puppy. Here's my card:

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

Bella And Friends Just For You - Another of the adorable images in this set, I stamped the puppy and his feathered pal in Archival Black ink and this time coloured them using the challenge colour inks and a blender pen onto Whisper White cardstock. I added a liberal coat of clear Wink of Stella to the balloon, although it's difficult to see the sparkle on the photograph - trust me, it's there!

Swirly Scribbles Background - As I was about to assemble my card, I decided that my base layer looked rather plain. I considered the options for adding interest and settled on creating my own random pattern using the small swirl in the Swirly Bird set, stamping it all over in Mint Macaron for a tone-on-tone look. I for one am pleased with the result! 

Envelope Paper is not just for Envelopes - Are you wondering which designer series paper stack I got my Dapper Denim strip from? Well, the answer would be 'none' as it's actually a piece of the new In Colour Envelope Paper. The great thing is though, whilst it's perfect for envelopes it also makes great designer paper to use on cards. It means your card then is also guaranteed to co-ordinate with your custom envelope should you choose to make one - and why wouldn't you? :-)

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bella & Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Sets	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Blender Pens	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad	2016-2018 In Color Envelope Paper
Swirly Bird Photopolymer Stamp Set	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

I initially was drawn to the lovely Fruit Stand designer series paper to make today's card, but when I'd finished my card decided it didn't have enough Cucumber Crush so decided to take a different approach. I will share my Fruit Stand card another day, but for now this is the card I came up with:

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

Swirly Bird Scribble Flowers - I've been longing to use my Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribbles Framelits to create a modern floral card and today's bright and fresh colour combination provided the perfect opportunity. I stamped the bases in Peekaboo Peach and used the Scribbles in Tangerine Tango for a real pop of juicy colour. The Cucumber Crush provides wonderfully bright leaves and I added a few enamel dots too here and there.

Playful Palette Border - The hatched pattern from the Playful Palette DSP stack comes in both pink and Peekabooo Peach and it provided the perfect border for my card. I added a strip of Customer Crush to the stamped panel too for definition and contrast.

Thank You Tin of Cards - The sentiments in the 'Tin of Cards' stamp set are some of my 'go to' sentiments, I love the size and style of the scripting so much. Thank you Stampin' Up! for keeping this set, even though the Tin of Cards kit has had a refresh and makeover and now has a new set that co-ordinates 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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Happy Monday everyone! What a lovely day we had here in the UK yesterday - sunshine at last! I'm here bright and early this week as I have a busy one: two monthly technique classes today and tomorrow, my Project Life memory keeping class, a drop-in coffee and card session at Bells in Northampton and my Annual Catalogue Open House at the end of the week to look forward to, amongst other things! Today I'm back with another masculine card, this time for the colour challenge over at Pals Paper Arts:

I thought these colours would suit a little ocean scene - I originally started out with the sketch I used for yesterday's card, but eventually my idea morphed into this:

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

Sail Away With The Swirly Bird - It's official - I am in love with the Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating thinlits! This bundle is definitely at the top of my list of favourite things from the new annual catalogue. It has flowers and birds, boats and kites and the splatters you see in the background behind my boat - such a fun set! I stamped my boat in Sahara Sand, then for the sails I stamped one in Night of Navy and the other in Mint Macaron (stamped off first) then overstamped the stripes in Night of Navy and clear heat embossed them for a lovely shine.

A Life on the Swirly Scribbles Ocean Wave - The sea on my card was made using a die from the co-ordinating Swirly Scribbles Thinlits: I cut it out of the top Mint Macaron layer, which was attached to my base layer with dimensionals, and paper-pieced the negative pieces into the space on my Night of Navy base layer. It's a little difficult to see in the photograph, but this gives a lovely added dimension to my rolling waves.

A Swirly Greatest Greeting - I wanted my sentiment to follow the curve of my cardstock, so I used my sentiment from the 'Greatest Greetings' stamp set and curved it to follow the contours of the cut line before adhering to my stamp and stamping it. This is much easier to do with photopolymer stamps, however since I hadn't adhered the word image to the back of the stamp it was a little more sticky than would otherwise have been the case and held in place on my block long enough for me to get a shaped image. I then finished this with some retired Mint Macaron It's My Party enamel dots. 

I love this fresh colour scheme and although my card features only the tiniest pieces of Sahara Sand for the hull of my sail boat, I think my design really makes the most of these colours.

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. 

I'm off to get ready for my class. I'll be back tomorrow with another masculine project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	Greatest Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad
Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie, to host our challenge this week and she has a fun sketch for you to play along with:

As you know, I love a good sketch and for my card this week I had so many ideas! I will be using this sketch for my card tomorrow too; today I decided to feature a die from one of my favourite sets from the new catalogue called the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits and make not one, but two, new baby cards featuring two of the new in-colours. 

Here is the first one, a baby boy card featuring the new blue, Dapper Denim:

Here is the second baby card, featuring the new pink, Flirty Flamingo: 

Now I know I'm biased, but aren't they just the cutest?! Here is the low-down on today's card:

Swirly Scribbles Thinlits - There are some great swirl, flower and leaf dies in this set - the one that I used here makes the cutest bird's nest backdrop for the cute birdie ready to welcome her babies to the world.

Swirly Bird Masking and Kissing - I did some masking and kissing of the stamps to create my little bird in her nest: first, I stamped the nest twice in Soft Suede, and cut one of them out and used it as a mask so that I could stamp my bird and eggs in the nest. I also created some light speckling on my eggs by inking the 'grunge' stamp in the set in Soft Suede, inking the eggs in Sahara Sand, then 'kissing' the two together before stamping them into the nest. You can get a closer look at this on these close up images below:

Perfectly Wrapped Border - I used a mat of each of the new in-colours that I featured on my cards to accentuate the colour and decided to add an additional border detail as per the stitched detail on the sketch. I used one of the border stamps from the 'Perfectly Wrapped' stamp set; this set is photopolymer which makes lining up a breeze. 

Hello Baby Bear - I couldn't finish today's write-up without a nod to the sentiment on today's card. This is one from an adorable set called 'Baby Bear' that also features in the new catalogue and is finished on the inside of the card with '...welcome to the world!'. Perfect for today's card.

I love these dies and the co-ordinating stamp set; you can be sure you'll be seeing lots more projects with them. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

Baby Boy Dapper Denim card, with a masking tip:

Flirty Flamingo baby girl card, with a kissing technique tip:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

We do rather have birds on the brain in our house at the moment; the baby blue tits in our nesting box hatched about 10 days ago and we are watching the bird cam with interest on a daily basis. There are seven healthy babies and the mum and dad spend many hours each day flying in and out with caterpillars and bugs to feed the young chicks. Here is a photo of them waiting to be fed:

Apologies for the poor photo - the quality isn't great - but I can honestly say watching these little chicks grow is the best tv drama ever, they are so entertaining! Hopefully I'll be able to get some photos of them as they leave the nest when they are grown and share those at a later date.

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

I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week's sketch. We are off to basketball today and are then looking forward to a restful afternoon, with either some time in the garden weather-permitting or indoors watching a movie and the antics of our own baby bird family!

Back tomorrow with another card that also uses this sketch, but is quite different in terms of execution; until then, happy stampin'!