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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I still had my Wildflower Birthday designer series papers out on my desk after making yesterday's card and I actually made a couple of cards using Ann's sketch. Both were quite different and I'll share the first one I made another time, but for today I wanted to share my favourite - take a look:

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

Everyday Arches Shaker - I decided to play with the layers of Ann's card, and create a central shaker element using the Everyday Arches Dies. I used a simple flat shaker, by filling an acetate bag with gold and teal covered sequins from my stash, along with a few gold birthday candles, and simply taped this to the reverse of my arch opening. This is a fun way to make a quick shaker and means you can keep any dimension for the other elements of your card.

Wildflower Birthday - The main focal point of my card is one of the delicious-looking over-the-top birthday cake diecuts from the Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack. I just love these for a special birthday card! I used another of the paper designs for the frame to surround my shaker, widening the frame so that lots of the pattern is on show.

Wanted to Say - Today's card is a no-stamping card (other than the sentiment on the inside of my card). This wasn't by design - my first card that I made included a stamped sentiment - but as I put my card together, I liked the cleaner layers achieved by using bold diecuts and instead added a layered 'Celebrate' from the Wanted To Say Dies instead - this one pairs with the Birthday Celebration bundle perfectly:

This card is a non-standard size (it actually measures 15cm x 18.5cm) so will need a custom envelope. I think this is a good size to accommodate some of the larger diecut elements in the designer paper, but you could scale down and create something more compact if you prefer.

I'm linking today's card up with the ladies over at The Alphabet Challenge blog where they are at 'Y is for Yummy' - that birthday cake certainly does look delicious to me!

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; no specific plans here today, perhaps some time pottering in the garden if the weather holds. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and it's clean and simple week! So along with minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space, I have a fun theme for us to work with too:

Use just a single stamped image on your card - aside from a sentiment too if you wish, only one stamped image. A single image makes a great focal point for a clean and simple card; I paired mine with a great sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and indulged in a spot of colouring on my card - take a look:

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

One More Year - I love the 'One More Year' stamp set for fun and quirky cards for both young people and the young-at-heart. In addition to a set of humorous mix and match sentiments, 'One More Year' features a trio of single stamped images that make great focal points too - I used the cheese and wine image, stamped onto a Nested Essentials diecut, adding some simple colour with my Stampin' Blends:

Clean and Simple - In addition to my stamped diecut, I added a couple of banner flags and a twist of gingham ribbon as per the sketch. Ordinarily I wouldn't use ribbon on a clean and simple card, but with such a simple design and that being the only embellishment, it adds detail whilst still allowing the card to have a clean design. 

Finishing Touches - I stamped and coloured the same image to decorate the inside of my card and stamped the other half of my sentiment to complete my card:

This is such a great set for clean and simple cards! What images do you like to use on your clean and simple cards? Leave me a comment below or better still, make a card and play along with us over at The Paper Players 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; I don't have any special plans today; I'll be spending some time in the kitchen and generally having an easy day. I'll be back tomorrow soon another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BLACK & VERY VANILLA 3/8" (1 CM) LARGE CHECK RIBBON (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 Jaydee to host this week and she has a pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

I don't often use pastel colours and certainly not exclusively, so this week was something of a challenge for me. I decided in honour of Jaydee not being a 'pink' person (I don't believe her - she often uses pink to great effect!!), that Bubble Bath would be my feature colour and when I saw the palette at Color Dare, I decided to pair it with Fresh Freesia, Soft Sea Foam and a hint of Pool Party for my pastel vibes - take a look at where I ended up:

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

Add Colour - To achieve tones of the same colour, I diecut all of my flowers and leaves from solid colour cardstock and for the detailed top layer, I added the same colour ink with a blending brush to give a further depth of colour. 

Add Texture - This card is choc-full of texture with all of the diecut layers! Both the background die and the florals are all from the Delightful Wishes bundle and are diecut only - no stamping required. There are so many layers that with the exception of the sentiment, I didn't use any dimensionals; just by overlaying the flowers you can create depth and texture.

Add Movement - Finally I added a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets - these little buzzy fellows don't actually move of course, but their presence gives a suggestion of movement to the card.

So what do you think - are pastels for you? Whilst they are generally not a 'go-to' for me, I really love the softness of the finished card. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone features pastels in the gallery 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; I am hoping to get out in the garden today and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we've been having here in the UK this week - long may it continue! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

At last - March has arrived! 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 seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:

Spring flowers - I am so ready for spring! It has been beautifully crisp and sunny here in the UK for the last few days and finally there are signs of spring. Snowdrops and crocuses are blossoming, and daffodils are starting to bloom, with tulips not far behind. I knew that for today's card I wanted to create something bright and colourful using the tulips stamp in the Mixed Florals stamp set - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Full Of Life - My colour scheme for today's card was inspired by the piece of pink and orange ombre paper from the Full of Life pack. Like me, Claire is a fan of bright colours and I thought this injection of brights is just what was needed to propel us into spring! 

Mixed Florals - I used the large image featuring tulips on the front of my card - along with daffodils, tulips are the flower that most represents spring to me. I used lots of colours to get the blend of colours for my florals; I added some brass butterflies along with a Lemon-Lime Twist diecut piece behind, but really wanted the coloured florals to take centre stage:

I finished the front of my card with a diecut sentiment from the Greetings For All pack - I needed a bold sentiment to balance out the design.

Everyday Arches - I used one of the Everyday Arches Dies to frame my ombre designer paper on the front of my card, then used the insert to back another and create a simple pop-up design on the inside of my card for extra interest, and added another floral stem to decorate:

This kind of pop-up/out is so easy to use (you just need to score a strip of paper and create a four-sided 'box' to sit between the base and the panel you want to pop) and is a great way to do something a little different to add interest. 

Yay for brights and spring flowers - I can't wait to see what you create for this week's 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; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)	GREETINGS FOR ALL MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (6.75)	FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	BRUSHED BRASS BUTTERFLIES (9.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PEACH PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (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)

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 love a clean and simple card and although this week's theme is masculine and I definitely made my card with that in mind, it could also work for females too - take a look:

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

I went with another masculine congratulations card; as my regular readers will know, this is a big exam year in the James household as the youngest of the James Juniors is sitting his A Levels, and with lots of male friends too I'm expecting there to be lots of congratulations cards in order, so I'm getting ahead now! Following my previous card here featuring the word DADDY, I had another idea using the letters from the word DAY in the Sale-A-Bration 'Documenting The Day' stamp set. Selective stamping also makes the word YAY, perfect for a congratulations card so that was the starting point for my card. My graphic 3D style lettering was inspired by a photo that I saw a few weeks ago over at Inspired By featuring these colourful cushions - can you spot the one that inspired my card in the photo below?

I liked the one with the dimensional word FUN so set about recreating it with my DAY stamp. I simply stamped the letters A and Y onto post-it notes, then once I'd stamped the word YAY, I masked each letter and stamped it again, offsetting the stamp to achieve the shadow effect using a different colour each time:

I popped the finished stamped panel onto a bright blue card base with a yellow frame to complete my card. Creative use of a stamp, ink and paper - simple! If you dismissed the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set as only useful for scrapbooking, then think again - there are lots of creative card options too! Sale-A-Bration runs until 28th February, so you can still get your hands on this set whilst supplies last!

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 still celebrating Valentine's this weekend and I am being treated to a day out with the men in my life - dinner and a double-cinema date is on the cards, oh to be loved!! I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SUMMER SPLASH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PEACH PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

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 fresh colour challenge for us to work with:

I decided to break out a new set that I haven't yet used and armed with the layout over at Try A Sketch On Tuesday, set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Natural Botanicals Three Ways - I decided the large botanical images in the 'Natural Botanicals' stamp set would be a great way to showcase LeAnne's bright colour palette this week and I used the stamps in three different ways: as layered images on my diecut circle (the yellow flower is the reverse of the daisy), heat embossed in white onto Flirty Flamingo cardstock for my fussy cut daisy and finally stamped the smaller images tone-on-tone onto cardstock strips in the challenge colours to create my background panel. I overlaid my stripes with a piece of vellum to tone the colours down slightly, but you can still see the detail of the stamping beneath:

Greetings For All - My simple 'hello' greeting is from the Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera pack in the mini catalogue. With 6 sheets of black and white pre-diecut greetings, you'll never be lost for a suitable sentiment to finish your card - and no stamping required.

Want Natural Botanicals For FREE? - I purchased 'Natural Botanicals' from the mini catalogue and it is still available to buy, however it can also be yours FREE with a £55 product purchase as part of the second month of our current Sale-A-Bration promotion - how good is that?! You can read about the other new products that have been added in my Sale-A-Bration post earlier this week - here's the link if you missed 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 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: 

NATURAL BOTANICALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (21.00)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (33.00)	GREETINGS FOR ALL MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (6.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SUMMER SPLASH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SUMMER SPLASH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)
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 Ann to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

With Valentine's Day just around the corner (it's my wedding anniversary this month too!) there's lots of reasons to make a love-themed card. I actually went in a completely different direction for today's card - although it definitely still fits in with our theme this week. I had been wanting to 'scratch a creative itch' to create something using a couple of my Sale-A-Bration stamp sets; take a look at my card and then I'll explain! Here's my card:

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

Stretching Documenting The Day - There's a great stamp set that can be yours free with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion: it's called 'Documenting The Day' and is designed primarily with scrapbooking in mind. With several phrases that allow you to build beautiful sentiments around memorable days, the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set is perfect for providing the narrative and accents to your scrapbooking pages. Each of the phrases includes the word 'DAY' in block capitals - see below:

For me, this is where the additional potential of this set comes in. Those letters can be rearranged to make 'DAD' or 'DADDY' too, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities! You could simply snip the letters (shock horror!) of the stamp apart for additional flexibility, or if like me this is something you can't ever bring yourself to do, you can use your stamping platform and some selective inking and masking of the letters to achieve the same effect. Using the stamping platform also allows you to stamp the letters again if necessary to get a nice, solid image. I stamped my word DADDY in Night of Navy onto Basic White cardstock and fussy cut around it to keep the word in one piece. I used a slimline card base to accommodate and allow enough of my background to show around the stamped word. Again, you could stamp and cut the letters out individually to make this step easier (although I don't think it would look as good!)

Friendly Seagulls - The background to my card is a mix of hearts from the 'Documenting The Day' set above and cartons of chips from another Sale-A-Bration stamp set - this time 'Friendly Seagulls'. I also used this stamp set to complete the sentiment on my card, which you can see more closely on the photo below:

I also added another heart and a chip-loving seagull to the inside of my card for a little extra decoration:

Inspired By - So some of my international readers in particular may be wondering where the inspiration for today's card came from. The minute I had both of these stamp sets in my possession, I was reminded of a much-loved advert that was played many times on commercial TV here in the UK in my younger years. I could explain it, but instead I actually found it on YouTube and have included the link below for your viewing pleasure! If you watch it, you will completely understand how it inspired today's card:

This is a real moment of 90's nostalgia for me; I was already in my teens when this advert was being aired on the TV, but there is something about that little Welsh girl that reminds me of my (much) younger self! So the moral of today's post is  - love can be found in the simplest things - including Daddy or chips! For for me it was creating today's card! I'm also playing along at Time Out Challenges where they have a 'Pick Two' challenge - I actually used three things from their list: Food (chips), Heart (background and behind sentiment) and Love (sentiment) and at TGIF Challenges where the theme is Sale-A-Bration:

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane; 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. 

Have either of these stamp sets made it into your Sale-A-Bration shopping basket yet? We still have one month of this year's promotion to go, so there's still time! I have lots of other ideas using both of these sets that I've still to share with you this month, so be sure to pop back for additional inspiration.

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'm having a quiet one at home, filled with cooking and crafting and maybe a movie or two! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch challenge, for us to work with:

I designed my layout with a few layers and a focal sentiment; there's lots of scope for interpretation. I decided to keep my card really simple as I wanted to play with some of the new items in the Floral Delight Suite - take a look:

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

Floral Delight - First up, I used a piece of the Floral Delight designer series paper to cover the whole of my card base. The yellow and blue designs in this paper pack are so cheery and reminiscent of spring - so pretty! I chose a pale blue design covered in bold, bright yellow flowers and kept the rest of my card pretty simple so that it really allowed these florals to shine.

Delightful Wishes - For my focal sentiment, I combined the stamps and dies from the Delightful Wishes bundle, focusing on the layered diecut for the word 'wishing' as my centrepiece:

The sentiments in this set are great and the die can be combined with the stamped elements to create several different greetings. I added them to an elongated rectangle cut with the Nested Essentials Dies, with a couple of flagged banners beneath. I also added a couple of the tiny bee trinkets too - so sweet!

Inside Stamping - There is minimal stamping on the front of my card, so I thought I would use some of the other stamps in the set to decorate the inside:

This stamped flower spray is a two-step stamp and was really easy to line up, adding in the twigs and leaves after the blossoms. I made this card as a get well card for a friend who has recently been a little under the weather; I hope she likes 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 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 spending mine indoors keeping warm and doing a little cooking and crafting, no big plans. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

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

I decided to focus on one stamp set and two colours, courtesy of Color Dare, and create a clean and simple card with something of a collage feel - take a look:

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

Stamped With Love - I used the largest Perennial postage die to cut my mat and I couldn't not use the 'Stamped With Love' stamp set this week - the postbox was just perfect for this week's theme! I heat-embossed the post box onto Real Red cardstock and paper-pieced the letter and separately stamped the letter and pen before adding my sentiment. 

Top Tip - I have a great tip when you are fussy-cutting images without a white border, as I've done today: if you run the edge of a Stampin' Write marker around the cut edge, it will give you a lovely solid black line and disguise any less than perfect cutting. you're welcome :-)

A Hint of Pink - To balance the red of my postbox and diecut heart, I stencilled a pale pink heart using a stencil I made using the Friends For Life dies and added a stamped heart to the back of the postbox letter. I finished the rather quirky sentiment on the inside of my card and added another couple of pink hearts to decorate:

This rather understated love note will be perfect for the youngest of the James Juniors, who will appreciate the sentiment. My layering may be stretching the bounds of clean and simple slightly this week, but I tried to balance my collage-style design with plenty of surrounding white space and no embellishments. What do you think of today's card? 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 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: 

STAMPED WITH LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE DIES (ENGLISH) (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)