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

I used the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday and also played along with their optional twist of camping/campfire and got fussy cutting with my paper snips and some Zoo Crew Designer Series Paper to come up with today's fun clean and simple notecard - take a look:

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

Today's card is all about the designer paper! I had lots of images fussy cut from the Zoo Crew designer paper so I chose this one of the lion, added some additional colour to him with my Stampin' Blends markers and adhered him and some trees that I also fussy cut from the paper to a stitched oval, to which I'd added some Starry Sky and Parakeet Party inks with some blending brushes to ground my campfire scene (I also added a flick of clear Wink of Stella to give my sky a starry night feel, although it is difficult to see this on the photo). I anchored my oval with a trio of strips featuring some of the black and white patterns from the Zoo Crew papers and stamped a vertical sentiment from the 'charming Sentiments' stamp set:

Whilst you might be forgiven at first glance for thinking I missed the point of Anne Marie's challenge this week, you will see my lion is busy roasting his pink marshmallows over his open campfire. yum - s'mores, anyone?! Fussy cutting the individual images is such a fun way to use designer paper! A little goes a long way and this kind of minimalist layout is perfect for clean and simple cards. I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS on Friday where designer paper is the theme of their current challenge too.

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 sun loungers rather than campfires for me, but I'm not complaining! I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ZOO CREW 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	CHARMING SENTIMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (7.50)	WILD WHEAT STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	COPPER CLAY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	BUBBLE BATH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)

Today I have been in full on craft mode but I'm taking a break from making to share a card that I made for a few challenges using Cecile's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

Now my regular readers will know how much I admire the lovely Cecile's work and it's always fun to have a go at creating with one of her sketches. I have to say, I've been working on this one on and off for the last week and having binned a few attempts I almost gave up. I so wanted to go with a sailboat, but that did seem too obvious, but using those shapes in a different had me stumped. In the end I decided not to take those triangles literally and focus on creating something clean and simple and this is what I came up with:

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

I thought it was high time I played with a new stamp set that I've had for a little while that had yet to see ink called 'Hey Chuck'. I couldn't resist this stamp set; it co-ordinates with the chicken sets we've had previously, is in a bundle with co-ordinating dies and those chickens are just so comical - so perfect for the current challenge over at Time Out too. Firstly I made a stencil using the sun die, doubling it to make a whole sun and I used this to sponge a Daffodil Delight sun directly onto my card base. I then stamped both my skateboard - the perfect outdoor activity for the challenge over at AAA Cards - and my punny congratulations sentiment (yet another exam congratulations card in the bag and perfect for the current celebrations over at Addicted to CAS) directly onto my cardbase, before stamping my chicken separately and colouring him with various Stampin' Blends markers. I then diecut him and popped him up on dimensionals to complete my card:

What could be funnier than a skateboarding chicken, right?! When we had our first set of chickens, the James Juniors built them their own swing that they suspended from the apple tree in our garden and spent ages trying to get the chickens to use it, but our feathered guests were having none of it! Maybe they should have tried a skateboard ... So not a literal take on Cecile's sketch today, but very much in tune with her clean and simple cardmaking style.

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 for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches - incidentally with my teamie, Cecile! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HEY CHUCK BUNDLE (48.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	COPPER CLAY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	PRETTY PEACOCK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)
SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)

Today I have a super quick post since I'm sneaking in a last minute entry over at Freshly Made Sketches - I couldn't resist Kim's fabulous sketch! 

I'm also playing over at Just Us Girls where you will see immediately how their photo inspired my clean and simple card - take a look:

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

When I saw Kim's sketch I was still in 'one layer card' mode and I decided to make a super simple beachfront scene using my retired 'Waterfront' stamp set, with each of the horizontal elements represented by the sea, sandy beach and the row of beach huts. I stamped the beach and sea and for each of my beach huts, used my Stampin' Write markers to colour and add each one individually:

I masked them off and added a hint of blue sky behind using my blending brush to complete my scene. I decided in the end to not make this a one layer card, and snipped my stamped 'HELLO' sentiment from the 'Gorgeously Made' stamp set and popped it up on dimensionals to complete my clean and simple card.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)

BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

2022–2024 IN COLOR STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (17.50)

STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS COLLECTION (126.00)

GORGEOUSLY MADE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

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

I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I do love a good one layer card! I decided to use the 'everything beach' inspiration from another of my favourite clean and simple challenges, AAA Cards, to create my one layer wonder for you today - take a look:

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

One of the challenges with a one layer card is the ability to create a scene with depth, without having actual layers to do it. This is where technique such as masking and stencilling can prove really useful. For my card today, I first stamped the pelican from the 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set in Smoky Slate. I added a touch of colour to this image with my watercolour pencils; not generally my first choice of colouring medium, but super useful when creating a one layer card, as you won't get any bleeding of colour onto the reverse, something which is unavoidable if you are colouring with Stampin' Blends markers, for example. I then stamped the same image onto a post-it note and fussy cut it to create a mask; I positioned this over the stamped image on my card so that I could add my background. 

I decided to stamp my sea in Lost Lagoon (I applied the ink to my stamp using a blending brush for a soft finish), using the sea stamp in the 'Oceanfront' stamp set. It isn't wide enough to cover the width of the card, but it was easy to extend the stamp by first stamping one side of the mask, then repositioning the card and stamping the other side, being careful to ink only the edge of the sea stamp and not overstamp the sea to the left of the mask. I then used a cloud stencil and some Pool Party ink and a blending brush to add in a hint of cloudy sky behind the pelican - you can see that better on the close up below:

Finally I added a trio of seagulls in Basic Grey and stamped my sentiment in black just above the horizon line. I didn't add any embellishments and by keeping my design to the bottom third of my card managed to preserve that all-important 'white space' of a clean and simple card too.

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 Father's Day here in the UK today so whilst I might be looking forward to enjoying another day of sunshine and relaxation (fingers crossed!), I suspect it might be the DH who will have his feet up! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WAVES OF INSPIRATION CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	OCEANFRONT PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (21.00)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 1 (15.00)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

Today I'm sharing my fourth card for my Guest Designer spot over at Just Us Girls. This week it's Clean and Simple week - always a favourite!

The theme is food and beverages - I couldn't resist another outing with my 'Nothing's Better Than' stamp set before it retires! I used the layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday and the bright colour palette over at Color Throwdown to make a colourful cocktail reminiscent of summer vacations - take a look:

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

I stamped my cocktail in yellow and decided to accent with a blue umbrella and slice of lime, then diecut it and backed it with a circle of vellum and carried my accent colours through to my strips of ombre glimmer paper and my two-tone sentiment: 

I stamped another glass on the front of my envelope and on the inside of my card for added colour:

If you stamp them all at the same time, it really takes very little extra time and it's a nice way of adding a little extra 'pretty'. I will miss this set soooo much when it retires - the stamps and dies have done double-duty in my craft room and then some; I love them and will never part with them! Be sure to check out what the Just Us Girls Design Team have made for Clean and Simple Week - I'm sure they will have some amazing projects to share!

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'd like to tell you that my plan for today was to consume cocktails, but alas no such luck! I will be stood at the side of the hockey pitch, as usual - cocktails will have to wait for antoher day! I'll be back tomorrow with my card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

NOTHING'S BETTER THAN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (14.70)	LOVE YOU MORE THAN DIES (25.20)	2022–2024 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (9.00)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	TAHITIAN TIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (7.50)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)

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

Use a craft image on your card - hmm, this should be an easy one right? Turns out I had nothing in my current product stash that fitted the bill and due to the sorting out of stamp sets I couldn't find any stamps in my retired stash either (even though I know I have some somewhere!!) Then I remembered that I has a retired Memories and More pack called 'What a Year' that had some quirky images in - and today's no-stamping card was born! Here it is:

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

A few of the cards in this pack feature scissors, so I chose one of them, added a background of (retired) Mango Melody Dandy Designs paper left over from Sale-A-Bration, and one of the sentiment stickers from the Memories & More pack too. The only extra I added was a diecut circle and banner behind:

And that was it - done! A little light on 'white space', but no stamping, minimal layers and embellishments and it took barely 10 minutes to put together - clean and simple at its best!

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project or supplies list, as apart from the Stylish Shapes Dies and basic cardstock I used, everything else is retired. I think this makes a fun and colourful notecard for a crafty friend - I'd love a fancy pair of scissors like the ones on this card too, wouldn't you?

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'!

Today I'm sharing a super quick and easy clean and simple card for the current theme over at AAA Cards:

Make a card inspired by a movie, song or book - how fun! Here's my CAS card:

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

Ever since I saw the cute animals splashing in the puddles on the Rain or Shine designer series paper, I thought this sweet little rabbit looked like it was dancing and ...singing in the rain! I know Gene Kelly has an umbrella when he sings the title song to this iconic movie, but the fox with the umbrella on this paper doesn't look anywhere near as cheery as the sweet bunny, so I snipped a bunny and his puddle from the designer paper, then added some raindrops around him with my Balmy Blue watercolour pencil and accented these with some (retired) clear epoxy raindrops over the top. Cute, right?!

I don't have the co-ordinating stamp set from the Rain or Shine Suite Collection, so I used a sentiment from the (retired) set 'Yippee Skippee' that I thought matched the rabbit's demeanour. And that's all there is to it!

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

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

Enjoy your day. Mine will be spent at the hockey pitch as I'm covering all games today. If you like today's card do pop back tomorrow to see a more involved card using more of the Rain Or Shine papers for my Paper Players team card. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

RAIN OR SHINE SPECIALTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)

WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 2 (11.75)

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

It's clean and simple week and Ann has asked us to feature a spring flower on our card. here's a quick reminder of what we mean by 'clean and simple at The Paper Players:

• Has minimal layers and embellishments
• Has plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Is simple and uncluttered

After much deliberation, I decided to use my 'Flowering Tulips' stamp set as I haven't yet inked it up this spring. I chose the lovely bright colours palette over at Just Add Ink and created this really simple card - take a look:

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

I stamped a couple of tulips in the same colour as the cardstock, stamping off one of the layers to get a depth of colour and cut them out using the Tulips Dies and heat embossed the stamens in black for a little extra shine. I added my tulips to a matt layer onto which I'd stamped my sentiment and used one of the dies in the set to cut a pattern to reveal colour from the card base below:

I added a simple diecut silhouette border to the inside of my card to complete my design: 

Super simple and so bright and cheery, tulips, alongside daffodils, are one of my most favourite spring flowers.

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: 

FLOWERING TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	TULIPS DIES (33.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)
GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for the clean and simple challenge over at CAS On Friday which closes today where the theme is 'Friendship'. I also used the sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments for my layout:

I decided to use a set from the annual catalogue that I picked up ages ago on a stamp sale day, but still had yet to ink up: By My Side. This is the card that I came up with:

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

I love the innocent, child-like images in this set and it has some beautiful friendship sentiments that can be used for all kinds of occasions - thank you, congratulations, hello, thinking of you, birthday or simply to celebrate the friendship of someone you hold dear. I stamped the sweet little boy and his faithful puppy friend and coloured them both with my Stampin' Blends, adding in some ground and just a hint of colour applied with my blending brush and a cloud stencil above the first part of my sentiment. I added a second sentiment at the bottom of my card, masking off to stamp it in a straight line rather than two rows as per the set.

I was a little liberal with my interpretation of the HSS sketch, in that I used it in a horizontal rather than portrait format and didn't curve the top of my panel, as the straight lines suited my clean and simple design better. This layout is actually a really good one for CAS cards - the addition of the coloured strip behind the panel is a great way to add a little more colour and interest without cluttering that all important 'white space'. 

I have something different for you tomorrow, but if you like this card I've made another one featuring some of the other stamps in this set to share with you on Friday, so make sure you pop back then.

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; mine is going to be spent playing catch-up at my desk and trying to get organised for the crafting week ahead! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BY MY SIDE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (21.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (8.50)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (8.50)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM LIGHT COMBO PACK (8.50)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS LIGHT COMBO PACK (8.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)
STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (4.25)

Today I'm squeaking in another entry for the challenge over at Time Out that was also inspired by the current AAA Cards Challenge of white on white and this week's Global Design Project #GDP379 theme of Love:

I love that Beth Pearson quote on the Time Out badge and it got me thinking about love in the context of weddings - the time when everyone should feel this way about the person they are standing in front of, right? I love the purity of white for a wedding card so couldn't resist the opportunity to create a clean and simple wedding card featuring a little of 'something old, something new' - take a look:

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

All About Texture - When working with white-on-white, it's good to think about layers and texture to create interest. For a clean and simple card, there's a need to create interest without overwhelm and still preserve unpatterned 'white space'. The new Dainty Delight Dies are perfect for adding a delicate touch; each of the skinny flowers and stems has a subtle embossed detail that is perfect for clean and simple cards. I created a bough of flowers and greenery, and tucked it under my diecut sentiment and allowed it to flow freely across the front of my card. 

Forever and Always - I used a sentiment from the retired 'Forever and Always' bundle, heat-embossing the words 'Forever &' in silver and then adding the large diecut 'Always' as the main focus of my card. I do love a good sentiment diecut and can honestly say I will never part with my 'Always' dies. 

A Standout Cut - I adhered my thick white cardstock to a foam adhesive sheet before cutting out the word 'Always' as I wanted to create a little height another way to add interest to an all-white, clean and simple white-on-white card:

I really love this card - all I need now is the good news that anyone I now is getting married so that I have the opportunity to send it!

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAINTY DELIGHT DIES (34.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (7.50)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)