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:

I love our challenge badge this week and decided to embrace the fun of our challenge photo and go with a card that is all about playing with leaves - take a look:

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

I stamped this super-cute image of this little chap playing in a big pile of leaves with his kitty from the 'Seasons of Fun' current seasonal hostess set onto a panel cut with the Whimsy Dies (the swirly border reminded me of a breeze!) and coloured with my Stampin' Blends markers: 

That's all there is to it - super clean and really simple to achieve!

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. 

I'm linking today's card up for another entry over at The Alphabet Challenge where they are on 'L is for Leaves' and over at SUO Challenges where the current theme is 'people'. 

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

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'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SEASONS OF FUN HOST CLING STAMP SET (£11.00)	STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a super clean and simple card for the following challenges:

The sketch over at InspireCreate was perfect for a clean and simple (CAS) card so I decided to grab a quick 10 minutes to create a card also inspired by the Addicted to CAS challenge of 'Nature' inspired by autumn colour and foliage - take a look:

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

Now I know here in the UK we are enjoying the second day of what looks to be a 4 day mini heatwave, but I couldn't resist the rich blackberry tones of the Blackberry Beauty designer paper on my card today. I just love the jewelled tones of this paper and I paired it with one of my current favourite generic sentiments from the 'Beauty of Tomorrow' stamp set, which finishes on the inside of my card:

Isn't that just the nicest sentiment? I debated whether to reverse the paper and 'white space' on my card, but decided that the strip on the sketch was perfect for really highlighting the beauty of the paper and its gold foil detail - just look at those pretty acorns and oak leaves: 

This is a great standby design if your pressed for time and a good way to use up those leftover strips of paper we all have in our craft room 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; mine's been a busy one, with pre-season football training this morning and a trip to buy new hiking boots in readiness for the next Duke of Edinburgh expedition amongst other things! At the rate at which teenage boys grow (or is it just mine?!) these have to be left until a few weeks before the hike; enough time to break them in, but not enough time to grow out of them!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BLACKBERRY BEAUTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

BEAUTY OF TOMORROW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Holly is hosting this month and our final challenge this month is a sketch challenge featuring stripes: 

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

For my card today I was also inspired by the photo inspiration over at Just Us Girls and the similar nautical theme over at Festive Friday (I chose blue, red and twine) to create another clean and simple congratulations card using my whale builder punch - take a look:

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

I flipped the colours in the bottom-right JUGS inspiration photo and added a simple navy blue punched whale to a set of red and white cardstock stripes. with a sentiment from the 'Whale Done' stamp set and this time adding a cute mortar board to my whale since once again exam congratulations are in order. To create my mortar board, I handcut a diamond shape from black cardstock and added it to a small rectangle then threaded some basic black twine through it and secured at the back before unravelling it to create my tassel

The tassel was the fussiest part of today's card, which otherwise is super clean and simple. Great for a masculine congratulations card I'm thinking - nothing too fussy!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day; I'll be dodging the thunderstorms! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHALE PUNCH (£17.00)	WHALE DONE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

Yay, it's the weekend! So a quick post from me with a card I put together this afternoon for the following challenges:

I love the Global Design Project colour palette this week and wanted to finally make a card with my All Squared Away bundle which I've had for far too long without inking up, so the challenge over at AAA Cards gave me the perfect excuse since they are featuring 'twinchies' - take a look:

I didn't go with the optional twist of Christmas In July, instead stamping a background for my 'twinchie' in Coastal cabana, then adding the diecuts in the other two colours and finishing with a single pearl and a simple 'miss you' sentiment from the Art Gallery stamp set. 

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. 

So simple but I just love it, unconventional florals and all!

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at the Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ALL SQUARED AWAY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	ART GALLERY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£20.00)

We might be in the middle of a summer heatwave here in the UK, but there's a pre-order in the house and lots of Christmas in July challenges out there currently, so I finally managed a clean and simple card for a couple of them:

Both Less Is More and SUO Challenges have a Christmas In July theme, so I decided to play with a new set from my mini catalogue pre-order called Thinking Thanks and Peace  - take a look:

This set features a selection of large sentiments for a variety of occasions. I heat embossed the Christmas one in gold onto Night of Navy, then cut out a panel with a rectangle stitched die, added a gold border and adhered to a navy card base. I paper-pieced a gold-on-white embossed dove, having first coloured with a white pencil but I couldn't get the bright white effect that I was after and I like this much better:

In fact, I love this card so much, I actually made two! This sentiment set is great for quick, clean and simple cards - I think I'll be using it a lot in the run up to the festive season.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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 a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Fruit and berries - you can use either, or both, on your card this week but remember to keep it clean and simple! I decided to go with strawberries for my fruit today and paired them with this week's Color Throwdown colours and the CAS(E) The Designer challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP296 this week - take a look:

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

I was intrigued by the idea of CASEing the lovely Emma Goddard's card and decided to use the strawberry blossom stamp and single strawberry from the 'Sweet Strawberry' stamp set in stamped-off Gray Granite to create the soft stamped panel that forms the basis of my card front. I added a panel of block stripes using the CTD colours which are perfect for strawberries along the left-hand side. I added a white-on-black heat-embossed sentiment onto a stitched label from the Tasteful Labels Dies and mounted it on some (retired) Poppy Parade ribbon. A trio of clear sequins complete my clean and simple card:

I haven't made a card like this before but I really like the effect. I think it could be quite addictive - I can think of lots of sets that would work in this way. 

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:

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; as it's Father's Day that will be the focus here today. I'm not sure that it will be dry enough for a BBQ - the last few days have been quite a bit cooler, but either I'm sure there will be fun in store! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET STRAWBERRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	GRAY GRANITE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Wei has asked that we get creative with diagonals this week:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card - which I did this week! I looked at those diagonals and thought that if I rotated the base through 180 degrees, they would make a rainbow! Take a look to see what I mean:

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

I used a selection of 5mm wide offcuts from my scrapbox in a selection of rainbow colours (see below) and glue them across the diagonal of my Balmy Blue card base. I extended the Highland Heather piece across the card front, then took a piece of Basic White and cut an angled border with my clouds die from the retiring Happy Dies set for my top panel:

A simple sentiment from the also retiring 'Under My Umbrella' stamp set in Pacific Point finished my card - and not an umbrella in sight!

Our lovely DT member Vicky is also the hostess over at Addicted to CAS this week where she has chosen the code word 'sky' so I'm linking up there too - with sky, rainbow and clouds, my card today doesn't have anything else!!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
UNDER MY UMBRELLA PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£15.00)

It's Monday and the start of a new week! Today was class day for me so I'm a little later with my blog post. Today's card is totally inspired by the inspiration photo over at Just Us Girls this week and also uses the Paper Craft Crew sketch:

I couldn't resist those green wellies and spring flowers! So I combined with some clouds and sunny yellow cardstock to create a cheery card using the retiring stamp set 'Under My Umbrella' that will be leaving us next week - take a look:

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

I went with a rather abstract interpretation using some of the elements in the photo, paper-piecing some dotty green wellies onto a stitched circle and filling them with some fussy cut, colourful spring blooms. I sponged some clouds onto my Whisper White card base using my trusty Happy Dies cloud stencil and some Balmy Blue ink and a blending brush, then added a layer of Daffodil Delight, which I bordered using one of the Curvy Dies (also retiring in June) and stamped my sentiment directly onto this layer, next to my popped-up circle - 'Hello Sunshine' seemed like the most appropriate sentiment from this set for today's card! Are those wellies not just so much fun? Who wouldn'y love to go romping in the great outdoors in those?!

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 seem to be having a run of clouds on my cards, having featured them on Saturday's card and they pop up on tomorrow's card too - as does the 'Under My Umbrella stamp set!

Do come back tomorrow to see what I created. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

UNDER MY UMBRELLA PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£15.00)	CURVY DIES (£27.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

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 fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I decided to open an as-yet unused stamp set for a fun clean and simple card - take a look:

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

I thought this sweet dachshund would make the perfect focal point for my card today! I gave him a plaid coat using some retired Plaid Tidings DSP left over from last season and did some selective masking so that he could carry a resin-heart embellished note, having coloured my heart a peach colour using my Calypso Coral Blends:

Both my choice of canine and sentiment were chosen with the current challenge over at CASology, where the codeword is  'long' - a sausage dog and a 'miss you' sentiment seemed the perfect fit! I also used the Color Dare TicTacToe Challenge colours in the first column (peach, peacock, cinnamon). I added a little extra detail to the inside of my card too:

I have made a stack of these cards and decided to pop them in the post this week to friends that I haven't had the opportunity to catch up with for some time. Here's hoping they brighten someone'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:

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'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HOT DOG PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CINNAMON CIDER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
CINNAMON CIDER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	RESIN HEARTS EMBELLISHMENTS (£6.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Happy Monday everyone - another Monday, another week! This week includes St Patrick's Day, so there are naturally lots of challenges that feature either the colour green, the theme of luck, shamrocks and generally all things Irish around at the moment! So today I'm sharing a card inspired by a few of them:

I was inspired by the sketch and photo over at Inspired By this week, and the lovely ladies over at Just Add Ink are asked us to create with shades of green. At The Card Concept the theme is the 'Luck of the Irish'. Whilst I don't know anyone who celebrates St Patrick's Day card and would appreciate a card, it's always a good opportunity to create a good luck card or something in green - such a soothing colour. I decided to make a clean and simple card that has a play on the word 'luck' that is perfect to send to a friend - take a look:

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

Shades of Green - I masked off my Basic White cardstock panel and used my chosen shades of green - Soft Sea Foam, Granny Apple Green, Call Me Clover and Shaded Spruce - with my blending brushes to create a trio of columns of blended ombre greens, deepening in colour towards my sentiment and lucky clover/shamrock at the base. There is something so calming about shades of green used in such a simple way I think - don't you agree? 

Heartfelt Wishes - The sentiment I used on my card today comes from the 'Heartfelt' stamp set and is the perfect play on the word 'luck' to show appreciation for someone's friendship and seemed to fit the theme perfectly, with a card that I could actually send to someone! 

Pierced Blooms Lucky Clover - I created my shamrock or lucky four-leaf clover from a five-petal floral die from the Pierced Blooms Dies. I simply snipped away part of one of the petals to leave me with 4 leaves and a stem:

I finished my clover with a gold faceted gem to add an extra detail to my focal embellishment (from my collection rather than the pot at the end of the rainbow I hasten to add!)

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 have just received a '911' from one of the James Juniors imploring me to bring a snack at school pickup - clearly lunch was lacking today and I think my growing 13 year old son has hollow legs at the moment! Whatever did we do before Whats App??! So off to sort before I head out on the school run! I'll be back tomorrow with my card for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PIERCED BLOOMS DIES (£34.00)	HEARTFELT PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)