What a great start to a Wednesday - the Clearance Rack has been updated and there are now lots of new items available, some with as much as 80% off. As is always the case, popular items will sell out quickly, so don't spend too long deliberating - get in there quick! There are some great paper bargains, including the lovely kraft wrapping paper (I'll definitely be stocking up on that for next Christmas!) as well as DSP and the Trim The Tree DSP stack. My favourite Autumn Wooden elements embellishments are in there too - I could go on, but the best thing you can do is hop on over and take a look.

Click here to go the clearance rack in my online store and grab a bargain whilst stocks last! You might also want to check out this week's round of new weekly deals too and pop one or two of those in your basket - you can find them here. Don't forget to include the current hostess code DBJFM4DG make sure that 'allow your demonstrator to contact you' is ticked in order that you receive your special 'thank you' in the post from me. 

Race you to the shop - first one there gets the bargains! Happy shopping! 

It's Wednesday and time for my last challenge as a designer over at Colour Me...! It has been a great 6 months working with these lovely ladies and the various colour palettes week on week and I would like to say a big 'thank you' to Tara and Hayley for the opportunity and to my fellow designers, Claire Broadwater, Julia Altermann and Sherrie Mannion and the various monthly guest designers for their collective inspiration. So we are ending the year with a playful colour palette with a distinctive festive feel:

I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday as the inspiration for the layout of my card and decided to stick with the festive feel of our inspiration photo to make another Christmas card:

I used Baked Brown Sugar for my base with a mat of Real Red, then a split panel of Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke, the bottom layer of which I embossed with the Stylish Stripes TIEF. I stamped my Good Greetings sentiment onto the vanilla layer in red (this set is now available on the Year End Closeouts Clearance Rack if you want to pick up a bargain!). I stamped a piece of Baked Brown Sugar with the Hardwood stamp to create the background for my wreath, then stamped my wreath in Always Artichoke with red berries and cut it out with my wreath framelits and popped it up on a couple of dimensionals. To finish, I added a ribbon and bow in Real Red Cotton Ribbon. 

Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle	Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Good Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad	Always Artichoke A4 Card Stock
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Hardwood Wood-Mount Stamp Set

A quick post from me today as I am having the busiest of weeks! Today I'm sharing my entry for this week's challenge over at 'Less is More' where this week the challenge them is 'Let's face the music and dance' and the ladies are looking for cards with a music or dance theme. Now today's card is not overly original, in that I've seen many of them on Pinterest and the internet in general for a long time, but I needed a thank you card for someone who plays piano and as I've never made one of these cards before, I thought I'd create my version which just so happens to fit the bill for this week's LIM challenge. So here's my card:

Quite difficult to photograph, so bear with me! This the front, in Basic Black, with the edge cut shaped like the lid of a grand piano, and then piano keys punched from a Word Window punch in Very Vanilla and Basic Black. Behind the cutaway section you can see the sheet music that is adhered to the inside of the card, which you can see more clearly below:

The sheet music is a piece of retired 'Modern Medley' DSP (I must confess to having hoarded the sheet music pages, I love them!), with space below for the sentiment and your message.

So a fun and simple piano card, where the 'white space' today is entirely black! Check out the other LIM entries this week for plenty of music and dance inspiration - I personally am loving the ballerinas on display!

One other thing - the Stampin' Up! UK Clearance rack updated last night - lots of new bargains at up to 80%, including 12 x 12" papers, washi tape and last season's Halloween papers and kits. You can check out all the bargains at my online store by clicking here - go and grab yourself a bargain!

Lastly, on the subject of THE Piano Man, Mr Billy Joel himself, if you're a fan and have never seen him play live, I can highly recommend it; I saw him in concert for the first time last year and can honestly say it was the best concert performance I have ever attended.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lots Of Thanks	Word Window Punch	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Modern Medley Overlays Kit - Digital Download

Well what a day! The highlight has definitely been Ben's birthday party with his class mates at Bugtopia, an insect and reptile centre near here. He had the most amazing time, holding everything from stick insects and tarantulas to chameleons and crickets! I will share some photos with you when I've had a chance to download them from my camera, but for today thought I would share the cards I made for Ben's two fellow 'birthday boys' with whom he shares his special day and some of the sweet treats that made it into the party bags. So first up, one of Ben's frineds is currently dinosaur mad, so I made a card using the new retired 'Dinoraur' stamp set (with a soon to be 7 year old son, I couldn't possibly part with my set, retired or otherwise!). I decided to create a fun card with a removable dinosaur bookmark made with the Scalloped tag Topper punch. Here is the card with the bookmark in its little pocket:

And here is the bookmark when removed, showing Triceratops on the bottom too:

This card was such fun to make and perfect for a would-be palaeontologist. I have a bonus share for you today too: given the theme of our party, I used the Goodie Gear Simply Created Treat Kit for some suitably themed sweet treats - take a look:

I bought a box of jelly frogs and tied them into the kit bags, decorated the labels and made a little stamped frog button (this is also from the retired 'Spring Sampler' stamp set). I thought I would share these with you as these bag kits are currently available on the Clearance Rack for just £1.79, and the Pumpkin Pie versions too - bargain or what?! Go and snap up a few to add a little 'wow' factor to your party treats! We also gave each child their very own butterfly garden to enable them to hatch their own caterpillar eggs into Painted Lady butterflies - a perfect project for the forthcoming long school summer holidays!

I'll be back tomorrow nice and early with my Paper Players post for the week; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Old Olive A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Real Red Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit

Well what a day! The highlight has definitely been Ben's birthday party with his class mates at Bugtopia, an insect and reptile centre near here. He had the most amazing time, holding everything from stick insects and tarantulas to chameleons and crickets! I will share some photos with you when I've had a chance to download them from my camera, but for today thought I would share the cards I made for Ben's two fellow 'birthday boys' with whom he shares his special day and some of the sweet treats that made it into the party bags. So first up, one of Ben's frineds is currently dinosaur mad, so I made a card using the new retired 'Dinoraur' stamp set (with a soon to be 7 year old son, I couldn't possibly part with my set, retired or otherwise!). I decided to create a fun card with a removable dinosaur bookmark made with the Scalloped tag Topper punch. Here is the card with the bookmark in its little pocket:

And here is the bookmark when removed, showing Triceratops on the bottom too:

This card was such fun to make and perfect for a would-be palaeontologist. I have a bonus share for you today too: given the theme of our party, I used the Goodie Gear Simply Created Treat Kit for some suitably themed sweet treats - take a look:

I bought a box of jelly frogs and tied them into the kit bags, decorated the labels and made a little stamped frog button (this is also from the retired 'Spring Sampler' stamp set). I thought I would share these with you as these bag kits are currently available on the Clearance Rack for just £1.79, and the Pumpkin Pie versions too - bargain or what?! Go and snap up a few to add a little 'wow' factor to your party treats! We also gave each child their very own butterfly garden to enable them to hatch their own caterpillar eggs into Painted Lady butterflies - a perfect project for the forthcoming long school summer holidays!

I'll be back tomorrow nice and early with my Paper Players post for the week; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Old Olive A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Real Red Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit

Yay - it's Friday again! Boy did that come around quick! This week has been half term and having James Juniors at home for the week seems to make the week fly by! Anyway, the weather is supposed to improve this weekend so that will be good. I have a busy, busy day today with retiring lists, preorders, class preparations and more besides, so let's get to it! Today I'm sharing a card that I made for this week's challenge over at 'Less is More' where it's recipe week and we're asked to include a die cut on our card. I've also combined with the vibrant colour palette over at Colour Q this week:

I just loved the bold flowers on that shower curtain in the inspiration photo! I had to substitute a couple of the colours, as they have retired and I don't have them; I used Rich Razzleberry and Wild Wasabi in place of Orchid Opulence and Certainly Celery, so my purple is not quite so electric but my card is just as colourful - take a look: 

I actually used the same CAS(E) This Sketch layout, turned through 90 degrees, that I used for yesterday's butterfly card for today's background, although it looks totally different here. I used Simple Stems to stamp my flowers, along with the little flower from the Summer Silhouettes stamp set, then used Bermuda Bay for my card base, my die cut 'thankful' - the Expressions Thinlit Dies are currently available on the clearance rack, if you would like to pick up a set for the bargain price of £13.79, I love mine! - and stamped the 'for you' in Bermuda Bay using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set.

This is one of those cards that I finished and just love - the colours, layout, the diecut word, it's so me! Do you ever make a card and like it so much that you think you'll struggle to give it away? I think the recipient of this one will have to be someone special, so if it lands in your mailbox then you should consider yourself very lucky!!

Right - I'm off to peruse the retiring lists and write out my pre-order for goodies from the new catalogue too (and maybe do a little housework!). Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Simple Stems	Summer Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Fabulous Phrases - Clear-Mount Stamp	Expressions Thinlits Dies	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that the Clearance Rack has been updated and there are now lots of new items available, some with as much as 80% off. There are lots of festive papers and accessories and my most favourite ever Expressions thinlits dies too. So if you want to get a very early headstart on your Christmas projects, check it out now - I don't think some of these things will be around for long.

So, what are you waiting for - click here to go the clearance rack in my online store and grab a bargain whilst stocks last!

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that the Clearance Rack has been updated and there are now lots of items available, some with as much as 80% off. There are packs of A4 cardstock from just £2.49, lots of ribbon and even the Holiday Stocking Bigz Die if you wanted to make some last minute Christmas stockings!

So, what are you waiting for - click here to go the clearance rack in my online store and grab a bargain whilst stocks last!

This is the first of two posts today: I thought my lovely crafty readers might appreciate a quick business update post to cover off some important news, offers and MDS information that I'm sure will be of interest to you.

Firstly, big news - The Clearance Rack is here!

You can get great discounts on retired product and add fantastic products to your collection. The Clearance Rack can only be viewed through my online store by clicking on the image above or via the link on the right hand side of my web page to start shopping. Only discontinued products will be listed and stocks will be available only whilst supplies last, so will be added to and removed on an ongoing basis. If you haven't already created an online account, it's really easy to do - check out my post here for more details.

Secondly, the Envelope Liners Framelits Dies have been discounted by 25% until further notice!

There are three dies in every pack of Envelope Liners Framelits (132218). Stampin' Up! have announced that they are going to make a small modification to the largest of the dies, to ensure that the corners are more rounded to co-ordinate with the Stampin' Up! C6 envelopes. In the meantime, the existing dies will be discounted by 25% until the new framelits are ready to go on sale (at the original price of £22.95). So if you fancy a bargain, the existing liners can be purchased for £16.95 until the new framelits are available.

Thirdly, here is the link to this week's MDS digital downloads:

If you haven't downloaded it already, there is a 30 day free trial for you to try if you would like to have a play before committing to the full version. Just go to my online store to download.

Back later with a quick creative post of the day; until then, happy stampin'!