It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Julie has asked that we use the following layout:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I am excited to use a new stamp set that I've been waiting for an age to arrive - take a look:

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

Hey Birthday Chick - Remember the 'Hey Chick' stamp set that was a Sale-A-Bration stamp set in 2017? Well, you may have noticed a set in the current mini catalogue called 'Hey Birthday Chick' featuring the same group of feathered friends, this time all ready to celebrate a birthday, complete with cake, balloon and party hat! I used that crazy chicken with the mad hair on my card today, featuring both the old one from the 'Hey Chick' set and the one with the birthday cake from the 'Hey Birthday Chick' set. 

Chick and Birthday Chick Dies Exclusive - Not only are there the two chick stamps available, they are also available as part of exclusive bundles that will be available until 30 June. In addition to some great standalone dies, such as a fence, hen house, eggs, corn and a trellis, to name but a few, there are also dies to make cutting out any of the chicken shapes with ease. I used them to cut out one of my chickens to add a little dimension to my pair:

I am doing very well at meeting the CAS brief this week even if I say so myself, although I did take a small liberty with the sketch since my shapes are not identical. They would have been, but the temptation of the cupcake proved too much for chicken number one!!

Playing With Patterns - The colours for the rainbow colouring on my card today comes from the Playing With Patterns designer paper (Blends colours detailed below). Those subtle stripes were just enough to add interest to the base of my card. 

My rainbow stripes and funky rainbow-feathered chicks are perfect for the colour theme of 'rainbow colours' over at Just Us Girls this week and I'm also playing along with my gal pals over at TicTacToe where Team O are in charge this week and I went down the first column of Jeanne's board with Cute Critter/Celebrate/Coloured. 

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; the sun is shining here so since one of the James Juniors is officially on a Games lesson this afternoon, it looks like I am going to have company for a nice long walk. Following yesterday's announcement, we are officially on a two-week countdown to a return to school, so I think I need to make the most of it! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HEY CHICK BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	HEY CHICK CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	CHICK DIES (£30.00)	HEY BIRTHDAY CHICK BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£40.50)	HEY BIRTHDAY CHICK CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)
BIRTHDAY CHICK DIES (ENGLISH) (£25.00)	PLAYING WITH PATTERNS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PURPLE POSY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BERMUDA BAY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
MANGO MELODY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card inspired by that fabulous photo over at Fusion and using this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch by Amy:

I adore that rainbow unicorn outfit in the inspiration photo - what would be princess wouldn't like to dress up in that?! I had been contemplating Amy's panelled sketch and decided that I could combine the two to create the sparkly card of my dreams. If you're not a fan of the the glimmer and glitter, then you should look away now, as this card has it in spades! Ok, you have been warned!! This is what I came up with - take a look:

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

When Is A Hippo Not A Hippo? - When is a hippo not a hippo? Well, when it's a unicorn of course! My unicorn comes from the Hippo Happiness bundle, which in addition to the hippo, a butterfly, a sheep and a horse, there is of course a unicorn! I stamped mine in Smoky Slate with the second step stamp heat embosssed in silver, and gave her a gold sparkly unicorn horn. I think one of the things I love most about this stamp set is the sentiment I used on today's card - words to live by, right?! You can see the detail on my unicorn a little better below: 

Rainbow Glimmer - Having decided on a silver unicorn, I went all out to create my background panel from a complete piece of rainbow glimmer paper, spreading in colour from deep purple, through to pink, orange and yellow. I haven't used this for a while and was having definite withdrawal symptoms! I decided to leave my central clouds as one piece across the centre of my card; I tried it split with the rectangle, but preferred it as one piece. This also worked better for my sentiment, which sits nicely on the cloud.

Stitched Stars - Not satisfied with my rainbow glimmer alone, I decided to add a swirl of (retired) silver glimmer stars from the Stitched Stars die to the edge of my cloud to back my unicorn. I love this die and it's probably my most used in this set.

So what do you think - too much glimmer? I have to say I love it and I know a certain Miss James Junior who will love it too, teenager or not!! I spent the morning with a lovely bunch of my customers having our first proper online class of the year featuring florals and the Art Gallery bundle - a world away from all of this sparkle, although we did have a little play with gilded leafing - an altogether messier affair, albeit with very pretty results!

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 the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new sketch challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HIPPO HAPPINESS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	STITCHED STARS DIES (£35.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)
SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

I managed to squeeze in a little craft time this afternoon and made a card that's been buzzing around in my head for a while - love it when that happens and I finally get the opportunity to get my thoughts into paper! It is for the following challenges: 

I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and some of my Snail Mail designer series papers featuring the colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and made a colourful slimline card - take a look:

This card really is all about the designer paper; in addition to the base layers, I fussy cut one of the postman snails from the DSP to feature on my postage stamp diecut square - isn't he just the cutest?!

A speech bubble and heart embellishment, along with a stitedch scallop border and twine bow were all that was needed to complete my card. I also added a little decoration to my envelope' using another of the stamps in the 'Snailed It' stamp set:

I'm also linking today's card over at Global Design Project #GDP279 where they have an animal theme 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 '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 for our new theme challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

to follow

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for an interesting 'fill in the blank' challenge:

The colour that makes me feel cosy? Hmm, well for me this is closely associated with my chosen theme today: chocolate! I love chocolate of all kinds and am particularly partial to a good quality milk or 70% dark, and there is something about the silky sensation when a square of chocolate melts on the tongue that leaves me feeling warm and cosy inside - or indulged, but either way I'll take it! So my colour today is brown and I decided to pair it with this week's challenge over at Inspired By where they are asking us to feature a quote on our card (I also used their sketch layout this week) - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Nothing's Better Than - The choclates in the 'Nothing's Better Than' stamp set were perfect for my card today. I used some retired cardstock in Chocolate Chip for my cardbase and stamped the outline chocolate stamp all over for a tone-on-tone background. I also stamped a couple of these chocolate trios on some Very Vanilla in Chocolate Chip and outlined in Early Espresso, then trimmed one chocolate from each, and used them to decorate my quote panel.  

Love You More Than - My quotation is made up from a combination of stamps in the 'Nothing's More Than' stamp set and a stacked diecut of the word 'chocolate' for a little added emphasis. I diecut it 3 times and glue them together for added dimension:

I love how this is an 'unfinished' quotation - this really is so me, I mean a day without chocolate?! Something I don't ever like to contemplate!

Chocolate Box Memories - I decided to use a stitched scallop rectangle as the base for my quotation - the shape reminded me of the almost velvet-like top sheet that used to sit in chocolate boxes in years gone by - do you know the ones I mean? I also chose to use Very Vanilla as opposed to Basic White, as a nod to white chocolate, which is more cream than white in colour.

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

 to follow.

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

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I've had a few card- and blog-free days as I enjoy time with the James Juniors who are on half-term this week. There has been lots of cooking, walking and cycling and crafting of a different kind (I'll share more about that in a few days time!) I did get a few cards made today though, including this one for the current challenge over at Less Is More:

These kings and queens of CAS are celebrating their 10th birthday with chocolate so as a self-confessed chocolate lover myself, I thought it would be rude not to partake in a little celebration with them! I channelled my clean and simple self and came up with the following #SimpleStamping card using just stamps, ink and paper:

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

A simple base of Very Vanilla, with a border of Early Espresso and some (retired) Chocolate Chip chocolates, with the outline detailing and the 'chocolate' word in my sentiment stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with some (retired) Early Espresso embossing powder for an additional touch of shine and texture:

I finished my greeting on the inside of my card like this and with a few more chocolates:

I'm sure, like me, that there are days when you feel like this too!

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

 to follow

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

I'm also linking today's card with a new-to-me challenge called The Dream Factory, which uses films as the starting point to inspire our crafty creations - and this month's film is appropriately 'Chocolat'.

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow with another project also featuring chocolate - so if you are watching your waistline and would like to indulge in chocolate without the calories, do join me then. Until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Julie is hosting this month and this week we have a colour challenge: 

The colour palette gave me the perfect reason to break out 'Darling Donkeys' again, which is also perfect to link up with the challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP279 where their theme this week is 'animal' - and mine is ready to party! Take a look:

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

Darling Donkeys - I couldn't resist these sweet little donkeys again for my card, today featuring the frolicking donkey on the front of my card, rather than the sweet seated one that I've used on all my previous cards, although I did add one of those to the inside:

Kick Up Your Heels - I thought this donkey would be perfect for a birthday card, and his happy demeanour reminded me of the zebras in the 'Zaony Zebras' stamp set. So I borrowed a sentiment that seemed equally appropriate for a party-going donkey as a fun-loving zebra, along with a party hat, and got my donkey ready to celebrate!

Circles, Circles - I was really pleased with how I met the 'clean and simple' brief this week - lots of white space, minimal layers and patterns and one main focal point. I did use a circle shape to tie my design together: the stitched circle background for my donkey, the circular pattern on my strips of designer paper and the polka dots on his party hat. A subtle detail but a clever way to create harmony in my CAS design:

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.

The James Juniors are on half term this week so in an effot to keep them off their screens and give them a proper break from home schooling, I am being a very hands-on parent this week. So not much crafting from me, unless they are in tow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DARLING DONKEYS CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	ZANY ZEBRAS CLING STAMP SET (£18.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
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 Julie has asked that we use the following layout:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I chose to use two of my favourite Sale-A-Bration free gifts - take a look:

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

Darling Donkey - Yes, the sweet donkey is here, this time bearing gifts, or more specifically the gift of love with a single red rose - how romantic! Is there anything cuter than a donkey at Valentine's, I wonder?! With only another 5 days to go until the day itself, I thought I would take the opportunity to make another card for one of my loved ones. I'm also linking up with the ladies over at Just Us Girls again as 'Valentine' is their word of the week.

Oh So Ombre - I backed my oval with a panel of patterned Oh So Ombre paper - another Sale-A-Bration freebie that I can't get enough of! My card today is uncluttered and clean, although the reduction in white space does leave me sailing close to the wind as far as our challenge CAS rules are concerned. So if you are reading this and considering playing along, you have been warned! 

Still Time To Sale-A-Brate - If either of the above products are on your wish list, you still have another 3 weeks to go before the current Sale-A-Braiton promotion ends. That is a month earlier than usual though, so bear this in mind and be sure to place your order in good time. Links to the online store are included below or get in touch if you would like me to place your order for you.

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

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

Enjoy your day; I'm hoping to complete the second room on my current house decorating quest, so that I can spend the rest of the week getting up straight and having a good tidy up. Why is it that the minute I start decorating anywhere, the rest of the house seems to descend into disorganised chaos?! Does that happen in your house too? I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	DARLING DONKEYS CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SMOKEY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where we have a colour challenge for you this week:

I don't mind admitting these colours threw me for a loop initially - all I could see were elephants, donkeys and apples! Anyway, having seen the card that my teamie Jane made this week, I decided I just needed to have a trawl through my stamp collection and see what I could come up with. I found my 'Walk In The Woods' stamp set and decided the palette would work perfectly for some toadstools - take a look at what I came up with:

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

This week's card is definitely 'less is more': I stamped the cluster of toadstools initially in Sahara Sand and coloured the image with my water painters for a little no-line watercolouring. Once dry, I decided that the simple image looked a little flat, so overstamped the outline again in Basic Grey, which added in some much needed detail:

A heat-embossed sentiment in white on Basic Grey and some (retired) Poppy Parade chunky twine bow ties the image in with my mat and card base and completes my card.

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

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

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WALK IN THE WOODS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SAHARA SAND CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WATER PAINTERS (£11.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Julie is hosting this month and our first challenge of the month is a colour challenge: 

These colours were a bit of a challenge for me originally but I thought they would work well for a birthday card for a teenage boy - and I always need those! I decided to showcase another free Sale-A-Bration stamp set today - take a look:

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

'Approaching Perfection' is another of the stamp sets that you can get for free with a Stampin' Up! order of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration - and you still have another month to take advantage of this promotion! Full of fun birthday sentiments, it is perfect for clean and simple cards. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to create an outer border of multi-coloured candles on my base, then add a stitched square featuring my sentiment to the centre, fussy cutting the 'news flash' so that I could highlight it in red - reminiscent of a red-top tabloid:

I'm also joining in with the current challenge over at Less Is More where they are looking for 'things in a row' - in addition to the rows of candles on my card, I decorated the flap of my envelope to match too:

A detail that might be wasted on the average teenage boy to be fair, but it made me happy! This is a great set for #SimpleStamping - you could easily forgo the stitched diecut. All you need is stamps, ink and paper - #SimpleStamping at its best!

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:

APPROACHING PERFECTION CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far! I'm popping by with a quick post with my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

Jen B's sketch was perfect for me to dig out my Forever & Always bundle again and try out an idea that I had using the free Sale-A-Bration Oh So Ombre paper - take a look:

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

I had seen this card by Mary Deatherage on Pinterest and wanted to explore the idea of diecutting the centre from a piece of Oh So Ombre DSP and flipping it and this sketch provided the perfect opportunity. I decided to use the Forever & Always bundle for my design; the key to getting a good result is to use the Stamparatus, as you need to have both flowers in an exactly opposing position and then the die needs to be placed absolutely centrally, before cutting. You then flip the central panel and add the sentiment.

I stamped a couple of flowers, then masked them to add in some leaves. I cut out my central panel using my scalloped stitched rectangle Stitched So Sweetly Dies before adding a diecut and stamped sentiment, with a few enamel dots to finish. Popping the central panel up on dimensionals also adds a shadow from the black mat below:

Doesn't it create such an interesting effect? Unable to stop there, I also applied the same technique on a Bermuda Bay background using the Friends Are Like Seashells set:

This time I stamped my shells, again with some masking, and sentiment and added some pearls to finish:

I used the free Sale-A-Bration Oh So Ombre papers as my background, but you could equally create your own ombre background with a sponge brayer or blender brushes. These cards are quite addictive - I think the idea could be used for lots of sets! Here's a shot of both cards together - do you have a favourite?

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

And my second card:

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 for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FOREVER AND ALWAYS BUNDLE (£43.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FRIENDS ARE LIKE SEASHELLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£24.00)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)