Today is a big news day and especially exciting for those of you who are eagerly awaiting the new annual Stampin' Up! catalogue and can't wait to get your hands on some new product! The first of my posts today is all about colour. I updated you on the details of Stampin' Up's colour revamp in my previous post here so now it's time to introduce you to the new in-colours for 2018-2020.

Every two years Stampin' Up! will continue to introduce a collection of 5 In Colours that will compliment the rest of the Stampin' Up! range. Here are the new in colours that will be joining us this year:

A collection of bright, contemporary colours that will compliment our core offering. Whilst at first glance these colours may appear similar to other existing colours or those we've seen before, when compared directly each is uniquely different. Here's a look at the overall collection, including the new and returning colours and the 2017-19 In Colours that are still with us for another year:

These new in colours are sure to feature in my projects lots in the forthcoming weeks and months; I've had mine for a few weeks and I have been enjoying working with them creating samples and getting to know them better. 

Now for today's news - from today, you can get your hands on these new colours too! As one of two early releases, the new in-colour ink pad collection is available for you to purchase and what's more, as a thank you, you will receive a 10% discount too - bonus!

Simply click on the link below to go straight to my online store to get your hands on yours!

Classic Stampin' Pad Assortment In Color 2018-2020 (£31.50)

Happy Monday everyone! I have the first of this month's technique classes today so my day will be a busy one but I'm early with today's post - yay! I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where Amy has the following sketch:

I needed a couple of birthday cards for young boys, so decided to break out my 'Let The Good Times Roll stamp set and create a fun rollercoaster scene - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Thrilling Ride - The wide central panel of Amy's sketch allows for lots of options and what could be better for a child's birthday card than a brightly coloured rollercoaster with presents and balloons? The space allowed me to create a fun little scene and whilst I haven't used the pop-up elements that make these thinlits unique, I did pop the rollercoaster and a couple of clouds up on dimensionals for a little extra lift. 

The Longest Rollercoaster EVER! - Having had the idea for my card, I wanted the rollercoaster to extend across the entire width of my cardfront, whereas the actual stamp covers only about two-thirds of the card. I overcame this by masking off the left edge and base, and then having stamped the rollercoaster stamp once in its entirety on the right-hand side, I inked it again and matched up the top of the largest curve with the left-hand edge to continue it across the page. I then drew in the closing edge and baseline with my Crumb Cake Stampin' Write marker. This sounds more complicated than it was to execute, especially as the stamp is photopolymer so easy to line up.

Birthday Memories Stripes - I used the rainbow stripes of the retiring Birthday Memories designer series paper for the background panel and as the inspiration for the bright colour scheme for the rest of my card, picking out 4 key colours for my rollercoaster. I also added a sentiment and another rollercoaster car complete with gift to the inside of my card too, just to finish off:

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 and news of a fabulous new suite that is on early release from the new annual catalogue - exciting stuff! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Let The Good Times Roll Photopolymer Bundle (£38.50)	Let The Good Times Roll Photopolymer Stamp Set (£14.00)	Birthday Memories Designer Series Paper (£10.00)	Pacific Point A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It just so happens there are 5 Sundays in April, so we have an extra challenge week! It's my turn to host and as it's tic-tac-toe week there really are so many creative possibilities. Check out my board: 

Choices, choices! I decided to use this week's sketch over at Just Add Ink for my layout and grabbed my Blends again for a spot of colouring to share with the teams at Stamp Ink Paper and SUO Challenges and went across the bottom of my board - yellow, circle, bird (my card also works for the central column of die-cut, ribbon, circle too) - for a sweet baby card, take a look:

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

Flying Home - I love the bird house designs in this set and will be sad to see this set retire next month. Perfect for welcome cards - new home, new baby or even new team member - the selection of images are perfect for colouring too. This is the first time I've used this sweet mama bird and her babies; I went with bright yellow for a unisex baby card and coloured with my Blends; I actually made a whole batch of these so that I have some blanks and can colour the other birds specifically pink or blue too if I need something a little more tailored. 

Circles, Circles - There are lots of different circle elements to my card: the Picture Perfect Party background paper has a fun circle pattern and my main image has been cut out with the largest of my Stitched Circle Framelits. Even the sprinkle of Pool Party sequins add to the theme.

What No Bear? - My sentiment comes from the 'Baby Bear' stamp set. split between the little front banner and finished on the inside of my card. No bears, just birds on today's baby card ;-). Here's a look at the inside, finished off with a couple of yellow birdies 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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's board - there really are so many different combinations! I'm so looking forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Flying Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£16.00)	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£27.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Daffodil Delight 1/4" Double-Stitched Ribbon (£6.25)	Iridescent Sequin Assortment (£4.50)
Baby Bear Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)

Well, the brief visit of warm weather here in the UK last week was short-lived; we are back to the cold and wet, with it having rained pretty much for two days straight! If this continues I think I'm going to have to issue my poor chickens with arm bands (aka water wings for my American readers!) In the hopes of willing a change in the forecast, I thought I'd play along today with the challenge over at Global Design Project, using the layout over at CAS Colours and Sketches too:

My card also fits the middle column of the board over at TicTacToe Challenge: metallic, free, stripes. I went bold, with a nice bright yellow and some crisp white for my clean and simple card - take a look:

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

Bring Me Sunshine - This cute little 'button' from the A Good Day stamp set works perfectly for a 'Show Me The Sunshine' theme. I stamped it in Tuxedo Memento Black on Whisper White and again on Smoky Slate cardstock, then fussy cut and paper-pieced the clouds back in place. This gives a little detail without too much dimension and provides contrast to my ombre yellow sun behind, which I coloured with my Stampin' Blends.  

Deckchair Stripes - This yellow and white striped paper is from the Tutti Frutti designer series paper stack, which I bought primarily for the non-fruity designs. It works perfectly for my bright, sunny card - it reminds me of stripy deckchairs on the beach!

Raindrop Sparkles - To finish my card, I added some of the teardrop-shaped clear epoxy shapes to my raindrops; they are bigger than the stamped raindrops, but I like the added interest this gives to my focal point.

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 hoping today's card brings back Spring here, even if we have to wait a while for summer - I'm not sure it will be enough to do the trick though, the weatherman was prediciting icy temperatures again with an outside chance of snow again early next week - yuk!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A Good Day Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£17.00)	Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)	Tutti-Frutti 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Circle Punch (£14.50)	Metallic Foil Doilies (£3.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I've had a few cards to make of late for milestone birthdays so thought I'd share one of them today, that uses last week's Freshly Made Sketches layout as inspiration - take a look:

I decided to use up some of the leftover bits and pieces from my Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit (I just love this - it really does keep on going!) and layer a cake with some of the flowers, along with a silver doily, a circle of silver spotted acetate and a proper sparkly die cut sentiment  - so glad these 'Celebrate You' thinlits from this year's Sale-A-Bration offering are carrying over to the new annual catalogue. A background of co-ordinating Sweet Soiree paper and no stamping - well not on the front of my card anyway! I did stamp on the envelope and on the inside of my card:

I also added some numbers from the kit and a strip of foil washi tape to the inside of my card just to finish things off. Suitably special without being too over the top, I think - I'd love to hear your views, do feel free to leave me a comment below!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sweet Soirée Embellishment Kit (£10.00)	Sweet Soirée Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Cake Soirée Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£32.00)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.25)	Metallic Foil Doilies (£3.75)	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate (£11.00)

Another busy day today catching up on household admin today, but just time to share a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

For some reason I had lots of ideas for this sketch, which is a pretty good job since the first card I made featured a couple of pens from the Crafting Forever set and a 'Just a Note' sentiment and my lovely Paper Players teamie and friend LeAnne posted one that was almost identical! You can see her card here; I decided that instead of posting my card that was so similar, I would work up one of my other ideas and got out my Magical Mermaid stamp set for some aquatic fun - take a look:

I stamped the seaweed twice and added my sentiment below as per the sketch, creating an ombre effect by sponging the sentiment stamp with Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay and Tranquil Tide before stamping and fussy cutting a gold embossed starfish. The real star of this card though is the mermaid: I stamped her in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then coloured her by sponging ink and blending lots of pinks and aquas to create her tail, before covering with a liberal does of clear Wink of Stella, fussy cutting and popping her on some dimensionals for extra lift. I also allowed her to sit slightly off the edge of the card for added interest.

This really is one of those cards where the photo doesn't do my card justice - it is so shimmery and sparkly in real life and the blended tail colour so pretty. Try as I might though I could capture the effect on film, so you'll just have to take my word for it! I did take a quick picture of the inside too, with its seaside border:

I think this is the first time I've blogged a card using this set, but it is actually getting lots of use as I've recently decorated Rebecca's room and one of her bed sets has mermaids on it, so we are in the process of using this set to create some fun wall art and home decor pieces. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Magical Mermaid Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.25)
Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.25)

With the birth of a Royal baby yesterday, a second son and third child for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, it seemed only fitting today to share a card to welcome the arrival of a baby boy to the world that fits perfectly for the following challenges: 

I used both the sketch and photo inspiration over at Fusion and coloured my sweet baby elephant with my Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends for the challenge over at StampInkPaper - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Little Wild Elephant - The little animals in the 'A Little Wild' stamp set are just the cutest and so perfect for a card to welcome a new arrival. Today's card just had to feature the elephant, given the Fusion photo inspiration; I also used a strip of retired designer series paper (from the A Little Foxy DSP stack) for my horizontal strip as it was perfect to tie my colours in together. 

It's All In The Curve - I decided to curve my sentiment to follow the line of my layered circle, so chose to use the 'congratulations' stamp from the Beautiful Bouquet set. It's photopolymer which means that even though it is a straight stamp, it is flexible enough to be moulded to an alternative shape.  

Fun On The Inside - One of the cute features of the 'A Little Wild' animal stamps is that as they are designed to work as a gift tag, they include both front and back of the animals. This doesn't preclude them from being used on cards - in fact, it's a fun way to decorate both the front and back of your envelope and the inside of your card. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set, a strip of left over DSP and a cute enamel heart  - and for once, I remembered to take a photograph to share it with you! Here it is:

How sweet is that?! The blues could easily be switched out for pinks to make a girl card with the same details - an idea for another day, perhaps!

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:

A Little Wild Clear-Mount Bundle (£38.50)	A Little Wild Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)	2-1/4" (5.7 Cm) Circle Punch (£16.00)	Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Subtles Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Apologies for the lack of blog posts this week but the weather has taken a turn for the better here in the UK so I have taken the opportunity to spend some time giving my garden some much-needed TLC and enjoying spending time outdoors with the youngest of my James Juniors who is still on Easter break until early next week. Today it's Sunday though and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Jaydee to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

So many ways I could have gone with this one! In the end I decided that having spent some time this week sorting through the old to make way for the new, it would be a great opportunity to share some retiring favourites with you  - take a look:

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

A Birthday Marquee Message - I have had a lot of fun with this stamp set: great for invitations, birthdays and more general celebrations, Marquee messages works for clean and simple and more detailed and layered cards. Here I've heat-embossed the outlines in silver and paper-pieced the various elements together, stamping the central wording with my Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends. To finish I added a whole bunch of rhinestones to the arrow - it made a fair dent in a new packet, but it was so worth it for the finished effect - after all, who doesn't want their birthday message up in lights?! 

Pick A Neutral Pattern - I decided to use something with a little pattern for my background, but that wouldn't detract from my focal point sign and this black and white pattern from the Pick A Pattern designer series paper collection was the perfect choice. 

Colour Movers and Shakers - My card also features two colours that are about to retire and one that is about to move colour families as a result of the Colour Revamp. I will miss Island Indigo more than Tangerine Tango for sure, but am very exciting by the new colours that will be joining our new families in their place. My third colour, Real Red, is thankfully sticking around, but moving from Brights to Regals as part of the reshuffle. Here are today's colours should you wish to save this colour combo, but remember - you only have until May 7th to guarantee supplies of the retiring colours, so be sure to stock up before they're gone:

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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I am hoping to get out into the garden again and enjoy the rest of the nice weather before it departs and leaves us with cooler temperatures later this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Marquee Messages Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	Pick A Pattern Designer Series Paper (£10.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.50)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.50)	Versamark Pad (£7.75)

Today I have another card that I made with this week's challenge over at The Paper Players in mind. 

I love the card that I used as my design team entry on Sunday, but wanted to try another idea that I had for that lovely magical unicorn that was a little more clean and simple - take a look: 

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

Keep It CAS - Whilst still not entirely 'white space', I created a subtle repeating pattern of pale grey outline unicorns to add enough detail to allow me to highlight my unique 'one of a kind' unicorn and sentiment.

One Of A Kind Unicorn - I stamped and coloured another unicorn to anchor my sentiment, adding a rainbow mane and tail, a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella and a sparkling gold unicorn horn. This unicorn is all about standing out from the crowd!

Rainbow Highlights - My unicorn anchors my rainbow sentiment, coloured with Stampin' Write markers in the same colours as my unicorn mane and backed with some gold glimmer paper. A pop of colour on my clean and simple card, created with just one stamp set and some inks - truly clean and simple.

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. 

Remember, you have until Friday to join our magical Clean and Simple challenge over at The Paper Players - we look forward to receiving your entries!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Magical Day Wood-Mount Stamp Set (£27.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.25)	Many Marvelous Markers (£99.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Gold Glimmer Paper (£4.50)

What a great start to a Tuesday - I logged on this morning to find a surprise update to the Clearance Rack. There are now lots of new items available, some with as much as 60% 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 many designer series papers, accessories, kits, framelits and even the odd punch. The gorgeous Painted Autumn DSP is there along with some great varieties of washi tape. 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! Don't forget to include the current hostess code YDNWGUGS 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 next month. 

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