Today I'm excited to share with you my first Flower Patch card! Now, this may not seem like a big event, but for someone who has had the stamp set for over a month whilst having to wait (not so) patiently for the matching framelit set, it is a big deal! I decided to make a card for the challenges over at 'Less is More' and Retrosketches, where the colour palette and sketch were perfect for what I had in mind:

Since the lovely Sarah over at 'Less Is More' is celebrating her birthday this week, I decided a birthday card should be the order of the day. Here's what I came up with: 

My card base is Coastal Cabana, which I matted with Whisper White and stamped my sentiment in Momento Black, then surrounded it with a trio of flowers in Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay, cutting out one of these with my framelits and layering it to add depth and dimension. I finished with a few candy dots for the flower centres and a random one (just because!). The stamp set is photopolymer, which makes aligning everything so easy no need even for a stamp-a-ma-jig!

I liked my card so much, I decided to create another one with one of the other framelits in the set - I need a few extra birthday cards in my 'emergency' box - here is my slight variation on the card above:

These cards use surprisingly few supplies, yet I think they have real interest. This set has so much potential I am so glad that I can finally get creating with it - it my well replace Simple Stems from the Spring-Summer seasonal catalogue in my 'bold flower' affections! I'm also linking my card up over at SUO Challenges, where the theme this week is 'new toys' - well, I've certainly had fun playing with mine!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flower Patch Photopolymer Bundle	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad
Brights Candy Dots

Happy Wednesday everybody! Today is a good day - the sun is shining again, my Autumn-Winter pre-order has arrived so I have lots of Halloween and Christmas goodies to play with, there's a new bunch of weekly deals (see earlier post here) and it's time for this week's Colour Me...! Challenge, where we have a monochromatic colour challenge this week using Pistachio Pudding and a neutral:

I thought this challenge would be trickier than it actually was. I used the latest sketch from the Deconstructed Sketch for my layout and inked up my new Kinda Eclectic stamp set which I have been keen to get working with - here's my card: 

For my card I used a base of Pistachio Pudding, then layered one of the die-cut pieces from the now retired Simply Sent card kit in last year's annual catalogue. I added some Pistachio Pudding polka dot paper from the All Abloom DSP stack, then stamped the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic in Pistachio Pudding onto Whisper White and cut out using my Big Shot and Circles Framelits and cut the bottom third off the circle. For the central banner, I stamped the spots in Pistachio Pudding on the cardstock of the same colour, then stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in White embossing powder over the top to add additional dimension. Lastly, I replaced the flags in the sketch with the butterflies from Kinda Eclectic, stamped in Pistachio Pudding onto Whisper White cardstock and punched out using the co-ordinating punches. I think the key to a single colour card where you are using one single colour plus a neutral, and don't have then benefit of tonal shades of the same colour, is to add layers, patterns and shapes for extra interest. If you're based in the UK and Europe, the Pistachio Pudding ink pad is on this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals List too and can be yours for just £3.71 instead of the usual £4.95 this week, so if you needed an incentive to have a go at this week's challenge, this is it!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the gallery this week - meanwhile, check out what the other designers have in store for you over at Colour Me and our new featured guest designer for the month of August.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding
Elegant Butterfly Punch	Bitty Butterfly Punch	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for August (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right). 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Alphabet Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Banners Framelits Dies	Oh Baby Photobook Template - Digital Download
Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	The Great Outdoors	Travel Log Kit - Digital Download

This week's delights include two great embossing folders that have lots of uses and a great deal on the banners framelits dies and another couple of ink pads at a bargain price, along with The Great Outdoors stamp set and a couple of My Digital Studio downloads - so much to choose from!

Back shortly with today's creative post - meanwhile, race you to the shop!

Well, it's been a little colder here in the UK today and we've had a fair amount of rain, which has kept us largely indoors for most of the day, but we made the most of it with some early morning baking (chocolate chip muffins - yum!), an indoor picnic and a pleasant few hours catching up with friends so all in all not a bad Tuesday.

Today I thought I would share another 3D project with you - a cute little owl gift box made using the Fry Box Bigz L Die that we made at our last team training session. Check out this cute little fella:

As 'The Crafty Owl', I was always going to like this cheeky chap, but the die itself has so many dress-up possibilities! The owl was so easy to make: the front of the box was covered with a piece of All Abloom DSP, then some black and white circles punched with the 1/2" and 1" circle punches, black eyelashes using the largest flower from the Boho Blossoms punch, ears from the Bird Builder punch and a Pumpkin Pie triangle nose from the Petite Pennants Builder punch then some Sahara Sand Scallop Ovals for wings. Some 1/4" red cotton ribbon was used to create a little plume of feathers and to tie a bow to adorn the 'For You' stamped greeting from the Chalk Talk stamp set, which was finally finished with a punched flower. Some filling was cut from yellow cardstock using the fringe scissors to support the box contents.

These fry boxes are the perfect size for a little gift or a few chocolates - look out for lots more variations on this in future posts.

Back tomorrow with the new weekly deals and my Design Team card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Fry Box Bigz L Die	Bird Punch	Petite Pennants Builder Punch	1 Inch Circle Punch
1/2 Inch Circle Punch	Boho Blossoms Punch	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Chalk Talk	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack
Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Scallop Oval Punch

Considering that today is Monday, I feel like I've lived half my week already! So a quick post from me to share one of the cards made in today's Blendabilties class.

We made a variety of cards with everyone using different colour pens so we ended up with a complete mix of finished pieces. This is one of the samples I made using the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities set - I think the yellows are my favourite! Here's my card:

All of the cards in this month's classes featured the Blended Bloom stamp and were quite simple in design, since the focus was on colouring the images and practising different blending techniques. For this card, we simply stamped the Blended Bloom flower onto an offset panel of Whisper White, coloured using Daffodil Delight and Skin tone (for the centre) Blendabilities and added the 'celebrate' sentiment from the Fabulous Four stamp set in Early Espresso and a taffeta ribbon bow in the same colour (this colour is now retired in this ribbon type but you could easily substitute with the new 1/4" cotton ribbon in the same colour). 

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Blended Bloom Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Fabulous Four Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Skin Tone Assortment	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Stampin' Blendabilities™ Alcohol Marker Color Lifter	Early Espresso 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's time for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players and Sandy has a theme challenge for us this week that's all about buttons:

You can use any kind of buttons - real, embossed, paper - so for my card I decided to take Sandy's theme quite literally and create a 'Cute as a button' card suitable for a baby girl and featuring a clay button made with Simply Pressed Clay in one of Stampin' Up!'s silicone moulds - here is my card:

I used a Pink Pirouette card base and matted my Whisper White panel with a piece of Strawberry Slush DSP from the In-Colour stack in the chevron design, although with just enough showing so that it looks like a simple diagonal to echo the lines of the text. On my white panel, I stamped 'cute as a <3' using the new Epic Alphabet set. This set is photopolymer, which makes aligning the letters accurately so easy - with no stamp-a-ma-jig required! I moulded my clay button in the Simply Pressed Clay Mould and allowed it to dry before colouring it with my Pink Pirouette Stampin' Write marker - you can colour your clay before you mould it with reinker or afterwards with ink/markers, it's really up to you. The colour differs slightly depending on the method; personally I like to mould my buttons and embellishments in uncoloured clay a few at a time, then keep the dried pieces in a box to be coloured as required depending on the project. Here's a close up of my button:

To finish, I pierced two holes in the button with my paper piercer and threaded some Strawberry Slush baker's twine through the holes and tied in a bow and added a scattering of In-Colour heart sequins.

I really love how my card turned out - but I couldn't stop there! I thought it would be fun to create a button gift box to go with it, using my Big Shot and Circles Framelits - here it is:

 I used Strawberry Slush cardstock and the second largest of the circle framelits for my box, which measure 9.3cm in diameter and 7cm tall. I lined my box with Pink Pirouette cardstock for rigidity and to allow for an edge-to-edge closure. This box is just big enough to fit in a cute onesie, some bibs or a pair of booties - here's a photo of the inside:

Lastly, I threaded some retired Pink Pirouette ribbon through the button holes and tied in a bow. So there you go - two cute as a button projects, I hope you'll agree! Do pop over to The Paper Players and see what the other talented designers have for you today and I very much hope you'll join us in creating something for this week's challenge.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Epic Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock	2013-2015 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack
Simply Pressed Clay	Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Good morning lovely blog readers - so much to be excited about today: it's Friday (always cause for celebration!), I placed my pre-order for Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue products in the early hours of this morning (woohoo!) and today Stampin' Up! has announced a fantastic Big Shot bundle offer available for the month of August only!!

That's right - from 1st-31st August inclusive, if you purchase a Big Shot, you can receive one of five exclusive stamp set and framelit bundles ABSOLUTELY FREE - that's up to £55 worth of free products!! With the new seasonal catalogue just around the corner, which includes lots of Big Shot accessories, there's never been a better time to get your hands on one.

If you already own a Big Shot, don't worry there's a great offer for you too - you can purchase any of the exclusive bundles at a discount of 15% off. So now for the detail - these are the amazing one-time only bundles on offer:

Bundle	Stamp Set	Framelits	Discounted Price
Sumthin' With Bubbly Words Wood-Mount Bundle	Sumthin' Sumthin'	Word Bubbles	£28.50
Sumthin' With Bubbly Words Clear-Mount Bundle	Sumthin' Sumthin'	Word Bubbles	£26.95
Decorative Goodies Wood-Mount Bundle	Oh My Goodies	Deco Labels	£36.25
Decorative Goodies Clear-Mount Bundle	Oh My Goodies	Deco Labels	£31.25
Celebrating Chalk Talk Wood-Mount Bundle	Day Of Celebration	Chalk Talk	£37.25
Celebrating Chalk Talk Clear-Mount Bundle	Day of Celebration	Chalk Talk	£31.95
Flowery Daydream Wood-Mount Bundle	Daydream Medallions	Floral Collection	£47.50
Flowery Daydream Clear-Mount Bundle	Daydream Medallions	Floral Collection	£41.50
Bright & Beautiful Stars Wood-Mount Bundle	Bright and Beautiful	Star	£44.95
Bright & Beautiful Stars Clear-Mount Bundle	Bright and Beautiful	Star	£37.25

You will even notice that one of the stamp sets in the above bundles - Bright & Beautiful - is a 'sneak peek' set that will be appearing in the new Autumn-Winter Seasonal Catalogue due to go live on 28th August.

The Big Shot is an amazing multi-tasking tool that has so many uses: it can be used to dry emboss, cut cardstock using framelits, edgelits or Sizzlits and allows you to cut a range of additional materials - wood, metal, fabric - using our extensive range of dies. If you don't own a Big Shot and need convincing, you might find this short video from Stampin' Up! a useful introduction:

For everyone that purchases a Big Shot from me, I will follow up with a one-to-one session that ensures you understand exactly how your Big Shot works with the various accessories in order that you can get the most from your purchase. This is one tool you will wonder how you ever managed without!

There is no limit to the number of Big Shots or stamp/framelit bundles that you can purchase from the above list during the month of August; the only restriction is where a Big Shot is purchased using Hostess Credits or using a 50% item discount - for these purchases the above offer does not apply.

So what are you waiting for? If you have any additional questions, do give me a call - otherwise, get ready to make the most of this amazing offer!

Back tomorrow with a creative post; until then, happy shopping!

Hello there - this card is for you all! I used the latest sketch at Create With Connie and Mary this week, as I liked the unusual layout:

I'm too late to link up with the challenge, but wanted to share the card with you as it is a little different for me - here's my card:

I'm not sure I've ever used so much Strawberry Slush on one card! I thought the All Abloom papers would be perfect for this kind of paper-piecing and I loved the way that Mary Brown used thick bakers twine across the joins on her design team card here so I decided to do the same on my card. I also added some of the retired ruffle trim in the same colour to edge the patterned panel. Lastly I finished with one of the sentiments from the 'Hello There' hostess set, having first inked the outline with Strawberry Slush and Mossy Meadow markers to frame it and added a simple twine bow.

I really like the combination of Strawberry Slush and Mossy Meadow on this card; the green seems to really balance the vibrancy of the pink, and along with the vanilla and Blushing Bride cardstock makes for a very feminine card, without being too 'pink'.

I hope you like today's card - I'm off to prepare a picnic for an afternoon at the park, do enjoy your day, however you choose to spend it.

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad
Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine	1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch

It's Wednesday so that means a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for July or August (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right). 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Cupcake Punch	Delight In The Day Photobook Template - Digital Download	Finishing Touches Edgelits Dies	Gift Bow Bigz L Die
Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die	Little Book Of Coupons Designer Swatchbook Template - Digital Download	Stampin' Emboss Powder Early Espresso	Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape

So what else are you waiting for? Hop on over to my online store quick pronto and snap one up! Alternatively, if you live local to me and would like to save on postage, get in touch by 8pm tomorrow and I will add to the order that I am placing Friday morning!

Back later with another creative post - until then, happy stampin'!

Good morning everyone - today I have my Design Team card for our challenge this week over at Colour Me...! where we are having a creative week where you get to choose your colour palette and which team you would like to play along with:

I am on 'Team Tara' this week so I'm working with Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Garden Green and a neutral (in my case, Whisper White). Here's my card:

I decided to use Soft Sky for my base and flowers, stamped and fussy-cut from the Summer Silhouettes stamp set, with Garden Green for the foliage and Night of Navy as my accent colour and for my statement 'hello' greeting - this is from the 'Hi There' stamp set - I think it's going to be a new favourite of mine. A smattering of pearls and a piece of retired grosgrain ribbon (you could substitute this with the new seam binding ribbon in the same colour) finish my card.

To see what the rest of the team have created in each of the colour schemes, stop by their blogs for inspiration and do play along with us at Colour Me this week!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Summer Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Hi There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents