It's half term here so I'm feeling stretched again this week, hence no blog post yesterday. I was also sending out my new annual catalogues to everyone who has ordered from me in the last 6 months so that they will be with you in time for when the catalogue goes live on Friday - can't wait! If you haven't ordered from me in the last 6 months and don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator but would like to receive a catalogue, then send me your details to [email protected] and I will arrange to post one out to you.

Today I'm sharing one of my favourite cards made with some of the products in the fabulous Share What You Love Suite that has been on early release this month - take a look:

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

Lovely Floral - Dynamic Indeed - You all know how much I love designer series paper and the papers in this suite are no exception, however for today's card I wanted to showcase the fabulous Lovely Floral Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and needed it to take centre stage, without a paper pattern to distract from it. The embossed detail is just gorgeous - I think this folder may move into my top 3! Whether on its own or tucked behind some additional layers as on my card today, it makes a card all on its own. I think it would make a fabulous design for wedding stationery too and so easy to mass produce.

Embellish With Love - I also used a number of the accessories from the Share What You Love Embellishment Kit: the label, twine and metallic rose brought my card together really quickly. Add some of the velvet ribbon, some coloured pearls and a sliver of pearl doily and it steps up the embossing folder to make for a quick card with lots of interest and detail.

A Beautiful Day - The only stamping is the simple layered floral and sentiment on my diecut piece - I stamped my petals in two different strengths by stamping off the outer petals first for added interest.

You have just one more day to take advantage of the Share What You Love Bundles, including free products and the exclusive 'Statement of My Heart' stamp set, before these items can be purchased individually in the new annual catalogue. This suite will also feature in one of my Monthly Product Technique Clasess in June - check out the details on my Facebook page or contact me if you would like to know more.

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gotta Have It All Bundle (£118.75)	Lovely Floral Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Share What You Love Embellishment Kit (£10.25)	Love What You Do Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Rich Razzleberry 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Velvet Ribbon (£7.50)
Pearlized Doilies (£4.25)	Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (£5.50)

Happy Memorial Day to all my US readers! Today has been a Bank Holiday here in the UK too and despite the severe flash flooding of yesterday evening (I haven't sen rain like it!!), today the sun managed to come out again and this afternoon was warm once more, so I've been otherwise occupied today. I've just time for a quick share of some humorous 3"x3" customer thank you cards that I made recently using up some of my Tutti-Frutti designer series papers and a punny sentiment from Beautiful Bouquet:

I wasn't sure how I was going to use that banana patterned paper then suddenly thought of this sentiment from Beautiful Bouquet and thought  - well, why not?! I'm not sure I would thank someone with a bunch of bananas as opposed to a bunch of flowers, but it made me giggle - maybe I'll have to give it a try! 

Here's a selection of my cards together:

They all fit perfectly into a 3"x3" envelope and are just the right size for adding to the bagged orders for my face-to-face customers.

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:

Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Tutti-Frutti 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Daffodil Delight 1/4" Double-Stitched Ribbon (£6.25)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£14.50)	1-1/2" (3.8 Cm) Circle Punch (£14.50)
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my awesome friend LeAnne to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I struggled a little with my card this week; I think too much time spent on admin and not enough crafting, coupled with new catalogue syndrome (so many new things to play with and a ton of things on their way out, sometimes it's hard to know where to start!) left me feeling a little stuck for inspiration. Eventually I decided to go pink and have a play with my stamps and papers from the new Garden Impressions Suite - take a look:

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

Garden Impressions - The new Garden Impressions Suite is a collection of papers and images inspired by Impressionist art. The abstract florals and paper patterns are reminiscent of Monet's fabulous flowers and garden at Giverny, with broad brushstrokes and bold use of colour. I know this is going to be one of my favourite sets in the new catalogue.

Abstract Flowers - Having chosen the pink floral paper, I set about creating a single stamped abstract flower on a layered circle, stamping off the first layer and stamping layers two and three at full strength. These stamps are super-easy to line up and I just love the loose abstract effect. 

A Pink Pair - I used a combination of white and the two pinks in the designer series paper, melon Mambo and Powder Pink, as the colours for my card today - here they are if you would like to save them for your future inspiration:

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 still not sure about this card - I added the ribbon as I felt it needed a little something, but I don't know if it works? Maybe it's just too pink?! I do love that sentiment though.

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 - we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK so are looking forward to an extra day and hopefully some BBQ weather too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Abstract Impressions Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Garden Impressions 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)	Petals & More Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Powder Pink 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.25)

Today a quick post from me to share something a little different - a 3D framed home decor piece featuring the Statement of My Heart single stamp that is available exclusively this month with the 'Gotta Have It All' Bundle that forms part of the early release of the Share What You Love Suite. 

You can find full details of the bundles that are on offer in my previous blog post here - I was inspired to create this piece, which features the Stampin' Up! Statement of the Heart for my office, using the stamp and some of the fabulous Share What You Love Specialty Designer Series Paper:

I went for something of a vintage theme, stamping my words and then after sponging the edges of my white cardstock with some Crumb Cake ink, framing the verse with the oval piece of Delightfully Detailed Laser-cut Specialty Paper. I backed this piece with a sheet of the Share What You Love Specialty DSP, and to finish, I added some of the lovely pearlescent embossed flowers that I fussy cut from the DSP, some pearls and a little Rich Razzleberry velvet ribbon, before framing in a rather elaborate frame.

A little different in style for me, but so pretty and a great way to immortalise these wonderful words. If you would like to create a home decor piece like this one, you only have until the end of the month to purchase the bundle and receive this exclusive stamp set for free, so hop on over to the online store before it's gone for good.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gotta Have It All Bundle (£118.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the sketch over at As You See It that I also created with the Global Design Project theme this week in mind:

I was intrigued by the sketch at AYSI and thought I'd go one step further than the lovely LeAnne's card and not only use up some of my retiring DSP, but use it to create a kind of relief pattern that added interest to my main image - take a look:

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

Petal Garden - I had some sheets of Petal Garden DSP left over and most of them had a single stem image like the one on my card. I thought this sketch would be an alternative way to add interest to the basic paper pattern by adding dimensional panels in the same design. I really like the finished effect - although it did challenge my mathematical skills to ensure that all of the pieces were the correct size and correctly spaced, whilst the image remained aligned. For a card with very little stamping, the mosaic element was rather time-consuming - a good thing that I like jigsaws!

A Note For You - This card is all about the paper, so a small sentiment was the order of the day. I chose the simple 'For You' from the Graceful Garden stamp set, masking each word so that they would sit one on top of the other and fit into my 3/4" punched circle. I added a little of the new velvet ribbon beneath it.

When Is A Scalloped Circle Not A Scalloped Circle? - My sentiment needed a border so that it didn't get lost on my card, but I didn't have anything small enough to fit. Then I remembered a trick I have used on a previous card - I used the outer framelit of the wreath in the Santa's Sleigh Thinlits, circled below:

A clever trick! It's always worth checking your framelits to see if they can be used for purposes other than those intended :-)

I needed a 'just because' card and this one fits the bill nicely; it's always good to have a few of this type of card on hand. 

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 off to watch the cricket this afternoon so hoping that the sun continues to shine and it's a little less windy than last week! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack (£9.00)	Graceful Garden Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£17.00)	Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£6.19)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Santa's Sleigh Dies Thinlits (£27.00)	3/4" (1.9 Cm) Circle Punch (£11.50)	Rich Razzleberry 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Velvet Ribbon (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Just Add Ink where they are asking us to embrace the eclipse technique. I also used the sketch over at Fusion for my layout and it is perfect for the numbers and letters challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper too:

Firstly, a shout out to the lovely team over at Just Add Ink for choosing this card as the winner for challenge 407 - what an honour and I'm thrilled you liked my delicately different take on the Love What You Do stamp set. I was unable to play along with last week's colour challenge, but was keen to have another go at the eclipse technique this week with a birthday card for a discerning teenager - take a look:

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

A Sneak Peak At Hand Delivered - I decided to give you a 'sneak peak' of a new stamp set today that is actually one of the exclusive hostess sets from the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue. A fun set that has a selection of items being carried by a young lady, everything from balloons to cakes to message boards, with a variety of different skirt designs and sentiments that offer a ton of creative combinations for lots of different occasions. Best of all, it's photopolymer too, so aligning the pieces is super easy - bonus!

I think this will be one of my favourite hostess sets in the catalogue - I have so many cards in the pipeline for this one, you are definitely going to want to host a party so that you can get your hands on it too. It's worth pointing out I did make a slight modification to my stamped image on this card, in that in order to fully accommodate my numbers within the bouquet of balloons, I added a couple of extra balloons to left and right - this really wasn't tricky though, I simply masked the original image and then stamped again slightly offset on each side (the uppermost green and orange balloons on my card).  

Last Chance For Large Numbers - The eclipse technique is where a word or some element of design is 'hidden' within the broader design and built up in layers so that it stands out in relief and is therefore visible as part of the overall card. I made an eclipse card previously using my Large Letters Framelits - you can see that card here - so today decided to go with the Large Numbers Framelits as I needed a card for a friend of my daughter who becomes a teenager this week. Such a milestone birthday is worthy of a number, so I decided to 'hide' mine in the collection of balloons being carried to the birthday girl, stepped up on three layers of Berry Burst cardstock.

Oh how I will miss these numbers! I can't quite believe they are retiring and they will most definitely be a 'keeper' in my collection. Incredibly, they are still available but be warned - you only have until the end of the month to add them to your crafting arsenal if you would like them; one things for sure, they are a purchase you won't regret and will get loads of use from them. 

Picture Perfect Palette - I used the colours in the Picture Perfect DSP stack that featured in my vertical border as the palette for my card and simply coloured my image with my Stampin' Write Markers, adding a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to my balloons. Here is the colour swatch if you would like to save it for your future project inspiration:

Lastly, I finished the inside of my card with this sentiment from the Cake Soiree stamp set:

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Also, be sure to check out the Just Add Ink designers and gallery for lots more inspiration with the eclipse technique.

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hand Delivered Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Large Numbers Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£99.00)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.25)

Good morning and happy Monday everyone! I am up and about and blogging nice and early today as I have a busy day and evening so need to be organised! Today I'm sharing a card using this week's colour challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches that would also be perfect for our current challenge over at The Paper Players too:

As I had the 'Remarkable You' stamp set out on my desk for the second of my cards yesterday, it struck me that the above colour combo was perfect for those lovely arum lilies so I set about making today's card - take a look:

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

Making 'White Space' Blue - One of the principles of clean and simple design is to have plenty of 'white space' visible on your card. White space doesn't have to be white in colour though; in order for my design to work today, I wanted my white lilies to stand out and what better way than to place them against a bright blue Pacific Point coloured background? The blue plays a central role on my card with the other two colours adding just the merest hint of colour, whilst still allowing my card to feel CAS. 

Clean and Simple Paper Piecing - I stamped my lilies directly onto my card base and again onto Whisper White cardstock. I then fussy cut my white lilies, and after colouring the stems in Pear Pizzazz and adding some So Saffron highlights to my blooms with a blender pen, I paper-pieced them in place onto my card base. This is a great way to get all of the detail of the sketch-like outline whilst also ensuring the flowers stood out adequately against the blue background. A simple white embossed sentiment finishes the front of my card.

Words of Sympathy - These lilies make a beautiful sympathy card; one of my go-to sentiment sets for this type of card is 'Flourishing Phrases' -  this set has some wonderful and thoughtful sentiments, and no more so than for those sometimes tricky cards where words are never really enough. Here's the inside of my card - I love how the words fit with the shape of the flowers too:

I always find sympathy cards difficult to make to order so like to have a few on standby for when the need arises. I particularly like to use colour on my sympathy cards too, so this one definitely ticks all the boxes for me and will head to my card box for future use.

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Remarkable You Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£23.00)	Flourishing Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£33.00)	Pacific Point A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Blender Pens (£10.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Versamark Pad (£7.75)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.50)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'm back following my week off and raring to go. It's the turn of the wonderful Laurie to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Remember in addition to the theme of "blooms", this week is a Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenge!  What do we mean by CAS?

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Simple and uncluttered

I have a couple of cards of cards to share with you today (and another tomorrow!) that fit this week's theme. I decided to use the retiring 'Definitely Dahlia' stamp for my cards today, and was very much inspired by our badge this week created by the oh-so-talented Nance. Here's my single clean and simple bloom:

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

Farewell Definitely Dahlia - I will miss the 'Definitely Dahlia' background stamp, as it is so great for CAS cards. Whether you simply stamp 'as is' (see my uber-CAS card below) or do as I have here, where I inked with two colours to create a two-tone effect, this is a stamp that needs little else for a clean and simple card - the stamp really does much of the work.

Hello Pineapple Punch - I used one of the new in-colours, Pineapple Punch, to create the base layer of colour for my dahlia, stamping off once before adding some Melon Mambo pink with a sponge dauber to the petal edges to create a pretty two-tone effect. This adds a little more depth and interest to the final stamped image. I really like the new in-colours this year - they work so well as a collection and compliment many of the other colours in our palette.

Amazing You - I finished my card with a stamped and diecut sentiment from the 'Celebrate You' thinlits set - can't wait for these to become available in the new catalogue, you know how much I love a diecut thinlit :-) 

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 I go, here's another version of the same card, this time super clean-and-simple in style, that I made for the current mix it up challenge over at Sugar Pea Designs, using both sketch and photo inspiration:

Whilst I didn't choose a rose for my flower, I did go with the pale pink and a single bloom, and I used the sketch. Here's my card:

I simply stamped my dahlia in retiring Pink Pirouette ink, stamping off once to get a pale flower, heat embossed my sentiment from another retiring stamp set, Remarkable You, in silver and mounted on a Pink Pirouette card base. 

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Definitely Dahlia Wood-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Celebrate You Thinlit Dies (£21.00)	Sponge Daubers (£4.50)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Hello - I'm back! I know that some of you have missed me; I exhibited at Kirstie Allsop's Handmade Fair at Ragley Hall in Warwick last weekend and seem to have spent most of this week recovering and getting family life back on track. It was a great weekend and I met many wonderful people, however it did wipe me out! Hopefully I'm recovered enough to get back to blogging properly. Here goes!

I have a number of projects that I've made and not shared using retiring products and need to get them shared sooner rather than later so thought I'd share a fun 'box in a card' make that I made a couple of weeks ago featuring the Picture Perfect stamp set and Picture Perfect Paper - take a look:

These cards are easier to make than they look: you simply cut a 2" wide section out of a folded A6 card and make a 2" square box from a sheet of 6x6" paper with a lid and slot it into the space - perfect for a little treat:

A little stamping on my card and to finish I topped my box with a mini bow to tie in with the party theme. 

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:

Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set (£15.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Good news - today the list of products that will be retiring from this year's annual and Spring-Summer seasonal catalogues has been updated and some of the products are now available at a discount! You can see the list of discounted products here or just click on the image below to read and download the full PDF:

For a reminder of the full list, you can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Spring-Summer catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

You can see and download the full list of items retiring from the current Annual catalogue by CLICKING HERE.

Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual or spring-summer seasonal catalogues, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto! Don't forget to add this month's online hostess code: W4TSQCWY

Here are the links to the online store for those items that are now discounted. including their reduced price:

Picnic Basket Builder Framelits Dies (£20.25)	Sweet Soirée Decorative Masks (£2.55)	Itty Bitty Fruit Punch Pack (£10.50)	Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) (£6.75)	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock (£6.16)	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock (£6.16)
6" X 17" (15.2 X 43.2 Cm) Gusseted Cellophane Bags (£3.00)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£6.19)	Subtles Enamel Shapes (£6.60)	Bell Punch (£12.00)	Holly Berry Builder Punch (£8.00)	Birthday Friends Framelits Dies (£21.00)
Celebration Thinlits Dies (£20.25)	Alles Palette Clear-Mount Stamp Set (German) (£12.80)	Rosenzauber Photopolymer Stamp Set (German) (£16.80)	Feierliches Duo Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (German) (£4.13)

Items are discounted by between 15-50%, so a few bargains to be had. The item I will miss the most out of that little lot has to be the enamel shapes - time to stock up I think!!

Remember stocks of all products featuring retiring ink colours are now officially whilst stocks last, so if you haven't ordered yours yet this really is your last chance.

I'll be back tomorrow with a creative project; until then, happy shopping!