Good evening lovely readers! I have had a busy day with the second of this month's technique classes this morning and a Spring concert for one of the James Juniors this afternoon. Today I'm sharing a card I made for this week's challenge over at TGIF Challenges that was also one of the cards I made with the ladies in my card class this morning. I haven't played along with the TGIF team for a while and I couldn't resist this week's sketch:

My card features all of the products in the Botanical Gardens bundle offer (buy all 3 and save 15%) - Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper, Botanical Blooms stamp set and Botanical Builder Framelits Dies - and features a fun technique. Here is my card:

Today's card is a celebration of the Botanical Gardens product suite, but there are three things that really make it special:

Customised Designer Series Paper - The paper I used for the background on my card is one of a number of patterns in the Botanical Gardens Designer Series paper pack that can be customised using the Botanical Blooms stamp set. Many of the leaves and flowers can be stamped with veins and stamens in the colours of your choice to create a variety of different looks. I had great fun adding detail to my background and this best thing is, this can be different every time. 

Fuss-free Flowers - I just love the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies for limitless floral creative possibilities, yet the two things that really make these fuss-free can't even be seen on this card: the Big Shot Die Brush and the Big Shot Precision Base Plate. Both perfect for working with intricate dies, they really do enable these flowers to pop out easily, no wax paper required. You may think you don't need these items, however whilst you could use a standard or magnetic platform, you will definitely get better results using these tools. My customers keep telling me this too, so impressed are they with the results.

A Free Sentiment - The sentiment on my card is from the Sale-A-Bration set 'Botanicals For You'. This stamp set co-ordinates with the other Botanicals products and is available free with a £45 spend before the end of the month. The Botanical Gardens bundle costs £46.75, so if you buy the bundle, you can get this set for free too - bargain!

Here is today's visual summary of the key products used and top tip for easy reference:

I hope you like today's card; I have two more to share this week using this product suite that were also makes in my technique class today, so stay tuned for those. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Bundle	Botanical Gardens Cardstock Pack	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Botanicals For You Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Big Shot
Precision Base Plate	Big Shot Die Brush	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
2-1/2" Circle Punch	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Rhinestone Basic Jewels	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our esteemed leader the amazing Nance to host our challenge this week and she has a fun colour scheme for you to play along with:

For my card this week I was inspired to use my Picture perfect stamp set for the first time; I've seen so many brightly coloured hummingbirds with this set, I thought these colours would be perfect to create one of my very own. Take a look:

Here are the key features of today's card:

Picture Perfect Hummingbird - 'Picture Perfect' is a multi-step image stamp set, with each of the stamps having two, three or four layers. The hummingbird comes in four pieces, so in order to get four layers with only three colours, I stamped my first and third layers in Bermuda Bay, having stamped off the first one so that it was lighter in colour. I stamped the second stamp in Calypso Coral and the fourth and final one in Memento Black. Whilst it sounds complicated, this set is made from photopolymer which makes lining up the images really straightforward. 

Partial Die Cutting using Circle Framelits - I decided upon a rather unusual layout for my card today, using a base of Calypso Coral with the top part of the front cut away on the diagonal. I stamped my bird onto a piece of Whisper White and having fussy cut his wing tip by hand, I then cut a partial circle up to the diagonal before adhering behind so that it aligned with my cut away circle on my card base. Circle Framelits are invaluable for this kind of partial diecutting, as you simply roll through the Bid Shot to the desired point without cutting the whole way through.

Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper - I used this black pre-embossed paper last week on this card and decided it was just the thing to add a block of colour to the background of my card today too. The subtle stripes align perfectly to the diagonal line of my card and add interest without detracting from the bird.

Lastly, I stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it in black and added a trio of White Perfect Accents, coloured black using a Sharpie, for a little extra shine. I spent ages trying to work out what to do with these colours, but once I'd decided on using this stamp set, it all came together seamlessly. Love it when that happens!

Here's today's visual summary of the key things needed to make today's card for easy reference:

Remember you can also find all of my 'Tip and Techniques' summaries on my Pinterest page here.

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our colour palette this week. We are off to basketball today and hockey today, Rebecca has a birthday party to attend to and I have lots of preparation for this week's classes to be getting on with, so it's going to be a busy one!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Picture Perfect Photopolymer Stamp Set	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot	Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	White Perfect Accents	Punch Corner Project Life

A busy day so a late post from me today with a card for this week's Retrosketches challenge:

I went with brights and lemons today using my new 'Apple Of My Eye' stamp set and a sentiment with a twist:

This card is all about the lemons! Even with this relatively clean and simple design, they are three key features of today's citrus-themed card:

Apple of My Eye Stamp Set - The focal point lemon and the sentiment on today's card are from this stamp set, which also contains cherries, pears and apples of course. A fun set that will be useful, amongst other things, for teacher's thank you's too. Today's sentiment is one of three in the set and probably my favourite. I know it doesn't totally fit with lemons, but 'You're just the most sour' so doesn't have the same ring to it! This stamp can also be punched out with a 1 3/4" Circle Punch, so easy-peasy - no fussy cutting required.

Have a Cuppa Designer Series Paper Stack - This paper stack has some great cup and teapot designs, but there are also some great generic patterns too. I used three different patterns of paper on my card, all featuring lemons or leaves - great for citrus tea, but also perfect just for lemons! This sketch layout is also perfect for using up those scraps of designer paper that are left over from other projects. 

A Trio of Embellishments - There are also a number of embellishments that I added to this card to make it complete: some Crushed Curry It's My Party Enamel Dots, a small Classy Designer Button tied with a piece of Crushed Curry baker's twine (if you look up close it is ridged just like the segments of the lemon too!) and the flesh of the lemon has been liberally painted with Wink of Stella to add a subtle touch of citrus sparkle!

Here's today's visual summary of the key things needed to make today's card for easy reference:

Yellow is one of my most favourite colours and I just love this bright and lemony monochromatic card - so fresh!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Apple Of My Eye Photopolymer Stamp Set	Have A Cuppa Designer Series Paper Stack	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	1-3/4" Circle Punch
It's My Party Enamel Dots	Classy Designer Buttons	Crushed Curry Baker's Twine	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock
Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

My card today started with the sentiment on the sketch, which immediately reminded me of the thank you sentiment in the 'Fabulous Four' stamp set. I decided to get an early start on my end of school year thank you cards - a long way off yet, but I will need lots of them this year so no time like the present! Here's my card:

The three key elements of today's card are as follows:

Fabulous Four stamp set - this is a stamp set with four large sentiments, three of which are two-line sentiments like the one on today's card. They are big, bold and fun and perfect if you want to make the sentiment the focal point of your card.

Owl Builder Punch - I haven't made an owl with my Owl Builder Punch for a while so I decided to take the flower element of the sketch and make it a scholarly owl, complete with spectacles, mortar board and shiny apple courtesy of a little Crystal Effects. I coloured him to co-ordinate with my chosen designer series paper - isn't he so cute?!

Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper - I used two of the papers from the Schoolhouse pack for my card today: the alphabet fitted in perfectly with my school theme and the stripes added some additional colour for the bottom portion of the card. I also added a piece of co-ordinating Tangelo Twist In-Colour Washi Tape beneath the sentiment as per the sketch; a small touch, but it does nicely emphasise the positioning of the owl.

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

The week is flying by - Wednesday already! Today I have a great clean and simple card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch that you really could put together in a jiffy. Firstly, here's this week's sketch:

I decided to make a quick Easter card featuring one of my favourite sentiments from the 'Suite Sayings' stamp set and some left over bits and pieces from my Watercolour Wishes card kit - take a look:

Using a piece of Pool Party cardstock for my cardbase, there are three key things that make this card:

Suite Sayings Stamp Set - This is one of those sets that has a sentiment for pretty much any occasion and this Easter one is a favourite of mine. I love the swirly script and the size, which works perfectly inside or on the front of a card.  

Lots of Labels Framelits Dies - I used the largest of the Lots of Labels Framelits Dies, cutting my Whisper White cardstock to just narrower than the die so that I could extend the length of my panel and only cut the framelit shape along one end. This is a useful technique - here's a photo that shows how it should look before you put it through the Big Shot:

Watercolour Wishes Card Kit - This has to be most favourite Stampin' Up! kit of all time - it contains everything you need to make 20 cards; what's more the stamp set, ink spots and acrylic block can all be used to create more projects with your own card bases once you've made up those in the kit. There are lots of spare embellishments too, with banners, flowers, washi tape, sequins and wooden pieces left over - perfect to make the most of today's card.

Here is the visual summary of today's card for reference:

I hope you like today's card - sometimes a quick card is in order and in 'waste not, want not' mode this one was a perfect opportunity to use up the generous leftovers from my kit!

I'm off to my Coffee and Card Drop-in Session this morning at Bell of Northampton - you can read all about that here - and am going to watch one of my juniors play in a netball match this afternoon. Back tomorrow with my card for this week's challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary where we have a fun sketch in store for you. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Suite Sayings Wood-Mount Stamp Set

Watercolor Wishes Card Kit

Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies

Pool Party A4 Cardstock

Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

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 new Hostess Code for March XDZGYVJC if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

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:

Be The Star Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack

Cherry On Top Cotton Paper Assortment

Silver 5/8" Satin Ribbon

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

It's Tuesday and today I have a card using this week's sketch over at As You See It Challenge:

I saw this sketch and decided to use the Birthday Bouquet product suite for my rather pink card today - take a look:

There are three key elements to today's card - taking each in turn:

Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper - I chose this piece of ribbon-festooned paper that mirrors the horizontal lines of the sketch for the background for my card today. It's quite a busy pattern with some strong colour added with the Mossy Meadow, my chosen accent colour for this otherwise pink card, and is the perfect backdrop for my feature sentiment.

Birthday Blooms Stamp Set - I decided to use Blushing Bride cardstock for the focal circle that houses my sentiment. Using a coloured circle instead of white can be an interesting way to ring the changes on a card. Here I stamped my circle with the flower bouquet from 'Birthday Blooms' in Blushing Bride too for a subtle tone-on-tone effect with my sentiment in Mossy Meadow to stand out. I bordered this circle with a circle of Whisper White to frame it and lift it from the busy background.

Embellishments - I used a selection of embellishments to finish my card today: some simple 1/4" Blushing Bride cotton ribbon, pepped up with some twists of silver metallic thread, a few rhinestones and a sprinkle of sequins from the Love Blossoms embellishment kit to add just the right amount of sparkle.

Here's today's visual summary of the key products used to make today's card for reference:

I hope you like today's card - I even remembered to decorate the inside and my envelope too! I'm off to start preparing for the next of my Coffee and Card Classes at Bell of Northampton tomorrow - you can read all about them here and if you are local I'd love you to join me. No booking required - just drop in!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Birthday Blooms Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	2-1/2" Circle Punch
Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit	Blushing Bride 1/4" Cotton Ribbon	Silver Metallic Thread	Rhinestone Basic Jewels

I have an extra post today to share some of the detail around a new type of event that I've added to my calendar recently - Coffee and Card Drop-in Sessions. You can see the key details on my graphic below:

I am excited to share this new venture with you. It's the perfect opportunity for non-crafters and crafters alike who live in or around the Northampton area to 'dip their toe' into the world of papercrafting and experience Stampin' Up! products first hand with me, without having to commit to a class. And what better place to do it than in the luxurious surroundings of Bell of Northampton, whilst enjoying a drink and a delicious cookie prepared by the in-house baker Alex of Tea and Cake @ Bell. No booking, skills or expertise required - just pop in for a little 'time out' and leave with a beautiful handcrafted card to send to someone special. You can find directions to Bell's here - there is ample free customer parking with disabled access at both the front and rear of the store.

The full schedule for these sessions along with the rest of my classes and events can be found on my website here. The next of my sessions will be tomorrow, Wednesday 9th March - I'd love to see you there!

Back shortly with today's creative project; until then, happy stampin'!

Yay it's Monday - where did that weekend go?! A hectic Mother's Day yesterday and today I'm back to it - with a card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

In addition to Rita's great sketch, I was also inspired by the photo images for the current challenges over at The Card Concept and Fusion, where luck, green and shamrocks are also the order of the day. I know a few young people about to sit their GCSEs and am in need of a few good luck cards, so these challenges gave me the perfect opportunity to make an appropriately-themed card:

I decided to contrast the bright Cucumber Crush green with kraft for my card today and made a feature of a few different elements to pull together my 'clean and layered' card:

Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper - Great for boxes and bags, this sturdy kraft paper also adds a bright pop of colour to cards, especially when bordered with some Cucumber Crush cardstock to really make it stand out.

Larger Than Life Alphabet and Numbers - These letters and numbers really are larger than life and are great for a statement sentiment as I've done here with the word 'luck'. Alphabet sets are useful for so many different types of projects and since they cost a little more than the average stamp set, Sale-A-Bration is a great time to invest in one and get a free gift into the bargain!

Pansy Punch Four Leaf Clover/Shamrock - Everyone knows that the four leaf clovers are the ones that are supposed to bring you luck. No punch for that? No problem - you can use your five-petal Pansy Punch to create a four leaf clover with ease! Just cut away part of one of the petals to create a stem as in the photo below:

It's that easy! Inspired by The Card Concept photo, I stamped some spots using the spot stamp in the 'Celebrate Today' stamp set stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in clear to add pattern and shine to my lucky clover and tie it in with the rest of my card.

Envelope Punch Board - I altered the dimensions of the sketch and went for a more horizontal rather than vertical card to accommodate my sentiment. As such it gave me a finished card size of 6" x 6 3/4" - not a standard size. A sheet of 2015-17 In Color Envelope Paper in Cucumber Crush, my Envelope Punch Board and my handy Envelope Expert tool made light work of a solution though, and with a few clicks of the mouse and punches and scores and I had a beautifully co-ordinated envelope too - job done!

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference of the key supplies needed to make this card and today's top tip:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Larger Than Life Alphabet & Numbers Photopolymer Stamp Set	Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper	Pansy Punch	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad
Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Kraft 12" X 12" Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper	Envelope Punch Board

Firstly, happy Mothering Sunday to all UK mothers reading this - today is most certainly our day! It's also Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the talented Sandy to host our challenge this week and she has a great theme for you to play along with:

I was all set to make a rainy day card for today's challenge but I couldn't get the idea in my head to work on paper - so some other time for that card! Instead I decided to use my Sunburst Thinlits and create a bright sunshine card which came together much more like my vision:

I used this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts for my layout and created a fun fold card, where the second part of my sentiment acted as a clasp to hold the left-hand panel closed. I used a panel of Daffodil Delight spotted Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper on the right-hand panel and on the left I stamped some sunshines in Versamark and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. This sunshine is from one of the early limited edition Sale-A-Bration sets, 'Hello' and the good news is that availability of this stamp set has been extended while stocks last. You've still time to snap it up, but you'd better be quick!

For my main square, I used a background of Tempting Turquoise to which I added a Daffodil Delight sunburst, edged with Tangelo Twist. For my sunshine centre, I stamped 'Shine' from the 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set onto some Daffodil Delight cardstock and fussy cut the outer elements of the sentiment before cutting the remainder with a circle framelit, which allowed my sentiment to overhang. I backed this circle with a mat cut from a 1 3/4" scalloped circle punch, that I punched once then rotated and punched again to create the starburst effect - this is a neat little trick and perfect for this kind of design. It's also a great way to get a second shape from one punch. I then framed the whole square with a Tangelo Twist frame cut using my square framelits. The second part of my sentiment was cut with the washi tape thinlit from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits set and I adhered this with a dimensional to the right so that it could serve to hold the fold shut. I just love the bright sunshine colours of today's card and the layering of all the elements within the focal square - this will certainly brighten someone's day. The 'Sunburst Sayings' stamp set and Sunburst Thinlit die are another of the great 'bundle and save' offers in the current seasonal catalogue, giving you a saving of 15% when you purchase them together - bonus!

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

Thank you to everyone who has left me a sweet comment or feedback on these new graphics, which have been very well received; they make great Pins too!

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our theme this week. We are off to basketball this morning with time for a special Mother's Day lunch before venturing out to a birthday party this afternoon. Not quite the restful Mother's Day I had in mind, but life goes on today as always and as my family frequently tell me "Every day is Mother's Day in the James Household!". I have been treated to cards, flowers and gifts today so I am feeling perhaps a little more loved than usual :-) 

I hope you all have an enjoyable Mothering Sunday, whether you are celebrating or are focused on other things today. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sunburst Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Squares Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot	1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock	Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper
Hello Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder