Happy Monday everyone - I'm starting the week with a card I made using Jen B's fab layout this week over at Freshly Made Sketches:

This is one of those layouts that's perfect for showcasing patterned paper and the focal rectangle offers limitless creative possibilities! I knew this was my opportunity to spend a happy few minutes cutting into a new pack of paper and indulging in a little fussy cutting too - take a look:

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

Yes - today's card features the new Turtle-y Cute Designer Series Paper! It has some great patterns, along with a number of designs featuring turtles doing everything from swimming, to gardening, to playing the drums - so fun! I decided to use one of the turtleshell patterns for the bottom panel and I paired this with some (retired Sale-A-Bration) Sunshine & Rainbows featuring patterned clouds to give my background an abstract sense of landscape. 

I then added a stitched rectangle for my central panel and added a fussy cut BBQ chef and accompanying fussy cut kettle BBQ to create my focal image. I don't have the Turtle-y Awesome stamp set and dies, so I paired my images with a suitable sentiment from the retired stamp set bank called 'Outdoor Barbeque' (I flipped Jen's sketch as I needed the sentiment on the left rather than the right to fit) - I think it works, right?

We love to BBQ during the summer months and my husband loves all things related to outdoor living - so this card will definitely make him smile!

If you're a fan of fussy cutting, stay tuned: I have lots more of these little turtles cut out and can't wait to make them into other projects, so watch this space!

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:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jan to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

OK - hands up: how many of you save little bits and pieces thinking 'I'm sure they will come in handy'? Well, this week Jan's recycling challenge is the perfect opportunity for you to get them out and turn them into something! I received a gift last Christmas that had the little wooden tag on that I used on today's card attached - and it has been sat in my embellishments box ever since. So today was the perfect opportunity to turn it into a new project - take a look at what I came up with:

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

In the spirit of the challenge, not only did I recycle this wooden tag, but the paper and diecuts on my card were also leftovers from other projects that I found in my scrapbox. The paper is from the Winter Meadow DSP pack which is still available (link at the bottom of this post). I had one small piece, so cut a horizontal patterned piece then cut another using the blue pattern on the reverse to sit behind it. The diecuts were also leftovers from my box: the Lost Lagoon pieces I snipped from a larger pinecone diecut and the Shaded Spruce pine sprigs were also a good match for the paper, so I used those too! I tied the wooden sentiment tag with some (retired) silver twine and added a sprinkle of rhinestones for some added wintry sparkle:

Since the sentiment was etched onto the wooden tag, this became a no-stamping card - other than for a sentiment on the inside. So quick, easy and used up lots of bits and pieces - and another Christmas card for my stash!

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WINTER MEADOW 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

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

I actually went really simple with my design this week, choosing to feature one of the designs in the new Beautiful Gallery designer paper pack - take a look:

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

The Beautiful Gallery paper pack has some beautiful painted designs and I decided to use this harbour design as the focal point for my card. I wanted to use as much of the sheet as possible, so I trimmed my DSP sheet to cover my entire cardfront then cut my three rectangles out of it using my paper trimmer, backing each one with Secret Sea cardstock before carefully gluing the panels back in place. This way I managed to use the panels to add interest without breaking the scene. 

I rotated the sketch through 180 degrees as the positioning for my sentiment banner obscured less of my image this way; I added a simple greeting using the 'Best Family Ever' stamp and added a twine bow and some sequins for just a little extra decoration to complete my card:

This is going to be my Father's Day card for my Dad. I know we are still a few weeks away from the day itself, but it feels good to be organised for once!

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:

Enjoy your day; I am going to cheer along my husband who has entered into out local 10k race run this morning, then we will be enjoying a carb-rich lunch to celebrate on completion and are heading out to the cinema this afternoon to see the final Mission Impossible movie - any other Tom Cruise fans out there? I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEAUTIFUL GALLERY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BEST FAMILY EVER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£11.50)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (£7.00)

I've had a quiet blogging week this week, but have got some makes ready to share over the next few days. I'm behind with my Christmas cards, so when I saw this week's challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, I couldn't resist digging out my favourite retired nativity set, Joyful Nativity, with a bunch of other retired bits and pieces to make a quick card to play along:

Here's my card:

I heat embossed my image in gold onto Very Vanilla cardstock, and paired it with a scrap of starry retired Christmas paper, and added a single gold gem to my star to finish:

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project or supply list, as all of the key elements are retired; this was simply for fun and to build up that Christmas card stash!

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

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host again this week as Stef and I had a swap around to accommodate our respective vacation plans. It's Clean and Simple Challenge Week and this one has a fun theme chosen by Stef too:

Things that fly! Lots of options here and whilst I don't have much in my current collection of stamp sets that fit the bill, I knew exactly where I was headed with this one and when I saw Kim's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches it was just perfect for me to put my ideas into action! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Busy Bees - I chose a bee as my 'things that fly' for today's card - specifically, the little bee in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set. I stamped him all over a white panel and coloured in his yellow stripes with Daffodil Delight Blends markers, followed by a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to add shine to their wings. Here's a close up of my full panel as I was constructing my card:

Play On Words With Party Alphabet Dies - Having decorated my panel with bees, I promptly covered much of it up! I diecut a letter 'B' from a panel of Basic Black using my new Party Alphabet Dies - have you seen these on page 86 of the new catalogue? These are larger than life and great for scrapbooking and card making alike and yes, I have lots of alphabets - now I have another one in my collection!! I used the negative space of the 'B' on my card, so that my buzzy friends could be seen through the aperture (remember to keep the two pieces from the inside of the letter too!):

How fun is that?! I paired my 'B' with the word 'happy' to make the sentiment 'B/Be/Bee Happy' - do you see what I did there, with my fun play on words?! This 'happy' was from the 'Friends for Life' stamp set and I chose that one because I liked the font, but you could use the 'happy' in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set too as an alternative.

A Philosophical Message - I finished the inside of my card with another simple, yet profound sentiment:

With everything going on in the world, it is easy to take a less than positive view; sometimes we need to be reminded that happiness is a choice and one that we, as humans with free will, can make for ourselves each and every day. Even though it can be hard, happiness is ours to cultivate through our thoughts and actions and when we cultivate it for ourselves, it is easier to spread joy and share those feelings with others too. On that note, here ends today's post!

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:

Enjoy your day; I shall be spending mine with my nearest and dearest who make me happy - and hoping that the youngest of the James Juniors is not feeling too worse for wear following last night's hockey club dinner - especially since he has to sit his second A level Economics paper tomorrow! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BLACK STAMPIN' DIMENSIONALS COMBO PACK (£6.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week; it's colour challenge time and she has a beautiful trio of colours for us to work with:

I knew I was going to have to go floral with those pretty colours so pulled out an old favourite and set to work. Take a look:

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

Layers of Beauty - It's been a few weeks, but I still have so many more ideas and techniques that I want to share using the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set that I thought today would be another great opportunity - I just love those flowers and the stencils are awesome!

Floating Frame Technique - Today's card was somewhat born out of a 'happy accident'. When I made this card, the one I shared was actually the second one I made; I got a smudge on the panel of the first one, so made another. It seemed a shame to bin the first one, so I recut the diecuts and since they had scorelines down the middle, cut along the scorelines too. this gave me four pieces - perfect for a floating frame. Today's card uses the same technique, but with one of the other sentiments in the set, clustering in the flowers around the greeting:

I added a sprinkle of Berry Burst sequins to fill some of the gaps and add a little extra shimmer and shine.

Finishing Touches - At the same time that I stamped and stencilled the flowers for the outside of my card, I added another to both the inside and the envelope. It takes very little extra effort, but makes for a nice finishing touch:

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. 

In case you're wondering what the other card that I mentioned above looked like, here's a photo - call it a bonus!

This was such a fun technique to revisit and yet another example of the versatility of the Layers of Beauty set.

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

Enjoy your day; the youngest of the James Juniors is now officially on study leave, pending the start of his A Level examinations, so today is all about revision - his first paper is tomorrow and Economics is the subject of the day (rather him than me!) so the rest of us will be keeping a low profile in order that he can get his head down. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LAYERS OF BEAUTY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DIES (£28.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DECORATIVE MASKS (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS TRIO (£3.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for fun at the weekend to play along with a couple of challenges:

I was intrigued by the colour combination over at TGIF Challenges (thanks for last week's shout-out ladies!) - I don't use Petunia Pop often, so thought I'd give it a try. I paired it with the sketch over at Try a Sketch on Tuesday (turning it through 180 degrees) for a fun birthday card - take a look:

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

Yes - I am using my now-retired 'One year Older' stamp set - although if you're quick, you can still pick it up on the Last Chance Products section of the online store. I'm focusing on the cake today, which I first stamped all over my Daffodil Delight cardbase for a tone-on-tone background detail. I stamped the first part of my sentiment in a label from the Nested Essentials Dies, and accented this with another cake, this time stamped and coloured with my Stampin' Blends markers. I added some Wink of Stella to give a little extra sparkle to the candle flames, and backed it with a swish of Petunia Pop ribbon and added a sprinkle of enamel dot gems in both Petunia Pop and Balmy Blue to add for the party feel:

 Given the sentiment on the front of my card, it seemed only right that I add a party-hat decorated canine friend to the inside of my card alongside the second part of my greeting:

A little snarky I know, but this card is headed to a dog-loving friend of mine who has a birthday later this month and I know will appreciate the sentiment. Now that we are ladies of a certain age, if you can't have a giggle about it, well ...!

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; mine's going to be a busy one! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (£32.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BALMY BLUE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PETUNIA POP STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PETUNIA POP 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (£7.00)	2024-2026 IN COLOR™ RESIN DOTS (£5.25)

Happy Wednesday, stampers! Have you had the opportunity to browse your new annual catalogue yet? Today I'm sharing a card that showcases more of the lovely new products contained within, made with a few current challenges in mind:

It's Die Week over at Just Us Girls and they are wanting us to use flower dies. I couldn't resist using the flower I used for this card again; the blooms seemed perfect for the circle shapes in the current Sunday Stamps sketch and it gave me the perfect opportunity to embrace the yellow and blue challenge over at Color Hues too. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Sweet Blooms - This large layered flower from the Pretty Petals Dies is my hands-down favourite at the moment! For today's card, I actually cut the flowers and leaves in white (no green allowed!), with the thin outline layer in Lemon Lolly, as I wanted my roses to have a creamy, pale yellow colour and not be too 'yellow'; using a combination of ink blending and Blends markers on white cardstock enabled me to get the colouring I was aiming for. I overlaid my blooms with my larger-than-life diecut sentiment from the 'Sweet Blooms' set, this time paired with the word 'you' that was snipped from another sentiment in the bundle. I backed my diecut with a layer of vellum, to help it stand out from the rest of the card.  

Ombre Background - I decided to create a panel of blended ombre blue as the base for my creamy lemon yellow flowers. I used a trio of blues and blended light to dark, then added some splatters of water and white ink before allowing it to dry, although you can't really see the detail - I might need to be more vigorous next time! I cut my panel down to allow a wide white border - I think this makes more of a feature of the ombre panel.

Hidden Elements - I also added some script stamping behind each of my flowers, using the round text stamp in 'Elements of Text' for a little extra tone-on-tone background detail. It's subtle and easier to see on the close up below:

I quite like the extra detail. I almost dry-embossed this layer too, but in the end decided against it. I find the more layering that goes into a card, the easier I find it to add more things - and it is important to know when to stop!! A few sequins and gems and I called time. I really love this colour combo - thank you Color Hues!

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:

SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	PRETTY FLORALS DIES (£35.00)	ELEMENTS OF TEXT CLING STAMP SET (£25.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Happy Bank Holiday Monday all! I managed to find time for a little crafting this afternoon so I have a super quick post as I'm hoping to squeak in an entry of at Freshly Made Sketches:

I went with a clean and simple card to welcome a new baby, using the cute image in the 'Sweet Pea' stamp set, pulling the colours from a strip of Full of Life designer paper:

How cute is she?!

Perfect for a second entry over at AAA Cards this week too.  I'll miss these fun Sweet Peas - I'll be keeping hold of my set though, so don't be surprised if you see them here again at some point in the future.

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:

SWEET PEAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£15.20)	FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (£33.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£10.50)
LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

As crafters we are always adding to our crafty stash, so today's challenge is about pairing something that you recently bought with an old favourite. I have some beautiful new floral sets from the upcoming annual catalogue that I hadn't had the chance to play with yet, so today was the perfect opportunity to remedy that. I was inspired by the colours of those beautiful tulips in the top right corner of Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo and used the layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Pretty Florals - Today's card really is all about the florals - this card is choc-full of them! I used the new Pretty Florals Dies and diecut a trio of blooms and buds from Pretty In Pink cardstock and inked them with Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo and layered them into a floral cascade, interspersed with some bright green leaf foliage. I love the diecut detail and unusual layering of these large flowers (peonies, perhaps?) - so pretty! I also added some fine white and clear Wink of Stella ink splatters to my blooms and cardbase for a little extra detail.  

Sweet Blooms - The Florals in Bloom Suite contains two bundles: the Pretty Florals bundle that I used for the flowers, and the Sweet Blooms bundle, that is predominantly a sentiment-builder set based around two large sentiment dies - I used the 'bloom' one on today's card. I cut the uppermost layer out of co-ordinating glimmer paper for some extra sparkle and shine:

I also added some in-colour pink glimmer gems because, well, you can never have enough pink!

Brickwork Texture - The 'old favourite' item on my card is the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder that I used to add texture to my Smoky Slate card base. I'm not a big EF user, but this one is a keeper and definitely one of my favourites.

I love the mix of old and new products on this card and I'm really pleased with how my finished card turned out; I think I'll be getting a lot use from these new bundles.

CAS Take Two - I had some spare blossoms cut and coloured leftover from my card, so decided to use them up and make a quick card for the clean and simple colour challenge over at AAA Cards, since I had used 3 of their 4 colours:

I used the same sentiment but this time stamped it directly onto my white cardbase, next to my simple flower stem:

 The detail on these flowers really is something, don't you think?

 As you can see, the Pretty Florals and Sweet Blooms bundles are great for both super detailed and layered cards, and clean and simple ones too. here's a photo of both cards together:

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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

And for the second card:

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:

Enjoy your day; the weather has turned cooler again here in the UK so I think I might have the opportunity to indulge in a little crafting; I had lots more ideas for new projects when I was playing yesterday, so I'm keen to get them down on paper! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EXPOSED BRICK 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£10.25)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (£4.80)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£8.50)