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

With today being the fourth of July and American Independence Day, Anne Marie's patriotic stars and/or stripes theme is very topical indeed. I wish all of my fellow teamies and readers on the other side of the pond a very happy Independence Day, yet I actually decided to jump forward to another holiday with my stars this week - yes, the (dreaded) 'C' word: Christmas! I took Amy's fabulous Sunday Stamps sketch and a little something old paired with something new for today's card - take a look:

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

Something Old - Whilst the stars in my 'something new' were the starting point for my card today, I couldn't resist digging out some of my retired Brightly Gleaming designer paper from last season to use as the basis for my colour scheme on today's card. I just love this paper and the copper/gold combination is such a winner in my book. I went with the graphic star pattern for my main panel to further compliment the 'stars and/or stripes' theme.

Something New - The starting point for today's card was most definitely some new goodies I received this week with the Tidings & Trimmings bundle from the annual catalogue. The layered star dies in this set were the first things to catch my eye, but the stamp set also includes some lovely sentiments too. In addition to the one stamped onto my label on the front of my card, I stamped this one inside:

 The real scene-stealers on today's card though are the diecut stars on the front of the card, with the centre one a combination of layered (retired) copper glimmer paper and copper foil:

Aren't those stars just fabulous?! This is such a sparkly Christmas card in real life and I love how my trio of stars has given new life to my stash of hoarded DSP too.

Holiday Bling - Last but not least, I added a Night of Navy rhinestone from the Holiday Rhinestones pack to the centre of each of my stars to compliment the navy and really draw your eye to the diecut detail.

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 can't wait to play more with the Tidings and Trimmings stamp set and those Christmas Trimmings Dies - I think they are going to become a staple in my Christmas craft room and you will definitely be seeing more of them in the coming months.

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

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 have no special plans today but am hoping to find a little crafting time and with any luck will be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£37.75)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	COPPER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	HOLIDAY RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.50)

Today I managed to get a little extra crafting time so I'm sharing a second card that I made with a couple of challenges in mind:

I couldn't resist those Inspired By brightly coloured dotty flip flops with their daisy embellishments, so I took those elements and paired them with the current Paper Craft Crew sketch and this is what I came up with:

I used the new Picture This Dies to create my trio of apertures, backed them with some retired brights collection DSP and added some coloured daisies centred with some retired gems that I coloured with my Blends markers and added a sentiment from the 'Daisy Lane' stamp set on one of the stitched circles cut out with the other die in the set.

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 post. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PICTURE THIS DIES (£32.00)	MEDIUM DAISY PUNCH (£15.00)	DAISY LANE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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

I decided that the central rectangle was perfect to showcase a piece of designer paper so I grabbed a pretty pattern from the Hand Penned DSP pack and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Hand Penned - I chose a beautiful pattern of soft blues, pinks and yellow from the Hand Penned paper pack and used one of the Hand Penned Memories and More Cards for my base for additional subtle colour and pattern. These watercolour effect papers are so pretty!

Penned Flowers - I added one of the detailed diecuts from the co-ordinating Penned Flowers Dies in white, having backed it with vellum cut with the larger outline die. This enabled the diecut to standout from the patterned paper a little more, whilst still giving a hint of colour and pattern behind. I added some loop fronds of stripped Pool Party sheen ribbon behind my diecut and added a sprinkling of pink and white Elegant Faceted Gems to decorate.

Amazing You - I finished my card with a fussy-cut sentiment from the 'Create With Friends' set. This is a set that allows you to create an endless combination of words to make a wide range of phrases and sentiments.

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:

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; we had a busy day yesterday with the final school cricket match of the season (where did that term go?!) and a long bike ride around Grafham Water before finishing the day with my second Covid vaccination. Fortunately today should be a quiet one, so if I am feeling at all under the weather I will have the perfect excuse to craft or put my feet up and watch a movie! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CREATE WITH FRIENDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	PENNED FLOWERS DIES (£28.00)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	HAND-PENNED MEMORIES & MORE CARDS & ENVELOPES (£9.25)	POOL PARTY 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£5.50)
ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (£7.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm here bright and early to share a couple of cards for the new challenge over at Less Is More where I was delighted to be asked to be Guest Designer following my recent accolade as overall winner for April. 

I would like to say I am delighted - although I did break into something of a cold sweat when the lovely Anita told me the challenge for the next fortnight is not only 'Monogram' but yes - ONE LAYER monograms!

She did give me the option to defer, but never one to shy away from a challenge I started researching - this challenge really did necessitate me getting my thinking cap on! So first things first - the definition we are using for the term 'monogram' is:

Monogram: a motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.

A design consisting of two or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced, commonly one's initials.

My first card uses my own initials. One of the challenges for me in creating a card to meet the brief was that it needed two or more letters. I explored various ways to combine the two Js in my name. I explored various ways of combining the letters and in the end went for a rotational pattern in a Tiffany & Co.-inspired design of black on Coastal Cabana - take a look:

This card uses a long-retired set called 'Sophisticated Serifs' which I'm not sure I ever blogged with, but is a set I love for its clearly defined alphabet. I added some flowers and a strong black border to draw the eye to my monogram:

Once I'd started, I tried out a few other ideas too. Another way monograms are often used is to create fun patterns for wedding or anniversary cards. The thing is, both my husband and I share exactly the same initials - JLJ - so in preference to a trio of Js, which whilst quirky wasn't that interesting, I created a second card using someone else's initials to create a fun monogram - can you guess who they belong to?

If you guessed Mickey and Minnie Mouse then you are as big a fan as I am! I created a couple of stencils using my retired Large Letter Die Framelits and sponged in the red and black base colours. I added some buttons for Mickey and a bow for Minnie - whilst this challenge is one layer, small embellishments are allowed in the LIM Rules (that's my story and I'm definitely sticking to it!) I thought this would make a fun anniversary card with an appropriate sentiment inside; I like the way that the colours and embellishments make the letters recognisable as a monogram because of how they are decorated:

I considered adding an ampersand, but decided against it, given that MM could mean both 'Mickey Mouse' and 'Mickey and Minnie', with the former really being the true monogram although my decoration suggests the latter.

This turned out to be quite a fun creative diversion - you should definitely check out the LIM gallery to see what the Design Team have created! Whilst my cards today used items from my retired stash, I hope they provide you with some inspiration. I'm also linking up with the lovely gals over at SUO Challenges today where funnily enough they also have an 'initials' theme this week (it doesn't have to be one layer though!). If you decide to have fun with initials and are using Stampin' Up! products, you should go and pay them a visit too.

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'!

Today I'm sharing a card using the sketch layout over at Paper Craft Crew and the colours from the latest Color Dare Challenge: 

Purple is one of my favourite colours and I thought the sketch would be perfect to showcase a Memories and More card so my card came together pretty quickly - take a look:

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

I took one of the floral Memories and More cards that features purple and yellow flowers (yellow and green are my additional colours to accompany my Highland Heather purple) and I trimmed down the card, adding the floral section to a stitched scalloped mat. I added a second panel of a co-ordinating Highland Heather pattern from the Hand Penned patterned paper pack. A tied bow of crinkle white ribbon and a trio of clear sequins along with the printed sentiment that was fussy-cut from the remainder of the Memories and More card finish my card:

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 later with this week's project for our new CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAND-PENNED MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (£9.25)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)
WHITE 1/4" (6.4 MM) CRINKLED SEAM BINDING RIBBON (£7.00)

I've had a busy day today, having spent the morning with a group of lovely ladies hosting my latest online class. That was all about pansies; the card I'm sharing here today though is all about seashells for the current Fusion challenge:

I used both the sketch and the jar of seashells as my inspiration and this is what I came up with:

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

This card really did evolve as I made it. The starting point for my card was the sand dollar-patterned DSP I used on my card base and I decided to use the same colours for my trio of shells. Rather than stamp them though, I fussy cut them from another of the sheets of Sand and Sea DSP as I wanted to use these shell designs but not ones that were as large as the stamped versions. I fussy cut my shells, embossed them with the Seashells 3D embossing folder, added some frosted white shimmer paint then added clear Crystal Effects to give them a glossy shine:

Having heat-embossed my sentiment in white, I added a shadow by stamping again in Early Espresso to make the words stand out a little better against the sandy background. A few opal rounds complete my card.

I really love the effect of those glossy shells - with the frosted shimmer inside and the embossed detail beneath the glossy exterior, they really are quite eye-catching in real life.

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: 

SAND & SEA 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	OPAL ROUNDS (£7.00)	FRIENDS ARE LIKE SEASHELLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£24.00)	SEASHELLS 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

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 clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Fruit and berries - you can use either, or both, on your card this week but remember to keep it clean and simple! I decided to go with strawberries for my fruit today and paired them with this week's Color Throwdown colours and the CAS(E) The Designer challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP296 this week - take a look:

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

I was intrigued by the idea of CASEing the lovely Emma Goddard's card and decided to use the strawberry blossom stamp and single strawberry from the 'Sweet Strawberry' stamp set in stamped-off Gray Granite to create the soft stamped panel that forms the basis of my card front. I added a panel of block stripes using the CTD colours which are perfect for strawberries along the left-hand side. I added a white-on-black heat-embossed sentiment onto a stitched label from the Tasteful Labels Dies and mounted it on some (retired) Poppy Parade ribbon. A trio of clear sequins complete my clean and simple card:

I haven't made a card like this before but I really like the effect. I think it could be quite addictive - I can think of lots of sets that would work in this way. 

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:

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; as it's Father's Day that will be the focus here today. I'm not sure that it will be dry enough for a BBQ - the last few days have been quite a bit cooler, but either I'm sure there will be fun in store! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET STRAWBERRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	GRAY GRANITE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

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

I am a big lover of 'Brights' so Claire's colour choices this week were right up my street! I decided to pair them with this week's TGIF Challenges sketch to create a (slightly larger) birthday card for someone rather special who will be sweet sixteen this week - take a look:

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

I decided to get another use out of my Perennial Petals Dies before they retire at the end of the month and used them to cut a large layered flower and leaf stem to flank a Bermuda Bay label cut with the Tasteful Labels Dies that is the basis for my sparkly diecut 16 numbers (retired Large Numbers Framelits - still so, so useful!). I overlaid my three elements with a heat-embossed sentiment from the 'In Bloom' stamp set that I cut in half horizontally, adding the upper portion to the outside and the lower portion to the inside of my card:

I love the TGIF sketch this week; I did take a more liberal interpretation on this one, although I think you can clearly see how it influenced the layout of my card this week. I'd like to give a shout out to the TGIF team who selected this card as their winner for Bree Renwick's Stampin' Blends challenge a couple of week's ago - thanks ladies!

This card is for the oldest of the James Juniors who turns 16 on Tuesday - where did that time go?! I'm safe to blog today as she doesn't read my blog, but I won't be sharing it to my social media channels until the big day; she has been helping me get to grips with Instagram and so checks that feed every day, so no spoiling the surprise!!

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:

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; we spent the day at hockey and cricket respectively yesterday, so are looking forward to a day at home today, catching up on garden jobs and enjoying more of this glorious weather we are having before it breaks later this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PERENNIAL PETALS DIES (£15.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	IN BLOOM PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	SILVER & CLEAR EPOXY ESSENTIALS (£8.75)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

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 and she has a seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:

We have a fun challenge for you this week - 'signs of summer'. As the weather has warmed up here in the UK this past week I am definitely seeing signs of summer in my garden! The swimming pool is out, the parasol is up and the BBQ is lit. One of my main indulgences when summer comes is ice cream - I love it! - so I decided that should definitely feature on my card today. I paired mine with the sketch layout over at Global Design Project to create a card good enough to eat - take a look:

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

Sweet Ice Cream - My triple-scoop ice cream cone comes courtesy of the Sweet Ice Cream bundle: a stamp set and co-ordinating ice-cream cone builder punch. Punches are great for quick and easy cards and my ice cream came together really quickly as a result. I added some spots to the scoops and waffle detailing to the cone and fussy cut a sentiment from the same set for the front of my card, which I finished off with a birthday greeting inside:

Ice Cream Corner - The colours on my card today were taken from the Ice Cream Corner designer series paper. Whilst the Sweet Ice Cream stamp set and punch is carrying over into the annual catalogue, the paper isn't. This is now sold out in the UK; there are lots of bundles carrying over from the suites that feature in the January-June mini catalogue, but the papers and accessories often don't. Lots of them are now discounted whilst stocks last, so if you like any of them, now is a good time to stock up before they are gone for good.

Ice Cream Texture - Once I'd stamped my scoops of ice cream, I ran them through my diecutting machine with the Painted Texture Embossing Folder for some added texture and detail - you can just see it on the photo below:

I don't need any reason to treat myself when it comes to ice cream, so I might need to send this card to myself!

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:

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'll be spending my day in the garden hoepfully enjoying the sunshine before the James Juniors are back to school again tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET ICE CREAM BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£29.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PAINTED TEXTURE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)

It's a Bank Holiday here in the UK today and the sun is shining - woohoo! There will be more gardening rather than crafting done here today, but fear not - I have a card to share with you that I made over the weekend inspired by a few challenges: 

I was inspired by both the colours and the inspiration photo over at Color Throwdown this week and decided to dig into my retired stash for the perfect stamp - take a look:

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

Giggle Greetings - The less-than-impressed feline that features on today's card is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called 'Giggle Greetings' from 2013 - so perfect for the 'anything goes' challenge over at Retro Rubber this week! I loved the corny sentiments and greetings in this set and have used it lots of times, so it was always going to make it into my 'keep' pile. I coloured my cat simply with my Blends markers and split the sentiment, masking off part of the words on the stamp on the front of my card and then continuing these on the inside:

On Film - I decided to 'frame' my cat with another retired product - this time the film roll from the On Film Framelits, another gem from 2014. These are so great for highlighting images when scrapbooking, which is primarily why I still have them in my stash, but they also came in useful for the challenge over at CASology this week where the cue word is 'photo':

Dots and Spots - The main image is mostly grey so I wanted to incorporate some of that lovely yellow into my card to just lift things a little. I decided to add a couple of small pieces of DSP (this is a CAS card after all) and chose some with both dots and spots and added them behind my film/photo. This way they don't overwhelm and the colour palette remains simple, whilst still adding brightness to the card. This also meets the brief over at Just Us Girls this week - I can't remember the last time I created a card worthy of all these challenges all at the same time and I wasn't even trying!

I know exactly who will be receiving this card - lots of my friends are approaching the big '50' and some are looking forward to it more than others, so this will be a fun way to raise a smile!

No visual summary or product table of the key products used on today's project as most of them are no longer available to purchase.

One last reminder today - if you have been considering taking advantage of the current Stampin' Up! joining offer where you can choose £154 for £99, today is your last chance - read all about it here and join my team here - can't wait for you to be part of the fun!

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