It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am the featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I had another crack at Brian's CAS(E) This Sketch layout today and my card also uses the colours over at The Card Concept, and whilst I have stripes they aren't of the patriotic kind - take a look:

I chose the right-hand column of Punny Sentiment - Masculine - Punched Shape for my card today and this is how I achieved it:

Punny Sentiment - I love a punny sentiment and the 'Outdoor Barbeque' set in the current Spring-Summer catalogue has a few of them! I especially love this one with the picture of a steak - I mean, who puts a steak on a card, right?! This is perfect for the Dad of the James household - this is exactly how he likes his steak cooked and he is a rare breed indeed (read into that what you may!) I finished the sentiment inside my card with this stamp from the 'A Wish For Everything' set:

Masculine - I'm not sure many females would relish a juicy streak on the front of a card - I'm more a hearts and flowers girl myself! - so that definitely puts this card into male territory. Besides, our Dad is most definitely the king of the BBQ - a very masculine domain! That's where my blue striped paper comes in too; it's from the now retired Come Sail Away DSP but on my card serves as a nod to my husband's navy and white butcher-striped BBQ apron.

Punched Shape - Lastly, I used the Classic Label Punch to punch out the sentiment on the front of my card and pop it up on dimensionals; I cut a long thin strip of cardstock to stamp my sentiment on then fed it into each end of my punch in turn, as the punch was too short to get it in one go. 

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; my day today revolves around laundry, craft, CE revision - the usual! I am also expecting visit number 2 from the oven repair man (my oven is actually in bits on the kitchen floor as we speak - it seems no other Neff oven has experienced the same fault as mine, go figure!!) and a socially distanced interaction with one of my friends and neighbours, who excitedly called me yesterday to say she had managed to get her hands on some plain four and would be bringing some round for me - sometimes the little things are so exciting and this will undoubtedly be the highlight of my day today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

OUTDOOR BARBECUE CLING STAMP SET (£18.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (EN) (£36.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
DARK CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS MARKER (£4.25)	CAJUN CRAZE DARK STAMPIN’ BLENDS MARKER (£4.25)	LIGHT SO SAFFRON STAMPIN’ BLENDS MARKER (£4.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CLASSIC LABEL PUNCH (£17.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Amy is our featured designer. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I adore the bright colours of the Just Us Girls Challenge photo this week so couldn't resist combining with our board this week for a bright and sunny scene - take a look:

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

Tic Tac Toe Three Ways - I started off with Pink-Flowers-Clouds in the first column as my TTT solution, but by the time I finished realised I had also managed the first row Pink-Diecut-Grass and the diagonal Clouds-Twine-Grass. What can I say? #OverAchiever. Truth is, I was so panicked about not covering three squares, I ended up nearly covering the board!!

A Friendly Silhouette - I used the Friendly Silhouettes dies to create my grassy flower meadow, cutting the whole thing out in Granny Apple Green then again in pink, yellow and red so that I could paper-piece the flowers to the top of the stems as I didn't want a true silhouette on this occasion. I added a few pearls as flower centres. I completed my scene by punching a yellow 1/2" circle, cutting some clouds using a retired die and the two teeny tiny orange butterflies are cut using the Butterfly Beauty Dies - the perfect size for my scene.

A Darling Label Punch - I added a sentiment from the co-ordinating Friend Like You stamp set, but decided to punch it out using the punch in the Darling Label Punch Set box so that it would stand out instead of stamping it straight onto my layer. This kit is retiring so currently a bargain at £16.80 in the online store - link below if you would like to grab one. I also used the Friends Like You stamp set to decorate the inside of my card:

A nice uplifting sentiment for the times we find ourselves in. Sometimes a warm cup of tea, a walk in the sunshine with the ones we love or even a slice of cake delivers just the right amount of pleasure when there is so much going on around us that is not within our control.

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I will be spending some time crafting and creating more delights to share with you in the coming week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project - a lovely card and gift combo, even if I say so myself - you won't want to miss it! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Friend Like You Bundle	Friendly Silhouettes Dies	Friend Like You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Darling Label Punch Box	Brights A4 Cardstock	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine	Pearl Basic Jewels	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Shannon is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went with the first vertical column, Tilted-Stitched-Blue, and I'm also linking up with the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'animal' as today's card features a furry friend - take a look:

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

Fable Friends - For some the squirrel is considered more foe than friend and certainly my chickens think that of the grey squirrels that frequent my garden, but today I decided to go with a cheery red squirrel from 'Fable Friends' for my card. This isn't a stamp I use often so thought I would dust it off and give it some love and stamped him in Memento black onto a stitched rectangle of Whisper White and coloured him with my Blends markers, using another colour I don't often use outside of autumn, Cajun Craze, for my red colour. I do think he looks quite sweet in his sailor's outfit, even if I say so myself! 

On The Tilt - I considered trying to get away with the fact that the squirrel was wearing his hat at a jaunty angle for the 'tilted' element of today's board, but instead decided to 'embrace the wonky' and used an old sketch I had as the basis for my overlaid tilted panels and tilted strip of punched flowers, just like the daisy the squirrel is holding. I'm not generally one for tilted panels, as I like things to be 'just so', but I think they work ok here - I'm not sure I'll make a habit of it though!

Sideways Sentiment - The sketch layout I used had two sentiments, one vertical and another horizontal beneath the stitched panel. I used the former and considered adding 'Hello Spring' from the same stamp set beneath the panel too, but decided against it as I have lots of friends with birthdays in the next couple of months so wanted to leave this card open with the option of adding a birthday sentiment to the inside. On reflection, I think the second sentiment might have been a nice touch, but since I embossed the cardbase with my Subtles embossing folder after stamping the first one, unless I make another identical card and add it first we will never know!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; the sun is shining so I'm hoping to get my chores out of the way this morning and then head outside to get some gardening for done this afternoon. That's one thing with that can be said for the current lockdown - our garden has never looked so good! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Fable Friends Cling Stamp Set	Subtle 3D Embossing Folder	Stitched Rectangle Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock	Cajun Craze Combo Pack Stampin' Blends
Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack	Balmy Blue Light Stampin' Blends Marker	Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends Marker	Granny Apple Green Light Stampin' Blends Marker	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went with the vertical column layers/friend/heat embossing this week! I had some of the panels of Pressed Petals designer series paper out on my desk leftover from the cards I shared with you last week and wanted to use them up and thought I would combine it with this week's challenge over at TGIF Challenges (thanks for the pick last week ladies!) where they are looking for projects that are gold-dipped, something I've been wanting to try with my Heirloom Frames 3D embossing folders for a while. So I pulled out my Positive Thoughts stamp set for my sentiment and some background detail on my first card and this is what I came up with:

On this card I used a Night of Navy embossed frame. To achieve the antique-dipped effect, you simply rub the embossed frame with your Versamark pad then sprinkle with gold embossing powder and heat - in some places it sticks and in others the base colour is exposed. For my second card, I used a few more layers on my base instead of background stamping, and used an oval frame heat embossing gold onto Mossy Meadow:

I used the same sentiment and anchored with a Designer Element accent on each. And here's one last photo of both my cards together:

So what do you think? This style of card is quite different for me so whilst I like them, I'm not sure I love them - but it's always good to try something different once in a while! I would love your comments and if vintage is your thing and you think these cards can be improved in any way, I'd love to hear!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; on Tuesday I finally took delivery of a new washing machine, having had mine break down completely 10 days ago - what great timing! I knew it was on its way out so I ordered a new one before it went completely, however with the whole country going into lockdown I was afraid that my new machine wouldn't arrive at all. Fortunately the lovely people at John Lewis made it happen and I have spent the last 2 days washing non-stop! I have another 4 loads to do today and then I should be caught up - just the ironing to get stuck into then! At least the weather has been fine enough for me to line dry and no school has meant that the Juniors could wear anything as we had run out of school uniform! It's probably a good job that none of us have had to leave the house though - our outfits were starting to look a little eclectic! I am hoping to get some crafting in today before tackling my ironing mountain (hubby has suggested since no-one can see us we should just go with the crumpled look, but I'm not sure if my standards will allow it!). 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

 To be updated.

Apologies for my blog-free days so far this week; as I'm sure is the same for you, things have been anything but normal this past couple of weeks and I seem to have been pulled every which way and not once in the direction of my craft room. Far from being excited at the prospect of no school until September, both of the James Juniors are finding that an unwelcome concept and combined with the enforced closure of all of their sporting activities, they have needed much encouragement to find an upside to the current state we find ourselves in. I'm sure we will work it all out; meanwhile it's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely LeAnne is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the middle with Blue-Umbrella-Designer Paper but my card also works for the diagonal Yellow-Umbrella-Bow. I used the current Fab Friday sketch for my layout (although I inadvertently centred my squares - I was distracted by the gingham!) along with an 'oldie but goodie' stamp set from the annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Little Elephant - When I was considering what to work with today, I pulled out both the 'Under My Umbrella' set and the 'Little Elephant' stamp set as both feature umbrellas. I made a card with each, but preferred this one - such a long time since I've used this set! - and I don't think I've ever used the little umbrella before, so this was a good opportunity. I did a little masking on the front to make it look as if the elephant was holding the umbrella over the bluebird and also stamped the larger elephant with some hearts on the inside too:

In Stitches - I used both a stitched square for my main image and a stitched rectangle for my heat embossed sentiment panel for a little subtle extra detail. I wouldn't be without my Stitched Shapes Framelits and love that extra something they add to a shape.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - I decided to add a few raindrops from the 'Under My Umbrella' set above the umbrella to add to my little scene and some white twine tied in a bow completes my card. 

A sweet and cheery little card with all that yellow and a sentiment that seems so appropriate given the unprecedented times we find ourselves in at the moment. I encourage you to show someone a little kindness today, because yes, it is a big thing and for some can make all the difference.

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I am hoping to regain my creative mojo and spend some time crafting once I've tackled my ironing pile, since it will be all too soon before I am home-schooling the James Juniors from next week, when I suspect my crafting time might be further squeezed. I'll definitely be back tomorrow with another project - I might even share my alternative umbrella project! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Little Elephant Cling-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Under My Umbrella Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£15.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I have the honour of being our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that I designed for your inspiration: 

I took the first column and used the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch layout - this time for a much better attempt at clean and simple than my card earlier this week - take a look:

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

I paired some retired sunny yellow gingham check paper with a raindrop background and a bright umbrella punched from the Pleased As Punch designer series paper - I do love a paper that can be punched into lots of bits and pieces with a co-ordinating punch - and a sentiment from the 'Under My Umbrella' stamp set on a stitched rectangle. The weather here is mostly rain of late, but occasionally we get a glimpse of spring sunshine so it was nice to capture that in today's 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Under My Umbrella Bundle (English) (£28.75)

Pleased As Punch Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)

Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host and the lovely Amy Ottmers is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the current sketch over at Fab Friday and went with the top line of the board - Diecut, CAS, Purple - take a look:

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

Best Dressed - This Purple Posy floral paper from the Best Dressed DSP pack was the starting point that inspired my whole card today. So soft and pretty, with a delicate ombre effect I couldn't resist using a whole panel on my card.

So Sentimental - I used a simple thank you sentiment from the So Sentimental stamp set, masked off and inked in a combination of Highland Heather and Basic Grey and cut out using the co-ordinating Stitched So Sweetly Dies. This label is one of 4 in the set, along with the stitched scalloped rectangles that I showcased previously on this card.

A Pop of Colour - I fussy cut a flower from one of the other patterns of paper in the Best Dressed pack to embellish my sentiment with and picked out the colours of the flower centre and leaves to use for the banners behind my sentiment for a little added pop of colour.

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 love this sketch and think I'll be using it again! What about the board though? A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; the weather here is still wet and grey, so following indoor climbing yesterday the Juniors are breaking up their mock exam revision with indoor roller skating this afternoon - I will be watching safely from the sidelines! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

So Sentimental Bundle (English) (£45.00)	Best Dressed 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Purple Posy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I have some exciting news - the TicTacToe Challenge is being refreshed and relaunched and I am going to be one of the new designers! This is a fun weekly challenge that features a different TicTacToe board each week. There are two teams, team X and Team O, and each team will host alternate weeks with one of the team members being the featured designer each week. I will be part of Team X and we will be posting alternate weeks, with the intention to play along in between when my Team O teamies are hosting. 

It's the turn of Team X to kick things off this week and the lovely Shannon Jamarillo is our featured designer with a spring-inspired board to get things rolling. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the current colour palette over at Fab Friday and took the top left to bottom right diagonal of flower-spring-twine to create a long and narrow card using some of the items I received free with the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Blooms - Thoughtful Blooms is one of those stamp sets that is great to have on hand for quick and easy cards and actually offers lots of creative options if florals are your thing; it also has a few useful sentiments too. You can easily build trailing flowers as I have or create single stemmed blooms and add leaves and decoration as desired. It's a great set for a beginner stamper as it's really easy to build patterns with and there is also the opportunity for a little two-step stamping of both petals and leaves, which is an easy way to add extra detail. I used this technique for my punched blooms, stamping first with the solid stamp in Melon mambo (I stamped off first to achieve a lighter pink) and then I then over-stamped with the petal outline stamp in Merry Merlot. I really like this colour combination together and isn't one I would have ordinarily tried, so thank you to the team at Fab Friday for encouraging me to change things up here! I added Melon Mambo glittered enamel dots to the centre of my flowers, because, well, why not? I love these for a quick pop of sparkle:

Another Freebie Too - The Small Bloom Punch is another Sale-A-Bration freebie and co-ordinates perfectly with those sweet little blooms, and makes it oh-so-easy to cut out those images and create a little extra dimension on your card. 

A Question of Colour - So to finish today, I thought I would ask for your views on a very important question! I originally planned to work with the bottom row of the tictactoe board, punch-blue-twine, and thought I had achieved this perfectly until I had a visit from one of the James Juniors as I had photographed and was admiring today's creation, who declared I had of course failed in my quest - Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay could most definitely NOT be considered blue, they were of course green! A lengthy debate ensued about where do shades of aqua or turquoise sit on the colour spectrum, with us all agreeing to disagree; so, what do you think - Bermuda Bay, blue or green? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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:

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I have an epic ever-growing to-do list so need to tick off some chores but will hopefully get to achieve some crafty things too and I might even make it to choir tonight - I definitely need the practice! I'll be back tomorrow in fine voice and with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Thoughtful Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)	Small Bloom Punch (£0.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)