As promised, today I have a second card for you. I started this card on Saturday but only managed to finish it this afternoon. It uses Jen B's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the colours over at Color Throwdown (and was inspired by the geometric triangle pattern on the cushion in the inspo photo too):

Here's my card - take a look:

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

At first glance, there really is nothing that remarkable about this card: a simple card base in Bumblebee, a mat in Night of Navy and then a vertical sentiment from the 'Celebrate With Flowers' stamp set in triplicate with a pattern in between formed from some tiny triangles in the challenge colours and diecut with the Stitched Triangle Dies. This card should have been super-simple to execute and the idea came to me in a flash when I saw Jen's sketch; normally I would have chosen one of my (many!) beloved patterned papers for those three shapes, however the stamp set was still on my desk from a previous project and I thought it would be fun to rotate the sketch through 180 degrees and flip the sentiment and decorative elements. Easy, right? Famous last words!! I actually started making two cards, the one you see above and a one layer one, but all in all I must have made about 6 versions, all of which ended up in the dustbin, before I finally finished one. There were mis-aligned sentiments, misaligned diecut borders, changes of cardbase colour, smudged ink - you name it, it happened on this card! Eventually I cut down my one layer version for the above card and added my diecut triangles so that I could at least say I finally finished one!

I think this makes a good clean and simple masculine birthday card, but I can't say I'll be making another one anytime soon - this one may well be unique! The moral of the story here? Well, stick to the sketch and go with your first instinct. Oh and even the most experienced of us cardmakers sometimes fail to get it right first, second ... or even fifth time!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my crafting trials and tribulations! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project and links to the new catalogue - woohoo! Until then, happy stampin'!

Happy Bank Holiday Monday to my UK readers! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the colour palette over at Hand Stamped Sentiments: 

I'm loving all of the blue colour palettes that are about at the moment, especially since I have been giving my Waves of The Ocean Suite a workout and the two pair perfectly! I thought the HSS colours were perfect for a little project that I've been wanting to have a go at for a while - an edge to edge pocket shaker card. My good blog friend and fellow Tic Tac Toe challenge team member Stef Perry over at Perry Papercrafts made this fabulous card a while ago and I have been wanting to have a go and thought that the Waves of Inspiration bundle would be just the thing to make my own version - take a look:

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

Waves Of The Ocean - Since this card is really all about the shaker, the stamping is fairly simple. I used all three ink colours to create my blended seascape background using my blending brushes and stamped a single wave in Versamark and heat embossed it in white; this forms the base of my shaker. 

A Pocket Shaker - creating the shaker itself is rally easy. You just need a flimsy acetate pocket - the wrapping that your new dies come in is perfect for this - then you attach it to the back of the panel on three sides to form a pocket, fill with the sequins on your choice (I used some retired ones from the Whale of a Time suite, minus the pink shells, along with some clear, white and silver ones) before taping the fourth side shut. You then mount this panel on your card front, and add any additional diecuts to the front of your card; I layered a Coastal Cabana foil and white cardstock pair of waves cut with the Waves Dies over my stamped image, and snipped a sentiment and added it to the opposing corner:

The sequins still move around the front of the card, although a little less freely than with a traditional shaker. On the upside there is less bulk though so this kind of card is great for posting. I just love this idea and am really happy with how this card turned out - thanks Stef for the inspiration, I knew I'd get around to making one eventually!

Going, Going, Gone - Today is your final reminder that lots of things are ending today - it is the last day that the following items will be available:

• Last Chance Products, stamps and accessories from the current 2020-21 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue
• All Together exclusive paper, stamps and dies (only the skin tone Blends are carrying over to the new annual catalogue)
• Waves of The Ocean Suite exclusive papers, foils and embellishments (only the stamp set and dies are carrying over to the new annual catalogue)

When tomorrow comes, it will be all about the new annual catalogue so if any of the above are still on your list, you best click the links below and hop over to the online store today! 

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I will be back later with one (maybe two!) posts as I have a few makes 'in progress' on my desk along with news of a great new joining offer that will be starting tomorrow to coincide with the new annual catalogue launch - exciting stuff! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WAVES OF INSPIRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	BLUE FOILS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

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

Birds and/or bees - what fun! I decided to go with 'bees' for my card today - take a look:

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

Honeybee Home - I decided that 'Honeybee Home' would be the perfect set for today's card. I paired my bees with a watercoloured floral stem and some diecut florals and grasses from the co-ordinating Honeybee Blooms Dies in white and yellow. I also added a little stamping to the inside of my card:

Beautiful Shapes - The eagle-eyed amongst you may well recognise the layout I used for today's card - it's the sketch I designed for my week as Paper Players hostess last week. I thought the three elements would work really well as hexagons in various sizes, so I used my Beautiful Shapes Dies to cut some hexagons in various sizes and stencilled one, watercoloured and  embossed another and layered them to build up my scene. I added some twine and hexagon enamel shapes to complete my design. 

Bye Bye Bumblebee - To give my card a cohesive feel, I worked in black, white and the retiring Bumblebee. By using a combination of blending, watercolouring, markers and cardstock it varies the intensity of colour:

With Bumblebee as my choice colour, I am also entering today's card over at Inspire.Create for their current challenge too. I really like this set; this card took a long time to create as there are lots of elements and small details, but it was so worth it!

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; we have a long weekend here in the UK so an extra day with everyone at home. We have no specific plans other than to relax, spend some time in the kitchen and enjoy the sunshine too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HONEYBEE HOME BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£42.25)	HIVE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED HEXAGONS (£7.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)
BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	WATER PAINTERS (£11.25)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)

Today I have a second post for you in addition to my Festive Friday post: this time with a card for the new challenge over at CAS on Friday where I am the Guest Designer this week following my previous win in their stencil challenge (here's that winning card if you missed it). The theme for the new challenge is 'numbers'; take a look at what I came up with:

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

Days To Remember - I decided to break out my unused 'Days To Remember' stamp set to create a fun calendar birthday reminder card. This is a great set that enables you to easily create any day/date/month combo in calendar format - I decided to make a birthday card with a tear-off calendar sheet showing a birthday circled, highlighted with a fun sentiment and trio of ombre glimmer balloons for decoration. I also added another couple of sentiments from the set to the inside of my card:

Perfect Perforations - Do you spot the new product I used on my calendar piece? That fun border edging is courtesy of a die that is in the new Blossoming Happiness Dies set - I thought it made the perfect tear-off border detail. 

A New Old Favourite - I used another item from the upcoming new annual catalogue on my card today - did you notice that stitched banner that outlines the sentiment? My regular readers know how much I missed the Stitched Shapes Dies when they retired. Well now they're back - stitched circles and squares and new banner shapes too! Take a closer look on the photo below:

In case you're wondering - the birthday on my card is mine :-) No vanity here though; when the day comes around, this card will actually be headed to a friend of mine - can you believe that I actually know two other people that share the same birthday?! A quirky coincidence for sure!

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I also used the current sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday (squished to fit my landscape design :-) ) as the inspiration for my layout today. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, I have a super busy day ahead so need to crack on; happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAYS TO REMEMBER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£5.55)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Eat What You Want Day' which is on 11th May - who knew?! Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used food, treat packaging, red, pastels and twine and this is what I came up with:

 What better for the end of the week but a Friday treat! Here's the low-down on today's treat box:

Sweet Little Boxes - OK first up is a confession: I didn't make the box from scratch! There was absolutely no need when the mini catalogue has the perfect solution - the Sweet Little Boxes! These little boxes are sweet indeed - and at 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 5/8", they are the perfect size for some chocolates or sweets and fit in your hand perfectly:

Playful Patterns - The boxes are flat packed, so it's super easy to customise them. I decided to use some Playful Patterns host reward striped paper for mine and simply used the box as a template, drew around it and cut out the paper and adhered it the box before putting the box together. This does mean that extra double-sided tape will be required in addition to the tape that is already on the box, but that's it - super easy. 

Brilliant Rainbows - I decorated my box with a large diecut rainbow cut using my Brilliant Rainbows Dies, pulling colours out of the paper. I added some stitched clouds courtesy of the Give It A Whirl Dies and and diecut and stamped a tag using the same bundle and tied it to my box using some (retired) Bermuda Bay and white striped baker's twine.

My box contains a packet of Skittles and has already made its way into the schoolbag of one of the James Juniors for a special break time surprise (don't worry, the other one has one too!)

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James - that's me!

Enjoy your day - today is a two-post day so be sure to check today's other project too. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET LITTLE BOXES (£9.25)	RAINBOW OF HAPPINESS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£36.00)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

00It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week it's our final challenge for the month of April and Bhavya has asked that we create something with three distinct sentiment elements for her final sketch challenge:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I ended up creating not one, not two but three cards! I'm sharing my favourite one first - a clean and simple shaker card - take a look:

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

Farewell Playful Alphabet Dies - Time to say goodbye to a craftroom staple - the Playful Alphabet Dies! Yes, they are retiring with current annual catalogue next week and newsflash - there are NO alphabet die sets in the new annual catalogue, so not only will I be hanging on to my set, if you don't have them you have just one week to nab a set! I can't recommend them highly enough: they are so useful for personalising cards, but also to create bespoke messages or greetings. Use them flat or on dimensionals, or as I've done here to create a bespoke message that I then backed with window sheet to create a fun clean and simple shaker card! How cool is this?

Rainbows or Candles? - My initial shaker was inspired by the inspiration challenge of 'make a wish - rainbows' over at TGIF Challenges this week and I paired my simple message with a paper-pieced rainbow made using my Beautiful Rainbow Dies and some scraps of cardstock in Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana and Fresh Freesia to co-ordinate with the (retired) Ice Cream Shaker Sprinkles that I used inside my shaker. I used my rainbow offcuts to add a decorative border to the inside of my card, along with a sentiment from the retiring 'Sweet Ice Cream' stamp set:

I liked this card so much, I made another one, this time using the retiring white, gold and silver Sequins For Everything (currently half price) for my shaker and a trio of (retired) gold Candle Embellishments I found on my shelf:

Check out the sparkles - how fun!

Here are both shakers together - which one do you prefer?

I honestly can't decide - I love this design so much I think I'm going to make a whole bunch more!!

A CAS Thankyou Trio - Finally I have one extra 'bonus' card for you, that was the one I made before my shakers - a super simple repeating 'thanks' sentiment using a trio of dies cut with the Amazing Thanks Dies, with each one backed by the fresh colours of the current Color Dare challenge:

By using the colour for the base layer of the diecut and making the top layer white, it allows for a white base and preserves the clean and simple feel with all that 'white space'. This is a great way to use up scraps and whilst I love the fresh colour combo I used on today's card - Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight - this simple layout would work with whatever colours you have available.

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I actually made four cards for today's challenge; the first one was mediocre at best; I had an idea that just didn't look right when I made it - so much so, I'm not even going to share it with you!  So I left it and when I went back to desk 24 hours later, I started fresh and came up with my thankyou trio, quickly followed by my fun shaker cards - suddenly I was on a creative roll! Does that ever happen to you when your creating? How do you combat that feeling you get when you've made something but are just not 'feeling' it? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear from you!

Enjoy your day; the James Juniors are both back to school today following the Easter break so I will be aiming to get more work done this week. This is a super-busy term, with everything from cricket fixtures to the school musical production, internal exams, speech days, university open days and lots more besides! I really do need to get organised!! On that note, I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, there's work to do - happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BRILLIANT RAINBOW DIES (£29.00)

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)

WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)

SEQUINS FOR EVERYTHING (£5.62)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

AMAZING THANKS DIES (ENGLISH) (£25.00)

FOAM ADHESIVE STRIPS (£7.25)

   

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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

I designed a sketch with three elements - they can be any shape - and a vertical sentiment tucked alongside. My sketch was inspired by a card I made previously using squares of designer paper, however for today's card I went in a completely different direction - take a look:

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

Artfully Layered - Today's card features the 'Artfully Layered' bundle - I just love these leaves! Today's card really is about the Tropical Leaves Dies and my card makes a dramatic feature of one of the leaves, diecut in black. There is just a little stamping, with the sentiment on the front and a little extra to decorate the inside:

Inspired Abstract Watercolouring - I decided to brave it and use my aquapainter to watercolour three rounded squares for my three elements and use these as a backdrop to my leaf. I used the trio of bright colours over at Color Throwdown as I thought they would pair well with the black and painted each shape carefully, deciding not to overlap them and building colour gradually. I'm not the best when it comes to watercolouring but was totally inspired by my CAS Colours & Sketches teammate, Cecile Ribon, who creates the most amazing CAS cards using simple watercoloured shapes and outline stamped images and/or delicate diecuts - if you're not familiar with it I would urge you to take a look at her blog here, she is so artistic! Having added my watercoloured shapes, I added some black ink splatters using my Black Blends marker before adhering my diecut. I used anothe Cecile trademark of a stitch of twine at the base of my leaf, along with a trio of enamel dots, to complete my card:

What do you think? I'm really quite please with the end output so I'm going to link up over at Inkspirational too, where they are also challenging us to watercolour this week. 

An Alternative Colourway - I liked my card so much, I decided I would have another go using the inspiration photo over at Just Add Ink too. I considered going in a different direction, given the distinctly autumnal feel of their photo, but I just couldn't bring myself to dig out my autumn leaves as we are just heading into summer on this side of the world! So I changed out my sentiment and chose a different diecut leaf and used the same layout for a second version. Here is the Just Add Ink inspo photo:

And here's my second card that was inspired by those warm, autumnal colours:

So what do you think of today's cards? Do you have a favourite? 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:

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; we are having a quiet day at home today before the James Juniors are back to school this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ARTFULLY LAYERED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
WATER PAINTERS (£11.25)

Hi everyone! I have a quick post today following on from yesterday's post showcasing the wave in the 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set. I mentioned in yesterday's post that this wave would make a great #SimpleStamping card so today I wanted to show you a pared-down, basic example of that using this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout courtesy of the lovely Kim:

And here's my #SimpleStamping card:

I used the same broad layout for yesterday's card (Kim's sketch is a favourite layout of mine that I often come back to) but for today's card I was completely faithful to it. I stamped my wave using my Stamparatus to build up my layers of ink colour and cropped it for fit the centre of my card. I matted it with a thin border in Night of Navy and added a birthday sentiment from the same set that I trimmed to fit:

A stamp, inks and paper; just 6 items - nothing else required! Clean and uncluttered - just my thing!

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 for our new challenge over at the Paper Players where I am the hostess. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WAVES OF INSPIRATION CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a shades of blue colour challenge chosen by the lovely LeAnne:

I have been busy preparing for my upcoming 'Waves of The Ocean' card class and this trio of blues is just perfect for waves, so I thought I'd share a variation of a card that I'll be making with my ladies next week, including a fun technique - take a look at my card:

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

Waves of Inspiration - This fabulous tidal wave is the real scene-stealer in the 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set and can make a card all by itself (more on that later!) For this card, I used my Stamparatus to ink the whole wave in Balmy Blue, then I inked a second time, adding Pacific Point and Night of Navy to select areas of the stamp using a sponge dauber, to give me the variegated colour. The Stamparatus is most definitely your friend when using this stamp - it allows you to align the image and add layers of colour with ease. 

Foamy Waves - I decided I wanted to add some dimension and texture to my wave to give it a truly foamy feel; you can see it on the card above but I thought you would appreciate a closer look below:

In real life this texture looks so good! 

Want To Know More? - Creating the textured foam really is easier than it perhaps looks: all you need is some liquid glue, white embossing powder and a heat gun to make the magic happen. Here's a link to a short video I made some years ago where I used the same technique to create puffy clouds and snow that demonstrates it better than I can explain it:

In addition to the basic technique, to add a little extra sparkle to today's card I went back over some of the raised areas with my liquid glue and added some fine loose glitter, but you could forgo this step if glitter isn't your thing. 

In designing my classes I always try to use all of the stamps in a set, but also to introduce new ideas or ways of using stamps that my ladies perhaps haven't thought of or that I haven't seen used elsewhere in the creative blogosphere. I hope my ladies like this one!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

Enjoy your day; we are taking it easy following a very late night in London yesterday. It was so worth it though - the ALW production of 'Cinderella' was AMAZING!  I'll be back tomorrow with another project and I have several more 'Waves of Inspiration' cards to share too, so stay tuned. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WAVES OF INSPIRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	MULTIPURPOSE LIQUID GLUE (£4.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

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

In addition to the Try Stamping on Tuesday board for my layout and a little tulip inspiration, I went down the middle column of this week's Tic Tac Toe board with florals/patterned paper/any shape die cut and made a very purple birthday card featuring one of my retiring favourites, the Floral Squares Dies and some Flowering Fields designer series paper - take a look:

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

I diecut one of the floral squares in Evening Evergreen then added additional flowerheads to echo the colours of the tulips that feature on the three squares of Flowering Fields patterned paper; I also added a ribbon bow of retired Blackberry Bliss ribbon to tie the whole design together:

A little extra stamping and a few extra diecut pieces to decorate complete the inside of my card:

I do love the colour purple and I'm so happy I got the opportunity to use some of that pretty Flowering Fields tulip paper at last!

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. 

A last reminder: the 24 hour free shipping promotion ends at 11pm this evening so if you have an order to place and would like to take advantage of free postage, be sure to get it in before then.

Enjoy your day; I have had a special one with a James family outing to London today, the highlight of which is a trip to the theatre to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cinderella' musical this evening - I will report back tomorrow!  Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLORAL SQUARES DIES (£25.00)	ALL SQUARED AWAY CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)	FLOWERING FIELDS 12” X 12” (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£5.20)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)