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)

An important second post today! For 24 hours only, starting at 11pm UK time this evening, Stampin' Up! are offering FREE shipping on orders of £60 or more.

The key information is as follows:

• Free shipping applies after the qualifying order amount has been met.
• The minimum qualifying amount to receive free shipping is £60 or more.
• Free shipping only applies during the 24-hour period the promotion is live in each market; this means that the order must be opened and closed between 20th April 2022, at 11 p.m. and 21 April 2022, at 11:00 p.m (UK).

This is a great time to stock up on retiring in-colours or stamps, pick up a bundle that you've had your eye on and more! So start making those lists and head off to the online Stampin' Up! store or message me with your order.

Happy shopping!

Today I'm sharing another clean and simple card that was inspired by a few challenges:

I wouldn't normally gravitate towards the spring pastel palette over at Sunday Stamps, but the minute I saw it I couldn't help thinking it would be perfect for an Easter chick. So I paired it with the current challenge over at AAA Cards where they are looking for 'small and few' paired with Easter or spring for a fluffy chick (perfect for the CASology cue word too) and a few pastel Easter eggs hidden in the grass - take a look:

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

I used my blending brushes to create a blended corner panel of yellow 'sunrays' and a little green across the bottom for the base of my scene, then added some diecut eggs from the retired Chick Dies in two shades of pale pink behind some grass, cut using one of the Horizon dies. My Easter chick is courtesy of the Birthday Chick Dies - I had completely overlooked this little diecut chick and discovered it when I was using these dies on this card earlier this month and thought it would make the perfect tiny Easter chick:

An Easter sentiment from the retired set 'Welcome Easter' completes my card. I know Easter has already been and gone, but it's always good to have a few cards set aside for next year - when Easter rolls around I never seem to have enough!

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:

BIRTHDAY CHICK DIES (ENGLISH) (£12.50)	HORIZON DIES (£31.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Bhavya is hosting for the month of April and it's time for our second colour challenge of the month: 

I thought these colours would be perfect for a bowl of cherries for a sweet friend - so I grabbed the retiring 'Measure of Love' stamp set and set to work - take a look:

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

 A simple bowl of cherries, backed with some Pattern Party black and white gingham and with an added Cherry Cobbler scalloped border detail to finish:

A super clean and simple 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MEASURE OF LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.80)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (£33.00)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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

April showers! None of those here today though as the UK celebrates its warmest days of the year so far for a wonderful Easter bank holiday weekend! My card today does feature raindrops - and sunshine and the best thing to result from both after an April shower: rainbows!  I used the current sketch layout over at CAS on Friday for my clean and simple card today (I was thrilled to be a winner there last week with this stencilled card - look out for my guest spot there soon!):

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

I took a piece of retired Sale-A-Bration Sunshine and Rainbows designer series paper and overlaid it with some stitched clouds cut with my Basic Borders Dies and a row of rainbows cut with one of the Brilliant Rainbows Dies. I then stamped a sentiment from the retiring 'Celebrate With Flowers' set twice, once in Magenta Madness onto a circle of So Saffron and a second time in Mango Melody on white and fussy cut the word 'sunshine' and layered the two together. To finish, I added a trio of iridescent rhinestones for a little added sparkle:

I used lots of different bits and pieces on today's card, but my minimising my layers and embellishments and focusing my design into the main square, I preserved my all-important 'white space', a key feature of clean and simple cards.

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 spent yesterday at the farm visiting all of the baby animals - bottle feeding the lambs was a definite highlight! - and today we will be Easter egg hunting and enjoying Sunday lunch in the garden - bliss! I hope you are all enjoying a restful weekend break too! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BRILLIANT RAINBOW DIES (£29.00)	BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)