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 fun theme challenge for us to work with:

Claire took her 'rainy days' theme from the saying "April showers bring May flowers"; well here in the UK we have a bank holiday weekend to celebrate the King's Coronation and those showers are continuing with a vengeance, so this theme is perfectly appropriate. I decided to create a fun interactive card using some neglected dies and take the opportunity to use up some of my Rain or Shine designer paper from the Spring mini catalogue too - take a look:

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

I added some of the paper with shiny embossed raindrops to the base of my cardfront and onto a second piece that I diecut with the front plate of the Give It A Whirl Dies, the added a trio of animals snipped from one of the designer paper sheets to the wheel before attaching together with a small brad and adding a sentiment from the Playing In The Rain stamp set and a fox that I diecut from the paper too. The window is cut to the left of the fox so that his friend is revealed:

By rotating the wheel in the direction of the arrow just to the right of the fox's tail, a new friend appears. Here's the second rotation, featuring a pig:

 Finally the third rotation features the turtle, complete with his umbrella too: 

I decorated the inside of my card with some puddles and raindrops to complete 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 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 quiet day with nothing much planned. GCSEs have already begun and will soon be followed by A Levels, so the James Juniors are busy studying. Perhaps I'll grab an umbrella and go jump in the puddles - there are many! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PLAYING IN THE RAIN DIES (33.00)

PLAYING IN THE RAIN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (25.00)

GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week since it is the fifth Sunday of the month we have a tic tac toe challenge to work with:

I went bottom left to top right diagonal with sparkle, diecut and embossing (dry) and it just so happens that my card also fits the right hand coloumn of embossing(dry), patterned paper and birthday to create the easiest ever number birthday card - take a look:

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

Do you ever need a number card to celebrate a special birthday? I have so many friends and family celebrating milestone birthdays this year that I find myself making lots of this type of card - and I think this must be my most straightforward, easiest yet!

I embossed a panel of Pacific Point cardstock with the birthday embossing folder, then backed this with some (retired gold glimmer paper, having first cut my number 21 out of the centre. I then added a trio of Pacific Point Brights designer paper banners to my card base followed by my rectangle, before finishing with my sparkly number 21 popped up on foam adhesive sheet and a couple of brushed gold metallic dots: 

Not only was this card really quick to make, but this layout would work in any colour, with any co-ordinating patterned paper and glimmer - perfect, I'm off to make a whole bunch more!

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. 

Today's card is also my second entry over at Just Add Ink this week and uses the Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch.

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

Enjoy your day; nothing much happening here today, although it is lovely to know that it's a Bank Holiday weekend - an extra day off is always welcome! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALPHABET À LA MODE DIES (40.00)

LET'S CELEBRATE EMBOSSING FOLDERS (7.50)

BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.87)

PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (7.00)

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (26.40)

BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (8.50)

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

I had a few ideas for Ann's layout, but having finally received my new annual catalogue preorder I decided to have a play with just some of the new goodies in my box - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Every single thing that I used on my card today is brand new!!

New Papers: I used the new Fresh As A Daisy designer paper as my starting point and used a bold, pink daisy pattern for my main panel and the reverse for the semi-circle.

New Colours: I used a base of the new pale pink, Bubble Bath, a mat of Copper Clay and ink in Copper Clay and one of the new in-colours, Moody Mauve.

New Stamps and Dies: The bundle that is included in the Fresh as a Daisy Suite is called 'Cheerful Daisies'; the stamp set contains both solid and outline daisy images and a range of sentiments and there are dies that cut out the stamped images and those that create standalone layered flowers along with a great label die.

New Accessories: I used both the Adhesive-backed Solid Gems in Copper Clay and the new 3/8" Textured Ribbon in Moody Mauve on my card too (I split the ribbon in half lengthways for my bow, tied with twine).

You can see the layering more closely here - so much to love, right?!

I added an offcut of paper and another sentiment from the set to the inside of my card to finish:

So what do you think? Are you excited to see more of the Cheerful Daisies and lots of other items from the annual catalogue? It launches May 2nd so not long to wait! I have catalogues ready to send to everyone who has shopped with me in the past 6 months. If you don't have a demonstrator and would like to receive a catalogue, do get in touch.

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

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

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

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

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

Use a craft image on your card - hmm, this should be an easy one right? Turns out I had nothing in my current product stash that fitted the bill and due to the sorting out of stamp sets I couldn't find any stamps in my retired stash either (even though I know I have some somewhere!!) Then I remembered that I has a retired Memories and More pack called 'What a Year' that had some quirky images in - and today's no-stamping card was born! Here it is:

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

A few of the cards in this pack feature scissors, so I chose one of them, added a background of (retired) Mango Melody Dandy Designs paper left over from Sale-A-Bration, and one of the sentiment stickers from the Memories & More pack too. The only extra I added was a diecut circle and banner behind:

And that was it - done! A little light on 'white space', but no stamping, minimal layers and embellishments and it took barely 10 minutes to put together - clean and simple at its best!

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project or supplies list, as apart from the Stylish Shapes Dies and basic cardstock I used, everything else is retired. I think this makes a fun and colourful notecard for a crafty friend - I'd love a fancy pair of scissors like the ones on this card too, wouldn't you?

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

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

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've a colour challenge for you to work with:

I chose pastel colours for this week's challenge; I rarely choose pastels as a starting point, much preferring brights, so I thought this would both challenge me and also give me a gallery full of pastel design inspiration - a win-win I'd say! With the recent Stampin' Up! announcement of a full colour refresh, we are saying goodbye to not only the outgoing 2021-23 in-colours, but several from across the colour families too. I've used one of the retiring in-colours and three of the four retiring pastels from the subtles family on my cards today along with the layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday - take a look at the first one:

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

Farewell Hand Penned Petals - I used the retiring 'Hand Painted Petals' stamp set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies on my car today, along with the border dies from the Eden Dies set, also retiring, to pick out the border edge of my Country Gingham panel. This is a great stamp set if you're new to stamping - it has both outline stamps and individual pieces to infill the various flowers and leaves with colour, but they intentionally don't line up with each other exactly. The easy, artsy look means that you don't have to align the stamps perfectly - yet they still look great, perfect for a beginner! Get your stamp set and dies from my online store here whilst stocks last. 

Bye, Bye Blushing Bride - This card features Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron, retiring pastels from the Subtles family, along with Pale Papaya, a retiring in-colour. I've never been a big fan of Blushing Bride (I find it a 'muddy' pink) but I do think it can be enhanced when paired with other colours. Paired with the peachy tones of Pale Papaya and the fresh green of Mint Macaron and some ribbon and gems in those colours too, it does look quite pretty - what do you think?

So Long, So Saffron - So Saffron is another of the departing Subtles, so I decided to make a variation on my first card using Pale Papaya for the larger flowers and the pale yellow of So Saffron for the smaller ones; all other details were the same.

I think I prefer this version, but I'll leave it for you to decide if you have a favourite!

So are you a fan of the Subtles colour family and pastel shades? If so, you should definitely consider entering our challenge this week!

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

And the second one:

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

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

Enjoy your day; I'm off to set up my Easter egg hunt for the James Juniors - they might be in their teens now, but they still like to hunt for their chocolate, they are nothing if not sticklers for tradition! We have a roast turkey lunch planned then this afternoon will be spent consuming the fruit of their spoils and if the sun continues to shine, walking it off! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

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

I love a good sketch and had a few ideas as to how I was going to work with this one, but in the end I kept things pretty simple. I thought I would run with the theme over at Time Out of the changing weather so typical of March days, courtesy of the Dickens quote on their challenge badge  - take a look:

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

I used two patterns from the Rain and Shine Specialty designer series paper pack for my two vertical panels - one featuring grey skies and driving rain (it's difficult to see in the photos, but this sheet has a fabulous clear embossed rain detail) and the other featuring a sunny spring day and accented my card with a sweet flower-bearing turtle also fussy cut from another sheet in this pack:

I stamped my sentiment, from the retired set 'Special Moments' onto a layered banner cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies. That's all there is to it - pretty straightforward but hopefully the perfect mix of sunshine and showers to brighten someone's day.

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; hopefully if you're in the UK you remembered to turn the clocks forward last night - another sign that lighter evenings are on the way! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RAIN OR SHINE SPECIALTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)

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

It's clean and simple week and Ann has asked us to feature a spring flower on our card. here's a quick reminder of what we mean by 'clean and simple at The Paper Players:

• Has minimal layers and embellishments
• Has plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Is simple and uncluttered

After much deliberation, I decided to use my 'Flowering Tulips' stamp set as I haven't yet inked it up this spring. I chose the lovely bright colours palette over at Just Add Ink and created this really simple card - take a look:

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

I stamped a couple of tulips in the same colour as the cardstock, stamping off one of the layers to get a depth of colour and cut them out using the Tulips Dies and heat embossed the stamens in black for a little extra shine. I added my tulips to a matt layer onto which I'd stamped my sentiment and used one of the dies in the set to cut a pattern to reveal colour from the card base below:

I added a simple diecut silhouette border to the inside of my card to complete my design: 

Super simple and so bright and cheery, tulips, alongside daffodils, are one of my most favourite spring flowers.

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

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLOWERING TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	TULIPS DIES (33.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)
GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)

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

I used the sketch over at Sunday Stamps for my layout and thought LeAnne's colours were perfect for a fun birthday card featuring one of the birds in the 'Silly Goose' stamp set - take a look:

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

I used some in-colour designer paper for my base, then stamped my partying goose onto a stitched rectangle and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends in the challenge colours. This is such a fun stamp set, with some great sentiments. I could have made this a straightforward birthday card, but instead decided to add this sentiment inside to send belated birthday wishes:

Fun, right?! I finished my card but decided that since I'd only used Granny Apple Green on my goose's party hat, I need to add a little extra, so I hunted through my stash and found these sparkly Granny Apple Green enamel dots so added these for a little extra celebratory sparkle:

That's all there is to 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; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SILLY GOOSE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	2022–2024 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	TAHITIAN TIDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (4.25)

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 I've a theme challenge for us to work with:

We are still some weeks away, but it's always good to be prepared so I thought we could get a start on our Easter cards. I used Karren's super-versatile layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and set to work. I ended up making two cards - take a look at the first one:

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

Country Lane and a Punched Easter Bunny - I haven't used these papers for a while, but I knew that this pretty floral from the Country Lane designer series paper pack would be the perfect pattern to form the basis of the colour scheme for today's card. I wanted a clean white bunny as my focal point and the darker background sets it off perfectly:

I added a little punched flower to my bunny for a little extra decoration.

A Step Up - Having made my initial card, I decided to create a second one with an extra layer and some tied baker's twine - just a small extra detail but it does add a little something extra:

 The sentiment is from a retired set called 'Welcome Easter' - obviously, any of the current Easter sets could be substituted. Here's a photo of both cards together so that you can compare:

A Little Interior Decoration - Another sentiment and a border of leftover paper decorates the inside of my card:

That's all there is to it - nice and straightforward! I love the Easter Bunny Punch but wasn't so keen on the drawings in the coordinating stamp set but I think this card shows that it works without 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EASTER BUNNY PUNCH (18.00)	COUNTRY FLORAL LANE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (33.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (5.75)

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

This is a great sketch from Jaydee this week and although we have the option to use any shape, I decided that the square format with a large central focal point would be a great opportunity to play with the largest of the Pretty Pop Up Dies which I haven't used for a while. So I grabbed the fresh colour palette over at Inkspirational and this is what I came up with:

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

Have you seen the Pretty Pop Up Dies? They are another of those 'hidden gems' in the annual catalogue. You can find them on page 173 and they are a set of standalone dies without a co-ordinating stamp set. They consist of a range of shaped panels and individual pieces that have this amazing pop-up detail. The panel dies cut in one run through the die cutting machine - so easy! I cut mine on a piece of Whisper White, then coloured the individual pieces with my Stampin' Blends. I added some clear Wink of stella to my butterfly and dragonfly wings and added some (retired) Daffodil Delight pearls to the small flower centres:

I used a (retired) large circle die to cut out the panel and cut a circular frame in Tahitian Tide to tie it in to the background. I added in some foliage around my centre, made up by cutting the corner foliage piece from the Around the Bend Dies and creating a square (-ish) shape, layering four cut from Granny Apple Green cardstock and another four in Whisper White that I coloured with my light Granny Apple Green Blends marker and offsetting them to allow the colours to blend.

This is a completely no-stamping card; I just couldn't bring myself to cover up any of that pretty diecut detail, so I will make up for that on the inside. 

So what do you think of today's card? 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; I am catching up today following my 2 day visit to Newcastle. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PRETTY POP-UPS DIES (30.00)	AROUND THE BEND DIES (31.00)	TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	2022–2024 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)
TAHITIAN TIDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)