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 theme challenge for us to work with:

I wasn't quite sure where to go with Ann's theme this week, so I started with a browse of my stamp set shelf for inspiration. I saw this quote and that's where this week's project began - take a look:

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

Enjoy Life - The quote is featured in the retired 'Enjoy Life' stamp set and whilst not about romantic love per se, I thought that it would make a lovely centrepiece for a summer-inspired project. I stamped it onto white cardstock and diecut using my Nested Essentials Dies.

New Horizons - I leafed through my (extensive) designer series paper collection and found this lovely sunny landscape in the retired New Horizons pack that worked perfectly for my background.

It's In The Detail - Trying to decide how to bring my chosen quote and paper together, I happened upon the Inspired By Challenge inspiration this week and finally had the answer! Not the beachy theme, the colour scheme or the cookies - but the sketch layout. I decided to take some of the other stamps from the 'Enjoy Life' stamp set and stamp them in black onto an identical piece of designer paper to the one I was using for my background, cutting them out with my square Stylish Shapes Dies. I popped the diecut pieces up on dimensionals to add interest to the landscape and frame the quote in an interesting way:

I used the whole of the 6x6" sheet of DSP and decided I liked it so much that I would frame it and hang it on the wall of my craft room, which I recently painted in a sunny shade of yellow. Here's the finished piece in its frame:

Whilst my project does not embody romantic love, there is a definite nod to summer and a love of life, so I'm hoping Ann thinks I'm close enough to what she was looking for to meet the brief ;-).

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 will be enjoying a BBQ lunch in the summer sun and just pottering around the house today. I am still aching from Friday's strenuous gym session and paddleboarding excursion combined, so I need to rest in order to do it all again next week! We are forecast a third heatwave here this week, so I am trying to make the most of the reasonable temperatures before it's too hot to move. Besides, there will also be tennis at Wimbledon so if that's not an excuse to watch the TV, I'm not sure what is! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (£32.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge chosen by LeAnne:

My favourite embossing folder - hmm! I have a large collection of embossing folders, but don't tend to use them all that much. I do have a few firm favourites though and one of my favourite Christmas ones is this retired one from the pair called 'Charming Landscapes - which I'm also sharing with 52 Christmas Card Throwdown for their embossing folder challenge this week. Here's my card:

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

I love this cute row of quirky houses nestled amongst the snowy landscape and whilst it looks great in white, I also like to mask off the foreground, buildings and trees and add colour to the sky using ink and blending brushes. For today's card I used two of the new In Colours, Hydrangea Hue and Barely Blush, with a little retired Purple Posy in between: 

I painted in the embossed stars and snowflakes with a white gel pen and some clear Wink of Stella and added a few rhinestones, then grabbed a simple Merry Christmas sentiment from one of the sets on my shelf to complete my card. I use this embossing folder every year to add Christmas cards to my stash!

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Fill In The Blank Challenge complete the sentence - and use a project that demonstrates this.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

2026–2028 IN COLOR™ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PADS (£63.00)

2026–2028 IN COLOR™ A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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 us to work with:

Not only do I have a great sketch (even if I say so myself!), I also have some very special new goodies to work with - take a look:

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

I have the Silly Old Bears Suite!! Now first things first: a confession. If you are one of my UK customers, this suite is unfortunately not available to purchase in the UK; Stampin' Up! only have the copyright to produce and sell this product in the USA. As a lifelong Winnie The Pooh fan, I was super disappointed to hear this. Fortunately for me though, I have generous and helpful American friends that meant my recent trip Stateside meant I could come home with my very own suite - yay! So you will be seeing me use it on my blog, as my international readers will hopefully still enjoy the inspiration.

My card showcases the Silly Old Bear papers, and for the feature panel I added a piece of Very Vanilla that I embossed with the Hundred Acre Woods embossing folder - perfect for the 'E is for Embossing' challenge over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog this week. Check out the dimension:

I also used it to emboss the envelope flap for some co-ordinated detail. A sentiment from the Sweet Words and Labels Bundle, another of the bundles in the suite, and a Pooh and Piglet diecut from another of the DSP sheet, complete my card. I LOVE this suite - and will be making lots more with it 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:

It has been absolutely roasting here in the UK this week so my south-facing craftroom has been well and truly out of bounds. Enjoy your day; I'll be back later in the week with another project, weather permitting! Until then, happy stampin'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Suzy is hosting this challenge and we have a colour challenge for you: 

These colours made me think Autumn/Winter, and I am so not ready to go there yet! But then I saw those beautiful florals over at Just Us Girls, with the striking dark purple bloom to the right of the centre of the mood board, and I decided to settle for simple florals and revisiting a fun technique - take a look:

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

I thought the tiny floral stems from the Forever Florals bundle, along with a lovely swirly sentiment, would make a sweet clean and simple card and the flower heads themselves lend themselves nicely to the rock and roll technique: I inked my flower head stamp in Gorgeous Grape, then prior to stamping rolled the edges into my Blackberry Bliss ink pad. The result? Some pretty two-tone blossoms that really stand out against the white background:

I added a narrow strip of torn vellum to ground my stems and give my sentiment somewhere to 'sit' then added a simple twine bow to finish. I'm a lover of all things purple. so I particularly like the finished result on this 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! colour 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; I am still ploughing through a mountain of post holiday washing and ironing, but it comes with the territory so I'm not complaining! and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FOREVER FLORALS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£11.25)

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

I am all about the sunshine so I wanted to reflect that in my card today - take a look:

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

I created my rays by stamping the sunray stamp from the Joyful Squares stamp set twice and added my sentiment from Splash & Relax in Azure Afternoon to a diecut circle, embellished with a pair of cool sunnies for good measure: 

And that's it - super simple, super fun! If you haven't given Joyful Squares a second look, you can still pick it up for a song on the last chance section of the online store - such a great stamp for scrapbooking and cardmaking alike.

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 arriving back from a two week vacation in the USA today and hoping to bring the sunshine with me! I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)	JOYFUL SQUARES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£13.80)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a colour challenge, chosen by me:

The challenge graphic might be bright flowers, but I decided to go with another summer card with a pool/beach vibe - perfect for another entry over at Time Out Challenges with summer and water as my chosen words. Take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I went with a tone-on-tone stencilled watery background (I am officially in love with the Water Decorative Mask!), then added an inflatable rubber ring and beach ball for some pool fun and some sunnies and a visor to keep the sun at bay whilst at play, all from the Splash & Relax bundle. I created another custom sentiment by using my Mini Alphabet Dies to accentuate the word ‘splash’:

Some sparkly enamel dots from my stash to give the illusion of sunlight bouncing off the water surface completes my  card.

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

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

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)	WATER & DOTTED LINES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DECORATIVE MASKS (£20.00)	MINI ALPHABET DIES (£29.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	BERRY BURST A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

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

I thought these colours were perfect for summer and the Just Us Girls Challenge this week, and I’m also linking up over at Time Out Challenges with ‘summer’ and ‘water’ as my chosen words - take a look at what I came up with:

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

I decided to use my Party Alphabet Dies to create a punny sentiment as the focal point of my card. I added some water stencilling to the letters before adding some diecut foam from the Rolling Waves bundle (I did both of these steps before I diecut the letters) then layered some fun leaves, shells and umbrellas using the other dies in the Rolling Waves bundle to add a little extra summery feel:

I thought this was a fun way to create a ‘sea card with a difference’ - what do you think? 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 later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	ROLLING WAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	WATER & DOTTED LINES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DECORATIVE MASKS (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	LINEN THREAD (£5.75)
LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
STRAWBERRY SLUSH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. The lovely Rachel is hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge: 

She has asked that we use a simple tag shape with an overlaid sentiment on a square card base. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I'm also playing along over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'critter' and I'm featuring a pair of them on today's card:

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

 I added this cute little bug from the Cute As A Bug designer series paper to my tag, grounding her with a little shading and added a sweet bee delivering a flower to her directly to my cardbase:

A simple sentiment from 'Meant To Bee' completes my card - cute as can bee, right?

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! colour 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'!

Today I've a quick post to share a card for the current challenges over at Color Hues and AAA Cards:

I thought the previous AAA Cards layout would be perfect for a collection of summery bits (I went with the options summer/sun/beach) and pieces from the Splash & Relax bundle and those colours were the perfect way to showcase them - take a look:

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

I went with a combination of inflatable rubber ring, a drinks container and some cool pink shades, all with a watery stencilled background to add to the summer pool vibe:

A suitable sentiment from the same set completes my clean and simple card - fun in the sun anyone?

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: 

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)	WATER & DOTTED LINES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DECORATIVE MASKS (£20.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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

It's Father's Day here in the UK in a few weeks time, so Stef's challenge provided the perfect opportunity for me to get my cards ready. I had a few to make, but thought I'd share the funniest one with you! Take a look at my card:

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

This card was a labour of love - in more ways than one! The James Junior had seen something similar on one of his socials (I'm afraid I was unable to trace it to give credit - but thank you, whoever you are!) and promptly screenshot it and asked me to make one for the hubs for Father's Day in a couple of week's time. It features a bunch of retired stamp sets: Skinny Mini Alphabet, Make A Difference and others and pretty much speaks for itself! I stamped the question first, followed by the house and present, then painstakingly created the phrases in between.

It was a bit of a squeeze (in truth, I wish I'd stamped the question a little higher to leave more of a gap in between, but there we are). Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and the fact that my son laughed like a drain when he saw it means that lining up all those alphabet stamps was indeed worthwhile! Good job his Dad has a sense of humour, that's all I can say!

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 soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!