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 a timely theme for this week's clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Signs of winter! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, we are currently in the depths of winter with freezing temperatures, changeable weather (we've had torrential rain, dark cloudy days, bright sunshine and even a few days of snow during January) and more besides. So this week's challenge is all about those things that let you know the season of winter is here: I'm thinking snow, scarves, hats and mittens, warming hot chocolate after a winter walk, outdoor activities typical of the season - but specifically not Christmas!  And remember, it's clean and simple week so keep your creations simple, with lots of white space and minimal layers and embellishments. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!

I have mixed views about snow, but must confess to loving a good downfall that leaves everything crisp and white and allows for us to get outside and enjoy things that aren't possible without it. One of my favourite things to do when I myself was much younger, and when the James Juniors were little, was to go tobogganing. So I dug out an old favourite retired stamp set, Freezin' Fun, and paired it with the retired embossing folder, Softly Falling, for a trip down memory lane  - take a look:

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

My little racoon is sledging his heart out down a slope of snowy white velvet paper, against a snowy embossed sky and clearly having the time of his life! I coloured him with Blends and diecut him with co-ordinating framelits for a little extra lift:

I paired him with another of his pals on the inside of the card:

A simple notecard to send winter wishes and a reminder that winter doesn't have to be about hibernating indoors during the winter season - if the sun is shining, wrap up warm and go out and have fun! I'm also linking today's card up over at Just Add Ink where they are asking us to 'Just Add Something Seasonal' and if snow isn't your thing, these lovely ladies are all based in the southern hemisphere so their blogs are much warmer and showcasing everything that is good about summer, so do check them out if you'd like to warm up!

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 spent yesterday at Bletchley Park, learning all about the World War II codebreakers, which was fascinating and attending an exhibition about the future of AI. Bletchley Park isn't that far from where I live but I'd never visited; so interesting, I love discovering treasures in my own backyard. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALL SEASON VELVET 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£11.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

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

I hope you all had new craft supplies from Santa because this week's challenge will give you the perfect opportunity to use them! I couldn't wait to break into a new suite that I picked up just before Christmas that I have still yet to open, so I grabbed the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

My newest and until now unopened purchase was of the Lovely Blossoms suite, part of the latest Online Exclusives release, and today's card showcases the Lovely Blossoms designer series papers, with a slight nod to the Lovely Arrangements bundle by way of sentiment and label. The Lovely Blossoms papers, featuring blues, greens, peaches and neutral are just lovely. On today's card I used two of the patterns to create my base, diecutting the edge of one with my retired Basic Border Die to get a curved edge, and overlaid this with a flower stem that I fussy cut from one of the sheets that is made up of lots of individual card front designs. It compliments the busy background florals and is perfect for the sketch:

A simple sentiment and a trio of Secret Sea flat pearls complete my card. I really like this suite and can't wait to make more with it! I'm also linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create for their 'something new' challenge.

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 Fill In The Blank Challenge you must complete the sentence and relate it to your entry.
• 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:

LOVELY BLOSSOMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses all of the colours on Color Dare's spring palette - they were so pretty together I couldn't stop at 3! -  and is perfect for Festive Friday's current challenge celebrating National Tulip Day (I chose yellow, orange and tulips from the board):

Today's card is full of the joys of spring in more ways than one - take a look:

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

Sunshine and Tulips Coverplate - Today's card features one of my favourite things in the new spring Stampin' Up! mini catalogue: the Sunshine & Tulips Dies and specifically the coverplate die. I love it when a die can be used as the basis for a cardfront and this one is actually quite versatile. |There are lots of ways to layer the flowers and the leaves stand up for a little extra dimension too. For today's card I cut the coverplate in Blamy Blue, then diecut the flower leaves in Shy Shamrock and clued them to the diecut base. I backed each of the flower heads in one of the three other challenge colours to create my tulips, but you could equally stamp them or inlay a solid die piece  - how you layer is really up to you. Once I'd glued the solid pieces of cardstock behind, I added the detail diecut into the aperture to give each flower more petal definition and detail. 

Two-Tone Colour - I used one of my favourite tricks to achieve the darker toned colour for each of my tulip detail outlines: I coloured my cardstock with the dark Blend marker of the same colour to give a tone-on-tone effect. You could equally use both sides of two-tone cardstock if you prefer.  

Sweet Sentiment - My card features a great label, also included in the die set, and a sweet sentiment from the co-ordinating stamp set:

I also added some ribbon tied with twine that picked up on the fresh colours of the flowers. I did look for some gingham ribbon, but alas I didn't have one in the right colours. Still pretty though, 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SUNSHINE & TULIPS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SHY SHAMROCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	PEACH PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PEACH PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a quick card using Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Amy's sketch is actually perfect for one of my forthcoming Design Team commitments, which I will share with you in due course, but obviously not in time to play along over at Freshly Made Sketches. It's also great to showcase/use up some designer paper, so I decided I would create another card pairing a little 'old and new' for a quick card so that I could play along, so along with some retired From The Heart designer paper that features 3 of the colours on the Color Dare palette I set to work - take a look:

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

I wanted to play with the new-to-me online exclusive sentiment bundle, Words of Beauty, and take a look at how the diecut sentiments layer. There are three dies for both the words 'just' and 'because' and I thought one might fit the stamped word (which it does) and the other two create a layered diecut; in actual fact you can use all three to layer for a bold sentiment as you can see more closely below:

I heat-embossed the remainder of the sentiment onto my Real Red card base, added a trio of sparkly gems and voila - I sweet card to send to someone I love!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WORDS OF BEAUTY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for our first challenge of the new year over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week. We are starting back with a colour challenge and she has a wintry colour combination for us to work with:

I toyed with using these colours with some florals, but the snowflakes falling outside of my craft room window this week pulled me in a completely different direction. I grabbed the sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and decided to embrace the glittery theme over at Time Out (where I'm happy to announce that my PP teamie, Jaydee, has just joined the design team - hurrah!) and play with some much-loved retired dies for a snowflake-filled card - take a look:

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

Giving Gifts Snowflakes - I started my card by cutting a snowflake-patterned aperture into my cardfront and blending Night of Navy and Misty Moonlight inks onto my card base behind. I overlaid this with a strip of dark blue ombre glimmer paper.

Snowfall Thinlits - The star of today's card is the vertical swirl of glittery snowflakes cut using the retired Snowfall Framelits, which I popped up on dimensionals - I love the shape of this diecut and the silver glimmer paper adds so much sparkle! I also added a few smaller snowflakes and some clear rhinestones for a little extra shimmer and shine.

Let It Snow - To finish, I added my sentiment from the retired 'Sophisticated Sled' stamp set, fussy cutting the word snow and heat-embossing in silver to tie in with the overall design: 

A simple design with lots of sparkle. We've had two snowfalls in my part of the world this week, much less than in some parts of the UK and both of which have washed away now. We quite possibly haven't seen the last of the snow yet though - I will keep you posted!

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: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

Happy weekend everyone! I've had a few blog problems since Tuesday's updates, but fingers crossed they've now been resolved. On the upside, I have a few makes ready to share. Today I have a card for the current challenge over at Color Hues:

I decided the red and grey colour palette would make for a festive Christmas card and took the opportunity to have another go at colouring my sweet Bundle Girl from Stamping Bella, sending another Letter To Santa  - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

The red and grey colours were perfect for my postbox, with a cardinal looking on as my little bundle girl reached up to post her letter. Once coloured, I fussy cut my image then popped it up onto an embossed snowy background:

A touch of Wink of Stella on my embossed snowflakes and a pop of red from my sentiment banner complete my card. There is something so theraputic about colouring a single image, where you can really concentrate on blending your colours and achieving a realistic looking finish. I love 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; it's certainly still cold enough for snow here, although there's none forecast today. Perfect soup making weather though - I am making spiced squash soup this afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with my project for our first challenge of the year with The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM LIGHT COMBO PACK (£10.25)

There's lots going on in the world of Stampin' Up! so this is a round-up of all today sees the launch of the new January-April 2026 mini catalogue - full of gorgeous new products:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

There are new Online exclusives available in the online store today too! The following images show just some of the items available:

Click here to download the full list or here to see them in the online store.

This month also sees a Bonus Days promotion:

When you shop between 6 January and 2 February and spend £45, you will earn a £4.50 coupon to spend in February!

We also have a new Product of The Month for January:

The Fabulous Sayings stamp set can be yours for just £5 with a purchase of £70 or more.

Finally, three new kits are being introduced this month, the first of which, Butterfly Garden, has been added to the online store today:

The remaining two kits, Adopt A Pet and Lots to Love, are delayed and will be added to the online store when available.

A reminder that the Virtual Card Retreat will take place between 22-24 January:

You can purchase your kit and register here.

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back soon with a creative post that uses some exciting new product! Until then, happy shopping!

Happy New Year everyone! Did you miss me? I've enjoyed an extended blog break over the Christmas and new year period, hosting guests and enjoying time relaxing with friends and family, which has been lovely. I'm back to it now though - normal blog services have officially resumed! As it's Tuesday, it's time for our first challenge of 2026 over at CAS Colours & Sketches. The lovely Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I was so tempted to use these rich colours for a Christmas card, but I resisted and instead decided to pair them with some new product that is all about spring - because on mini catalogue launch day, you really want to see some new product, right? 

Here's today's super clean and simple card featuring a new stamp that you can find in the January-April mini catalogue:

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

My card features a sentiment and some florals from the new 'Sunshine & Tulips' stamp set, but I'll confess now - I bought this bundle for the fab coverplate die that goes with it, which I'll be back to share with you soon, so I wouldn't advise you to purchase one without the other! Anyhow, this sweet row of tulips pairs perfectly with one of the sentiments in the set for a pick-me-up card for anyone feeling a little down with the January blues - we are already past the shortest day, so things are looking up and today's card is a reminder of that.

Whilst this card looks deceptively simple - just a row of tulips and a sentiment, right? - I would warn you it's quite tricky to get a good result. How do I know? The card you see below was my fifth attempt! Why? Well, that row of tulips is a single stamp and as it's photopolymer, it's tricky to ink evenly using Stampin' Write markers. The only way to get a clean image is to use a stamping platform and carefully mask off both the tulip heads and leaves/stems in turn using removable low-tack tape (trickier than it sounds given their relative positioning). Definitely worth it though as the tulips do look lovely in two colours:

As an added bonus, once you have the stamp mounted and you've created the masks, it's easy to add a two-tone row of tulips to your envelope too for a little CAS co-ordination.

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. 

Who would you send this sweet pick-me-up to? Do let me know in the comments - I'd love you to share your thoughts.

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 later with all of today's new catalogue launch news and if I get all of my other jobs done another project tomorrow too. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SUNSHINE & TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

BASIC WHITE NOTE CARDS & ENVELOPES (£9.50)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for our final challenge of the year, a colour challenge set by our erstwhile teamie Jane:

I decided that I wanted to make a Christmas card featuring the Branching Out bundle that has been sat on my desk for ages, waiting to be used - and it's already on the Last Chance List! Take a look:

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

I had a layout in mind for my card, but when I saw a card using the Branching Out bundle by Jay Soriano, one of the UK Artisans, shared in our private demonstrator Facebook group earlier this week I changed my mind and decided to CASE his layout, but adding my own twist using our challenge colours. My base DSP was a piece of retired Brightly Gleaming specialty paper with a beautiful gold embossed design and you basically cut a slit into it before gluing to the base, so that you can slide the labels into it before gluing down. A slit is also added to the uppermost layer of the label above the stamped sentiment - this slit is the home for the various pieces of diecut greenery, berries and pinecones:

I added sparkly gold enamel dots for my berries for a touch of festive sparkle, along with some retired gold ribbon tied with Night of navy twine. I always cut more greenery than I need when making this type of card - perfect to decorate the inside:

I really like this layout and can see me using it with other sets too. I have finally posted all of my Christmas cards for the year, but I can't promise that I'm done with making them; it's always good to get a head start on next year, 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. 

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.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• 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.

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BRANCHING OUT BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PECAN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	OPAL ROUNDS ASSORTMENT (£8.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)

From 10-12 December, there will be free shipping on all orders of £60 or more! Details as follows:

• All order types qualify for this promotion.
• Free shipping is for three days only. Orders must be opened and closed during 10–12 December.
• Free shipping automatically applies to your basket after the qualifying amount has been met, which is 75 € | £60 (before shipping and handling).
• Coupon codes and product credits are non-commissionable and will lower your order’s retail amount. Orders must meet the qualifying amount to be eligible for free shipping.
• The additional cost for expedited shipping is not covered by this promotion.
• Due to the high volume of orders and the Christmas season, the distribution centre may fall behind our typical shipping timeframes. We will do all we can to return to our regular service levels as quickly as possible. Any orders placed during this promotion are not guaranteed to arrive before or by 24 December. If you need an order by Christmas, consider expedited shipping.

Due to the time difference, this promotion will start on 9 December at 11:00 p.m., for Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Click here to go straight to the online store - happy shopping!