We are in our second and final month of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: you all know that this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion will end on 28th February and in addition to hosting and joining benefits (you can read about those here) you also earn a free product for every £55/110 spend - you can see the existing items here.

Good news: from now until the 28th February, there are more reasons to celebrate! You will also be able to choose from the catalogue items below (you must use the special code as detailed as opposed to the usual item code to get one of these items free with a £55/110 spend):

Boy are there some great additional items available! Two new stamp sets from the mini catalogue and two fantastic sets of dies: Trusty Tools and Alphabet A La Mode. 

Remember, you need to use the special Sale-A-Bration item code for each product - these are different to the standard product codes for these items, which are still available to purchase in the annual and/or mini catalogues. If you have your eye on these or any of the other Sale-A-Bration items, do bear in mind that they will only be available whilst stocks last - it is possible that they could run out before the end of the promotion, so don't leave it too late to place your order. 

We also have 2 new kits available as part of the Kits Collection in the online store too:

So much To Celebrate Kit

The So Much To Celebrate kit costs £14.

Heirloom Arrangements Kit

Finally - the Clearance Rack has updated with reductions on last chance products too, so what are you waiting for? Check them out and grab a bargain!

I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy shopping!

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

Whilst I love this week's trio of colours, I struggled to make them work together. I tried big and bold but ultimately settled on using each sparingly for a pop of CAS colour - take a look:

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

One More Year - I do love a funny card, so as soon as I saw the 'One More Year' stamp set I knew I'd have to add it to my collection. Fun images and quirky sentiments, what's not to love? I used the pug on my birthday card today and used the challenge colours for the pup's tongue and party hat with a touch of neutrals for the dog himself:

Centre Focus - The team over at Addicted To CAS currently have 'centre focus' as their theme and my birthday pug was just perfect for a single image to create a central focal point. There's something about his comical expression that just draws you in I think. I'm also linking up over at Inspire Create Challenges where the theme is clean and simple - right in my wheelhouse.

Birthday Fun - The 'One More Year' stamp set is full of fun, quirky sentiments - the one on the front of today's card pairs with this one on the inside:

I used Stampin' Blends to colour my pup, but Stampin' Write markers to colour my sentiment in a combination of Summer Splash and Basic Black; selective inking and a quick huff on the stamp to moisten it before you stamp, this is an easy effect to create. Use a stamping platform too to make alignment easy. Now to decide who to send my quirky pup to!

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'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SUMMER SPLASH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (17.50)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm starting the week with a card that I made when crafting up a storm last week that I had hoped to share but never got round to. It used the current Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch for the layout - I love things in threes!

I could have gone so many ways with this one and I was very tempted to dig out 'Bee My Valentine' as I haven't used any bees in a while, but instead I decided to use up some scraps of one of my favourite Online Exclusives sets instead - take a look:

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

I had lots of scraps of A Little Latte designer series paper in my stash, so used two strips of the coffee art pattern for the border edges and a trio of cups that I'd already cut from another sheet of the paper, which I overlaid onto some stamped splatters and coffee rings. A simple thank you sentiment stamped on the vertical finishes my card:

The Latte Love Suite is one of the Online Exclusives suites that is on the last chance list so if a morning coffee is your thing, you can still snap up the stamp set for the bargain price of £7.60 but you'll need to be quick! Since making my card the designer series paper has sold out and the dies have gone 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. 

I have a short day today since the youngest of the James Juniors is on early pick up and I've blog posts to prep for later this week, so I'd better crack on! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LATTE LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (7.60)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (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 a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

With Valentine's Day just around the corner (it's my wedding anniversary this month too!) there's lots of reasons to make a love-themed card. I actually went in a completely different direction for today's card - although it definitely still fits in with our theme this week. I had been wanting to 'scratch a creative itch' to create something using a couple of my Sale-A-Bration stamp sets; take a look at my card and then I'll explain! Here's my card:

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

Stretching Documenting The Day - There's a great stamp set that can be yours free with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion: it's called 'Documenting The Day' and is designed primarily with scrapbooking in mind. With several phrases that allow you to build beautiful sentiments around memorable days, the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set is perfect for providing the narrative and accents to your scrapbooking pages. Each of the phrases includes the word 'DAY' in block capitals - see below:

For me, this is where the additional potential of this set comes in. Those letters can be rearranged to make 'DAD' or 'DADDY' too, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities! You could simply snip the letters (shock horror!) of the stamp apart for additional flexibility, or if like me this is something you can't ever bring yourself to do, you can use your stamping platform and some selective inking and masking of the letters to achieve the same effect. Using the stamping platform also allows you to stamp the letters again if necessary to get a nice, solid image. I stamped my word DADDY in Night of Navy onto Basic White cardstock and fussy cut around it to keep the word in one piece. I used a slimline card base to accommodate and allow enough of my background to show around the stamped word. Again, you could stamp and cut the letters out individually to make this step easier (although I don't think it would look as good!)

Friendly Seagulls - The background to my card is a mix of hearts from the 'Documenting The Day' set above and cartons of chips from another Sale-A-Bration stamp set - this time 'Friendly Seagulls'. I also used this stamp set to complete the sentiment on my card, which you can see more closely on the photo below:

I also added another heart and a chip-loving seagull to the inside of my card for a little extra decoration:

Inspired By - So some of my international readers in particular may be wondering where the inspiration for today's card came from. The minute I had both of these stamp sets in my possession, I was reminded of a much-loved advert that was played many times on commercial TV here in the UK in my younger years. I could explain it, but instead I actually found it on YouTube and have included the link below for your viewing pleasure! If you watch it, you will completely understand how it inspired today's card:

This is a real moment of 90's nostalgia for me; I was already in my teens when this advert was being aired on the TV, but there is something about that little Welsh girl that reminds me of my (much) younger self! So the moral of today's post is  - love can be found in the simplest things - including Daddy or chips! For for me it was creating today's card! I'm also playing along at Time Out Challenges where they have a 'Pick Two' challenge - I actually used three things from their list: Food (chips), Heart (background and behind sentiment) and Love (sentiment) and at TGIF Challenges where the theme is Sale-A-Bration:

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane; 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. 

Have either of these stamp sets made it into your Sale-A-Bration shopping basket yet? We still have one month of this year's promotion to go, so there's still time! I have lots of other ideas using both of these sets that I've still to share with you this month, so be sure to pop back for additional inspiration.

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 having a quiet one at home, filled with cooking and crafting and maybe a movie or two! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Hi everyone - it's Tuesday already! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the layout over at Sunday Stamps and the fab colour combination at Color Hues:

I thought these colours would be perfect for a cute dinosaur card so I broke out another new stamp set and set to work - take a look:

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

Darling Dinos - Ok, confession time! Did I 'need' a dinosaur set? No. Do I have children or grandchildren who are into dinosaurs? No, those days are long gone and still to come respectively. So why did I but this set? I just couldn't resist the variety of cute dinos and their collection of accessories - so, so many creative possibilities! I love that the sentiments in this set can be customised too - I mean, ROAR can mean almost anything, right? 

Blended Colour - I coloured my sweet dinosaur using Night of Navy and (retired) Parakeet Party Stampin' Blends. It was tricky to get the depth of colour with the Night of Navy, but if you're a novice at colouring, this is a great set to get started with as you can really focus on a relatively small image and make lots of different versions in the name of practice too.  

Spotlight on Nature - I used one of the Spotlight on Nature circle dies for my sentiment - I love the border detail on these dies. There are three different ones in the set and I think this one is my favourite. I backed my circle with a couple of banners cut from some retired DSP that featured botanical leaves for a jungle feel and a trio of sparkly lime green dots from my stash:

I just love this fun dinosaur set; I actually have the fun mug below in my day-to-day collection (it's by the excellent Rosie Made A Thing - if you're a woman of a certain age like me, you should definitely check out her website - hilarious!)

So on the basis that grown ups secretly still love dinosaurs too, I shall use this stamp set with abandon!

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:

DARLING DINOS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (5.25)

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 us to work with:

I designed my layout with a few layers and a focal sentiment; there's lots of scope for interpretation. I decided to keep my card really simple as I wanted to play with some of the new items in the Floral Delight Suite - take a look:

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

Floral Delight - First up, I used a piece of the Floral Delight designer series paper to cover the whole of my card base. The yellow and blue designs in this paper pack are so cheery and reminiscent of spring - so pretty! I chose a pale blue design covered in bold, bright yellow flowers and kept the rest of my card pretty simple so that it really allowed these florals to shine.

Delightful Wishes - For my focal sentiment, I combined the stamps and dies from the Delightful Wishes bundle, focusing on the layered diecut for the word 'wishing' as my centrepiece:

The sentiments in this set are great and the die can be combined with the stamped elements to create several different greetings. I added them to an elongated rectangle cut with the Nested Essentials Dies, with a couple of flagged banners beneath. I also added a couple of the tiny bee trinkets too - so sweet!

Inside Stamping - There is minimal stamping on the front of my card, so I thought I would use some of the other stamps in the set to decorate the inside:

This stamped flower spray is a two-step stamp and was really easy to line up, adding in the twigs and leaves after the blossoms. I made this card as a get well card for a friend who has recently been a little under the weather; I hope she likes 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 spending mine indoors keeping warm and doing a little cooking and crafting, no big plans. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made using Amy's sketch layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and has a little stencil detail for Just Us Girls:

This is a great layout to showcase some designer series paper, so whilst I had my new pack of Floral Delight designer series paper out on my desk for tomorrow's card (spoiler alert!), I decided to make a second card featuring another of the bold floral patterns in the pack - take a look:

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

I chose a design with large yellow blooms on a white background and used a whole panel of it. On the right hand side of my central panel, I lightly stencilled some Pool Party ink through a stencil made with one of the Delightful Wishes Dies and added another flower, this time fussy cut from another piece of this paper. Then I added a layered diecut and sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Delightful Wishes' bundle, adding a single tiny bee trinket embellishment to finish:

 How cute is that? I love this Floral Delight Suite - the bright yellows, white and pale blue colour combination is totally in my wheelhouse and I can't wait to get more creative with this set.

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:

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

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

I actually found this an easy one! I am often guilty of buying the fabulous kits that Stampin' Up! sells - then not finding the time to make them up! I love the idea of quick crafting and will often take a kit in my bag for a spot of 'crafting on the go' but rarely make time to make one up 'just for fun'. So I decided to start as I mean to go on and reached for the Rainbow Celebration card kit that I actually received FREE as part of our current Sale-A-Bration promotion and set to work. This card makes 6 cards, two each of three designs. Here's a shot showing all three designs:

The cards themselves are rainbow shaped and come with coordinating printed envelopes too. This is a no-stamping kit: the card bases are pre-printed and each of the designs requires the addition of a spotted rainbow band, some diecut clouds and two sentiment labels. All you have to do is sort the pieces and pair with the respective bases, then add the provided foam dimensionals to each of the pieces as per the instructions and then build the card. Here's a close-up of each of the designs in turn:

Here's the second one:

 And finally, the third design:

The cards are great for birthdays and to send someone congratulations - they took less than 10 minutes to put together and best of all the kit can be yours for FREE with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - bonus! If that's not a reason to fall in love with kits, I don't know what is!

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

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 Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• 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.

So how will you fill in the blank? What crafting habits are you looking to adopt in 2025? Do let me know in a comment below or better still, share with us over on the challenge page. We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Right, I'm off to make up two more kits that I've yet to break the seal on - the Perpetual Beauty Calendar and Nature's Beauty Watercolour Kit are calling my name! To view the full range of Stampin' Up! kits in the online store, click here. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we feature a torn corner on our cards:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

I couldn't wait to use today's sketch to feature a shoreline and one of the fun seagulls from the new 'Terrific Seagulls' stamp set - take a look: 

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

So Swirly Sea - I used my So Swirly embossing folder to add some texture to my sea; the new Soft Waves 3D embossing folder would work perfectly too (but I don't have that in my collection - yet!) I then tore a piece of basic white for my sea 'foam' and painted it liberally with my clear Wink of Stella for some added sparkle and shine:

Friendly Seagulls - This is my first card that I've made with the 'Friendly Seagulls' set, but I have loads more to share with you - I just love this set! Great for cards and scrapbooking alike, quirky seagulls, shells, fish and chips and cute sentiments, I have so many great ideas for this set! I stamped some tone-on-tone pebbles onto my Basic Beige card base, then coloured and fussy cut one of the gulls to paddle at the shoreline. I added another of the seagulls in the set to the inside of my card too:

Another fabulous FREE gift that can be yours with a £55 purchase during Sale-A-Bration - does this set make it into your shopping basket? 

Finally A Confession - Finally, one last confession - it was only when I typed up my post that I realised that I put my sentiment in a different place to Rachel's sketch - hopefully she will forgive me!

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:

SO SWIRLY EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

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

I decided to focus on one stamp set and two colours, courtesy of Color Dare, and create a clean and simple card with something of a collage feel - take a look:

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

Stamped With Love - I used the largest Perennial postage die to cut my mat and I couldn't not use the 'Stamped With Love' stamp set this week - the postbox was just perfect for this week's theme! I heat-embossed the post box onto Real Red cardstock and paper-pieced the letter and separately stamped the letter and pen before adding my sentiment. 

Top Tip - I have a great tip when you are fussy-cutting images without a white border, as I've done today: if you run the edge of a Stampin' Write marker around the cut edge, it will give you a lovely solid black line and disguise any less than perfect cutting. you're welcome :-)

A Hint of Pink - To balance the red of my postbox and diecut heart, I stencilled a pale pink heart using a stencil I made using the Friends For Life dies and added a stamped heart to the back of the postbox letter. I finished the rather quirky sentiment on the inside of my card and added another couple of pink hearts to decorate:

This rather understated love note will be perfect for the youngest of the James Juniors, who will appreciate the sentiment. My layering may be stretching the bounds of clean and simple slightly this week, but I tried to balance my collage-style design with plenty of surrounding white space and no embellishments. 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'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STAMPED WITH LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE DIES (ENGLISH) (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)