It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host and the lovely Amy Ottmers is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the current sketch over at Fab Friday and went with the top line of the board - Diecut, CAS, Purple - take a look:

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

Best Dressed - This Purple Posy floral paper from the Best Dressed DSP pack was the starting point that inspired my whole card today. So soft and pretty, with a delicate ombre effect I couldn't resist using a whole panel on my card.

So Sentimental - I used a simple thank you sentiment from the So Sentimental stamp set, masked off and inked in a combination of Highland Heather and Basic Grey and cut out using the co-ordinating Stitched So Sweetly Dies. This label is one of 4 in the set, along with the stitched scalloped rectangles that I showcased previously on this card.

A Pop of Colour - I fussy cut a flower from one of the other patterns of paper in the Best Dressed pack to embellish my sentiment with and picked out the colours of the flower centre and leaves to use for the banners behind my sentiment for a little added pop of colour.

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. 

I love this sketch and think I'll be using it again! What about the board though? A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; the weather here is still wet and grey, so following indoor climbing yesterday the Juniors are breaking up their mock exam revision with indoor roller skating this afternoon - I will be watching safely from the sidelines! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

So Sentimental Bundle (English) (£45.00)	Best Dressed 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Purple Posy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing a card inspired by the photo over at Paper Craft Crew and the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

When I saw that inspiration photo of bright red spring blooms, I thought it was time to reach for an old favourite from the annual catalogue that I haven't used for a while - take a look:

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

I used my Varied Vases stamp set and co-ordinating Vases Builder Punch to stamp and punch out a pretty vase of bright red Poppy Parade tulips and fussy cut a shelf to sit them on. I added a scallop edge detail using the decorative ribbon border punch and balanced this with a couple of Granny Apple Green strips as per the sketch. I set the whole thing against a calming soft Sea Foam card base.

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:

Varied Vases Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Vases Builder Punch (£17.00)	Decorative Ribbon Border Punch (£15.00)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Happy Monday everyone! The James Juniors are off on their half-term break from school this week so we have a week of revision, piano practice, those boring errands that are saved for a week off and fun in equal measure; this week's blog posts may therefore be a little short! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the current colours over at Color Throwdown:

I decided they would be perfect to ink up one of the little fairies from the New Wonders hostess set from the annual catalogue - take a look:

I stamped the image twice on Basic Grey, then on the bottom layer I sponged the leaves with Old Oliver ink before colouring them with my Blends alcohol markers. For the second image, I cut away the corner, coloured the rest of the image with my Blends, added a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to her fairy wings and popped it up on dimensionals. I popped the whole thing on a Highland Heather card base.

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. 

We were fortunate to enjoy a quiet weekend indoors and caught up on some movies that we have been wanting to watch: The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas and Toy Story 4. Both so different, yet both equally good in their own right and I would definitely recommend them. We are off to the opticians today amongst other things so will have to brave the elements - wish me luck! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

New Wonders Cling Stamp Set (£12.50)	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Purple Posy Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Petal Pink Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£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 you to work with:

I needed some anniversary cards for my Stampin’ Up! downline team so armed with this week’s TGIF Challenge sketch (which would make a great scrapbook layout too) and some new stamps I set to work - take a look:

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

Hoot Hoot Hooray - The sweet little owl that is the star of today’s card comes from one of the stamp sets in the ‘Experience Creativity’ brochure. Designed with beginners in mind, this is a stamp set that is super easy to use: stamp, colour and go! I bought this set just for the owl - my team are called the Hoots and I just couldn’t resist this owl and sentiment perfect for team celebrations - but it contains a good mix of all-occasion stamps which make it useful if you’re just starting out.

Dazzling Demonstrators - I stamped the inside of my card with a demonstrator-only stamp set, along with some stars to continue the theme of the outside:

Whilst my card is designed to celebrate the demonstrators that are on my team and how long they have been with Stampin’ Up!, you could just as easily swap out the inside greeting for a birthday one and use the card to celebrate a child’s birthday.

A Family Party - On the base of my card front, I used a number corresponding to the appropriate anniversary year and the star stamp from the ‘Family Party’ stamp set to create a tone-on-tone pattern, stamping each full strength and for a second time before re-inking to create a random pattern with a little depth. I have quite a number of Stampin’ Anniversaries to celebrate in coming months - Sale-A-Bration is a popular time to join so it also means lots of anniversaries too - so I created a whole bunch of these for up and coming celebrations, in a rainbow of bright colours - here‘s the whole collection:

This is a great CAS design that made it easy for me to create multiples with each one being slightly different but all with a common theme. I can’t wait to get these in the post to my various team members and add a little colour to their day. Sale-A-Bration is a great time to join Stampin’ Up! and the earlier you do it, the longer you can benefit from your product discount before you even need to meet your first quarterly minimum. If you would like to know more about the benefits of joining, then do get in touch with me and I will happily explain in more detail. Alternatively just go for it, you really have nothing to lose - click here to make it happen.

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:

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; I'll be hunkering down with the rest of the James clan avoiding Storm Dennis and hoping he leaves less destruction in his wake than last week’s storm Ciara. On the upside, our new fence is rock solid and I think could withstand nuclear attack! I’ll  back tomorrow with another project. Until then keep warm and enjoy your weeken. Happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Hoot Hoot Hooray Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Family Party Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pumpkin Pie Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Brights A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Brights Classic Stampin' Pad Assortment (£63.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

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

My card today is all about the bees - take a look and you'll see what I mean:

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

Shake It Up - Try as I might, I couldn't get past the fact that the shape on today's sketch looked like a beehive, so in the end I decided to roll with it and make a shaker card, because a shaker card is always fun, right? I stamped my beehive in Mango Melody then used this as the base for my beehive. I did take a little liberty with the sketch, in as much as I 'moved' my sentiment and used the one from the Honey Bee stamp set that fits around the curve of the beehive rather than place it bottom right on my card, as I wanted to use the big bee diecut and there wasn't really room for a sentiment too.  

It's In The Detail - The Detailed Bee Dies really make this card easy: I used them to cut out my beehive window, along with a couple of stamped bees and a pair of the teeny tiny hearts in this set too - well, today is Valentine's Day after all! I then cut out two of the honeycomb pieces, one in Daffodil Delight and one in Mango Melody, and cut them apart to create two honeycomb strips to mimic the banners of the sketch. I also used some retired gold flakes that are honeycomb shaped; along with the clear Wink of Stella on the bee's wings, this gives my shaker a nice sparkle. Here's a close up so that you can see it in all its glorious sparkly detail: 

A Bee Bonanza - Lastly, to my background paper. I resisted the urge to use the gorgeous Golden Honey Specialty DSP that is one of the current free Sale-A-Bration gifts and based the whole colour scheme for today's card on the bright stripes found in the Birthday Bonanza designer series paper pack. This paper is designed to co-ordinate with the 'Bonanza Buddies' birthday set featuring the cute animals, but this is a great example of how the more neutral patterns in a paper pack can be used successfully with other sets 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. 

Before you put your creative thinking caps on, why not check out the blogs of the other As You See It team members:

Amy Jasper

Heather Cooper

Jan Clothier

Jane Knudsen

LeAnne Pugliese

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product. 

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Enjoy your day - do you have special Valentine's Day plans? There are Valentine's themed Friday treats for the James Juniors when I collect them from school today and I'm sending cards to everyone of course; so far I am at a ratio of cards sent 3: cards received 0 - no surprise there then!! Otherwise today is much the same as any other in the James household. Do let me know if you are being wined and dined and experiencing a day filled with romance, hearts and flowers - and above all, enjoy it! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Honey Bee Bundle (£38.50)	Birthday Bonanza Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Window Sheets (£4.75)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Mango Melody A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that packs a colourful punch yet uses only 5 products and was really quick to make. I used the current layout over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

My card features 3 products from the Tropical Oasis suite in the Spring-Summer mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Tropical Oasis - Today's card really is super simple. It all started with a piece of the Tropical Oasis designer series paper. With lush foliage and colourful tropical flowers, this pretty paper really pops against the Terracotta Tile card base. 

Memories & More - For my sentiment, I chose a Memories & More card that co-ordinated with the DSP and fussy cut it to size to be in proportion with my card. These cards are so useful for quick cards as well as memory keeping. 

Coastal Weave Texture - I added texture to my card base using my Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder which is also part of the Tropical Oasis Suite. 

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:

Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (£10.25)

Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder (£8.25)

Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Terracotta Tile A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

I have a super quick post today as I have had a Valentine's home decor class today and have a school music recital to attend this evening, so I need to quickly squeeze in a couple of cards I made over the weekend using the gorgeous 'Little Ladybug' stamp set that is a free gift for anyone hosting a Stampin' Up! party with qualifying party sales. The first is for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Some simple stamping and Blends colouring with a sponged background and split sentiment, highlighting the word FLY:

 The second is for the current challenge over at Less Is More where the challenge is 'tiny and few':

This seemed perfect for that itty-bitty row of ladybirds with a fun sentiment:

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

And for the super clean and simple card:

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 evening and I'll be back (earlier!) tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Little Ladybug Host Cling Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Basic Black Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Stitched Labels Dies (£31.00)

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

Ann's colours this week are perfect for Valentine's however armed with the 'blank slate' over at InspireCreate this week I decided to use a little of something old with a little of something new to create my card today - take a look:

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

Power of Hope - So first to my something new! The pagoda and sentiment on today's card are from one of the free Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, called 'Power of Hope'. This set has some lovely oriental images, including a chinese lantern and geisha girl. I used the pagoda and one of the uplifting sentiments in the set.

Embossed Stone - The Power of Hope stamp set is combined with the Stone 3D embossing folder as one of the bundles of items that you can receive free with a £90 (as opposed to £45) Sale-A-Bration purchase. I used it emboss my card base and create a textured frame for my stamped area although I think it will prove useful on other projects too.

Seasonal Layers - For my 'something old', I used my perennial favourite, the Seasonal Layers Thinlits to add a diecut cherry blossom branch to the front of my card. I added colour to the centres of the flowers using my Stampin' Blends markers and the co-ordinating Colourful Seasons stamp set, which I also used to add a touch of decoration to the inside of my card:

Whilst I haven't used them for a while, this stamp set and dies are one of the most used bundles in my collection. They really are so useful on so many projects, whatever the season. As for the Japan-influenced Power of Hope bundle, whilst I wouldn't ordinarily choose this style of stamp set, it's different to anything else I own and will I'm sure have its uses. Bottom line is it was free, so I'm most certainly not complaining! 

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:

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; one of the James Juniors is off to a paintballing party today (rather him than me!). The rest of us will be battoning down the hatches and staying indoors away from the stormy winds that are expected in the UK today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project (or two!). Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Power Of Hope Bundle (£0.00)	Seasonal Layers Dies (£31.00)	Colorful Seasons Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I have some exciting news - the TicTacToe Challenge is being refreshed and relaunched and I am going to be one of the new designers! This is a fun weekly challenge that features a different TicTacToe board each week. There are two teams, team X and Team O, and each team will host alternate weeks with one of the team members being the featured designer each week. I will be part of Team X and we will be posting alternate weeks, with the intention to play along in between when my Team O teamies are hosting. 

It's the turn of Team X to kick things off this week and the lovely Shannon Jamarillo is our featured designer with a spring-inspired board to get things rolling. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the current colour palette over at Fab Friday and took the top left to bottom right diagonal of flower-spring-twine to create a long and narrow card using some of the items I received free with the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Blooms - Thoughtful Blooms is one of those stamp sets that is great to have on hand for quick and easy cards and actually offers lots of creative options if florals are your thing; it also has a few useful sentiments too. You can easily build trailing flowers as I have or create single stemmed blooms and add leaves and decoration as desired. It's a great set for a beginner stamper as it's really easy to build patterns with and there is also the opportunity for a little two-step stamping of both petals and leaves, which is an easy way to add extra detail. I used this technique for my punched blooms, stamping first with the solid stamp in Melon mambo (I stamped off first to achieve a lighter pink) and then I then over-stamped with the petal outline stamp in Merry Merlot. I really like this colour combination together and isn't one I would have ordinarily tried, so thank you to the team at Fab Friday for encouraging me to change things up here! I added Melon Mambo glittered enamel dots to the centre of my flowers, because, well, why not? I love these for a quick pop of sparkle:

Another Freebie Too - The Small Bloom Punch is another Sale-A-Bration freebie and co-ordinates perfectly with those sweet little blooms, and makes it oh-so-easy to cut out those images and create a little extra dimension on your card. 

A Question of Colour - So to finish today, I thought I would ask for your views on a very important question! I originally planned to work with the bottom row of the tictactoe board, punch-blue-twine, and thought I had achieved this perfectly until I had a visit from one of the James Juniors as I had photographed and was admiring today's creation, who declared I had of course failed in my quest - Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay could most definitely NOT be considered blue, they were of course green! A lengthy debate ensued about where do shades of aqua or turquoise sit on the colour spectrum, with us all agreeing to disagree; so, what do you think - Bermuda Bay, blue or green? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I have an epic ever-growing to-do list so need to tick off some chores but will hopefully get to achieve some crafty things too and I might even make it to choir tonight - I definitely need the practice! I'll be back tomorrow in fine voice and with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Thoughtful Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)	Small Bloom Punch (£0.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)

I've had a super busy day today but I did manage to finally find time this evening to photograph a card I made last week for the current challenge over at Fusion so wanted to share that with you:

I took my inspiration from the sketch and the photo - albeit minus the cute critter! - with my green and yellow floral combination - take a look:

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

Lovely Lily Pad - I thought a couple of yellow lilies would be a fun way to incorporate both a yellow flower and the sketch, so I stamped them in Mango Melody onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and placed them to mirror each other behind the sentiment. All the better for being a FREE stamp set too - one that can be yours with any Stampin' Up! purchase of £45.

Lily Pad Dies - This card has lots of layers courtesy of the Lily Pad Dies, another Sale-A-Bration product that you can earn FREE, this time with a £90 purchase. So worth it though - check out the dimension on those layered petals and the lovely border die too:

A Silhouette Sentiment - I finished my card with a sentiment diecut from the Sweet Silhouettes Die set, in black for a contrast. I really like this sunny card; I made it especially to send to someone who inspires me every day so the sentiment really does say it all.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lovely Lily Pad Photopolymer Stamp Set (£0.00)	Lily Pad Dies (£0.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Sweet Silhouettes Dies (£33.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Garden Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mango Melody A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper (£10.75)