Happy Valentine's Day everyone! No hearts here today! The ladies over at Less Is More are celebrating the challenge's 8th birthday (wowsers!) and riding high on the delight at having been chosen as last month's LIM winner (you can see that card here if you missed it) I am blogging my entry for the current challenge which is a colour one:

 Navy and yellow is a classic colour combination for me so I went for something bright and CAS that is all about #SimpleStamping to really let the colours shine - take a look:

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

Just Take Two - Whilst I deliberated for ages on how I was going to use these two colours, the card I settled on will take you no time at all to recreate: just two ink pads, some yellow and white cardstock and a punch. You can add a yellow pearl before the sentiment if you really want to go all out!!

Vibrant Vases - My card features the Vibrant Vases stamp set, with each of the elements stamped in Night of Navy with the exception of the flower petals, which were stamped in Daffodil Delight. I stamped the vase on a spare piece of whisper white cardstock and punched it out using the Vases Builder Punch but you could make it even simpler by stamping the vase directly onto the cardfront and dispense with the punch altogether, although I like this added detail. I popped my cardfront up onto a Daffodil Delight cardbase for an added pop of yellow.

Don't Forget the Inside - I also stamped the inside with a sentiment and a one layer vase and flower combo. You don't need any other supplies for this and given how quick the front is to create, you can easily afford a minute more to add this final finishing detail.

Another great example of #SimpleStamping at its best! Again, this would work in lots of other colourways too. A card that could be made with no more than 5 products - 6 if you include the punch, which if you buy along with the stamp set in a bundle you can save 10%.

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)	Varied Vases Photopolymer Bundle (£36.75)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (£5.50)

It's Wednesday and finally I feel like I'm turning a corner and kicking my cold into touch! Onwards and upwards! Today I'm sharing a card for the current colour challenge over at Fab Friday where they have this lovely colour palette that really appealed to me:

I've also been carrying this sketch around in my head for a while (I think it's an old CAS(E) This Sketch layout) which seemed perfect to highlight the floral boughs in one of my new stamp sets - take a look:

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

Beauty Abounds - The 'Beauty Abounds' stamp set is bundled with the Butterfly Beauty Thinlits Dies; these are so beautiful, they kind of steal the show as far as this bundle is concerned so I wanted to make a card that deliberately highlights this stamp set, which has so much going for it in its own right. Along with a couple of butterflies (you can see one of them that I used to decorate the inside of my card below), there is this fabulous floral bough that can be stamped on its own or stamped and coloured as I've done on my card here, using a combination of my Stampin' Write Markers and Stampin' Blends in each of the challenge colours, along with some useful background stamps: two sets of bokeh dots and a splatter-type stamp, which I used to add some faux-texture and a hint of Blushing Bride colour to my card base. 

It's A Wrap - I wanted to accentuate the challenge colours and my graphic design so used lots of layers on my card and I could have just left my card with the floral panels as the main focus. I wanted to add the first part of the sentiment to the front of my card, but didn't want to obscure the floral detail. The solution? I stamped my sentiment and heat embossed my sentiment in black on vellum and created a wrap so that it was clearly visible, without detracting from the detail of my floral panels. This is one of my favourite ways to use vellum on a card and since this fits the current challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper I'm going to link up there too.

Thank You For Being A Friend - The other reason I love this stamp set is for the wonderful friendship-themed sentiments that come with it (yes, I hope now you're reading this you are humming the classic Andrew Gold theme tune to The Golden Girls too!) What starts on the front of my card on the vellum band, completes on the inside:

Isn't that just the loveliest sentiment? Perfect for a 'just because' card for your bestie! There are a few other great sentiments in this set too, along with a few generic thanks/hello type greetings that work for other types of 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. 

It's a lovely sunny day here in the UK so I'm looking forward to going to watch the youngest of the James Juniors play in his hockey match this afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Beauty Abounds Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Grapefruit Grove A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)
Vellum A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenges over at As You See It and Just Add Ink:

I also decided to combine it with this month's #SimpleStamping challenge set by Stampin' Up!, which was to create a birthday card with nothing more than stamps, ink, paper and a piece of DSP. So first up, here's my #SimpleStamping card: 

This really took just a minute to make - I even made a video to show you how I did it, and I haven't made one of those in ages! Here you go:

Beautiful You is a great set if you're starting out: 3 main images and a good variety of sentiments that work for birthdays, congratulations, a pick-me-up and more besides, this is a set that offers lots of creative possibilities. The images can be inked or coloured using Blends or watercolour pencils, or you can make your choice of DSP go further by paper-piecing the dress and accessories on each of the images.

My card for for As You See It and Just Add Ink was where I started out, pairing back to make my #SimpleStamping card, but I'm showing it as the second card in my post because it's a great example of how once you've mastered the art of a basic card, a few simple accessories and a little fussy cutting can easily step things up if you want to get more adventurous:

The addition of some striped ribbon and a few irridescent sequins, along with fussy cutting the main image and popping it up on dimensionals, adds a further layer of sophistication to this otherwise clean and simple birthday card. To really get the most from my supplies, I also stamped and coloured my envelope and the inside of my card:

Not a naked piece of paper in sight! By keeping things simple and using a basic monochromatic colour scheme, this is a card that can be easily mass-produced with limited supplies and would work well in pretty much any 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 '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:

Beautiful You Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£26.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter (£4.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Poppy Parade 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Mini Striped Ribbon (£7.50)	Metallics Sequin Assortment (£4.75)

I have a class today and am still full up with cold so have a feeling this is going to be a long week! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches that also uses the colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches: 

I love this week's FMS sketch from Jen Brum, which is all the more surprising given her phobia of circles! The FMS team have done a fabulous job with their creations this week and I couldn't resist having a go too, although what to do with those circles? I settled for puzzle pieces - take a look:

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

A Fun Sketch - So Jen Brum's sketch comprises lots of circles, something she normally avoids; in visiting the blog of Jen Mitchell, one of the other FMS designers, I discovered there was a word for someone who has a fear of circles, it's called trypophobia. So I wondered if there was also a word for a fear of puzzles too and there is - logiphobia. Who knew?! So if you have it, you should probably look away now!! 

Love You To Pieces - I used a Powder Pink card base and stamped outline jigsaw pieces from the 'Love You to Pieces' stamp set in Grey Granite and Lovely Lipstick down the outer edge of my panel, adding in a few clusters of pink hearts to mimic the varying sizes of the images as per the sketch. There are some great sentiments in this set - I used one of my favourites on the inside:

Coloured Embossing - I used two diecut jigsaw pieces for my sentiment and used Lovely Lipstick embossing powder on one and stamped the other in Grey Granite and heat embossed that with clear powder for a similar effect. I love the glossy texture and added detail this gives - it really makes these sentiment pieces stand out from the background.

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:

Love You To Pieces Clear-Mount Bundle (£36.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Emboss Powder (£23.25)	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

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

I love the colour combination of pink and grey and it's one I've used before on this card; in order to get both shades of grey in and see some contrast I decided that some sweet little elephants were the order of the day:

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

Little Elephants - This pair of little elephants were perfect for overlaying back to back to show both greys. I stamped them both directly onto my Whisper White stitched rectangle, and then stamped them again in the alternate greys and punched out their ears with the Elephant Builder Punch for a little contrast. I stamped the trumpeting heart in Melon Mambo and picked up this colour again with a panel of dotty Melon Mambo paper from the Brights DSP pack. 

It's In The Details - There are a few little details that step this card up a little: the punched ears, a couple of pearl eyes, coloured black with my Basic Black Stampin' Blends marker and finally the Smoky Slate gingham ribbon bow; unfortunately this ribbon is now retired, but I couldn't resist using it for the perfect finishing touch to the front of my card.

Don't Forget The Envelope - The finishing touches don't end there though: I also stamped an elephant and hearts onto the front of my envelope and the second part of my sentiment inside my card, along with the little bird that also comes in the Little Elephant stamp set:

I love adding a finishing touch to the envelope - I like to think it gets the recipient excited for what is to come inside from the moment the mail drops onto the doormat.

This card is headed for a friend of mine who moved from the UK to live in the USA last year. We still correspond the old-fashioned way by snail mail and look forward to receiving each others' letters - I think this will make her smile!

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; we are having a quiet day here in the James household and keeping our tissues close at hand - I think today might be a movie afternoon, with a view to regaining some of our energy to enable us to face the week ahead! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Little Elephant Clear-Mount Bundle (£31.50)	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)
Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Whisper White C6 Envelopes (£6.50)

Yay it's Friday and the weekend is just around the corner! Today has been a day of rest for the girls of the James household - both of us are suffering with colds, courtesy of the youngest James Junior who thoughtfully shared his cold with us and today it has knocked us for six. Today I'm sharing a card I made earlier this week using the lovely Julee Tilman's sketch; I was thrilled to learn recently that she had revived her Mojo Monday sketch challenge which she is now hosting on her blog Poetic Artistry - always worth a read, so do go take a look. So here is the current Mojo Monday sketch:

With only a week to go until Valentine's Day, I decided to take Julee's layout quite literally and used the heart focal point to influence the remainder of my design - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

All Heart - My card today is all heart: I cropped my main heart with the Be Mine Stitched Framelit Dies and used the bold heart-patterned paper from the All My Love DSP pack for my main panel - there's nothing that says 'I Love You' for Valentine's Day more than hearts, hearts and more hearts! 

Layers of Lovely Lipstick - Julee's sketch has lots of layers and since I didn't want to detract from the heart patterned paper, I used a plain banner of Lovely Lipstick cardstock in conjunction with a couple of co-ordinating papers for the additional panel layers and used the monochromatic shade of Lovely Lipstick to unify my card. 

And a Matching Treat Box Too - I had a couple of lidless diamond-faceted gift boxes in Lovely Lipstick and made with the Gift Bag Punch Board on my desk, left over from another project, so quickly whipped up a lid in the heart-patterned paper to make a small gift box to co-ordinate with my card: 

Perfect for a small item of jewellery or some chocolates - I might have to drop a few hints to Mr James and see if he can put one of these to good use!

Here's one last photo of both of my projects together:

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:

All My Love 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Meant To Be Cling Bundle (£49.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Banner Triple Punch (£22.00)
Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Gift Bag Punch Board (£19.00)

I've had a busy week with preparations for classes and my forthcoming weekend craft retreat, so I've had to take a short blogging break. Today I'm sharing a card that was totally inspired by the vibrant colour palette over at TGIF Challenges this week:

This colour palette is so bright I just couldn't resist! I decided that these colours would be perfect for a tropical orchid and set to work - take a look:

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

Climbing Orchid - I must confess this is the first time I've used this stamp; I bought it having seen the fabulous creations my wonderful Paper Players friend Nance Leedy created with it and following the stunning birthday card she sent me with it last year (you can see her card here but if you search for 'Climbing Orchid' on Nance's blog you will see lots of fabulous samples using this set). As I was musing what to do with these colours, another of my Paper Players teamies, the lovely LeAnne Pugliese of WeeInklings, posted a photo on her blog of a fabulous real-life orchid that has just bloomed having nurtured it for a whole year (apparently an ice cube a day is the secret!) and as I mused that I have never managed to keep a houseplant going for that long, it dawned on me that an orchid would be perfect for this colour combo. I stamped my orchids in Berry Burst directly onto Pineapple Punch cardstock as I didn't want to see white borders on my flowers, then I also added a little sponged Berry Burst ink to the petals. 

More Stitched Frames - I mounted my orchid on a tone-on-tone stitched rectangle frame and card base and stamped my sentiment on the inner panel. What can I say - these frames are a winner and I love them!

A Post-Friendly Version - I used the co-ordinating Orchid Builder framelits to cut out the layered petals and shaped them with my bone folder for a dimensional effect on the card above, which is headed to someone special who has a birthday coming up who I know will appreciate the effort involved. I am also able to hand-deliver, as this card is not particularly post-friendly. I did however create a second, slightly less involved and more post-friendly version using one of the other sentiments in the set which will be heading overseas that I thought I would also share with you for comparison:

And here's a picture of the two cards together:

I love these cards - why ever did I wait so long to use this set?! I think I'm going to make one of these 3D versions in a pot to keep on my windowsill - I'm sure this is the only houseplant likely to survive in the James household for a year or more! I'm also linking today's card up with the ladies over at SUO Challenges where the theme is 'flowers'.

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

You can see all of my '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:

Climbing Orchid Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Orchid Builder Framelits Dies (£23.00)	Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

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 a timely theme challenge for you to work with:

It's February and in the James Household love is definitely in the air: Valentine's Day is around the corner and this is also the month when Mr James and I celebrate our wedding anniversary and this year it's a milestone one too, so it seemed appropriate to choose this as my theme this week. I decided to make a pretty anniversary card and matching gift box  - take a look:

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

All My Love - I went all hearts and flowers for my card today with the Forever Lovely stamp set and Lovely Flowers Edgelits Dies. I have been itching to get this beautiful set out and use it so I couldn't resist creating not one but two border edges spraying out either side of my heart centrepiece. I was a little nervous as to how easy the stamped florals and greenery were going to be to line up with my diecut borders, but needn't have worried - the Stamparatus made light work of it and I was very pleased with the result. My layout was inspired by the sketch over at Just Add Ink this week - and my card also works for TicTacToe over at The Paper Craft Crew (I went diagonally: something new-Valentines-floral).

Meant To Be - I combined Forever Lovely with another of the Valentine's themed sets in the seasonal catalogue, 'Meant To Be', a set of decorative hearts that co-ordinate with some beautiful stitched dies. I heat-embossed my sentiment in gold onto a vellum-bordered Soft Sea Foam heart - I know it's not pink, but having tried both the pink heart seemed a little too much; the soft sea green, with a few pink flowers and delicate pink ribbon, worked much better. Plus that's the beauty of creating your own cards right? You can make things any colour you want them to be! And I finished my sentiment inside my card with this one:

Perfect words for the one you love!

Self-Closing Lovely Flowers Edgelits Treat Box - I decided to make a small treat box to co-ordinate with my card, that would also show off that lovely diecut edge. My box is self-closing and measures 4" x 1" x 1 1/2" and is just large enough to hold 6 heart truffles:

Here's one last photo of both my projects together:

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. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you create for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week.

Enjoy your day; we have guests for dinner but otherwise will be enjoying a cosy day indoors, with our hockey match today being cancelled due to a frozen pitch. I for one am pleased to not be standing out on the touchline in these freezing temperatures we have been experiencing here in the UK this week! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Forever Lovely Photopolymer Bundle (£45.00)	Meant To Be Cling Bundle (£49.50)	All My Love Ribbon Combo Pack (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Flirty Flamingo A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Vellum A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a super simple card for the current challenge over at CASology:

I haven't managed to play along there for a while but I saw this week's cue word 'turn' and had a flash of inspiration for an unusual combination of products for my take on it - take a look:

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

Garage Gears - I used the new Garage Gears Thinlits for my card today; part of the Classic Garage Suite, the die set contains lots of cogs and wheels - all of which 'turn' right? I mounted them slightly of the edge for added interest, but otherwise just used one main interconnected piece with a couple of smaller cogs popped up on dimensionals.

Mind Games -  Rather than create a masculine card with this set though, I decided to go for a play on words and use these cogs along with an appropriate sentiment to suggest the cogs and wheels that turn in one's mind (most often in the early hours of the morning in my case when mine should be asleep, to be fair!). The sentiment comes from the 'Butterfly Gala' stamp set - an unusual pairing, but I think it works rather well with these cogs. 

Citrus Rainbow Metallics - I love the texture of these dies - you can really see the detail of the cogs - and decided cut them out of my Sale-A-Bration Grapefruit Grove Foil , which has a fabulous rainbow-shine effect when it catches the light. I paired it with a Gorgeous Grape card base for my 'white space' to pick up on the reflected colour and because this card is actually going to be sent to a girlfriend, so I wanted something a little more feminine.

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'll be back tomorrow with my project for The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Garage Gears Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Butterfly Gala Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Grapefruit Grove & Lovely Lipstick Foil Sheets (£0.00)

I've had a busy day so just time to pop in with a quick post to share a simple birthday card that is super quick to make - take a look:

For this week's take on #SimpleStamping I have a CASE (Copy And Share Everything) of one of the samples in the current Sale-A-Bration brochure featuring the Hello Cupcake stamp set - a simple card base with a white panel and a flagged banner (I used the Triple Banner Punch to flag my ends, but you could cut them by hand using scissors), a single stamped image courtesy of the 'Hello Cupcake' stamp set, 3 ink colours and an optional sprinkle of self-adhesive sequins. Really easy to recreate with minimal supplies - just what #SimpleStamping is all about. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Cupcake Photopolymer Stamp Set (£0.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins (£6.50)	Banner Triple Punch (£22.00)