Happy Easter Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your fill of chocolate eggs yesterday - I know that we had more than our fair share here in the James household for sure! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I love Jen's sketch this week and knew immediately what I wanted to do with it; eventually on Saturday I managed to find some time to create - take a look:

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

A Swirly Boat and Scribble - I used the edge of my wavy sea thinlit in my Swirly Scribble set to create the curved line as per in the sketch (I actually flipped my Very Vanilla piece over and used the reverse so that my wave followed the same contours as the sketch). This was the starting point for my card and everything else followed from there. I stamped my Swirly Bird boat and background splatters onto the Vanilla section, then fussy cut the sail and popped it up on a dimensional, having heat embossed the Calypso Coral sail with copper embossing powder for added shine. The Swirly Bird stamp set and co-ordinating Swirly Scribble thinlit dies are one of my favourite bundles in the current annual Stampin' Up! catalogue and I'm so pleased that they are carrying over into the new 2017-18 catalogue. The discounted bundle price won't be carrying over though, so if you want to save 10% by purchasing them together be sure to order them before the new catalogue goes live on 1st June.

By The Sea Shore - I used a layer of the retiring By The Shore paper for the bottom part of my card to provide the perfect seascape. I will be so sorry to see this paper leave us! It's still available on the retiring list whilst stocks last, so snap some up now before it's too late.

A Bon Voyage Banner - I decided to use a pair of curved sentiments from the 'Banners For You' set on my card today; they followed the contours of the curved edge perfectly and made for a fun 'Bon Vogage' type 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	By The Shore Designer Series Paper	Banners For You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad
Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder
Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy

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

So I couldn't resist sharing a sneak peek of a brand new stamp set with you today - a fabulous two-step stamping set called 'Bike Ride', that I received as part of an all-attendee giveaway at Onstage in Amsterdam last week - take a look:

Isn't that fun?! Read on for the low-down on today's card:

Demonstrator Perks And A Sneak Peek - One of the best perks about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is being able to get your hands on new products before anyone else does! I came home from Onstage last week with some new stamp sets including this fun bicycle stamp set. I was also able to participate in an event-only pre-order which means I am expecting another box of new goodies on Tuesday morning - can't wait! If you are excited by getting your hands on new products early, do get in touch with me about joining my team now so that you can take advantage of these pre-order demonstrator perks too.

A Bike Ride For Teacher - Today's sneak peek is a set called 'Bike Ride'. Such a fun two-step stamp set with lots of little accessories - everything from flowers to apples and books to an adorable puppy dog! You can build endless combinations to make your two-wheeled creations totally unique. The best bit? This set also has some co-ordinating Build A Bike framelits that will make putting your creations together as easy as can be! My CAS card today uses just the stamp set - I created a few masks to enable me to stamp my bicycle as a single layer and adapted the basket to fit the front of my bike. For my first card I stamped my bicycle slightly off the page and added a basket of apples with an overlaid thanks diecut from the retiring 'Hello You' thinlit set (I cut this out 3 times, stacked them and heat embossed with clear embossing powder for added dimension and shine) and the word teacher stamped with my Layered Alphabet set -so useful for custom greetings. 

Teacher Thank You Take Two - I was having so much fun with my set, I created a second card to share with you too! This time I stamped the whole of my bicycle on the card front so that in addition to my basket of apples (accented with my fine tip glue pen) I could add a stack of books to the rear. I also grounded my bicycle with a little sponging and some stamped grass (from the retiring 'Basket Bunch' stamp set) and stamped the word teacher in bold block lettering and cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals for added impact:

I had so much fun playing with this set and making an early start on my teacher thank you cards for the end of next term. I've lots more ideas for this set and I can't wait to get my hands of the framelits when the new catalogue goes live on June 1st! 

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:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we will be either hunting for or eating chocolate as our primary activities today - I think we might need a bike ride later to work some of our calories off! I'll be back tomorrow with another project, also with a travel theme so be sure to tune on for that, Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Hello You Thinlits Dies	Labeler Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Fine-Tip Glue Pen

Today I'm sharing a card using this week's colours over at Color Throwdown:

These colours are so very pretty and I was also inspired by the florals to create a 3D easel drawer card today using the retiring stamp set 'Circle of Spring' - take a look:

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

Circle Of Spring - I stamped the floral wreath from Circle of Spring and coloured it in with my Calypso Coral, Peekaboo Peach, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write markers. I then cut it out with my Wondrous Wreath framelits and added a diecut bow too. Both the stamp set and framelits that I've used on my card today are retiring from the annual catalogue at the end of May and are available only whilst stocks last. The Circle of Spring stamp set is currently showing as low inventory, so if this is on your 'must have' list then do order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

A Card And Gift In One - I recently made some easel drawer cards similar to this one for Mother's Day with a group of 21 Girl Guides - this stamp set also contains a 'happy Mother's Day' greeting - who had a lot of fun colouring their stamped images. They used a variety of pastel colours and they all looked so pretty when complete (it's a shame I was too busy to take a photograph of them all together - you'll have to take my word for it!) We made our cards on top so that they would open to enable a personal message to be written inside. The most exciting part though for the girls was the fact that this is a gift and card in one - the drawer pulls open to reveal 4 chocolates fitting perfectly inside:

The hardest thing for the girls was to not eat a chocolate or two whilst they were crafting! 

All You Need Is A Sheet of 12" x 12" - The easel drawer card is really easy to make using just one sheet of 12" x 12". It needs to be cut as follows:

• One piece of 6" x 6", scored at 1.5" on each side for the drawer itself
• One piece of 3" x 10", scored at 2", 3.5", 6.5" and 8" on the long side, to form the wrap for the drawer
• One piece of 3" x 6", scored at 3" and 4.5" on the long side, with the 3" section adhered to the top of the drawer wrap at the front and the 1.5" scored sections folded towards you like a mountain.
• One piece of 3" x 6", scored at 3" on the long side for the card - this is adhered to the front section of the 1.5" x 3" section above (see the photo).

I hope that all makes sense - a video tutorial for another time, I think! To finish, I decorated the drawer section with co-ordinating paper from the Subtles DSP stack. 

These little boxes would also make nice wedding favours - you can get two box cards out of 3 sheets of 12" x 12" cardstock so they would be pretty economical 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Circle Of Spring Photopolymer Stamp Set

Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies

Subtles Stampin' Write Markers

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Whisper White A4 Cardstock

We are into our school Easter holidays with a vengeance here in the James household and it is leaving little time for crafting! I just wanted to pop buy and share with you a cute little Easter bunny basket treat using the Basket Bunch stamp set and Basket Builder Framelit dies - retiring, but still available at a great discount at present:

These little 3D baskets are so easy to make with a 1 1/4" wide piece of cardstock, scored twice to create a U-shape, attached between each basket piece to hold the chocolate Lindt bunny then decorated with some stamped and cut out out flowers and a bow. I made these for each of my ladies that  attended a class with me this month as a thank you Easter treat and it's fair to say they were definitely well received!

You've still time to make these if you have the product or alternatively snap up a bargain now and be super-prepared for next year!

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:

Basket Bunch Photopolymer Stamp Set

Basket Builder Framelits Dies

Soft Suede A4 Cardstock

Subtles A4 Cardstock

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

So after a flurry of activity on the Stampin' Up! website last night as the retiring lists went live, things seem to have calmed down and are a little more stable this morning. Some items, particularly in-colour re-inkers and some of the retiring punches, are already unavailable. There are still though a number of great bargains to be had, including some of my favourites below - each of the items on the second row of the table is available at a whopping 50% off:

Succulent Framelits Dies	Peekaboo Peach Ombre Stampin' Pad	Stylish Stems Framelits Dies	Falling Petals Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	So Detailed Thinlits Dies
Designer Tin Of Cards Project Kit	Cheerful Tags Framelits Dies	Candle Border Punch	2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes	Sprinkles Punch

Crumb Cake Note Cards & Envelopes

Owl Builder Punch

Adhesive Remover

I have a card to share today but first things first - the list of products that will be retiring from this year's annual and Spring-Summer seasonal catalogues has been announced! You can read the full list by clicking here; there are some tremendous bargains to be had - I will have a review of the things I am going to miss most tomorrow, however if you want to stock up on any of the retiring in-colour items, especially re-inkers, I would urge you to do that sooner rather than later as they are always the first things to sell out. Click on the links below to take you directly to my online shop to purchase any of the in-colour items that are still in stock at time of posting:

Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock	2015-2017 In Color A4 Cardstock
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Ink Refill	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

Today I'm sharing a card that uses these departing in-colours - take a look:

I used Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White notelets and a bold sentiment from the 'Thankful Thoughts' stamp set, cut out using my square Stitched Shape Framelits to create an elongated rectangular panel, along with a variety of combinations of the in-colour designer series paper stacks, along with some white ribbon for a finishing touch. I made a whole collection of them in each of the retiring colours and decorated the envelope flaps to co-ordinate too. Here's a glimpse of one in each colour:

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:

• Thankful Thoughts stamp set
• Whisper White Notelets and Envelopes

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches where I am the guest designer for the month of April. I shall be joining the lovely ladies on the CAS Colours and Sketches team and each Tuesday at 1pm GMT I will be publishing my post for the new challenge for the week. It's also perfect for the current SUO Challenge, where the theme is 'Sympathy and Caring'. This week it's a sketch challenge, my favourite:

 I decided to go with florals again this week and turned the sketch through 90 degrees as it fitted my sentiment better - take a look:

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

My card today features both the Flourishing Phrases stamps and co-ordinating Flourish Thinlits - I heat embossed the large flower with clear embossing powder onto my Basic Black background and added a framed sentiment, layered flower and border piece to ground them. A tricky one to photograph, but the shiny embossed background looks lovely in real life. I wouldn't usually choose black for a sympathy card, but it was perfect to allow my bright flower and border to 'pop'; the colour combination was inspired by a dress a friend of mine was wearing when I met up with her last week and I couldn't wait to use it on a card; sometimes inspiration strikes in the funniest places.

The Flourishing Phrases/Flourish Thinlits set is a great bundle that contains a little of everything: stamps, decorative and floral framelits and a whole bunch of sentiments suitable for many different occasions that work for both the outside and inside of your card. The good news is both the stamp set and framelits are on carryover into the new 2017-2018 annual catalogue; the 10% discounted bundle price however, is not. So if you want to benefit from this, you need to place your order for the bundle using the bundle code 142323 (clear mount) or 142322 (wood mount) before 31st May.

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 reach for your ink and papers, check out what the rest of the team has created to inspire you this week. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Flourishing Phrases Clear-Mount Bundle	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Embossing Buddy

I'm back following a few days of blog absence due to my travels to Amsterdam for Stampin' Up!'s Onstage Live this week. More about that in another post; for 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 fun colour challenge for us to work with:

I made my card for today last week before leaving for Onstage Live in Amsterdam and was a little time-stretched so needed something quite quick and easy and the sketch layout over at Fab Friday was perfect for such a card. Having had the opportunity to have a sneak peek of some of the amazing florals from the rest of the Design Team I decided to go for an alternative look and pulled out my Oh So Succulent stamp set to create a super simple card - take a look:

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

Layered Succulents - I decided to stamp a variety of succulents and rather than use a mask to create dimension, I decided to cut them all out using the co-ordinating Succulent Framelit Dies and just rearrange them until I was happy, adding some of them with dimensionals for a more 3D effect. A much quicker solution and when your pushed for time, much more sensible!

Rock and Roll Succulents - I stamped some of my succulents exclusively in Mint Macaron and others in Mint Macaron then rolled the edge of the stamp into my Perfect Plum ink pad before stamping to give a variegated effect.

Back to Black - I decided to heat emboss my sentiment in white onto Basic Black cardstock instead of using black ink on white to provide a contrast to the black outlined succulents on the white panel. 

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 do wish I had allowed my trailing succulent to the left of the sentiment to sit over rather than under my sentiment, but hey ho!

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'm hoping to rest up after my hectic visit and spend a quiet day at home with my family and my new Stampin' Up! catalogue! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Oh So Succulent Photopolymer Bundle	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock	Perfect Plum A4 Cardstock
Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Versamark Pad

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches where for the next month I am going to be the guest designer! I shall be joining the lovely ladies on the CAS Colours and Sketches team and each Tuesday at 1pm GMT I will be publishing my post for the new challenge for the week. My first week is the following colour challenge:

Since all three colours are pastels I'm also linking up with the team over at Less Is More for the second time this week.

I decided to go with florals and a clean and simple birthday card - take a look:

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

Big On Birthdays - I used one of the sentiments from the 'Big on Birthdays' set as the focal point for my card today. A simple base of So Saffron and a Pear Pizzazz frame and all that was left was to spend some time colouring the florals in a combination of all three challenge colours. I added the co-ordinating longer floral bough on the back of my envelope and inside my card for a little extra detail and brushed the flowers on the front of my card with my clear Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle, but it really was as easy as that!

This stamp set is great for a pretty card in a record amount of time, perfect for when you need a card at the last minute or are just short on time like me this week!

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 reach for your ink and papers, check out what the rest of the team has created to inspire you this week. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big On Birthdays Photopolymer Stamp Set	So Saffron A4 Cardstock	Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

I've a busy this week ahead with this month's technique classes then a trip to Amsterdam for Onstage Live with thousands of other Stampin' Up! demonstrators from across Europe for the launch of the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue - a whole two months ahead of its publish date - just one of the many things I love about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. More of that in future posts for sure, so this is a week I have to be organised! Today I have a couple of cards to share: here is the first one for this week's challenges over at The Color Throwdown and CAS Colours and Sketches:

I love this sketch layout - perfect for a large image. I chose to use one of the sketched images from the 'Mediterranean Moments' set and unusually decided to stamp it directly onto a coloured background:

I stamped in Night of Navy rather than black and added an enamel dot to my sentiment banner, but otherwise the stamped image speaks for itself and is perfect uncoloured for a clean and simple card. I also stamped one of the other images from the Mediterranean Moments set on the inside of my card. I'm also linking this card up with the challenge over at Less Is More where the recipe this week is to use three pastel colours.

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. 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mediterranean Moments Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer Stamp Set	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock	So Saffron A4 Cardstock
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Regals Enamel Shapes

My second card today is for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge where the sketch was perfect for a fun Easter card idea that I had:

I saw some great Easter biscuits on Pinterest and one of them got me thinking about creating a round punch art-style chick - take a look:

I used my stitched shape circle framelit, a heart and flower framelit and the smallest shape from the Blossom Punch to create my fun chick and added a few co-ordinating strips of floral Brights designer series paper. My sentiment is from the Sale-A-Bration set 'Hey Chick' but if you don't have this you could add a 'Happy Easter' from Teeny Tiny Sentiments instead. A lighthearted clean and simple take on the sketch this week.

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:

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock
Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	White Perfect Accents	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock