Another Monday, another week! I had the second of this month's technique classes this morning and thought today I would share one of my class cards with you. Today's class featured the Grateful Bunch stamp set and co-ordinating Blossom Bunch Punch and looked at the technique of paper-piercing.

This card was inspired by a similar one that was featured in our recent demonstrator magazine, Stampin' Success, a really useful resource for Stampin' Up! demonstrators. The key features of my card today are as follows:

Paper Piercing - The pointelist style of the leaves in the 'Grateful Bunch' stamp set really compliment the paper-piecing on this card. I used my Updated Essentials paper piercing templates to pierce both a border on my Crumb Cake base layer and also the word 'you' onto my Calypso Coral banner. I then finished my sentiment with a partial stamp of one of the sentiments in the stamp set (omitting the 'you').

Ways With Washi - Washi tape can be used in oh so many ways! Here I added a strip of Everyday Chic Designer Washi Tape to the edge of my white layer for added visual interest. 

Black Perfect Accents - I stamped my trio of flowers in Memento Black ink on Whisper White cardstock, coloured them in with my Calypso Coral marker and finished them with a trio of Perfect Accents, coloured black with my Sharpie for the perfect shiny centre.

I just love the clean, modern feel of these stamps and the co-ordinating punch makes cutting out these flowers a cinch. Even better, this is one of the great value bundles in the current seasonal catalogue - a saving of 15% if you buy both items together. The good news is that both of these products is carrying over to the new annual catalogue - the bad news is that they will not be available as a bundle, so buy now to take advantage of this saving. The ladies in my class today love this card, although found their first foray into paper piercing more challenging than they had first thought. 

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. 

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Grateful Bunch Photopolymer Bundle	Everyday Chic Designer Washi Tape	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Updated Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack	Paper-Piercing Tool
Stampin' Pierce Mat	Banner Triple Punch	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents

No blog posts for the last couple of days as I've just been too tired and unable to fit it all in. However today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my good friend Claire's turn to host our challenge this week and she has a great sketch challenge for you to play along with:

Claire's sketch has some lovely layers that were crying out for some designer series paper and I've seen a few challenges out there with 'Mother' as their theme, including this week's TGIF Challenge, so for my card this week I decided to use some Love Blossoms DSP and my favourite sentiment stamp from the 'First Sight' stamp set:

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

The Mother of all Sentiments - The 'First Sight' stamp set has some lovely sentiments, all with love at their heart. The one I've used on my card today is my favourite though; what Mother wouldn't be touched to receive a card featuring these words? I also stamped the flourish from the same set onto the base of my card in Versamark and heat embossed it clear, to add additional interest without competing with the other elements of my card.

Love Blossoms - The vertical panels on the sketch needed either pattern or texture; I chose to go with pattern and chose three complimentary patterns from the Love Blossoms DSP stack. I kept the colours similar, and used these for the main blocks of colour on my card.

All that Glitters - ...is not gold, or at least not on today's card! I chose to mount my sentiment on a circle of white Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper to add a little sparkle and create focus, but maintain the balance of white on my card. Some split jute ribbon, a pink button and a sprinkle of pink and clear sequins complete my 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. 

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 make of our sketch this week. We are off to basketball today and then Rebecca and I have a little Mother and Daughter crafting time planned tomorrow afternoon; should be fun!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

First Sight Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack	Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit	Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
2" Circle Punch	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon	Subtles Designer Buttons	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

I decided to use the 'Cupcake Party' stamp set for both the greeting and embellishment on my card today, with some splashes of gold and an interesting co-ordinating background:

Cupcake Party - I haven't used this stamp set and punch in a while - and now they are both going away! I decided to use some bright orange frosting to contrast with the blues of my card - and added a Bermuda Bay candle with a gold Wink of Stella flame. If either of these items are on your wishlist, snap them up from the online store before it's too late. 

A Happy Pattern - I've been intrigued for a while that one of the stencils in the Happy Patterns pack co-ordinates perfectly with the cupcake case in the cupcake Party stamp set. I sponged my background in Pool Party onto my Pool Party card base to create a co-ordinated yet subtle background.

Splashes of Gold - My card features quite a few gold elements for sparkle and shine today: a gold foil frame for my ombre sentiment (inked with Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay and Pool Party markers), gold Wink of Stella for my candle flame, some gold metallic thread and a sprinkle of gold sequins. On this card all that glitters most certainly is gold - I think it adds to the party feel!

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Well what a busy few days I've had! All the excitement of the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue launch at the UK event in Telford, followed by the release of the list of products that will be retiring at the end of May. Many of you may, like me, have experienced technical issues with the online store last night; I am pleased to report that these have now been fixed and you should experience no problems at all shopping online. Clearly many of you have managed to do so successfully already, given that some items have already sold out and others are showing low inventory. If you still have items on your wishlist that you want to buy, remember that items on the retiring list are available only whilst stocks last and may not be available until the 31 May. Also, if you are purchasing from my online store, don't forget to use the current hostess code UD3KDWM4 to receive a thank you gift from me at the end of the month.  

Today I'm sharing another of the cards from my recent technique class featuring the Rose Wonder stamp set and co-ordinating Rose Garden thinlits dies:

This card is beautifully elegant and not that tricky to create - here's the lowdown:

Clean and White - a cardbase of Extra Thick Whisper White cardstock was used for my card and I cut out the window using my trimmer, cutting a 1cm frame in from each side (you could use your Square Framelits for this too). I used the piece I had cut out to cut an outline of the large flower and leaves with the Rose garden thinlits, with the edges hanging off the edge. This rose then aligns perfectly within the frame with no overhang - like an inlaid die cut.

A Window - I could have simply diecut my flower and adhered it to the edge of the frame, but since I chose to inlay it I needed something to attach it to; I simply backed the frame with a piece of acetate and use this to adhere my rose to. I stamped my simple sentiment, used my hexagon punch to flag the end, then adhered this to the outer edge of the card's frame. The acetate makes the card more robust and offers a nice reflective quality.

Perfectly Artistic - I backed the inside panel of my card with some of the now retired Sale-A-Bration paper 'Perfectly Artistic'. I knew lots of my ladies had this paper and would appreciate some ideas on how to use it and the watercoloured wash provided just the right amount of subtle colour needed. If you don't have any of this paper, you could just as easily watercolour a background using your aquapainter or substitute with other decorative patterned paper.

This card proved very popular with the ladies in my class - I'm expecting to see lots more of these with different colours behind once they've had the chance to experiment at home!

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:

Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

Window Sheets

Hexagon Punch

The retiring lists are here! Discover what stamps and accessories, including the 2014-16 In Colours, are retiring at the beginning of June this year. Retiring products are only available WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if you've still items on your wish list from this year's annual or spring-summer seasonal catalogues, you need to check the retiring lists and if they're on it put an order in pronto!

Please click on the images below to see the complete lists in the online store:

                               STAMPS                                  EVERYTHING ELSE

You can click on this link to access and download the complete Retiring List (in pdf format):

Retiring Stamps & Accessories - available April 18-May 31 (while stocks last)

You have just 6 weeks left to shop from the current annual and seasonal catalogues. Some of the items on these lists will sell out quickly and once they're gone, they're gone. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay, shop today! Click here to go straight to my online store - remember to include this month's hostess code UD3KDWM4 to receive a special thank you from me. If you live in or around Northampton, if you would like to save on postage and collect your order on delivery, please email me on joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or phone me with your order.

I'll be back tomorrow with a creative post; until then, happy shopping!

Hi everyone! I'm a little later with today's post as I've had some serious housework to get sorted after my few days away at the UK Onstage event and I'm busy getting ready for the announcement of the Stampin' Up! Retiring List that is happening this evening at 8pm.

Today's share though is a great clean and simple card that I sent out as a thank you card to the lovely ladies that placed orders online with me last month and have been meaning to post here for a few weeks now! I inked up my Definitely Dahlia stamp for the first time and decided to make a feature of the outgoing in-colours as a reminder to stock up on reinkers, cardstock and accessories before the retiring list is issued and stocks run out:

As I write this, the ever-popular Blackberry Bliss ink and cardstock has already sold out - if you haven't already got your supplies of the other colours, then get your order in quick! Once the retiring list is live at 8pm this evening, the outgoing in-colours will be the first things to sell. As for today's card - simple enough, with just a wooden embellishment and some rhinestones added to the beautiful dahlia which really does all the hard work here. Such a lovely background/feature stamp!

On the upside, whilst we are saying goodbye to these colours, we will of course be saying 'hello' to a new set just six weeks from now. 

Back later with news of the retiring lists; until then, happy stampin'!

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the lovely Sandy's turn to host our challenge this week and she has a great clean and simple challenge for you to play along with:

I was a little pressed for time this week in getting ready for Stampin' Up! Onstage at Telford (also the reason for a lack of blog posts over the last two days) so a clean and simple challenge couldn't have come as a better time! I used this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday for my layout and decided to go with punched rather than stamped butterflies for both impact and speed:

As you can see, today's card really is clean and simple. Here's the low down:

Pretty Petals - I reached for this paper pack to use as the starting point for my card and settled on this rather bold pattern, as I knew I needed only a small amount so wanted it to be impactful. My Pretty Petals paper set the colour combination for my card and provided the perfect backdrop to my sentiment from 'Tin of Cards'.

Can You Keep A Secret? - The DSP has a small amount of Calypso Coral around the flower heads, which I substituted with Watermelon Wonder as I wanted to use the wide satin ribbon in this colour for my banner. Sssh, don't tell - although honestly I think it's impossible to see the difference even up close. Here is the colour palette I used on my card:

A Trio of Punched Butterflies - I used a trio of solid colour butterflies to complete my card, punched using the Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly punches. I layered one of them and finished them all with pearls as a simple embellishment.

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. 

So as you can see, a clean and simple card for this week's butterfly challenge. I'm also linking up with the lovely team over at the Global Design Project where their theme this week is 'nature' and a butterfly definitely qualifies for that!

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 cards this week. We are off to basketball today and back to hockey today ...

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Bitty Butterfly Punch	Elegant Butterfly Punch	Pearl Basic Jewels	Punch Corner Project Life
Watermelon Wonder 1" Stitched Satin Ribbon

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

This colour combination left me stumped for a while, until I decided that Soft Suede would be a good colour for a bear - take a look:

The low-down on today's card is as follows:

Papa Bear - I stamped my Daddy Bear from the 'Bear Hugs' stamp set in Early Espresso on Soft Suede card stock and cut him out using my Big Shot and co-ordinating Bear Hugs Framelits, curving his arms in slightly so that he could 'hold' on to his fishing pole. 

Gone' Fishin' - The 'Bear Hugs' set comes with lots of fun embellishments; I decided to go with a fish on this card that I coloured in Mint Macaron and Lost Lagoon with my Aquapainter, then painted liberally with clear Wink of Stella to give him shimmery scales. I attached my fish to a piece of white baker's twine, which I in turn knotted to my cocktail stick fishing pole. How cute?!

Geometrical Forest - I decided I needed to conjure up some forest or at least a feeling of the outdoors behind my lake, but was somewhat at a loss as to how to do this with such a limited colour palette. I perused my designer series papers and bingo - this geometrical design, whilst not including trees of any kind, works as a background. I do think those triangles are evocative of trees (ok, I know it's a stretch, but if you have a better suggestion do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear it!) And where did I find it? In the 'It's My Party' Designer Series Paper stack of all places!

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing one of the cards that I made in my Technique card class yesterday - a lovely card with a stamped panel that slides out of an envelope-type wrapper. I saw this gorgeous card by Lou Kitzelman in a blog hop a while ago and was inspired to create my own version, changing up the colours and embellishments.

This is what the card looks like with both pieces together:

The card consists of an inner panel of Basic Black cardstock (cut 3mm narrower than the back piece of the sleeve), onto which a piece of Shimmery White cardstock is added that has the large rose image stamped on it in Archival Black that has been watercoloured with Watermelon Wonder and Cucumber Crush inks and an aquapainter. You need to make sure that you stamp the rose overhanging each of the sides and bottom of the panel, so that there is room for the diecut of the sleeve to wrap around it and attach to the back panel of the sleeve. A panel of Whisper White was also adhered to the reverse of the card on which to write a personal message. 

Some wide Watermelon Wonder satin ribbon is threaded through the top of this insert and tied with some black and white baker's twine, and a sentiment added. I cut the sentiment out with the cordinating framelit in the set then fussy cut around the edge to make it slightly smaller. I then cut another blank label in black and used this as a base for the sentiment piece and attached it to the card over some folded ribbon with dimensionals. 

To create the sleeve, I cut a flower and leaves with the co-ordinating thinlit in Basic Black, then having place the stamped insert panel onto the sleeve base, aligned the diecut to the stamped image and wrapped the ends of the diecut piece around the insert and back panel and glued the overhanging elements only to the reverse of the sleeve. 

The Rose Wonder stamp set and co-ordinating Rose Garden thinlit dies are such a versatile set and I really love that they match up completely, which makes this kind of card work really well. It is so very pretty in real life - the Shimmery White cardstock adds a wonderful lustre and the colours are so vibrant.

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 card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Watermelon Wonder 1" Stitched Satin Ribbon
Basic Black Baker's Twine	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Aqua Painters	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Wednesday and time for the last week of Wednesday Weekly Deals! As I mentioned last week, improvements in stock control at Stampin' Up! mean that this is the last week that they will be offered. They will be replaced with less frequent but better 'Specials' promotions on an adhoc basis - please make sure you're checking my blog regularly for details. So for the final week, there really are some great deals - as always, these offers are valid for one week only. 

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for April UD3KDWM4 if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. If you are local, then give me a call to place your order if you'd like to save on P&P.

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

1" Square Punch	Bear Hugs Framelits Dies	Brights Sequin Assortment	Calypso Coral Thick Baker’s Twine	Classy Designer Buttons
Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set	Essence De Rose Photopolymer Stamp Set (French)	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Peaceful Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set
Rose Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set	Rosenzauber Photopolymer Stamp Set (German)	Suite Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Watercolor Words Photopolymer Stamp Set	White Perfect Accents

Some great bargains to be had this week: my favourite sentiment set of the moment, 'Suite Sayings', the always-useful 1" square punch, the Bear Hugs framelits (I will be using these on tomorrow's blog card so look out for that!) and the Rose Wonder stamp set which you can see on today's creative post. And last but certainly not least, the White Perfect Accents - I will be buying these up in bulk this week!

Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy shopping!