It's Thursday and time for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. This week we have a colour challenge for you:

I found this quite a difficult colour combo to work with (I think it was the brown and grey together that did it for me), although the brown and grey duo did remind me of Canadian geese, so in the end I went with a rather safe masculine card using my Wetlands set: 

I combined this trusted favourite, which I stamped in Chocolate Chip on watercolour paper and coloured in all three inks using my Aquapainter, with some of the new Chocolate Chip Neutrals DSP Stack with the polka dot pattern. My Island Indigo circle is also embossed with the Large Polka Dots embossing folder, although it is difficult to see in the photo. A little background Gorgeous Grunge, some threads of jute ribbon and a candy dot finish my card.

Do pop over and see what the other designers have come up with  - there are some great examples of how this trio can be combined on your cards! Don't forget to check out the challenge rules too before entering :-)

I'll be back tomorrow with a bright and colourful birthday card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mid-week is here - hurrah! Today I'm sharing a card that I set out to make for the TGIF Throwdown Challenge - an intriguing concept where you have to use at least 4 things from a basket of items to make your card whilst also being allowed to use items from the pantry - just like some of the cooking programmes you see on TV! Here is the challenge badge and the basket list:

You have a month to enter so when I sat down at the weekend I thought I would have a go - here's what I came up with using this eclectic mix of products:

I needed a birthday card for my sister-in-law who celebrated her birthday yesterday so thought these colours would make for a lovely feminine card. You know how much I love the 'Hello You' Thinlit dies and decided to go for a rather ambitious paper-pieced affair, using the negative space of the multiple die cut 'happy' to show the wash of colour from the Work of Art stamp set. I merrily stamped, paper pieced, punched and coloured, adding my showcase gold foil butterfly and finishing my sentiment with the two words from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set and the 'you' from Work of Art, the last of which I punched out with my 1 3/4" circle punch and added a couple of solid colour circles beneath my butterfly to balance the design and finishing with a few gold sequins. My overhanging elements necessitated a bespoke envelope - not troubled by that, as Envelope Expert enabled me to make one of those from some co-ordinating DSP in a jiffy. 

So I was feeling suitably pleased with my card and the fact that I'd used not only four but all of the #TGIFCTD01 basket items, when I read yesterday's TGIF blog post and realised I had overlooked one small but important thing when I read the initial challenge post - the pantry items!! Not only do you need to use the basket items, you are restricted in terms of pantry items .... and when I checked before writing this post, I realised my use of the 1 3/4" circle punch, the 'Crazy About you' stamp set  to complete my sentiment, white ink and my sequins causes me to step outside the pantry and fall foul of the TGIF challenge rules - oh bother!

As someone who designs for two challenge teams, you would think I would know better!! I won't therefore be linking up with TGIF for the Throwdown Challenge - those guys and gals are strict enforcers of their challenge rules! - but wanted to share my card with you anyway, as I rather like it! I thought it worth sharing the story behind today's card though for the moral of 'if you are going to enter a challenge, make sure you read and understand ALL of the rules before you start' - if any of you reading this have found your card deleted from a challenge gallery without notification, it's probably because you didn't follow the rules :-) I say this as someone who moderates boards, so trust me - I know what I'm talking about! Maybe I'll try and squeeze in another rule-abiding attempt before next week's deadline - watch this space...

Back tomorrow with our new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Crazy About You Photopolymer Bundle	Butterflies Thinlits Dies	Gold Foil Sheets	Work Of Art Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad
Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform	1-3/4" Circle Punch
Gold Sequin Trim	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock	White Stazon Pad And Refill

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced. 

As always, 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 Hostess Code for June UPCSWX2C 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. 

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:

And Many More Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Banner Banter Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Early Espresso 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	Silver Basic Metal Buttons	Tiny Triangles Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Zig Zag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Another week where embossing folders dominate, however I would draw your attention to the stamp sets on offer this week: the Banner Banter set is perfect for quick cards and when paired with the co-ordinating banner punch makes light work of mass production (or equally a nice and reasonably priced birthday gift for a crafty friend!) The 'And Many More' set is one of those incredibly useful sets of sentiment staples - something in there for most occasions.

Don't forget Weekly Deals, just like Clearance Rack, can be included in your starter kit too if you are thinking of becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator yourself - along with this month's offer of an extra two free stamp sets when you join, there really has never been a better opportunity to get more crafty goodness for your £99 spend! If this is something you've been considering, then check out the details here or give me call for a chat about what's involved - I would love to hear from you.

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

As promised, I'm back today to share with you the birthday card I made for Rebecca to celebrate her tenth birthday yesterday. I used this week's sketch layout at TGIF Challenges as my inspiration:

Whilst most of her birthday cards had a distinctly 'pink' theme, Rebecca loves bright colours and patterns and I wanted to create something based around the colours of the new Cherry On Top DSP stack and the co-ordinating washi tape - here's what I came up with: 

Bright, right?! I used Watermelon Wonder as my base and Bermuda Bay for my mat layers, then created a panel of stripes using each of the Cherry On Top washi tapes. On my central panel, I stamped the sentiment and cake stand directly onto the base, then created a 3D cake by stamping each of the 'Build A Birthday' cake layers onto a separate piece of Whisper White and curving with my bone folder before adhering to my card. I topped my cake with a trio of washi tape flags and added a Cucumber Crush blossom accent, complete with rhinestone, to finish. Check out my cute little flags below - so easy to make by wrapping a piece of washi tape around the end of a cocktail stick and snipping to create flag shapes: 

I used the positioning of the stars on the sketch to hold a handcrafted birthday badge that could be removed - when your birthday is on a school day, a badge is most definitely a part of birthday uniform! I simply stamped a 1 3/4" circle with age, sentiment and a birthday balloon and popped it into a badge kit - here's a close up: 

The verdict? Rebecca loved it, so mission accomplished! She had a lovely day at school and the we all went out for dinner with grandparents before coming home to open yet more presents. Oh to be ten again!

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday Deals and another card for the TGIF Challenge, only this time the Monthly Throwdown. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Build A Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set	Cherry On Top Designer Washi Tape	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad
Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! It is a happy one here in the James Household as the oldest of my James Juniors is 10 years old today! I will share her birthday card tomorrow, but for today I have another rather patriotic-themed card for this week's challenge over at Colour Me where they have the following striking colour combination: 

This was definitely calling for an all-out stars and stripes combo - so I dug out my SAB Irresistibly Yours paper and got sponging! I am also linking up with SUO Challenges again today as this card fits their theme of stars and stripes perfectly. Here's my card:

I just love how this card turned out! Some simply sponged panels in the challenge colours and the paper really does all the work - I'm so glad we now have the Colour Me Irresistible paper in the annual catalogue too. The stripes in the pack are diagonal so I cut the paper at an angle to straighten them up, added a 'Bravo!' stamp from the set of the same name and some stars cut with my Big Shot and star framelits to finish. Simply but I hope you agree, rather effective! 

That's all from me today - lots to do! Back tomorrow with a rather special birthday card to share; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' up! Supplies Used:

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper	Big Shot	Stars Framelits Dies	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at the Paper Players. Thank you to everyone who played along with my challenge last week - your entries were awesome! This week it is the turn of the super talented Sandy and she has a fun colour challenge for us:

With the 4th of July not far away, there are lots of patriotic themed cards floating about the internet. Thought of American independence and the stars on this week's badge inspired me to create my card this week:

I chose to use the Congrats! stamp from the 'Bravo!' stamp set as my focal sentiment, stamped in Island Indigo onto my Pool Party base, and die cut some stars around it using my Big shot and Stars framelits to decorate. I used a couple of snippets of retired DSP behind the negative space (the indigo stripes are from the 'All Abloom' pack and the red stripes from the 'Fresh Prints' DSP stack) and popped some stars up on dimensionals for a little extra lift. A red glimmer star punched with my Itty Bitty star punch and a single rhinestone finish my card. 

This card is ready for one of my lovely team who is close to promoting this month; I am willing her to get there so am thinking positively and I know I'll be sending this out real soon. I'm also linking up to SUO Challenges where the challenge is appropriately 'stars and stripes'. 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 colourful creations in the gallery this week. I'm off to begin a couple of days of birthday celebrations - we are starting early and making the most of it - after all, you're only 10 once!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stars Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot	Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Red Glimmer Paper

Saturday already - I just don't know where this week has gone! I've spent most of today baking in readiness for a very special young lady who is about to turn 'double digits' in the birthday stakes (more on that later in the week!) so just have time for a quick post today to share the 'make and take' card that I made recently at the Stampin' Up! event held in Telford recently, using a beautiful new set called 'Awesomely Artistic':

The base of the card is one of the new in-colours, Mint Macaron, decorated with a piece of burlap. The main panel is watercolour paper, stamped with a blossom in Mint Macaron and some grunge splatters from the same set in Delightful Dijon. The dragonfly was stamped and spritzed with water so that the colour would bleed into the paper. The sentiment is from another new set, 'One Big Meaning' and was stamped in Tip Top Taupe, firstly directly onto the watercolour paper and then again onto Very Vanilla and the bottom part cut out and popped up on a couple of dimensionals. A vintage faceted button and a sprinkle of pearls complete the card - I even remembered to decorate the envelope too!

There are some gorgeous images in the 'Awesomely Artistic' stamp set and you can be sure that you will be seeing more of this set from me. 

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players; until, then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set	One Big Meaning Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Watercolor Paper	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
Delightful Dijion Classic Stampin' Pad	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons
Pearl Basic Jewels

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Today we have a new sketch challenge for you:

When I made this card I was still waiting for my box of new catalogue goodies to arrive, so was rather restricted in terms of supplies - I was actually missing having a selection of DSP for all those layers! I decided to go with a rather loose interpretation of the sketch and build the layers using stamps; here's my card:

I decided to rotate the sketch through 90 degrees, although I stuck with the vertical shape, and use the 'tap tap tap' stamp set and create a teacher thank you card. I stamped the first two panels onto my Pool party base with the alphabet stamp in Island Indigo and the tap tap in Pool Party. I used a piece of Whisper White stamped with the notepaper stamp in Pool Party for my central panel, rounding the corners with my Project Life corner rounder. I also punched the top with my now retired spiral border punch, but you could just as easy leave this edge straight. I stamped 'TO MY TEACHER' using my Rotary Alphabet stamp - so useful for bespoke messages and sentiments - and added a bright Real Red typewriter that I stamped in Versamark then heat embossed in clear, then coloured the keys in with my black Stampin' Write marker.

There are two fun elements to my card that you might be wondering where they came from: the red apple and leaf is punched using my new Tree Builder punch and painted with Crystal Effects for added shine and secondly, the thank you sentiment on my paper pieced paper in the typewriter. This isn't one of the sentiments that comes with this set - I created it by using my stamp-a-ma-jig and inking a combination of parts of the other sentiments in the set to spell 'thank you'. The 'a' is from the word 'tap' - and I love how it stands out slightly from the others, it looks like a proper old typewriter font.

If you would like to see a more literal interpretation of this week's sketch, I also used it for yesterday's card which you can see here. Looking forward to seeing what you do with our sketch this week. As for me, I have a team meeting planned today and a bunch of household chores. I'll be back tomorrow with more creative inspiration for you. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Having had a busy start to my week with two technique classes and my monthly Project Life Class, I am finally back with my blog today to share with you one of the cards we made in my technique class. The class featured the now retired set 'Painted Petals' from the Spring-Summer Seasonal catalogue; the ladies that attend my classes were so keen to have a class using this set that we decided we would carry it over into June. Here is one of the cards we made:

A beautifully bright and cheery card in Daffodil Delight and Blackberry Bliss. We used some retired All Abloom DSP matted on Blackberry Bliss, alongside a panel of Blackberry Bliss that we embossed with the Spring Flowers embossing folder (also retired), then mounted our panel of Whisper White stamped with the double flower image in Blackberry Bliss and Mossy Meadow (the yellow flower centres were added with a Crushed Curry Stampin' Write marker). To finish we added the sentiment, punched out with a large oval punch and mounted on a piece of yellow cut with the Decorative Label punch. This was our 'finishing up' card, having made a rather more complicated box card beforehand (one to share another day!).

Next month's technique class is featuring the gorgeous new stamp set 'You've Got This'. If you would like to join with me and two groups of the nicest people you could wish to know, do get in touch for more details and to book your place.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a card for our new challenge over at Create With Connie And Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Crushed Curry Stampin' Write Marker	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Decorative Label Punch	Extra-Large Oval Punch

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced. 

As always, 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 Hostess Code for June UPCSWX2C 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. 

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:

Be The Star Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Confetti Hearts Border Punch	Eclectic Paper-Piercing Pack	Gold 1/8" Ribbon
Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers	Silver 1/8" Ribbon	Simply Scored Diagonal Scoring Plate	Squares Collection Framelits Dies