It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players and this week we have a colour challenge for you and I am the hostess! Stampin' Up!'s 2013-15 In Colours will soon retire on the 2nd June, to make way for five new In-Colours in the new annual catalogue. Whilst we still have them though, I thought this week we would showcase three of my personal favourites:

I'd like to take this opportunity to give a big shout-out to the fabulous Nance Leedy, who makes all of our challenge badges and does so much to ensure our weekly challenges run smoothly - Nance, you rock! - didn't she do a great job on my challenge badge this week? I used the sketch layout over at The Challenge for the layout of my card this week, and decided to go floral with my chosen colours - here's my card:

I have had the 'Hey There Buds' stamp set for edges and been dying to ink it up, so decided that today was the day! I used Coastal Cabana for my card base, then created a split mat panel of Strawberry Slush and Coastal Cabana, which I embossed with the large polka dot embossing folder. I matted my central panel of Whisper White on Coastal Cabana too (having rounded the corners of both pieces with my Project Life corner rounder), then on my piece of white I stamped the whole image in Pistachio Pudding, with the exception of the sentiment which I inked up separately with my Coastal Cabana Stampin' Write marker. I then stamped the whole image again on scrap cardstock in Strawberry Slush and fussy cut each of the blooms and stuck these onto the focal panel. I also stamped the central section of the open flower on a scrap of white in Coastal Cabana, and fussy cut around the spiky white section before adhering to the main image. I then added a blob of Crystal Effects to the blue flower centre for some extra dimension. I added a piece of Coastal Cabana ribbon (from the Sale-A-Bration Best Year Ever accessory set) and a white button tied with some split Strawberry Slush thick baker's twine to finish, before popping this panel onto the base using dimensionals.

So a little fussy cutting required, but it enabled me to get a more solid image than selectively colouring the image using markers and I think it was worth it. So before you reach for your paper and inks, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I hope you like today's project - I'm so looking forward to see what you create with my chosen colour palette - I look forward to seeing your cards and projects in our gallery this week.

I'm off on an all day team training day today, which promises to be fun. I then have two days of classes to look forward to. The James juniors are back to school on Tuesday after the Easter holiday and whilst I will be sorry to see them go, it should at least mean that normal blogging will resume shortly thereafter. This week the call of the warmer weather here in the UK was simply too much and we spent our week outdoors; with the exception of making the samples for next week's classes, my ink pads have remained firmly shut!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hey There Buds Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Project Life Corner Punch	Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine
Neutrals Designer Buttons	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana
Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding	Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's Thursday and time for another challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary, where this week we have a great colour combination for you:

This colour combination appears in the Birthday Bash DSP and I couldn't resist using a piece of it on a fun-fold card for a humorous birthday greeting:

I used Night of Navy for my card base and created a fun-fold card using my Deco Labels framelits. I used Calypso Coral for my mats. I used a piece of the party hat paper for the front section beneath my main sentiment, a lovely curly script from the 'Age Awareness' stampset. I backed my sentiment panel with a circle cut with my circle framelits and popped this up on dimensionals, so that I could attach my Calypso Coral pompom trim and gold sequins to the front with a mini gold peg to add to the party feel. I continued the stamping inside my card, which today I remembered to photograph:

This card is for a good friend whose birthday I not only forgot last year, but worse still bumped into on the day and not even that triggered my extremely poor memory into remembering! Luckily the friend was gracious enough to forgive me, although he has ribbed me mercilessly about it ever since. Needless to say, his birthday isn't until next month but the card is ready and I will be making an extra effort this time around!

The Design Team has some amazing projects to share with you this week, with lots of great inspiration so do pop by their blogs and take a look. So grab your paper and inks and we look forward to seeing you in the gallery this week!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project hopefully; I have my monthly stamp-a-stack class in the morning and the Easter holidays mean I am getting a little less creative time than usual, but I'll do my best. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

It's Wednesday so 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 April DBJFM4DG 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:

1" Square Punch	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon	Banner Punch	Banners Framelits Dies
Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Brights Designer Buttons	Circle card Thinlits Die	Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die
Hexagon Punch	Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper	Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons

So much to choose from - handy punches, framelits and the magnetic platform again. I think the Sunshine & Sprinkles designer series paper should actual be on the clearance rack rather than weekly deals as it is already retired, but for £2.99 a pack who cares where it's posted, right? :-)  

Right, first one to the shop gets the bargains! Happy shopping!

What a great start to a Wednesday - the Clearance Rack has been updated and there are now lots of new items available, some with as much as 80% off. As is always the case, popular items will sell out quickly, so don't spend too long deliberating - get in there quick! There are some great paper bargains, including the lovely kraft wrapping paper (I'll definitely be stocking up on that for next Christmas!) as well as DSP and the Trim The Tree DSP stack. My favourite Autumn Wooden elements embellishments are in there too - I could go on, but the best thing you can do is hop on over and take a look.

Click here to go the clearance rack in my online store and grab a bargain whilst stocks last! You might also want to check out this week's round of new weekly deals too and pop one or two of those in your basket - you can find them here. Don't forget to include the current hostess code DBJFM4DG make sure that 'allow your demonstrator to contact you' is ticked in order that you receive your special 'thank you' in the post from me. 

Race you to the shop - first one there gets the bargains! Happy shopping! 

Happy Monday everyone! I am here nice and prompt today to share a card that I made using the same sketch as yesterday from the Deconstructed Sketch for my old friends over at Colour Me...! as I haven't played along with those lovely ladies in ages:

Sandy's card this week is so gorgeous it prompted me to get in the monochromatic groove. Here is my card using this week's colours:

I made a slightly larger card than usual (A5 finished size) as I wanted to have plenty of space on my central panel. I used Soft Sky for my base and a piece of Soft Sky DSP from the Subtles paper stack for my patterned mat, along with some black mats to frame everything, then having stamped the base floral image in Soft Sky, I then stamped the top layer image and the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed them with black embossing powder, which give a lovely sheen and glossy texture. I finished with a simple knotted bow using some black chevron ribbon overlaid with Soft Sky taffeta ribbon for a little touch of luxury. I decorated the inside of the card with the remaining half of the sentiment and some flowers (apologies - no photo!). I adore this stamp set - I love those two step stamping flowers, so easy to achieve with photopolymer, and the sentiment is just so heartfelt for a card to a mother - for Mother's Day, a birthday or 'just because'. 

That's me done for today - I have some jobs to do and lunch to prepare before a pleasant bike ride to look forward to this afternoon, if the day turns out to be as nice as it looks right now. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mum's Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Soft Sky 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon	Basic Black 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool - Uk Plug
Black Stampin' Emboss Powder

A quick extra post today to share my last Easter card with you - you can see my earlier post for The Paper Players here. I made this one using this week's Deconstructed Sketch for my layout and am also linking up with the 4 Crafty Chicks where the challenge is Easter and The Friday Mashup where their challenge is to use 'Easter Critters' on your card (I chose not to mashup with their colours):

I have yet to share a Cheerful Critter card with you, so since today is Easter Sunday it seemed like a good opportunity:

I decided on some simple layering in Sahara Sand, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder, with the main frame embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to echo the dots on the bunny's top. I coloured my bunny with the now discontinued Wisteria Wonder and Soft Sky Blendabilities and the bunny itself with a Sahara Sand marker and blender pen. I used two of the stamps from the 'Crazy About You' stamp set to create my custom sentiment. Lastly, I added a double bow in Soft Sky seam binding ribbon to finish my rather girly and feminine-looking card. 

Before I go, I just thought I would share a quick photo of my very own Easter bunnies in the garden this morning, sporting some fun props we made from a variety of punches and dies:

Cute, aren't they?! That really is all from me today; back tomorrow with antoehr project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cheerful Critters Photopolymer Stamp Set	Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die	Soft Sky 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Wisteria Wonder A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

It's Sunday - my favourite day of the blogging week! It's time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players and this week the lovely Jaydee has a fun theme for us:

Use any die cut on your project - boy did I deliberate over this! I use die cuts all the time and my Big Shot is my crafting best friend, but what to share? I made several cards, all trying to showcase different aspects of dies and diecuts, but none of them were working for me; I think I was trying too hard! After much deliberating I decided to share a 3D project instead and since it's Easter Sunday today what better than an Easter basket made with the Berry Basket Bigz Die, along with some cute little tags all ready for today's Easter egg hunt:

The basket itself is really easy to make using the die: I made mine out of So Saffron cardstock with a Pink Pirouette trim and handle, and having stamped some eggs on the basket using my Subtles Stampin' Write markers, I finished my completed basket with a couple of pink bows punched from the Bow Builder punch and a stamped tag tied on with some Marina Mist chevron ribbon. I then used my Big Shot, Handpicked framelit dies and my Alphabet rotary stamp to make a whole bunch of tags ready to place around the garden for our Easter egg hunt today - here are just a selection:

I made them out of coaster board, so that they would be extra-strong and added coloured punched out arrows to some of them to add to the fun.

There are some great projects from the Design Team this week - do pop by their blogs and take a look:

I hope you like today's project - there are so many different dies to choose from, I can't wait to see what you come up with for your cards and projects in our gallery this week. I'm off to play Easter bunny and follow the James juniors around the garden collecting eggs, then attempt to persuade them to not eat them all before lunch! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Handpicked Framelits Dies	Berry Basket Bigz L Die	For Peeps' Sake Clear Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Bow Builder Punch
What's Up Punch	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Candy Dots Brad Bases	Subtles Candy Dots	Marina Mist 3/4" Chevron Ribbon
Vanilla Coaster Board	Alphabet Rotary Stamp	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock	So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Subtles A4 Card Stock

I have a couple of posts for you today - the first one is for this week's challenge over at SUO Challenges, where they have a 'fun fold' challenge going on. I was also inspired to use the colours over at The Card Concept - don't you just love that inspiration photo?

Now I don't often make fun fold cards, although I saw a really 'simple but effective' one over on LeeAnn Greff's blog here a couple of weeks ago (inspired by an original card by Darlene McCallum) that I really wanted to try. When I went to LeeAnn's blog to link up, she has today added a video tutorial here, although I had already made my card and used slightly different measurements to this as I was working in metric. Here is my version:

It wasn't too tricky to work out where to make the cuts using my Stampin' Trimmer to make the folded corner and once they were in place I could adhere the front panel, which featured my Painted Petals blooms, stamped in Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe, with a little detail added using a Calypso Coral Stampin' Write marker and some tiny pearls and matted onto a piece of Coastal Cabana. I created an ombre border using the dot stamp in Crisp Cantaloupe along the bottom, starting with the bottom row and working upwards, stamping each time without reinking. I then overstamped my sentiment in Coastal Cabana. 

I need to add a couple more photos showing this card from the inside and so that you can better see it with the front face closed against the back panel. I love this fun fold - it enables me to maintain my 'clean and layered' look whilst adding an unexpected twist. 

Back later with another fun Easter project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Painted Petals Clear Stamp Set	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad
Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Blender Pens	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Stampin' Trimmer

It's Good Friday already so I thought it was about time I shared with you some of the fun Easter projects that I've been making with my children and their friends in recent weeks. Both James Juniors love to craft and Rebecca especially likes the opportunity to spend some time in my craft room whenever she can. At the start of the Easter holidays, we had a big group of their friends round and spent a fun morning making these cute Easter treat boxes using one of my favourite products, the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlit Die:

I couldn't resist creating some Easter themed containers using this die, further to the popularity of my Christmas ones - you can see my tips on using this thinlit die in my Stampissimo video with Paula Gorry from Stampin' Up! here.

The girls made cute bunnies - I've seen lots of different versions floating around Pinterest, but for mine I decided to use my Flower Fair framelits to create the ears and the various pieces from my trusty Owl Builder punch for the face, along with some strands of split white jute ribbon for his whiskers and some added detail with a Smoky Slate marker and my white gel pen.

The boys made these cute Easter chicks:

The boys were slightly younger, so we went with something a little less complicated with less small pieces required for the face.

In addition, everyone also made a little Easter bag, inspired by this one created by Brian King and using this fabulous little tutorial by Val Moody to create the basic bag shape:

We kept things simple with some tone-on-tone stamping using the 'For Peep's Sake' Easter-themed stamp set and a little tag made with the handpicked framelits. These little bags are so easy to make and the perfect size for your mini Easter eggs. Everyone chose their own colours - here's a couple of pictures I took on the day of some of the children's finished projects:

Not many 'action' photos I'm afraid - just too much going on. It was a busy few hours of crafting with 16 children taking part, but they were all so well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed making some great treat boxes to take home. I have another easy Easter-themed project to share with you tomorrow, so do pop back then if you're in need of some last minute Easter inspiration. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

For the rabbit box:

Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Owl Punch	Flower Fair Framelits Die	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock
Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen	Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Marker	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon	Basic Black A4 Card Stock

For the chick box:

Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits Dies	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Owl Punch	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Large Oval Punch	Bone Folder

For the Mini Egg Bag:

Fry Box Bigz L Die	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Large Oval Punch	Bone Folder
For Peeps' Sake Clear Stamp Set	Handpicked Framelits Dies	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad	So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad
Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

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

Here is my card today:

I decided to make a simple floral background for my word with a trio of flowers from the 'Flower Patch' stamp set, stamped in Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe and Baked Brown Sugar. I stamped the large central flower first, then created a mask using a post-it note and the co-ordinating Flower Fair framelits to create a mask before stamping the outer flowers, so that they appeared behind the central bloom. 

For my sentiment, I chose a 'thanks' cut with my 'Hello You' thinlits dies out of Night of Navy cardstock, but before adhering to my card I coated it in Versamark and heat embossed it in clear embossing powder several times, until it became beautifully shiny and glossy. One of those 'it looks much better in real life' moments I'm afraid, as the photo doesn't really show just how pretty this looks!

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the team have in store for you - we look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery this week!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: