Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a few current challenges:

I'm using Cecile's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the colour combination over at Colour Inkspirational (I chose my retiring in-colour as Polished Pink - love this pink!) and am also linking up over at Inkspirational where the theme is clean and simple. I'm also using a retiring stamp set - for the first time! Take a look:

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

When I saw Cecile's sketch, I was initially tempted to go with the 'clean and layered' look, however I decided I'd challenge myself to embrace my 'inner Cecile' and create something altogether more clean and simple. I already had the 'Cottage Rose' stamp set out on my desk as I wanted to give it at least one use before it goes away, so I decided I would use that for my focal point, masking and stamping in an extra set of leaves too, in black onto Very Vanilla cardstock.

If you too are a fan of Cecile's work, you will know she is the queen of clean and simple cards and lots to add colour to line stamped designs using a paintbrush and watercolours - her current Design Team cards both at FMS and at CAS Colours & Sketches are good examples of this. I wasn't sure I could pull this off though, so instead I decide to go for a more bokeh effect and using both a blending brush and sponge dauber to achieve different depths of colour, I added Polished Pink and (retired) Encore Gold ink using stencils made with a variety of circle punches and some leftover window sheet to the main flower. A simple gold-on-black heat embossed sentiment completes my card:

I added the same floral detail both inside the card and on the front and flap of my coordinating envelope to complete the look. I resisted the urge to add some enamel dots and just allowed the flower to take centre stage. What do you think? Have you ever tried this kind of technique before? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to hear your thoughts. I don't mind saying I just love this card!! A mix of traditional floral and modern, abstract colouring - so fun! Thank you Cecile for a fabulous sketch and design inspiration 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:

COTTAGE ROSE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.20)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (6.00)	SPONGE DAUBERS (4.75)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)
VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

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

Use a craft image on your card - hmm, this should be an easy one right? Turns out I had nothing in my current product stash that fitted the bill and due to the sorting out of stamp sets I couldn't find any stamps in my retired stash either (even though I know I have some somewhere!!) Then I remembered that I has a retired Memories and More pack called 'What a Year' that had some quirky images in - and today's no-stamping card was born! Here it is:

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

A few of the cards in this pack feature scissors, so I chose one of them, added a background of (retired) Mango Melody Dandy Designs paper left over from Sale-A-Bration, and one of the sentiment stickers from the Memories & More pack too. The only extra I added was a diecut circle and banner behind:

And that was it - done! A little light on 'white space', but no stamping, minimal layers and embellishments and it took barely 10 minutes to put together - clean and simple at its best!

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project or supplies list, as apart from the Stylish Shapes Dies and basic cardstock I used, everything else is retired. I think this makes a fun and colourful notecard for a crafty friend - I'd love a fancy pair of scissors like the ones on this card too, wouldn't you?

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

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

Today I'm sharing my third card for my Guest Designer spot over at Just Us Girls. This week it's photo/moodboard week:

 So much to love about this mood board! I was inspired by all of the pretty pinks and the florals in the middle picture on the top row, and the sentiment below it, for my guest designer card this week - take a look:

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

I knew that I wanted to focus on the pinks for my card this week, in particular that pretty piece of designer paper that I used for my base panel from the Awash in Beauty paper pack. I have been holding on to this for just the right opportunity and I decided this card was it! used the sketch over at Paper Craft Crew for my layout; I like the way the white horizontal strips break up the background pattern but still allow it to shine. For my focal point, I went with a sentiment from my favourite 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set in Merry Merlot - I will so miss this set when it retires! - and framed it with more pretty pink blooms that I fussy cut from the reverse side of the background paper. A sprinkle of sequins completes my card:

I really love how this card turned out - these papers are soo pretty! How does the mood board inspire you? Check out what the design team over at Just Us Girls have created this week and have a go and join us!

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 for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

AWASH IN BEAUTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (15.30)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Global Pay It Forward Day' which is on April 28th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week my card works perfectly for our theme: I used kindness sentiment, hearts and hands along with the trio of retiring colours being showcased over at Inspire.Create and this is what I came up with:

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

Begin With A Dream - The 'Begin With A Dream' stamp set is a host set, exclusively available to those who earn Stampin' rewards when they host a Stampin' Up! get-together with friends or place a single order of £150 or more. All about love and kindness, this set is perfect for the theme of 'paying it forward'. I used the row of people to create a custom DSP panel and layered my sentiment over a stamped pink heart for a pop of extra colour:  

You can still get this stamp set with a qualifying order before the end of the month, so if it's on your list don't delay - get to my online store!

Bye Bye Brights - All three of the colours on today's card are retiring as part of the upcoming colour refresh. Polished Pink is a departing 2021-23 in-colour (I will miss this pink!) and Mango Melody and Bermuda Bay are retiring from the Brights family. I love all three of these colours, but wasn't sure I could make a project that featured all three on one card. I decided simple was best, so used Bermuda Bay as my main colour, with Mango Melody for my base and a pop of Polished Pink for accent colour. I think it works - what do you think? Will you miss any or all of these colours? 

All Heart - As I looked at my almost finished card, I decided it needed a touch more pink than just the heart stamped behind my sentiment. I decided to add in a trio of cascading punched hearts for a little extra colour and the small heart on the Country Heart Punch was the perfect size and shape for the job. Love it when that happens!

This card took way more thought than it did execution time, but I really like the cheery result and will be perfect to pair with a treat for someone who is least expecting it. How will you 'pay it forward' later this month?

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for my GD spot over at Just Us Girls. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEGIN WITH A DREAM HOST CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (12.00)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (6.12)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (6.12)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (6.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (6.00)
COUNTRY BOUQUET PUNCH (18.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am the featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went across the bottom with floral, embossing and stitching and took the opportunity to work with the current Color Hues palette of peach and kraft and decided to try out a fun technique that I saw on Instagram recently - take a look:

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

Graffiti Art - I saw a reel on Instagram recently by the New Zealand demonstrator, Jacque Williams, where she created a fun graffiti art-style card and I really wanted to give it a go! It's actually not that tricky to do: you choose your background wall colour (I used Crumb Cake) then ink one side of your Bricks and Mortar embossing folder before inserting your card and running it through your Big Shot machine. This gives you your inked 'cement' lines and the base onto which you then stamp the rest of your design. Simple! This embossing folder is great for this technique and makes a great background too. I can't believe it's retiring - if you don't have one, I'd seriously consider adding to your collection whilst you still can!

Floral Art Gallery - I chose to add some bold florals for my wall art, using the large bloom from the Art Gallery stamp set, with a Pale Papaya base and top layer of Calypso Coral for some pretty peachy florals, and I stamped the stems in a neutral brown. I also added some splatters in Crumb Cake randomly across my wall to add to the artsy feel.

Art Gallery is another stamp set I haven't used in ages but is leaving us with the current outgoing annual catalogue. I'll be keeping mine though - these florals are a no-brainer and the simple block sentiments are so useful with all kinds of cards, not to mention the large diecut sentiment in the set too. Pale Papaya is leaving too - so get yours now whilst you still can!

Tailormade Tag - I finished my card with some Crumb Cake baker's twine and a tiny tailor made tag with a simple thank you sentiment. I am sending this card to a dear customer of mine who loves a messy card - mixed media and grunge are totally her thing, so I know she will appreciate my attempt at getting even close to her signature style!!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. You should definitely check out the design team's cards this week too - they are amazing!

Enjoy your day; I'm hoping to get a few cards made today in between errands and laundry. I'm hopeful to be able to use the washing line today, as right now it's a lovely bright and breezy day. Not sure I'll be still in luck by the time the washing machine cycle has finished - we are experiencing proper April showers here in the UK at the moment. The constant to and fro the washing line is definitely keeping me fit though! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (9.50)	ART GALLERY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (8.40)	TAILOR MADE TAGS DIES (21.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PALE PAPAYA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (6.75)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)

Happy Easter Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card using Jen M's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches that is also perfect for the new 'A is for Adorable' challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog:

As I was making this card the other day I was pondering what to do with the pretty scene on the corner of my sheet of Happy Forest Friends designer paper, and I decided Jen's sketch would be the perfect way to showcase it - take a look:

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

By carefully cutting into four pieces as per the sketch, I could keep the scene whilst presenting it in an interesting way at the same time. I mounted each one on a mat of Grey Granite cardstock and added to a white cardbase, then fussy cut a stamped sentiment from one of my favourite retiring sets 'Simply Fabulous'. This set is currently available at a 10% discount - you can buy it here in my online store whilst supplies last! I stamped it in Night of Navy and positioned it strategically at the meeting point:

Doesn't this bear look just as if he's waving hello to the butterfly as he passes on his woodland stroll? If that's not cute, I don't know what is!  That's all there is to it - super simple today, with the pretty designer paper doing all the work!

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:

HAPPY FOREST FRIENDS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

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've a colour challenge for you to work with:

I chose pastel colours for this week's challenge; I rarely choose pastels as a starting point, much preferring brights, so I thought this would both challenge me and also give me a gallery full of pastel design inspiration - a win-win I'd say! With the recent Stampin' Up! announcement of a full colour refresh, we are saying goodbye to not only the outgoing 2021-23 in-colours, but several from across the colour families too. I've used one of the retiring in-colours and three of the four retiring pastels from the subtles family on my cards today along with the layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday - take a look at the first one:

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

Farewell Hand Penned Petals - I used the retiring 'Hand Painted Petals' stamp set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies on my car today, along with the border dies from the Eden Dies set, also retiring, to pick out the border edge of my Country Gingham panel. This is a great stamp set if you're new to stamping - it has both outline stamps and individual pieces to infill the various flowers and leaves with colour, but they intentionally don't line up with each other exactly. The easy, artsy look means that you don't have to align the stamps perfectly - yet they still look great, perfect for a beginner! Get your stamp set and dies from my online store here whilst stocks last. 

Bye, Bye Blushing Bride - This card features Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron, retiring pastels from the Subtles family, along with Pale Papaya, a retiring in-colour. I've never been a big fan of Blushing Bride (I find it a 'muddy' pink) but I do think it can be enhanced when paired with other colours. Paired with the peachy tones of Pale Papaya and the fresh green of Mint Macaron and some ribbon and gems in those colours too, it does look quite pretty - what do you think?

So Long, So Saffron - So Saffron is another of the departing Subtles, so I decided to make a variation on my first card using Pale Papaya for the larger flowers and the pale yellow of So Saffron for the smaller ones; all other details were the same.

I think I prefer this version, but I'll leave it for you to decide if you have a favourite!

So are you a fan of the Subtles colour family and pastel shades? If so, you should definitely consider entering our challenge this week!

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

And the second one:

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:

Enjoy your day; I'm off to set up my Easter egg hunt for the James Juniors - they might be in their teens now, but they still like to hunt for their chocolate, they are nothing if not sticklers for tradition! We have a roast turkey lunch planned then this afternoon will be spent consuming the fruit of their spoils and if the sun continues to shine, walking it off! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing my second card for my Guest Designer spot over at Just Us Girls. This week it's word week:

Sunshine - could this be any more uplifting?! I decided to CASE Ann's card over at Global Design Project #GDP388 and pair a couple of old favourites with a new-to-me stamp from the annual catalogue for my card - take a look:

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

Instead of fussy cut flowers, I flipped Ann's design and used simple white clouds, diecut with my Basic Borders Dies, for the top and bottom elements and saved the detail for my sunny panel behind.

I recently purchase the Rays of Light background stamp and thought it would be the perfect way to show the warm sunshine streaming down between the clouds. In a nod to Ann's card, I stamped it onto a piece of yellow Hues of Happiness designer series paper, inking my stamp in a blend of Daffodil Delight and retiring Mango Melody. The patterned/floral sides of this paper are what you most often see showcased, but the reverse coloured sides are beautiful too. The stamp itself has a lovely textured surface and I think this is enhanced with the faux brushstrokes on the designer paper.

Like Ann I did use the Sending Smiles bundle for my sentiment, keeping with a bold, black diecut 'sending' and then adding a more appropriate stamped element to my bottom cloud in an ombre of the two yellows I used for the sunshine. I added a few adhesive-backed milky dots in Mango Melody to complete my card (these are currently in the retiring sale and available at a discount in my online store here). Mango Melody ink pads are unfortunately no longer available - those departing colours are flying off the shelves!

There is something so cheery about sunshine cards I think - I can't wait to see what the Design Team and JUGS gallery has in store 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:

BASIC BORDERS DIES (27.00)

RAYS OF LIGHT CLING STAMP SET (17.00)

SENDING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)

HUES OF HAPPINESS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge, chosen by Jan:

I considered how I was going to use that large central circle as my focal point and since I'm in 'use it up' mode with my retiring product right now, I decided to create a little scene using some woodland creatures from the Happy Forest Friends designer series paper in the annual catalogue. After much fussy cutting and arranging and re-arranging, this is what I came up with:

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

Several of the sheets in the Happy Forest Friends pack have printed scenes on them, so having considered how I was going to make the most of each sheet I actually fussy cut some animals, then used my largest circle Stylish Shapes Die to partially cut a circle, having firstly fussy cut the edge of the tree to sit outside of the circle border. I then added an owl, bear, bird and half a fox (good job he was peeking from behind the tree!) and layered them to create my scene. You can see the detailing a little better on the close up below:

I added a couple of panels using another of the patterns in this pack to the background, and a simple bow of Old Olive twine and a stamped and fussy cut sentiment from the 'Lovely You' stamp set that seemed to fit with my scene. The 'Lovely You' stamp set has lots of useful sentiments and is currently available at 60% off - just £9.20. What a bargain - snap one up here in my online store whilst it's still available!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPY FOREST FRIENDS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. We are in April now; Valerie chose our challenges this month and our first challenge is a lovely bright colour challenge: 

For my card today I wanted to play along with the current challenge of 'Spring' over at Addicted to CAS who are back following their extended break and the layout over at Sunday Stamps was perfect for me to play with some of my favourite retired dies - take a look:

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

I had my 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set out on my desk and was originally going to stamp three squares, but instead used this set just for the sentiment and used a trio of Floral Squares Dies to add some bright pops of spring colour. I added some retired Crushed Curry baker's twine that I had in my stash; these flowers are so easy to layer and great for clean and simple cards:

This card measures 4 1/2" x 8" so is slightly larger than usual, so also needed a custom envelope - long-time retired in-colour designer paper to the rescue for that one too! Can you tell that we are about to transition between catalogues? Trying to have a clear-out always results in the discovery of old favourites - I'm still hanging on to these ones though, I love them and so wish we had more designs of these! Apart from the colours, everything is either retired or on the way - the 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set is on it's way to the retired shelf, although I have a space ready for it as I'm not letting go of mine just yet!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (17.00)

MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)