It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Deborah is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I decided to make a card to send to my Paper Players teamie, the lovely Anne Marie Hile, who is currently recovering from some serious health issues. It's a while since I sent her some happy mail and whilst her regular Facebook updates are keeping us informed of her great progress, I thought these colours would be perfect for a cute hot air balloon to carry my best wishes across the miles to let her know I am thinking of her:

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

My card really is super simple! I diecut some clouds out of masking paper, then added a sky using Boho Blue ink and a blending brush to my card base, before removing the masked clouds. I stamped a balloon in Melon Mambo and added a decorative panel from Calypso Coral cardstock, before adding to my card using dimensionals:

I almost left it there, but decided to add a trio of Melon Mambo glossy dots for a little understated sparkle - a nod to the lovely Anne Marie herself! I initially struggled with this colour combo, even though it includes my favourite Melon Mambo, but when it came down to it they suited my card perfectly. I can't wait to see how you use these 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. 

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:

HOT AIR BALLOON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	HOT AIR BALLOON DIES (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BOHO BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GLOSSY DOTS ASSORTMENT (7.50)

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

Beach time! Well, I was tempted to go with another sunset like the one in the inspo photo, but I've made one using htese colours before so instead went with a daytime beach scene as I wanted to use the lifeguard hut image from the 'Beach Day' stamp set and dies that I haven't yet used on any of my beach-themed projects. I decided to use the layered sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches for my layout and the colours from the bright palette over at Color Dare (I went down the right hand column with Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana and (retired) Starry Sky as my equivalent colours, and a little Lemon Lime Twist from the top row too). I was faithful to the square shape of the sketch and had a lot of fun stamping and diecutting - take a look:

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

Perennial Postage - I decided to use my Perennial Postage Dies to cut out my layer shapes; for the larger square that I used for my beach scene, I simply used one of the larger rectangles and then ran through the die cutting machine a second time to cut the end off to make it square - easy peasy! The dies almost make this look like a postage stamp, don't you think?

Beach Day Layers - I worked on my beach scene first, layering all of the elements to create my scene. I masked off the edges and added an inked sky using a blending brush, then cut my sea, complete with foam, and my sand, onto which I stamped some shells for added interest. I used the diecuts only for my lifeguard hut as I wanted it to be completely white, and added a couple of stamped gulls to complete the scene. I added a sun for another of the sketch elements (diecut using the retired Hey Chuck Dies) and a trio of shells to another of the panels.

So Swirly - I decided to use (retired) Starry Sky cardstock for my cardbase as it really compliments the other elements and embossed my mat layer with the new So Swirly embossing folder. Oh my - I love this! I bought it to compliment my Latte Love bundle, but I thought it worked well to add a sense of watery movement to this card too. I think I'm going to get so much use from this EF - it comes in the new larger 6x8.5" size too, which is so useful. You can see the embossing and layering in more detail below:

I actually make this card with a birthday sentiment on the inside, but in hindsight I should perhaps have made it as a congratulations card for the youngest of the James Juniors who has spent the last week training to be a lifeguard (pool not beach as we live about the furthest from the sea that you can possibly get in the UK!) and passed his final tests and gained his qualification yesterday. Luckily I already had a card ready! I really love the Beach Day stamp set and dies and am so glad they carried over as I otherwise might not have added them to my collection and I'm getting so much use from them. I'm also linking today's card up over at Time Out Challenges where the quote to be inspired by is "It's always summer somewhere"; for me a visit to the beach is synonymous with summer - I would so love to leave near the beach all year round too, preferably a Caribbean one!!

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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	BEACH DAY DIES (32.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	SO SWIRLY EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge from Heather H:

I used the lovely layered sketch over at Sunday Stamps for my layout and set to work - take a look at how I incorporated my recipe elements:

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

Thoughtful Journey - Unlike the rest of the team, I didn't go exclusively with 'shades of green'; I used a sheet of the Thoughtful Journey designer series paper featuring some fir trees for my focal point. I used another piece of the same paper for my matting layer, to echo some of the other colours. For my embossed layer, I embossed a piece of Mossy Meadow cardstock with the (retired) Evergreen Forest 3D embossing folder and cut this panel into three, which echoes the trees on the paper.

Happy Birthday Wishes - I fussy cut my birthday greeting from the 'Unbounded Love' stamp set and tucked this into my scene, near my Mossy Meadow linen twine bow. I also added a trio of Wild Wheat enamel dots, to pick up on the colour of my card base. Not my favourite colour to be fair, but I find mixing it with other strong colours makes it more palatable! There are so many layers to this card - you can see the detail below:

Finishing Touches - In addition to another sentiment inside my card, I used a scrap of the same designer paper to add a border and bring the colour through to the inside of the card:

I also added a border to the edge of the front of my envelope too - you can see that in my main photo. I don't often decorate the front of my envelope in this way, but it is the perfect solution to using up a leftover scrap if you have a piece that is the correct size/orientation and gives a lovely hint as to what's inside for the recipient.

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

THOUGHTFUL JOURNEY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	UNBOUNDED LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	WILD WHEAT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

Not only that, it's our 700th challenge too - what a milestone! I looked at this week's sketch and was tempted to go big on layers with those circles, but instead decided to try out a clean and simple idea that I had after browsing Pinterest a while ago that I wanted to try with the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set. I thought the soft palette of pinks and greens over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog would be perfect for it, so I grabbed my stencils as it's stencil week over at Just Us Girls and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

You may well have expected me to use the co-ordinating stencils since my card features the large outline image in the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set, but you would be wrong; whilst I would absolutely recommend you buy the co-ordinating dies and stencils with this stamp set, there are so many ways the stamp can be used without them too. On today's card I used some circle stencils instead that I made by using some circle dies in various sizes to cut circles out of acetate sheets, and then positioned them over the large roses and lightly blended a combination of Lemon Lime Twist, Pretty In Pink and Flirty Flamingo through them directly onto my cardbase to highlight areas of the stamped image. I stencilled each in turn and allowed each circle to overlap slightly to give further depth of colour: 

I added a white-on-black heat embossed sentiment from the same set and popped this up on dimensionals, with a sprinkle of in-colour shimmer gems to complete my design. Using circle stencils is a fun way to spotlight an image on a clean and simple card. Finally, I'm also linking today's card up at CAS on Friday where their theme is 'circles' 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 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; the youngest of the James Juniors is off with friends to watch the test match cricket at Edgbaston today, so the house will be a quiet one - I'm hoping there will be time for crafting! Probably some Olympics viewing too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LAYERS OF BEAUTY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (8.00)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's clean and simple week and it's my turn to host and I've a fun theme for you:

I chose birthdays - because everyone needs birthday cards, right? The important thing to remember though is that it's Clean and Simple (CAS) week and over at the Paper Players that means: 

• minimal layers and embellishments
• plenty of open space
• simple and uncluttered

I decided to make another card using my 'Sweet Peas' stamp set, this time featuring a row of partying happy peas - take a look:

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

I added a strip of Full Of Life square patterned designer paper featuring a range of greens, then stamped a row of single peas, complete with party hats and party blowers, and coloured them with various Stampin' Blends before popping the final one up on dimensionals and adding my birthday greeting:

I added a sprinkling of coloured rhinestones around my partying peas for a little sparkle, then finished the sentiment using stamps from the 'More Wishes' stamp set inside, along with a few more peas for good measure: 

I stamped one more pea pod on the front of my envelope to complete my card. I just love these peas - their comical expressions make me chuckle and I can't resist a good pun!

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:

Enjoy your day; I spent a couple of days visiting family in Wales at the end of last week, so today I'm catching up on a few jobs with nothing much else planned. Hope you are all looking forward to a restful Sunday too! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SWEET PEAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal 'fill in the blank' challenge from Heather:

My favourite beach activity - well, I'm not one for lying on a sun lounger at the beach (I prefer to do that poolside!) so when I'm at the beach I like to be 'doing' and my favourite things to do include building sandcastles and paddling in the sea. So I knew I had to feature a sandcastle on today's card. I was inspired by this card that was my pick over at The Paper Players last week to try a similar technique and I ended up with not one, but two cards to share with you today. Here's the first one that I started with:

I used my retired Little Letters Thinlits Dies to cut my sentiment out a sheet of retired Serene Scenes paper with a beach scape, and infilled with the same letters cut from Basic White, and stamped a sandcastle using my Beach Day stamp set to which I added a little extra colour using my Stampin' Blends:

Having made this card, I decided that I would use the letters I'd cut out of my designer paper and make a second card:

This time I inset my letters into a white panel, that I popped up on a white card base which I had embossed with a retired waves embossing folder. Finally I added another sandcastle:

You still get a sense of the seaside from the letters, against all the white space. I decided I liked this card more than my first one, so that's the one that I used as my As You See it card, but I've shared both to explain the process. Here's a photo of both cards together - which one do you prefer?

No visual summary of the key products today, as the key products are retired, but there are store links to the current products used below. I'm also linking today's first card up over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are on 'H is for Holidays' and my second card for another play at Addicted to CAS where the current codeword is SUMMER.

So what's your favourite beach activity? Why not play along and share it with us over at As You See It.

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Fill In The Blank Challenge you must tell us how you would finish the sentence.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a few current challenges that are all celebrating the delights of summer:

The team over at Just Us Girls are celebrating all things summertime, Addicted to CAS has the codeword of SUMMER and AAA Cards is looking for anything clean and simple, with the optional twist of summer.  

I have made a few cards using the 'Beach Day' set recently, mostly featuring the dies which I love. I wanted to try something more CAS that focused on the stamps alone - take a look at what I came up with:

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

This card really is super simple - I stamped a trio of images using my stamping platform for a crisp outline, added in some extra sand to extend the horizontal line and added a sentiment beneath. I coloured my images with my watercolour pencils, smoothing them with my blending pen:

This was my first experiment with the new neutral, Basic Beige, that I used for my card base. This really is a lovely neutral and makes a great soft, sand base for a beach-themed card. I haven't made a #simplestamping card like this one in ages, so it was fun to go back to basics. The Beach Day bundle is perfect for this kind of card, with so many images that can be combined to make fun little scenes. All we need here in the UK now is a little more sunshine - so far the summer has been rather damp!

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; I am off to the hairdressers later, which is always a joy. A good natter and an uninterrupted cup of coffee that I can still drink whilst hot - bliss! I'll be back Friday with my project for As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

BLENDER PENS (14.00)

WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 1 (17.00)

BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Suzy has asked that we feature a frame and a trio of design elements. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

I decided to play along with the team over at Just Add Ink where they are all about adding a little party fun so for my card today I grabbed my 'Sweet Pea' stamp set and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

These partying peas crack me up; they are great for clean and simple cards and with party hats and streamers, these little guys are ready to party for sure! I flipped the sketch as my pea pod curved the wrong way to have my frame on the right hand side of my card and I chose three different stamped elements to adorn my frame. My frame is diecut with the Unbounded Love Dies; I actually cut two and snipped away one side, then joined them to make one larger frame, hiding the joins beneath my stamped elements:

A sprinkling of sequins and glimmer gems added to the party feel to 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET PEAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	UNBOUNDED LOVE DIES (34.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (8.00)	SHY SHAMROCK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PETUNIA POP STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

We are already half way through July so today I have a quick reminder of what's new this month. First things first: BONUS DAYS ARE BACK! Do you remember this promotion from last year? It was so successful, Stampin' Up! have decided to repeat it this year.

For every £45.00 you spend between 3 July and 31 July (before delivery), you’ll get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon that you can use between 1 and 31 August. Our new annual catalogue has been out for a couple of months now, so I'm sure you will still have some items on your wish list; this is a great opportunity to shop from it and make savings when you shop again in August with your coupons! 

There are some details in terms of small print that you need to take note of, as follows: 

• Promotion period: 3–31 July 2014
• Redemption period: 1–31 August 2024
• An email address is required to participate in this promotion; Bonus Days coupon codes can only be delivered via email.
• It is strongly recommended that you both save emails containing their Bonus Days coupon codes AND write down the coupon codes in a safe place. Codes cannot be resent if the email is lost, and lost codes cannot be recovered.
• Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits.
• There is no limit to the number of coupons you can receive per order or throughout the duration of the promotion.
• There is no limit on the number of coupons you can use on an order during redemption.

There is also a new kit available this month called 'Garden of Thanks' - and it's beautiful! 

The cards in this kit really are beautiful - but don't just take my word for it, add one to your shopping basket today! Remember if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code 3NR3FB9W to receive a free thank you gift from me too! 

If you have any questions on any of the above, then please do get in touch - I am always happy to help!

Back tomorrow with a creative post; until then, happy shopping!

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for us to work with:

I say interesting, because these colours almost threw me for a loop - nothing I tried using these colours seemed to work. Then I saw the sketch over at TGIF Challenges and I grabbed a new bundle and my card sort of fell into place - take a look:

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

I picked up the Friends For Life bundle during last month's bundle offer and hadn't yet used it. For today's card I created my own piece of patterned paper by repeat stamping the 'so excited for you' sentiment, the finished it off with a diecut 'friend' and an outline red heart:

I added a couple of solid red hearts for a pop of colour and a black diecut leaf stem to the opposing corner to complete my card. So what do you think - did I manage to do this colour palette justice? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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:

Enjoy your day; today continues a weekend of sport, with both the men's Wimbledon final this afternoon followed by the Euros24 final this evening with England hoping to bring it home. I'll be cheering at both, although the tennis is more my thing! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FRIENDS FOR LIFE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)