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

I went on the diagonal from top left down with Spots or Stripes (I chose stripes), Circle and Free and decided to take Carol's fun inspo photo over at Just Us Girls along with the sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday to showcase more fabulous new designer series paper - take a look:

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

I took my inspiration from the pastel bicycles in the JUGS inspo photo and chose two contrasting patterns of paper from the 'Design A Daydream' designer series paper pack, one featuring bold stripes and the other featuring pastel-coloured bicycles to feature on my card today. Design A Daydream is an exclusive 48-sheet pack of designer series paper that can be yours when you earn hostess rewards as a result of either hosting a party or placing a qualifying order and has lots of other great patterns too. I added a simple hello sentiment from the 'Sentimental Swirls' stamp set to the top banner and finished with a focal point of a Petal Pink single diecut bicycle from the Windmill Field Dies with a (retired) flower embellishment to decorate its basket:

What do you think? If you are dreaming of bicycles too and would like to get your hands on some of this paper, give me a call to chat about arranging a party - I would love to hear from you and book something in the diary.

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. 

Enjoy your evening; I'll be back tomorrow for the second day of our Bank Holiday Jubilee weekend here in the UK with my card for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DESIGN A DAYDREAM 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	WINDMILL FIELDS DIES (£31.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	SENTIMENTAL SWIRLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a quick masculine card, perfect for the challenge over at Inspire.Create that uses the current sketch over at Sketch Saturday:

I thought this was a great sketch layout that was perfect to showcase the new He's The Man designer series papers - take a look:

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

The papers in the He's The Man Suite are fabulous - a great selection of masculine designs covering everything from cars, to camping, cooking and lots more besides. Better still, the paper pack includes two whole sheets of pre-diecut pieces that can be used to embellish your cards - no stamping required! I used to different paper patterns and one of the diecuts from the pack, along with some retired Crushed Curry twine that picked up the yellow on the tent and a couple of diecut trees from the (retired) Christmas Trees Dies that reflected the shape of the trees on the DSP:

That's it - simple as that! I'm also entering today's card over at The Alphabet Challenge where they are on 'D is for Diecuts' this week - the diecuts in this set really are the best!

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I love these papers so much I am going to feature them in an upcoming class - you can read all about it here and do get in touch if you'd like to register.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HE'S THE MAN 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

CLASSIC MATTE DOTS (£6.50)

MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. There are 5 Tuesdays in May so we are ending the month with the double: one of our previous sketches and a retired colour combination. For Shannon's final challenge as hostess she chose the following:  

For my card today I grabbed a punch bundle that is perfect for a quick and simple thank you card that will really make the most of these retro colours - take a look:

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

I used my Basic Borders Dies for a simple angled layered border with a simple dotted detail, and used my Flowers of Friendship stamp set to heat emboss a sentiment on my Island Indigo card base and stamp a trio of flowers in Island Indigo onto the other two colours and punched them out with the flowers and Leaves punch and finished them with some retired Island Indigo enamel dot centres:  

Super simple and could be easily recreated in colours that are currently 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. 

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 and news of a great new promotion too. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

FLOWERS & LEAVES PUNCH (£18.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)

BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

It's nearly time to see all of the lovely items that will be retiring from the current 2022 January-June Mini Catalogue on 30th June!  I'm just popping by to let you know that the Last-Chance Products promotion will go live at 11pm this evening, UK time. All items retiring will be available for LAST CHANCE purchase, with some items that can be discounted by up to 50% - yay for a bargain!

In order for you to get organised, the list has been released in advance - here's the link to the full list so you can filter by language/category/price etc. and I've also included a couple of visuals below:

So get those shopping lists ready and if you're shopping online remember to add the current host code for an extra thank you in the post from me!

Back later with today's creative post - until then, enjoy writing those shopping lists!

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments that showcases four out of the 5 new in-colours - perfect for the challenge over at Colour Inkspiration CI#122 too:

I decided to start the week with some #simplestamping using a set that is perfect for the beginner stamper and the banner on the HSS layout was the ideal place to showcase it - take a look:

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

Sentimental Swirls - The 'Sentimental Swirls' stamp set was inspired by our very first £1m sales achiever in the UK, Sam Hammond. It comprises a basic swirl, with additional swirls, leaves, flowers, a bird, a butterfly and some simple, sentiments perfect for the most popular types of cards - birthdays, thank yous and general hellos. The set has endless creative possibilities and as it's photopolymer, it's really easy to line up the images or the infills. I created a leafy swirl that fills my banner and stamped a bird onto one of the vines, before adding my flowers and sentiment separately. I also added a little extra decoration to the inside of my card:

Step It Up With Punch Co-ordination - Sentimental Swirls is great for one layer stamping, but it's also easy to step up your designs by using the Flowers and Leaves punch from the annual catalogue, which punches out one of the flowers in the set. That's what I did on my card, adding some Orchid Oasis enamel dots to the centres and curving the petals slightly with my bonefolder before adding my flowers to my card:

I used a panel of in-colour designer series paper in a floral design behind my banner for a touch of extra detail.

An Added Extra - I also used this set for some thank you cards to pop in with some recent customer orders and for the bag tags. The smaller flower in the set also co-ordinates with the flower of the (now retired) Strawberry Builder Punch - you can see that on the tags below:

So if you already have this punch in your collection, you will have even more creative possibilities available to you with this set.

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. 

Sentimental Swirls is such a great set for simple cards that can be easily stepped up by adding in a punch (or two). It's in the January-June mini catalogue and whilst I've had it since I made my pre-order, I haven't shown it on my blog until now - which is a shame, as it's a great set that didn't carry over to the new annual catalogue, so you only have until the end of June to get your hands on it. The good news though is that on Wednesday this stamp will hit the Last-Chance list so you will be able to pick it up for just £14.70 - that's a 30% discount on the catalogue price, bargain!

I love the way that the in-colours coordinate so well together too; today's card features all of them except Tahitian Tide (you can glimpse a butterfly in this colour on one of my tags if you need a quick fix!)

A quick reminder that the current joining promotion that features an in-color kit in addition to the £130 of product of your choice - and all for £99 - closes tomorrow. Read all about it here if you'd like a reminder - I would love to welcome you to my team. Alternatively, I still have places left in my current in-colour club - details on the same link above.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SENTIMENTAL SWIRLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	FLOWERS & LEAVES PUNCH (£18.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)	2022–2024 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	ORCHID OASIS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	ORCHID OASIS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	SWEET SORBET CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	2022-2024 IN COLOR MATTE DECORATIVE DOTS (£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 Ann to host this week and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month we have a tic tac toe challenge for you to work with:

I went down the centre of the grid with embossing, floral and rhinestones and decided to take the opportunity to take part in this week's CASE The Designer challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP344 - take a look:

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

Copy And Selectively Edit - At GDP they are asking us to CASE one of Charlet Mallet's cards (you can see it on the badge below). I used the same die for my panel, the largest one on the Scalloped Contours die pack, but I switched out my florals for the Flowing Flowers stamp set and whilst I still using purple and green, I went with a more pastel colour palette, and also incorporated some Pool Party blue in the inked splatters and in my cardbase (reflecting the colours of the current Color Dare challenge). I used a heat-embossed white-on-black sentiment from the 'Sending Smiles' stamp set, using one featuring three pieces rather than a repeating word. I finished my cardfront with a sprinkling of iridescent sparkling rhinestones:

Finishing Touches - I carried the stamping through to both the inside of my card and the envelope for a pretty, co-ordinated look: 

This floral image is so easy to stamp and can be easily inked up in different colours using sponge daubers. I spent a lot of time thinking about my card and choosing which elements to incorporate, but it's actually really easy to execute. The design would also work well in a wide range of alternative colour schemes 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; exams are over and the James Juniors are on half-term next week, so we will be spending ours relaxing and doing not very much! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLOWING FLOWERS CLING STAMP SET (£24.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (£33.00)	SENDING SMILES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)
POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today I've a quick post to share a card that I made using Judy's angled sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was inspired by the colour palette over at Color Throwdown this week:

I remembered I had some old designer paper (Flashback Designer Series Paper - hence in part today's post title|!) that featured these colours and I thought this would be a great opportunity to use some up. This is what I came up with:

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

The circle pattern on the paper led me to choose a punched ladybird for my focal point as it echoed the round shape and I used one of my Basic Borders Dies for the angled edge and added a banner behind my ladybird cut with the Stylish Shapes Dies with a similar diecut edge pattern:

The sentiment is from the retired 'Little Ladybug' stamp set - I paired it with another on the inside, along with a fun ladybug stamped border to complete my card:

I think this makes a fun inspirational/motivational card for a child; I'm actually going to send mine to my niece who is soon to graduate university and has just been successful in gaining her first job - this sentiment seemed the perfect way to celebrate this achievement and is also spot on for the current theme over at SUO Challenges where they are making cards for kids 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 evening; we went to the cinema this afternoon to watch the new Tom Cruise 'Top Gun - Maverick' movie. This is the first time we have been to the cinema since pre-Covid and it was so worth it - this is most definitely a film to be watched on the big screen! Now I'm typing this with the dulcit tones of the Football Premiership Champions League final in the background - so rock and roll! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)	LADYBUG BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	HELLO LADYBUG PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday where this week we are celebrating 'National Best Friends Day' which is on June 8th.

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 I used feminine, pink, sparkle and patterned paper along with the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout and this is what I came up with:

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

Abstract Beauty - I made a simple card today using two contrasting pieces of Abstract Beauty designer series paper: an abstract background and a bright, floral central strip. These papers are sized perfectly for A5 cards. I chose a couple of flowers and some leaves from the co-ordinating ephemera pack that complimented the floral strip to decorate my sentiment oval. 

Full of Love - The sentiment on my card comes from the new 'Full of Love' stamp set. I stamped it on the swirly rectanglular diecut from the Beautiful Shapes Dies set from the same suite:

Finishing Touches - I added a few (retired) gold gilded gems for a little extra sparkle to compliment the gold foiling of the floral paper and having used only a strip of floral paper on the centre of my card, I used the remainder to line my envelope for a little extra touch of 'pretty':

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 Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Shannon has asked that we include a trio of any type of shape, surrounding a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to get fussy cutting for those three shapes on Shannon's sketch and I reached for my Tea Boutique papers and a couple of designs in particular that were inspired by the gorgeous pinky-reds and blues over at Sunday Stamps - take a look:

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

I love the colour combinations in the Tea Boutique papers and decided to choose one panel for a background to 'frame' my white space in the centre and from another sheet I fussy cut a trio of teapots for my three shapes. Now I know fussy cutting isn't for everyone and these are a little fiddly, especially if you cut out the handle piece, but I find cutting quite relaxing and quite enjoyed choosing my pot designs and then cutting them out:

I allowed the handles of my teapots to overhang the white panel, with the thin white border around them helping them to stand out from the background. I added a little stamped tag for my sentiment, tied with some of the new Starry Sky in-color baker's twine. This is a little fussy for a CAS card and in hindsight I maybe should have stamped my sentiment straight onto the white panel, but it's done now so too late  - and I like it! :-)

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So no need to hoard that new designer series paper - this is my call to 'get snipping'!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CUP OF TEA PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)

TEA BOUTIQUE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)

2022–2024 IN COLOR BAKER'S TWINE PACK (£14.00)

STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

SWEET SORBET CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£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 LeAnne to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

I went simple and bright with today's card and used it as an opportunity to play with some new products - take a look:

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

Butterfly Kisses - Today's card is all about the patterned paper! I used both a panel of dotted paper and a trio of butterflies that I fussy-cut from a sheet of Butterfly Kisses designer series paper. From the all-occasion Butterfly Kisses Suite, this pretty paper is full of bold colours and patterns - just my kind of thing. The Build A Butterfly Dies co-ordinate with the paper but the butterflies are super-easy to fussy cut by hand too:

New In Colours - The Butterfly Kisses papers feature two of the new in-colours - Parakeet Party and Starry Sky - and I chose to zone in on both of those on today's card. I love the fresh zing of Parakeet Party green and the darker Starry Sky blue compliments it beautifully. I also stamped some tone-on-tone flowers across my blue strip for a little extra detail.

Simply Fabulous - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set. I added another from the set to the inside of my card, along with some of the butterflies from the edge of the DSP pack to decorate:

This was a really easy card to create and is so cheery - I can't wait to make more! It's also perfect for this week's bug-themed challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP343 this week and over at SUO Challenges where they are celebrating birthdays. 

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; we are having a quiet one since both of the James Juniors have exams next week so they are doing some final revision as we were all out yesterday either playing sport or at school functions. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BUTTERFLY KISSES 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)

SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

STARRY SKY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)