Happy St Patrick's Day! Today's card was inspired by the following challenges: 

You might have expected today's card to feature green in a big way, although instead of the luck of Irish I had an altogether different festive occasion in mind - take a look:

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

The team over at Just Us Girls are trending with embossing folders this week and I decided that a partial emboss using my Greenery Embossing Folder would lend itself to a Christmas card, when embossed on Shaded Spruce with some touches of gold - perfect for the current Color Dare Challenge. I embossed it on a panel onto which I also heat-embossed a simple sentiment in gold and added a sliver of gold glimmer paper to one edge before adhering to my card base. With a final touch of sparkle from some gold glitter enamel dots added to the berry detail of the embossed section, it is also my entry for Less Is More's current challenge to add a 'Bit of Bling' to our clean and simple cards. The enamel dots are SO sparkly - I'm not sure the photos really do it justice, but here's another close up:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GREENERY EMBOSSING FOLDERS (£7.50)

TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made using the current sketch over at TGIF Challenges:

Today's card features the 'In The Moment' stamp set and is also a sneak peek of things to come for the ladies attending my class next week that centres around this set. So many creative possibilities with this one in addition to straightforward colouring and this card showcases just one of them - take a look:

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

I stretched the sketch as I needed my panel to be horizontal rather than vertical, to accommodate my stamped image and tag element and stamped my image onto a scalloped rectangle. I added a strip of Hand-Penned designer series paper to the left hand side, and having stamped and coloured my image using Stampin' Blends, I stamped the image a second time onto a piece of Hand-Penned paper and fussy cut both the blanket and pillows and paper-pieced them onto my coloured image to bring in some extra pattern. You can see the detail more closely on the image below:

I think this is quite a fun way to add extra interest to a coloured image. Some co-ordinating twine and a sentiment on a coloured tag completes my card.

I used one of the 2020-22 In Colors, Misty Moonlight, for the base of my card today and this is a good time to remind you that Misty Moonlight, along with the other 2020-22 In Colors Cinnamon Cider, Just Jade, Bumblebee and Magenta Madness, will all be retiring soon when the current annual catalogue retires. The retiring lists for the Annual Catalogue will be announced next week on Wednesday 23rd March and that is usually the point at which in-color products sell out, so if you need to stock up on ink, cardstock, reinkers or accessories, now is the time to get your order in!

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'm looking forward to making a version of this card along with a couple of others at my card class next week. As a reminder, all of my classes are delivered online via Zoomm these days so if you're reading this and think you would like to join us do get in touch - you would be most welcome!

Enjoy your day; following yesterday's sunshine today it's pouring with rain, grey and freezing cold - clearly spring has not quite yet sprung!! I'll be keeping warm in my craft room and will be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

IN THE MOMENT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	TAILOR MADE TAGS DIES (£20.00)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PETAL PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Jeanne is hosting this month and this week it's a colour challenge: 

I don't know why but these colours really threw me for a loop this week! I spent an age working out how best to use them together on a clean and simple card. In the end I decided to grab some new and as yet unused dies from my shelf and this is what I came up with: 

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

Today's card features the new Sporting Event Dies. I actually bought these because there are some great ticket dies in the set, although as I was looking at them I thought I could layer them to make a simple pennant. I added some stars (another useful die in this set) and a diecut #1 button that I popped up on dimensionals:

I added a fun sentiment from 'Happy & Heartfelt' and paired that with another one on the inside, along with a reverse button using the leftover pieces from the front of my card:

This will come in useful when the youngest of the James Juniors (hopefully!) passes his next piano exam. I'm hoping that it might encourage continued practice and playing too, but I won't hold my breath on that front!  Despite the challenge of these colours, I've decided I quite like this colour combo. The rest of the team have made some fabulous cards with it so be sure to check them out! 

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! color 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:

SPORTS EVENT DIES (£25.00)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

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 have chosen a sunny trio of colours for our colour challenge this week

I combined my colours with Amy's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and used that central panel to showcase some spring daffodils - take a look:

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

I used two pieces of Brights designer paper each with the same pattern, one in Daffodil Delight and one in Mango Melody, to cover my card base and added a scalloped stitched rectangle to the centre. I stamped and coloured the trio of daffodils from the Daffodil Daydream stamp set with my Stampin' Blends in the challenge colours and then diecut them with the co-ordinating Daffodil Dies and popped them up on dimensionals onto the diecut panel. A trio of yellow opaque sequins completes my card:

I also added a single daffodil to both the inside of my card and a co-ordinating envelope:

I love yellows and at this time of year daffodils were an obvious choice for me. The daffodils in my front garden border came into bloom this week and they looks so bright and cheery - like a little 'welcome home' party each time I pull my car onto the driveway!

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. 

So what will you create with this sunny colour palette? 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 am hoping that the weather will be as nice as it was here yesterday and that I will get to spend some time in the garden as there are lots of odd jobs that need doing. Otherwise, no special plans here in the James household this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DAFFODIL DAYDREAM BUNDLE (£51.25)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Happy Saturday everyone - hurrah for the weekend! Today I'm sharing a card that uses the current sketch layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday that was inspired by the fabulous photo over at The Card Concept:

With St Patrick's Day coming up next Thursday, it's easy to see where the team at The Card Concept are coming from with their 'Wearing O' The Green' theme this week. I took a ton of inspiration from the cushion in their photo to create my clean and layered card - take a look:

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

Lucky You - First up - all those shamrocks definitely needed a 'lucky' sentiment! I chose to use the watercolour effect stamp with the words 'lucky to know you' from the 'Lucky You' stamp set and stamped it onto a label cut using the Painted labels Dies (and trimmed slightly to it). I love the subtle watercolour effect of the sentiment stamps in this set and they are great when you want to make a feature of the words themselves.  

Flowers of Friendship - I'm sure I have the perfect clover/shamrock in my retired stamp sets, but when I came to make this card I couldn't find one anywhere so I had to get creative! I wanted to include some shamrocks - or in my case my lucky four-leaf clover substitute! - so turned to the punch I used on this card to make my stencil yesterday, this time to stamp and punch a row of leaves in So Saffron and Granny Apple Green. The colours on my card today were also influenced by the inspiration photo - I like the mix of pale yellow and vanilla in with the greens, I think they really lift and elevate the card. I added Just Jade enamel dots to the centres of the leaves to tie them in with my card base.

A Carpet of Clover - I originally left my card base blank, but my clean and simple heart still felt it was a little plain, so instead I created a carpet of clover by stamping little leaves all over to give a tone-on-tone effect. This stamp is actually a border stamp from the 'Flowers of Friendship' set - you can see it here stamped on the inside of my card:

To achieve the random effect on my cardfront I simply inked only the end two leaves each time I stamped, rather that the whole row.

How often do you find yourself getting properly creative with the items in your craft collection when you can't find the exact thing you're looking for? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear how you've repurposed stamps or tools to create something different. 

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. 

Both of the James Juniors are out on the hockey pitch today: one playing a single match, but miles away and the other with a full day of 3 back-to-back matches with both playing an dumpiring commitments. Last week's injury in our house to add to the tally was bruised hand, complete with ball dimple pattern - and a medical emergency involving another parent that had nothing to do with the play and which thankfully was dealt with swiftly by a trip to A&E. I'm hoping tomorrow will be less eventful! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project where I am hosting this week's new challenge over at the Paper Players and I have a fresh colour challenge for you. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£33.25)	LUCKY YOU CLING STAMP SET (£19.00)	PAINTED LABELS DIES (£33.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where the I chose a theme of spring flowers for our challenge this week:

The Stampin' Up! catalogue is great for florals of all kinds and the current mini has a great selection of spring florals in particular. I was a little spoilt for choice! I decided to showcase some of the beautiful Flowering Fields designer series paper covered in bright tulips on my card today - take a look:

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

Flowering Fields - The handpainted designs of the Flowering Tulips designer series paper are stunning! Beautifully coloured and sized perfectly for cardmaking. I chose one with a mango-orange colour scheme and used the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for my layout, cutting the paper into three columns. The pattern carries across the panels and the layering adds visual interest to the design. 

Tulips And More - I also used the co-ordinating 'Flowering Tulips' bundle for the remaining details. I tweaked the sketch elements slightly, using the horizontal element to showcase one of the Tulips Dies and added the sentiment to the circle - it's a perfect fit:

A Final Touch - My final addition was some of the check ribbon, that I wrapped around my diecut and tied in a bow. I sometimes feel like I have lots of ribbon that I don't use and this design really lends itself to a bow I think. The colours compliment the busy paper pattern beautifully without overwhelming. 

So what do you think? When you think 'spring flowers', what is the floral set that you reach for? Do join us over in the AYSI gallery with your spring floral creations.

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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWERING FIELDS 12” X 12” (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	FLOWERING TULIPS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	EVENING EVERGREEN 3/8'' (1 CM) WINDOWPANE CHECK RIBBON (£7.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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

I went both across the bottom row Diecut/Spring Colours/Floral and down the middle column with Butterfly/CAS/Spring Colours this week, also using the beautiful trio of pastels over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the layout (but not the colours - I may have another go with some blues next week!) over at Fusion for my fresh thank you card - take a look:

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

Flowers Layering Masks - As I said in my earlier post today, I think I am really enjoying experimenting with stencils, and this particular flower stencil in the Butterflies and Flowers Layering Decorative Masks is definitely one of my favourites! Today I incorporated two different coloured flowers, using the same colour to build up the layers on each, before adding leaves. I also added a touch of stencilling to the inside corner of my card:

Pretty Pastels - This is such a pretty spring colour combination that the HSS team chose this week. It just so happens to be the same colour combination I used for my daffodils and tulips Paper Players card earlier in the week too; you can see that card here if you missed it. I used Fresh Freesia for my card base and added a panel of in-color designer paper for a subtle tone-on-tone layer of pattern detail.

Brass Butterflies - To finish my card I added a couple of in-colour gems to my purple flowers and a couple of brass butterflies for a fun extra detail - you can just see the shine as they catch the light on the one on the upper left portion of the photo below:

A simple stamped sentiment from 'Flowing Flowers' in Basic Grey completes today's 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 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 day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BUTTERFLIES & FLOWERS LAYERING DECORATIVE MASKS (£9.25)	BRUSHED BRASS BUTTERFLIES (£9.25)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)	2021–2023 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
FLOWING FLOWERS CLING STAMP SET (£24.00)

Today I have two posts for you! First up I'm sharing a card inspired by a few challenges:

The team over at Just Us Girls have 'lucky' as their word of the week. When I think 'lucky', four-leaf clovers and black cats come to mind, so I'm also entering today's clean and simple card over at Addicted To CAS where their codeword is 'feline', with green and gold being the only colours to feature outside of the black and white neutrals - perfect for my second entry over at Color Hues, this time with the colour scheme they originally intended for the current challenge. I also used the sketch and silhouette combo over at AAA Cards for my layout. That sounds like a lot of inspiration, but my card actually came together really easily - take a look:

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

I went on a hunt through my current stamps for a four leaf clover as I often do at this time of year, and when I came across my 'Flowers of Friendship' set I had a flash of inspiration: I could use the co-ordinating Flowers & Leaves Punch to make a stencil! I think I am becoming a little stencil-obsessed of late!! Anyway, I made a couple of small stencils using both this punch and a tiny four-leafed retired Itty Bitty Punch, cutting out stems by hand. I masked off a circular shape and then stencilled my clovers in randomly using a sponge dauber and some Just Jade ink. I added a punched black cat silhouette on dimensionals and added a gold twine bow detail:

My 'lucky me' sentiment is from the 'Happy and Heartfelt' stamp set and completes on the inside of the card with 'I have you'. A clean and simple card to let a friend know how lucky I am to have them! How does the word 'lucky' inspire you? Do let me know in the comments 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I have lots of jobs to do today so mine will be a busy one! I'll be back later though with my card for the new challenge over at TicTacToe this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	CAT PUNCH (£17.00)	FLOWERS & LEAVES PUNCH (£17.00)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Happy hump day! Today I'm sharing a card I made with a few challenges in mind:

The team over at Less Is More are looking for a single word sentiment on a one layer card and I combined this with the current code word of 'hat' over at CASology this month. I was also inspired by Time Out's 8th Birthday celebrations where I used the colours from their badge too for my clean and simple birthday card. Although I'm too late to link up there, I thought you might like to see the badge and colours - my favourite purples! This is the card I came up with - take a look:

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

I went with a super-simple 'Celebrate' from the 'Create With Friends' stamp set in Gorgeous Grape and added a party hat coloured with Stampin' Write markers at a jaunty angle to the C - this little gem is to be found in the 'Turtle Friends' set. The two-tone confetti is courtesy of the retired stamp set 'Praiseworthy Prose', which also gave me the perfect greeting for the inside of my card:

And that's my card - stamps, ink and paper, #simplestamping at its 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CREATE WITH FRIENDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	TURTLE FRIENDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£15.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
MANY MARVELOUS MARKERS (£112.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Jeanne has asked that we use a curve and non-geometrical shape in our designs.

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. i did just that today and rotated the sketch through 90 degrees to create a landscape card. If you are a card maker you will undoubtedly have seen the flood of blue and yellow cards in support of #cardsforukraine. The lovely peeps over at Color Hues are having a double challenge in honour of this and are also featuring the colours of the Ukranian national flag in a bonus colour combo for this challenge, so I decided it was time for me to show my support and play along. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine and whilst I have one of those cards in the pipeline to share with you in another post, for today's challenge I decided to use the row of tulips in the Tulips Dies set for that wiggly line - take a look:

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

This card really is super simple to execute - the effort here was in the planning! A Pacific Point card base, then overlaid a panel of Daffodil Delight for the diecut tulips. I chose to feature a stamped windmill as my non-geometrical shape and stamped it in Pacific Point onto Daffodil Delight, stamping the sentiment from the Flowering Tulips set below it - the words seemed appropriate in the circumstances as the people of Ukraine are most definitely in our thoughts. 

This card is all about the bold blocks of just two colours; it is unusual for there to be no white at all on this card, but having tried a few different things the blue-on-yellow windmill was definitely the way to go - the windmill is much more a part of the landscape and it emulates the horizontal lines of the Ukrainian flag. The only white was for my stamped panel on the inside of my card:

Do you ever use blocks of colour in this way in your crafting? Bold blocks of colour can have a big impact and by avoiding clutter that clean-and-simple feel and 'white space' is preserved. 

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! color 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:

TULIPS DIES (£33.00)

TULIP FIELDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)

FLOWERING TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)