Happy Monday everyone! Not sure where today has gone so this post will be a quick one as The James Juniors are back to swimming this evening so I need to go at prep the dinner! I promised a second card using Jen B's Freshly Made Sketches sketch this week and I'm also entering another card over Just Add Ink, this time with a 'feathers and leaves' combo: 

I went with another border die for that wonky central column - this time from the Curvy Dies set:

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

The ivy-leaved die produces an embossed column with the ivy leaves diecut out. So I decided to use another of the dies in the set to create a hard border alongside so that I could overlay a white panel onto my Old Olive base, and then ran the die through my diecutting machine again, this time in Mossy Meadow, and then I paper-pieced the leaves into the gaps, adhering each one at an angle from the base - hopefully you can see what I mean from the photo below:

I added my sentiment from the 'Quite Curvy' stamp set directly to the cardbase, adding a bird from the same set that I perched onto the 'hello' itself. I coloured my bird like a blue tit and added another to the inside of my card 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Short and sweet from me today; I'll be tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

QUITE CURVY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£38.50)

MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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 an interesting colour challenge for us to work with:

I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and another of my favourite retiring stamp sets to create some less-than-traditional florals - take a look:

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

Beautiful Friendship - I chose to create a cluster of florals as the centrepiece for today's card using the 'Beautiful Friendship' stamp set. I thought those large, loose-petalled roses would be perfect in Merry Merlot, with some grape hyacinths in Misty Moonlight, along with some Crumb Cake leaves. This is not only my most favourite floral stamp set in the retiring annual catalogue, it is I think one of my favourite floral stamp sets of all time (and a keeper for sure!) 

Well Written - I decided to add a diecut sentiment using the retiring Well-Written framelits to the front of my card, cutting the word 'friend' twice and offsetting it to give a shadow - you can see the detail closer in the image below:

A ribbon bow tied with twine finished the front of my card.

And Finally - In addition to the stitched scallop rectangle that I used on the front of my card, I stamped the greeting from the stamp set on a stitched rectangle and added it to the centre of the inside of my card, along with a stamped corner floral detail:

I thought I would struggle with this colour combination, but I actually really liked LeAnne's colour choices this week. I'm also linking today's card up over at Just Add Ink - my card features petals and leaves as my chosen 'two'. 

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:

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; it's been really cold here these past few days so I'm thinking today will be spent indoors with a little more Lego building and family fun. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£20.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	WELL WRITTEN DIES (EN) (£37.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
MISTY MOONLIGHT 2020–2022 IN COLOR RIBBON (£5.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MERRY MERLOT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

This evening I've a quick post to share a card I made with this week's Color Throwdown colours and this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch: 

 I was intrigued by Jen B's sketch this week and made a couple of cards with it (I'll share the second one on Monday). Usually I would create a channel with that sketch and focus on some DSP in that gap, but I found myself today looking at it differently. Here's what I came up with:

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

I created a layered floral border to run down the centre of my card front using one of the Ornate Borders dies, accenting some of the flowers and paper-piecing others. I added some coloured pearls to the centres and then a sentiment from the 'Lovely You' set directly onto the card front to finish:

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. 

Short and sweet from me today; 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:

CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
LOVELY YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)

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

I went down the middle column with Florals, Free and Any Shape Die and used the current colours over at Less Is More for another outing with my Bloom and Grow stamp set - take a look:

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

Bloom And Grow - I stamped the same floral bough that I used on Tuesday's card, but this time just used the outline in Basic Grey and stamped it onto a piece of Rococco Rose ombre paper, having first masked off my heart shape with copy paper, as I wanted the flowers to edge my heart but the heat itself to remain uninked. 

A Subtles Ombre - Before adding my diecut heart or sentiment or adhering to my card base, I ran my sheet of stamped ombre paper through my Subtles embossing folder for a little added textural detail. I cannot believe this embossing folder is retiring - it's a real 'how will I ever live without you?' product for me! 

A Stitched Heart - I decided to make a feature of the gold element on my card. so went for a simple stitched heart outline die that sat in front of those masked florals, and I wove my sentiment strip under and over it. I added a trio of opal rounds for a little extra pink/gold sparkle to complete my card:

So what do you think? Another trio of items from my craft stash I will be sad to say goodbye to. Thank goodness there is a new Stampin' Up! catalogue on the way to soften the blow!

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 am about to join an online catalogue launch event for demonstrators - exciting stuff! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BLOOM & GROW PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£14.40)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SUBTLE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	OPAL ROUNDS (£7.00)

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

For my card today I used the sketch layout over at Fusion along with our colours this week for some pretty florals and start the process of saying goodbye to one of my favourite floral sets in the annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Bloom And Grow - I love the floral boughs in the 'Bloom and Grow' stamp set that a perfect for a spot of colouring and chose a simple floral that allowed for all three challenge colours to be featured then die cut with the co-ordinating Budding Blooms Dies. 

In Stitches - There are also a few stitched elements to my card today: I placed my sentiment on a Stitched Shapes circle and added a stitched scalloped border from the 'Stitched Me Mine' Dies to my white panel. Both of these die sets are also retiring at the end of the month - so if you don't have them, grab them whilst you still can.

Balancing Black - Having considered stamping my sentiment black-on-white straight onto my panel, I eventually opted for the reverse and heat embossed my sentiment on black. It provided better contrast and really compliments the Bumblebee yellow I think, whilst not encroaching overly on my 'white space':

So what do you think? I'd love you to leave me a comment below with 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. 

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:

BLOOM & GROW PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£14.40)	BUDDING BLOOMS DIES (£7.75)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MANY MARVELOUS MARKERS (£112.75)

Happy Easter Monday one and all!  We have recently had a couple of new families move into our street and so I was in need of a couple of welcome cards, so I combined a few current challenges to help me out in my quest:

Kim has a great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and since I was using a long-retired stamp I combined with some cheery rainbow colours so that I could play along with the team over at Retro Rubber. My stripes are also perfect for this week's challenge over at Just Us Girls. So what did I come up with? Take a look:

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

I used an old retired set from 2016 called 'Welcome Words' for today's card, heat embossing the large 'Welcome' in retired Blueberry Bushel embossing powder onto a Balmy Blue card base, then stamping a selection of houses with the remainder of my greeting onto a stitched scalloped rectangle and colouring with a selection of Blends in rainbow colours. I also added a little red resin heart floating from the chimney of one house for an extra fun detail:

I decided to create a rainbow-striped vertical panel to connect my 'welcome' to my panel of houses and the remainder of my greeting. 'Welcome Words' was such a keeper for me - it's great for cards like this.

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project as the stamp set is retired and it's the kind of project you could make with pretty much any colours. 

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

Today it's Easter 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 a timely theme challenge for you to work with:

For me tulips, along with daffodils, are the epitome of spring flowers.I don't have any current daffodil stamps so I decided to go with tulips. I used the sketch layout over at Inspire.Create and the Easter colour inspiration over at Color Dare, choosing bright Magenta tulips with green leaves and a subtle So Saffron spots and stripes background, inspired by those yellow marshmallow bunnies in the photo. Here's my card:

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

Timeless Tulips - I used the 'Timeless Tulips' stamp set for my flowers, stamping the stems in Granny Apple Green directly onto my panel and the either punching or fussy cutting my flower heads and leaves. I also added a couple of frosted epoxy droplets to mimic raindrops:

Ornate Layers - I mounted my bunch of tulips onto a white panel cut with one of the Ornate Layers Dies; I like the small amount of detail around the panel - just enough to add interest without detracting from my flowers. I heat-embossed my sentiment, also from the Timeless Tulips stamp set, and snipped it into pieces, adding the first two pieces to the front of my card then stamping the remainder inside with a small tulip bud for decoration:

Raffia Ribbon - You may not recognise the ribbon that I used to tie a bow around my bunch of blooms; it's actually a strip of In Colour Magenta Madness 1/4" Ribbon. I cut the edge off and stripped the vertical strands away to create a soft, raffia-like bunch of threads to make my bow. I love to try and use our ribbons in different ways - do you ever do things like this with items in your stash?

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:

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; today I am looking forward to a delicious Sunday roast and the obligatory traditional Easter egg hunt, amongst other things - I'm not sure my children will ever outgrow this activity, especially not when there's chocolate involved! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TIMELESS TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	TULIP BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	ORNATE LAYERS DIES (£34.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	FROSTED & CLEAR EPOXY DROPLETS (£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 a speed challenge:

I pass a beautiful magnolia tree on my school run each day that has just come in to bloom and that totally inspired me to use one of my retiring stamp sets and this week's Color Throwdown colours for today's speedy blossom - take a look:

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

Good Morning Magnolia - I decided to go big and bold with my quick card today and I used the large single magnolia flower from the 'Good Morning Magnolia' stamp set for my card today. This allowed me to minimise my stamping and spend my time adding colour to my magnolia blossom. The other thing I love about this stamp set is the sentiments; my simple 'thanks' finishes with beautiful wording inside too:

Speedy Colouring - Even with only one bloom, 10 minutes still isn't long for colouring! I focused my efforts on the petals themselves, adding Melon Mambo to the outer petals and a combination of Flirty Flamingo and a little extra Melon Mambo to the insides. I didn't add any colour to my leaves, just giving them a quick swipe with a blender pen. I love that the Very Vanilla base adds a warmth to the card that you wouldn't get with white:

#SimpleStamping - This card is all about the stamps, ink and paper: simple layering, no fancy die cutting and one focal image, with a simple sentiment. By keeping things simple, they can be quick 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 '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 speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIA CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£33.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BLENDER PENS (£11.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO 1/4" (6.4 MM) FAUX SUEDE TRIM (£6.00)

Today I'm sharing a late post with a card I made for the current challenges over at Just Us Girls and Time Out:

I was totally inspired by those red tulips on the JUGS inspiration photo and when I was rummaging on my retired shelf earlier this week I came across a stamp set that not only had some tulips but also the perfect sentiment for the challenge at Time Out too - take a look:

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

The retired stamp set 'Love Is Kindness' was perfect for not only the tulips but also that lovely sentiment, which along with a hand-picked bunch of tulips from the garden seemed so fitting for the quote over at Time Out. I stamped it on a scallop stitched rectangle and mounted it on a Real Red card base. Inspired by the greens of the JUGS inspo photo, I also bordered my floral bunch with a light Soft Sea Foam Blends marker and blended it with my Colour Lifter. I don't usually add a halo of green (I usually use blue or grey) and whilst difficult to see on the photo, actually adds a lovely freshness to the card in real life.

I kept this stamp as I love that sentiment - after all, without kindness what is there in life? 

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 (current product only):

STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a quick Easter card that I made for the current challenge over at Inspired By:

I love the textured paint effect of those brightly coloured tulips and I needed a couple of extra Easter cards, so I brought out my retired 'Blessed Easter' stamp and got colouring - take a look:

I went for a simple 'stamp and colour' although I did take the opportunity to frame my spring tulips with one of the new Stitched With Whimsy Dies for an extra touch of detail to my panel. I liked this card so much I made another too, this time on a Daffodil Delight card base - here's a photo of them together:

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:

STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)