It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I have a cutaway rectangle with a focal point in the space and an overlaid sentiment:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I wanted to use up one of the unicorns I fussy cut from the retired Myths & Magic designer series paper that I had leftover from my Paper Players card a couple of weeks ago - it was just the right size for my focal image:

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

I embossed my panel of Melon Mambo cardstock with the Soft Waves embossing folder for a sense of movement and added some clear Wink of Stella for a subtle unicorn trail. Check out that sparkly unicorn:

I added a sentiment from the 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set and a few clear rhinestones 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:

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)

SOFT WAVES 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

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

When I designed this sketch, I had in mind one large central focal point, overlaid with a sentiment. When looking through my supplies, I decided on a fun birthday card- take a look:

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

Turtle-y Cute - The star of today's card is the larger-than-life turtle, complete with birthday cake. He is actually one of the stickers from the Turtle-y Cute sticker sheet, as are the balloons behind (I snipped these apart to create a layered effect). These are designed for scrapbook layouts, but they make great centrepieces for cards too. I popped mine up on dimensionals, and used a sheet of Turtle-y Cute designer series paper for my background and added a twine bow and some sequins for some celebratory sparkle:

Delightful Wishes - This card really didn't need much more other than a sentiment. I used a combination from the Delightful Wishes bundle that gave me a large sentiment that would stand out, without obscuring the detail of my birthday turtle behind.

These sticker sheets are greet for large elements that work for all kinds of projects - why not give then a go?

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.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• 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:

TURTLE-Y CUTE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER & STICKER SHEET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES DIES (ENGLISH) (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS 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 colourful speed stamping challenge:

I love purple so this was a fun week for me! But it's speed stamping - so there are some very important considerations before we start to craft as we are against the clock!  I decided to use the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps as it was perfect for what I had in mind. Take a look at my card and then I'll explain:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Thankful Garden - I had lots of floral options that would work well with purple and settled on Thankful Garden, which I haven't played with for a while and is now on the last-chance list. First I stamped my flower and sentiment using my stamping platform. 10 minutes wouldn't be long enough to colour my card with Blends, or complete the stencilling of each layer, so I decided to mask an area and blend a selection of purples in a vertical column. I actually masked two columns, for a unique take on Claire's Sunday Stamps layout (tweaking the width of each of her columns for more visual interest on my one layer card). A smattering of purple gems following the shades of purple to highlight the detail on the inked panels were the finishing touch to my card:

Keep It Simple - Keeping my design simple - minimal stamping/colouring and a straightforward layout meant I finished my card well within the 10 minute time limit:

Super speedy!

An Added Extra - Since I still had extra time, I took another minute to reposition the flower stamp and add a sentiment to the inside of my card, along with a little extra colour using my blending brush:

And that really is my card finished - and well under the 10 minute deadline - yay!

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 Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• 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:

THANKFUL GARDEN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£13.80)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	PURPLE FINE SHIMMER GEMS (£7.50)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK 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 Amanda has asked that we place two images/shapes on opposing sides, with a sentiment towards the bottom of the card.  Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I wanted to ink up a new-to-me set that a number of my crafty friends have been using to great effect - the Nature's Symphony bundle - so I grabbed the colour palette over at Colour Inkspiration where I haven't played along for a while (they had me with these colours!) and set to work. Here's my card:

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

Nature's Symphony is a great set for clean and simple cards, as well as for something more layered and detailed; but there was one thing in particular that attracted me to this bundle - yes, it is that beautiful diecut leaf stem! I actually snipped it into two here and used the respective pieces for my top and bottom detail, on top of some layered stamping in all three colours using the other stamps in the set (and a splatter stamp from Notes of Nature):

A simple sentiment anchored with a rainbow dot completes my card. Whilst there's some layering to the stamping, keeping it to a two discreet areas and leaving lots of white space retains the clean and simple feel of my card. I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS On Friday where the current theme is 'anything goes'.

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; today is Shrove Tuesday - will you be celebrating with pancakes? The hubby is entertaining clients this evening so it's just me for dinner. A pancake or two might be just the ticket! I actually saw a new recipe for Austrian pancakes from the lovely Martha Collinson on Instagram last week that I've never tried, so I might gives those a go - here's a link to it if you fancy taking a look too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

NATURE'S SYMPHONY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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

I had to dig into the retired box for this one because whilst I had plenty of sentiment options, I didn't have any current product featuring candy. So a little mix of something old paired with something current this week - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

 I knew that I could make an appropriate sentiment for a candy-themed play on words with my Words of Beauty bundle, so I just needed to pair it with some suitably themed designer series paper. I actually had a couple of options and settled on this bright and cheery pattern that was one of my favourites in the retired How Sweet It Is designer series paper pack. I fussy cut one of the lollipops from the paper and added this for a little extra decoration, tied with a Gorgeous Grape twine bow:

A trio of purple enamel dots complete my card. A fun design that is perfect for a young sweetie fan or one who is young at heart! I'm more of a chocolate person rather than sweets, but am partial to the odd gummi bear :-) How about you? Do leave me a comment and let me know if you have a sweet tooth! I'm also linking today's card over at Time Out Challenges where I chose pink and twine from their list for the current 'choose 2' challenge.

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.
• 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; I am finally getting some time in my craft room today for the first time all week, so look forward to creating some projects to share with you in the next few days Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WORDS OF BEAUTY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

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

I don't mind admitting, Amanda's colour palette properly threw me for a loop this week! I spent ages trying to work out how to use the combination of blue/greens. After much perusal of my stamp shelves, I decided on a retired stamp set that I don't think I've even used before (I know, shocker, right?!) Take a look:

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

'Oh Snap' is a stamp featuring this larger than life crocodile and has lots of funny sentiments with it. I wanted to make the crocodile the focal point, beut equally keep my card clean and simple, so I heat embossed the croc in white onto Pretty Peacock cardstock, and stamped him again in Pretty Peacock onto white so that I could fussy cut and paper piece his teeth (they look better than when I simply coloured them white, which I tried first). I popped him up on dimensionals and positioned his open jaws with a simple pond and unsuspecting frog in between, each stamped in the other two challenge colours (I stamped the frog first then added the water afterwards, as it was much easier to line up this way):

 My simple sentiment carried on to the inside of my card, where I added a rather nonchalant-looking bird for good measure:

Despite my initial lack of ideas, I really love how this fun card turned out and I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else makes with this week's colour combination!

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:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)
POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM 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 colourful recipe challenge chosen by Heather C:

I was tempted to try and create something for Chinese New Year when I saw this recipe, but I decided I didn't really have anything that was going to work for the Year of the Horse so I went with a Valentines theme instead!  I rooted around my retired box for some old favourites and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Apart from the need to feature lots of red on today's card, I was struck by the inclusion of vellum - not something I use all that often. I spent a little time perusing Pinterest for inspiration, and saw some wedding invitations where vellum was used as the base for the actual card, rather than a layer. I'd never tried this before so thought I'd give it a go. I added a slanted piece of Real Red cardstock on both the front and back at the base of the panel, and heat embossed my sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Iconic Imagery' in gold, then decided to add a pair of diecut hearts in red glimmer paper overlapping the vellum panel. I used the retired 'Friend Like You' Dies and backed the more detailed heart with an adhesive sheet before diecutting so that it would add a little extra depth:

I added a few sparkly red faceted gems for a little extra sparkle and bling, then stamped a small sentiment detail onto the inside panel of my card to finish:

My main concern using vellum for the cardbase was that it wouldn't be sturdy enough to stand up, but it turns out I needn't have worried as it stands up just fine:

This card was actually fun to make for something a little different; I think I might give it to the hubby for our wedding anniversary next month. 

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:

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Nancy has asked that we add some corner detail along with a focal point and overlapping sentiment. 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I've made another card using the Lovely Arrangements bundle - take a look:

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

I decided that I wanted to create a monochrome card and needed a bold, bright colour to really shine against all of the white, so when I saw the new colour combination over at Color Hues (thank you ladies for the shout out you gave my card for the previous red & grey challenge) it had to be Azure Afternoon. I'm also linking up over at Inkspirational where they too are looking for 'shades of blue'. I stamped and layered my flower and whilst initially I considered simply scoring in those diagonal lines (a signature feature of the lovely Nancy's cards), I was somewhat inspired by the tiled effect of the Inkspirational photo prompt and instead decided to use the rectangular die in the Lovely Arrangements die set, set at an angle to create them and trimmed away the excess. This is an interesting way to use this die but I think it works. It's tricky to see the detail on the main photo, but you can see it more clearly below:

A simple sentiment, also in blue, along with a couple of enamel dots, complete my card. This is one of those cards that is actually quite easy to make but the monochromatic colour scheme packs a real punch. 

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 soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (£8.50)

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

I hope you all had new craft supplies from Santa because this week's challenge will give you the perfect opportunity to use them! I couldn't wait to break into a new suite that I picked up just before Christmas that I have still yet to open, so I grabbed the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

My newest and until now unopened purchase was of the Lovely Blossoms suite, part of the latest Online Exclusives release, and today's card showcases the Lovely Blossoms designer series papers, with a slight nod to the Lovely Arrangements bundle by way of sentiment and label. The Lovely Blossoms papers, featuring blues, greens, peaches and neutral are just lovely. On today's card I used two of the patterns to create my base, diecutting the edge of one with my retired Basic Border Die to get a curved edge, and overlaid this with a flower stem that I fussy cut from one of the sheets that is made up of lots of individual card front designs. It compliments the busy background florals and is perfect for the sketch:

A simple sentiment and a trio of Secret Sea flat pearls complete my card. I really like this suite and can't wait to make more with it! I'm also linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create for their 'something new' challenge.

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 Fill In The Blank Challenge you must complete the sentence and relate it to your entry.
• 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:

LOVELY BLOSSOMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

LOVELY ARRANGEMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

There's lots going on in the world of Stampin' Up! so this is a round-up of all today sees the launch of the new January-April 2026 mini catalogue - full of gorgeous new products:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

There are new Online exclusives available in the online store today too! The following images show just some of the items available:

Click here to download the full list or here to see them in the online store.

This month also sees a Bonus Days promotion:

When you shop between 6 January and 2 February and spend £45, you will earn a £4.50 coupon to spend in February!

We also have a new Product of The Month for January:

The Fabulous Sayings stamp set can be yours for just £5 with a purchase of £70 or more.

Finally, three new kits are being introduced this month, the first of which, Butterfly Garden, has been added to the online store today:

The remaining two kits, Adopt A Pet and Lots to Love, are delayed and will be added to the online store when available.

A reminder that the Virtual Card Retreat will take place between 22-24 January:

You can purchase your kit and register here.

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back soon with a creative post that uses some exciting new product! Until then, happy shopping!