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 Elizabeth is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went from top left down the diagonal with flowers, yellow and gems and used the layout over at Sketch Saturday to create a pretty, summery birthday card with some pretty retiring product - take a look:

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

I had lots of these lovely Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody flowers that I'd previously diecut from the Hues of Happiness designer series paper, so i thought that this would be a good opportunity to put them to good use! I went with a white slimline card as I need the length to fit them all in, added a half panel of So Saffron cardstock which I diecut across the top with one of the Blossoming Happiness edgelit dies ( I also used these dies to cut out the flowers) and added notches to both sides and would it with some white baker's twine, before adding my flowers. A simple birthday sentiment and some sparkly gems finish the outside of my card: 

 I added a little more stamping using the 'Happiness Abounds' stamp set to the inside of my card:

I do love a yellow card - so cheery and sunny and I will miss the Happiness Abounds Suite so much! Both the stamp set and dies are discounted as part of the last chance product promotion - the dies are 50% off, an absolute bargain!

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HUES OF HAPPINESS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	BLOSSOMING HAPPINESS DIES (15.00)	HAPPINESS ABOUNDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (13.20)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (6.12)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (5.70)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a bonus Tic Tac Toe challenge for us to work with:

I used Jen T's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout and went across the bottom of the grid with yellow, birthday and stitching for a fresh and vibrant birthday card this week - take a look:

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

Hues of Happiness - The Hues of Happiness designer series paper made light work of the decoration for today's card! I diecut a trio of flowers and some leaves and used them to accent a stitched circle that I had also partially diecut with one of the Blossoming Happiness Dies. 

Sending Birthday Wishes - I used the Sending Smiles Bundle to create my sentiment, layering my diecut 'sending' with a vellum base so that it doesn't obscure too much of the detail beneath:

I used Early Espresso for my sentiment as it picked up the brown tones in the flowers and was less harsh than black. 

Don't forget the inside - I added a sentiment from 'Happiness Abounds' and a little extra detail to finish off the inside of 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 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 will be catching up on tales from the USA today as the prodigal daughter returned from her trip to SanFranciso last night. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HUES OF HAPPINESS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	HAPPINESS ABOUNDS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	SENDING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)
GLOSSY DOTS ASSORTMENT (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

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

There were lots of things on this week's board that I loved - DSP, bright colours, dies and even florals - but I was slightly unnerved by the addition of watercolouring into the mix! I find watercolouring a little hit and miss (sometimes my attempts are a hot mess!) so I decided to play safe and watercolour my stamped florals and take it from there. Take a look at where I ended up:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I decided to use some of the brightly coloured Hues of Happiness DSP for my background and use this as the starting point for my card. I resisted the urge to use some of my florals diecut from another sheet in this pack and instead I stamped a whole bunch of flowers from the 'Happiness Abounds' stamp set onto Shimmery White cardstock and heat embossed them in black. Shimmery White cardstock is great for watercolouring as it's not too absorbent and so is very forgiving. I watercoloured my flowers in the same colours that featured on my background paper, and positioned them around a central diecut piece, also from the co-ordinating Blossoming Happiness Dies:

I heat embossed my sentiment onto a Stylish Shapes diecut banner, added a twine bow and my card is complete - all elements of the recipe included, phew!

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 on Sunday with my project for The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPINESS ABOUNDS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	HUES OF HAPPINESS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	WATER PAINTERS (£13.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

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

For my card today I combined the colours with the sketch and photo inspiration over at Fusion (using metallic gold instead of the icy blue tones in the photo) and decided to create a congratulations card using the 'Happiness Abounds' bundle - take a look:

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

I decided to heat emboss my rose and some leaves from the 'Happiness Abounds' stamp set in gold onto solid colour cardstock and cut them out with the Blossoming Happiness Dies. I considered using a Navy cardbase, but eventually went with white, adding some subtle ink blending using a retired stencil and a blending brush to add a hint of extra colour to my base behind my floral cluster. I added my sentiment to a banner backed with some (retired) gold vellum and added a number of metallic gold elements (some retired gold foil diecuts, gold twine and some of the lovely gold brushed metallic dots) to give an added feel of luxury and elegance to my clean and simple card. I also added some depth to my flower and coloured leaves using my Stampin' Blends on these elements - you can see that better on the photo below:

If you look closely at the 'spare' roses that are on the picture at the bottom of today's post, you will see that one of the roses has been left plain and the other has been shaded with Blends - this is a good way to see the difference that adding the shading makes; I think it's worth the extra effort. Apologies if the colours on today's photos are a little off - the sun was so bright when I took them, I struggled to balance the brightness. I did also use Cherry Cobbler as opposed to Merry Merlot (more by accident that design to be fair, but that also gives my rose a brighter shade of red).

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 struggled with today's card - but I love the 

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. "Metallic Gold" can have either a shiny or a brushed finish, but we do want to be able to see that it's gold and not plain yellow. 

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 (£8.25)	HAPPINESS ABOUNDS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I have a second post for you in addition to my Festive Friday post: this time with a card for the new challenge over at CAS on Friday where I am the Guest Designer this week following my previous win in their stencil challenge (here's that winning card if you missed it). The theme for the new challenge is 'numbers'; take a look at what I came up with:

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

Days To Remember - I decided to break out my unused 'Days To Remember' stamp set to create a fun calendar birthday reminder card. This is a great set that enables you to easily create any day/date/month combo in calendar format - I decided to make a birthday card with a tear-off calendar sheet showing a birthday circled, highlighted with a fun sentiment and trio of ombre glimmer balloons for decoration. I also added another couple of sentiments from the set to the inside of my card:

Perfect Perforations - Do you spot the new product I used on my calendar piece? That fun border edging is courtesy of a die that is in the new Blossoming Happiness Dies set - I thought it made the perfect tear-off border detail. 

A New Old Favourite - I used another item from the upcoming new annual catalogue on my card today - did you notice that stitched banner that outlines the sentiment? My regular readers know how much I missed the Stitched Shapes Dies when they retired. Well now they're back - stitched circles and squares and new banner shapes too! Take a closer look on the photo below:

In case you're wondering - the birthday on my card is mine :-) No vanity here though; when the day comes around, this card will actually be headed to a friend of mine - can you believe that I actually know two other people that share the same birthday?! A quirky coincidence for sure!

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 also used the current sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday (squished to fit my landscape design :-) ) as the inspiration for my layout today. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, I have a super busy day ahead so need to crack on; happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAYS TO REMEMBER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£5.55)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. I used the great sketch over at Sunday Stamps for my layout too:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'International Dance Day' which is on 29th April. 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. I received my new annual catalogue pre-order earlier this week and couldn't wait to open it and start creating! So on today's card I used blue, rhinestones, patterned paper and diecuts from the inspo list and I have a sneak peek of new products for you - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Hues of Happiness Suite - Today's card features a number of products from the new 'Hues of Happiness' Suite. Behind my layered circle I used the beautiful trellis patterned diecut from the Blossoming Happiness Dies, but the star of today's card is most definitely the beautiful flowers that were cut from the Hues of Happiness designer series paper. The Blossoming Happiness Dies fit the flowers and leaves on two of the paper patterns perfectly; beautifully coloured flowers that can be cut out with ease - bonus! Here's a close up of these beautiful blooms: 

Aren't they just gorgeous?! I have cut up a whole pack of this paper already and will definitely be needing more of it!!

Happiness Abounds - The sentiment on the front of my card is from the 'Happiness Abounds' set that is also part of this suite; I added another two to the inside of my card. along with some outline floral detail:

This stamp set will be great for colouring too - I am so looking forward to working with it again.

Finishing Touches - A sprinkling of iridescent rhinestones and a couple of strips of retiring Gorgeous Grape glimmer paper complete my card.

If you think you don't need any more florals, the Hues of Happiness Suite will most definitely change your mind! I can't wait to share more new products with you. 

Would you like a copy of the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue? If you have placed an order with me in the last 6 months, then great news - you are already on my mailing list to receive a new annual catalogue. If you haven't and would like one, please do get in touch to request one and I can add you to my list!

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:

LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£5.55)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)