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 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)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Shannon is hosting this month and this week we have our second colour challenge of the month: 

I love Shannon's fresh colour palette of aquas with a touch of silver this week! These colours immediately made me think of the sea so for my card today I had to make another card using the Waves of Inspiration bundle - take a look: 

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

Waves of Inspiration - These beautiful sea greens were perfect to showcase another of those cresting waves from the Waves of Inspiration stamp set. Since this card is all about the clean and simple, I wanted to minimise the layers on my card and be sure to preserve my 'white space'. I masked off the centre of my card base so that only a portion of the wave would be visible, leaving me a wide unstamped border. The Stamparatus is a must for easily achieving this kind of stamping - masking paper would be easier, but this is how I did it using post-it notes:

To Shake Or Not To Shake? - I decided to create a simple shaker card, using a mix of sparkle & shine sequins for a touch of silver along with a few odd Coastal Cabana coloured sequins from my stash, and a simple window frame in white made using my Stitched Rectangle Dies:

I debated with myself whether a shaker card could be considered clean and simple, but having consulted with my lovely teamies we agreed it could: this card meets our 'clean and simple' criteria of 'uncluttered, with white or open space and minimal layers and embellishments' - so I hope you like it!

Silver Surfer - I decided to add a touch more silver and cut out one of the wave dies from some retired metallic silver glimmer paper and added it to the front of my shaker window for some extra sparkle. 

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.

I'm also linking today's card up over at Paper Craft Crew where their 'shiny celebration' inspiration challenge closes today.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WAVES OF INSPIRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)	SPARKLE & SHINE SEQUINS ASSORTMENT (£6.75)	FOAM ADHESIVE STRIPS (£7.50)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

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 layer some shapes along a vertical panel. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I did just that - I turned the sketch through 90 degrees and went with a very fluid interpretation of Shannon's sketch using the Let's Set Sail bundle:

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

Let's Set Sail - The Let's Set Sail bundle is perfect for clean and simple cards and it works for everything from (masculine) birthdays and encouragement to baby cards. I added the sea directly to my white cardbase, along with my sentiment and some birds, then added my punched sailboat with dimensionals for a little extra lift. I love the sketchy appearance of the stamps in this set: 

Tuesday Tip - The Tuesday Tip that I'm sharing over in my Crafty Owl Creatives Facebook Group today is around the Sailboat Builder Punch - some clever stamping enables you to stamp and punch it out in one go:

This is such a time-saver and econimcal use of cardstock too. You can get the detail, see other Tuesday Tips and more by joining my Facebook Group here. 

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. 

Today's card was also inspired by a couple of other challenges: the team over at Color Hues are asking us to create cards using the colours blue and tan and over at Time Out where the theme is 'vacation':

As a keen scuba diver, I am more like to be found beneath the waves rather than in a sailboat, but each to their own (and I don't have a stamp featuring a scuba diver ;-) )

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LET'S SET SAIL BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£29.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches.  We are into May and so a new month means a new hostess! This month it's the turn of Shannon and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I also used the sketch layout over at Just Add Ink for my layout. Today's card is all about the new - well it is the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue launch day, after all! I used two new stamp sets and two new dies - take a look:

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

A stitched circle courtesy of the Stylish Shapes Dies in Pale Papaya forms the backdrop for my sweet heat-embossed teacup brimming with flowers, courtesy of the new Cup of Tea bundle. A fussy cut sentiment from the 'Happiness Abounds' stamp set (I just love that script/font!) and a few in-colour gems complete my clean and simple card:

And that's all there is to 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. 

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:

CUP OF TEA BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	HAPPINESS ABOUNDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

00It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week it's our final challenge for the month of April and Bhavya has asked that we create something with three distinct sentiment elements for her final sketch challenge:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I ended up creating not one, not two but three cards! I'm sharing my favourite one first - a clean and simple shaker card - take a look:

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

Farewell Playful Alphabet Dies - Time to say goodbye to a craftroom staple - the Playful Alphabet Dies! Yes, they are retiring with current annual catalogue next week and newsflash - there are NO alphabet die sets in the new annual catalogue, so not only will I be hanging on to my set, if you don't have them you have just one week to nab a set! I can't recommend them highly enough: they are so useful for personalising cards, but also to create bespoke messages or greetings. Use them flat or on dimensionals, or as I've done here to create a bespoke message that I then backed with window sheet to create a fun clean and simple shaker card! How cool is this?

Rainbows or Candles? - My initial shaker was inspired by the inspiration challenge of 'make a wish - rainbows' over at TGIF Challenges this week and I paired my simple message with a paper-pieced rainbow made using my Beautiful Rainbow Dies and some scraps of cardstock in Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana and Fresh Freesia to co-ordinate with the (retired) Ice Cream Shaker Sprinkles that I used inside my shaker. I used my rainbow offcuts to add a decorative border to the inside of my card, along with a sentiment from the retiring 'Sweet Ice Cream' stamp set:

I liked this card so much, I made another one, this time using the retiring white, gold and silver Sequins For Everything (currently half price) for my shaker and a trio of (retired) gold Candle Embellishments I found on my shelf:

Check out the sparkles - how fun!

Here are both shakers together - which one do you prefer?

I honestly can't decide - I love this design so much I think I'm going to make a whole bunch more!!

A CAS Thankyou Trio - Finally I have one extra 'bonus' card for you, that was the one I made before my shakers - a super simple repeating 'thanks' sentiment using a trio of dies cut with the Amazing Thanks Dies, with each one backed by the fresh colours of the current Color Dare challenge:

By using the colour for the base layer of the diecut and making the top layer white, it allows for a white base and preserves the clean and simple feel with all that 'white space'. This is a great way to use up scraps and whilst I love the fresh colour combo I used on today's card - Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight - this simple layout would work with whatever colours you have available.

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects 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 actually made four cards for today's challenge; the first one was mediocre at best; I had an idea that just didn't look right when I made it - so much so, I'm not even going to share it with you!  So I left it and when I went back to desk 24 hours later, I started fresh and came up with my thankyou trio, quickly followed by my fun shaker cards - suddenly I was on a creative roll! Does that ever happen to you when your creating? How do you combat that feeling you get when you've made something but are just not 'feeling' it? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear from you!

Enjoy your day; the James Juniors are both back to school today following the Easter break so I will be aiming to get more work done this week. This is a super-busy term, with everything from cricket fixtures to the school musical production, internal exams, speech days, university open days and lots more besides! I really do need to get organised!! On that note, I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, there's work to do - happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BRILLIANT RAINBOW DIES (£29.00)

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)

WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)

SEQUINS FOR EVERYTHING (£5.62)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

AMAZING THANKS DIES (ENGLISH) (£25.00)

FOAM ADHESIVE STRIPS (£7.25)

   

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Bhavya is hosting for the month of April and it's time for our second colour challenge of the month: 

I thought these colours would be perfect for a bowl of cherries for a sweet friend - so I grabbed the retiring 'Measure of Love' stamp set and set to work - take a look:

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

 A simple bowl of cherries, backed with some Pattern Party black and white gingham and with an added Cherry Cobbler scalloped border detail to finish:

A super clean and simple 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. 

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:

MEASURE OF LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.80)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (£33.00)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Bhavya is hosting for the month of April and it's time for her first sketch challenge of the month: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to grab my retiring 'What's Cookin'' stamp set and Cookin' Dies and create a simple card for the baker or would-be chef in your life - take a look:

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

I almost passed over the colours at Just Add Ink this week, when it occurred to me that they really reminded me of Cornishware pottery, with its distinctive blue or red and vanilla stripes, so I decided that a Cornishware-inspired mixing bowl, along with a little texture from my neutral chopping board and mixing spoon and a pop of red from a Cherry Cobbler sentiment and twine bow were just what I needed for today's clean and simple card. Check out the texture that the die gives the chopping board on the closeup below:

I also added a little additional decoration to the inside of my card - aren't those miniature chef hats just the cutest?!

I can't believe this set is on the retiring list this year; I had so many more plans for it and am really sad to see it leave the annual catalogue. I will definitely be holding on to mine - I love to spend time in the kitchen and I know I'll find many more uses for it. If you would like to be the proud owner of the What's Cookin' stamp set and co-ordinating Cookin' Dies, they will only be around for another couple of weeks, and even then only whilst stocks last, so do get your order in sooner rather than later! I'm also sharing today's card over at Less Is More where the theme this week is 'occupations'  - this set is perfect for chefs, bakers and kitchen enthusiasts! 

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 to cook and my family suggest I'm quite good at it. Whilst out for lunch at the weekend, my son was tucking into his lasagne and when asked if everything was ok with his meal, he announced "It's good - but not as good as my Mum's!" I'm not sure there's anything you can reply to that; if only all problems could be solved with a homemade lasagne!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHAT'S COOKIN' CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	COOKIN' DIES (£27.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SAHARA SAND A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SAHARA SAND CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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

For my card today I decided to have one last outing with my retiring Turtle Friends bundle for a fun bleated birthday card - I used the current Inspire.Create sketch for my layout:

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

I did add a few layers to today's card, including a strip of Pansy patch gingham, but otherwise was very careful to preserve my 'white space' and keep my design simple. A punched turtle, complete with party hat, was simply stamped and some highlights added with tone-on-tone Blends markers, along with a touch of chalk marker to highlight his eye:

It's always good to have a belated birthday card on hand - for a card maker, I seem to need all too many of these! I love the 'Turtle Friends' set and will be sorry to see it go; the turtle punch is already sold out, but the stamp set is still available as part of the Last Chance Products Promotion; as is the retiring Pansy Patch paper and the chalk marker - a super-useful crafting staple. 

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.

I do have a bonus card for you using today's colours too; I was playing around with the colours and originally made this card, using this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch and the retired 'Flowering Cactus' bundle:

It is a little more clean and simple than my turtle card to be fair, but I didn't like it as much so moved it to second place - but I thought I'd share it with you anyway! And here's the PPC sketch:

Enjoy your day; I have a mountain of ironing to get through - wish me luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

For my card today I went with a super simple single stemmed flower from the 'In Symmetry' stamp set - take a look:

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

I thought the rather retro design of the 'In Symmetry' stamp set suited this bright, rather retro colour palette! I stamped my flower in Watermelon Wonder and Just Jade (my closest substitute to 'Taken With Teal' which is way before my time!) onto a white stitched rectangle and added a Pineapple Punch enamel dot before adding to my Pineapple Punch cardbase:

A sentiment heat embossed in white onto a piece of Watermelon Wonder cardstock completes the front of my card. I added another flower, coloured with my sponge daubers, to decorate the inside of my card:

And that's my card - done! The 'In Symmetry' stamp set is great for bright and colourful floral cards and I will miss having it in my collection when it retires. If you don't have it and it's still on your wishlist, why not hop over to my online store via the link below and pick it up at a 40% discount as part of the Last Chance Products Promotion whilst supplies last - a proper 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 '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:

IN SYMMETRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£9.60)

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)