I had a little extra time in my craft room over the weekend so today I'm sharing a super quick clean and simple card that I made for a couple of challenges:

The CAS on Friday layout is a good one and I thought it would be fun to play along with Inkspirational who this week are all about clean and simple too, with the optional choice of ephemera. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Do you ever look at the Memories and More packs in the Stampin' Up! catalogue? They are great for memory keeping but super useful for cards and home decor projects too. They contain both large and small cards, some of which are a cardfront in themselves, and usually a couple of sheets of ephemera or stickers. On my card today, I diecut a tag from one of the black and white patterned large cards and tied it with some black baker's twine - the twine, along with my bright yellow cardbase, were the only additional items to the Memories and More pack that I used on today's card. I cut a couple of strips from other cards in the pack to sit behind my tag, then added a circular sticker featuring tulips as my focal point:

I added a few of the individual coloured flower stickers to my tag for little pops of colour and a sentiment sticker that was also from the set to complete my card. The Mixed Media Florals Memories and More Pack really is great for this kind of quick, no stamping card; all of the elements coordinate in terms of colour and pattern, you just need to choose your favourites and create! The thing I love most about this card is the Daffodil Delight cardbase; I almost made my card with a white base, but when I'd laid it out, it looked a little 'flat'. The sunny yellow definitely fixed that!

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 later with my card for our new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MIXED MEDIA FLORALS MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (10.75)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Happy hump day everyone! Today I'm sharing a super quick card that I made using the current layout over at AAA Cards:

 

I had some seagulls cut and coloured left over from another project, so I decided that a trio of them would work perfectly for that sketch - take a look:

 

I used a sentiment from the set, altering the layout slightly to work better for the sketch:

 

Finally, I added another seagull and some chips to the inside of my card for a final touch of decoration:

 

I think the 'Friendly Seagulls' stamp set is my favourite Sale-A-Bration free item of the whole promotion - so fun! There are just two more days remaining of this year's Sale-A-Bration, so if you have your eye on this set or any other free product, you have just a couple more days to place an order and get your hands on them.

I'm also linking today's card up for a second run over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where the theme is 'W For Wings'. 

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:

 

 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jan to host this week and she has a fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I love a clean and simple card and although this week's theme is masculine and I definitely made my card with that in mind, it could also work for females too - take a look:

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

I went with another masculine congratulations card; as my regular readers will know, this is a big exam year in the James household as the youngest of the James Juniors is sitting his A Levels, and with lots of male friends too I'm expecting there to be lots of congratulations cards in order, so I'm getting ahead now! Following my previous card here featuring the word DADDY, I had another idea using the letters from the word DAY in the Sale-A-Bration 'Documenting The Day' stamp set. Selective stamping also makes the word YAY, perfect for a congratulations card so that was the starting point for my card. My graphic 3D style lettering was inspired by a photo that I saw a few weeks ago over at Inspired By featuring these colourful cushions - can you spot the one that inspired my card in the photo below?

I liked the one with the dimensional word FUN so set about recreating it with my DAY stamp. I simply stamped the letters A and Y onto post-it notes, then once I'd stamped the word YAY, I masked each letter and stamped it again, offsetting the stamp to achieve the shadow effect using a different colour each time:

I popped the finished stamped panel onto a bright blue card base with a yellow frame to complete my card. Creative use of a stamp, ink and paper - simple! If you dismissed the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set as only useful for scrapbooking, then think again - there are lots of creative card options too! Sale-A-Bration runs until 28th February, so you can still get your hands on this set whilst supplies last!

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 are still celebrating Valentine's this weekend and I am being treated to a day out with the men in my life - dinner and a double-cinema date is on the cards, oh to be loved!! I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SUMMER SPLASH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PEACH PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the current clean and simple challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is WOOD:

So many ways to interpret this code word; as I'm still very much in the festive cardmaking zone, I decided to make another one, this time featuring the stamped sled from 'Sophisticated Sled', one of my current favourite Online Exclusives - take a look:

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

I used the diecut sled previously on these cards, but thought that I would use the stamped sled for today's clean and simple version and use my Blends markers to achieve a realistic wooden effect on the slats - here's a close look:

I decorated my sled with a simple ribbon-tied bunch of berries for a little added festive colour and stamped my sentiment directly onto my white cardbase. I love the look of this traditional sled - so many of those you see today are made from brightly coloured plastic, this sled is a real touch of festive nostalgia for the way things used to be.

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:

SOPHISTICATED SLED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SUMMER SPLASH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (10.25)

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 my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

Not only that, it's our 700th challenge too - what a milestone! I looked at this week's sketch and was tempted to go big on layers with those circles, but instead decided to try out a clean and simple idea that I had after browsing Pinterest a while ago that I wanted to try with the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set. I thought the soft palette of pinks and greens over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog would be perfect for it, so I grabbed my stencils as it's stencil week over at Just Us Girls and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

You may well have expected me to use the co-ordinating stencils since my card features the large outline image in the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set, but you would be wrong; whilst I would absolutely recommend you buy the co-ordinating dies and stencils with this stamp set, there are so many ways the stamp can be used without them too. On today's card I used some circle stencils instead that I made by using some circle dies in various sizes to cut circles out of acetate sheets, and then positioned them over the large roses and lightly blended a combination of Lemon Lime Twist, Pretty In Pink and Flirty Flamingo through them directly onto my cardbase to highlight areas of the stamped image. I stencilled each in turn and allowed each circle to overlap slightly to give further depth of colour: 

I added a white-on-black heat embossed sentiment from the same set and popped this up on dimensionals, with a sprinkle of in-colour shimmer gems to complete my design. Using circle stencils is a fun way to spotlight an image on a clean and simple card. Finally, I'm also linking today's card up at CAS on Friday where their theme is 'circles' 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 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; the youngest of the James Juniors is off with friends to watch the test match cricket at Edgbaston today, so the house will be a quiet one - I'm hoping there will be time for crafting! Probably some Olympics viewing too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LAYERS OF BEAUTY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (8.00)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's clean and simple week and it's my turn to host and I've a fun theme for you:

I chose birthdays - because everyone needs birthday cards, right? The important thing to remember though is that it's Clean and Simple (CAS) week and over at the Paper Players that means: 

• minimal layers and embellishments
• plenty of open space
• simple and uncluttered

I decided to make another card using my 'Sweet Peas' stamp set, this time featuring a row of partying happy peas - take a look:

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

I added a strip of Full Of Life square patterned designer paper featuring a range of greens, then stamped a row of single peas, complete with party hats and party blowers, and coloured them with various Stampin' Blends before popping the final one up on dimensionals and adding my birthday greeting:

I added a sprinkling of coloured rhinestones around my partying peas for a little sparkle, then finished the sentiment using stamps from the 'More Wishes' stamp set inside, along with a few more peas for good measure: 

I stamped one more pea pod on the front of my envelope to complete my card. I just love these peas - their comical expressions make me chuckle and I can't resist a good pun!

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; I spent a couple of days visiting family in Wales at the end of last week, so today I'm catching up on a few jobs with nothing much else planned. Hope you are all looking forward to a restful Sunday too! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SWEET PEAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a few current challenges that are all celebrating the delights of summer:

The team over at Just Us Girls are celebrating all things summertime, Addicted to CAS has the codeword of SUMMER and AAA Cards is looking for anything clean and simple, with the optional twist of summer.  

I have made a few cards using the 'Beach Day' set recently, mostly featuring the dies which I love. I wanted to try something more CAS that focused on the stamps alone - take a look at what I came up with:

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

This card really is super simple - I stamped a trio of images using my stamping platform for a crisp outline, added in some extra sand to extend the horizontal line and added a sentiment beneath. I coloured my images with my watercolour pencils, smoothing them with my blending pen:

This was my first experiment with the new neutral, Basic Beige, that I used for my card base. This really is a lovely neutral and makes a great soft, sand base for a beach-themed card. I haven't made a #simplestamping card like this one in ages, so it was fun to go back to basics. The Beach Day bundle is perfect for this kind of card, with so many images that can be combined to make fun little scenes. All we need here in the UK now is a little more sunshine - so far the summer has been rather damp!

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 am off to the hairdressers later, which is always a joy. A good natter and an uninterrupted cup of coffee that I can still drink whilst hot - bliss! I'll be back Friday with my project for As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

BLENDER PENS (14.00)

WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 1 (17.00)

BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses this week's sketch over at Just Add Ink and is super clean and simple and also plays to CAS on Friday's current nature theme:

I unfortunately need a sympathy card this week and as I still had the Frames & Flowers papers on my desk from making yesterday's card, it occurred to me that one of the partial wreath diecuts with its simple string of leaves would fit the sketch perfectly:

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

I added my sentiment from the Country Flowers stamp set in Pretty Peacock and added a trio of co-ordinating enamel dots to a Granny Apple Green cardbase:

The leaves in the wreath co-ordinate with a wide range of colours and I chose Granny Apple Green as opposed to Lost Lagoon which has been my 'go to' with these papers up to now, as I wanted something brighter and more uplifting and I really like the effect. The Frames & Flowers papers really do make light work of clean and simple card designs - I love them!

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:

COUNTRY FLOWERS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

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 a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Yay - clean and simple week! I decided to go with encouragement, as opposed to sympathy, for my card today - take a look:

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

The 'Unbounded Love' stamp set has a great selection of sentiments and that's where I found the ideal sentiment for my encouragement card:

I covered the whole of my card front with a piece of the Thoughtful Journey designer series paper; whilst this does leave me with less 'white space' than I would usually feature on a clean and simple card, it made light work of my card design. I added my sentiment label decorated with a tab of (retired) Misty moonlight ribbon, and a few tinsel dots to complete my card. I added an offcut of paper inside my card and another sentiment from 'Unbounded Love', along with a trio of hearts from 'Bee Mine':

Super simple and with minimal layers and embellishments - and an encouraging sentiment that is sure to inspire. The Unbounded Love bundle is one of the bundles that is available with an additional 10% off during the month of June, so if you purchase it this month it represents even better value. I'm also playing along over at Festive Friday with today's card; I used purple, blue, clean and simple and ribbon from their inspo 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 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; I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

THOUGHTFUL JOURNEY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

UNBOUNDED LOVE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.25)

TINSEL GEMS THREE-PACK (7.00)

BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for our speed stamping challenge - and I chose the theme:

Thank you cards! I use thank you cards more than any other kind of card and it's good to have some speedy designs on hand. I was actually a little short on crafty time this week so speed stamping week couldn't have come at a better time! I knew exactly where I was headed for my quick card - take a look at what I came up with and then I'll fill you in on the details:

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

Ready, Set ... - As we always say with a speed challenge, preparation is key. Think about your design and gather your supplies before the timer starts - this will make for a quicker execution. Mount your stamps, open your ink pads and you will be ready to start with the stopwatch. Here are all my supplies, in addition to my Tombo glue and trimmer, which is just out of view:

For a really quick card think about shortcuts - my shortcut on today's card is the Frames & Flowers designer series paper. The precut die-cut designs in the pack are a huge timesaver - a ready made decoration. I chose a sheet of patterned paper for my background, then one of the co-ordinating large foliage diecuts that had space for a printed sentiment.

Go! - Now to the timed action! I took my card base and added a pieces of designer series paper to the front of it. I then stamped the word 'thanks' in Pretty Peacock across the centre of the diecut (I used the retired 'Biggest Wish' stamp set but I've included a shop link below to a current one that would make a great alternative) the added this to the centre of my card base, using dimensionals:

I finished with a selection of co-ordinating gems to finish my card.

Result - That's all there is to it - a great #simplestamping card where the designer paper definitely takes the strain! How long did it take to make this card? 

Just 2 minutes and 42 seconds - at that speed, you could even make multiples in the space of 10 minutes! The Frames & Flowers papers really are fabulous and great for all kinds of speedy cards; at £9.50 for a pack, they're super reasonable 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:

Shop link to the Frames & Flowers 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper £9.50: click here

PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

MY SMALL BUSINESS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)

PETAL PINK & PRETTY PEACOCK FOILED GEMS (7.50)