Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

I decided to create a fun Easter card today using the new 'Friends and Flowers' stamp set that co-ordinates with the returning Festive Flower Builder punch - take a look:

This is a great stamp set with lots of pieces that enable you to make bunnies, fish, flowers and more! It's so easy to punch out the various bits and pieces for easy creation with the co-ordinating punch; my Festive Flower Builder Punch got a real work out before Christmas (do a search on it or the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set here on my blog to see the many projects I've created using it) so I'm glad I get to use it with another co-ordinating stamp set too. I simply stamped the bunny face and ears in Smoky Slate on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, added a little Blushing Bride pink using my Stampin' Write markers and punched out (using the 1 3/8" circle for the face). I added a Bow Paper Clip embellishment to one ear for added 'cute' factor and bordered my sentiment panel with two thin strips of blushing Bride glimmer paper - a little glimmer goes a long way! The sentiment is the one you'll find with the 'Easter Lamb' stamp - I simply masked my stamp so that I would only get the words and not the image - which I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white for added gloss.

Lastly, do you recognise the pretty pastel paper I used for my background layer? It's actually from the It's My Party paper stack. Whilst this is a pack with lots of bold patterns and colours, the presence of Mint Macaron and Sahara Sand in the colour combination means there are some hidden pastel gems in there too, so be sure to check it out.  

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I know that many of you are taking advantage of the great offers that are available when you shop, host a party or join Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration. If you need a reminder of the benefits available you can read all about it here. Today's card is one that I made recently and features one of the stamp sets that you can receive free with a spend of £45 on Stampin' Up! products. The stamp set is called 'Sky Is The Limit' and features a great vintage bi-plane. here's my card:

For my card I used a simple base of Basic Black, a mat of Soft Sky, some white clouds punched with my Tree Builder Punch and I stamped my plane off the page to add to the sense of movement. I added some Basic Black baker's twine and a fun propeller to my aeroplane, using a silver mini-brad and a couple of vellum pieces punched from the centre of the Festive Flower Builder Punch, to finish my card. This stamp set is great for male cards but also works for exam celebrations and it has a great bunch of sentiments as well as clouds, smoke trail and the airplane. 

If this stamp set is on your wish list, remember along with the Perfectly Artistic Paper and Hello stamp set, these are limited offers only available until 15th February. After this they will be discontinued to make way for a number of new sets to run alongside the remaining products until the end of Sale-A-Bration on 31st March. You have one week only to get hold of this one, so don't delay - shop today!

I'm looking forward to spending my day catching up with friends today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project and this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Sky Is The Limit Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Basic Black Baker's Twine	Tree Builder Punch	Festive Flower Builder Punch	Vellum A4 Cardstock	1/8" Silver Mini Brads

Yay - it's Friday - always a good day! I've had a busy one with a few errands, appointments and a pleasant afternoon watching Ben play rugby. Not much time for crafting today (I did help a friend make good progress on some Christmas bunting, but we still have a few finishing touches to make so I'll share that another time!) so I'm sharing a home decor project I made in a class with a lovely group of ladies last week. We decided to decorate a pillar candle and make a table centre, using the Festive Flower Punch and the Spiral Flower Originals Die to make a wreath of flowers around the base.

Here's my finished project, in Real Red with Very Vanilla roses:

I stamped the flower from 'Reason to the Season' on filter paper and melted it into the candle to set it, then covered a small polystyrene wreath with Very Vanilla satin ribbon before adhering my flower to it. A few gold glimmer and pearl flower centres and some loops of gold glitter ribbon interspersed in between completes the project.

The ladies in my class made their arrangements in a variety of colours; you can see their creations on my Facebook page here (feel free to give me a 'like' whilst your there!) for more colour inspiration. This was such a fun project to make and another way to show the versatility of the 'Reason for The Season' stamp set and co-ordinating Festive Flower Punch - this is one bundle that just keeps on giving, so many creative possibilities! The new Spring-Summer catalogue also offers another stamp set that co-ordinates with this useful punch - watch this space!

I'm linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges too who are working with your favourite holiday colours - my traditional colour scheme remains a favourite, even though it's sometimes nice to step out of the creative comfort zone (see next Sunday's post for an example of that!) That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Spiral Flower Originals Die	Big Shot	White Filter Paper	Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Gold Glimmer Paper
Gold & White 3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon	Pearl Basic Jewels

Happy Monday everyone! I was fortunate enough to win over at The Challenge a couple of weeks ago - you can see my winning paper-pieced pumpkin card here if you missed it - so they have kindly asked me to be their guest designer this week: 

They have a great colour challenge this week with a wonderful inspiration photo too - take a look:

I used the photo to inspire my card today in both colour and design; my regular blog followers will know what a fan I am of Stampin' Up!'s 'Reason For The Season' stamp set and the co-ordinating Festive Flower Builder punch, which I used for the flower on my card today:

I used Real Red for my card base and mat layer, with a Crumb Cake layer embossed with the Modern Mosaic embossing folder. I sponged this with a little White Kraft ink, then on the top Crumb Cake layer I stamped my sentiment from the Wondrous Wreath set and heat embossed this in white. For my poinsettia flower, I used Very Vanilla cardstock and finished the centre with a retired snowflake embellishment. I also tucked a strip of silver glimmer paper beneath it for some added sparkle. 

I hope you like today's card - I think the white poinsettia makes a change from a red one and I love the embossed background; I really should use my embossing folders more often!

Do check out the other designers over at The Challenge - they are a talented bunch and have lots more inspiration for this week's colour palette. I have a busy work day ahead; I'm desperately trying to get things up straight before I leave for Onstage in Brussels on Wednesday - let's hope it's productive. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Festive Flower Builder Punch	Wondrous Wreath Photopolymer Stamp Set	Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool (Uk)
Versamark Pad	Big Shot	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Silver Glimmer Paper
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad	Sponge Daubers

I've been busy today with the final preparations for the first of my all day Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks later this week but today's card that I'm going to share is the final one from last month's technique class using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set:

For this card we used a base of Real Red and decorated the front with a piece of Merry Moments DSP, then cut away a section using a 2" circle punch, so that it would fit around a 3D poinsettia flower made from Real Red card stock and adhered to the inside to the card. We used two layers of petals and a trio of leaves for our flower and wrapped a few loops of fine gold metallic thread behind it. This was a great card to get everyone used to building the 3D flower using the punch, having stamped the patterns onto the petals and leaves beforehand. These flowers also look great on festive packaging and really make the most of this versatile stamp set. This is one of the many great value bundles in the seasonal catalogue - with 15% off when you purchase the bundle, it represents a great saving. If you would like to see this stamp and punch combo in action (and a refresher for the ladies that attended my class!), here's a great video from Stampin' Up! that gives you the lowdown:

I hope you enjoyed that video. Don't forget, if you live in or around Northampton and would like more information on attending any of my classes, you can find full details here or just get in touch to confirm availability. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper	Gold Metallic Thread	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
2" Circle Punch	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad