I have another card to share with you today, this time inspired by the challenges over at Festive Friday (I chose green, thread and interactive) and the butterfly inspiration over at TGIF Challenges:

I love Memories & More cards both for scrapbooking and card making and I've used lots of them previously to make quick clean and simple cards. Today I've something a little different though; whilst my card still focuses on the Sweet Thoughts Memories & More card pack and card base and envelopes, I've paired with the Hooray For Surprises bundle to make a fun interactive card - take a look:

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

Sweet Thoughts - The Sweet Thoughts Memories & More cards and card and envelope sets are perfect for quick cards. All of the main elements I used to decorate my printed card base came from the card pack - a large butterfly and two sentiments:

All of them are stickers so have self-adhesive backs, but you can easily add with dimensionals too if you'd prefer a little lift as I've done here. The only other thing I added was a twine bow using some coordinating retired thread that I had in my stash.

Hooray For Surprises - I could have stopped there, but I thought another of the cards in the Sweet Thoughts pack would make a fun 'reveal'. I spent a little time marking my card front where I needed to place my Hooray For Surprises long pull tab. The die is longer than I wanted, given the addition of my large butterfly, but this wasn't a problem; I simply used a partial diecutting technique to diecut each one in two stages, which allowed me to shorten it without issue. I stamped the word 'pull' onto the end of each tab, and added a flower sticker from the card pack to embellish each one:

The second M&M card that I used is placed underneath the top layer, being careful to adhere around the edges and leave the tabbed area free.

The Big Reveal - So what's underneath the tabs? I created a 'false top' template using some spare card so that you can see what you'll see when those tabs are pulled:

So not only is the recipient sweet - but beautiful, amazing, fabulous, lovely and wonderful too! The hooray For Surprises Dies are such a great way to add a fun interactive element to card. One last thing - you will notice that I needed to trim the second M&M card down so that the sentiment would appear where I wanted to. Don't discard the spare edge piece though - I added mine as a little extra decoration to the inside of my card. 

So what do you think? A fun way to combine these products, right? I will be sending this card to my lovely daughter who is at university - I'm sure she will love it. This is a great opportunity to remind you that the Hooray For Surprises bundle is just one of those featured in the monthly tutorials I create with my good friend and fellow demonstrator Jan Clothier. This tutorial contains lots more ideas and ways to use this bundle and is yours for FREE when you purchase the Hooray For Surprises bundle from either Jan or myself. So why not add it to your basket now - add some Memories & More cards and you can have a go at today's card 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Friday with another project for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HOORAY FOR SURPRISES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (44.00)

SWEET THOUGHTS MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (6.65)

SWEET THOUGHTS MEMORIES & MORE CARDS & ENVELOPES (6.65)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

Good evening everyone! I am spending the week clearing out my loft (a job long overdue!) so today I'm sharing a quick clean and simple card for a couple of challenges:

AAA Cards would like anything CAS with the optional twist of birthday, so I did both and also went with the CAS on Friday theme of male/boy. I made a fun, cute card for a little boy who is celebrating his birthday - take a look:

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

I created a subtle sweep of Azure Afternoon ink to highlight my sweet hula-hooper that I fussy cut from the Just Kiddin' designer series paper, adding some stamped hearts and stars in the same colour:

A simple sentiment from the 'Hooray For Surprises' set completes my card. Just a few key items needed to create this super cute 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 evening and I'll be back later this week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the same products to create two different looks. I used the sketch layouts over at Tuesday Morning Sketches and Inspire.Create for each of my cards:

Both cards feature a sentiment 'Hooray For Surprises', a label cut with the Everyday Details Dies and designer series paper from the free Sale-A-Bration Flight & Airy pack. Here's the first card, with a blue colour scheme:

Here's the second card, with a pink colour scheme; I've also added some (retired) Garden Green ribbon and a bow to this version:

You know how much I love the Flight & Airy papers - no fussy cutting today though! The pattern detail of these papers lends them to be used on clean, uncluttered cards. The panel designs of both of the layouts are a great way to add interest. I love the diecut detail on the labels too:

These are great designs if you need to knock out multiples too. I'll be sending these to members of my team to celebrate their Stampin' Up! anniversaries - the inside of my cards reads 'you are simply amazing' - because they are. With Sale-A-Bration being a great time to join Stampin' Up!, there are always anniversaries to celebrate at this time of year!

Finally, here's a photo of both cards together:

Which design do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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:

HOORAY FOR SURPRISES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	EVERYDAY DETAILS DIES (32.00)	BOHO BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a 'fill in the blank' challenge chosen by my dear friend Jan:

Time to confess, crafty shoppers - what was the last thing you purchased? At first glance you might be thinking I'm pulling your leg today, as my card features the 'Sweet Songbirds' stamp set and co-ordinating punch, both of which I've had for ages and shared several times before. Look more closely though and you will see I paired them with my most recent craft purchase: the 'Hooray For Surprises' bundle - take a look:

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

Hooray For Surprises - The 'Hooray For Surprises' bundle is so fun! The dies create perforated edges with a tab that allow you to easily create your own interactive cards. Simply pull the tab to reveal the message inside! I've been creating with this bundle a lot in recent weeks as it features in the next 'Join In With Joanne and Jan' craft tutorial bundle that I create with the lovely Jan Clothier. There are so many different ways you can create with the stamp set and dies together in this bundle, but for my card today I wanted to use one of the dies to show that there are tons of possibilities when you combine them with other sets too. I used Jen T's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week as my starting point (turned through 90 degrees) and paired the largest of the round circle tab dies with my pair of birds and nest for a fun gender reveal card.

Here's the card front with a close up of the tab before opening:

It's A ... - When the tab is removed, there is a message underneath that reveals whether or not the mummy and daddy bird parents are expecting a boy or a girl - check it out below:

Isn't that so fun?! I made two cards, showing both boy and girl inserts. Here's a close up of the baby girl version: 

 And here's the baby boy version:

I stamped the surprise greeting with a combination of sets: the 'It's a' is from a couple of the sets in the Sweet Songbirds set and the 'Baby Boy/Baby Girl' comes from a long-retired set called 'Itty Bitty Baby', but you could just as easily hand write your own message or type one on the computer. So what do you think? I think this would make a lovely card to announce an impending birth to soon-to-be grandparents, for example, but I'd love to hear your thoughts - why not leave me a comment below!

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. 

Remember if you purchase the 'Hooray For Surprises' bundle from either myself if you are in the UK or Europe or Jan if you are in New Zealand, then you will receive our tutorial featuring this set for FREE, along with access to our Private Facebook Group for more tips and tricks too. In addition, if you purchase before the end of February you will only be £1 away from a free Sale-A-Bration gift too!

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 Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HOORAY FOR SURPRISES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (44.00)	SWEET SONGBIRDS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	SONGBIRD BUILDER PUNCH (21.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
TAHITIAN TIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)