It's a Bank Holiday here in the UK today and the sun is shining - woohoo! There will be more gardening rather than crafting done here today, but fear not - I have a card to share with you that I made over the weekend inspired by a few challenges: 

I was inspired by both the colours and the inspiration photo over at Color Throwdown this week and decided to dig into my retired stash for the perfect stamp - take a look:

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

Giggle Greetings - The less-than-impressed feline that features on today's card is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called 'Giggle Greetings' from 2013 - so perfect for the 'anything goes' challenge over at Retro Rubber this week! I loved the corny sentiments and greetings in this set and have used it lots of times, so it was always going to make it into my 'keep' pile. I coloured my cat simply with my Blends markers and split the sentiment, masking off part of the words on the stamp on the front of my card and then continuing these on the inside:

On Film - I decided to 'frame' my cat with another retired product - this time the film roll from the On Film Framelits, another gem from 2014. These are so great for highlighting images when scrapbooking, which is primarily why I still have them in my stash, but they also came in useful for the challenge over at CASology this week where the cue word is 'photo':

Dots and Spots - The main image is mostly grey so I wanted to incorporate some of that lovely yellow into my card to just lift things a little. I decided to add a couple of small pieces of DSP (this is a CAS card after all) and chose some with both dots and spots and added them behind my film/photo. This way they don't overwhelm and the colour palette remains simple, whilst still adding brightness to the card. This also meets the brief over at Just Us Girls this week - I can't remember the last time I created a card worthy of all these challenges all at the same time and I wasn't even trying!

I know exactly who will be receiving this card - lots of my friends are approaching the big '50' and some are looking forward to it more than others, so this will be a fun way to raise a smile!

No visual summary or product table of the key products used on today's project as most of them are no longer available to purchase.

One last reminder today - if you have been considering taking advantage of the current Stampin' Up! joining offer where you can choose £154 for £99, today is your last chance - read all about it here and join my team here - can't wait for you to be part of the fun!

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

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players, where this week LeAnne has an interesting challenge for us:

I had a minor panic when I saw this week's challenge, for two reasons: firstly, vintage as a style is not my forte, and secondly, when I looked through my (extensive!) stamp collection, it was obvious I didn't have much in the way of vintage stamps either!! In fact, I only have one set that looks even remotely 'vintage' and that's my Traveler set - at that moment though, I relaxed. I love this set and suddenly remembered an idea I'd had way back when it first came out in July. I wondered what the vintage steam train would look like converted into the Polar Express, the famous train in the Christmas movie starring Tom Hanks - well wonder no more, here's my card:

I used Night of Navy for my card base, stamped with some grunge spatters from Gorgeous Grunge in Gold Encore ink, and matted my focal image with an offset piece of Brushed Gold cardstock. I stamped my image in black Stazon on watercolour paper, then sponged in my sky using Night of Navy and a little Pacific Point. I added more colour to the train using my Aquapainter and a touch of gold, then I used Whisper White kraft ink for the snow on the ground, the smoke from the train's funnel and I masked off an area and sponged white for the beam of light coming from the front of the train. I also stamped some falling snow using the snow stamp in the 'White Christmas' set. I wanted to frame my image with the 'On Film' framelit as per the sketch from The Paper Craft Crew because I wanted the connection to the movie, but in truth it does crop the image a little small and you lose some of the detail. I will probably make another version of this without such a tight crop, but as I was racing towards my deadline I didn't have time to make another for today so had to go with this one. I do love the overall effect though. The flags are made from striped gold vellum and gold foil, and the sentiment from 'Good Greetings', in keeping with one of the famous straplines from the movie, 'The bell still rings for all who truly believe', which I punched out with a small oval punch and finished with a small brushed gold star.

I hope you like my vintage festive train today; do check out the other design team cards over at The Paper Players - there is, as always, some fantastic inspiration to be found there.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Traveler Clear-Mount Stamp Set	On Film Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Stars Framelits Dies	Gorgeous Grunge	Good Greetings Wood-Mount Stamp Set	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper
Stazon Cleaner	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Aqua Painter	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad
Gold Metallic Encore Pad	Gold Stampin' Dazzle Marker	Brushed Gold A4 Card Stock	Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
Gold Foil Sheets	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
Sponge Daubers	Large Oval Punch	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

Happy Monday everyone! I enjoyed a restful Sunday yesterday and can honestly say I feel like I am starting the week on the front foot again for the first time in a few weeks! Today I'm sharing a cute clean and simple Halloween card that I made with this week's colours over at Colour Q and the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch:

Despite the adorable wellie boots in the inspiration picture, when I saw this week's Colour Q colours I couldn't help but wonder if I could make them work for a Halloween card. This is what I came up with:

I stamped the Frankenstein stamp from 'Freaky Friends' in Blackberry Bliss onto some retired Summer Starfruit cardstock and fussy cut him out. I used a piece of film strip made using Calypso Coral cardstock and the On Film framelit, modified to make it smaller and placed the film strip behind my layered sentiment banner and then my figure on top. Lastly, I finished with some Blackberry Bliss bats to add to the Halloween theme.

I hope you like today's clean and simple Halloween card. I'm off to move mountains (of the craft and ironing pile variety!) Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Freaky Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Ghoulish Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	On Film Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock
Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

It's Monday and today I have a special card for a special day - today my youngest James Junior turns 7! I can't quite believe it - some days I'm not sure where the last 7 years have gone. So today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for Ben to celebrate his special day. I used this week's sketch over at the Paper Craft Crew as my inspiration: 

My card is slightly larger than usual - A5, 21cm x 14.9cm - and features a fun shaker element along with my favourite Sea Street stamp set:

The shaker is made using the surround from the On Film framelit set and filled with fussy cut starfish, crabs, lobsters, gold sequins and some fish and anchors cut with my now retired Oh Whale! clearlit. I stamped the 'Hip Hip Hooray' onto the background before putting the shaker together and carried the sentiment on to the inside of the card:

We have a fun day planned today, including a visit to the cinema and maybe even a cycle ride on his new bicycle if the weather holds! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sea Street Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Fabulous Four Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Starburst Sayings	On Film Framelits Dies
Starburst Framelits Dies	3/4 Inch Circle Punch	Small Oval Punch	Banner Punch	Medium Window Sheets
Gold Sequin Trim	Gold Baker's Twine	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Pacific Point A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform