I've had a very indulgent day in my craft room trying to get ahead with a bunch of design projects, but I couldn't resist making something for fun too so I have a quick post to share a card I made for a few challenges:

The ladies over at TGIF Challenges have a product spotlight on the Celebratory Sips Suite and what better way to celebrate with the Inkspirational team than with cocktails? The layout over at Just Add Ink was perfect for something I wanted to try with the Celebratory Sips designer series papers (I turned the sketch through 90 degrees) so I grabbed my paper snips and set to work! Here's my card: 

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

The Celebratory Sips designer series paper pack is full of vivid, watercoloured patterns featuring blocks, cocktails, fruit, flowers and more - everything you need to get the party started! I fussy cut a quartet of blocks, then layered these with various smaller images of fruit, glasses, bottles and jugs cut from another sheet, co-ordinating the colours for each panel:

I used another of the patterns as a matting layer and picked up the Cloud Cover colour to use as the base for my diecut sentiment from the (retired) Wanted To Say Dies, which I popped up on dimensionals and placed across the middle between the blocks. A few co-ordinating sequins from my stash complete my card.

Whilst this post may be quick, the card was a labour of love and did take me a little while - a triumph of fussy cutting, if you will and not a stamp set in sight for this one!

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:

CELEBRATORY SIPS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

WANTED TO SAY DIES (£11.10)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where Jan is hosting and it's time for a speed challenge with an interesting theme:

Water - in all it's forms! I don't mind saying, I procrastinated for ages before making my card today; I was convinced I didn't have any current product that would fit the bill, but after a quick conversation with my fellow teamie Jan and a peruse through the Stampin' Up! catalogue, I saw this week's sketch over at Global Design Project and I knew exactly what to do! This is my finished card:

But how did I get there? Here's the low-down on today's card:

Beautiful Gallery - I actually had a few items with a water theme - the Otterly Adorable suite and the Waves Embossing Folder to name a couple - and I used one of the seascapes in the Beautiful Gallery pack for my panelled card over at The Paper Players at the start of the week (you can see that card here if you missed it). My conversation with Jan prompted me to revisit the pack to see if there were any other designs that featured water. I found one, so chose a stamp set, gathered the remainder of my supplies and set my stopwatch - go!

I chose Lost Lagoon and Secret Sea as my coordinating colours, and trimmed my DSP and a panel of Lost Lagoon, then split my image into three sections:

With Sympathy - I did choose a retired stamp set for my sentiment: a previous Sale-A-Bration stamp set called 'Heal Your Heart', which has some lovely sentiments for sympathy cards. I am low on sympathy cards and thought that the tranquility of this image would work well for this kind of card, especially one with a masculine feel. If you want a current set with similar sentiments, 'The Right Words' on page 89 of the catalogue would be a good choice.

A Close Call - Basic card complete in just a few minutes and that's when I decided to go on the hunt for a suitable embellishment - and realised I didn't have any to hand! I filddled with a Mossy Meadow twine bow (nope!) followed by a quick rifle through the embellishment basket let me to a simple trio of Lost Lagoon enamel dots  - better! - to complete my card. Did I get there in time?

At 9 minutes 36 seconds, I was still within my 10 minute limit - phew! The moral of the story though - gather EVERYTHING you need (or might need!) before you start - in a speed challenge, that is most definitely the key to success!

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL GALLERY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (£8.50)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

I've had a busy Bank Holiday weekend and not managed to find much time for blogging but now it's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Laura is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

I wasn't sure what to do with this week's colours, then I saw the challenge over at AAA Cards where they have a fun 'follow the leader' CASE challenge and I was inspired! I grabbed my new Party Alphabet Dies and set to work; this is what I came up with:

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

I retained the vertical design and went with a modern block sentiment to create a thank you card with a clean, masculine feel. I colour blocked the diecut letters with strips behind, then added a trio of thank you sentiments - a perfect card when you need something a little less feminine - and another great way to use those Party Alphabet Dies! Here's the card turned around so you can read the sentiment more easily:

I really like this design - I might have to have another play with those letter dies and the vertical element - so many creative possibilities!

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:

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£8.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	THOUGHTFUL WISHES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

Firstly, apologies to anyone who struggled to link their project to our last challenge over at As You See It; we experienced some challenging IT issues that took a while to put right. All sorted now though and today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where Jan is hosting and it's time for a fun theme challenge:

Spots or stripes - how fun! I added flowers to my choice so that I can also play along in the current challenge over at The Flower Challenge and grabbed the pretty colours over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the layout at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, along with some new goodies and set to work. Take a look at what i came up with:

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

Embossed Spots - I went with spots as opposed to stripes, and in a nod to Jan's love of all things embossed I decided that I would make a bold feature of mine by embossing my base layer with one of the (retired) 3D Basics Embossing Folders that has a raised spot design. This was the only EF in this trio I have never used, but I really don't know why as I really love the finished effect - especially in that vibrant Summer Splash colour. 

Impressions Abloom - I paired my embossed base with an aperture and flowers from the Impressions Abloom bundle - one of this month's Online Exclusives. The dies have a fabulous embossed diecut detail and I love that the aperture comes with a beautiful framed edge too; you can see both in more detail on the close up below:

I inked my flowers for added depth and added lots of tiny Fresh Freesia enamel dots to my sprays of white blossoms for a little added sparkle.

Finishing Touches - There isn't much in the way of stamping on today's card; just the sentiment on the front, which I paired with another in the set, along with a stamped flower, on the inside of my card:

The Impressions Abloom bundle, along with the rest of this month's release, is available now in my online store - definitely worth a second look. Click on the link on the table at the end of the post to go and take a closer look.

I wasn't sure about this colour combination when I first saw it, with two pastels and the bold aqua, but I love how it turned out! It really makes me want to use Summer Splash more - I just love the vibrancy of this colour. 

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

IMPRESSIONS ABLOOM BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)	SUMMER SPLASH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SUMMER SPLASH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Laura who is hosting has asked that we create a square card with a quartered centrepiece:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I used the colours over at Color Throwdown and decided to create an Andy-Warhol inspired centrepiece, featuring a comical canine favourite - take a look:

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

Yes - it's the dog from the 'One More Year' stamp set - but not quite as you know it! For today's card, I stamped him four times onto white cardstock, coloured with Blends and fussy cut him out, minus his party hat. I backed each image with a square of retired spotty DSP in the challenge colours and mounted each onto a postage die base. I finished with a simple 'hello' sentiment from the new 'Sweet Blooms' stamp set, anchored with an enamel dot:

Super simple and a fun way to give this stamp a different look. This card is going in my stash to send to the youngest James Junior when he is living away at uni - I know this will make him smile!

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:

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (£31.00)	SWEET BLOOMS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM LIGHT COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge chosen by Heather H:

I started my card today having chosen dinosaurs as my animal (the 'Darling Dinos' stamp set is great for colouring too!) and armed with the layout over at Sketch Saturday and the bold, bright colours at Color Dare I set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Texture and Shine - Aside from my pair of cute, brightly coloured dinosaurs (the Blends colours I used are listed at the bottom of my post), I decided to go big on the texture/emboss element in this week's recipe. I added a background of heat-embossed footprints, layered in lots of boulders across the horizontal and added two panels of corrugated cardstock in highlighted colours behind each of my dinosaurs. I even added in some pebble-shaped enamels from my stash too! All of these combined add more texture and interest than my usual style and whilst this is something of a departure for me, I really like the effect. Maybe, sometimes more is more! 

Footprints in the ... Plants - Did you notice those oversize shiny, embossed footprints on my base panel? This stamp isn't from the 'Darling Dinos' stamp set; in fact, it's got nothing to do with dinosaurs at all! It's actually the reverse of one of the plant stamps in the 'Planted Paradise' set - I've highlighted it with a red circle below:

How clever is that?! I can't take the credit for this idea; the wonderfully talented Brian King made this card a while ago that got me looking at this set in a whole new light - I think I'll probably use this single stamp more than any of the others in this set now, so thank you Brian! Once you've seen it, you just can't unsee it - right? Here's a close up where you can really see the shine of my prints: 

And Finally - Just as I thought I was done, I did my finally recipe check - and realised I'd forgotten twine - aarggh!!! I found some that picked up the red and tied it around my panel; it's ok but I think I preferred the card without. Nonetheless, recipe finally complete - phew!

This card is headed to a friend who will hopefully appreciate the sentiment and those quirky little details.

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DARLING DINOS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£38.50)	MINI CORRUGATED 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	PLANTED PARADISE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£18.90)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I'm hosting this month and my final challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I used a lovely stamp called 'Grateful Blessing' that I'm pleased to say will be on carryover from the current annual catalogue, because I haven't used it anywhere near enough! Here's my card:

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

Today's card really is so simple! The bell floral stamp in the Grateful Blessing stamp is perfect if you want to do just a little colouring with your Stampin' Blends, or if colouring isn't your thing there is an infill stamp so you can simply stamp it instead. I decided to do something a little different with today's card though: I used Balmy Blue and Shy Shamrock to colour my bluebells using my Stampin' Write markers, using just the outline of the stamp:

This technique is really easy to do; it works better on red rubber stamps than photopolymer, but if you stamp your flowers using a stamp positioning tool, you can repeat it a few times and increase the depth of colour. I stamped one of the sentiments in the set alongside my bluebells in Night of Navy, then added a simple scored border to complete my card. 

The flowers are so delicate when only the outlines are coloured; do you ever use this technique with your outline stamps? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to know how you are using your Stampin' Write markers. 

I also made a second card using the same stamp set, layout and colours, but this time heat-embossing the image in white onto Night of Navy cardstock:

To colour the flowers, I first painted the flower with diluted white kraft ink to give a base for the colour to key to, then when dry I added the colour on top using watercolour pencils:

This gives quite a different look. Two techniques with one stamp set - do you have a favourite? 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

And the second card:

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GRATEFUL BLESSING PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

2024–2026 IN COLOR™ STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£17.50)

SUBTLES STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£35.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£10.50)

A second post for today with some hot-off-the-press news! From 23-25 April, there will be free shipping on all orders of £60 or more! Details as follows:

• All order types qualify for this promotion.
• Free shipping is for three days only. Orders must be opened and closed during 23-25 April.*
• Free shipping automatically applies to your basket after the qualifying amount has been met, which is 75 € | £60 (before shipping and handling).
• Coupon codes and product credits are non-commissionable and will lower your order’s retail amount. Orders must meet the qualifying amount to be eligible for free shipping.
• The additional cost for expedited shipping is not covered by this promotion.

*Due to the time difference, this promotion will start on 22 April at 11:00 p.m., for Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Click here to go straight to the online store - happy shopping!

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

This will be fun! Retired and discontinued products that I've kept - well, far too many for sure!! I used both the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge Sketch for my layout and the pretty colour palette over at Colour Inkspiration as both were perfect for me to highlight not just one, but a number of items that I could use to fill in our blank this week - take a look:

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

Now you could be forgiven for thinking that I took my inspiration from the sketch and colour inspiration picture quite literally, but the truth is it was a complete coincidence that today's card features a bunny! I tend to make my Easter cards a year in advance (I rarely make them early enough to send if I make them the same year), so having sent out all of this year's cards, I needed to start replenishing my stock. My retired Bunny Builder Punch is just perfect for the job and it is definitely a punch I wouldn't part with (I kept the co-ordinating stamp set too, although I haven't used it on today's card). There are a few other retired favourites on today's card too: the Itty Bitty Punches I used for the flowers that decorate my cute bunny (I can't tell you how many offers I've had from people to buy these, but they are so useful - I will keep them forever!), the 'Happy Easter' greeting (this comes from the 'Welcome Easter' stamp set) and the scalloped panel (cut using the retired Scalloped Contours Dies). With the exception of the colours and cardstock, the only thing current on today's card is the Country Lace designer paper that I used for my background. It's the retired bunny though that is the scene-stealer here:

Isn't she just the cutest?! So nice to give some retired favourites some love for this challenge - I can't wait to see the things that have made it into your 'keep' collection too.

There's no visual summary of the key products used on today's project today, since they are pretty much all retired - I've added shop links for any product that is current below.

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Fill in The Blank Challenge complete the sentence and show how you achieved this in your project.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and 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. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I've designed my layout with a narrow vertical border and sentiment across the wide panel. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to make a card that showcased the greenery diecut in the Mixed Florals bundle - the one that was hidden by all the flowers on Sunday's card (you can see that card here if you missed it):

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

There are three things that each have a significant role to play on today's card:

The Mixed Florals Diecut - The detail of this diecut deserves to showcased in all its glory once in a while - and today's card is it!

The Oxidised Copper Designer Paper - This paper, with its beautiful copper foil highlights, is really lovely and works best when it is allowed to take centre stage; so a border and the diecut itself allows it to stand out against the Pretty Peacock cardbase, whist still retaining a clean and simple feel.

Thinking Of You Sentiment - This sentiment comes from one of my favourite sentiment sets, 'Friends For Life'. I love the combination of typeface and the shine of the embossed copper and it's just the right size to balance the diecut:

Just the sentiment for this week's 'YOU' word challenge over at Just Us Girls this week too; I can't quite believe I've managed to join in with each of their challenges for the last three weeks - I must be on a roll!

The only other thing to mention is that I used one of the Everyday Arches Dies to diecut my sentiment label; this is the first time I've used one as a label rather than an arch, but it just goes to show how useful these are. A few copper sequins complete my 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:

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (7.00)	OXIDIZED COPPER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.50)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (12.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)
PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)