Happy Easter Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card using Jen M's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches that is also perfect for the new 'A is for Adorable' challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog:

As I was making this card the other day I was pondering what to do with the pretty scene on the corner of my sheet of Happy Forest Friends designer paper, and I decided Jen's sketch would be the perfect way to showcase it - take a look:

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

By carefully cutting into four pieces as per the sketch, I could keep the scene whilst presenting it in an interesting way at the same time. I mounted each one on a mat of Grey Granite cardstock and added to a white cardbase, then fussy cut a stamped sentiment from one of my favourite retiring sets 'Simply Fabulous'. This set is currently available at a 10% discount - you can buy it here in my online store whilst supplies last! I stamped it in Night of Navy and positioned it strategically at the meeting point:

Doesn't this bear look just as if he's waving hello to the butterfly as he passes on his woodland stroll? If that's not cute, I don't know what is!  That's all there is to it - super simple today, with the pretty designer paper doing all the work!

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:

HAPPY FOREST FRIENDS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

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

I chose pastel colours for this week's challenge; I rarely choose pastels as a starting point, much preferring brights, so I thought this would both challenge me and also give me a gallery full of pastel design inspiration - a win-win I'd say! With the recent Stampin' Up! announcement of a full colour refresh, we are saying goodbye to not only the outgoing 2021-23 in-colours, but several from across the colour families too. I've used one of the retiring in-colours and three of the four retiring pastels from the subtles family on my cards today along with the layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday - take a look at the first one:

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

Farewell Hand Penned Petals - I used the retiring 'Hand Painted Petals' stamp set and coordinating Penned Flowers Dies on my car today, along with the border dies from the Eden Dies set, also retiring, to pick out the border edge of my Country Gingham panel. This is a great stamp set if you're new to stamping - it has both outline stamps and individual pieces to infill the various flowers and leaves with colour, but they intentionally don't line up with each other exactly. The easy, artsy look means that you don't have to align the stamps perfectly - yet they still look great, perfect for a beginner! Get your stamp set and dies from my online store here whilst stocks last. 

Bye, Bye Blushing Bride - This card features Blushing Bride and Mint Macaron, retiring pastels from the Subtles family, along with Pale Papaya, a retiring in-colour. I've never been a big fan of Blushing Bride (I find it a 'muddy' pink) but I do think it can be enhanced when paired with other colours. Paired with the peachy tones of Pale Papaya and the fresh green of Mint Macaron and some ribbon and gems in those colours too, it does look quite pretty - what do you think?

So Long, So Saffron - So Saffron is another of the departing Subtles, so I decided to make a variation on my first card using Pale Papaya for the larger flowers and the pale yellow of So Saffron for the smaller ones; all other details were the same.

I think I prefer this version, but I'll leave it for you to decide if you have a favourite!

So are you a fan of the Subtles colour family and pastel shades? If so, you should definitely consider entering our challenge this week!

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

And the second one:

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'm off to set up my Easter egg hunt for the James Juniors - they might be in their teens now, but they still like to hunt for their chocolate, they are nothing if not sticklers for tradition! We have a roast turkey lunch planned then this afternoon will be spent consuming the fruit of their spoils and if the sun continues to shine, walking it off! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing my second card for my Guest Designer spot over at Just Us Girls. This week it's word week:

Sunshine - could this be any more uplifting?! I decided to CASE Ann's card over at Global Design Project #GDP388 and pair a couple of old favourites with a new-to-me stamp from the annual catalogue for my card - take a look:

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

Instead of fussy cut flowers, I flipped Ann's design and used simple white clouds, diecut with my Basic Borders Dies, for the top and bottom elements and saved the detail for my sunny panel behind.

I recently purchase the Rays of Light background stamp and thought it would be the perfect way to show the warm sunshine streaming down between the clouds. In a nod to Ann's card, I stamped it onto a piece of yellow Hues of Happiness designer series paper, inking my stamp in a blend of Daffodil Delight and retiring Mango Melody. The patterned/floral sides of this paper are what you most often see showcased, but the reverse coloured sides are beautiful too. The stamp itself has a lovely textured surface and I think this is enhanced with the faux brushstrokes on the designer paper.

Like Ann I did use the Sending Smiles bundle for my sentiment, keeping with a bold, black diecut 'sending' and then adding a more appropriate stamped element to my bottom cloud in an ombre of the two yellows I used for the sunshine. I added a few adhesive-backed milky dots in Mango Melody to complete my card (these are currently in the retiring sale and available at a discount in my online store here). Mango Melody ink pads are unfortunately no longer available - those departing colours are flying off the shelves!

There is something so cheery about sunshine cards I think - I can't wait to see what the Design Team and JUGS gallery has in store this week!

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:

BASIC BORDERS DIES (27.00)

RAYS OF LIGHT CLING STAMP SET (17.00)

SENDING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)

HUES OF HAPPINESS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge, chosen by Jan:

I considered how I was going to use that large central circle as my focal point and since I'm in 'use it up' mode with my retiring product right now, I decided to create a little scene using some woodland creatures from the Happy Forest Friends designer series paper in the annual catalogue. After much fussy cutting and arranging and re-arranging, this is what I came up with:

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

Several of the sheets in the Happy Forest Friends pack have printed scenes on them, so having considered how I was going to make the most of each sheet I actually fussy cut some animals, then used my largest circle Stylish Shapes Die to partially cut a circle, having firstly fussy cut the edge of the tree to sit outside of the circle border. I then added an owl, bear, bird and half a fox (good job he was peeking from behind the tree!) and layered them to create my scene. You can see the detailing a little better on the close up below:

I added a couple of panels using another of the patterns in this pack to the background, and a simple bow of Old Olive twine and a stamped and fussy cut sentiment from the 'Lovely You' stamp set that seemed to fit with my scene. The 'Lovely You' stamp set has lots of useful sentiments and is currently available at 60% off - just £9.20. What a bargain - snap one up here in my online store whilst it's still available!

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 sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPY FOREST FRIENDS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. We are in April now; Valerie chose our challenges this month and our first challenge is a lovely bright colour challenge: 

For my card today I wanted to play along with the current challenge of 'Spring' over at Addicted to CAS who are back following their extended break and the layout over at Sunday Stamps was perfect for me to play with some of my favourite retired dies - take a look:

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

I had my 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set out on my desk and was originally going to stamp three squares, but instead used this set just for the sentiment and used a trio of Floral Squares Dies to add some bright pops of spring colour. I added some retired Crushed Curry baker's twine that I had in my stash; these flowers are so easy to layer and great for clean and simple cards:

This card measures 4 1/2" x 8" so is slightly larger than usual, so also needed a custom envelope - long-time retired in-colour designer paper to the rescue for that one too! Can you tell that we are about to transition between catalogues? Trying to have a clear-out always results in the discovery of old favourites - I'm still hanging on to these ones though, I love them and so wish we had more designs of these! Apart from the colours, everything is either retired or on the way - the 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set is on it's way to the retired shelf, although I have a space ready for it as I'm not letting go of mine just yet!

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! 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:

SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (17.00)

MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

Click here to go right to the the online store to shop your favourite retiring items now!

These are the Last Chance Retiring Products lists updated by Stampin’ Up! on March 31.

Click here to see the retired items list for the 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue in PDF format, including the discounts that will apply beginning on April 4:

You can click here to download the retiring list for the 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue in Excel format so that you can modify and edit it.

Click here to see the retired items list for the January-April 2023 Mini Catalogue in PDF format, including the discounts that will apply beginning on April 4:

You can click here to download the retiring list for the January-April 2023 Mini Catalog in Excel format so that you can modify and edit it.

Stampin’ Up! has put together a quick video showing you the colours that are leaving and the new colours coming in, including the new In Colours!  You can see it here:

Here's a quick list of those colours that are retiring:

• Blushing Bride
• Pear Pizzazz
• Mint Macaron
• Rich Razzleberry
• So Saffron
• Merry Merlot
• Pacific Point
• Mango Melody
• Soft Suede
• Sahara Sand
• Bermuday Bay

I'll have more news with regard to the new in colours in a separate post, but for now - I'll be placing an order first thing tomorrow so if you'd like to take advantage of the bargains on the retiring list, then do get in touch.

Let me know if you have any questions. Back tomorrow with another post; until then, happy shopping!

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

The animals came in two by two - feature two animals on your card, how fun! I actually have two cards to share with you today: I made my Paper Players card after I made the first one, so I'll share that one first so that the second one makes a bit more sense! My first card is an Easter card using Jen T's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the current Colour Inkspiration colour palette:

I thought the oval layout would be perfect for two bunnies and the colour palette would be just the ticket for a dark chocolate brown bunny and some floral decoration courtesy of the Dainty Delight Dies - take a look:

Whilst the layout worked beautifully for one bunny, two were definitely a squeeze, so having added some soft clouds and grass to surround my single bunny, I decided to add an Easter sentiment from the retired set 'Crazy About You'. This is such a pretty colour combo and I love the embossed detail on the Dainty Delight flowers and leaves too:

I then moved on to card two. I punched another bunny so that I had another pair and also had the country gingham oval left over from my first card that I still wanted to use up, so this time I switched to the current Sketch Saturday layout and decided to play along with the challenge over at TGIF Challenges and look at what other scraps and offcuts I had that would co-ordinate with my gingham oval.

I actually had quite a few! A strip of Country Floral designer paper leftover from a previous project, an offcut of Mint Macaron and some offcut strips of Wisper White that were just wide enough to cut a couple of borders with my Penned Flowers Dies and a scrap of Poppy Parade. This is what I came up with:

I used a Petal Pink card base and this time positioned my bunnies mirroring each other, with a punched heart between them. I really wanted a 'Some bunny loves you' sentiment but alas, I don't have one in my collection so went with this one from the retired Sale-A-Bration set 'Thanks A Bunch' instead:

I think this would make a sweet anniversary card;. It actually came together quite quickly by collecting up a bunch of leftover bits and pieces and more importantly - I managed to accommodate my two bunnies this time!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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 am off to an extra hockey game today and then we have the start of the Easter holidays, which for us means the start of serious revision season in the James household - not much in the way of excitement here! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EASTER BUNNY PUNCH (18.00)	COUNTRY GINGHAM 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	DAINTY DELIGHT DIES (34.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	COUNTRY BOUQUET PUNCH (18.00)
COUNTRY FLORAL LANE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	PENNED FLOWERS DIES (28.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

Today I'm nice and early with today's post and with good reason: following my pick as Chic of the Week over at Just Us Girls with this card for challenge #664, I was delighted to be asked by the lovely Vicki to be their guest designer for the month of April. I'm taking over from the equally lovely Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone, so big shoes to fill (if you've never visited her blog, you really should!) For the next 5 weeks I will be guesting along with these lovely ladies bright and early on a Saturday morning! Our first challenge for the month of April is a colour challenge:

I interpreted these colours ass Crumb Cake and Mossy Meadow, which is not a colour combo I would ordinarily be drawn to, yet the minute I saw this pairing I had an idea - I love it when that happens! Using the sketch layout over at Try Stamping on Tuesday I grabbed my Dainty Delight stamp set and this is what I came up with:

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

I went with a clean, white base and added a panel wrapped in Crumb Cake burlap ribbon, before adding my layered Crumb Cake Panel. I stamped my florals in Mossy Meadow directly onto the Crumb Cake cardstock, and coloured the leaves in with Mossy Meadow ink and a blender pen and colouring the flowers with a white watercolour pencil. I just love the fine detail of these florals - they are so delicate:

I added a heat embossed sentiment from the same set that I stamped and heat embossed in white, then punched out using a retired punch and finished with a trio of green enamel dots from my stash. I did some additional stamping on the inside and added a co-ordinating envelope to complete my card.

I don't often stamp on a neutral other than white before colouring, but I really like the finished effect on this card. What do you think? How would you choose to play with these colours? Check out the cards by the JUGS team over on the blog and why not have a go and link yours there 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; it's Saturday so I'm off to the hockey pitch. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAINTY DELIGHT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	REAL RED & BURLAP RIBBON COMBO PACK (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS (15.00)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Pet Day' which is on 11th April. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. I am not much of a pet person, but that didn't stop me perusing my stamp collection for a starting point for today's challenge. This week I used twine, fish and embossing folder and this is what I came up with:

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

I paired one of the fishes from the stamp set 'A Fish and a Wish' with the rainbow macaron colours of the current Inkspirational mood board and created a vertical rainbow of fishes, reversing the stamp each time I stamped it. I added a simple thank you sentiment, co-ordinating Starry Sky twine and a few clear gems, along with a little extra stamping on the inside and outside envelope of my card. I added an embossed layer to my cardfront using the (retired) Seabed 3D Embossing Folder - you can see the detail on the close up below:

This is such a versatile set and so easy to use. Both the stamp set and the co-ordinating fish builder punch are retiring when the annual catalogue finishes at the end of April; the stamp set will also be 30% from next Tuesday, so time to pick up a bargain, perhaps? I'm also linking up today's card with the team over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where they are celebrating reaching the end of the alphabet with 'Z is for Zodiac' and all things related; these fish are perfect for Pisces, the twelfth sign of the zodiac. Did you know that Pisces is actually the Latin word for 'fish'? Obvious when you think about it, but as a linguist the origin of words fascinates me!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A FISH & A WISH CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	SWEET SORBET CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	2022–2024 IN COLOR BAKER'S TWINE PACK (14.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I took the third column of diecuts, pastel colours and Easter and using the colour palette over at Hand Stamped Sentiments I created an Easter card for the theme at Global Design Project #GDP387 - take a look:

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

The design of my card was inspired by a summer-themed card I'd seen on Pinterest that featured a modern block sentiment when I was looking for ink blending inspiration. I wanted my sentiment to fit inside a square, so used my (retired) Playful Alphabet Dies as they were just the right shape and size. I blended all three colours using blending brushes onto a sheet of white cardstock - once in defined rows (I cut my sentiment square from this piece) and then on randomly on a larger area; I used this piece to diecut my two flower elements using the Penned Flowers Dies. I recommend you colour your cardstock before you diecut the pieces rather than afterwards, as this helps you avoid dark edges. Once I'd coloured my square and cut it out using the Stylish Shapes Dies, I diecut out the letters, then cut the same letters again in white and inset them into the negative space:

 I backed the whole thing onto a panel of neutral Smoky Slate grey and added a few iridescent rhinestones for a little extra sparkle. The letters I diecut from the outside square panel didn't go to waste; I used them for the sentiment on the inside of my card, with an extra diecut piece for decoration:

I also decorated the envelope with the stamp from the Hand Painted Petals stamp set for a little extra detail. Not a bunny, chick or Easter egg in sight, but I think this is a pretty Easter card nonetheless and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. It just goes to show you don't always need to have themed supplies in order to make a card for a particular occasion - you just have to get creative with what you have in your stash!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Apologies that it's been a little quiet around here; I've been single parenting this week and so have had very little opportunity to get in my craft room and when I have, my creative mojo has been struggling to craft under pressure! I still feel like I'm catching up on that lost hour from the clocks going back on Sunday; the James Juniors break up for the Easter holidays tomorrow and I have to say, the end of term can't come soon enough! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at Festive Friday. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PENNED FLOWERS DIES (28.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (7.00)