I have a super quick post to share a couple of cards I made today using the current layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I was searching through my stash looking for something for another project, when I found some paper that I thought would be perfect for the sketch - take a look:

The rows of trees on this Storybook Gnomes paper reminded me of the sketch layout. I paired it with a simple sentiment and used some glimmer paper for a little extra festive sparkle:

I liked this card so much I made another one - here are both together:

Pretty much everything I used on these cards is retired - so I won't list the details here - these were just for fun. Back tomorrow with my Paper Players projects!

I'm here today to share news of some exciting product changes that Stampin' Up! has just announced and a roundup of the latest kits and a reminder of this month's in-color promotion. First up there's updates about cling stamps, Stampin' Write markers and new stamp and die packaging:

Stampin' Write Markers

In Addition, we have also decided to discontinue Stampin’ Write Markers. One of the primary techniques unique to Stampin’ Write Markers is colouring directly on cling stamps—a technique that will become less relevant as we transition away from cling. As of today 20 August 2025, all Stampin’ Write Markers will move to Last Chance Products and be available while supplies last.

Here are some images of the new packaging for both stamps and dies Including a sneak peek of a set that will be available in the November Online Exclusives release):

Next up is a quick overview of the latest kits new available that I haven't shared here. Links to each to find out more and purchase n the online store are included below - please note some of these are discounted if you purchase this month as they are included in the current in color promotion:

 Some great kits in there - a lovely home decor kit and fun Halloween kit that would be perfect to make up with children, in addition to some pretty card kits too.

A reminder that the current in-color promotion runs until the end of the month, so you still have time to take advantage of the 15% discount on products featuring this year's in-colors - you can find everything included in this promotion by clicking on the image below: 

Finally, it was recently announced that moving forward there will be no annual Sale-A-Bration promotion; instead there will be a monthly Product of The month promotion. This will begin next month, but in the meantime, if you missed any of this year's Sale-A-Bration items, many of them are available  to purchase currently in the Last Chance section of the online store, whilst supplies last.

That's everything form me today; if you need more information on any of the above, please do get in touch. Back later in the week with a creative post - until then, happy stampin'!

BUNCH OF THANKS KIT (ENGLISH) (£18.70)

BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY KIT (£16.00)

HARVEST HOME GARLAND KIT (£21.00)

BIRTHDAY FANCY KIT (ENGLISH) (£20.40)

SWEET & SPOOKY KIT (£20.00)

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

I knew if we were featuring 'critters' on our clean and simple cards this week I would be reaching for those Turtle-y Cute papers again, so I grabbed them and Verena's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and set to work - take a look:

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

It has been all about the celebrations here in the James household this week: following the youngest James Junior's birthday at the start of the week, we had A Level Results Day on Thursday (a university place is dependent on success, so these are important exams). I am delighted to share that Ben's hard work paid off and he got the grades he needed to confirm his place at his first choice university, so we are all thrilled.

I thought this cute trumpeting turtle would be perfect for another congratulations card and I dug into my retired stamp collection again for the perfect sentiment to go with it. I was intrigued by Verena's FMS sketch this week and found the perfect sentiment stamp in the 'Here's To Cheers' stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in Garden Green, then stamped it again in Darling Ducking and fussy cut the word 'celebrate' so that it extended beyond the circle, as in the sketch. I added my sentiment circle in front of my turtle with dimensionals, having glued him directly to my cardbase, along with a few stamped music notes and sparkly enamel dots:

And that's it! Lots of white space, minimal layers and embellishments - clean and simple, done! This is a less-than-conventional take on the FMS sketch for me, putting the turtle behind the circle, but I think it works - what do you think? 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 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; we are out and about today; Ben is off to watch the cricket at Edgbaston and Jason is heading out to the water to go paddleboarding - I think I'm tagging along as official photographer! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.99)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	LOW PROFILE SPARKLE DOTS (£7.65)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	DARLING DUCKLING CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.23)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

Today it's Monday and I'm a day late with my card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'll come on to the reason for this later, but for now it's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for us to work with:

I thought these colours were quite autumnal so I went with a nature-inspired theme using the sketch over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday for my layout - take a look:

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

Using the round Elements of Text stamp for the background, I added a selection of mushrooms of various designs from the 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set in each of the challenge colours:

A little extra stamping inside my card completes 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 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:

So the reason for my delay with this week's card? The youngest of the James Juniors is celebrating his 18th birthday today and I had somethign of a cake emergency that had to be dealt with. It was a close call, but eventually it was resolved and I managed to save the day. Here's a photo of his finished cake - which was delicious, even if I say so myself!

I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ELEMENTS OF TEXT CLING STAMP SET (£22.50)	TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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

I haven't had any craft time this past week as I've been decorating (creativity of a different kind!) but had plenty of time to ponder what I was going to feature on my card today. I was initially thinking of rivers and lakes, but then I remembered the scene backgrounds in the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper pack and that one of them featured a beach scene - and today's card was born. I decided to use Linda's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches for my card (albeit I made it in a horizonal rather than portrait orientation as I couldn't bear to lose too much of the background) as it is perfect for this kind of design - take a look:

I added the background to my card then built my scene using images from other sheets in the DSP pack. I added an appropriate sentiment from the retired 'Friends Are Like Seashells' stamp set along with a red enamel heart to complete the outside of my card:

I cut my solid red borders straight so as not to detract from my scene. I also added a little additional decoration to the inside, continuing the beach theme:

That's all there is to it - lots of fussy cutting, many dimensionals and a cute card for someone special, where the paper really does do the heavy lifting. Today's card reminds me that my recent beach holiday already seems like too long ago; time to start browsing the holiday brochures and planning another vacation, I think!

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. 

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'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

STAMPIN’ DIMENSIONALS (£4.00)

Today I managed to get into my craft room for the first time in over a week and in addition to prepping my upcoming design team cards ready to share with you, I managed to make a card for fun for the current Summer Vibes inspiration challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments (since I kept my card CAS I'm also squeaking in an entry over at AAA Cards with Summer+Holiday):

I was inspired by that refreshing yellow cocktail, complete with umbrella, in the bottom left hand corner. I considered making that the focal point of my card, but decided that I wanted to incorporate the other elements too, such as the sea/beach and palm tree in the background - and so I set about creating my own scene - take a look:

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

I had already fussy cut this fun sunbathing turtle from one of the sheets in my Turtle-y Cute designer series paper packs and decided that she would be the perfect focal point - complete with cocktail in hand! I created a background using a piece of embossed cardstock for the sea and a sandy beach in front of that and added a diecut palm tree along with a sentiment from this an old retired set 'Stitched All Around', which seemed to compliment my body-beautiful turtle perfectly!

Some lightly stencilled clouds completed my clean and simple beach scene.

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:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	SOFT WAVES 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
PECAN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	STAMPIN’ DIMENSIONALS (£4.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

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

I loved the layering on Jan's sketch today and couldn't resist the opportunity to go big with colour and patterns this week. - take a look:

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

Florals In Bloom - I decided to use one of the bold floral patterns from the Florals In Bloom papers for my cardbase today and that then laid the foundations for everything that followed. I chose one featuring large soft pink and lilac flowers and used it to cover the whole of my cardbase - so pretty! I layered a patterned panel that is one of the reverse papers in this set on top of that; ordinarily I am more likely to use these patterns as a base or backing panel, but with the large florals as the base I needed something with less pattern that was more solid to give something for the other elements to sit that made them more visible as I didn't ant them to be lost against the base pattern.

Pretty Florals - I used a diecut flower from the Pretty Florals dies that echoes the shape of the flowers featured on the card base for my 'any shape' element, picking up the colours of the paper:

Sweet Blooms - For the remaining elements I decided to use a stamp and diecut sentiment from the Sweet Blooms bundle - I just love those word diecuts! A trio of pink sparkly enamel dots complete my card. 

I feel like the bold patterns makes this card slightly busier than my usual style, but I am not unhappy with the the result. It's nice to use a bold pattern once in a while!

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. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; unusually for a Sunday today is a sport-filled one: one of us is paddleboarding, another is playing cricket and I suspect we will all end the day watching to see if the Lionesses are successful in defending their title in the final of the European Cup this evening. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PRETTY FLORALS bundle (£47.50)	SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	FLORALS IN BLOOM 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH & PRETTY IN PINK GEMS (£8.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PETUNIA POP A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PETUNIA POP CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

I've been away on vacation so it's been a little quieter than usual around here, but I'm back now so normal (ish) service is about to resume! It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I'm hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

I chose a trio of summery colours for this challenge however you can use them however you like! For my card today I went floral and am playing along over at Festive Friday where their theme is National Friendship Day (I chose stencils, friend sentiment and florals from the picklist) with a clean and simple floral friendship card - take a look:

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

I CASED an earlier card of mine for the layout on this one and added in that bold 'friend' die from the (retired) Friends For Life set to my sentiment. The main difference on today's card is the way I coloured my florals: I stencilled the yellow petal elements and green leaves and stem, but I added Strawberry Slush highlights and to the centre petals using my Stampin' Blends markers. Do you ever mix mediums in this way? It's a great way to pick up the centres without blending them separately and then fussy cutting and gluing in place and works particularly well where the background colour is lighter than the colour you want to use in the centre:

It does give them a slightly coral hue, but by adding a Strawberry Slush diecut sentiment and co-ordinating flat pearls, it re-emphasises the pink tones. I love the finished effect!

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 later this week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

THANKFUL GARDEN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£62.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
STRAWBERRY SLUSH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

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

Circles! I originally chose this theme (Stef and I swapped weeks to accommodate each others vacation time) because I feature circles on so many of my cards and I think they are so versatile. Use them on their own, or as a base for flowers or other images - there really is no limit to their uses. The aim of this week's challenge is to really make circles a feature of your card, so I went all out to do just that - take a look:

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

2025-27 In Colours - I decided to make another card featuring all 5 of this year's new in colours - in fact, I didn't feature any white cardstock at all, which is very unusual and a contrast to the other card featuring these colours that I shared last week. If I remember, I'll also link this one up over at SUO Challenges for a second entry where they are all about the in colours this week!

Stylish Shapes Dies - I used my favourite Stylish Shapes Dies circles to diecut a trio of circles in three of the in colours, then cut them in half and layered them either side of my sentiment strip to cover the join.

Circles Everywhere - In keeping with the theme, I added some embossed circles with the (retired) Large Polka Dot embossing folder to my background, whilst also adding a couple of other subtle circles too - a flat in colour pearl and the round full stop of my sentiment - not chosen by accident:

That's it! Super simple, all 5 in colours and a design that could be used with any colours or sentiment 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 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'll be back Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£6.40)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)