It's Sunday and time for our new challenge over at The Paper Players! I really enjoyed our gallery full of summer treats last week; this week should be easier on the waistline though, as the lovely Nance has a great sketch challenge for us:

My card features an altogether more healthy treat this week in the form of apples, on a tree created with the Sprinkles of Life stamp set and co-ordinating tree builder punch:

My card also features three of the five new in-colours: Tip Top Taupe, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder so I am also linking up with the team over at Fab Friday as their challenge is all about the new in-colours this week. I used Tip Top Taupe for my card base, then adhered a piece of Whisper White to the card front. I embossed another piece of Taupe with my woodgrain textured embossing folder then using my Big Shot and Circles Framelits cut away a partial circle from one side before adhering this on top of the white layer. I stamped the tree trunk in Taupe onto the white panel, then stamped my leaves in Cucumber Crush and my apples in Watermelon Wonder onto Whisper White and punched them out with the co-ordinating tree builder punch. I wanted a full tree so punched three treetops and layered them to create my tree, adding the last one with a dimensional to create some lift. For my banners I used a strip of Watermelon Wonder and a piece of green patterned paper from the Cherry on Top DSP stack, tied with white baker's twine and flagged with the triple banner punch. I stamped my sentiment in white Stazon onto Basic Black and cropped it tightly. I finished with another punched apple, which I covered in Crystal Effects to make it nice and shiny, although it's hard to see in the photo above. The Sprinkles of Life Stamp stamp set is so versatile with so many creative options; not only that, every purchase benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charity too as £2 is donated for every stamp set purchased.

With only three more weeks until the end of the school year, I am needing to make more and more teacher thank you cards, so this one is definitely heading for the teacher pile. Well, an apple for the teacher as the saying goes - or in this case, six!

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

I love a good sketch challenge so I look forward to seeing what you make of this one in the gallery this week. If the weather holds we may manage to squeeze in another weekend BBQ - keep your fingers crossed for me!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sprinkles Of Life Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tree Builder Punch	Banner Triple Punch	Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack	Circles Collection Framelits Dies
Magnetic Platform	Big Shot	Stampin' Dimensionals	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad
Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock
Whisper White Baker's Twine	Crystal Effects

It's Sunday, my favourite day of the week and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. Thank you to everyone who played along with Sandy's colour challenge last week - so many fabulous cards in the gallery. This week it is the turn of my talented good friend Claire who has a great clean and simple challenge for us:

Summer treats - yum! When I started thinking about my card, I was all set to go down the ice-cream route, as in our lovely badge this week. Then two things happened: I saw this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and I received my SU! order containing some new DSP. Let me show you my card and I will explain what I mean:

I was swooning over my new DSP purchases, determined to open and use more of it than ever before (hoarding is no longer allowed!) when I came across the strawberry pattern  - hidden away in the 'Sweet L'il Things' DSP. I say hidden away, because when I saw this pack I thought the papers would be very baby-themed, yet this really isn't the case - there are some lovely patterns in there that can be used on all kinds of cards. For me, strawberries and cream are a quintessential part of the British summer and with the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament just around the corner we will all be eating them in vast quantities! The sketch layout was perfect for a CAS card to showcase this paper - a simple Very Vanilla mat and a banner stamped with my sentiment, from the 'Bravo' stamp set (I stamped it in Watermelon Wonder on Very Vanilla then stamped it again in Versamark over the top and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder for added shine).

So that's my CAS take on a summer treat! Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your summer treats in the gallery this week. I have a reasonably relaxing day planned today, which will make a nice change. Although today is Father's Day of course, so there will be a fair amount of pampering of the Dad in our household. Happy Father's Day to all the other Dads out there!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series Paper	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Banner Triple Punch

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at the Paper Players. Thank you to everyone who played along with my challenge last week - your entries were awesome! This week it is the turn of the super talented Sandy and she has a fun colour challenge for us:

With the 4th of July not far away, there are lots of patriotic themed cards floating about the internet. Thought of American independence and the stars on this week's badge inspired me to create my card this week:

I chose to use the Congrats! stamp from the 'Bravo!' stamp set as my focal sentiment, stamped in Island Indigo onto my Pool Party base, and die cut some stars around it using my Big shot and Stars framelits to decorate. I used a couple of snippets of retired DSP behind the negative space (the indigo stripes are from the 'All Abloom' pack and the red stripes from the 'Fresh Prints' DSP stack) and popped some stars up on dimensionals for a little extra lift. A red glimmer star punched with my Itty Bitty star punch and a single rhinestone finish my card. 

This card is ready for one of my lovely team who is close to promoting this month; I am willing her to get there so am thinking positively and I know I'll be sending this out real soon. I'm also linking up to SUO Challenges where the challenge is appropriately 'stars and stripes'. Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your colourful creations in the gallery this week. I'm off to begin a couple of days of birthday celebrations - we are starting early and making the most of it - after all, you're only 10 once!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stars Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot	Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Red Glimmer Paper

Yay it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players - and this week I'm the hostess! With Father's Day approaching, I thought that masculine cards would make a great theme this week and it would at least encourage me to be organised!

I have lots of photos to share with you today, as I made not just one but two projects: a fun card using the mini treat bag thinlits and a matching gift bag using my new Gift Bag Punch Board - oh how I love this!

So first to my card: I've seen a few of these fun cards on Pinterest using the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die to create a fancy shirt with a sliding insert (one of my favourites is this one by Julie Kettlewell) and have been wanting to have a go at creating my own version for a while. Here it is: 

I have used the now retired Adventure Bound DSP for my card - this paper is just so fabulous for masculine cards and I hope you all stocked up before it retired! The Mini Treat Bag Thinlits are great for making simple slider cards as well as treat bags; I added silver buttons, a pocket punched with my hexagon punch and with a snippet of Island Indigo chevron ribbon in for a handkerchief. For my insert, I cut it taller than my pocket, then snipped in a third of the way each side to create my turned down collar and added my bow tie. The picture below shows the insert with my stamped sentiment from the 'Guy Greetings' stamp set and a pair of shoes to finish off this dapper outfit:

Pleased as I was with this cute little card, I couldn't stop there; I had to create a matching gift bag using my new Gift Bag Punch Board. I think this is going to be one of my new favourite tools - it is so easy to use and offers so many creative possibilities that go beyond the constraints of the board. Here is my bag:

I made my bag using the 'L' measurements on the board and used a sheet of Whisper White cardstock measuring 9 1/2" x 12". Once I'd punched the bottom according to the board instructions, I flipped it around and did the same on the other end, cutting away all except the long flap on the back of the bag, which I then also punched in the middle to create my collar. I then used the collar as the close mechanism for my bag, by tucking it underneath the bow tie - the photo below of the open bag illustrates that more clearly:

I then added two pieces of DSP with co-ordinating lapels and a large silver button threaded with a piece of white jute ribbon trim to finish my bag. Here are both items together:

I'm really pleased with this project duo; the gift bag is large enough for a couple of pairs of socks, some toiletries, a sweet treat (or two!) - pretty much anything that might be on a Dad's wish list. I hope you like them too and they inspire you to create some fun masculine projects this week! Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week, including our three new guest designers:

I look forward to seeing your masculine creations in the gallery this week. I'm off to finish preparations for this week's technique classes and tackle my mountain of ironing. How does the saying go - no rest for the wicked?!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gift Bag Punch Board	Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies	Guy Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set	Bow Builder Punch	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad
Island Indigo A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Whisper White 12" X 12" Cardstock	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform
Silver Basic Metal Buttons	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. You totally rocked Anne-Marie's sketch last week; this week it's the turn of the lovely Laurie, who has a tic-tac-toe challenge to stretch our creative brains:

I normally struggle with these, yet I seem to be on a real creative roll this week as I had a ton of different ideas and combinations for today's grid. I settled on combining my card with this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts and challenging myself to use something that I have lots of but sometimes use for little more than decorating an envelope: washi tape. I decided the sketch was perfect for showcasing some of the new Bohemian washi tape that I received with my pre-order goodies - here's my card:

I used a base of Delightful Dijon and a mat of Island Indigo, then cut a piece of Very Vanilla to the shape of the zig zag on the sketch. Starting at the zig zag end, I then covered my whole piece in strips of washi tape, creating an open herringbone effect and alternating between each of the three designs. Once I had covered the entire piece of cardstock, I adhered it to the card base using dimensionals. For my sentiment panel, I cut a rectangle of Very Vanilla and rounded the corners using my Project Life corner rounder and stamped it with the 'Hip Hip Hooray' greeting from the 'Bravo' stamp set in Island Indigo. I added a scattering of Bermuda Bay sequins to finish before popping this up on dimensionals too. I'm sure you've worked it out, but just in case I was following the top line of the tic tac toe board: washi tape, any shade of blue and sequins. I really quite like this card - it seemed almost a shame to cover my lovely pattern with the sentiment panel!

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

I look forward to seeing how many different combinations of the grid we see in the gallery this week. I'm off to prepare lunch as we have some friends visiting today and then I have to get two of the other three members of the James household ready for trips away this week - a busy, yet fun day ahead!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A4 Delightful Dijon -available 2nd June

Bohemian washi tape - available 2nd June

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Project Life Corner Punch
Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! There were some beautiful girly thank you cards in our gallery last week - this week it is the turn of the lovely Anne-Marie to host and she has a great sketch challenge for us to play with:

I love a good sketch and couldn't resist using this one to showcase some more 'sneak peek' products using the new in-colours, the RMHC stamp set 'Sprinkles of Life' and the co-ordinating Tree Builder Punch, the Cheery on Top DSP stack and another new product that I'm using for the first time - check out my card:

I used two of the 'Cherry on Top' patterned papers for the background and the strip across the middle, matting each onto Watermelon Wonder and then Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry respectively and for my focal point, I kept the square shape and used it to feature yet another combination from the 'Sprinkles of Life' stamp set - a cute basket filled with flowers. I stamped the basket in Crushed Curry onto the same colour cardstock and stamped the top in Cucumber Crush on Cucumber Crush cardstock, then using the same tone on tone stamping, stamped and either punched out or fussy cut the flowers and paper pieced them, finishing the centres of the larger flowers with candy dots. I adhered this to a piece of Pool Party cardstock, and I also used this colour for my sentiment flag. The final 'sneak peek' product is the trio of In-Colour Blossom Accents that I used for the circles on the sketch - how gorgeous are they?! They add great dimension to a card and just one would be enough to make a big impact - I can see me getting through lots of these!

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

I look forward to seeing how you interpret our sketch this week. I'm off to the tip to dispose of a couple of trailer-loads of garden rubbish and then for Sunday lunch cooked by my mother-in-law - what an exciting life I lead! 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

All sneak peek product today - purchase details to be updated when available. 

It's Sunday and time for another challenge over at The Paper Players! There was some great inspiration using LeAnne's colour palette last week and this week it is the turn of the lovely Jaydee, who has a great CAS-themed challenge to get us creating this week:

Girly thanks - I immediately thought 'flowers' for this one and wanted to use some of the lovely 'Gold Soiree' specialty DSP. It's rather busy for a clean-and-simple card though, so I toned it down with a vellum overlay - take a look:

I matted a piece of DSP on some Garden Green with a base of Pistachio Pudding, then on a piece of vellum stamped my thank you sentiment from the 'Big on You' stamp set in Calypso Coral and Garden Green inks and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to give it a lovely textured shine (although this is difficult to see in the photograph). I wrapped the vellum with a piece of Pistachio Pudding thick baker's twine and finished with single Calypso Coral flower stamped in the same colour using the 'Flower Shoppe' stamp set and punched out with the co-ordinating Pansy punch (the Garden Green leaves were a couple of wings punched with the Bird Punch) and a cluster of pearls. Here's a close-up of the flower, which echoes the pattern on the paper beneath the vellum overlay:

I then adhered the vellum overlay to the base using dimensionals, attached behind the flower and the stamped sentiment, so that they aren't visible on the top layer. I love these big, bold sentiment stamps and the floral DSP - both of which will be retiring at the end of the month, so if they're on your wishlist you should snap them up now before it's too late!

So that's my clean and simple floral thanks today - I'm also linking my card up over at SUO Challenges, where the current theme is 'fun flowers'. Before you reach for your inks and thank you stamps, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing your CAS creations this week. I'm looking forward to a quiet family day today as I recover from the yesterday's Stampin' Up! UK Regional Event.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big On You Photopolymer Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper
Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Garden Green A4 Card Stock	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Bird Punch
Pansy Punch	White Vellum A4 Card Stock	Flower Shop	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

It's Sunday - my favourite day of the week and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. I loved the variety of the transportation-themed cards in the gallery last week. This week, the lovely LeAnne has an interesting colour challenge for you to play along with: 

I'm also playing along with the TGIF Challenge this week as I've used their sketch as the inspiration for my layout this week. So I deliberately used the word 'interesting' for LeAnne's choice of colours this week - this colour combo had me stumped for a good long while! Then I remembered the piece of Lost Lagoon and Pistachio Pudding patterned DSP in the All Abloom paper stack; I think it's the only piece I've never used (and I've been through a few packs!) as I prefer the pattern on the reverse,so I decided to challenge myself to see if I could make it work on today's card. Here is my finished card:

I used Sahara Sand for my base and a mat of Lost Lagoon, then went all out and covered the entire card front with my DSP. This is such a busy pattern, I knew I would have to be careful what else I used on my card to avoid it looking too busy. For my focal point, I chose to stamp one of the silhouette flower stamps in Pistachio Pudding on a circle in the same colour - the paper pattern reminded me of this set - and stamp the sentiment over the top in Lost Lagoon. I mounted this on a slightly larger circle of Lost Lagoon and then a piece of Sahara Sand cut with my Big Shot and a Deco Label framelit. I mounted this on a banner of Sahara Sand that I added a little lace trim to in the same colour - something for a little texture and interest, but not wanting to clash with the strong pattern. Lastly, I added a piece of Lost Lagoon ribbon that I ruched across the front of the card. 

This isn't my usual type of card, but I quite like it. The Sahara Sand does a great job of toning down the pattern and also meant I didn't use any Whisper White cardstock at all, which is quite unusual, not even for my sentiment panel. The thing that pleases me most though - I actually managed to use the sheet of patterned paper effectively!

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

I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week's colour palette. I'm off to finish the preparation for my technique classes this week and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

World Of Dreams Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Banners Framelits Dies	Deco Labels Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Magnetic Platform
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Lost Lagoon 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon
Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. There were some great takes on Anne's sketch last week and today we are kicking off with a challenge from the talented Sandy, who has chosen a great theme for you to play along with this week:

I used this week's layout over at Mojo Monday as the basis for my card (although I didn't go tall and skinny!). As soon as I knew Sandy's theme this week, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something using the vintage car in the 'Guy Greetings' stamp set. Here's what I came up with:

I decided the layout was perfect for showcasing some of the fabulous masculine patterned papers in the 'Adventure Bound' DSP stack too and used the plaid paper as the inspiration for my colour scheme. The base and mat layers are Smoky Slate, with a layer of Island indigo in between along with a band in the same colour across the front of the card, which I tied with a piece of thread split from the white jute ribbon in the current Occasions catalogue. I then used my piece of DSP for the vertical panel and stamped my car in Island Indigo onto a 2" punched circle of Whisper White, with the sentiment stamped in the same colour onto a banner of Smoky Slate, which I then laid over the top.

A great masculine card that could be paired with any of the other sentiments in the same stamp set for a special husband, dad or grandad, and would be suitable for a birthday or Father's Day alike. 

So before you reach for your paper and inks, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I look forward to seeing how many different modes of transport get into the gallery this week. I'm off to enjoy a nice long Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK - let's hope the sun shines!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Guy Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set	Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	2" Circle Punch	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon

Yay! It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. We loved your watercoloured creations last week; today the lovely Ann is hosting and she has a sketch challenge for us - and you know how I love a good sketch! This is the sketch layout:

So many possibilities for this great sketch, but I decided that today I had to go with a birthday card for 2 reasons: I have lots of birthdays coming up in the next month, so I need to get into a birthday groove, but more importantly, today the lovely Ann is also celebrating her birthday, so it seemed entirely appropriate. I have sent a card (not this one!) in the post, but I'm not sure she will have received it in time for the big day so I'm playing safe with a virtual one too! I decided to use a piece of Birthday Bash paper as the inspiration for my colour scheme, and paired this with a retiring stamp set, Well Worded:

I used Tangelo Twist for my base and a mat of Bermuda Bay, then used a split layer with Birthday Bash DSP across the top and Whisper White along the bottom. I covered the join with pennants in co-ordinating colours, then stamped my birthday cake in Tangelo Twist with Bermuda Bay candles and cut this out with my Big Shot and Oval framelits, matting it onto a slightly larger oval that I paper pierced using my piercing template. To finish, I added a final sentiment to the bottom corner using the 'birthday girl' stamp from the 'Hooray It's Your Day' set - this set co-ordinates with the project kit of the same name, but is useful for lots of cards and can be used for some fun personalisation - this card could equally be tailored to a 'birthday boy' and you wouldn't even need to change the colours. I stamped a trio of stars from the same set in co-ordinating colours to finish my fun birthday card. 

So before you reach for your paper and inks, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I hope my birthday card puts you in a celebratory mood today - best wishes to Ann for a super day and I look forward to seeing what you make with our sketch this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hooray It's Your Day Photopolymer Stamp Set	Birthday Bash Specialty Designer Series Paper	Well Worded Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack	Paper-Piercing Tool	Stampin' Pierce Mat
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry