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

I decided to share another of the fun animals from the Zoo Crew designer paper on my card this week; this time it's the turn of the ballet-dancing hippo for a sweet birthday card for a little girl - take a look:

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

I used a base layered with some retired Country Floral Lane designer paper which picked up on the Petal Pink of the hippo's tutu, then inspired by the challenge over at SUO Challenges I decided I would delve into my ribbon stash and use the verticals for a double trim of beautiful Pool Party satin ribbon (the one I've used is retired but I've linked to a current equivalent below) and tied with a statement bow. I coloured my hippo with Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends then fussy cut her and added her to my card:

A diecut sentiment from the 'Charming Sentiments' stamp set completes my card. I just love this Zoo Crew paper for fussy cutting - you can create so many different cards with the characters featured.

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; it's forecast to be super hot here in the UK today, so I will be taking it easy I think! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ZOO CREW 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.98)	CHARMING SENTIMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	SENTIMENT SILHOUETTES DIES (33.00)	POOL PARTY 3/8" (1 CM) GROSGRAIN RIBBON (7.50)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)

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

I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I do love a good one layer card! I decided to use the 'everything beach' inspiration from another of my favourite clean and simple challenges, AAA Cards, to create my one layer wonder for you today - take a look:

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

One of the challenges with a one layer card is the ability to create a scene with depth, without having actual layers to do it. This is where technique such as masking and stencilling can prove really useful. For my card today, I first stamped the pelican from the 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set in Smoky Slate. I added a touch of colour to this image with my watercolour pencils; not generally my first choice of colouring medium, but super useful when creating a one layer card, as you won't get any bleeding of colour onto the reverse, something which is unavoidable if you are colouring with Stampin' Blends markers, for example. I then stamped the same image onto a post-it note and fussy cut it to create a mask; I positioned this over the stamped image on my card so that I could add my background. 

I decided to stamp my sea in Lost Lagoon (I applied the ink to my stamp using a blending brush for a soft finish), using the sea stamp in the 'Oceanfront' stamp set. It isn't wide enough to cover the width of the card, but it was easy to extend the stamp by first stamping one side of the mask, then repositioning the card and stamping the other side, being careful to ink only the edge of the sea stamp and not overstamp the sea to the left of the mask. I then used a cloud stencil and some Pool Party ink and a blending brush to add in a hint of cloudy sky behind the pelican - you can see that better on the close up below:

Finally I added a trio of seagulls in Basic Grey and stamped my sentiment in black just above the horizon line. I didn't add any embellishments and by keeping my design to the bottom third of my card managed to preserve that all-important 'white space' of a clean and simple card 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; It's Father's Day here in the UK today so whilst I might be looking forward to enjoying another day of sunshine and relaxation (fingers crossed!), I suspect it might be the DH who will have his feet up! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WAVES OF INSPIRATION CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	OCEANFRONT PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (21.00)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 1 (15.00)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (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 Anne Marie to host this week and she has a pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

Do you ever send a card 'just because'? 'Hello' cards are perfect for an anytime greeting and useful for a quick note or simply to keep in touch with a friend. For my card this week I started with the sketch layout over at TGIF Challenges and grabbed my Cheerful Daisies Dies as these colours seemed the perfect fit. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Cheerful Daisies - I diecut the daisy trio in Basic White then split them apart, adding some Lemon Lolly to the centre of the main flower with a vellum top layer. I added a couple of pairs of diecut leaves and fronds that I watercoloured in Lost Lagoon, before piecing them back together.

Lots of Lemon Lolly - Lemon Lolly is such a lovely, fresh shade of citrus yellow that I knew this needed to be the focus colour of today's card. I used it for my base and added a piece of striped DSP to the centre of the scalloped panel too, as well as a trio of gems - so pretty!

And A Little Lost Lagoon - With white as my neutral this featured as my second colour and I used Lost Lagoon as my accent colour, for my watercolouring, stamped sentiment and a little ribbon detail too.

The only stamping on today's card is my 'hello' sentiment so I'm linking up this week's Just Us Girls challenge too, where that's their codeword. I'm also sharing with the ladies over at SUO Challenges where their current theme is flowers. 

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; yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here - summer has finally arrived! I am hoping for a repeat today and looking forward to spending a fairly lazy day in the garden. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHEERFUL DAISIES DIES (32.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	ARTISTICALLY INKED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.98)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
ADHESIVE-BACKED SOLID GEMS (7.50)	WATER PAINTERS (13.00)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LOST LAGOON ¼" (6.4 MM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

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

I decided to use Jen M's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and was also inspired by the masculine blues and browns of Laurel's Inspired By photo for my Father's Day card this week - take a look:

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

Oceanfront - I haven't used the Oceanfront stamp set in ages, so thought today's card was a good opportunity to rectify this! This is such a great stamp for making beautiful beach scenes and is so easy to use. I stamped my scene with a Boho Blue sky, Misty Moonlight ocean and Crumb Cake sand with Copper Clay grasses - done! I also added some birds in Pebble Path from the 'Beside Me' set that I had out on my desk for my sentiment and some retired pebble enamel shapes to add a little extra detail. I wanted to diecut my scene with a stitched rectangle, but since they are now retired I thought I would consider other current options first and what do you know - one of the scalloped rectangles in the Scalloped Contours Dies was the perfect size!

Fresh As A Daisy - I used two pieces of designer paper for my split panel background - do you recognise them? In addition to all of the lovely floral patterns, the Fresh As A Daisy papers have a beautiful wash reverse in each of the new in-colours. I used the Boho Blue and Copper Clay papers to echo the colours of my oceanfront scene, with the diagonal proving a useful way to combine the two.

A Sketch Liberty - Whilst I think it's clear to see how Jen's FMS sketch inspired my layout this week, you will notice I did take a few liberties with it to suit my finished design (I hope she doesn't mind!). The size of my final card is larger than usual (14.9cm x 21cm) as I wanted to be able to accommodate my scene and still have plenty of background on show. I also re-angled the diagonal of my background layer; I wanted the diagonal to follow the diagonal of the shoreline of my ocean scene, so instead of going corner to corner I cut across the the main panel. This way the design still looks cohesive and the diagonal works with my scene, rather than making everything look slightly out of kilter:

A simple heat-embossed sentiment cut out with the label (shortened to fit) from the Cheerful Daisies Dies and a fancy linen thread bow complete my Father's Day card. This one will be headed to my Dad in a couple of weeks time - hope he likes it!

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; after what has been a decidedly chilly week here in the UK, the sun is finally shining and temperatures are on the up - hurrah! I am looking forward to spending some time in the garden today, hopefully with a good book. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

OCEANFRONT PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (21.00)	BESIDE ME CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (25.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	FRESH AS A DAISY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.98)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	COPPER CLAY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
COPPER CLAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BOHO BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PEBBLED PATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	LINEN THREAD (4.75)	CHEERFUL DAISIES DIES (32.00)

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

I decided to take the bright trio of colours over at Just Add Ink and use them to make a cheerful get well soon card - take a look:

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

I initially considered using that vertical panel to showcase some designer paper, but decided instead it would be the perfect place to showcase a new die-only set from page 167 of the new annual catalogue, the Wanted to Say Dies. There are four sentiments in this set and each consists of two layers:

In place of the circle I added a layered flower and leaves, made using another new die-only set - Paper Florist Dies. These are so cool - you can make so many awesome dimensional flowers using these dies - they will be great for packaging and home decor too. These bright and cheery colours are perfect for a feel better soon greeting - I find yellow so uplifting, so it had to be the main colour focus on my card. And not a stamp in sight!

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 will be enjoying the sunshine and marvelling at the fact that we are having a fine weather Bank Holiday here in the UK - yay! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)	PAPER FLORIST DIES (35.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

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 have a fun theme for Clean And Simple challenge week:

I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I love clean and simple (CAS) cards! Minimal layers, few embellishments and lots of white space all typify a clean and simple card. I often find it helpful if I'm designing a CAS card to choose a single image as my focal point - it's a great way to reduce clutter. With this in mind, my theme for our challenge this week is to choose one of something as the main feature of your card. 

For my card I made creating even easier by reaching for my new pack of Bright & Beautiful Memories and More cards that arrived this week - take a look:

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

These cards are perfect not just for memory keeping, but great for quick handcrafted cards too. I chose one of the small Memories & More cards featuring a single balloon in Bubble Bath, Azure Afternoon and Lemon Lime Twist that also has a pre-printed birthday sentiment, added this to a piece of white cardstock and then adhered this to a pre-printed Bright & Beautiful Memories & More card base:

The pre-printed card bases come with pre-printed coloured envelopes too - literally no stamping and you have a clean, simple and colourful card ready in under 5 minutes! What's more with 50 double-sided cards and 20 card bases and envelopes, you could make a whole ton of cards in next to no time and still have cards left over for scrapbooking 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:

Yesterday was a glorious day here in the UK and it was definitely a day for gardening as opposed to crafting, so it was the perfect week to making a quick card! Enjoy your day; the forecast is good again here so we are taking full advantage and having a BBQ lunch. If I can tear myself away from my garden, I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (8.00)

BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES & MORE CARDS & ENVELOPES (10.25)

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 pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

Isn't that a great colour combo? I used the layout over at Sketch Saturday and went with some Around The Bend Dies florals with a focus on the pink - take a look:

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

I decided to use my favourite pink form the Brights family, Melon Mambo, as the focus of my card, adding a couple of strips of retired Brights designer paper and a heat-embossed white-on-black sentiment from 'Something Fancy', before embellishing with hearts and flowers from the Around The Bend Dies set, some silver thread and rhinestones for a little sparkle:

I added another sentiment and a little extra detail inside my card:

I liked this card so much I made another one, this time using Flirty Flamingo and I switched out the rhinestones for pearls and sequins:

Here's a close up:

I used an alternative sentiment inside this card:

I'm linking this second version of my card up over at the Paper Craft Crew where I went down the first column of the tic tac toe board (flowers, sequins, hearts).

Here's one last photo of both cards together - which one do you prefer? My favourite is the Melon Mambo version, but the Flirty Flamingo version is fun too. Very girly and feminine!

Here is the visual summaries 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'm hoping to fit in a little crafting but otherwise it should be a fairly uneventful day. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

AROUND THE BEND DIES (31.00)	SOMETHING FANCY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)	IRIDESCENT PEARL BASIC JEWELS (7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)

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

Claire took her 'rainy days' theme from the saying "April showers bring May flowers"; well here in the UK we have a bank holiday weekend to celebrate the King's Coronation and those showers are continuing with a vengeance, so this theme is perfectly appropriate. I decided to create a fun interactive card using some neglected dies and take the opportunity to use up some of my Rain or Shine designer paper from the Spring mini catalogue too - take a look:

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

I added some of the paper with shiny embossed raindrops to the base of my cardfront and onto a second piece that I diecut with the front plate of the Give It A Whirl Dies, the added a trio of animals snipped from one of the designer paper sheets to the wheel before attaching together with a small brad and adding a sentiment from the Playing In The Rain stamp set and a fox that I diecut from the paper too. The window is cut to the left of the fox so that his friend is revealed:

By rotating the wheel in the direction of the arrow just to the right of the fox's tail, a new friend appears. Here's the second rotation, featuring a pig:

 Finally the third rotation features the turtle, complete with his umbrella too: 

I decorated the inside of my card with some puddles and raindrops to 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 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 have a quiet day with nothing much planned. GCSEs have already begun and will soon be followed by A Levels, so the James Juniors are busy studying. Perhaps I'll grab an umbrella and go jump in the puddles - there are many! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PLAYING IN THE RAIN DIES (33.00)

PLAYING IN THE RAIN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (25.00)

GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week since it is the fifth Sunday of the month we have a tic tac toe challenge to work with:

I went bottom left to top right diagonal with sparkle, diecut and embossing (dry) and it just so happens that my card also fits the right hand coloumn of embossing(dry), patterned paper and birthday to create the easiest ever number birthday card - take a look:

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

Do you ever need a number card to celebrate a special birthday? I have so many friends and family celebrating milestone birthdays this year that I find myself making lots of this type of card - and I think this must be my most straightforward, easiest yet!

I embossed a panel of Pacific Point cardstock with the birthday embossing folder, then backed this with some (retired gold glimmer paper, having first cut my number 21 out of the centre. I then added a trio of Pacific Point Brights designer paper banners to my card base followed by my rectangle, before finishing with my sparkly number 21 popped up on foam adhesive sheet and a couple of brushed gold metallic dots: 

Not only was this card really quick to make, but this layout would work in any colour, with any co-ordinating patterned paper and glimmer - perfect, I'm off to make a whole bunch more!

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. 

Today's card is also my second entry over at Just Add Ink this week and uses the Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch.

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

Enjoy your day; nothing much happening here today, although it is lovely to know that it's a Bank Holiday weekend - an extra day off is always welcome! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALPHABET À LA MODE DIES (40.00)

LET'S CELEBRATE EMBOSSING FOLDERS (7.50)

BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.87)

PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (7.00)

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (26.40)

BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (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 Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I had a few ideas for Ann's layout, but having finally received my new annual catalogue preorder I decided to have a play with just some of the new goodies in my box - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Every single thing that I used on my card today is brand new!!

New Papers: I used the new Fresh As A Daisy designer paper as my starting point and used a bold, pink daisy pattern for my main panel and the reverse for the semi-circle.

New Colours: I used a base of the new pale pink, Bubble Bath, a mat of Copper Clay and ink in Copper Clay and one of the new in-colours, Moody Mauve.

New Stamps and Dies: The bundle that is included in the Fresh as a Daisy Suite is called 'Cheerful Daisies'; the stamp set contains both solid and outline daisy images and a range of sentiments and there are dies that cut out the stamped images and those that create standalone layered flowers along with a great label die.

New Accessories: I used both the Adhesive-backed Solid Gems in Copper Clay and the new 3/8" Textured Ribbon in Moody Mauve on my card too (I split the ribbon in half lengthways for my bow, tied with twine).

You can see the layering more closely here - so much to love, right?!

I added an offcut of paper and another sentiment from the set to the inside of my card to finish:

So what do you think? Are you excited to see more of the Cheerful Daisies and lots of other items from the annual catalogue? It launches May 2nd so not long to wait! I have catalogues ready to send to everyone who has shopped with me in the past 6 months. If you don't have a demonstrator and would like to receive a catalogue, do get in touch.

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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!