Today I'm sharing a second entry for the challenge over at Just Us Girls where the word of the week is 'heart', this time using the sketch over at TGIF Challenges (turned through 90 degrees):  

I decided it was time to make my Valentine's Day card for my DH so I pulled a not-yet used stamp set from the shelf that I had purchased with him in mind and set to work - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Tech Support - Stampin' Up! suggests that the Tech Support stamp set is perfect to “Captcha” the heart of your computer-savvy loved ones and i couldn't agree more! My husband is a lover of all things tech and I knew from the moment I saw it this word be the perfect set for cards to make him smile. It is perfect for a clean, and uncluttered Valentine's card - and I love that the 'autocomplete' options also has a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of my favourite films too, that won't go unnoticed. 

A Binary Message - Did you know that the stamp that has two rows of 1s and 0s actually spells a message in binary code, the language used in digital computers? I am reliably informed it spells 'for you' - who knew?! I stamped this repeatedly to achieve the banner effect of the TGIF sketch, stamping directly onto my cardbase, rather than use another layer. 

All About Alignment - The trickiest part on today's card was creating the banner element. I used my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to repeatedly stamp the two rows of 1s and 0s down the centre of my card; you could of course use a Stamparatus stamping platform too, but for repeats that are so close together I prefer the former. I will confess, I took a few attempts before I had a perfect cardfront - I accidentally smudged a few, but got there in the end. I added a Sweet Sorbet heart to my message block for a final pop of colour - I did take the Just Us Girls theme this week quite literally, and used just one heart - I love that it has a digital appearance too and is in keeping with the other stamps in the Tech Support set:

I added a mat layer of Sweet Sorbet too just to add a little more colour, although this card is intentionally neutral - it is a man's card after all, so too much pink would not be welcome! I am so glad I have inked up this set at last - the punny sentiments are perfect for the tech geeks in our lives!

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; I have some crafting time today which is awesome so will be getting a few extra makes together to share with you. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TECH SUPPORT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)

SWEET SORBET A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)

SWEET SORBET CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

Today I'm sharing a quick card that uses the colours and inspiration photo over at Color Dare that is perfect for the JUGS Challenge this week too:

I thought this pattern in the 'Sweet Talk' designer series paper pack, covered in love hearts is pretty much all of the colours in the inspiration photo, would be perfect for a quick card for your 'Galentine' (apparently that is a word!) - take a look:

I snipped off the corner and placed another pattern from this pack (it just so happens to be the reverse of the main sheet) underneath, adding a heart diecut border cut with one of the dies in the Floral Hearts Dies set across the join, and finished with a diecut heart in Petal Pink that I retrieved from my scrap box (it was actually cut from the centre of the large floral die in the aforementioned set) and adding a trio of 'BFF' white letters cut with my Playful Alphabets Dies for my very own 'love heart' focal point:

Super simple, no stamping and a great way to let the paper do all the hard work - I love that jumble of colourful hearts!

So is it me, or do teenagers use acronyms such as 'BFF' ('best friend forever' in case you're not familiar!) more and more these days? They creep into our family WhatsApp chats such that sometimes I feel like I need a translator to understand what's going on - I must be getting old lol! (there's another one!) And for anyone out there not familiar with the concept of 'Galentine's Day' - this is celebrated on February 13th and is a combination of the words 'gal' and 'valentine' and was coined as the perfect day to celebrate female friendships - so there's something else to add to the cardmaking calendar!

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:

SWEET TALK 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)

PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

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

Love and friendship is our theme this week and my card today is all heart (perfect for the hearts challenge over at Double D). I used the sketch layout over at Paper Craft Crew and decided to put into practice an idea I've been wanting to try with another Valentine's card using the awesome 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - take a look:

At first glance, my card is quite simple: some stamped tone-on-tone hearts on my pink layer, a square of heart-patterned Sweet Talk designer paper and a robot, coloured with my Smoky Slate and Real Red Stampin' Blends.

The best part about today's card though? It lights up! I used a simple circuit and a red LED to give my heart a fun Valentine's glow:

When you press the sentiment, it light up the heart - check it out on the video clip below:

This type of card is so easy to create - and the interactive element makes for a super-cute card, right?! I also used an offcut strip of paper and one of the other robots in the set to decorate the inside of 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. 

I'm also linking today's card up for a second entry over at SUO Challenges where they are all about Valentine's Day for their current challenge.

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'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

NUTS & BOLTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	SWEET TALK 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is Valentine's Day which is on February 14th. 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. This week I used pink, romantic sentiment, hearts, watercolour and aperture and this is what I came up with:

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

I decided to create a Valentine's card using a combination of both paper and pre-cut pieces from the Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack, based around the gold and white frame and watercoloured heart, layering them onto my cardfront until I was happy with the balance of elements. I added some black adhesive-backed hexagons and gold twine bow and finished my card with a fun sentiment from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' set, stamped in Magenta Madness to match my cardbase and fussy cut:

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

I really like that this card with its modern, rather eclectic, feel - a change from the more traditional red and pink, hearts and flowers - although I still have some of those to share with you too! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us for Valentines-themed projects 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. 

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 Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James - you are here!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED HEXAGONS (£7.00)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

This is my second post of today - to read all about the pre-release of skin-tone Blends and the exclusive 'All Together' bundle, please see my earlier post here.

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. YoonYoung is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

These colours are perfect for Valentine's so I dug out a bunch of my favourite retired Valentine's bits and pieces and along with the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch and some inspiration from my talented blog friend Kim Singdahlsen, I set to work! This is what I came up with:

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

I absolutely loved this card that Kim made for last week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge - isn't that stencilled background amazing?! I didn't have anything similar in my stash, but decided that the TSOT sketch was perfect for a trio of (retired Sweet & Sassy Framelits) diecut hearts in this week's challenge colours, so I made my own stencil from a retired Detailed Hearts Die and blended all three colours into the central background circle to bring the diecuts together. I added a diecut and stamped sentiment from another retired stamp and die set, 'Forever & Always' and the Always Dies to complete my card:

These will always be some of my most favourite Valentine's items - so timeless and therefore super useful! 

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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 LeAnne is the featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went with the first column of pink/Valentine or heart/white for my card today and took the layout from Fusion (I made it horizontal to fit everything in0!) and red, pink and black from the 'cool winter love' colour palette over at Sunday Stamps and used some new papers and a new stamp set too - take a look:

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

For The Record - The 'For The Record' stamp set on page 74 of the mini catalogue is most definitely the star of today's card! With sentiments for a range of occasions, this set is sure to be a hit with vinyl collectors and music lovers alike and has a fun retro vibe! Both my record and sentiment come from this set.

Sweet Talk - I decided to go all-out with the sweet talking on today's card, not only with the fun sentiment but also this heart-filled background designer series paper that is from the Sweet Talk pack. 

Shimmer and Shine - The detail on this record is great and totally lends itself to being heat embossed, to show the ridges and grooves. I stamped and heat-embossed the heart at the centre of the record again in black on Real Red cardstock then fussy cut it out, then filled it with Shimmery Crystal Effects for added sparkle and shine:

This card is bold, bright and full of fun - perfect for the favourite song in your life!

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. Also, if you like this layout, spoiler alert - I used the same Fusion sketch as the starting point for tomorrow's card too for our new challenge over at As You See It - although that card couldn't be more different! Come back tomorrow to see my second take on this great layout.

Enjoy your evening; until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FOR THE RECORD CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	SWEET TALK 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
SHIMMERY CRYSTAL EFFECTS (£4.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a quick card that I made for a few current challenges:

I saw the badge over at Just Us Girls and that inspiration photo immediately reminded me of the retired stamp set 'Spirited Snowmen' so I dug it out and paired it with the Color Dare challenge colours for a sweet love-filled card:

Stamped, coloured and mounted using my Layered Squares dies, with some added clear Wink of Stella to make that heart shine:

No supplies list today as the stamp set is retired (I also used up some Tempting Turquoise card too!). I'm also linking up with TGIF Challenges and Global Design Project #GDP327 where both are asking for love-themed cards - it's clearly the season!!

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

It's Tuesday and time for our first challenge of the year over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I have the pleasure of hosting you all this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I chose some fresh pastels with a pop of bright poppy red for my palette this week. These colours can be used in lots of ways; for my card I decided to create with one of my favourite cute sets from the new Stampin' Up! January-June 2022 mini catalogue that launches today and went for a fun Valentine's card - take a look:

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

Playful Alphabet Pun - I created a fun, punny sentiment for the front of my card using my Playful Alphabet Dies, adding a popped-up stitched heart to the centre of my 'O' for a burst of colour and fun focal point. You may well be wondering where my Highland Heather is making a feature, since it doesn't feature on the front of today's card; that corner of my co-ordinating envelope gives you a clue... 

You Make My Heart Go Beep - ... yes it's on the inside! I chose the sentiment on the front of my card to co-ordinate with this cute little robot, complete with heart, from the new 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - a collection of fun little robots that you will definitely be seeing more of! I stamped him in the corner of my card and added a complimentary sentiment:

Isn't he just the sweetest?!

Tuesday Tip - Would you like to know how I got those letter dies so perfectly aligned on the front of my card? I have a great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

By becoming a member of my Facebook group you can be sure you will receive all of the news that I post to social media and more and you will be much more likely to see everything that I post when I post it, rather than it being lost in your social news feed. I look forward to seeing you there!

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£36.00)	NUTS & BOLTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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

I'm not generally into pale colours but I was really drawn to the pastels over at the Color Throwdown challenge this week, and was also inspired by their photo of those old-time Love Hearts sweets to make another Valentine card and create some love hearts of my own - take a look:

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

Today's card has no stamping at all! I decided to use a slimline card layout and create a layered square in each of the CTD challenge colours, using one each of a scallop-edged square, stitched square and a diecut heart from the Wreath Builder Die set. Each square is so simple, yet the detail of each of the diecut pieces is what makes this card so pretty:

A quartet of pastels that look good enough to eat! In additon to playing over at Color Throwdown, I'm also linking up over at Just Us Girls where their word this week is 'Valentine'. 

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:

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; I've been decorating so am hoping to get a little more done today. Whilst the James Juniors are still hoping for snow, it's looking less and less likely. The arrival of the 'Beast From The East Mark Two' is threatening to push daytime temperatures below zero, so unless there's the opportunity to build a snowman, I'll be staying safely indoors! I'll be back tomorrow with another project using these colours. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WREATH BUILDER DIES (£35.00)

STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

LAYERING SQUARES DIES (£33.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

SUBTLES A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a card using Kim's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sletches this week:

I absolutely love Kim's sketch today; the minute I saw it I cam up with a ton of ideas for it (love it when that happens!) so don't be surprised when you see this layout on my blog again in the coming weeks! Today I'm breaking out more new things to make a card with a fun interactive element - take a look:

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

Hearts and Stitching - I thought the horizontal lines on today's card would be perfect to highlight the little row of diecut hearts and stitching that is another of the dies in one of my current favourites, the Floral Hearts Dies. I made my card base Poppy Parade red and my heart diecuts white, so that the hearts would then peek through in red. I love the simple detailing this die adds to a card; as an added bonus, you get all the little diecut hearts for confetti or as a shaker filler too - bonus!

Kangaroo & Company - The star of today's card though is the fun adult kangaroo from the Kangaroo & Company stamp set. This set contains a Mum, and a baby and young joey, along with lots of fun accessories and things to carry in her pouch, along with a wide range of greetings for birthday, baby or 'just because' cards. 

Interactive Fun - The cutest part of this bundle though is that the die that cuts out the large kangaroo also cuts a slit into the mama's pouch, ready for a greeting to be hidden inside. Since my card today was for Valentine's Day, I stamped the main greeting on the front of my card in black and masked off the word 'Hi!', then completed my greeting with a message attached to my bunch of hearts and hidden inside the pouch:

Tell me that is not just the cutest?! I made this card for young Master James, who whilst he now maskerades as a too-cool-for-school teenager, I know will just love the fun of this cute hidden message card, especially from his Mum!

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. 

Today's card is also my second entry for the love-themed challenge over at SUO Challenges - some lovely cards on display over there this week!

Enjoy your day. It is a beautiful, clear, bright and sunny day here in the UK today - there is still plenty of snow on the ground following yesterday's snowfall and it took all the James Juniors' willpower to log on and start school on time today, when another day of playing outside building yet another snowman seemed much more appealing, especially since one of them has to do online assessments this week in lieu of formal GCSE mock exams. Never mind - I am reliably informed there will be more snow next weekend, so I'm sure there will be more opportunities for snow fun. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for our new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

KANGAROO & COMPANY BUNDLE (£34.00)	FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SOFT SUEDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)