It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Bhavya is hosting for the month of April and it's time for her first sketch challenge of the month: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I decided to grab my retiring 'What's Cookin'' stamp set and Cookin' Dies and create a simple card for the baker or would-be chef in your life - take a look:

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

I almost passed over the colours at Just Add Ink this week, when it occurred to me that they really reminded me of Cornishware pottery, with its distinctive blue or red and vanilla stripes, so I decided that a Cornishware-inspired mixing bowl, along with a little texture from my neutral chopping board and mixing spoon and a pop of red from a Cherry Cobbler sentiment and twine bow were just what I needed for today's clean and simple card. Check out the texture that the die gives the chopping board on the closeup below:

I also added a little additional decoration to the inside of my card - aren't those miniature chef hats just the cutest?!

I can't believe this set is on the retiring list this year; I had so many more plans for it and am really sad to see it leave the annual catalogue. I will definitely be holding on to mine - I love to spend time in the kitchen and I know I'll find many more uses for it. If you would like to be the proud owner of the What's Cookin' stamp set and co-ordinating Cookin' Dies, they will only be around for another couple of weeks, and even then only whilst stocks last, so do get your order in sooner rather than later! I'm also sharing today's card over at Less Is More where the theme this week is 'occupations'  - this set is perfect for chefs, bakers and kitchen enthusiasts! 

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. 

I love to cook and my family suggest I'm quite good at it. Whilst out for lunch at the weekend, my son was tucking into his lasagne and when asked if everything was ok with his meal, he announced "It's good - but not as good as my Mum's!" I'm not sure there's anything you can reply to that; if only all problems could be solved with a homemade lasagne!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHAT'S COOKIN' CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	COOKIN' DIES (£27.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SAHARA SAND A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SAHARA SAND CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

I have an extra card today to share a card a special card I made for Rebecca and her hockey team mates to say goodbye to one of their members who is leaving at the end of the season to go to university. I thought the motley crew of animals in the retiring 'From All of Us' stamp set would be perfect for a team farewell - take a look:

I used a bright and fun unconventional colour scheme to colour my group of animals and fussy cut them and placed on the centre of a larger A5 card, over a simple scored panel of Coastal Cabana - I needed room for lots of messages inside! I added a 'good luck' message using a retired alphabet set either side of my colourful gang:

I added one other stamp to the inside to finish:

Cute, right?! This is a great stamp if you need a collective card from a group.

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. 

I'm sharing this card over at SUO Challenges with the theme is 'animals and critters' and The Alphabet Challenge where their theme is 'A for Animal Antics' - I think my collective definitely look they could get up to some mischief!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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 bright colour challenge for us to work with:

I love Anne Marie's bright and sunny colours this week and ended up making a couple of cards. First up I used this week's layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and went with some florals, care of my Pierced Blooms Dies - take a look:

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

I diecut a trio of layered flowers and leaves and paired them with a piece of Daffodil Delight coloured Hand Penned designer series paper and used white as my neutral. A few polished pink gems add a touch of sparkle to the front of my card:

And a little extra stamping inside completes my card:

I wanted to try and use these colours on something other than flowers, so made a second card using the retiring 'Hippo Happiness' stamp set and co-ordinating Hippo & Friends Dies:

Some simple stamping and diecutting is all there is to it. The best part about this card is definitely the punny sentiment though - Hippo birthday...

... 2 ewe! Isn't that just so sweet?!

I used the sketch over at TGIF Challenges this week for the layout for this card and I am also linking up over at SUO Challenges where they are all about 'animals and critters' for their current challenge.

Two very different cards but I think both work with these colours. Which one do you prefer? 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 projects for you to pin for easy reference:

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

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

Enjoy your day; we have some chores to take care of and we are out to lunch - should be a good day! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used (where still available): 

It's nearly time to see all of the lovely items that will be retiring from the current 2021-22 Annual Catalogue!  I'm just popping by to let you know that the Last-Chance Products promotion will go live at 7pm this evening, UK time. All items retiring will be available for LAST CHANCE purchase, with some items that can be discounted by up to 50% - yay for a bargain!

As soon as the list is available, I will upload it here on my blog and share in to my Crafty Owl Creatives Facebook Group.

So set your alarms if you want to be at the front of the queue - there will be bargains to be had!

The wait is over - it's June 3rd and the new 2020-21 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! I will be updating my links on the right hand side of my blog and you will find a permanent link to the new catalogue there, but for today you need look no further than the picture below which will take you straight to the new catalogue:

The new catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. I've sent paper copies to everyone who has shopped with me in the last 12 months; a digital copy of the new catalogue can be accessed via the image above and it will be permanently linked via my blog on the right hand side if you don’t have a paper copy and wish to browse. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here - ordering systems have now fully transitioned from the old stock items to the new so you are good to go! Also, remember to add the current hostess code for June NSKDEXBA if your order is less than £150 and ensure your preferences are set to 'contactable' to receive a thank you in the post from me.

Here's a quick video that Stampin' Up! have produced given a quick catalogue walk through of some of the highlights to wet your appetite:

 There are a number of items that are already on backorder and the main things that feature in the new catalogue that are not available on launch are the new die cutting machines - I will let you know as soon as these are going to be available to purchase. Most items are ready and waiting to be bought though!

As mentioned previously, this year's catalogue launch is online over on my Facebook Page. This is a great opportunity for you to see some of the products, take advantage of my BOGOF sale of retired stamp sets, and have some fun even if you don't live in or around Northampton! Click here to browse the BOGOF list.

There are also a couple of promotions that go live today to coincide with the launch of the new catalogue:

The first is the hostess promotion that I talked about in this post. As a reminder, you can earn an additional £20 of hostess rewards when you have party sales of £200 or more throughout the month of June: 

Just because we are socially distancing, doesn't mean we can't get together. if you would like to organise a virtual party with me, just let me know - numbers are unlimited and it can be a great way to connect with friends far and wide for a session of crafty fun! 

If your wishlist is long, you might also want to consider a cracking good join promotion that is running through the month of June too: 

 I will write more about this another time, but the deal is simple: for £99 receive £130 of products of your choice and in addition any stamp/tool bundle FREE. Yes, any of the stamp/punch bundles on p.168-169 or stamp/die bundles p.173-179 in the new catalogue - so potentially another £55 of free product - what a great deal! As always, you can always find the link to join my team on the right hand side of my blog page; alternatively it's right here if you fancy jumping right in!

I also have a number of classes lined up in coming months featuring products from the new catalogue - the first of which are detailed below:

• 15th June - Blossoms in Bloom
• 6th July - Lovely You Bundle
• 27th July - Arrange A Wreath Bundle

Full details for these classes can be found on my Facebook Events Page  or alternatively under the 'Events/classes' tab on my website.

That's a lot of information for one post; if I were you I would put the kettle on, put your feet up and get comfy and settle down with your new catalogue for a browse and start creating that all-important wish list!

Back tomorrow with a new project; until then, happy shopping!