Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for our regular speed challenge, with a theme chosen by Jan:

Leaves - we've all got those in our stamp collection, right? I decided to go with a really simple two-colour card inspired by the combo over at Color Dare and featuring two leaves from one of my favourite current leafy stamp sets, Natural Botanicals - take a look:

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

Natural Botanicals - The leaves in the 'Natural Botanicals' stamp set can be used in so many ways! Today I used one of the larger leaves to stamp the bottom half of my white panel with Pretty Peacock coloured leaves to create my own patterned paper (I masked off a border first with masking paper, but you could forgo this and save a little extra time) then using the same colour, added ink with a blending brush to create a solid block of colour. I added this panel to my white card base, then a leftover strip of Flirty Flamingo cardstock, before stamping another of the leaves in the set in Flirty Flamingo onto white cardstock, and diecut this with one of my trusty Stylish Shapes Dies. 

Thankful Garden - Since Natural Botanicals is a sentiment-free set, I chose a thankful sentiment from another stamp set, 'Thankful Garden', and stamped this in Pretty Peacock directly onto my stamped pink leaf. The bold turquoise colour and large font is enough to stand out against the leaf beneath:

I added this to my card using dimensionals for a little lift, then added a trio of Pretty Peacock faceted enamel dots from my stash (having previously gone through my collection looking at all possible options before I started my timer, of course!) to complete my card.

Speed Stamping Addition - As always, the key to a speed stamping card is preparation: I had browsed my saved sketches to choose a layout before I started and gathered all possible supplies, opened my ink pads, mounted my stamps before starting the timer. So how long did my simple leaf card take? 

Just 6 minutes and 48 seconds - plenty of time leftover, so I stamped the flap of my envelope to coordinate and still finished inside of the 10 minute allowance. OK, so my pink leaf isn't perfect (next time I'd use my stamp platform) but otherwise, I'm pretty pleased with how this card turned out - thanks Jan for a fun challenge!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

NATURAL BOTANICALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£21.00)	THANKFUL GARDEN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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)

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

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I wanted to play with a new stamp set that I hadn't yet broken the seal on - Coneflower Celebrations. The challenge was really to keep things clean and simple - especially as I'm playing along over at Inkspirational too (with the optional twist of flowers)! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Coneflower Celebrations - Coneflower Celebrations features some larger-than-life coneflower blooms, so in order to maintain a clean and simple feel, I dispensed with a stem on this occasion and simply stamped my flowerhead (I used Early Espresso as my neutral as I thought it was softer and toned in better than black) and coloured my bloom with Flirty Flamingo Blends markers, adding some Lost Lagoon leaves. 

Then There were Three - I only used two of the challenge colours for my bloom; the third colour, Pool Party, I added with a blending brush to the corner of my card, having first masked off an outer 'frame'. This allowed me to ground my flower, rather than it look like it was just floating. I added a trio of embellishments - Flirty Flamingo enamel dots - for a little sparkle - perfect for the challenge over at The Flower Challenge too:

Even on a clean and simple card a few well chosen embellishments can be enough to elevate a card from something plain to something special. 

Birthday Greetings - In addition to the beautiful floral stamps and dies, the Coneflower Celebrations bundle also contains some great sentiments. I used a simple 'Celebrating you!' on the front of my card - finishing with this one on the inside:

Yes, I needed a belated birthday card for a dear blogging friend whose birthday is today. This is the second of my friends whose birthday I've not remembered in a timely manner this month - I  am clearly distracted! This sentiment is lovely for sending belated birthday wishes though - I hope I'll be forgiven and it will raise a smile when my card finally arrives at its destination! I do love this new Coneflower Celebrations stamp set - so you can look forward to seeing lots more fabulous blooms where this one came from!

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:

CONEFLOWER CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LOST LAGOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
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 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 I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As You See It where it's time for a seasonal theme challenge chosen by Heather H:

Having made this card for my paper Players DT card last Sunday, I knew that I was going to go a similar route for today's creation, given that there was an empty picnic scene in the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper pack that was just waiting to be filled - take a look:

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

These Turtle-y Cute papers are so fun, especially if you like fussy cutting! I simple added the scenic background to my card base, then decorated it with a whole bunch of fussy cut elements:

My turtles are enjoying a picnic of ice-cream and watermelon; even the birds are getting in on the action! I finished with a sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Picnic With You', which suited my scene perfectly. These little scenes are so fun to build, but I have used so many dimensionals this week - I am definitely going to need to add more to my next Stampin' Up! order! 

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.=
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and 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)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

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

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

You'll notice a theme to my cards this week - they all feature turtles! Take a look at today's card:

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

I elongated that oval and featured another of the turtles fussy cut from the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper, this time the gardener turtle, and paired her with a die cut sentiment from Sweet Blooms and a co-ordinating strip of designer paper from a retired pack that co-ordinated:

I stamped the remainder of my sentiment on the inside of my card, along with a little DSP accent and flower, to complete my card:

Simple! I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS On Friday where the current theme is 'animal', so my turtle definitely fits the bill.

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 later in the week 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)

SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO 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 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)