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 my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

This is a great sketch with so many creative possibilities! I've finally found time to start playing with my pre-order goodies and I know how much you all like a 'sneak peek' so I have a few of those in store for you this week. My first one comes today is the form of new stamps, papers and a punch to make this brightly coloured Christmas card: 

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

A Night Before Christmas - This sheet of bauble-patterned paper inspired the colour scheme for my Christmas card today. It is part of the 'A Night Before Christmas' paper pack which is actually part of the suite of the same name and is full of traditional Christmas imagery. The jewel colours of red, yellow, green, blue and silver against the navy background are echoed throughout my card and the circle of Laurie's sketch was the perfect place to showcase this bold patterned paper.

Christmas Gleaming - I wanted to add a little something to make my card a little more fancy, so firstly I created a tone-on-tone background panel by stamping the small bauble from the 'Christmas Gleaming' stamp set in Night of Navy in a pattern on my mat layer. Although it's from an entirely different suite it co-ordinates with my chosen DSP perfectly. For my shape I chose a bauble from the same set. I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock and coloured in part of the design with my Dark Poppy Parade marker, before punching out with the co-ordinating punch. To decorate my bauble,  I took inspiration from my wonderful PP teamie the talented Ann Schach, lover of pearls in all shapes and sizes (although I don't think she's used any on her card this week!), and added a whole bunch of silver metallic pearls to my ornament pattern, finishing with a bow in some retired silver twine. I love the added detail this gives.

A Simple Joy - My sentiment today comes from the new set 'So Many Stars', which also has some lovely mini verses that are perfect for the inside of your card:

So what do you think? Is today's sneak peek of new Christmas products making you excited for the arrival of the Autumn-Winter catalogue? It is still another couple of weeks before it will be available to customers for ordering on September 4th, however if you really can't wait then it's worth considering taking advantage of the current joining offer: for anyone joining Stampin' Up! before the end of August, for £99 you will receive an extra £25 of product, so £155 for £99, in addition to an £8 bonus coupon to use next month and all of the other ongoing benefits that being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator offers. If this is something that interests you and you would like to know more, then do read all about it here or get in touch - I'd love to help you decide if this is something that could work for you.

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; we are enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and so far the weather has been glorious. We have been enjoying a weekend of BBQs and fun with friends and so are hoping for more of the same as the weekend continues. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Christmas Gleaming Bundle (En) (£46.75)	Night Before Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	So Many Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£24.00)	Metallic Pearls (£6.50)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Poppy Parade Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

Today I'm sharing a card using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout that is also perfect for the theme over at Global Design Project #GDP203 this week:

Today is the day when for lots of students in the UK the wait is finally over as GCSE results are announced. My nephew is one of those students for whom today represents the culmination of months of study and hard work and whilst I don't know his results at the time of writing this, I am confident that a card to congratulate him on his exam success will be in order. Since my card is for a boy I didn't want anything too fussy, so the above sketch layout was perfect. I took the opportunity to play with some new product from my Autumn-Winter catalogue pre-order to create a cool and colourful card - take a look:

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

Not Just For Christmas - Stitched Stars are one of the few stitched shapes now missing from the Stampin' Up! collection - but not any more! The Autumn-Winter catalogue has a great bundle called 'So Many Stars' featuring both stitched and decorative stars and that great rolling, starry die that I've used on my card today. I inset the die into my top layer of Granny Apple Green and used a base of Mango Melody so that the base colour shows through the star shapes (I paper-pieced the non-star elements back in) before finishing with my sentiment in a larger stitched star. Great for Christmas, but perfect for a congratulations card too! 

A Punny Sentiment - My sentiment comes from the Darling Label Punch Box stamp set - one of my favourites for a cool congratulations card for a discerning teenager. I masked off the stripes that surround it so that I had just the words, which fit inside my stitched star perfectly. I finished the inside of my card with a sentiment from the now retired 'Amazing Congratulations' stamp set and some stars from the new So Many Stars stamp set:

Two Cards, Four Colours - I chose a bright and colourful palette for my card today and couldn't initially decide whether to add Granny Apple Green or Poppy Parade to my pairing of Mango Melody and Blueberry Bushel. So I created two cards featuring each of the colours. Here's the second one:

And here's a photo of the cards together - which one do you prefer? Leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Either way, here's the colour palette I used in case you would like to save it to inspire your future crafting projects:

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:

Stitched Stars Dies (£35.00)	So Many Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£24.00)	So Many Stars Bundle (En) (£53.00)	Darling Label Punch Box (£42.00)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mango Melody A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges where they have an interesting challenge this week:

 All on black - now this was a challenge! After much thought, I decided to use a new stamp set and the (now retired) 2018-20 In Color Embossing powders for a pop of bright colour and ended up creating not one but two cards! Here's my favourite - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Modern Heart - This stamp set was one that I picked up because my daughter loves it, so it seemed only fair I made a card with her in mind. This card would work as an engagement card I guess, but I made it with congratulations in mind; she works so hard both at school and in her extra-curricular sports and music activities and I know it won't be long before we have another exam pass or success of some kind to celebrate and she will appreciate the sparkle and grown-up feel of this clean and graphic design.

Double Heat Embossing - In order to achieve my gold and Lovely Lipstick design, I stamped and heat embossed in two stages: first I stamped and heat embossed the gold heart, then I added the red hearts later. For the sentiment, I stamped in one go, the dipped the ends in gold first then carefully masked the ends off to add the coloured embossing powder to the word 'happy' before heat embossing both together.

Touches of Gold - To finish my card, I added some gold metallic pearls and gold sequins, along with a touch of gold glimmer paper and some (retired) gold thread for some texture and to add a little sparkle. I also added a few Lovely Lipstick enamel dots 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I so liked the effect of the bright colours against the black, I also made a second card using the Accented Blooms stamp set and some Pineapple Punch embossing powder, ribbon and DSP for another super bright card:

When the James Juniors wandered into my craft room to see what I'd been making, they declared the heart much nicer and the one that I should share here, but I thought I'd share this one too as I rather like it and if you have some coloured embossing powders in the back of your craft drawer, you may like to try it too!

Having braved the sports shop for rugby boots and hockey shoes yesterday, today we ventured further afield and braved the shops for new school shoes, trousers and other items of uniform needed in readiness for the return to school in a couple of weeks time. Thankfully we didnt need much and our trip was successful. We are rewarding ourselves tomorrow with a trip to the cinema! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Modern Heart Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Metallic Pearls (£6.50)	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Gold Glimmer Paper (£4.75)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a super quick card using the CAS Colours and Sketches layout and the theme over at Just Add Ink:

I was thrilled to see the JAI theme this week; when you're busy and short on crafty time, what can be better than a 'no stamping' card? I had the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card pack out on my desk still following last week's class, so chose card and set to work:

I backed my card with a panel of Early Espresso, added a sentiment sticker, some co-ordinating twine and a trio of pearls to my Petal Pink card base, that I had already run through my Subtles embossing folder and I was done! I even added a larger M&M card to the inside for a pre-decorated interior:

Seriously - it took longer to photograph and watermark my card and type up this post than it did to make it!

 As a result I did manage to get a couple more cards made this afternoon, so I will share those with you tomorrow.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Magnolia Lane Memories & More Card Pack (£10.25)

Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)

Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack (£8.25)

Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)

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 it's c'lean and simple' week, with the added theme of 'cards for kids'. Your cards can be for any occasion - birthday, back to school, encouragement, congratulations, get well soon - but they must be aimed at children and they must be in a 'clean and simple' style. What do we mean by 'clean and simple'? We would like you to create a card that has:

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
• Is simple and uncluttered

I had so many ways I could go with this as I make lots of cards for both of the James Juniors and their friends, but I just couldn't resist creating with those cute cows from the 'Over The Moon' set - take a look:

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

A Sketch Confession - Having had little time for crafting or blogging this past couple of weeks (the curse of the long school summer holiday!), I was disappointed to not get a card made for last week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where they are celebrating their 400th anniversary - way to go ladies!! I was therefore delighted to see their super simple sketch this week that would be perfect for me to use for my clean and simple Paper Players card so that I could celebrate along with the FMS team for week 2 of the celebrations. With my card made, imagine my surprise when I then caught up with my blog reading yesterday and saw that the sketch for another of my favourite challenges, As You See It, is very similar - a horizontal mirror image - and the placement of my cow and sentiment matches the sketch exactly! In an ideal world, I'd have made another card for FMS, but I have house guests this weekend and that is not going to happen so instead I am linking to both and will aim to make another for AYSI that is exactly as is (it's in my head already, I just need the time to get into my craft room - don't you hate it when that happens?!)

Party Til The Cows Come Home - I had to use this fun cow from the 'Over The Moon' set for my card today. This set is comical, so works well for young and old alike and whilst this cow could be dreaming, without his dream bubble I also think he looks like he's enjoyed a night out on the town - a real party animal! I stamped him in Memento Black, coloured him with my Blends and then fussy cut him and popped him up on dimensionals balanced on the horizontal line of the sketch, which grounds him perfectly.

His And Hers Colours - Since my cow is black and white, I needed to introduce some colour and decided to use my favourite in-color gingham DSP. I made one in Rococco Rose and liked it so much I made a second one in Pretty Peacock - a his and hers colour combo! Here's my second card:

Here they are together - which one do you prefer? They were both easy to create and came together in no time, with just a few key supplies; another clean and simple #SimpleStamping too!

Finally, 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 have house guests for the weekend so am on entertainment duty. It is the balloon festival here in Northampton this weekend, so we may go along to watch the balloons later and maybe even chase a few. All being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	2019-2021 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Basic Black Light Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Flirty Flamingo Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for you to work with:

I had an idea of I wanted to do with this week's colour palette and the sketch from TGIF Challenges was just what I needed to turn my idea into a reality (although I made my base horizontal rather than vertical and used an extra-large card base) - take a look:

Today is a special day in the James household: the youngest of the James Juniors celebrates his 12th birthday. I'm not sure where those years have gone, but I did need as a result need a couple of special birthday cards to celebrate. Today's card is the card I made for Ben from Rebecca and features Blueberry Bushel as my featured additional colour. Here's the low-down on today's card:

When Is An Adventure Not An Adventure? - The two figures on today's card from the Silhouette Scenes stamp set so remind me of Ben and Rebecca. I can honestly say they truly are each others best friends and always have been. Even as they approach their teens, they still enjoy each others company more than anyone else's - and I love that about them! So it seemed only right to feature them together on my card. I could have stamped the sentiment 'as is', however I wanted to feature the 'adventure' diecut to tie in with the sketch - but I needed it in the plural. Luckily for me, the Sweet Silhouettes dies also incude the word 'inspire' - so I diecut this too, snipped away the letter 's' and paper-pieced it seamlessly to my 'adventure'. Clever, right? :-) I diecut both twice, once in Blueberry Bushel and again in Basic Black and offset this one behind; this allows the diecut to stand out from the background a little better.

A Starry Sky - Since I only had one colour to pair with my black and white, a sponged or brayered sky wasn't really an option. The starry stamp in the 'Bokeh Dots' set came to the rescue; the distinktive nature of this stamp meant that even with one colour, there would be enough variation to create interest. 

Sisterly Love - Lastly, not content with my tinkering of sentiments, I did the same on the inside. Do you recognise this sentiment from an existing stamp set? I'll give you a clue - it's in the 'A Wish For Everything' stamp set, but it doesn't look quite like this:

Did you spot it? I took the stamp that reads 'First my Mother...forever my friend' and masked out the 'Mo' of Mother and replaced it with the 'Br' from another stamp in this set that reads 'Hope this new year is filled with promises of many bright tomorrow's':

It took a little while to ink and mask with my Stampin' Write marker, but I'm really pleased with the result. Do you look for opportunities to create your own customised sentiments out of your stamp collection when you don't have the perfect fit? Do share any that you've created - I'd love to know what other combinations there are.

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; we will be celebrating with cake, an escape room outing and a best friend sleepover - wish me luck! I have my monthly technique class tomorrow but I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Silhouette Scenes Bundle (£48.50)	Bokeh Dots Cling-Mount Stamp Set (£14.00)	A Wish For Everything Cling Stamp Set (£36.00)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current sketch challenge over at Fab Friday:

This is one of those great sketches that is so versatile with so many possibilities. I used the opportunity to break out a new stamp set - take a look:

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

We'll Walrus Be Friends - I love a punny sentiment and am finding myself doing more and more colouring these days, so 'We'll Walrus Be Friends' was always going to be on my list! A great set with words for lots of occasions and images that are small enough to colour quickly but also give a satisfying few minutes of relaxation, this is a great fun set. 

High Seas - I coloured my image in with my Stampin' Blends and I embossed the mat layer on my card base with the High Seas embossing folder to tie in with the waves on my stamped image. I don't tend to use a lot of texture on my cards, but I love the extra layer of detail this embossing gives. 

Not Quite CAS - I started out intending this card to be my entry for the current Less Is More challenge where the challenge this week is to use orange, aqua and white on your card, but decided once I'd added the embossed layer that this probably wasn't clean and simple enough for the strict rules that the LIM ladies follow - back to the drawing board on that one! I do love the fresh colour combo though - here it is if you would like to save it for future reference:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

We'll Walrus Be Friends Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	High Seas 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pool Party Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

 I needed to make some cards to go out with my In Color Club monthly packs and the sketch was perfect for creating a design that would work in each of the 2019-21 In Colors - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Above The Clouds - I used balloons to represent the flowers of the sketch. They make for easy two-step stamping, are great for multiples and this set has some great sentiments too. I stamped the flags directly onto some gingham in-color DSP and added them to the largest of the balloons, along with a linen bow to compliment the base card colour and the piece of in-color scalloped linen ribbon that I used for my second flag. 

Swirls and Curls - I decided to emboss a panel of Whisper White with the Swirls and Curls embossing folder to represent swirling clouds. I love the finished effect, but in hindsight it does make this card a little less clean and simple. What do think - swirls or no swirls? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

A Parade of In-Colors - I think the Sea Spray cards are my favourite, but I made multiples in each of the in-colors with the exception of Purple Posy (still no ink availability in the UK, but the latest samples have passed tests so Stampin' Up! is at last in a position to begin packaging and preparing ink for dispatch - hurrah!) - here they are together - which one is your favourite?

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 have spent the day today having a major clear out of the toy room. Whilst this was no small task, the results speak for themselves - tidiness at last! Isn't there something so satifsying about a good old clear out? Tidy space, tidy mind as the saying goes!   

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Above The Clouds Bundle (£33.25)	Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder (£7.00)	2019-2021 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Seaside Spray Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Rococo Rose Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)
Terracotta Tile Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Seaside Spray 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Scalloped Linen Ribbon (£7.50)	Rococo Rose 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Scalloped Linen Ribbon (£7.50)	Terracotta Tile 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Scalloped Linen Ribbon (£7.50)	Pretty Peacock 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Scalloped Linen Ribbon (£7.50)
Linen Thread (£4.75)

I've just got time to squeeze in my entry for the current challenge over at Festive Friday where the challenge is to feature a lighthouse and/or rays on your card:

I did a technique card last week featuring the Come Sail Away suite so have been making lots of lighthouse cards in readiness for this - here's one of them:

I had been doing some experimenting with inked backgrounds and on this card used some blue Brusho on Shimmery White cardstock, covered with scrunched up cling film before leaving to dry and then removed the cling film. I then covered with a liberal spritz of champagne shimmer and I added a collage of stamped and diecut bits and pieces from the Come Sail Away suite to complete my card. No rays of light - I was trying to capture stormy seas behind my lighthouse. This is quite a different card for me - watercoloured backgrounds and collage-style cards are not my forte, but it was fun to create and this is the first time I've used Brusho and really liked the finished effect.

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 have another card similar to this one which I will hopefully share later this week in an alternative colourway.

This is my card for Tuesday so I hope you enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£9.25)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Basic Gray A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made yesterday for the new challenge over at As you See It using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, that also works for the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week:

Whilst I didn't set out to combine all three of these challenges this week, with the challenge over at As You See It being speed stamping, today's card was definitely no accident - take a look:

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

It's All In The Preparation - I'll be honest: I rarely make a card in under 10 minutes! For me the fun is in the planning and designing and I often make multiple bits and pieces and 'tinker' with my cards until I'm happy with them. That said, it can be done - the key is in the preparation. Fortunately for me, the AYSI speed stamping challenge requires you to complete a card in under 10 minutes and the clock starts as soon as you put ink to paper; you can decide on your design and gather your supplies in advance. So I grabbed Jen B's FMS sketch (a great go-to design) my co-ordinating shades of purple (Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather) in cardstock, ink and markers, a Whisper White card base, stamps, dies, Big Shot and got ready to start my timer!

'C' Is For Craft - I decided to base my card around the stamps and dies in the 'Follow your Art' suite. I stamped my ink bottle and clip (and a couple of sentiments to diecut, although I didn't then use these as I stamped directly onto my card base) then ran them through my Big Shot with the purple die cut pieces, making two runs to get the duplicates. I added a quick dash of colour to my stamped diecut pieces, then set about constructing. It was only when I had finished my card that I realised it would be perfect for Just Add Ink this week too; it will a least spare the girls another of my Christmas cards, which I seem to have made for their last few challenges!!

Speedy Indeed - So I did work at fever pace and my desk looked like a bomb had gone off once I'd finished, but I managed to finish my card in 9 minutes and 46 seconds - hurrah! It was helped by the fact that my card base and mat layers were already cut to size - I keep a box of sizes that I use a lot ready prepared so that I can just 'grab and go' - the most time-consuming aspects were poking out the paper clips from the dies without tearing and tying the twine bow. Purple is one of my favourite colours, so this was a fun speed challenge indeed! Lastly, a disclaimer: I decorated a co-ordinating envelope too, but completed this outside of the speed stamping time - I couldn't quite manage this in the time constraints as well!

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 like my finished card so much I think I'm going to create a few more of these and send them to the ladies who are booked to attend my Creative Escapes Craft Retreat in October - this is the perfect time to stay up late and craft together!! I still have a couple of spaces left if you would like to join us for a fun weekend; you can get the full details here.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

It Starts With Art Bundle (£44.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)