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 you to work with:

I decided today that I'd make a card with something old (my stamp set is the retiring 'Eastern Beauty') but mostly something new and share a sneak peek of some of the specialty designer series paper that will be coming along in the new annual catalogue - take a look:

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

So today's card really is all about the paper! Due to ongoing EU Customs issues, European demonstrators who attended Stampin' Up!'s recent Onstage event were unable to place an early pre-order, so our only new goodies to play with were the products we came come with. One of those was a pack of the new Mosaic Mood Specialty Designer Series Paper though, which is perfect for backgrounds, borders and more! It has some gorgeous printed pages with roses, butterflies and hummingbirds that can be fussy cut to add as embellishments too and what's more they have some amazing UV detail that gives a great glossy, soft sheen - check it out on the rose below:

This detail really makes this paper shine! Since I featured my sentiment on the circle element of my sketch, I used a butterfly from the paper in place of the sentiment on the sketch to keep the whole thing balanced. I liked this card so much that I cut into a few more sheets and changed my base colour to create another card using the sketch that features a hummingbird that I cut from a different sheet of paper:

Again, here's a close-up of that gorgeous glossy detailing, this time on the whole of the bird:

The colours are not as visible as the glossy finish is reflecting the light, but take my word for it this really makes these papers something special. 

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

And my second card:

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; one of the James Juniors has a birthday party to attend today, but otherwise we have a sport-free day so are looking forward to lunch and an afternoon indoors escaping the storm-force gales we have experienced the last couple of days! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	So Saffron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Eastern Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)
Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

Today I've been battling a mountain of ironing and watching one of the James Juniors playing back-to-back hockey games in storm-grade winds (a dedicated sportswoman indeed!) so I'm late with today's post but wanted to share a quick card I made for the current challenge over at Inspire.Create where they have a great sketch to work with:

My card features stamp, papers, ribbon and a sentiment from the Memories and More kit from the Happiness Blooms Suite  - take a look:

I just love this suite and am so sad it is going to retire as it's one of my favourites from the Spring-Summer catalogue - i love the contemporary design and bright colours and the Bitty Blooms punch pack is super-useful 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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with my post for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bloom By Bloom Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Happiness Blooms 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Calypso Coral 3/8" (1 Cm) Satin Ribbon (£5.50)	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Call Me Clover Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Happiness Blooms Memories & More Card Pack (£9.25)

I had a class today featuring the Needlepoint Nook Suite so have been making lots of cards featuring these products in the last week or so as everything has been out on my desk. Today's card is a clean-and-simple one using the current sketch over at SUO Challenges and the colour challenge over at Less Is More:

My card features two of the dies from the Needlepoint Elements Framelits used in an unconventional way - take a look:

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

A Floral Trio - When putting together one of my class cards, it occurred to me that the three leaf sprig and the three-looped piece when used together could make a sweet little flower. I had a little play and eventually decided to snip away my central green leaf before adding my pale pink flower petals, in which I left the diecut pieces in place. I created three of these flowers and added to my panel, with a little stitched edge detailing. I love it when I discover another use for a die or punch - so much versatility!

Super Subtles - I recently shared a colour family poll over on my Facebook page where I asked my followers to vote for their favourite of the Stampin' Up! colour families. I'm a Brights girl myself, however Subtles won with an overwhelming majority so for everyone who voted - this card is for you! I chose to feature Soft Sea Foam and Petal Pink on my card, possibly two of the most subtle colours in my collection and must admit the soft colours and calming green make this a favoured colour combination of mine. 

Simple Thanks - I added a simple tone-on-tone stamped sentiment to the front of my card and used my Stamparatus so that I could get ink good coverage and a strong stamped image. I just love this gadget!

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:

Needlepoint Elements Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Be Mine Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Picked For You Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)

I'm not sure how Monday turned into Wednesday, but sometimes that's just how it goes! So a quick share today with my second paper-pieced card that I originally made for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week: clean an simple paper piecing. I am totally 'on the fence' about this card - it didn't look as good as it did in my mind, so I ended up making another one for the challenge, but thought I'd share with you as I'd love to hear what you think. So here is my card:

This card used the retiring Graceful Garden stamp set and features a rose that I more often have coloured rather than paper-pieced, but I wondered what it would look like in some rose-patterned paper. I used one of the beautiful pink rose designs from the Petal Promenade pack for the flower and some Floral Romance paper for the stem. A little background stamped detail, a few artisan pearls and a sentiment finish my card. So what do you think - does it work? I really would welcome your thoughts on this one!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Graceful Garden Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Floral Romance 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£15.00)	1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch (£15.00)	1" (2.5 Cm) Circle Punch (£12.00)
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (£5.50)

Today it's Easter 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 clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Remember: this is clean and simple week. What do we mean by 'clean and simple' ? Create a card that has:

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

I struggled initially with Anne-Marie's challenge this week; I think not getting into my craft room all week hasn't helped! I had an idea for a card and then once I'd made it I really wasn't sure about it; I'll share that card tomorrow and would love you to come by and take a look and tell me what you think. Meanwhile, after a break and a change of stamp set, along with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and the CAS Colours and Sketches colour palette, I created a second card and felt much happier about the whole thing! So here's that card:

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

Paper Piecing - Not to be confused with 'paper piercing', paper piecing is the technique of stamping an image and then stamping either the whole or partial image again on coloured or patterned paper and fussy cutting it to piece it together on the main base image. I used it for both the skirt that my teacher is wearing (Blueberry Bushel in-colour DSP) and the pile of books she is carrying (a mix of Wood Textures DSP and solid colour cardstock). This is a fun way to add pattern to areas of your stamped image and can be used with a wide variety of stamps - those with larger areas suitable for colouring, such as those in the Hand Delivered hostess set, are particularly good. 

Primary Brights - I love this colour combination; the trio of primary colours is very bright and also seemed appropriate for a teacher thankyou card. I added further interest to my books by using a couple of different scraps of Wood Textures DSP for additional subtle detail. 

A Teacher Thank You - The sentiments in the 'Hand Delivered' stamp set suggest that the pile of books is intended to make a graduate congratulations card, yet I think they are perfect for a teacher card too. There is a thank you sentiment in this set, but I opted to use the words from the 'Picked For You' set instead, so that I could use a teacher-specific greeting on my front banner (both of the banner elements come from the Lakeside framelits set) and continued this theme with the wording on the inside too:

This card is sure to brighten someone's teacher's day! Both of the James Juniors have male form tutors this year, but Ben has plenty of female subject teachers who are worthy of a little end-of-year gift, so I think it might be heading to one of those. Both of these stamp sets are so useful for teachers cards, and both are set to retire with the current annual catalogue so if they're on your wishlist make sure you put them in your shopping basket before it's too late.

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 having an Easter egg hunt, followed by a roast for lunch and then an afternoon in the garden making the most of the wonderfully warm weather we have been blessed with the last couple of days - we need to make the most of it as I'm sure it won't last! Wishing you a pleasant Easter bank holiday weekend however you choose to spend it. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Hand Delivered Photopolymer Stamp Set (£12.00)	In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Picked For You Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Lakeside Framelits Dies (£25.00)

Hi everyone! I've been recovering from Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event and making the most of the Easter vacation with the James Juniors this week, so crafting time has been non-existent and blogging opportunities even less so! Today though the sun is shining and I am spending a glorious afternoon in the garden, so thought I would take the opportunity to share with you a card that I actually made as a second one that I made for the challenge set by my fellow Paper Players teamie the lovely LeAnne last week to use plaid or check on your card. Here's my card:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Christmas Plaid - Ok, so the irony of sharing a Christmas card on Good Friday isn't lost on me! However given that Stampin' Up!'s retiring lists were announced earlier this week (if you missed my post you can read all about it here) this is actually a great time to share this card as it showcases 2 products that are on that list and will be going away for good. The first of these is this fabulous plaid designer series paper that is from the 'Under the Mistletoe' pack. As is always the way, all of the designer series papers in the annual catalogue will be leaving us to make way for the new, so if you have a favourite then now is the time to stock up. If you're the type of person that 'does Christmas' all year round or likes to get ahead and work on Christmas projects during the summer months, then you should seriously consider stocking up on this paper as I can tell you that the new annual catalogue doesn't contain any festive Christmas-themed designer series paper designs, so it will be September before we have the new seasonal range on sale. You have been warned! 

Large Letters - The second retiring item on today's card are those fabulous Large Letter Framelits, which along with the co-ordinating 'Letters For You' stamp set are retiring with this catalogue. I know that the old has to make way for the new, but I will be so sad to see these go! They have been a staple in my craft collection and whilst they might leave the catalogue, they will always have a space in my die collection - they are SO useful! These will most definitely not be going into my retiring products BOGOF sale in July, so if you want a set, you need to order them now! 

A Festive Colour Combination - The paper really does do all the hard work on this card and sets the colours for each of the other elements with a can't-go-wrong festive colour combination. If this is a colour combination that appeals to you, feel free to save the image below for your future inspiration:

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'm off for a James family gathering for dinner. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Large Letters Framelits Dies (£92.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

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

What a pretty trio of spring colours Ann has for us this week! I knew exactly how I was going to use these colours. As I have been busy at Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event these last few days I needed a straightforward layout and the sketch over at Fab Friday was perfect for what I had in mind (I rotated it through 180 degrees) - take a look:

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

Fable Friends - Having resisted it for many months, I eventually caved and purchased the adorable collection of farmyard animals that is the 'Fable Friends' stamp set. I have seen one too many examples of loveliness as far as this set is concerned and decided I 'needed' to add it to my stamp collection. The mama duck and her trio of ducklings seemed just perfect for a spot of colouring with this week's colours.

A Trio of Blends - I used the combo packs of Balmy Blue, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight to colour my little duckiest, along with a little Ivory for feather detail and light Smoky Slate to ground them. So super-cute is the little trio of ducklings, I had to repeat them on the inside of my card too. I added a close-up here so that you could see how I had coloured them and to show that you don't have to be a colouring expert to get a good result:

Frame It - I used a simple frame made from two Rectangle Stitched Framelits and a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock to provide the border outline for my picture, along with some Gingham Gala check to add to the theme. My greeting is from the same set and I stamped it on Balmy Blue to make it stand out from the white space surrounding my image.

I really love this fresh, spring-inspired card - now I just need to decide who to send it to!

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; mine will be a quiet one as I feel I need to recover from the last 2 days of Onstage, which were long and hectic, whilst also fun and a great opportunity to catch up with friends. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Fable Friends Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a collection of cards that have been designed for this month's timely #SimpleStamping challenge which is to feature the 2017-19 soon-to-be-retiring in-colours, on a project using nothing more than stamps, ink and paper. I decided to use the Accented Blooms stamp set that I used on this card yesterday, with a clean and simple card that really lets these in-colours shine. 

So first of all, let's take a look at the five in-colours that we've all loved for the last two years and will soon be leaving us:

Clockwise from the left: Fresh Fig, Powder Pink, Berry Burst, Lemon-Lime Twist and Tranquil Tide in the centre. 

Do you have a favourite? Whilst I find these colours a challenge to use together on a project, you will find some great examples of projects that feature these colours in a variety of combinations elsewhere on my blog. I think if pushed I would rate Berry Burst as my favourite, but it's a close call. Each of these colours has something to offer. Here's a close-up of my favourite one:

For today's #SimpleStamping project I simply stamped the main floral image from the 'Accented Blooms' stamp set in my chosen in-colour onto a square of Whisper White cardstock measuring 9cm x 9cm and adhered it to a card base in the same in-colour, then stamped the sentiment in the same colour on a separate piece of Whisper White and cut it out by hand; you could use the Tailored Tag Punch for this for speed, but the shape is great for #SimpleStamping projects as it can be easily fussy-cut by hand too. I then popped this onto a couple of foam dimensionals and added to my project. Voila! It's that easy - I created on in each of the in-colours. Here's a peek:

I haven't yet had time to put the a quick and easy #SimpleStamping videos that demonstrate how easy this card is to put together - when I do you will see all five of these cards. Onstage has got in the way of video production this week so I'll update this post at some point early next week with the necessary demonstration!

The Accented Blooms stamp set is another one that is great for colouring but also works well with a monochromatic design too. For these cards all you need is the stamp set, one or more of the in-colours and the corresponding colour of cardstock, along with a pair of scissors and adhesive, and you are good to go! The Stamparatus will enable you to get a good solid image of the sentiment in particular, but this is by no means an essential tool to create this 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. 

If you're new to these colours you only have a few more days to guarantee their availability; when the retiring list goes live on Monday 15th April (at 8pm) these will undoubtedly be one of the first things to sell-out - and once they're gone, they're gone! 

If you are a crafter who has been enjoying these colours and can't bare to see them go, make sure you stock up on re-inkers, cardstocks and accessories now to keep you going in the months to come! You can purchase everything you need from my online store via the links below:

Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Fresh Fig Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	Fresh Fig Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Tranquil Tide A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Fresh Fig A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
2017-2019 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	2017-2019 In Color 12" X 12" Cardstock (£11.25)	In Color 2017–2019 Classic Stampin' Pad Assortment (£31.50)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)	In Color 2017–2019 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)
Powder Pink 3/8" (1 Cm) Mini Ruffled Ribbon (£7.50)	Lemon Lime Twist 3/8" (1 Cm) Mini Ruffled Ribbon (£7.50)	Tranquil Tide 3/8" (1 Cm) Mini Ruffled Ribbon (£7.50)	Berry Burst 3/8" (1 Cm) Mini Ruffled Ribbon (£7.50)	Fresh Fig 3/8" (1 Cm) Mini Ruffled Ribbon (£7.50)
2017–2019 In Color Flower Buttons (£6.50)

Enjoy your day. I'm travelling to Onstage today with my teamies and looking forward to a CentreStage leadership reception this evening so if you want to see all things new be sure to follow my Facebook page where I will do my best to share the fun and excitement 'real time'. I am organised for once and I will be back here tomorrow with another project, so do pop back for more creative inspirationfacebook. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Accented Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)

Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

2017-2019 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

In Color 2017–2019 Classic Stampin' Pad Assortment (£31.50)