It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the awesomely artistic Sandy's turn to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with and a fun 'magical' theme:

I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches again (Karren definitely came up trumps with this one!) and just had to go with unicorns for my card today - take a look:

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

Myths And Magic - So I broke one of my 'clean and simple' rules with today's card in my use of designer series paper across the whole of my card front; this Myths and Magic DSP is to good to cut down though. I am happy to pass up my 'white space' for these sweet, sparkly unicorns - I love them! Each and every one of them shimmers with glitter. 

A Magical Unicorn Day - I stamped and coloured another unicorn to anchor my sentiment and covered the body of this one in Dazzling Diamonds glitter too - Wink of Stella wasn't enough for this one! I also added a trio of pearls that I coloured with my Pool Party Stampin' Blends. My unicorn had to be pink - this is headed for a girly girl, so nothing else would do.

Fairy Words - I added a solid banner of Melon Mambo to back my skinny sentiment, taken from the 'Fairy Celebration' set, as this suited the sketch better than those in Magical Day. 

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 am so sad that this set is retiring at the end of May - it's one of my favourites in the current seasonal catalogue and I haven't used it nearly enough! Rebecca is obsessed with mermaids and unicorns, so I know I will get plenty more use from it yet; I definitely won't be parting with it anytime soon, for sure.

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

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and aim for lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We are finally getting some nice weather here in the UK so I will be aiming to spend as much time outdoors as possible; I think Spring may finally be on its way. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Magical Day Wood-Mount Stamp Set (£27.00)	Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)	Fairy Celebration Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£17.00)	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (£4.50)
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I managed to get into my craft room yesterday for the first time in over a week and spent a pleasant few hours attempting a few of my favourite challenges and creating some cards to share with you over the next few days. Today I'm sharing a card using this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - the lovely Karren Johnson is hosting and the minute I saw her sketch an idea popped into my head which also fits the bill at CASology  this week:

This is a sketch with so many possibilities (I actually made a few different cards with it!) but I thought it would be perfect to create a fun slider card with a hidden message. Here is my card using one of the sweet little pigs from the 'This Little Piggy' stamp set - take a look:

I used a white cardbase and adhered a panel of Myths and Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper across the lower half, having first cut a channel to accommodate my slider and the first part of my message. I coloured my pig with Stampin' Blends and added a liberal coat of clear Wink of Stella to his wings, then fussy cut him and added him to my pull tab strip. When you pull the tab to the right, the little piggy 'flies' across the card and reveals the second part of the sentiment:

How fun is that?! A clean and simple card to wish someone good luck or congratulations, with a fun surprise element.

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 for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

This Little Piggy Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Circle Tab Punch (£16.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.25)

I have another information post lined up for you today with even more information on the Colour Revamp and the new ink pads, but first it's time for a little creative inspiration for this week's challenge over at Addicted to CAS that will hopefully bring a little colour to yet another grey, wet and miserable UK day as far as the weather is concerned:

My card is super simple with a loose, watercoloured rainbow background - take a look:

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

Watercolour Rainbow - To create my background, I simply took a selection of inks - Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry - and using my aquapainter, wet my watercolour paper and brushed the various colours across the background, allowing them to blend as I painted. No science to it - as simple as that! 

Farewell, Umbrella Weather - Once dried, I used my Umbrella Weather Framelits to cut out some clouds from my watercolour panel to reveal the grey clouds below. My black diecut umbrella is from the same set. Both the framelits and co-ordinating 'Weather Together' stamp set are retiring at the end of May, so if these are on your wishlist still you need to purchase them now before they are gone for good.

Epoxy Glitter Raindrops - These little glittery raindrops from the seasonal catalogue really are so pretty and really make this card; they catch the light and reflect the rainbow of colours beneath. 

This is one of those cards that definitely looks better in real life - so pretty with the variagated colour and the sparkly raindrops! A lovely pick-me up to brighten someone's day.

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 soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Weather Together Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	Umbrella Weather Framelits Dies (£22.00)	Watercolor Paper (£4.50)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)

I've been away at Stampin' Up!'s UK Onstage event for the last couple of days, having a ball with some of my team and lots of my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators. Today it's Sunday though, I'm back and it's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my awesome friend LeAnne to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for you to work with:

I love purples although was a little short on time to prepare my card for this week so I decided to go for a large focal sentiment to help me along the way this week. It was a good opportunity to open my as yet un-inked Floral Sentiments stamp set  - take a look:

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

Floral Statements - I chose the feature the large 'Thanks' sentiment from the Floral Statements stampset and coloured it with a mix of markers: my 3 retired Wisteria Wonder Blandabilities for the petals and my Tranquil Tide Stampin' Write marker for the leaves. This stamp set is great as it really does much of the work for you - it doesn't leave room for much else! 

Layered Leaves - I backed my stamped panel with an offset panel of Elegant Eggplant that I embossed with my layered leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; I know you can't see much of it, yet the peeks of texture add a welcome added detail.

Drops of Glitter - I added a few of the Glitter and Clear epoxy dots, along with some clear Wink of Stella on the flower petals and a sliver of doily, to complete my card.

This card really was quick to put together with some built in de-stress as a result of the time it took to colour it in too - bonus! In hindsight, I wish I'd heat embossed the stamp in black for a little more shine and contrast; something to try next time.

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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend; my day will hopefully be a quiet one as I relax with my new catalogue for the umpteenth time to drool over the new stamp sets and product coming our way. Do come  back tomorrow as I will have lots of important announcements with regard to this month's retirement list; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Floral Statements Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£16.00)	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Elegant Eggplant A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Wisteria Wonder A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.50)	Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)

No, it's no April Fools - it's another two-post day today! I have spent a relaxing day being treated to Sunday lunch, along with my fair share of chocolate eggs following this morning's obligatory Easter egg hunt and I wanted to share an exploding box card that I made recently that is just perfect for this week's challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper before it closes this evening:

My card looks rather inconspicuous from the outside, just like a simple lidded box. Yet when the lid is removed, my unassuming card 'explodes' and opens up to reveal a 3 dimensional basket of flowers - take a look at this top-down view, showing all of the flaps and pockets - you can also see the layering within my basket:

And here you can see properly what the flower basket centrepiece looks like:

A sweet basket of flowers, complete with butterfly, on a base edged with grass. Isn't that fun?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

Picnic With You - I used the stamps and framelits from the Picnic With You bundle to create my basket, cutting four basket pieces scoring and glueing at the corners to create a 3 dimensional basket to hold my flowers. I love the embossed basket weave detail that is added with the speciality piece in the Picnic Basket Builder Framelit set - it adds great detail and interest.  

In-Colour Colour Combo - My card features Berry Burst flowers and makes a real feature of the In Color designer series paper in Tranquil Tide. Whilst my main box is made out of Whisper White, the lid is made from Tranquil Tide DSP and I've carried this through for the pockets and mats for the inside of my card. I added a little Pool Party butterfly for an unexpected pop of contrasting colour. I love this deep, yet fresh colour combo - feel free to save it if you would like to use it for your future project inspiration:

Pockets and Tabs - I added a generic message from the Picnic With you stamp set on one of the inner flaps of my card, and another on the right hand side after I took this photo that displayed a 'Happy Mother's Day' message (this card was for my Mother-In-Law for Mother's Day - I knew she would appreciate something a little different and it I could deliver by hand, another bonus!) In addition, the pockets contained two simple slide out cards, with simple tabs courtesy of the Circle Tab Punch (such a useful punch!) - we wrote messages on ours but they would also be a great place to add some photos or even some Memories & More cards perhaps.

Here's another photo showing the centre of my card in detail: 

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 hope you have all enjoyed your day and I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Picnic With You Photopolymer Bundle (£37.75)	Whisper White 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock (£5.50)	Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper Stack (£20.00)	Tranquil Tide A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Circle Tab Punch (£16.00)	Tranquil Tide 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon (£6.25)

Happy Easter Sunday wishes everyone! It's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazingly talented Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

I don't have much in the way of music-themed supplies in my collection and usually end up resorting to my e-cutter to create music-themed cards and gifts (you can see some of my previous examples here and here), so I was thrilled to see the Epic Celebrations set in this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion. As the wife of a guitarist and the other mother of two almost-teens, one of whom is in a band and both of whom are into either listening to or playing music in a big way, this set was a must-have for me. So whilst Sale-A-Bration has now ended, this set is a keeper and I just had to use it on today's card. I also used this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout - take a look:

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

Epic Tone on Tone - I decided to use a simple tone-on-tone stamped background in Real Red using the guitar stamp to create some detail and to highlight my main focal image, which I stamped and heat embossed in black on watercolour paper, then coloured with my aqua painter. I added this to a collection of stars and bits and pieces to add a touch of 'glam rock' to my card. 

A LittleSheet Music - The border panel is a section of the background stamp 'Sheet Music', which I simply stamped onto Whisper White and cut out a section for added interest in keeping with the theme.

A Punny Sentiment - My punny sentiment is courtesy of the now-retired 'Crazy About You' set, which was perfect for this card. I also used the 'You're Awesome' sentiment from the Epic Celebrations set on 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. 

This card is headed to my pile as a thank you for one of Rebecca's teachers; she will be performing the role of Brigitte in her whole school production of Rogers & Hammerstein's 'The Sound of Music' next term and there are an army of staff involved in making this happen, including her Maths teacher, who also plays electric guitar. The girls at school think he is super cool, so this card will be perfect for him!

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

I can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - enjoy your Easter egg hunts and eat as much chocolate as you can safely consume! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Epic Celebrations Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£0.00)	Sheet Music Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£13.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Watercolor Paper (£4.50)
Metallic Foil Doilies (£3.75)	Hearts & Stars Elements (£5.50)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Silver Foil Sheets (£3.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I'm back for a second post today! I had a little time for a spot of crafting this morning - I feel like I haven't been in my craft room to make something 'just because' in such a long time! So somewhat ironically, given that it's Easter weekend, I made a Christmas card! Yes - I couldn't resist making a card to join in with the challenge over at Merry Monday this week: 

I decided to use the cute little sausage dog from the Ready For Christmas stamp set, still available on carryover from the last Autumn-Winter seasonal catalogue, along with some retired Christmas Around The World tartan designer series paper:

I had a little fun with this card, and paper pieced both the occasional table and the dog using two different patterns from the Wood Textures DSP stack - don't you just love the honey-colour of that naughty-but-cute dachshund?! And a simple sentiment on the inside from the same set 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Ready For Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Christmas Staircase Thinlits Dies (£35.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£27.00)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£9.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Regals Enamel Shapes (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

I've a quick post for you this evening to share a card I made a couple of months ago in my Sale-A-Bration class using one of the Sale-A-Bration sets that has been hugely popular with my customers - take a look:

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

Heartfelt Blooms - Heartfelt Blooms is one of Stampin' Up!'s new Distinktive stamps: they lay down ink at different opacities, giving the finished image more depth. When you look at the stamp itself, you almost wonder if it will stamp anything, yet lightly inking the stamp results in a perfect photographic finish. The set also has three useful, beautifully scripted sentiments too - I particularly like the wording of the one I used on this card.

A Touch Of Colour -  The Heartfelt Blooms image can either be stamped in a single colour to create a simple monochromatic card, or stamped in a neutral base that allows colour to be added. Today's card is based on one that appeared in our quarterly demonstrator magazine where the image is stamped in Archival Black on Shimmery White cardstock, then colour is subtly added over the image using inks and an aquapainter. 

Petal Passion Stripes - I paired the image with an angled panel of Petal Passion striped designer series paper; the brushstroke-style stripes compliment the image perfectly.

If you would like to add this set to your stamp collection, you only have another couple of days to do so before the end of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion, after which it will be gone forever!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Heartfelt Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£0.00)	Aqua Painters (£15.50)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad (£6.50)	Petal Passion Designer Series Paper (£10.00)
Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Old Olive 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon (£6.25)
Old Olive Baker's Twine (£2.75)	Iridescent Sequin Assortment (£4.50)

Happy Monday everyone! Yes it's a late post following a busy day as always, but as promised I have another card using yesterday's sketch over at The Paper Players that is also perfect for this week's TGIF Challenge:

I loved this sketch and in addition to yesterday's party-themed cards (you can see those here if you missed them) also used it to make a fun masculine card - I didn't post it yesterday as my PP teamie, the lovely Jan Clothier, had the same idea and used the same set, so I saved mine until today. It also demonstrates one of my favourite ways to use my Stampin' Write markers - take a look:

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

True Gentleman - Classic patterns and elongated hexagons make the True Gentleman Suite tasteful, tailored and irresistible; this is how the catalogue describes this suite and whilst this isn't a set that sits at the top of my list, I do love the DSP patterns and colours (surprise, surprise!) and the clean, block style of the fonts in the Truly Tailored stamp set. And whilst I haven't used it here, the Tailored Tag Punch is a lovely modern, angular label that can be used with many other sets too. There are traditional masculine browns in this suite, but I chose to feature the brighter blues and greens on my card today, picking out the Crushed Curry yellow from the plaid background pattern with my baker's twine bow for an additional pop of colour.

Direct To Stamp - I used my Stampin' Write markers in one of my favourite ways on today's card; by colouring the sentiment directly with my markers, I was able to use both Tranquil Tide and Night of Navy on one stamp. I was also able to highlight certain areas of the stamp in order to alter the layout: if you compare my stamped image to that of the original stamp in the table below, you will see I omitted the moustache altogether and split the top line of the sentiment and stamped it on the upper portion of my circle, with the remainder on the bottom leaving a space in between.

Build A Bowtie - I decided to put that space between my custom-coloured sentiment to good use and add a bowtie - not a stamped one though, rather one punched with the Bow Builder Punch - dapper indeed! I finished the centre of my bow with a little of the textured corduroy ribbon that I used to edge my panel too as a fun finishing touch.

I also used two different colour markers on one stamp on the inside of my card too - although can't seem to find the photo of that, so will have to retake and add it to my post later.

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'll be back tomorrow with a couple of fun and simple Easter projects. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Truly Tailored Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	True Gentleman Designer Series Paper (£10.00)	Night Of Navy 3/8" (1 Cm) Corduroy Ribbon (£7.25)	True Gentleman A4 Cardstock Pack (£7.25)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crushed Curry Solid Baker’S Twine (£2.75)	Regals Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)	Chocolate Chip & Tranquil Tide Stampin' Write Markers (£6.25)	Banner Triple Punch (£21.00)
Bow Builder Punch (£16.00)	Regals Enamel Shapes (£8.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my amazing friend Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I could have gone so many ways with this sketch! I have not one, but two cards, to share with you today - both with a fun party theme. Here's the first one - take a look:

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

Picture Perfect Party - Both of my cards today feature papers with the bold, photographic images featured in the Picture Perfect Party DSP Stack. In bright, celebratory colours, these papers are perfect for a large expanse of background and work really well as the background for my fun, party-themed cards. I used the offcut from my card panel to continue the decoration through to my envelope to with a colourful envelope liner.

Picture Perfect Birthday - I used the co-ordinating Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set to decorate the sentiment circles on the front of my card. I was lucky to receive this set free when I attended Onstage last November, which really was fortunate for me as I think this is a set I might otherwise have overlooked. It contains some great, scripted fonts that work for birthdays and more general celebrations and has some fun confetti, candle, tooter and ribbon bow images too. In addition to using it to decorate the outside of my card, I added a little colour to the inside too:

Finishing Touches - To finish my cards, I added some gold tinsel trim and a strip of fringed cardstock to the one above and some silver baker's twine and mini silver sequin trim with a strip of fringed cardstock to the card below:

And here's the inside of this card too:

Two cards using the same layout and supplies, each with a different pattern and sentiment. The Picture Perfect Party Suite is perfect for creating batches of birthday cards with a minimum of supplies. 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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We are minus one James Junior who is away on a short hockey tour for a few days, so will be spending the day researching hurricanes with James Junior number 2 for a geography project in between a little crafting too I hope!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project that also uses this same sketch but has a totally different feel, so do come back and take a look at that card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Picture Perfect Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper	Picture Perfect Party A4 Cardstock Pack	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock	Love Mini Tinsel Trim Combo Pack
Silver Baker’S Twine	Silver Mini Sequin Trim	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Banner Triple Punch