Good evening blog readers! Well, what a lovely day - today it was so mild and warm it almost felt like summer! I used my washing line for the first time this year and had a lovely couple of hours out riding my bicycle with the rest of the James family this afternoon, then came home and finished carving my first set of Undefined stamps. More on that later in the week; today I have an entry for this week's Colour Q challenge, where this is the inspiration:

When I saw the colour scheme and clover leaf-type flowers, I immediately thought of St Patrick's Day; whilst not Irish myself (I'm not even wanting to admit my Welsh heritage following the Five Nations rugby results today!) this is the month when the Irish also celebrate their patron saint day, so having made daffodils for St David's Day last week, today it's the turn of the shamrock. I turned to My Digital Studio and created this Lucky Frameable, which could be used either on a card or framed as a piece of home décor:

I love these graphic frameables (here's one I did for my New year cards this year) - you can play around with them until you get the look you're after. The other bonus with using MDS for today's project is that I could use all of the suggested colours, including the retired Glorious Green.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mds Download - Digital Download

Lucky Framable Designer Template - Digital Download

Today's card is one I designed for this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge, where I was attracted by the layout and the 'frame' element that is central to the sketch:

Here is my take on the sketch:

My card is a riot of graphic patterns and colour, using the Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper as the inspiration for my colour scheme. I added a layer of texture with a Bermuda Bay panel that I dry-embossed with my Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, then layering the various elements in contrasting papers and finishing with a banner of Crushed Curry that I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in black embossing powder to give it a lovely sheen. Cutting my frame was easy with the aid of my square framelits - this is one of those times when they are invaluable. I popped my chevron punched pieces on dimensionals, using them to draw the eye to my button 'You' (this is a partial stamp of the 'You & Me' stamp in the Perfect Pennants set).

I'm not one for mix-and-match of patterns as a rule, but sometimes it's ok to step outside of your comfort zone. I hope you're all enjoying your weekend; the weather has been much warmer and brighter here in the UK today - we managed to get some time outside in the garden today, which made a nice change.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Simply Celebrate	Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
Magnetic Platform	Perfect Pennants	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry	Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush
Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Chevron Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Squares Collection Framelits Dies
Versamark Pad	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone who left comments on my blog and Facebook pages in the last couple of days about my new Box Buster from The Crafty Owl tool - I'm so glad that you are all finding this tool useful. Please feel free to share with anyone and everyone you know who likes box making and has an Envelope Punch Board; it takes all the guesswork out of box making! I have another Box Buster video tutorial for you tomorrow, but meanwhile I want to share my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players, where Ann's theme challenge this week is to make a 'Thankful for Spring' thank you card. I decided to combine the challenge with the one over at the Fusion Card Challenge, where I used the colours in the photo and the unusual sketch layout as the inspiration for my card:

I've invested in a few new sets of flower stamps lately, so was a little spoilt for choice, but decided that the lovely Sale-A-Bration Petal Parade stamp set would work perfectly with the sketch layout. Lots of my customers have chosen this item as their free Sale-A-Bration gift so I'm keen to share ideas with them on how to use it. Here's my card:

I chose a base od Summer Starfruit, then added a Whisper White layer that I had stamped with the Petal Parade flowers. I then added a top layer in Pool Party with a circle cut using my Circle Framelits to reveal the flowers beneath. I added my simple 'thanks' sentiment to the white layer beneath the curved edge of the top layer and added the Petal Parade border stamp for definition. To finish, I added some of the Summer Starfruit Sale-A-Bration baker's twine, first punching some little notches out of the Pool Party layer with the point of my mosaic punch to ensure the twine sits flat and evenly across the front of my card.

I hope you like my card; check out the links above to see what the respective design teams have created for these challenges for some great inspiration and ideas. Back tomorrow with another Box Buster video tutorial; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Petal Parade Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack	Lots Of Thanks	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Summer Starfruit Classic Stampin' Pad
Summer Starfruit A4 Card Stock	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party A4 Card Stock
Mosaic Punch	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies

Good evening lovely readers! I have finished editing my next video tutorial but have bumped it to tomorrow so that I can fit in a quick card that I made for this week's Paper Craft Crew challenge. here is this week's sketch layout:

Here is the card I made using this layout:

I went with a 4" square card for a change and a Crumb Cake base, then took a strip of Whisper White that I lightly sponged in Soft Sky across the top with Wild Wasabi across the bottom, then stamped the bunny minus the sentiment in Chocolate Chip and coloured him with Crumb Cake ink and a blender pen, before adding a candy dot for his tail. I matted this section on a strip of Chocolate Chip and then added a fringe of Wild Wasabi to the front of the card to make it look like the bunny was hiding in the grass. The new fringe scissors are great for creating grass in an instant and add a lovely texture. I then finished by wrapping some Early Espresso baker's twine around my card and tying in a bow. I stamped the sentiment onto an oval of Crumb Cake cardstock and finished with two co-ordinating banners, stamped using the Banner Blast stamp set and punched out with the matching punch. Both of these items are available free with a spend of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration - contact me or visit my online store if you would like to place a £45 order and receive these gifts for free.

I've had a busy day today so am off to bed for a well-earned rest; back tomorrow with the second in my 'Any Size' box tutorial series. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I'll be back later with another video tutorial showing you how to make another 'any size' box using your Stampin' Up! Envelope Punch Board and Box Buster from The Crafty Owl, but meanwhile I managed to grab a quick few minutes this morning to make a card for this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge. There is a great sketch from Nicole Watt this week that offers so many possibilities:

I've had my card in my head since I first saw the sketch, but only managed to get it translated into an actual card today. So here is my take on the sketch:

I went for a modern graphic card, using a sheet of the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack for my colour scheme. I punched the flowers using my Petite Petals punch without stamping them with the co-ordinating stamp set first, as I wanted to limit the pattern to the paper. I set the flowers in a section that has three holes punched with the 1" circle punch and raised this up on dimensionals to add some depth and give the flowers more of a 3D effect. I finished each of the flowers with a candy dot in either Real Red or Whisper White. having finished the card, I realised that it was one of life's rarities  - no stamping! I really like this sketch layout and I'm sure will be using it again.

Back later with another video tutorial for you; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today it's the first Monday of the month, which means one thing - card class! I'm looking forward to a fun afternoon with the ladies in the first of my classes this week, but before I go I have the first of today's blog posts for you - my card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches. This week Narelle has designed the following sketch layout:

Since Mothering Sunday falls at the end of March here in the UK (earlier than my readers from across the pond) I decided it's time to start card making with Mothers in mind, so here's what I did with today's sketch:

Using watercolour paper, I heat embossed my Happy Mother's Day sentiment in white and then using my Aquapainter and some Crisp Cantaloupe ink, I created a watercolour background. When the paper was dry, I stamped the hearts from the same set in Strawberry Slush ink over the top, stamping off some of them to create a variation in colour intensity. I stuck with the circle shape to highlight 'You're 1 in a Million' and also heat embossed this in white directly onto Strawberry Slush cardstock matted onto Crisp Cantaloupe, to echo the matting on the main section of my card. It almost looks like a badge doesn't it?

Back later with a very exciting video tutorial for you - how to make a box of any size using your envelope punch board - you're not going to want to miss it!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing some of the cards I made using the Happenings Simply Created Card Kit that features in the Spring-Summer catalogue. The kit contains everything you need to make 15 cards, including envelopes and costs just £13.50 - that equates to 90p per card, which is great value for a hand-finished card. It doesn't include inks or stamps - you can use the 'Says it All' set suggested in the catalogue, or you can use whatever sentiment sets you already own. I used a selection of stamps on my cards, and added in a few additional items on a few of them too. So here's my first card, which is made up following the basic design that is included with the kit:

I then added in some co-ordinating accessories just to change things up a little on some of my cards - I created some embossed sections using the new Arrows embossing folder and the Hexagon embossing folder:

I also used some punches to create shapes that mirrored the patterns of the die-cut accents to add some interest:

These kits would be great for a beginner or someone who hasn't stamped before, as a gift for someone or even just when time is short and you want to create a whole bunch of cards in one go, but that can be varied such that each is unique. If you would like to buy the Happenings Simply Created Kit or any of the other items I've used on my cards, just click on the links in the table below to go straight to my online store or give me a call if you're local to me and I can place the order for you. We are using these kits in my classes this week and I can't wait to see what my ladies will come up with. I managed to decorate all of cards and still have some embellishments left over to decorate a gift box to hold some of the cards I made - come back tomorrow to see a video tutorial showing how I made it using a new tool that I'm sure you will find useful!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I've had the kind of day where I feel like a true working mother - my 'to do' list is reaching epic proportions and I seem to be rushing from one thing to the next and am welcome for the break that sitting down to write my blog today has given me: and breathe ...!

Well being Welsh, there's only one thing I could share with you today: March 1st is St David's Day, the day that celebrates the patron saint of Wales, so it had to be a card featuring the national flower - daffodils. The first time I saw the Petite Petals punch I knew it would make great daffodil petals - it was the perfect shape. I've seen a few examples in blogland - the first one of which I think was by Jackie Topa - but today I'm going to share my version with you. So for working mothers everywhere and Welsh people at home and abroad, Here's today's card:

I stamped the petals in Daffodil Delight onto the same colour cardstock using the spotted flower stamp just to give some pattern, and made the trumpets by using a flower shape from the Itty Bitty Punches which I formed by scrunching around the rounded end of my paper piercing tool. here's a close up of the flowers so that you can see what I mean:

I cut some stems and leaves using the edges of my large oval punch and my paper snips, and mounted these onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock that I background stamped with the large colourwash stamp from the Happy Watercolour set to add some interest. I edged this piece with yellow for definition and mounted my decorated piece onto a Gumball Green card base. I decided to make my card into an Easter card and stamped my sentiment in Whisper White kraft ink and set it within a horizontal line that I drew in with my chalk marker.

I used this week's sketch layout at CAS(E) this Sketch for my card this week and was delighted to see that the challenge over at Less is More this week is to use yellow and green on your card - perfect!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I have a quick card for you which was inspired by both the sketch over at The Paper Players this week and last week's trio of colours over at Dynamic Duos. Here is Jaydee's sketch over at the Paper Players:

And here is my card:

I toyed with going with a literal interpretation of the sketch using nothing more than various papers for the design, but instead I decided to go down a different route and use a combination of washi tape to create my 'stripes', with a tone-on-tone Mixed Blossom flower as my focal point. I then used one of my Gorgeous Grunge stamps to add some interest to the background. This card was something of an experiment but I love the bright, bold colours and the addition of a green stem is just enough to lift the other key colours. I'm also just in time to link up with 'Less is More' where the challenge this week is to add metal to your card - whilst there is only one candy dot brad on my card, I think it serves an important purpose in bringing the whole design together.

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I've a card quite different to yesterday's - I finally caved and purchased the Hardwood background stamp, having seen so many beautiful samples of it on other people's cards and projects. I almost didn't, as I already own Woodgrain and the Wood embossing folder; but I loved the panelled effect so in my basket it went and I have inked it up for the very first time for this project. I am taking my colour inspiration from CAS Colours and Sketches this week and the tag focal point of my card was inspired by the sketch over at Retrosketches, where tags are the order of the day:

So without further ado, let me share my card with you:

With the Hardwood stamp as my neutral whitewashed background, I used a combination of Secret Garden flowers along with a little pink one from Petite Petals to decorate my tag, the tag itself being punched with the Scalloped tag Topper Punch (such a versatile punch!). I then decorated my tag with a doily, an in-colour embellishment in Strawberry Slush, a Daffodil Delight candy dot and some lovely Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon tied with some yellow seam binding ribbon along with a double-layered sentiment tag. I'm hoping I didn't get too carried away to qualify for CAS Colours and Sketches this week - I ended up with more layering and detail than I originally intended when I started out with this card, but I must say I really like the effect and love the colour combination.

That's all from me today - back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'! 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: