I've had a busy day today with an online class this morning so I'm late blogging and an just squeezing in a card for this week's challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches: 

I usually shy away from 'the double' but I still had my 'Lovely You' stamp set on my desk from this morning's class and saw an opportunity to combine something that featured in this morning's class - making our own patterned paper - with something we are looking at in our demonstration session on Thursday later this week - using our Stampin' Write markers to colour stamps - to create a card. Here's what I came up with:

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

I changed the colours to the closest current ones and used one of the Ornate Layers Dies to frame my two-colour marker inked image, and paired my randomly stamped panel with a plain green one to ground it. I added a soft white ribbon bow; in hindsight, this along with the frame makes this card a little less 'CAS' than I would usually consider a card to be, but I do like the end result.

If you would like to join me for a free 30 minute demonstration session later this week that demonstrates the techniques I used on today's card, then do leave me a comment below or send me an email and I will send you the joining details - everyone is welcome.

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:

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

I have a rather special card for you today - in fact, I have two cards for you! My sister-in-law celebrated a significant birthday recently and so I wanted something fancy to mark the occasion. I had seen an easel card using the Blossoms in Bloom bundle by Kylie Bertucci and decided to take the idea but step it up a notch with my own design and one of my favourite new products from the new annual catalogue - take a look:

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

An Easel Card Fancy Fold - Today's post is super picture-heavy, as this is the easiest way to explain how I made my card and show each of the layers/folds. Here is the card in its standing position, with an acetate front panel to showcase the Many Layered Blossoms Dies, which is attached to a trifold panel of white cardstock:

This is the card with both of the outer flaps folded in, which shows the ledge that holds the easel up when on display:

And this is how the card opens out fully, to show the inside panels, ready for my birthday message:

I decorated both of these panels with a co-ordinating pattern in the Artistry Blooms designer series paper pack, in a pretty ombre pattern that matches the pink-orange-yellow tones of the rainbow glimmer paper:

And this is the inside of the outermost flap (the one with the ledge that holds up the acetate panel on the reverse) - I used one additional layered diecut split into three pieces to decorate the outer edge and both of the inner panels:

This is how the card folds flat for mailing, although with all of those layers it is still quite bulky and probably worthy of delivery by hand:

Rainbow Glimmer Love - So the rainbow glimmer paper is definitely one of my favourite products in the new annual catalogue. Whether it's the green-blue-purple hues of yesterday's project or the pink-yellow-oranges of today, I love it!! Just look at the variation on colour and the sparkle and shimmer it has:

You can achieve a totally different look, depending on where you cut from the sheet - and as with all of our glimmer papers, there is no shedding and no mess!

Two For One - I love this glimmer paper so much, I couldn't bear to see any of it go to waste. I used some Press and Seal to keep all of the waste diecut pieces from the above card together, then created a second card where I paper-pieced these into a white outline die - take a look at both cards together to get a better idea of what I'm talking about: 

Here's my yellow card on its own - no fancy fold this time, but a yellow base and then after paper-piecing the rainbow glimmer pieces into a white layer, I then added a Blackberry Bliss outer layer for additional definition:

Here you can see the detail of the paper-piecing and layering:

I also used my offcuts to get a couple of single flowers cut and used them to decorate this inside of this card:

I know I'm biased but is that not just the prettiest pair of cards you've ever seen?! I really love both of them. A fancy fold is always fun and the rainbow glimmer paper totally moves this card up a notch in my book!

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; for my fellow Paper Player teamies and my US readers I hope you continue to enjoy and celebrate your Independence Day weekend; we have no special plans so will likely just potter today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BLOSSOMS IN BLOOM BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£55.75)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that is totally fitting for the current Color My Heart Color Dare colour combo - this challenge is celebrating it's 400th challenge, although this is a new-to-me challenge and this is only the second time I've played along (the first time was #399!)

My card is for a special celebration too - a certain member of the James household recently celebrated her 15th birthday and as anyone who has been reading my blog for a long time knows, she usually has some exacting requirements as far as her birthday card is concerned! Here is my finished card:

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

Rainbow Glimmer and Artistry Blooms - Like me, the minute Miss Rebecca saw the rainbow glimmer paper she fell in love with it - and wanted me to use the green, blue and purple hues for her card. I punched a whole bunch of balloons from this glittery paper, added an epoxy dot to highlight each one and tied each one with some silver thread tied with some retired two-tone ribbon to create my bunch. They really are so pretty and sparkly in real life! I paired them with a co-ordinating ombre paper from the Artistry Blooms pack for the perfect backdrop.Check out all that sparkle and dimension:

Everything Amazing - I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to combine my glimmer paper with; Master James came to the rescue with his '3 word' game. He suggested we choose 3 words that describe Rebecca that we should then try to incorporate into her card. One of his words was 'amazing' - which led me to the now retired 'Everything Amazing' stamp set. This set dates back to June 2019 and is now but is one I never got to use whilst it was current, so it was good to be able to give it an airing. It's also perfect for Retro Rubber this week since anything goes! I heat embossed the main sentiment in silver then infilled the words in Night of Navy.

And For The Inside - I created a customised inside with the super-useful Family Party set and perfect for special, personalised greetings:

I'm glad to report Rebecca loved her card so another successful birthday card challenge achieved!

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:

RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BALLOON BOUQUET PUNCH (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal theme challenge:

I was all set to go with sunsets and palm trees for today's cards, then I saw some of the other Design Team cards and the new challenge over at Time Out and as I perused the stamp sets on my shelf decided to go in an entirely different direction - take a look:

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

Holiday Nostalgia - I'm sure that many of you, myself included, have vacation plans have been put into disarray this year, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't remember all that is good about a vacation. The image on my card today comes from the stamp set 'Beautiful Moments' and is one I haven't used before. It reminds me of childhood summer vacations at the seaside, paddling in rock pools, building sandcastles and shell collecting, always with a bucket and spade in hand and this image could well have been my sister and I some 40+ years ago! I coloured it with my Stampin' Blends in pastel shades for a feeling of softness. 

Texture and Layers - I split the colours on my base and panels to loosely represent sand and sea/sky and added a panel of vellum to blur the join. I also ran the whole of the layered panel through my Subtles embossing folder to add some subtle texture and interest and wrapped the join with a linen thread bow.

A Beachcomber Embellishment - I was intrigued by Time Out's optional twist to add an embellishment; normally I would have left my card alone at this point, but on the windowsill in my office I have a vase filled with shells. These shells were all collected in the Caribbean as an adult and I keep them because they are beautiful and remind me of happy times and warm, sunny days and most of them are quite large, but there are also some that are teeny-tiny. I selected a pretty, tiny pearlescent shell from my jar and adhered it next to my bow - job done! I am also linking today's card over at Global Design Project as it fits with their theme this week of fun in the sun.

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

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Today is a bittersweet day in the James household: young Master James is spending the last day at the prep school he has attended for the last 4 years, before embarking on pastures new in September. He has had the best time at this school and we are thankful that he has been able to return to school for the last 2 weeks to have some goodbye fun with his friends and fellow leavers before they all embark on pastures new in September, but we are all sad to be going our separate ways too. I think tissues will be needed at pickup today! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	SUBTLE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)
LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	STAMPIN' BLENDS POOL PARTY COMBO PACK (£8.50)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS SO SAFFRON COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS FLIRTY FLAMINGO COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS MINT MACARON COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS PURPLE POSY COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing another card for the current challenge over at Fab Friday to use some/all of Stampin' Up!'s new in-colors, as I finally got over my 'use all 5 colours' mental block when I saw the current inspiration over at Time Out:

I saw that frilly cake and cute pinata cake topper and realised that frills would be a great way to use all five colours so I grabbed my fringe scissors and set about creating a rainbow of in-colors just like the frills on that fabulous cake - take a look:

I paired my frills with a simple birthday sentiment, a sprinkling of in-color enamel dots and a co-ordinating Magenta Madness ribbon and bow to complete my quick and colourful birthday 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. 

One final reminder that today is the last day you can take advantage of additional hostess rewards on orders over £200 or this month's great joining offer - if you need a reminder you can find the full details here. 

That's all from me today - lots to do! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

2020–2022 IN COLOR ENAMEL DOTS (£7.50)	2020–2022 IN COLOR A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS 2020–2022 IN COLOR RIBBON (£5.50)
ITTY BITTY BIRTHDAYS CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)

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

With all these lovely layers I decided Claire's sketch was perfect to showcase some designer series paper. Lots to choose from, but I eventually settled on the Flowers For Every Season paper again - I've been having so much fun with these floral designs. This is what I came up with:

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

Flowers For Every Season - I chose two co-ordinating patterns with a Misty Moonlight background for today's card - I love this blue and I've been itching to use this sunflower floral pattern. This paper contains four of the five new in-colours, so is also perfect for the current challenge over at Fab Friday, where the aim is to use one or more of these new colours. These papers really are the star of my card and I wanted them to be prominent; I used the Flowers For All Season twine to represent the vertical panel/column so that it wouldn't detract from or obscure the florals beneath.

A Wish For Everything - The sentiment on this card could be used for a number of different occasions and it is definitely one of my favourites in the 'A Wish For Everything' set.

Memories and More - I added a co-ordinating floral embellishment from the Flowers For Every Season Memories and More pack to my stitched rectangle sentiment panel, with a twist of Cinnamon Cider ribbon beneath it for added decoration. Here's a closer look: 

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 have no big plans today, just a day of pottering around the house and some cooking - we have some new recipes that we would like to try out, so that should be fun.  I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON MEMORIES & MORE CARD (£10.25)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	STITCHED RECTANGLES DIES (£33.00)	A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (EN) (£36.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
2020–2022 IN COLOR ENAMEL DOTS (£7.50)	CINNAMON CIDER 2020–2022 IN COLOR RIBBON (£5.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£9.25)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host and the lovely Shannon is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I must confess I totally struggled with our board this week! I found myself getting 2 out of 3 squares, but struggling to make a complete row. In the end I grabbed this week's CAS Colours & Sketches sketch for my layout and went down the first column with polka dots, sequins and summer and this is what I came up with:

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

A Dotty Dilemma - I got hung up on so many things on this card, including the polka dots! I couldn't find any dotty papers in summery colours but found a scrap of retired polka dot Brights DSP in Daffodil Delight lurking in the scrap box, so went with it!!

A Cocktails Kind of Day - The weather has been glorious here in the UK this week, with yesterday being the hottest day of the year at 31.8 degrees centigrade recorded and the forecasters are predicting that today will be hotter still! For me cocktails are definitely associated with summer - either a vacation treat or something to be enjoyed on a warm summer evening in the garden. I may or may not have indulged in a rhubarb gin cocktail already this week and this inspired the pink drink on my card. The cocktail and diecut sentiment are courtesy of the new 'Nothing's Better Than' bundle that allows options for cocktails, cookies, coffee and chocolate-themed cards too; I love this set and know I will use it lots!

Sunshine and Sprinkles - To further emphasise the sunshine element of my card, I added a stamped and fussy cut sun from the retired set 'Day at The Beach' which I seem to be getting a lot of use out of lately and a scattering of retired iridescent sequins and sprinkles in co-ordinating colours. Check out that sparkle:

I actually really love this card and looking at the end result I can't believe it took me so long to get there!! I am also linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges who are also challenging us to celebrate summer this week and I'm definitely doing that!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I have lots to do today and will be trying to get everything done without melting into a heap. I might have to reward myself this evening with a cocktail! I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

NOTHING'S BETTER THAN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

A quick post from me this evening - it's too hot to be at the PC! I'm sharing a card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge where they have this great layout:

I decided instead of a floral that I would decorate my label with a goat. Yes, you did read that correctly - take a look:

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

I am in the process of finishing up my teacher thank you cards, and whilst a little unconventional, I thought this goat and sentiment from the new 'Way To Goat' stamp set would be perfect for a teacher with a sense of humour! I coloured him with my Grey Granite Stampin' Blends and used a label from the Wild Rose Dies. I kept my cardbase simple with a textured panel and used Shaded Spruce as a nod to the school colour. Simple and guaranteed to raise a smile from the recipient! 

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:

WAY TO GOAT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)	TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WILD ROSE DIES (£32.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS GRAY GRANITE COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS SO SAFFRON COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Happy Monday everyone! Today is a special day - not one, but two, yes both of the James Juniors are back to school! There was much excitement in the James household this morning and whilst it's only for a couple of weeks, and for one it's only for a couple of days each week, the excitement at seeing friends and teachers face to face again was palpable! The house is now eerily silent, but it does mean that I am racing through my jobs today and am getting my blog post in early too! Today I'm sharing a card that I made inspired by the lovely Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

A super versatile sketch I'm sure you'll agree and I decided to get snipping for my floral creation today - take a look:

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

Flowers For Every Season - Whilst flowers are by no means mandatory for this sketch, I initially reached for my Flowers For Every Season Memories and More cards as I wanted to incorporate the adhesive sentiments into my card. I couldn't find any flowers that worked for me though, so I reached for my co-ordinating papers and decided to get fussy cutting! I wanted to create some layering with my flowers, with some behind and some in front of my label, so separated the flowers to make this work. 

A Sweet Label - My sentiment label is from the Stitched So Sweetly Die set - such a great set for labels with a good variety of shapes and sizes. 

Textile Texture - I added some texture to the top layer of my Misty Moonlight cardstock using the new Textile Texture embossing folder which is lovely for a little extra detail.

This card was simple to put together once the fussy cutting was completed. I used another leftover edge piece of DSP to decorate the inside of my card too:

Waste not, want not and all that!

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 racing through my jobs before early school pick up. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON MEMORIES & MORE CARD (£10.25)	TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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 I have a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

I always need lots of thank you cards and at this time of year as the academic year is coming to and end, even more so. A good clean and simple design that can be easily replicated can come in very handy. So a quick reminder for you - over at The Paper Players, what do we mean by Clean and Simple?

I decided to play along with a new-to-me-challenge Color My Heart Color Dare and go with a monochromatic yellow card to test run my new in-color Bumblebee ink with my Celebrate Sunflowers set - take a look:

I kept my card super-simple, with a white card base, a piece of in-colour DSP in Bumblebee and then added a white panel onto which I had stamped a partial sunflower in yellow and added a scored border detail. I offset this panel onto the DSP and added a trio of enamel dots and a white on yellow heat embossed sentiment, that I fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals.

I like the finished card so much I think I'll make a few more in the other in-colours and use these for the first of my in-colour club cards this month!

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 having bike rides today and one of the James Juniors is having a socially distanced picnic with a few of her girlfriends today to celebrate her birthday earlier this week.. The rest of the day will be spent getting ready for the big return to school as both James Juniors will be back this week!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CELEBRATE SUNFLOWERS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	2020–2022 IN COLOR ENAMEL DOTS (£7.50)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)