I've had two days of back-to-back classes so things have been fairly busy here!  A quick post from me today to share the card that I mentioned in my Paper Players post on Sunday. Our theme this week is 'colours of the rainbow' so I couldn't resist creating one with the cupcake die in the Detailed Birthday Edgelit Die set too - take a look:

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

A Rainbow Of Cupcakes - Just like Sunday's card - you can see it here if you missed it - I wanted to utilise all of the colours of the rainbow on my card. I played around with the edgelits on this card too in order to accommodate this, cutting two sets of three cupcakes from one piece of Whisper White cardstock to give me a total of six cupcakes. I used my seventh and final rainbow colour, violet, or in this case Highland Heather, as the background for my card and to highlight the detail on the cupcake cases.

 A Little Paper Piecing - The pieces for the cupcake details are larger and easier to manipulate than for the presents die, so on today's card I used the edgelits to cut a set of cupcakes in each colour and used the pieces from the frosting to inlay them into my white die surround.

Go Long - As a result of using two diecuts joined at the centre, my cardfront is long and narrow as opposed to the standard A6 size that I usually make. This is a nice way to ring the changes with a card and with my BoxBuster tool and trusty Envelope Punch Board on hand to make a custom envelope, need not be an issue when it comes to needing to mail it.

There's very little stamping on today's card - just a heat-embossed sentiment on the front and a greeting with cupcake decoration inside:

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:

Birthday Cheer Cling Bundle (£42.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Brights A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

I so enjoyed making my cards for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players that I shared with you yesterday, that I just had to make more with those fabulous little elves. As such today I'm sharing another card that I made using products from the Santa's Workshop Suite, along with a gift voucher holder made using the Envelope Punch Board. Both of these use the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the basis for my layout:

First up is my card - full of busy elves! Take a look:

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

More Santa's Workshop - I'm loving this elf patterned paper and whilst it's busy, it seemed the perfect background to accompany my sweet elf and his accompanying pile of Christmas presents. I love how the sentiment is in two halves and carries over neatly to the inside of my card:

Stitched Shapes and Layered Ovals - With all those elves, I wanted to keep the rest of my card fairly simple, so used a large stitched oval to create some additional white space around my sentiment, layered on a scallop-edged oval in Poppy Parade for definition. Whilst I don't often use ovals, preferring circles or squares generally, sometimes an oval is the shape that works best for balance. One thing I do use lots though are my Stitched Shapes Framelits - these are on my Top 5 Framelits Of All Time list (I must publish that list one of these days!) - a must have for adding subtle detail to your frames.

Envelope Punch Board Gift Card Holder - having made my card, I still had a couple of elves with flocked hats left that I had diecut from the Santa's Workshop DSP and decided that I would use the same basic layout but in a landscape orientation to get a headstart on my Christmas Gift Voucher holders. I created a simple wallet using my trusty Envelope Punch Board to create the closure; this is similar to ones I've created previously, only I decided to 'go large' this time and create a wallet large enough to hold £10 notes - I have growing nieces and nephews and these days, only cash will do so I am finding I need to come up with ever more creative ways to gift it! This wallet measures 6" x 6" square and again uses the sketch for the front layout (the stamp I used is from last year's retired Merry Little Labels set):

The wallet opens to reveal a sliding pocket insert, where the money sits in the pocket flap which opens to reveal Christmas wishes and with enough space above to include a personalised message: 

I love this style of wallet and make them often. If you would like the dimensions, then just leave a comment below - I'm thinking this might be worth another blog post in itself! 

This wallet would also be great to fill with Stampin' Up! gift vouchers for a crafty friend or even to treat yourself - if you would like to order Stampin' Up! gift vouchers for Christmas and receive them beautifully packaged in a wallet like this, then do get in touch and place your order.

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:

Santa's Workshop 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Santa's Signpost Framelits Dies (£30.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Bundle (£45.00)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Garden Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)

It's Saturday and today I have a special post for you since I, along with the talented Kayla Macaulay, am a guest with the lovely ladies over on the Stampin' Creative Design Team Blog Hop:

You may have just arrived from the colourful Pip Todman over at Queen Pip Cards or alternatively this may be your first stop. Either way, welcome and be sure to continue to the next stop along the hop by clicking on the next name in the list below for more creative ideas. This month the theme is 'party central' and there are lots of ideas and inspiration for parties for many different occasions throughout the hop. 

When I started thinking about what I was going to create today, I immediately jumped to my collection of new catalogue products wondering which new set to use. But in actual fact, I ended up using one of the most long-standing staple items in my crafting arsenal for the majority of my makes today: my Layering Circles Framelits. The next party that I need to plan will be that of the youngest of the James Juniors and whilst we've had lots of debate about what form it will take, one thing is for sure - no party that centres around 11 year old boys is complete without some form of Nerf battle these days, so I decided to get ahead and take the opportunity to start making with this in mind. 

First up is a birthday card that I actually made for a friend of his who is celebrating his birthday today: I used the currently popular 'impossible card' fancy fold and along with some partial diecutting to create a Nerf target for the popped-up section. These cards are really not at all tricky to make, despite their name! You simply score across the horizontal and then make a single cut at the centre of one panel at right angles to this (I made mine at 3"), followed by two cuts wherever you like on the facing panel (mine are at (1 5/8" in from each edge) and then fold each half in opposite directions, leaving a gap front and back and creating the central pop-up. I kept the colour scheme really simple, using the new in-colours Blueberry Bushel and Grapefruit Grove, both of which are a perfect match for Nerf guns and foam bullets, and having layered my diecut target circles added a sight and a bullet popped up on dimensionals for a fun touch. Some in-colour Blueberry Bushel patterned paper and a sentiment courtesy of the Perennial Birthday stamp set finish my card.

This 'impossible card' fold is a fun way to add dimension and interest to a card whilst still enabling it to be folded flat for mailing. My card is an irregular size, since the size of the base was determined by the diameter of the outer target circle. The card measures 5 1/4" x 6" when flat, so requires a bespoke envelope which I created using my trusty Envelope Punch Board with the help of my Envelope Expert tool. 

 The other targets you can see in the forefront of my card are some cake toppers I made. I am currently in the middle of a kitchen renovation and have only a microwave and the BBQ for cooking, so there was no opportunity to bake any cakes to put them in but I'm sure you get the idea!

I also created a fun party favour using Stampin' Up!'s Mini Pizza Boxes. I'm so glad these made it into the annual catalogue, they really are so useful for dressing up for all kinds of things. I brayed my box with Bluberry Bushel ink then created a belly band with another target on top and a thank you tag. Can you guess what is inside?

Yes, more foam Nerf bullets! The Mini Pizza Boxes are the perfect size to house 14 bullets and since the children seem to use hundreds of these when they are playing in their Nerf battles, I figured a few more each wouldn't go amiss!

 Lastly for today I also created a set of freestanding spinning Nerf targets, based on this one I saw over at Frugal Fun 4 Boys. If you click on the link you can follow the instructions to make your own - I simply used a collection of layered circles, adding in some Whisper White and Granny Apple Green for more colour variety. This is great for indoor or outdoor use, so I'm sure will be added to the toybox supplies. This is my tester in action, declaring it to be too easy - I think he needs to move further away so that it's more of a challenge!

I hope you liked my collection of fun party ideas, that in fact require very little in the way of supplies to make. I have another Nerf-themed birthday card to share, which is the one I have made for Ben's birthday, but will save that for another 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. 

For now, why not continue the blog hop for more creative party ideas? Do check out them rest of the Stampin’ Creative team to see what celebrations they have been preparing for. To carry on with the hop click on the names in the list below:

Enjoy the rest of your day. Mine will be a busy one, with a Family Fun Day, birthday party and sleepover (thankfully not at my house!) and the final performance of The Sound of Music for my eldest singing superstar - can't wait. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's post over at The Paper Players where the celebrations continue as we are celebrating our 400th birthday! We have a very special challenge for you as a result with lots of prizes to give away too so do pop back then - you are not going to want to miss it. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£33.00)	1/2" (1.3 Cm) Circle Punch (£5.50)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Grapefruit Grove A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Mini Pizza Boxes (£5.50)	Happy Birthday Gorgeous Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Envelope Punch Board (£19.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our fearsome leader, the fabulous Nance, to host this week and she has a rather pretty theme challenge for you to work with:

This challenge was made for me as I am a dedicated tea drinker! Coffee not so much, but I can drink as many as 10 cups of tea a day on average - definitely my drink of choice! I don't have much current product with a tea theme though, so wondered how I was going to tackle Nance's challenge this week, when I remembered the colouring paper in the current catalogue and voila - both my card and an accompanying little tea-related gift were created! First up, my card:

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

Just Add Color - One of the patterns in the Just Add Color Specialty Designer Series Paper pack is a sheet covered in all kinds of tea cups and teapots, so I cut a strip from the top of a sheet of paper, grabbed my Stampin' Blends and got to work. I went for a longer, thinner card this week and allowed the DSP pattern to dictate the dimensions for my card base.

Get Blending - Given that some of the teacups contain succulents rather than tea, this week's colour palette over at The Color Throwdown was perfect for my project. I used my Calypso Coral, Old Olive and Crumb Cake Blends, with the top portion coloured in Ivory. This paper is both very thick and matt, so alcohol markers do not blend quite as well as they do on Whisper White. This is particularly noticable on the larger areas such as the table and wall behind the teaset, however I quite like the effect - it gives an almost chalk effect, like rough plaster, so certainly works on my card.

Anyone For Tea? - Having completed my card, I was left with an offcut of DSP with a teapot and teacup. Rather than put this in my scrap box never to be seen again, I decided to use it up so coloured it and made a little tea bag holder containing a few wrapped tea bags that I could gift with my card. I also added a sentiment from the retired set 'Have A Cuppa', mounted on a punched scallop circle - here it is:

I cut my tea bag holder larger than was actually needed to accommodate the tea bags, as I didn't want to cut down the DSP; I just made my wrap and tea bag envelope holders, made with the Envelope Punch Board, slightly larger too. This is what it looks like on the inside - I used some Whole Lot of Lovely designer series paper for my little tea bag envelope pockets:

Did you spot the little tea pot trinket embellishment too? This is retired but it's at times like this I'm so glad I hoard these bits and pieces, as it finished off my package a treat :-) I love this fun set - I think I might send it to my Mum, as she is a keen tea drinker 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 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 how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a 3 day weekend here in the UK as it's a national Bank Holiday on Monday and for once the weather is glorious, so I will definitely be outside making the most of it. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Just Add Color Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Old Olive 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon (£6.25)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£14.50)	Whole Lot Of Lovely Designer Series Paper (£10.00)
Linen Thread (£4.25)

It's the week before Easter already and so today I'm sharing a couple of really simple 3D projects that I made with a group of wonderful ladies last month that are perfect for holding Easter treats and also fit with the challenge over at Global Design Project this week:

The first one is an super easy Easter basket made with one of my most favourite tools EVER, the Envelope Punch Board  - take a look:

I love the Envelope Punch Board - my Envelope Expert and Box Buster tools are testament to that! - but it's great for lots more fun projects besides. Here I made my basket out of one of the Delightful Daisy DSP papers, decorated with some stamped and punched daisies and some faceted gems - a rather grown-up Easter basket, if you will, given the absence of bunnies! These little baskets are so easy to make and will hold a small full size egg or a collection of smaller ones. Here are the instructions in case you would like to make one too: 

• Take a sheet of paper measuring 6” x 6”
• Punch and score using your Envelope Punch Board at 1 ½” on all four sides
• Turn over the sheet and repeat the step above on the reverse
• Cut the flaps on each side to the first score line
• Fold flaps either inside or outside to create your side panel and decorate with daisies or your chosen embellishment
• Trim centre ends if desired (as I've done here) or adhere to the outside of the basket
• Cut handle 15cm x 1.5cm and attach to sides

You can see more of these baskets in lots of other colours over on my Facebook page here, including some pictures of the ladies crafting 'in action'.

We also made some of the smaller egg carrier baskets, again using a piece of 6" x 6" paper and the Envelope Punch Board, this time using some of the Petal Garden DSP and some of the lovely free Sale-A-Bration Calypso Coral Shimmer Ribbon (only 4 more days to get your hands on this!) and a sweet Easter tag:

Instructions for this basket are as follows:

• Take a sheet of paper measuring 6” x 6”
• Punch and score using your Envelope Punch Board at 1¾” and 4” on the first side then use the score lines and guide to punch and score the remaining sides
• Use a 3/4" circle punch to create the handles on the inner pieces and bring these up on the inside, adhering your flaps on the outside of these 

I'm mindful the instructions are not the easiest to follow without a video - watch this space and I'll see if I can make a quick one later! 

I had such a fun evening with my hostess Jane and her family and friends making these projects, and, having placed their orders, enabling Jane to earn rewards and free product, further boosted by the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. Whilst Sale-A-Bration is coming to an end in 4 days time, I am still taking party bookings into April, May and beyond, so if you would like a fun evening in with friends, crafting fun projects and earning some free Stampin' Up! product into the bargain, do get in touch.

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects 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 the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board (£18.00)

Delightful Daisy Designer Series Paper (£10.00)

Daisy Delight Photopolymer Bundle (£27.75)

Gold Faceted Gems (£4.50)

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

Envelope Punch Board (£18.00)

Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack (£9.00)

3/4" (1.9 Cm) Circle Punch (£11.50)

Classic Label Punch (£16.00)

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

3/8" (1 Cm) Shimmer Ribbon Pack (£0.00)

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a busy day today with the first of this month's classes. I'll share some of those projects later in the week, but for today I wanted to share a simple little lidded box that I made with my Envelope Punch Board to hold some cute little Valentine's love notes. Now I didn't do the best job of photographing this one - the lid edges get a little lost against the background:

Here's the box with one of the little notelets inside:

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

Sending Love Notes - Way back at Onstage last November we made three little notelets using the Sealed with Love Bundle. I modified mine slightly, cutting down the panels of Sending Love patterned paper and adding each one to a 3 1/2" Whisper White card base. I designed a few more using the other stamps in the set and made a bunch of co-ordinating envelopes and decided to make a little box to keep them all in. 

Love My Envelope Punch Board - Not only did I use my Envelope Punch Board to make my designer series paper envelopes (each made to fit a card of 3 1/2" square and requiring a 6" square piece of paper) but I also used my Box Buster tool to help me design a 4" square lidded box to hold them in. I love making lidded boxes usign the EPB rather than a scoreboard, as it makes them much more sturdy and rigid. It's really easy to do - you just need to make your lid 1/8" larger than your base for a snug fit.

Ribbon and Hearts - I continued the red and white theme of my project by adding a triple loop of Sending Love Ribbon with a double bow to adorn my sassy red Valentine-embossed heart to complete my box embellishment.

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 will be using these little notes to hide in my children's school bags and pencil cases this month; they love to find a surprise note when they least expect it; I might even slip in a little chocolate treat too. I'm also linking up with the team over at SUO Challenges again where they are also celebrating Valentine's this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board	Love Notes Framelits Dies	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sending Love Ribbon Combo Pack
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

A four day blogging break - that has to be the longest in a while! Did you miss me? Last week went by in something of a whirlwind as I was exhibiting at the Great British Craft Show in Stoneleigh Park with my good friend and fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Louise Sims, so my time was taken up with last minute preparations for the show and then attending the show itself. Here's a picture of us in front of our stand on Saturday morning raring to go:

We had a great couple of days and it was lovely to meet so many wonderful crafters who we were able to introduce to Stampin' Up! and I am very much looking forward to seeing them again in the future at an event, class or online. 

Whilst I have lots of wonderful projects to share with you here in the coming days and months, today I'm sharing two special offers that you definitely need to know about. The first is one that ends tomorrow, so get in quick!

To celebrate World Card Making Day last Saturday, there are a limited number of products on offer until 5th October:

Lots of great card making staples in there, including great deals on Fast Fuse and in-colour cardstock and envelope paper. Best of all though has to be the offer price on the Envelope Punch Board and the Designer Tin of Cards Kit - you know what a fan I am of Stampin' Up! kits, well this one really doesn't disappoint. A great product for a fun crafty night in with friends or it would make a lovely early Christmas gift. Do get in touch if you'd like to purchase; I will be putting in an order tomorrow night and if you are local to me you are welcome to add to my order and save on postage.

As if that wasn't enough, there is also an amazing offer on designer papers for the entire month of October:

This sale includes Designer Series Paper from both the annual catalogue and the recently released autumn/winter catalogue (not including Specialty Designer Series Paper or Designer Series Paper Stacks). Here are the full details of the paper collections that are included: 

I will be sharing lots of samples using these papers - in fact, pop back tomorrow and you will see the first of many!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Yay it's Monday - where did that weekend go?! A hectic Mother's Day yesterday and today I'm back to it - with a card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

In addition to Rita's great sketch, I was also inspired by the photo images for the current challenges over at The Card Concept and Fusion, where luck, green and shamrocks are also the order of the day. I know a few young people about to sit their GCSEs and am in need of a few good luck cards, so these challenges gave me the perfect opportunity to make an appropriately-themed card:

I decided to contrast the bright Cucumber Crush green with kraft for my card today and made a feature of a few different elements to pull together my 'clean and layered' card:

Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper - Great for boxes and bags, this sturdy kraft paper also adds a bright pop of colour to cards, especially when bordered with some Cucumber Crush cardstock to really make it stand out.

Larger Than Life Alphabet and Numbers - These letters and numbers really are larger than life and are great for a statement sentiment as I've done here with the word 'luck'. Alphabet sets are useful for so many different types of projects and since they cost a little more than the average stamp set, Sale-A-Bration is a great time to invest in one and get a free gift into the bargain!

Pansy Punch Four Leaf Clover/Shamrock - Everyone knows that the four leaf clovers are the ones that are supposed to bring you luck. No punch for that? No problem - you can use your five-petal Pansy Punch to create a four leaf clover with ease! Just cut away part of one of the petals to create a stem as in the photo below:

It's that easy! Inspired by The Card Concept photo, I stamped some spots using the spot stamp in the 'Celebrate Today' stamp set stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in clear to add pattern and shine to my lucky clover and tie it in with the rest of my card.

Envelope Punch Board - I altered the dimensions of the sketch and went for a more horizontal rather than vertical card to accommodate my sentiment. As such it gave me a finished card size of 6" x 6 3/4" - not a standard size. A sheet of 2015-17 In Color Envelope Paper in Cucumber Crush, my Envelope Punch Board and my handy Envelope Expert tool made light work of a solution though, and with a few clicks of the mouse and punches and scores and I had a beautifully co-ordinated envelope too - job done!

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference of the key supplies needed to make this card and today's top tip:

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Larger Than Life Alphabet & Numbers Photopolymer Stamp Set	Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper	Pansy Punch	Celebrate Today Photopolymer Stamp Set	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad
Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Kraft 12" X 12" Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool (Uk)	2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper	Envelope Punch Board

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! The same as last week there are more offers than usual, with increased reductions of up to 30% on Weekly Deals this month, although there are specific allocated quantities at the increased offer price; once they're gone, the price will revert to RRP, so don't delay in ordering if there is something on your wish list. Each week items are proving very popular and some are sold out within a couple of days of the offers being published. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for August SCFAMEG2 if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Envelope Punch Board	Flower Patch Photopolymer Stamp Set	Gold 1/8" Ribbon
Hearts Border Punch	Silver Basic Metal Buttons	Simply Scored Metric Scoring Plate

Not quite as many deals to be had this week, but those that are there are all good! The must-have has to be the Envelope Punch Board; I know they have been featured several times, but at £13.50 this truly is a bargain! The Metric Scoring Plate is a great deal too; it makes light work of scoring card blanks and is a great deal at only £8.25.

So what are you waiting for? Get clicking over to my online store!

I'll be back later with a quick creative post. Until then, happy shopping!

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my fellow Brit, the lovely Jaydee, to host and she has a fun theme challenge for you:

Yes - square cards! It's always fun to create a square card for a change - when I saw this week's challenge I knew exactly where I wanted to start: the striped paper in the Cherry On Top stack was calling my name! I'm also linking up with the Friday Mashup where the challenge this week is also square cards, although obviously given my paper choice I decided not to go for the 'mashup' and use the colours over there too. Here's my card:

Now the pattern I chose actually has an off-centre point (check out your paper stack to see what I mean!) so I chose to cut my square of DSP square so that the lines all came together in the centre. I chose to use the 'happy' and 'birthday' sentiments from the 'Age Awareness' set as the focal point for my card - I like the contrasting swirls combined with the lined detail, which I infilled with my Stampin' Write markers in the colours that co-ordinated with the striped paper. To balance my sentiment in the square I also included a couple of the swirls across the top, which I joined together using a Crushed Curry Candy Dot. I simply measured my mats and layers and cut them with my trimmer, but you could always use your Square Framelits to make it easier if you prefer. A great clean and layered card and I love the way the striped paper draws your eye to the sentiment. A colourful custom envelope in Watermelon Wonder completes my card!

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

One of the reasons people avoid making a square card is that it often calls for a bespoke envelope. Don't forget about your Envelope Punch Board! Along with the gorgeous new Envelope Paper in the annual catalogue, and my Envelope Expert tool of course, there is no excuse to not make perfectly customised square envelopes (or rectangular for that matter!) every time. No fuss, no wastage, no guesswork required - if you're not already a fan, check out my free Envelope Expert tool today!

I look forward to seeing how you interpret Jaydee's fun challenge and seeing all your square creations in the gallery this week. As you read this I will be flying high somewhere above Europe, on my way back to the rather wetter climes of the UK. Don't worry - I'm doing my best to bring the sunshine back with me everyone! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, however you choose to spend it.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Age Awareness Photopolymer Stamp Set	2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper	Envelope Punch Board	Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack	Regals Candy Dots
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
Many Marvelous Markers