It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

What a great set of fresh and zingy colours! For my card today I'm also playing along with the 'anything CAS' challenge over at AAA Cards with the optional twist of spring/spring colours with a simple thank you card packed with spring floral details - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Moments - I decided to use the Thoughtful Moments Hybrid Embossing Folder and Dies for the sentiment on my card today as I haven't used them for ages! I inked my embossing folder with Berry Burst ink to get the word outline before embossing and diecutting, then used my Berry Burst Blends to create a dip-dyed ombre look, before adding to my card base. It's difficult to see in the photos, but the embossing adds a really nice detail to a clean and simple card.  

Pretty Petals - I decorated my sentiment with clusters of flowers, stamped using the Pretty Petals stamp set. I stamped the stems directly onto the card base, in a mix of the greens, then stamped the petals in Berry Burst and diecut them before adding with dimensionals for a little extra depth:

The Pretty Petals stamps have an almost watercoloured effect, giving them a soft, airy feel - perfect for spring. In addition to individual blooms, you can stamp and diecut larger elements too - check out the set in more detail by clicking on the link to the Online Exclusives section of the store in the product table below. What's more, both the stamps and dies are currently reduced - so you could pick up a bargain too!

Finishing Touches - A white baker's twine bow and trio of white faceted gems complete today's 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PRETTY PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (8.50)	PRETTY PETALS DIES (9.60)	THOUGHTFUL MOMENTS HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (ENGLISH) (36.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BERRY BURST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Happy hump day everyone! Today I'm sharing a super quick card that I made using the current layout over at AAA Cards:

 

I had some seagulls cut and coloured left over from another project, so I decided that a trio of them would work perfectly for that sketch - take a look:

 

I used a sentiment from the set, altering the layout slightly to work better for the sketch:

 

Finally, I added another seagull and some chips to the inside of my card for a final touch of decoration:

 

I think the 'Friendly Seagulls' stamp set is my favourite Sale-A-Bration free item of the whole promotion - so fun! There are just two more days remaining of this year's Sale-A-Bration, so if you have your eye on this set or any other free product, you have just a couple more days to place an order and get your hands on them.

I'm also linking today's card up for a second run over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog where the theme is 'W For Wings'. 

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:

 

 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

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

I don't have many current sets featuring birds, but I still have lots of ideas for those fun Sale-A-Bration seagulls so they were an obvious choice for my card today - take a look:

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

Friendly Seagulls - Friendly Seagulls - I love these quirky birds! I stamped a whole sheet of these gulls and coloured them in, then fussy cut them so that I had a pile of them ready to decorate my projects as and when. For this card, I chose three that I could position around my sentiment and popped them up on dimensionals. 

Mini Alphabet - Many of you will recognise my sentiment as a line from the famous Disney movie 'Finding Nemo' - I love that movie! I used my Mini Alphabet Dies to create my custom sentiment, cutting the alphabet several times in black and adhering to some white cardstock, cutting around this allowing for a border, to for the base:

 If you're someone that has a habit of losing or misplacing letters in your alphabet die sets, the Mini Alphabet Dies might be a great solution for you! All of the letters are attached and you can diecut the whole alphabet (including duplicates of commonly used letters) in one go. Any letters you don't need you can set aside for future projects. 

Two For One - Having completed my card, I used my leftover negative alphabet diecuts to make a second card: I simply cut each letter into a rectangle using my paper snips, and again adhered to a piece of white cardstock, this time with the white cardstock forming the letters courtesy of the negative diecuts:

This is a great tip I picked up from Melody Hyde of @hammondandpenny on Instagram who uses this technique a lot - what a great way to achieve 2 cards with one set of cuts, thanks Melody! You can see the detail more closely below:

Finally, I used my retired Seaside Impressions Embossing Folder to create my seascape background as I didn't have the new Soft Waves folder when I made this card (it is now in its way ;-) ) but I've added the shop link for it below, as this would be the product of choice if you want to recreate these cards.

Here are the visual summaries 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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MINI ALPHABET DIES (29.00)	SOFT WAVES 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

As promised, I've another quick post to share one of my weekend crafty endeavours that I made for a couple of challenges:

CAS on Friday have the theme of 'Valentine' and my old team mates, Team X over at TicTacToe (waves enthusiastically!) also have something of a love-themed board (I went along the diagonal with heart/dicut/love sentiment). With only a couple more weeks left of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion, I wanted to have a play with one of my free Sale-A-Bration bundles that I had yet to break the seal on - take a look:

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

The Heart Shaped Bundle is one of only two that are available for FREE during the Sale-A-Bration promotion with a £110 purchase (as opposed to £55 purchase; the other is the Corner In Bloom stamp set). Containing stamps and dies, it's perfect for a clean and simple card to someone you love - the sentiments in this set are just lovely, in addition to the simple leaves and flowers. I stamped the heart in pink, then overlaid with a diecut heart and some flowers cut from some ombre coloured paper that I'd inked up with a variety of pink Blends markers:

A touch of white glimmer foliage and some sparky pink enamel dots complete my card. Isn't that sentiment just lovely? This card is heading to my husband for our wedding anniversary later this week - he likes clean and simple, so hopefully this will tick his box! If it ticks yours too, you still have a couple of weeks to pick up the Heart shaped bundle for FREE during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - time to get shopping!

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:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (8.00)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BUBBLE BATH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)

We are in our second and final month of this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion: you all know that this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion will end on 28th February and in addition to hosting and joining benefits (you can read about those here) you also earn a free product for every £55/110 spend - you can see the existing items here.

Good news: from now until the 28th February, there are more reasons to celebrate! You will also be able to choose from the catalogue items below (you must use the special code as detailed as opposed to the usual item code to get one of these items free with a £55/110 spend):

Boy are there some great additional items available! Two new stamp sets from the mini catalogue and two fantastic sets of dies: Trusty Tools and Alphabet A La Mode. 

Remember, you need to use the special Sale-A-Bration item code for each product - these are different to the standard product codes for these items, which are still available to purchase in the annual and/or mini catalogues. If you have your eye on these or any of the other Sale-A-Bration items, do bear in mind that they will only be available whilst stocks last - it is possible that they could run out before the end of the promotion, so don't leave it too late to place your order. 

We also have 2 new kits available as part of the Kits Collection in the online store too:

So much To Celebrate Kit

The So Much To Celebrate kit costs £14.

Heirloom Arrangements Kit

Finally - the Clearance Rack has updated with reductions on last chance products too, so what are you waiting for? Check them out and grab a bargain!

I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy shopping!

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

With Valentine's Day just around the corner (it's my wedding anniversary this month too!) there's lots of reasons to make a love-themed card. I actually went in a completely different direction for today's card - although it definitely still fits in with our theme this week. I had been wanting to 'scratch a creative itch' to create something using a couple of my Sale-A-Bration stamp sets; take a look at my card and then I'll explain! Here's my card:

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

Stretching Documenting The Day - There's a great stamp set that can be yours free with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion: it's called 'Documenting The Day' and is designed primarily with scrapbooking in mind. With several phrases that allow you to build beautiful sentiments around memorable days, the 'Documenting The Day' stamp set is perfect for providing the narrative and accents to your scrapbooking pages. Each of the phrases includes the word 'DAY' in block capitals - see below:

For me, this is where the additional potential of this set comes in. Those letters can be rearranged to make 'DAD' or 'DADDY' too, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities! You could simply snip the letters (shock horror!) of the stamp apart for additional flexibility, or if like me this is something you can't ever bring yourself to do, you can use your stamping platform and some selective inking and masking of the letters to achieve the same effect. Using the stamping platform also allows you to stamp the letters again if necessary to get a nice, solid image. I stamped my word DADDY in Night of Navy onto Basic White cardstock and fussy cut around it to keep the word in one piece. I used a slimline card base to accommodate and allow enough of my background to show around the stamped word. Again, you could stamp and cut the letters out individually to make this step easier (although I don't think it would look as good!)

Friendly Seagulls - The background to my card is a mix of hearts from the 'Documenting The Day' set above and cartons of chips from another Sale-A-Bration stamp set - this time 'Friendly Seagulls'. I also used this stamp set to complete the sentiment on my card, which you can see more closely on the photo below:

I also added another heart and a chip-loving seagull to the inside of my card for a little extra decoration:

Inspired By - So some of my international readers in particular may be wondering where the inspiration for today's card came from. The minute I had both of these stamp sets in my possession, I was reminded of a much-loved advert that was played many times on commercial TV here in the UK in my younger years. I could explain it, but instead I actually found it on YouTube and have included the link below for your viewing pleasure! If you watch it, you will completely understand how it inspired today's card:

This is a real moment of 90's nostalgia for me; I was already in my teens when this advert was being aired on the TV, but there is something about that little Welsh girl that reminds me of my (much) younger self! So the moral of today's post is  - love can be found in the simplest things - including Daddy or chips! For for me it was creating today's card! I'm also playing along at Time Out Challenges where they have a 'Pick Two' challenge - I actually used three things from their list: Food (chips), Heart (background and behind sentiment) and Love (sentiment) and at TGIF Challenges where the theme is Sale-A-Bration:

I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane; 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. 

Have either of these stamp sets made it into your Sale-A-Bration shopping basket yet? We still have one month of this year's promotion to go, so there's still time! I have lots of other ideas using both of these sets that I've still to share with you this month, so be sure to pop back for additional inspiration.

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

Enjoy your day; I'm having a quiet one at home, filled with cooking and crafting and maybe a movie or two! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge for our first challenge of the year, chosen by Heather H:

I actually found this an easy one! I am often guilty of buying the fabulous kits that Stampin' Up! sells - then not finding the time to make them up! I love the idea of quick crafting and will often take a kit in my bag for a spot of 'crafting on the go' but rarely make time to make one up 'just for fun'. So I decided to start as I mean to go on and reached for the Rainbow Celebration card kit that I actually received FREE as part of our current Sale-A-Bration promotion and set to work. This card makes 6 cards, two each of three designs. Here's a shot showing all three designs:

The cards themselves are rainbow shaped and come with coordinating printed envelopes too. This is a no-stamping kit: the card bases are pre-printed and each of the designs requires the addition of a spotted rainbow band, some diecut clouds and two sentiment labels. All you have to do is sort the pieces and pair with the respective bases, then add the provided foam dimensionals to each of the pieces as per the instructions and then build the card. Here's a close-up of each of the designs in turn:

Here's the second one:

 And finally, the third design:

The cards are great for birthdays and to send someone congratulations - they took less than 10 minutes to put together and best of all the kit can be yours for FREE with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - bonus! If that's not a reason to fall in love with kits, I don't know what is!

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

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

So how will you fill in the blank? What crafting habits are you looking to adopt in 2025? Do let me know in a comment below or better still, share with us over on the challenge page. We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Right, I'm off to make up two more kits that I've yet to break the seal on - the Perpetual Beauty Calendar and Nature's Beauty Watercolour Kit are calling my name! To view the full range of Stampin' Up! kits in the online store, click here. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we feature a torn corner on our cards:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

I couldn't wait to use today's sketch to feature a shoreline and one of the fun seagulls from the new 'Terrific Seagulls' stamp set - take a look: 

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

So Swirly Sea - I used my So Swirly embossing folder to add some texture to my sea; the new Soft Waves 3D embossing folder would work perfectly too (but I don't have that in my collection - yet!) I then tore a piece of basic white for my sea 'foam' and painted it liberally with my clear Wink of Stella for some added sparkle and shine:

Friendly Seagulls - This is my first card that I've made with the 'Friendly Seagulls' set, but I have loads more to share with you - I just love this set! Great for cards and scrapbooking alike, quirky seagulls, shells, fish and chips and cute sentiments, I have so many great ideas for this set! I stamped some tone-on-tone pebbles onto my Basic Beige card base, then coloured and fussy cut one of the gulls to paddle at the shoreline. I added another of the seagulls in the set to the inside of my card too:

Another fabulous FREE gift that can be yours with a £55 purchase during Sale-A-Bration - does this set make it into your shopping basket? 

Finally A Confession - Finally, one last confession - it was only when I typed up my post that I realised that I put my sentiment in a different place to Rachel's sketch - hopefully she will forgive me!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SO SWIRLY EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

Hurrah for the weekend! Today I'm sharing a quick card that uses the layout over at Atlantic Heart Sketches:

 It's also perfect for the 'Just Add Something New' challenge over at Just Add Ink as I'm using both a new stamp set and my favourite new Toadstool Gardens designer series paper - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Toadstool Gardens - I really wanted to feature the patterned toadstool garden paper - it's my favourite! - so I used this for the panels and used another of the sheets with a grey woodgrain pattern for my background. I added a panel of bright orange, wrapped with white baker's twine for interest, for my horizontal strip. I finished by stamping my sentiment onto one of the Greetings of the Season labels and adding to the centre:

Top Tip - I covered the hole on my diecut sentiment label with an enamel dot and need to add one in the same position on the opposite side. And so to my top tip today: the easiest way to position your enamel dot with the exact same spacing on the opposite side is take your diecut label, rotate it 180 degrees in the die and mark through the hole with a piercing tool - remove the label from the die then place your enamel dot directly on top. Perfect positioning! 

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:

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	GREETINGS OF THE SEASON DIES (30.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the layout over at TGIF Challenges and is made with a teenage boy in mind (although it's fair to say that a remake in different colours could make this card feminine too):

I wanted to have a play with another new Sale-A-Bration set so grabbed my stamps, ink and paper and set to work - take a look at what I came up with:

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

First up - I love this sketch! So simple, yet so many creative possibilities! I actually decided to go super clean and simple and grabbed some bright colours and scraps of cardstock and set to work. The highlight of today's card is the background - I used two of the sentiments from the stamp set and the confetti stamp and randomly stamped all over my base to create a fun tone-on-tone design. I added my banners and heat-embossed a rosette and fussy cut it before adding to my sentiment banner as an accent: 

A trio of gold enamel gems was all I need to add a touch of subtle sparkle to my card - oh so easy to create! I added a little extra stamping to the inside too, using more confetti and the megaphone to 'shout' the remainder of my sentiment:

With the youngest of the James Juniors sitting A-Levels this year, I am going to need lots of congratulations cards, especially for boys, so I'm definitely going to get lots of use from this free set. How about you? Do you know someone sitting exams this year - does 'Day To Celebrate' make it onto your Sale-A-Bration shopping list? Do let me know; better still, hop on over to my Online store and pick up yours today!

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:

LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)