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)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Elizabeth to host this week and she has a bright colour challenge to welcome in the new year:

I love this trio of bright colours - the perfect antidote to a grey winter's day! These colours also appear in some of my new designer paper, so I decided to grab it and along with Karren's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used my 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set again to stamp a trio of toadstools in Melon Mambo pink and Pumpkin Pie orange, this time masking the stems before I stamped the caps so that I could cut them out seamlessly as one piece - you can see the ink effects below:

I added some greenery and iridescent dots, along with a sentiment, and adhered them to a diecut circle. For the background strips, I added a co-ordinating diecut strip, a thin piece of Pumpkin Pie and the main panel which is piece of striped Toadstool Gardens designer paper - one of the products that can be yours FREE with a £55 purchase during Sale-A-Bration. There are so many fun patterns in this paper pack and they co-ordinate beautifully with the Terrific Toadstools bundle. I added a co-ordinating flap to my envelope too because, well, you can never have too much designer series paper right, especially if it's FREE! So what do you think - does the Toadstool Gardens paper make it on to your Sale-A-Bration wishlist?

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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	SUNNY DAY IRIDESCENT DOTS (7.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

Happy New Year everyone! I took an extended blog break over Christmas to spend time with family and loved every minute of it. That said, it's the 7th January and time for a new mini-catalogue and our 2025 Sale-A-Bration promotion so today I'm back to tell you all about it! Once again this year there will be only one Sale-A-Bration promotion: it runs from today until 28th February. You can click on the catalogue on the right hand side of my blog page or below to access the Sale-A-Bration leaflet or go directly to my online shopto place an order - we are LIVE!

So how does Sale-A-Bration work? For anyone who hasn't come across it before, it's Stampin' Up!'s annual promotion that is loaded with offers whether you shop, join or host.

You can earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for every £55 you spend between 7 January and 28 February. There is also the opportunity to earn even bigger rewards with a £110 purchase. It's the perfect time to purchase those products you've had on your wish list and earn more products for FREE! 

If you host a party or place an individual order with purchases of £275 or more, you can choose an additional £27.50 of products in addition to your standard rewards for FREE!

It’s also one of the best times of the year to join Stampin’ Up! There are two fabulous joining options during this year's Sale-A-Bration promotion:  

• OPTION 1: Spend £99 and receive £130 of product of your choice and your choice of TWO marker sets from our Stampin' Write Marker Assortments (Brights, Neutrals, Regals, Subtles) PLUS a beautiful stamp set exclusively designed to work with them:

Or might prefer the following alternative:

• OPTION 2: Spend £99 and receive £160 of product of your choice - that's an extra £30!

There is plenty of choice and flexibility, whether you want to be a hobby demonstrator and just use your discount to enable you to purchase craft supplies more cheaply, or alternatively would like to build a flourishing direct sales business and sell supplies to others - it's entirely up to you. Above all else, it's a great opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals united through a common love of crafting.

If you would like to host a virtual or in-person party, please do get in touch. Equally if you've ever thought about becoming an SU! demonstrator, now is a great time to do so - I would love to have a no-obligation chat with you about joining my team and the benefits.

As if that wasn't enough, today also sees the launch of the new January-April 2025 mini catalogue - full of gorgeous new products:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online, or contact me on 07773 421446 if you would like a paper copy posted out to you and you don't already have a demonstrator; paper copies have been sent to my regular customers. If you are as excited as me and just can't wait, here's the link to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

There's also a new digital scrapbooking brochure out today:

Just click on the image above or in the sidebar on the right to browse the catalogue online and to purchase any of the items, click to go to my online store - everything is available to purchase from today!

There are new Online exclusives available in the online store today too! The following images show just some of the items available - a number of which co-ordinate with items in the above catalogues:

 Finally, three new kits have also been added to the online store today:

You can get the details on each of the new kits in the online store - click here to go directly to the If you would like more information on any of the above, please don't hesitate to get in touch! 

Thanks so much for popping by - it's always nice to share good news! Back later with a creative post that uses some exciting new product! That post will go live at noon. Until then, happy shopping!

More important news to share with you today: tomorrow sees the start of Stampin' Up!'s Seasonal Sale! 

To wrap up the year—and kickstart the next—there is a steal of a deal on paper crafting products! There’s no better time to stock up and save from the 2024–2025 Annual Catalogue. Here’s what you’ll save when you shop during the sale:

• 20% OFF ALL STAMP BUNDLES AND DESIGNER SERIES PAPERS
• 10% OFF SELECT INKS AND CARDSTOCK (including Blends and ink refills)

Take this opportunity to build up your collection of crafting supplies and save big! And with Christmas right around the corner, this is the perfect time to treat yourself—or a friend—to Stampin’ Up! products, like a stamp bundle or some Designer Series Paper. Start making your wish lists today ready to get at the front of the queue tomorrow!