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!

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

This theme couldn't be more appropriate for the British weather, especially this past few days, when once again it has, as the expression goes, been raining cats and dogs once again! My cheery little bunny isn't put off though - take a look:

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

Rainy Days - My bunny and sentiment come from the 'Playing In The Rain' stamp set and are cut out with the coordinating Playing In The Rain Dies. I coloured him with my Blends markers and gave him a green jacket to pick up the colours in the background paper.

Sunny Days - I know Sale-A-Bration is now over, but the Sunny Days papers were just perfect for today's card. I used a background of clouds and rain, then used a sun-patterned piece to cut out an abstract sun to tuck behind the clouds.

Collage Cute - I added a mix of stitched clouds, a ribbon tab and a mix of sparkly raindrops, enamel dots and sequins and layered them up to give my card a fun, collage feel:

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 have no big plans today, maybe some baking and if I'm lucky a little creative time. One thing's for sure - it will be too wet for gardening! All being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing another card using one of the current Sale-A-Bration free products that I've been using but haven't shared a project that features it in a while - what can I say, so many goodies, so little time! So today it's the turn of the Trusty Toolbox designer series paper - take a look:

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

No Co-ordinating Product? No Problem! - The Trusty Toolbox designer series paper co-ordinates with the Trusty Tools bundle that can be found on page 56 of the mini catalogue, but you don't need the bundle to have a lot of fun with these papers! They are great for creating layered cards with lots of fun patterns and the tools themselves are so easy to fussy cut as I've done on today's card. 

Biggest Wish - I went with a diagonal design to give me the opportunity to fit in lots of lovely tools and paired my design with a birthday greeting from the 'Biggest Wish' stamp set - a great sentiment-only set:

And Another Thing - If you look closely at my card, you will see that none of the tools are shown in their entirety; I actually used a bunch of tools cut from the edges of the paper and used my diagonal to 'hide' their incomplete portions - waste not, want not, right? I also used a few more to decorate the inside of my card:

A few enamel dots were all that I needed to complete this fun masculine card that makes the most of these free papers!

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'm also linking this card up for a second entry over at TGIF Challenges where the theme this week is Sale-A-Bration.

Enjoy your day; it's still raining cats and dogs here in the UK so I will most definitely be spending the day indoors - I'm not sure that the ground can take any more! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

The ladies over at TGIF Challenges have Sale-A-Bration products as the theme for this week so I have a another card for you featuring one of my Sale-A-Bration favourites. My card was inspired by this card by Cindy Timmers. I decided to keep with the layout of Cindy's card and the use of designer series paper, but changed it out for the oh-so-pretty Flight & Airy papers - take a look:

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

Flight and Airy - My card actually uses three of the patterns in the Flight & Airy pack: a busy floral for the base, a panel of washed Boho Blue and some birds diecut from another of the designs. On every card I've made featuring these birds up until now, I've fussy cut the birds, but for today's card I wanted to show that if fussy cutting isn't your thing, these papers are still great! I used my Stylish Shapes Dies to diecut three circles, positioning the birds in the centre each time. 

Thoughtful Moments - I used a sentiment from the 'Thoughtful Moments' hybrid embossing folder across the centre of my card. I inked the embossing folder with Night of Navy ink using my brayer, then embossed and diecut it onto a piece of DSP the same colour as my horizontal band. These embossed and diecut sentiments make such an eye-catching centrepiece: 

Finishing Touches - Some Night of Navy twine, iridescent gems and some leaves punched using my retired leaf punch complete my card. The leaves in particular add lots of dimension and I must say I rather like the end result.

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:

THOUGHTFUL MOMENTS HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (ENGLISH) (36.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (7.00)

GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Michal has asked that we include a large focal sentiment on a bordered panel:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I wanted to showcase more of the free Sale-A-Bration papers before they go away - so I paired them with one of my favourite large sentiment sets for a cheery card - take a look:

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

There is only a small area of designer series paper showing on my card (we are aiming for clean and simple, after all) but the bold and colourful flowers of the Sunny Days paper can still be seen. I paired them with sentiment from the Sending Dies and 'Sending Smiles' co-ordinating stamp set and added a trio of tiny diecut flowers for an added pop of colour to tie in with the paper:

That pattern is my absolute favourite in the Sunny Days pack so I had to show real restraint to use so little of it! If you would like some, you have another 9 days to place an order of £45 or more in order to receive a pack of this paper for FREE.

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; today I'm going out to lunch with hubby to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary - where did those years go?! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SENDING DIES (ENGLISH) (31.00)

SENDING SMILES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (21.00)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

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 fun clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I love a good clean and simple challenge and we all have 'forever friends' that we can send this kind of card to, right? I used Linda's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week (rotated through 90 degrees) and grabbed my Just Kiddin' designer series paper and my scissors and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Just Kiddin' - Just Kiddin' is one of my most favourite designer papers - ever! Perfect for cards, children's home decor and scrapbooking, it contains children being children, doing all kinds of things: playing, reading, baking, dressing up, painting and lots more besides. What's more, it is a showcase of diversity: there are children of every colour, wheelchair users, amputees, members of the deaf community and lots more besides - it's so inclusive. I fussy-cut my sweet pair of friends making their heart paper chain directly from one of the pages. This paper appears in the mini catalogue and during February is also available as a free Sale-A-Bration item with a £45 purchase - time to stock up before the end of the month, race you to the shop!!

Country Bouquet - I mounted my fussy cut pair onto an oval that I stamped with a sentiment from the 'Country Bouquet' stamp set that I thought suited these friends perfectly:

Are they not just sooo cute?!  A diagonal panel of the retired Country Floral Lane designer paper with a heart design to pick up on the detail of the image completed my card. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inkspirational for another play along with their 'hearts' theme. If you like this card, check out yesterday's post too that features another sweet pair from the Just Kiddin' paper.

What Is Clean And Simple (CAS) - I love a good CAS card; as a reminder, when we talk about 'clean and simple' over at The Paper Players we mean:

• Have minimal layers and embellishments
• Have plenty of open space
• Are simple and uncluttered

My card definitely fits the brief this week - designer paper, a little fussy cutting and a well-chosen sentiment - and done! 

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 am looking forward to a Sunday roast and a relaxing day today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

JUST KIDDIN' 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)