Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges where they challenging us to use a technique that I don't often feature on my cards:

I did experiment with splatters for my recent technique class featuring the Come Sail Away suite so having been using splatters a little more of late with this set in particular. You can see one of my previous cards here; this is another of the samples I prepared to demonstrate how splattering can be used to create unigue backgrounds: 

On this card I used some Bermuda Bay reinker and blue Brusho on Shimmery White cardstock, covered with scrunched up cling film before leaving to dry and then removed the cling film. I then covered with some splatters of copper shimmer and I added a collage of stamped and diecut bits and pieces from the Come Sail Away suite and some unravelled copper trim to complete my card. I'm not sure this type of card will ever feel natural to me - watercoloured backgrounds and collage-style cards are not my forte, but it's fun to step outside of your comfort zone every once in a while to try something different.

Don't forget to set your alarms for 6pm UK time this evening for your last chance opportunity to order trimmer blades for the discontinued Stampin' Up! trimmer - full details in my previous post here.

We have been busy harvesting fruit and veg from our garden and spent yesterday baking more goodies to eat and for the freezer I hope you enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£9.25)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	1/4" Copper Trim (£5.50)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

This is my second post of today! You can read my earlier creative post here but I wanted to make sure you had the latest information regarding Trimmer Blades for Stampin' Up!'s discontinued Stampin' Up! Trimmer.

The final batch of Stampin’ Trimmer Cutting Blades (item 126995) arrived in the warehouse earlier than the expected September due date, so they will be made available to purchase TOMORROW. 

Trimmer blades will be available to order on Wednesday, 28 August at 6:00 p.m. (UK), and when they sell out they will be gone for good.

In the past, blades have sold out within minutes and individuals placing single orders have had more success than demonstrators placing orders for multiple customers. As such, my advice to you is to be ready to place your order online at 6pm and arrange for them to be shipped to you directly. Remember, the limit is three packs of blades per customer.  

Stampin' Up! has also announced that there will be a new paper trimmer available for demonstrators to purchase before the end of 2019, which will sell for £23. This should be available to customers shortly thereafter and I will provide you with more information as soon as it becomes available.

Lastly, since this is the last week in August, don't forget if you earned bonus coupons last month, this is your last chance to use them if you haven't done so already. It's also the last opportunity to take advantage of the 'Extra, Extra' recruiting promotion. If you need more information, do get in touch or read all about it here.

Today I'm sharing another Christmas card, this time for the current challenges over at As You See It and Festive Friday:

I was determined to have another go at the current AYSI sketch and go with it the right way up and since metallics are a big feature of my card today it is also perfect for the challenge over at Festive Friday too - take a look:

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

Brightly Gleaming - This fabulous copper detailed designer series paper from the Brightly Gleaming specialty designer series paper is the inspiration for the colour scheme of my card today. The Brightly Gleaming Suite is one of the new suites in the forthcoming autumn-winter seasonal catalogue and the specialty paper is most definitely the star of the show in my opinion! Seasonal stars and bauble images combined with all-purpose patterns, with half of the designs having copper foil accents that truly make this paper shine. 

Christmas Gleaming Ornaments - I stamped and heat embossed all of the elements of my decorated bauble ornament and added some Night of Navy colouring with my Stampin' Blends for added detail, before punching out with the co-ordinating ornament punch. This was so quick, a little fussy cutting with the holly and berries was totally worth it. I also did a little stamping inside my card:

Copper Cabana - If you're still reading then please accept my apologies for the dodgy Barry Manilow reference :-) Today's card really is a celebration of metallics, and copper in particular. That gorgeous copper foil-accented paper, a full copper foil mat, the heat embossed sentiment and ornament detail, along with the addition of one of the foil elements that also form part of this suite, all serve to give this card a truly luxurious 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 '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:

Christmas Gleaming Bundle (En) (£46.75)	Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Copper Foil Sheets (£4.75)	Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements (£6.50)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Night Of Navy Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

So today is the hottest August Bank Holiday Monday on record here in the UK and I am sharing a Christmas card with you - go figure!! I managed to play along with week 3 of the Freshly Made Sketches 400th birthday celebrations so it just had to be done:

I thought the panels would be perfect to showcase some designer series paper, so I used another of the patterns in my Night before Christmas paper pack and this is what I came up with:

I created a couple of layered panels then decided to make my sentiment the focal point of my Stitched Oval and used one of the festive dies from the Jolly Season dies that are also in the Night Before Christmas Suite, with a little offset layering to make it stand out. I fussy cut a santa hat from a leftover scrap of paper and added this at a jaunty angle to bring the whole thing together. The only stamping on my card was the sentiment on the inside of my card:

And my card was 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Jolly Season Dies (En) (£31.00)

Night Before Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)

Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

I managed to get a few hours in my craft room yesterday and finished some cards for a few challenges that I wanted to play. The first was using the gorgeous purple-based colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches this week which I really couldn't resist; I also used the current CAS(E) This Sketch layout:

I love purples and couldn't resist creating some pretty florals using the Bloom and Grow bundle:

This card was actually super simple: I used my Subtles embossing folder to emboss my Highland Heather card base, then stamped my sentiment on a piece of Whisper White, backed with a piece of Gorgeous Grape that I added a scalloped border to using one of the dies in the Budding Blooms Dies set. I stamped one of the floral images onto Whisper White and coloured it using my Stampin' Blends and Stampin' Write Markers, adding a little clear Wink of Stella to the dark purple berries for a subtle sparkle and shine. A little decoration to the inside using the same set completes my card:

This is the first card I've made using the Bloom and Grow stamp set, but it's a great set for clean and simple cards and once I'd started I couldn't stop so I hope you like it as I have a few more to share this week, in between more Christmas card sneak peeks 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bloom & Grow Bundle (£49.50)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Highland Heather Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Daffodil Delight Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Brights Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

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

This is a great sketch with so many creative possibilities! I've finally found time to start playing with my pre-order goodies and I know how much you all like a 'sneak peek' so I have a few of those in store for you this week. My first one comes today is the form of new stamps, papers and a punch to make this brightly coloured Christmas card: 

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

A Night Before Christmas - This sheet of bauble-patterned paper inspired the colour scheme for my Christmas card today. It is part of the 'A Night Before Christmas' paper pack which is actually part of the suite of the same name and is full of traditional Christmas imagery. The jewel colours of red, yellow, green, blue and silver against the navy background are echoed throughout my card and the circle of Laurie's sketch was the perfect place to showcase this bold patterned paper.

Christmas Gleaming - I wanted to add a little something to make my card a little more fancy, so firstly I created a tone-on-tone background panel by stamping the small bauble from the 'Christmas Gleaming' stamp set in Night of Navy in a pattern on my mat layer. Although it's from an entirely different suite it co-ordinates with my chosen DSP perfectly. For my shape I chose a bauble from the same set. I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock and coloured in part of the design with my Dark Poppy Parade marker, before punching out with the co-ordinating punch. To decorate my bauble,  I took inspiration from my wonderful PP teamie the talented Ann Schach, lover of pearls in all shapes and sizes (although I don't think she's used any on her card this week!), and added a whole bunch of silver metallic pearls to my ornament pattern, finishing with a bow in some retired silver twine. I love the added detail this gives.

A Simple Joy - My sentiment today comes from the new set 'So Many Stars', which also has some lovely mini verses that are perfect for the inside of your card:

So what do you think? Is today's sneak peek of new Christmas products making you excited for the arrival of the Autumn-Winter catalogue? It is still another couple of weeks before it will be available to customers for ordering on September 4th, however if you really can't wait then it's worth considering taking advantage of the current joining offer: for anyone joining Stampin' Up! before the end of August, for £99 you will receive an extra £25 of product, so £155 for £99, in addition to an £8 bonus coupon to use next month and all of the other ongoing benefits that being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator offers. If this is something that interests you and you would like to know more, then do read all about it here or get in touch - I'd love to help you decide if this is something that could work for you.

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your day; we are enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and so far the weather has been glorious. We have been enjoying a weekend of BBQs and fun with friends and so are hoping for more of the same as the weekend continues. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Christmas Gleaming Bundle (En) (£46.75)	Night Before Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	So Many Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£24.00)	Metallic Pearls (£6.50)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Poppy Parade Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

Today I'm sharing a card using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout that is also perfect for the theme over at Global Design Project #GDP203 this week:

Today is the day when for lots of students in the UK the wait is finally over as GCSE results are announced. My nephew is one of those students for whom today represents the culmination of months of study and hard work and whilst I don't know his results at the time of writing this, I am confident that a card to congratulate him on his exam success will be in order. Since my card is for a boy I didn't want anything too fussy, so the above sketch layout was perfect. I took the opportunity to play with some new product from my Autumn-Winter catalogue pre-order to create a cool and colourful card - take a look:

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

Not Just For Christmas - Stitched Stars are one of the few stitched shapes now missing from the Stampin' Up! collection - but not any more! The Autumn-Winter catalogue has a great bundle called 'So Many Stars' featuring both stitched and decorative stars and that great rolling, starry die that I've used on my card today. I inset the die into my top layer of Granny Apple Green and used a base of Mango Melody so that the base colour shows through the star shapes (I paper-pieced the non-star elements back in) before finishing with my sentiment in a larger stitched star. Great for Christmas, but perfect for a congratulations card too! 

A Punny Sentiment - My sentiment comes from the Darling Label Punch Box stamp set - one of my favourites for a cool congratulations card for a discerning teenager. I masked off the stripes that surround it so that I had just the words, which fit inside my stitched star perfectly. I finished the inside of my card with a sentiment from the now retired 'Amazing Congratulations' stamp set and some stars from the new So Many Stars stamp set:

Two Cards, Four Colours - I chose a bright and colourful palette for my card today and couldn't initially decide whether to add Granny Apple Green or Poppy Parade to my pairing of Mango Melody and Blueberry Bushel. So I created two cards featuring each of the colours. Here's the second one:

And here's a photo of the cards together - which one do you prefer? Leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Either way, here's the colour palette I used in case you would like to save it to inspire your future crafting projects:

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:

Stitched Stars Dies (£35.00)	So Many Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£24.00)	So Many Stars Bundle (En) (£53.00)	Darling Label Punch Box (£42.00)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mango Melody A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges where they have an interesting challenge this week:

 All on black - now this was a challenge! After much thought, I decided to use a new stamp set and the (now retired) 2018-20 In Color Embossing powders for a pop of bright colour and ended up creating not one but two cards! Here's my favourite - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Modern Heart - This stamp set was one that I picked up because my daughter loves it, so it seemed only fair I made a card with her in mind. This card would work as an engagement card I guess, but I made it with congratulations in mind; she works so hard both at school and in her extra-curricular sports and music activities and I know it won't be long before we have another exam pass or success of some kind to celebrate and she will appreciate the sparkle and grown-up feel of this clean and graphic design.

Double Heat Embossing - In order to achieve my gold and Lovely Lipstick design, I stamped and heat embossed in two stages: first I stamped and heat embossed the gold heart, then I added the red hearts later. For the sentiment, I stamped in one go, the dipped the ends in gold first then carefully masked the ends off to add the coloured embossing powder to the word 'happy' before heat embossing both together.

Touches of Gold - To finish my card, I added some gold metallic pearls and gold sequins, along with a touch of gold glimmer paper and some (retired) gold thread for some texture and to add a little sparkle. I also added a few Lovely Lipstick enamel dots to complete my 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. 

I so liked the effect of the bright colours against the black, I also made a second card using the Accented Blooms stamp set and some Pineapple Punch embossing powder, ribbon and DSP for another super bright card:

When the James Juniors wandered into my craft room to see what I'd been making, they declared the heart much nicer and the one that I should share here, but I thought I'd share this one too as I rather like it and if you have some coloured embossing powders in the back of your craft drawer, you may like to try it too!

Having braved the sports shop for rugby boots and hockey shoes yesterday, today we ventured further afield and braved the shops for new school shoes, trousers and other items of uniform needed in readiness for the return to school in a couple of weeks time. Thankfully we didnt need much and our trip was successful. We are rewarding ourselves tomorrow with a trip to the cinema! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Modern Heart Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Metallic Pearls (£6.50)	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Gold Glimmer Paper (£4.75)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a super quick card using the CAS Colours and Sketches layout and the theme over at Just Add Ink:

I was thrilled to see the JAI theme this week; when you're busy and short on crafty time, what can be better than a 'no stamping' card? I had the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card pack out on my desk still following last week's class, so chose card and set to work:

I backed my card with a panel of Early Espresso, added a sentiment sticker, some co-ordinating twine and a trio of pearls to my Petal Pink card base, that I had already run through my Subtles embossing folder and I was done! I even added a larger M&M card to the inside for a pre-decorated interior:

Seriously - it took longer to photograph and watermark my card and type up this post than it did to make it!

 As a result I did manage to get a couple more cards made this afternoon, so I will share those with you tomorrow.

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:

Magnolia Lane Memories & More Card Pack (£10.25)

Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (£9.25)

Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack (£8.25)

Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and it's c'lean and simple' week, with the added theme of 'cards for kids'. Your cards can be for any occasion - birthday, back to school, encouragement, congratulations, get well soon - but they must be aimed at children and they must be in a 'clean and simple' style. What do we mean by 'clean and simple'? We would like you to create a card that has:

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
• Is simple and uncluttered

I had so many ways I could go with this as I make lots of cards for both of the James Juniors and their friends, but I just couldn't resist creating with those cute cows from the 'Over The Moon' set - take a look:

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

A Sketch Confession - Having had little time for crafting or blogging this past couple of weeks (the curse of the long school summer holiday!), I was disappointed to not get a card made for last week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where they are celebrating their 400th anniversary - way to go ladies!! I was therefore delighted to see their super simple sketch this week that would be perfect for me to use for my clean and simple Paper Players card so that I could celebrate along with the FMS team for week 2 of the celebrations. With my card made, imagine my surprise when I then caught up with my blog reading yesterday and saw that the sketch for another of my favourite challenges, As You See It, is very similar - a horizontal mirror image - and the placement of my cow and sentiment matches the sketch exactly! In an ideal world, I'd have made another card for FMS, but I have house guests this weekend and that is not going to happen so instead I am linking to both and will aim to make another for AYSI that is exactly as is (it's in my head already, I just need the time to get into my craft room - don't you hate it when that happens?!)

Party Til The Cows Come Home - I had to use this fun cow from the 'Over The Moon' set for my card today. This set is comical, so works well for young and old alike and whilst this cow could be dreaming, without his dream bubble I also think he looks like he's enjoyed a night out on the town - a real party animal! I stamped him in Memento Black, coloured him with my Blends and then fussy cut him and popped him up on dimensionals balanced on the horizontal line of the sketch, which grounds him perfectly.

His And Hers Colours - Since my cow is black and white, I needed to introduce some colour and decided to use my favourite in-color gingham DSP. I made one in Rococco Rose and liked it so much I made a second one in Pretty Peacock - a his and hers colour combo! Here's my second card:

Here they are together - which one do you prefer? They were both easy to create and came together in no time, with just a few key supplies; another clean and simple #SimpleStamping too!

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your day; I have house guests for the weekend so am on entertainment duty. It is the balloon festival here in Northampton this weekend, so we may go along to watch the balloons later and maybe even chase a few. All being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	2019-2021 In Color A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Basic Black Light Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Daffodil Delight Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Flirty Flamingo Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)