Today I'm nice and early with my post as I am out with the James Juniors for a day of watersports with a view to keeping cool in the heatwave we are experiencing here in the UK, which is a good thing as it means I just have time to squeeze in my entry for the challenge at Just Add Ink this week, where I just couldn't resist that photo inspiration, that also works for the Christmas in July theme over at TGIF Challenges:

I went with a clean, white base so that my glittery baubles and sentiment could really shine - take a look:

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

I'm afraid I have used some retired bits and pieces on my card today (Pretty Pines Thinlits, Detailed Baubles Thinlits, Red Glimmer Paper, black and white DSP) because there was no other way to capture the elements of inspiration from those lovely festive lanterns, but the fabulous Merry Christmas Dies carried over to the annual catalogue and so will be seeing lots of action this season too and are available if you would like to get your hands on a set.

I am trying to use up a little of my retired stash to create some cards for my box and it feels good to mix in a little old with the new every now and again. Have any of you started Christmas crafting in earnest yet? Do leave me a comment below or even feel free to share your creations here on my Facebook page - I would love to see them!

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:

Merry Christmas Dies (£26.00)

Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)

Gold Glimmer Paper (£4.75)

Silver Glimmer Paper (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Fusion where they have a great sketch and ombre photo inspiration:

This is a great sketch to showcase one of my favourite stamps in the new Silhouette Scenes stamp set - take a look:

I stamped my silhouette image in Rich Razzleberry using my Stamparatus so that I could get a good solid image and used my largest layered oval diecut to cut it out. I overlaid my sentiment and stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed it in gold. 

I used some of my retired Painted With Love specialty designer series paper as a backdrop for this image as the photo inspiration reminded me of it - I love those splashed of gold foil.

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:

Silhouette Scenes Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Layering Ovals Dies (£33.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)
Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card using the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was also inspired by the current Time Out Challenge:

I went with neutrals and masculine today and with those circles on Kim's sketch offering lots of creative possibilities, I saw ship's wheels in their place - take a look:

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

Sailing Home - I suddenly realised this week that despite having brought this set home with me from Onstage back in May, with the exception of my Make and Take this is the first card I've made with it (a case of new product overload as usual!) I have an upcoming class with this set and a ton of 'works in progress' on my desk, so will definitely have lots more to share in coming weeks. The only stamp I used on today's card is the sentiment - I think this makes a nice sentiment for a male anniversary card, but would also work for a mentor, teacher or coach I think; anyone who sets direction and motivates others.

Come Sail Away Compasses - I wasn't sure that I would use the paper pattern that I featured on today's card with all of those compasses and measuring instruments (there's always one in a pack that goes to the bottom of the pile, right?) so I pushed myself to cut into it and I think with some black accents it adds just enough detail to work on today's card. The stripey pattern on the reverse will definitely be more popular with me, but for now challenge accomplished! 

Smooth Sailing Ship's Wheels - My trio of ship's wheels were diecut using the Smooth Sailing Dies - check out the embossed detail on these, so lovely. I cut them from a scrap of (retired) brushed silver cardstock from my scrapbox and finished the centre of each with a black faceted dot for a little understated bling.

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:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)

Come Sail Away Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

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 CAS challenge for you to work with:

Remember: this is clean and simple week. What do we mean by 'clean and simple' ? Create a card that has:

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

There were lots of great options to choose from this week and in the end I decided to use this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and the fun golfer in the new 'On To Adventure' set - take a look:

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

On To Adventure - As soon as I saw this set in the catalogue, I knew I would have to have it! My Dad is a keen golfer and so I knew this image would give me a lot of mileage. Many of the sentiments in this set are along the theme of retirement (which is also good for me, as I didn't have any retirement sets up to this point) but the images can easily be combined with other sentiments to be used in tons of different ways. I stamped my golfer above my hole-in-one sentiment then brayered in some Granny Apple Green grass to ground him before colouring him with my Stampin' Blends.

In Color Argyle - This card would look fine as a one layer card, however the sketch calls for some vertical stripes and since this month's #SimpleStamping challenge from stamping up is to use stamps, ink and paper along with some designer series paper on your card, I decided that this argyle pattern in the new DSP stack would work perfectly with my golfer - my Dad certainly has many golf sweaters with this pattern!

A Ribbon of Birthdays -  It's my Dad's birthday next month so I thought this would make a perfect 'Happy Birthday Grandpa' card from one of the James Juniors. With this in mind, I overlaid a 'ribbon' of happy birthday sentiments, courtesy of the 'Itty Bitty Birthdays' set and stamped repeatedly on a narrow strip of white cardstock, along my DSP border.

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 on a belated spring-clean at home so will be spending a little time doing some more sorting out today. We have a movie to watch and hopefully I'll squeeze in a little crafty time too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

On To Adventure Cling Stamp Set (£19.00)	Itty Bitty Birthdays Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	2019–2021 In Color 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Sponge Brayers (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made because it is perfect for the current challenge over at Festive Friday and uses the current Color Throwdown colours:

Using both watercolouring and with Parent's Day in mind (or at least two new parents in particular) and this soft and sweet colour palette, I created this card for some new parents:

Not much to say about my card today! I stamped my image on watercolour paper and then heat embossed it in silver, watercoloured it and added a stitched frame to finish. No product table for this card because it uses a whole bunch of retired bits and pieces: one of my favourite baby-themed retired stamp sets, Baby We've Grown, a retired colour in Pink Pirouette (a perfect baby pink) and some retired co-ordinating ribbon and foil doily. All of these were chosen deliberately though, as they are just perfect for the recipients: a Stampin' Up! demonstrator friend of mine and her husband have finally this week received their much longed-for adopted child, a baby girl, so their family of two has (almost overnight) grown to become three. This stamped image of three owls seemed just so appropriate to celebrate the arrival of Little Miss Wilson as she is affectionately known, and the oh-so girly pink complimented with the pale grey seemed like the perfect palette.

Enjoy your evening; I am typing this having spent the evening at the swimming pool watching the youngest of the James Juniors race with some great race times and a couple of wins, so it's nice to be sat in the cool again. I'll be back tomorrow with another project and this week's post over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Today I'm sharing another card using our colours over at The Paper Players this week for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges where they have a great sketch for inspiration:

 I needed more masculine birthday cards, this time for slightly older/teenage children, so I pulled out my Broadway Birthday set and set to work - take a look:

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

Take One Sketch - Often I am very literal with my interpretation of a sketch layout, but not so today! Whilst I didn't use the background florals suggested by the sketch or the banner sentiment, I did use my Balmy Blue ink to create a soft sponged background with a little tone-on-tone stamping then overlaid with my balloons, and used my large 'Wish' diecut as my large focal sentiment on the top layer. Sketches are my favourite starting point when designing a card but they are only a starting point; if you look at the TGIF design team cards or the others in the gallery, you will see that everyone interprets them in a slightly different way - great for inspiration!

Broadway Birthday - If you are only going to buy one birthday stamp set, then Broadway Birthday has to be it for universal appeal. It works in any colour, for male or female, young or old and with its fun balloons, candles and party hats will definitely go the creative distance.

Make A Wish - Better still, if you pair Broadway Birthday with the co-ordinating Broadway Lights Dies, you have even more creative possibilities. You can use the big words to make a feature of your card; I love the swirly fonts and the fact that the diecut pieces are nice and big; not too fiddly and so I don't loose them on my desk before I've stuck them down! This card was so easy to make I stamped and diecut a few at the same time so that I had a few made ready for my next few birthdays.  

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. 

Rebecca is home from Germany today and we are all feeling tired given her arrival in the early hours of the morning, so we will be taking it easy in between the laundry. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Broadway Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Broadway Lights Dies (£27.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)

Firstly an apology if you are here to see the masculine birthday card I promised - I mixed up my days, that one is coming tomorrow! Today I'm sharing a Christmas card for the current challenges over at As You See It and Just Add Ink:

That AYSI recipe took me a little while to work through but I got there in the end and since the JAI girls are looking for seasonal cards of any kind, it works for them too. I pulled out one of my favourite festive items in the annual catalogue that I think is rather overlooked to make today's card - the seasonal wreath embossing folder. Here's my finished card:

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

A Seasonal Wreath - This Seasonal Wreath embossing folder really is in my opinion one of the unsung heroes of the Stampin' Up! catalogue; in one run through the Big Shot, you have the basis for a card. I must confess that I have only ever used it on a Christmas card, although the seasonal challenge over at Just Add Ink did get me thinking I should create another three so that I have a wreath for all seasons - so watch this space! I think the detail of the texture is difficult to capture in a photo, but in real life it's beautiful.  

A New Merry Christmas - I've used this wreath before with the Merry Christmas dies from last year's seasonal catalogue (and still available in the current annual) but thought I would use the Merry Christmas words from the new Word Wishes die set, which are smaller in size and sit rather neatly across the middle of the wreath. I heat embossed the lower part of the diecuts with silver embossing powder for a little added interest and to tie in with my decoration, but you could just as easily leave it plain - you can't go wrong with red and green for a perfectly festive colour combo.

Stars and Stripes - I decided to decorate my wreath with some silver retired metallic stars that I found in my box (I have almost run out and wish I had stockpiled a few more of these!), along with some red berries (I punched out the eye on the Elephant Builder Punch) and added a piece of (also retired) Poppy Parade mini striped ribbon tied with some silver metallic thread to finish. There was very little stamping on this card - only the inserts with one of my favourite stamps for inside a Christmas card from Merry Christmas To All:

I went with a square design because I had a 12" x 12" pack of Garden Green and Poppy Parade cardstock left over from the last seasonal catalogue and liked this card so much I decided to cut up the whole pack and mass-produce an entire set of these to make a real dent in my Christmas stash! My husband did think I'd lost to plot when he saw me cutting and embossing not one but more than 20 Christmas cards whilst watching the Wimbledon tennis finals on Sunday, but actually this was a super-easy card to make en-mass from a pack of 12" x 12" (if you would like the measurements, the card base is 6" x 6", the red matt measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" (the offcuts were used for the word dies) and the central green square is 4" x 4"), especially as the only stamping was on the inside. I will need to get creative with my stars for the remaining cards - I will probably punch some out of silver glimmer paper, but I am thoroughly chuffed with my efforts!

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:

Seasonal Wreath 3D Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Regals 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock (£11.75)	Word Wishes Dies (£33.00)	Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)

I'm back with a second quick card to share with you today! I needed a quick card and used this week's sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches and am just squeezing in before the deadline:

An old university friend of mine landed awkwardly when running at the weekend and broke his ankle, so I wanted to make a quick card to send him some get well wishes and the new 'Back On your Feet' stamp set had just the right stamp  - take a look:

Isn't that sloth with his bandaged paw just the cutest?! I stamped him on a stitched oval and coloured him with my Stampin' Blends and added a simple 'ouch!' to the front of my card, completing the message inside with 'Hope you're back on your feet again soon' which in the circumstances seemed more than appropriate! I picked up the colour from the branch on my stamped image and used the leaf ribbon for the three vertical stripes of the sketch. I haven't used this before but it goes perfectly with this image.

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:

Back On Your Feet Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Leaf Ribbon (£7.50)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	So Saffron A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Soft Suede Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	So Saffron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Smoky Slate Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)
Call Me Clover Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Bronze Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

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

I really liked LeAnne's colour combo this week and I have a real shortage of male birthday cards in my box at the moment, especially for young boys (a whole bunch of Ben's friends have had birthdays lately with still more to come in the next couple of months), so that's where I decided to focus my efforts this week. I have two cards to share with you today, both featuring the Little Elephant set. They both use this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch; here's the first one:

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

I did some simple layering and inset my punched elephant carrying his balloons inside a circle aperture cut with my Layering Circle Dies, then overlayed a stacked diecut sentiment, cut with the Well Written Framelits, that I brushed with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. I also made a super clean and simple version that I am going to link up over at Less Is More for their theme of 'Celebrations' this week:

I switched the colours around and punched out the elephant's ear to ring the changes and for both cards I decorated the envelopes and the insides too. My Stamparatus made it easy to line up the balloon and the elephant's trunk - love that tool!

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. 

Having made these cards I decided they were maybe a little too youthful for my 'pre-teens' so I used this colour combo to make another masculine, more grown up card that I will share with you on Tuesday, so if you like this colour combo, be sure to pop back then and take a look.

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 will be glued to the TV this afternoon enjoying the Wimbledon Men's Final - the culmination of two fantastic weeks of grass court tennis and spending some quality time with my boys since we are still Rebecca-less, as she continues to experience the delights of life with a German family (only 3 more days t go!) I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Little Elephant Cling-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Elephant Builder Punch (£17.00)	Layering Circles Dies (£33.00)	Well Written Dies (£37.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing another of the cards I designed for my Daisy Lane class earlier this week that is perfect for the current colour challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments where they have a pretty subtles colour palette for inspiration:

I wanted to remind my ladies of a technique that I demonstrated to them previously using a template to create a wreath or uniform pattern using their Stamparatus and the Daisy Lane set was perfect for this - take a look at my card:

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

A Layered Daisy - Today's card features more stamped and punched daisies - this time layered to create a full flower: two large stamped and punched daisies in Petal Pink, with two smaller stamped and punched daisies in Calypso Coral layered on top. Lots of petal curling with a bone folder adds dimension and the appearance of fullness.

A Starburst Fern And A Fun Stamparatus Technique - I wanted to use the fern on this card and it was the perfect size and shape to revise a fun technique using the Stamparatus. We had previously looked at how you can use a template to help you create a symmetrical wreath using leaves and small flowers; this time we used the same template, but instead used it to create an almost flower-shaped starburst of ferns to back our punched daisy. This was perfect for my daisy focal point and a neat way to ring the changes with a square card too.

A Touch of Sparkle - On this card, I finished my daisy with a clear faceted dot for a neutral touch of sparkle. 

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:

Daisy Lane Bundle (£32.25)	Daisy Punch (£17.00)	Subtles 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock Pack (£11.75)	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Timeless Label Punch (£17.00)	Clear Faceted Gems (£4.75)