It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I am your hostess this week and I have a sketch for you to work with:

When I came up with my sketch I had an idea about what I was going to do with it, yet when I came to make my card ended up going in a completely different direction -go figure! I'm still loving those patterns in the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Pack and just had to feature another one on my card today  - take a look:

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

Sending Love - My sketch allowed me the opportunity to showcase another of these gorgeous red and white patterns in the Sending Love stack; the large panel is perfect for a bigger pattern, so I decided to go with the white hearts on a red background. This was the starting point for my card, my mat, base and embellishments followed from there. 

This Card Is All Heart - I decided to replicate the heart pattern in my embellishment shapes and represented each of the diamonds in my sketch with a layered heart. Having heat-embossed the white stamped heart onto red and layered this onto white to echo my mat border, I felt it still needed a little something; I decided to add in an additional background heart in red glimmer paper and bingo! I backed my tiny hearts with a red glimmer one too; all cut with the Sweet & Sassy framelit dies.

Hugs And Kisses - I heat embossed my sentiment in white directly onto my card base. I love the delicate scripted font and it was perfect for the recipient of this card; my daughter has a love of all things sparkly so with the addition of the glimmer paper this has to be her valentine's card. I paired my 'hugs and kisses' with an 'I love you' on the inside - and finished with the flourish that is also featured in this set.

I've a second little project for you today - I can't give Miss Rebecca a Valentine's card without a chocolate treat , so here's a little something that took me just minutes to put together:

I took one of our clear boxes, filled it with chocolate hearts and added a belly band, some Sending Love red ribbon and a tag with some sweet Sending Love heart embellishments. I love that with just a few basic supplies I can turn a few chocolates into something special that I know my daughter will love. 

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with my sketch this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we have our usual morning of sport but have an unexpected free afternoon; both of the James Juniors have had sports fixture cancellations this weekend, so we will be able to enjoy some unexpected additional family time together - I'm looking forward to it already! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Sealed With Love Photopolymer Bundle	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Red Glimmer Paper	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Sending Love Embellishments	Sending Love Ribbon Combo Pack	Clear Tiny Treat Boxes

Today I'm sharing two quick and easy cards using the Sealed With Love bundle that use the same layout for two different looks. The first one was inspired by this card by Mary Fish - but I wanted both my cards to be about 'sending love' rather than Valentine's Day specifically, to show just how versatile this bundle is. Here's my first card, where I simply switched out the sentiment for one from the Designer Tin of Cards stamp set:

For my second card I reversed the colour palette to 'red on white' as opposed to 'white on red' and paired the sentiment on the outside of the card from the 'Sealed With Love Set' with the words 'On Your Birthday' from the Popcorn stamp set on the inside:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Hearts To DIE For - On both of these cards, the heart edging die totally steals the show! It creates the perfect border for the strips of Sending Love designer series paper and is sized perfectly to border an A6 size card front. 

Sending Love - As I mentioned in Wednesday's post, the Sending Love designer series paper stack has some great paper patterns and designs that work for birthdays and general 'love' themed cards too, not just for Valentines. This design is great for using leftover strips of paper; 'waste not, want not' as the old saying goes! 

Not Just For Valentine's - The variety of images and sentiments in the Sealed With Love stamp set will take this set through February and beyond; who doesn't like to receive a little love note every once in a while?

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

And the 'red on white' version:

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:

Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Love Notes Framelits Dies	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder

It's Wednesday already - happy hump day! Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a little challenge that I'm currently having with my team.

My team consists of people from all walks of life and each of them wants something different from their Stampin' Up! demonstratorship: whether they are actively running a business and using it as their main source of income, sellling to friends and family to provide family 'extras' or simply enjoying their hobby and enjoying a discount on their Stampin' Up! purchases, there is one thing that unites us all - a shared love of crafting! I like to set them challenges from time to time and one of our current ones is using the new 'Celebrate Every Day' Project Life memory keeping collection from Stampin' Up!

Each of my team were given a selection of cards in various sizes from the Celebrate Every Day card collection and one of the pockets from the 6" x 8" variety pocket pack and asked to come up with one or more projects that could be shared with the group, adding whatever additional accessories they had to hand. I love the bright, summery colours of this particular collection and so I couldn't wait to use some of mine to make a cheery card for a friend of mine who is going through a rough patch - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Celebrate The Every Day with Project Life - The Celebrate The Every Day Project Life set has some great sentiments to illustrate your Project Life pages and record those special times with loved ones. They can also work as the focal point for a card too: I've used one of the 3" x 4" cards that I cropped to focus on the sentiment, which is perfect for someone going through a rough patch to let them know you are thinking of them. I then backed this with one of the bright floral 3" x 4" cards for a burst of summer flowers and pop of colour. The final element to my card was a Watermelon Wonder Heart embellishment that I cropped out of one of my lined Project Life journalling cards with my circle Stitched Shape Framelit Dies. I love how these framelits add just the right amount of detail to frame a sentiment or image.

Co-ordinating Accessories - One of the great things about the Stampin' Up! project Life range is that it exclusively features Stampin' Up! colours. This makes it so easy to go to your craft supplies and instantly find other items that will co-ordinate. The colour palette for the Celebrate Every Day range looks like this, along with the addition of Basic Black and Whisper White as neutrals:

I chose to use some A4 Daffodil Delight cardstock for my base and mat, along with a punched circle of Watermelon Wonder and two pieces of Emerald Envy 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon on my card. Effortless co-ordination - one of the many reasons I love to craft with Stampin' Up! products!

I'm A Hoot And You Can Be Too - The Hoots are the lovely bunch that make up my Stampin' Up! team (The Crafty Owl - Hoots - get it?! ;-) ) and I would love to welcome you too. If you've ever thought about joining Stampin' Up!, now is a great time time to do so. During Sale-A-Bration, your starter kit is extra special as not only do you get your choice of £130/175 Euros worth of product for £99/129 Euros, but you get to choose an additional 2 stamp sets FOR FREE - that could be worth as much as an extra £93/126 Euros. There are so many ways in which you can benefit from being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator- please do give me a call on 07773 421446 or email me if you'd like to discuss further.

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:

Celebrate Every Day Project Life Card Collection

Ribbon Taffeta 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Emerald Envy

Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock

Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Today I'm sharing a fancy fold card that I made for my first technique class of the year that is also perfect for a couple of challenges this week:

The ladies over at TGIF Challenges are working with a love theme and the gals over at Just Add Ink have a blog hope this week featuring Pop Up and Interactive Cards. I urge you to check it out and the wonderful entries into this week's challenge, there are some fabulous examples of interactive cards on show.

I have been wanting to have a go at the Twisted Pop Up Panel card that has been appearing everywhere over the internet in recent weeks, so having watched a few tutorials I got down to business. On the outside a fairly straightforward looking envelope-style card:

It's when you open it up that the magic happens and the pop-up is revealed:

And here it is fully opened so that you can see the fun fold out panels in all their glory:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Twisted Pop Up Panel Card - I looked at several different versions of this card in order to work out how to create my pop-up panel card and in true Crafty Owl fashion didn't follow any one set of instructions, rather combined a number of 'learns' to create my card. I may well shoot my own video tutorial on this later this week, so if you'd like to find out how I did it, then pop back and check it out. One things for sure, the ladies at my technique class loved it and have definitely got the bug for creating more of them now!

Sending Love in Red and White - My technique class featured the Sealed With Love product bundle - used for the 'Sealed with a kiss' button on the front of my card and that fabulous stamped and diecut heart that adorns the 'O' of the word LOVE. For me this card was a real opportunity to showcase the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack, with five different patterns on show. The real challenge was which five of the twelve red and white patterns in the DSP stack to choose - check them out:

My team laugh at me as they think I have an unhealthy obsession with designer series paper and to be honest, they are probably right! I'm not one of those to keep it and stroke it though - I do cut into it and use it and am always looking for ways to incorporate it into my designs. I particularly like the 6" x 6" stacks, which are incredibly good value for money.

Large Letters, Big Impact - I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Large Letter Framelits are great and well worth the investment! They are great for a sentiment with impact; I've paired mine with the 'you' from the 'Hello You Thinlits' to complete my Valentine's message. If you are considering purchasing the Large Letter Framelits, now is an even better time to pop them in your shopping basket - add a little something to them and earn two free Sale-A-Bration items or alternatively why not include them in a starter kit? 

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:

Large Letters Framelits Dies	Hello You Thinlits Dies	Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack	Sealed With Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Love Notes Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Happy Monday everyone! As promised yesterday, I have another card for you using the Special Reason bundle and this week's colour palette over at Fab Friday:

In the process of making my card for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week, I had lots of bits and pieces left over, including the very piece I started out with that included a stamped flower. So often these end up in my scrapbox never to see the light of day again; to avoid this happening, I set about making another card right away - here it is:

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

A Special Reason to Rock 'n' Roll - As I mentioned yesterday, I love how the pale blue and warm vanilla tone down the Sweet Sugarplum in the above colour combination, as I sometimes find this purpley-pink a little stark when paired with stronger colours. I thought I'd use the rock and roll technique to add a little plum to the tips of the petals of my blue inked flower taken from the Special Reason stamp set; I also used a cotton bud (aka 'cue tip' for my USA friends!) to add a little to the inner petals too; I love how this gives subtle added definition to the form of the flower itself.

Ways With Stylish Stems Framelits - In addition to my large diecut flower and leaf, I also used my Stylish Stems Framelits to add some subtle detail to my stamped flower: if you look closely, you will see I partially die cut the mat in order to have my flower hang over that lovely piece of Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate and the metallic ribbon. It adds dimension without bulk and the need for an extra layer.

Fancy Some Free Metallics? - In addition to the strip of gold scallop pattern Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate (I just love this stuff!) I added a strip of ribbon and a bow to my card, using the gorgeous vanilla and gold ribbon from the Sale-A-Bration Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (the other ribbon in the pack is white and woven with silver). This ribbon has a soft, almost velvety feel and ties the most beautiful bows - check out this fabulous gift packaging too:

This is one of the items that can be yours free during Sale-A-Bration with a £45 order - you are definitely going to want some!

I also used one of the two-part sentiments from the Special Reason stamp set - the inside of my card reads "...except to let you know how special you are!" How lovely is that?! Perfect to send to a friend of mine 'just because'.

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. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; I'm finally getting back into the swing of things here in blog land! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Special Reason Clear-Mount Bundle	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Stylish Stems Framelits Dies	Special Reason Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I decided that for today's card I was going to try and come up with a CAS card that featured a single flower. I originally started out stamping and played around with lots of different combinations before settling on a card using the negative space created using the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies. Here's my final card:

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

Unorthodox Floral Colour Combination - I took my colour combination from this week's challenge over at Fab Friday. I love how the pale blue and warm vanilla tone down the Sweet Sugarplum, which I sometimes find a little stark when paired with stronger colours. For the original card I was making, it worked perfectly (I'll share that card with you tomorrow and explain more then!) It does look slightly unorthodox here granted, given the simplicity of the design - what flower has a blue stem?! - yet I decided that since I love the colour combination and the card has a clean and contemporary feel, I would go with it. Who knows, maybe I'll start a new trend!

Layered Negative Space - When I first saw the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies in the Spring-Summer catalogue, I thought - do I really need another set of flower framelits? The answer though on closer inspection was a definite 'yes'; I'm a big fan of using the negative space created when using framelits and dies this set is actually designed with that in mind; the flowers and stem can be used both to cut a positive shape, by layering the outline with the inside shape together, but the inner piece can be used alone to make the negative space itself the focal point. So many creative possibilities! Using the layers of this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch for inspiration, I cut through a single layer of Very Vanilla cardstock to reveal my Sweet Sugarplum flower, then cut the stem through both the Very Vanilla and Sweet Sugarplum layers to reveal the Soft Sky cardstock layer below. All that cutting makes this CAS card great for the challenge over at CASology this week too.

For A Good Friend - Lastly, I added a sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Special Reason' stamp set that is perfect for a special friend. My placement is not strictly as per the sketch, as I needed it to have more prominence so stamped it on the Very Vanilla top layer. My card is destined for one of my very best friends to say thank you for entertaining the James family for dinner yesterday evening.

A super-simple clean and simple card with minimal supplies - I just love this set!

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:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Special Reason Clear-Mount Bundle

Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sky A4 Cardstock

Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock

I've had my first classes of the new year this week and a team meeting today, so I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and it's been busy busy! I'll share some of my class cards another time, Today I have a card I made using one of the new Celebrations Duo Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - take a look:

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

Deboss Happy - For a great letterpress look, this embossing folder creates a great bold, debossed sentiment. Use with the swishes of the co-ordinating stampset or 'naked' as I have here for a sentiment that is subtle at the same time.

Vintage Bunting - The vintage bunting flags on the slim piece of Cupcakes and Carousels Designer Series Paper tucked behind my debossed sentiment are just enough to provide a flutter of colour without detracting from the overall clean feel of my card. 

A Happy Colour Combo - I took my colour inspiration from the Cupcakes and Carousels Paper and went with a subtle colour scheme with some pops of bright turquoise - here's the colour swatch if you would like to use it for future colour inspiration:

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. 

I'm linking up today's card with the current challenge over at SUO Challenges where they are looking for embossing - wet or dry - on your project.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack	Celebrations Duo Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	So Saffron A4 Cardstock
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the talented Sandy to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for us to work with:

I haven't been getting as much time to get in my office and craft as much as I'd like lately, so decided that today I was going to make a card using a set that was at the top of my wish list as soon as I set eyes on the Spring-Summer catalogue, along with the Fusion sketch for my layout - take a look:

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

Beautiful You - I loved this set the moment I saw it! Sketched outlines of the female form and some great sentiments in fonts that combine script and print; now who wouldn't want to receive a card with the sentiment 'Happy birthday, Gorgeous'? That's guaranteed to raise a smile. Here I stamped the elegant lady in the hat in Archival Black in watercolour paper and coloured her in with Melon Mambo ink and my aquapainter. This set has so many creative possibilities, I'm really looking forward to using it in lots of other ways too.

A Pop of Pink - Having chosen pink as my 'colour', I spent some time experimenting with different layouts and pattern combinations and decided on a plain Melon Mambo central panel with a piece of Pop of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper beneath it.

Stitched Framelits are back! - I chose to cut out my elegant lady with my Layered Oval Framelits and frame it with a simple stitched oval in mat black. Why am I teasing you with something you can't get hold of, I hear you cry? Well, fear not - as of tomorrow, 16th January, Stitched Framelits are back in stock and available to order - woohoo! These are the perfect way to add the finishing touch to a border or frame. Order yours 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I'm also linking my card up with the challenge over at Stamp, Ink Paper where this week the challenge is also black, white and one colour; what are the odds?!

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's colour palette. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; we are off to watch the National League basketball finals today - the tickets were one of Ben's Christmas presents. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Beautiful You Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Pop Of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper	Aqua Painters
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	White Perfect Accents	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Watercolor Paper

It's Sunday and time for the first challenge of 2017 over at The Paper Players! Did you spot our new look? Our fearless leader, the lovely Nance, has given us a refresh and makeover over the Christmas break and we are returning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and raring to go! Our new guest designers are joining us too; a warm PP welcome to Crystal, Valentyna and Deanne - we are so happy to have you join us for the first part of 2017! 

To kick off the new year, it's the turn of my good friend LeAnne to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for us to work with:

If your house is anything like mine, the festive season has generated much packaging waste and many opportunities for recycling. So this week's challenge is perfect! I took the opportunity to recycle a Christmas gift on my card today and used the sketch over at Fab Friday for my layout. Recycling Christmas gifts already?! It's not quite as bad as it sounds - take a look:

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

Join The Colouring Craze - One of my Christmas gifts was a page-a-day colouring calendar. Well, to be truthful I bought one for Rebecca and loved it so much I treated myself to one! The calendar comes in a pretty box that can be used to display our coloured pieces once completed. I decided that by recycling my pages, I could easily use them to create a birthday card. Here's my day one finished page before I trimmed it to fit my card:

Effortless Blending - I coloured my page using Stampin' Up!'s new watercolour pencils and used a blender pen to seamlessly blend the colours and give a smooth finish as the paper was too thin to blend using an aquapainter. I also adhered my coloured piece to a piece of extra thick Whisper White for extra rigidity. I love that these pencils can be used in a number of different ways and am looking forward to trying other techniques with them too.

A Fiesta of Colour - I chose to inject some bright summer colour into my card today, using a card base of Daffodil Delight and a selection of papers from the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper set for my layers behind the coloured-in panel. I love these clashing brights - here are my main colours in case you would like to save them for future project inspiration 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I hope you like today's card; you could create the same effect using the new 'Inside The Lines' Designer Series Paper Sale-A-Bration gift (free with a purchase of £45 or more) - I will have a fun project for you using this paper later this week, so be sure to pop by and check it out.

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our fun theme this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Watercolor Pencils	Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper	Sunshine Sayings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Brights Enamel Shapes	Blender Pens