Happy Valentine's Day everyone! It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the queen of die-cuts, the lovely Laurie, to host and she has a colour challenge for you to play along with:

This week's colours are about as far from Valentines as you could possibly get, but this colour palette offers some great opportunities for bright cards on a cold Winter's day. For my card this week I was inspired to use my new Sunburst Thinlits to create a layered sunburst, paired with some patterned cloud paper:

To create my sunburst I cut two sunbursts, one in Daffodil Delight to fit my card panel and the other full size in Tangelo Twist. To get a perfect 'shadow' I cut the orange one into three pieces to give equal shadow lines on each ray, then trimmed the ends to fit flush with the yellow one. I mounted my sunburst onto a piece of Pool Party cloud paper, taken from the Sweet L'il Things designer series paper stack. I stamped my sentiment in Tangelo Twist onto Very Vanilla and layered the circles to create the centrepiece for my sun. Finally, I added a trio of orange Brights sequins to finish. Quite a simple card to look at, but consisting of nine layers in total, each of which adds to the finished look and feel of the card. I love the bright colours of this week's colour palette  -so cheery and sure to brighten everyone's day! 

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 colours. We have a restful day planned today, with a sport-free day as it's the start of the half-term holiday for the James Juniors. Pretty much a whole week of lie-ins - bliss!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sunburst Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle	Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series Paper	1-1/4" Circle Punch	1-3/8" Circle Punch	1-3/4" Circle Punch
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock
Brights Sequin Assortment

Good evening lovely readers! It's the big day tomorrow so in anticipation I have one last Valentine card for you, and unlike many of my others, this one has a distinctly masculine feel. Today's card uses this week's sketch over at the Global Design Project and I am also linking up with The Friday Mashup (I chose Valentine, but not with candy!) and Just Add Ink where the challenge is something beginning with 'v':

I decided that this sketch was perfect for the globe in the 'Going Global' stamp set, paired with some of the map patterns in the 'Going Places' designer series paper stack. Take a look:

I layered my background and mats with Basic Black and Lost Lagoon, and used a piece of atlas patterned paper for the base layer and a piece of the street map paper for the top layer. Did you know that the papers in the Going Places stack are actual maps of real places? The street map here is of Brooklyn in New York, USA. I added a strip of Lost Lagoon embossed with the World Traveller embossing folder across the centre then for the focal point circle, I stamped the globe in Lost Lagoon onto Very Vanilla, having stamped off once so that it wouldn't overpower my over-stamped sentiment. I stamped the 'love' banner element again separately and fussy cut this and popped it up on dimensionals. I also punched a red heart from of Confetti Hearts Border punch and added over the stamped one and decided to create a mat for my circle element in red, to add a contrasting pop of colour and really draw you in - I know it's a masculine card, but it is Valentines, right? There are lots of layers on this card and I'm really pleased with how it came together.

That's all from me today; I'm looking forward to an early Valentines dinner this evening and will be back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Going Places Designer Series Paper Stack	Going Global Wood-Mount Stamp Set	World Traveler Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot	Circles Collection Framelits Dies
2" Circle Punch	2-1/2" Circle Punch	Confetti Hearts Border Punch	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Yay it's Friday - the weekend is almost here! I'm looking forward to mine, especially as it heralds the start of half-term and a welcome break from the routine of school, even if for just one week. Today I'm sharing a card that I made for this week's challenge over at Less Is More - one of my favourite challenges and this week it is celebrating it's 5th Birthday - amazing! Chrissie and the rest of the Design Team really are the friendliest bunch and do a tremendous job inspiring the masses each week. As it happens I am too late to join in the celebrations, the theme of this week being 'white on white', however I wanted to share my card anyway. I decided to make a wedding card using the Rose Garden framelits and co-ordinating Rose Wonder stamp set for my sentiment. Here is my card:

When making a white-on-white card, you have to use either shades of white or texture to add interest and contrast. I decided that texture and sparkle was the way to go, so using a base of Shimmery White cardstock, I added a layer of white Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper, then another layer of Shimmery White onto which I added two diecut roses and leaves to opposing corners, allowing them to overhang the edge slightly. I added a simple sentiment, which I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in silver along with a lovely verse inside to finish my card. 

This is one of those cards that looks so very pretty in real life - all shimmer and sparkle. Tricky to photograph though, so I hope you get the idea! I love these thinlits  too and am really looking forward to making more projects with them. They are also going to be featured in one of my April technique classes, so if you live in or around Northampton and would be interested in attending, do get in touch for more details. I'm also linking today's card up with CAS Colours and Sketches as I used their sketch for my layout and Stamps Ink Paper where the theme is 'love' - a wedding definitely celebrates that!

So happy birthday Less is More - hope you continue to inspire for the next 5 years and beyond. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot	Precision Base Plate

I've an extra card for you today; my spot of crafting yesterday gave me just enough time to squeeze in this fun card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch:

I also used the colour palette over at Fab Friday, which seemed rather appropriate given the sentiment on today's card - after all, as the saying goes 'Let's paint the town red' right?

I used the hostess set 'Love You Sew' for my card today. The paint brushes and swish of paint stamp made the perfect backdrop for my sentiment; I stamped each paint swish twice on my mat of Very Vanilla and overlapped them beneath my sentiment oval in order to extend their length. I cut out my sentiment using my Big Shot and Oval Framelits and popped it up on a couple of dimensionals. A few punched hearts and an epoxy sticker on the largest heart finished my card. 

This hostess set is a great set for crafters and non-crafters alike - I just love the fun sentiments and creative possibilities. Whilst this sentiment isn't a particular 'love' themed one, I think my card could be used as a fun invitation to a loved one or group of friends perhaps. 'Love You Sew' is exclusively available to customers who host a Stampin' Up! party or place a single order that qualifies for Stampin' Rewards. Sale-A-Bration is a great time to host a party with extra hostess rewards available for qualifying party sales. If you would like to host a party, do get in touch; I have a few slots left before the end of March if you would like to take advantage of these great offers. in addition, for all of my customers who host a party between now and the end of Sale-A-Bration, I will provide them with a free 'to go' tutorial to make a set of fun cards using the 'Love You Sew' hostess stamp set. So what are you waiting for? Make the call!

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Love You Sew Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Hearts Border Punch	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Stickers	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock
Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch for you:

I decided to use the circles in the sketch to showcase the Love Blossoms paper and create a quilt-effect card - take a look:

I really can't decide which of the patterns in the stack I like the most, so I used one of each of the 12 patterns on the Love Blossoms DSP stack for my quilted circles, although you can't see the bottom row well in the photo because of the banner; I actually heat-embossed the sentiment in white onto vellum so that in reality they can be seen and are not wholly obscured - they really are too pretty to cover up! To create my pattern I punched 12 1" circles, one from each of the paper patterns, then scored each circle on parallel sides into a diamond (more difficult to explain but you can see from the card what I mean!) then adhered them so that each one touched at the point. I added a little Blushing Bride punched heart in each space, punched with my Hearts Border Punch, to add extra interest, along with a piece of Blushing Bride 1/4" cotton ribbon across the bottom to finish my sentiment banner with a bow.

I guess this card would work for Valentines, Mother's Day, Anniversary - lots of occasions. I actually made it as a birthday card for one of my very best friends; I think it works for a birthday too so I hope she agrees!

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they interpreted this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

I've had a busy day today with a couple of meetings and a long task list, but many jobs ticked off so very productive! I even managed to fit in a quick spot of crafting this evening so rustled up this fun card for this week's sketch over at As you See It:

Whilst I started out with the sketch (as is often my way!), I also have a few more linkups, as I used the Color Throwdown colours too for my card, the technique that is being featured over at Happy Little Stampers and my card fits with the theme over at Stamps, Ink, Paper. It's not often that this happens, but all of these came together neatly for today's card which is definitely destined for a Valentine - take a look:

I created some simple layering using Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry and Gold foil cardstock to frame my central panel, which I created by inking the solid heart side of my Happy Heart embossing folder and using it to stamp the pattern onto a piece of Shimmery White cardstock. I tried a few different versions, some that I spritzed with water and some without, and this one which was stamped on 'dry' was my favourite. To finish I added a melon Mambo punched heart and my diecut 'love' sentiment from the retired Expressions thinlits - retired it may be, but I will never part with mine, I just love those diecut words and this one was perfect for today's card. 

This is one of those cards that was really fun to make - a little time getting well and truly inky can bring such pleasure! I just love the effect from the inked embossing folder too - I think it makes an unusual background and is a great way to get further mileage out of your embossing folders. In real life this card has a wonderful lustre and sparkle too - difficult to see in the photograph though, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

That's all from me today; back bright and early tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Gold Foil Sheets	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad
Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock

I know that many of you are taking advantage of the great offers that are available when you shop, host a party or join Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration. If you need a reminder of the benefits available you can read all about it here. Today's card is one that I made recently and features one of the stamp sets that you can receive free with a spend of £45 on Stampin' Up! products. The stamp set is called 'Sky Is The Limit' and features a great vintage bi-plane. here's my card:

For my card I used a simple base of Basic Black, a mat of Soft Sky, some white clouds punched with my Tree Builder Punch and I stamped my plane off the page to add to the sense of movement. I added some Basic Black baker's twine and a fun propeller to my aeroplane, using a silver mini-brad and a couple of vellum pieces punched from the centre of the Festive Flower Builder Punch, to finish my card. This stamp set is great for male cards but also works for exam celebrations and it has a great bunch of sentiments as well as clouds, smoke trail and the airplane. 

If this stamp set is on your wish list, remember along with the Perfectly Artistic Paper and Hello stamp set, these are limited offers only available until 15th February. After this they will be discontinued to make way for a number of new sets to run alongside the remaining products until the end of Sale-A-Bration on 31st March. You have one week only to get hold of this one, so don't delay - shop today!

I'm looking forward to spending my day catching up with friends today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project and this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Sky Is The Limit Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Basic Black Baker's Twine	Tree Builder Punch	Festive Flower Builder Punch	Vellum A4 Cardstock	1/8" Silver Mini Brads

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had enjoyable weekends; my Sunday saw the completion of Ben's history project with a very fetching Tudor-clothed peg doll, along with an Ann Boleyn and Ann of Cleeves for good measure, so I for one am happier although Ben seems rather relaxed about the whole thing - perhaps that's what happens when you're an 8 year old boy with a crafty Mummy!

Today I have a card for this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts:

This is a great sketch and as soon as I saw it I had a card in mind - I so love it when that happens! I need a few congratulations cards at the moment for different friends, colleagues and members of my team who have been achieving goals at the moment so that's what I decided to make using the vertical stamp in the 'Bravo' stamp set:

I took my colour combination from the 'It's My Party' Designer Series Paper - with 12 double-sided designs, this really is the stack that keeps on giving! I used the star-sprinkle pattern for my card today and I love the subtle layering of the diagonals where the patterned paper is cut away and the stripe of Mint Macaron runs across the top. My sentiment is stamped front and centre; I was originally intending to stamp this in Melon Mambo but switched to black to add more emphasis. I coloured in the stripes on some of the letters with my Stampin' Write markers and added a punched Crushed Curry star with a pink enamel dot to finish. This flat card was a relatively quick make for me so I made a few at the same time - bonus!

I have a morning of errands today and a few household chores in store, however I am hoping to get into my craft room this afternoon - wish me luck!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set	It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack	It's My Party Cardstock Pack	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Many Marvelous Markers	It's My Party Enamel Dots	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

I have a quick second post today following on from my earlier Paper Players post, to share the 'Wylie Kyote' balloon animal that I created to grace my card using this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday:

My earlier post here explains how my balloon animal came to be; I had a quick 5 minutes this afternoon so decided to through caution to the wind and make him into a card. Whilst I'm still not convinced he looks like a dog, he definitely looks enough like a balloon animal to join this party:

I added some balloon designer series paper from the 'It's My Party' stack (just in case anyone needed some visual association for my stamped animal!!) and the fun sentiment that also features in the 'Balloon Builder' stamp set. In retrospect I think I should have used a patterned paper for my pink layer too as it's a little plain, but there we go - next time! It was fun to try out this little set though - I can't wait to see what other animals I can create.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Balloon Builders Photopolymer Stamp Set	It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack	It's My Party Cardstock Pack	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
1" Circle Punch

Did you miss me? Apologies for the lack of blog posts over the last couple of days. I've had plenty of projects, just not enough time to write up! However today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of my talented friend LeAnne to host and she has a fun theme challenge for you to play along with:

This proved something of a tricky week for me! As someone known for not being the world's biggest pet lover, I don't have much in the way of cats or dogs in my stamp collection. I'd been thinking about what I was going to do for this challenge all week, wondering whether I should get creative with some punch art, when I had a 'light bulb' moment and thought I would use my Balloon Builders set and build a dog. When I looked at my finished attempt, I wasn't sure about it; my husband poked his head round my office door, looked at it and said "Well, maybe it could pass for Wylie Kyote ... are you SURE you don't have any cat or dog stamps??" and proceeded to go searching along my shelves! So needless to say the balloons got tossed aside in favour of this card, as my dear husband had a 'Eureka!' moment and discovered my long-unused Giggle Greetings set:

I used this week's Colour Q palette and coloured my dog with my retired Blendabilities and created some fun layers with some embossing using my large polka dots embossing folder on the top one. I framed my stamped piece using my Circle Framelits, added a few banners from some retired scraps of designer series paper and some thick Cherry Cobbler baker's twine and my card is complete.

A fun puppy dog that as it turns out was perfect for the job and since I needed a few congratulations cards too I got one of those into the bargain! That will teach me to get all creative and not check my collection thoroughly first!! (edited to add: I did decide to put the balloon animal to good use, although balloon dog might be considered a stretch! You can find him here - let me know what you think!)

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 theme. We have a day of sport today, with basketball and hockey in store and then some time this afternoon making Tudor costumes for Ben's current school history project.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Giggle Greetings Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Cherry Cobbler Thick Baker’s Twine
Real Red A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Big Shot
Circles Collection Framelits Dies