Happy Friday everyone! Firstly, I must say a big 'thank you' to everyone who came by to see yesterday's Mrs Potts and Chip card - I have received many wonderful comments on this card both here on my blog and wherever I've shared it, so thank you all so much! Whereas yesterday's card was a little more involved, today's card is almost as CAS as it get! I managed to snatch a quick 10 minutes at my desk this evening so made this Valentine's card for a few challenges:

I went with the top link of the tic-tac-toe board over at Stamp Ink Paper and red/punch or die cut/heart and also used the tilted sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches to add a little more red to my sketch, which is the theme over at Addicted to CAS. Here's my card:

A Real Red base, a twisted panel of white and a simple sentiment; I used the heart-shaped 'steam' die from the Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies for my heart, which I cut out of red foil for a little dimension and shine. So clean, so simple - and I love it!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Bloomin' Love Photopolymer Stamp Set	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Big Shot	Red Foil Sheets

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:

Now as my regular readers know I love a good sketch but it wasn't actually the sketch that inspired my card today; I was working on a couple of projects at the same time and had my Cups and Kettle Framelits Dies still out on my desk from my Paper Players card (if you missed it you can see that card here) and the minute I set eyes on that little cup (or it might even be a milk jug, I'm not sure) I just knew it would be perfect to make Chip, the little cup from Disney's movie 'The Beauty and The Beast' - you know the little guy I mean?

 (Copyright Disney)

Paired with a customised teapot for Mrs Potts, Chip's Mum, this sketch gave me the perfect layout to showcase my fun characters - here's my finished card:

Now I know I'm biased since I made the card, but aren't that pair just the cutest?! So how did I make them? Here are the key component parts you need:

• Basic teapot and cup cut from Shimmery White cardstock (I reversed my cup for the above card as I wanted the characters to be looking at each other)
• Cupbase and teapot base made from the base of the other cup framelit cut from Wisteria Wonder
• Cut an extra teapot and cup in Daffodil Delight and trim off the handles and some strips to edge the bases
• Cut three of the looped framelit pieces, one each in Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise and Pink Pirouette. Detach and use one whole yellow loop to line the cup. Snip the blue and pink ones in half across the middle and glue them in alternating colours to the Wisteria Wonder base.
• Cut a teapot lid out of Wisteria Wonder and add a Pink Pirouette candy dot to the lid top. 
• Cut two pieces of the wave shapes, one each from Daffodil Delight and Wisteria Wonder. Paper-piece them together and adhere to the teapot edge to create the frill.
• Punch some eyes using the circle from the owl builder punch, adding eyelids and eye lashes to Mrs Potts and cut the eyebrows and mouths freehand with paper snips. 
• Lastly, don't forget to snip to add Chip's chip!

I stamped a faint heart on the background, added a strip of 'Have a Cuppa' designer series paper and a heart boarder, along with my sentiment, to complete my card. Punch art-type cards like this are sometimes time-consuming to create, but so worth it I think for a special card!

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: 

Cups & Kettle Framelits Dies	A Nice Cuppa Photopolymer Stamp Set	Have A Cuppa Designer Series Paper Stack	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock
Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock	Wisteria Wonder A4 Cardstock	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Hearts Border Punch	Owl Builder Punch

Another quick silhouette card from my brayer class today - this one featuring the birds in a tree stamp from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set:

This card uses a similar pieced silhouette technique that I used on yesterday's card, with the sunset sky panel made from a combination of Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and Real Red inks. I used the sentiment from the 'Wetlands' stamp set again and this time in addition to my black mat and Pumpkin Pie card base, I added a piece of black satin ribbon tied around the bottom of the panel.

A quick post from me today; do come back tomorrow to see what I created for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary - I have something rather special to share!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Serene Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Brayer	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Wetlands Clear Stamp Set

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for January W2ZHBH2D if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper

Happy Patterns Decorative Masks

Wild Wasabi 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon

Zig Zag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

A little bit of everything this week! 

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!

I've spent a lovely day today teaching a group of ladies how to brayer in a Brayer Technique Masterclass and witnessed lots of lovely sunsets and beautiful colour schemes as they learned the 'do's and don'ts' of perfecting the technique. Today's card is one of the ones we made, practising creating a monochromatic ombre:

We used a small 3/4" circle of post-it note to mask out a moon, then having brayered in the blue sky, I stamped the tree image partially off the panel in Black Archival ink and mounted this onto a mat of Basic Black. I then stamped the tree again on the Tempting Turquoise card base, using my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up with the partial stamped image. I added my sentiment from the 'Wetlands' stamp set to complete my card. 

I'm linking my card up again with the lovely ladies over at Less Is More whose challenge this week is to use a silhouette on your card. I like the way the partial stamping adds interest to the silhouette on this otherwise monochromatic card and this card was a great way to start today's class. Here's a shot of my ladies hard at work and having fun:

Very messy, but well worth it! 

If you would like to join one of my classes, please do get in touch for details of upcoming classes or check out the listings on my web page here. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Brayer	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Serene Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Wetlands Clear Stamp Set
3/4" Circle Punch	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it is the turn of the lovely Nance to host and she has my favourite type of challenge, a sketch, for you to play along with:

For my card this week I was inspired to use my Cups and Kettle Framelits Dies and co-ordinating 'Have A Cuppa' Designer Series Paper Stack for a fun card:

My colour scheme was taken directly from the paper stack and my card is otherwise really quite self explanatory. I added a White Perfect Accent to my teapot lid and some clear Wink of Stella to the steam heart above the spout for added shimmer. I love the bright colours in these papers and the many little elements in the framelit set - endless creative possibilities! 

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 an important day of sport today: Ben is playing basketball this morning and no hockey this week as Rebecca has an afternoon of swimming with County trials today - wish us luck!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

A Nice Cuppa Photopolymer Bundle	Have A Cuppa Designer Series Paper Stack	Have A Cuppa Cardstock Pack	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot	Banner Triple Punch	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
White Perfect Accents

I've had a busy day today with housework and homework, but fortunately a little crafting time too! I made a clean and simple Valentine's card for the following challenges:

Global Design Project, TGIF Challenges and SUO Challenges all have a Love-Valentine's theme and this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch provided me with the perfect layout for what I had in mind:

Using a Pool Party base, I took a piece of Shimmery White cardstock and washed it lightly from top to bottom with my Aquapainter and some Pool Party ink. then stamped a cluster of heart-shaped balloons in Blushing Bride and Watermelon Wonder, with Smoky Slate strings, using the 'Balloon Builders' stamp set. I heat embossed my sentiment in White on a popped up banner of Watermelon Wonder. This card has a wonderful lustre and sparkle in real life as a result of the shimmery white cardstock that is difficult to see in the photo and I just love the soft, almost watercoloured stamp effect of the balloons. One stamp set, one card - what's not to love?!

That's my card for today; come back tomorrow for a new challenge over at The Paper Players when I will be sharing another new set for the first time with you. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Balloon Builders Photopolymer Stamp Set	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Banner Triple Punch	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have an interesting colour combination for you:

I struggled a little with this colour combo - having seen Lisa Martz, one of the other Design Team members, adorable chick card I couldn't see how to use these colours for anything else (does that ever happen to you when you see something that was in your mind's eye all along?!) Finally this week's sketch over at Retrosketches helped me out and I came up with this:

I used Lost Lagoon for my card base then covered this with a piece of the raindrop patterned paper from the Sale-A-Bration 'Wildflower Fields' designer series paper pack and a top layer of Whisper White, stamped with my 'hello' greeting in Memento Black. I added a bright red frame cut with my Big Shot and square framelits and a Hello Honey sun, also from the Silhouettes and Script' hostess stamp set, which I fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals. I added an epoxy heart, adhered to Real Red cardstock, as a little embellishment.

A super clean and simple card that brings these colours together in a slightly unconventional way; it might not be that chick, but I like it!

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; 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:

It's Wednesday - hurrah! Today I have a card for this week's challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches where they have the following sketch to work with:

I turned the sketch through 90 degrees for my card today and used the large sentiment from the 'Botanicals For You' Sale-A-Bration set, paired with some Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper and yes, another of those flowers made using the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies - I just can't get enough of them! Here's my card:

I just love the different flower combinations you can make with these framelit dies! Whilst I do have something different to share with you tomorrow, rest assured you haven't seen the last of these yet!

That's all from me today; I'll be spending the day in my office - I'm hoping for a productive one! I'll be back tomorrow with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Botanicals For You Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die Brush	Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper	Big Shot
Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
It's My Party Enamel Dots

It's Wednesday and you know what that means: a new collection of Wednesday Weekly Deals! These offers are valid for one week only. As always, a new collection of deals will be announced next Wednesday.

If you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the new Hostess Code for January W2ZHBH2D if your order is under £150 and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Berry Basket Bigz L Die

Fast Fuse Adhesive Refill

Hamburger Box Bigz Xl Die

Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons

Back later with today's creative project; until then, happy shopping!